Alistair

Alistair is a playful and compassionate Grey Warden, who can be a companion to The Warden in Dragon Age: Origins. He is a romance option for the female Warden.

Alistair is voiced by Steve Valentine.

Background
Alistair was a novice templar when Duncan recruited him into the Grey Wardens. His mother was a serving girl who died giving birth to Alistair, leaving an orphan daughter. He was raised by Arl Eamon Guerrein, Arl of Redcliffe. The arl's wife, Arlessa Isolde suspected the reason her husband took an interest in the welfare of a servant's child was that Alistair was Eamon's son. She insisted the boy be sent away to the Chantry. Isolde's suspicions were unfounded, however. Alistair was not Eamon's son, but King Maric's. Maric sheltered the boy to hide his existence from Queen Rowan, Maric's wife, by advice of his friend Loghain Mac Tir. His father was the last King of Ferelden making him the current heir to the throne after the demise of his half-brother King Cailan.

He was trained to become a templar for many years in the Chantry, this being how he learned most of his skills. He was to become a mage-hunter, but was recruited by Duncan into the Grey Wardens before he took the sacramental vows. The Grand Cleric did not wish to let him go, but could not supercede the Right of Conscription.

Involvement
Alistair is your first party companion after you meet him at Ostagar to begin the joining ritual. He is a good source of comic relief on your journey and seems to be the most innocent member of your group. Despite potentially having characters with far more confusing or uncertain objectives in your group you eventually learn that Alistair, like many of your companions, has also had a tough start to life. He considers Duncan and Arl Eamon to be two of the only people he can trust and he considers them family. At the Landsmeet in Denerim, it is up to you who will become the next ruler. If you have ample Coercion skills and are of Human nobility you can choose for you and Alistair to rule as King and Queen. If you have enough Coercion, you may also persuade Alistair and Anora to wed.

Epilogue
If Alistair becomes king of Ferelden, he travels frequently during his reign, ruling with a "common touch".

If you conscript Loghain into the Grey Wardens, Alistair deserts you. He leaves Ferelden and becomes a wandering drunkard. (Unless of course you harden his personality during his personal quest, and then subsequently convince him and Anora to marry - in which case he will still choose to become King but will no longer directly support you in your efforts against the Blight.)

Romance
Alistair is only romantically interested in women. To start a romance with him, talk to him about his past as a Templar. Compliment him; tell him you like him, essentially anything but openly mocking him will put you in his good graces. If propositioned before an appropriate approval rating he may turn you down due to his own inexperience. If continued approval built, he will eventually join you in your tent. He likes to feel wanted and needed, and will even respond to a little bit of bossiness. However, he doesn't like being mocked, especially about intimacy.

When Alistair becomes interested in the female Warden, he will offer a gift of a rose. You may choose to accept it or not. If you have high approval with Alistair and high approval with Zevran (adore or love levels), when you next speak to Alistair, he will force you to make a choice between the two of them.

If Alistair falls in love with The Warden, and Morrigan's offer is declined, Alistair will insist on sacrificing himself to slay the Archdemon regardless of conversation option choice, admitting that duty alone is not the real reason for his actions. If told that his decision is crazy, Alistair will reply that it is the "sanest thing I've ever done" before kissing the warden one last time and slaying the arch demon.

Romance Issue with Secret Companion Recruit
If you have romanced Alistair and then recruit the secret companion, Alistair as we know will leave the party, but because you never officially ended things with him, you will be unable to romance anyone else in your party despite approval ratings. Example, my character is at about 98% approval with Zevran, but I cannot romance him, ask him back to the tent or otherwise. I get 'Your Wish', 'What is your desire' and have learned about his last mission with the crows, but apparently we can't be romantically involved because I'm still going to marry Alistair in his mind. I can only assume that this is because I did not officially end things with Alistair, he walked out. I have not yet found a way to correct this.

Quests Given
Alistair's Family

Initial Statistics
Class: Warrior

Specialization: Templar

Starting Talents:

Templar: Righteous Strike

Warrior: Powerful

Weapon and Shield: Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Shield Block, Shield Cover

Strategy
Alistair is a very solid choice as a "tank" (i.e. the character that captures the attention of enemies and take most of the damage) in the event that the Warden is not already playing a tanking role. Spend the early talent points on the Warrior school (threaten and taunt) and Weapons and Shield will make Alistair the exclusive tank in the party. In melee Shield Tactics is crucial to avoid flanking damage while Overpower and Assault should be staple offensive talents for Alistair.

If Alistair is your tank he will charge smaller enemy groups, unless you have an ambush staged. So make sure to give him few moments so he can build up threat and make sure that the most dangerous target keeps it's attention on Alistair so that target doesn’t go in search of someone else in the party. Focus on the defense rather than offense for Alistair because his role is to hold the enemies and suck up damage while the party's damage-oriented members attack the enemies. Equip Alistair with the best massive armor available. He should wear better armor than the main character, because armor rating is a factor that keeps the enemies attention. By wearing the heaviest armor among the party members he will make sure to draw the enemies to him. He should wield a good one-handed weapon to inflict high damage and further increase threat against his targets. In his secondary weapon slot, give Alistair a bow or crossbow for long-range combat.

On the other hand if the main character is already a tank, then it is recommended that you alter Alistair's talent choices out of Weapons and Shield and into Two-Handed or Dual Weapon.

Plot Skills and Plot Talent
As you befriend Alistair and gain his approval he will gain additional skills, including the following:

Quotes

 * "You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together."
 * "Well! He's not half as dead as he looks, is he?"
 * "Here I thought we were getting along so well! I was even going to name one of my children after you - the grumpy one!"
 * "You smell great; is that death you're wearing? It really suits you."
 * (About the statue of Andraste in Lothering) "You ever wonder if that's an accurate likeness of Andraste? Maybe she was ugly. Maybe she had buck teeth. How do you know?"
 * "Ah, kind of like coming home again. Only with more undead."
 * "You ever wonder why the mages built their tower out in the middle of Lake Calenhad? They have an aversion to practicality or something?"
 * (upon arrival at the Tower) "As I recall from my time as a templar, locking the door and throwing away the key was 'plan B'."
 * "Remind me never to get injured near you" (after snapping the neck of the injured scout you meet in the wilds)
 * "Is it just me, or did I do really badly back there?" (after being knocked unconscious)
 * "Ah there it is, Werewolf City, kinda like flea heaven, isn't it?"
 * "I tried dwarven ale once. I thought it was just something they tricked surfacers into drinking, as a joke." 
 * (After Redcliff) "Now that the warm fuzzy part is over we can get back to the ritual of dismemberment. Oh wait, it's not Tuesday is it?"

Dialogue
Alistair's Dialogue

Trivia

 * When asked to compare a set list of NPC companions to food, BioWare employee Cori May said that Alistair was most comparable to "strawberries and cream, sweet and wholesome and delicious, and a little goofy." While writer Sheryl Chee says "Alistair is an apricot. Cute, sweet and just a little fuzzy."
 * Writer Sheryl Chee has said that when going out for a drink Alistair would "have half a pint and giggle uncontrollably for the rest of the night."
 * In writing Alistair, David Gaider was inspired by Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Malcom Reynolds from Firefly.
 * Alistair is David Gaider's favorite NPC.
 * Alistair has a fear of failing others which has lead to a fear of leading which is why he doesn't wish to be king or lead the party on their quest.

Gifts

 * Alistair's Mother's Amulet (Found in Arl Eamon's Study at Redcliffe)
 * Duncan's Shield (Found in the Grey Warden Vault after Riordan provides access)
 * For more see: Gifts