Gaxkang

""I cannot hide in your wake, but I will not be a footnote. Witness Gaxkang!""

- Gaxkang the Unbound

""The first of the magus cast themselves deep in the Fade in search of answers and power, always power. They found the forbidden ones- Xebenkeck, Imshael, Gaxkang the Unbound, and The Formless One. Many conversations were had and much of the fabric of the world revealed. And thus the magic of blood was born.""

- Unknown Mage

Gaxkang is an elite character encountered during the Unbound side quest in Dragon Age: Origins.

Background
Stories and tavern songs tell of an ancient evil known as "the Unbound", a shapeshifting demon, presumably a Pride Demon. It is possible that if Gaxkang was a Pride Demon, he may have possessed an arcane warrior or a shapeshifter. After Gaxkang has been defeated, Completed Quests will state that "the unbound Revenant Gaxkang was defeated and sent back to the Fade.

Involvement
Gaxkang is the final boss of the Unbound side quest. He can be found in the Quaint Hovel located in a Dirty Back Alley in Denerim.

Strategy
Gaxkang possesses the unique ability to switch between a warrior form (Revenant) and a magical form (Arcane Horror). He has different abilities in each form. He is vulnerable to fire damage and immune to curses. Unlike most undead he has little resistance to nature damage, but like normal Revenants, he is highly resistant (though not actually immune) to frost damage. Note: Save your game before entering the door. There is no auto-save once inside and it's a tough fight.

Revenant Abilities

Mass

Arcane Horror Abilities

Gaxkang has a very large damage output on higher difficulties, and it is recommended to ensure your party has staying power for this fight. Having two party members with the ability to dispel magic (Dispel Magic and Cleanse Area both work) is very helpful. Curse of Mortality is very helpful, as it prevents him from healing with Drain. Magebane poison can help reduce his damage output significantly.

One easy way to kill Gaxkang is with the spell Mana Clash. If successful (he can resist it; consider using Spell Might to make it stronger) Gaxkang will immediately take over 300 damage and change into melee form, which make him far less dangerous compared to his arcane horror form. Once he has regained enough mana he will change back to Arcane Horror form, at this point one more Mana Clash should be enough to kill him.

Another good way to deplete his HP is to use Glyph of Neutralization which dispels all magic in the glyph's vicinity. While the glyph is active, you can wail on Gaxkang all you want without having to worry about status effects. If you have a warrior based party, Magebane on a dual wield warrior is highly recommended.

As he is vulnerable to fire, another possible strategy is to pick 3 melee and one mage keeping Flaming Weapons up (be careful to keep some distance between the mage and Gaxkang as he will try to dispel it by mass dispel). Together with common fire enchants and some resistance vs spell and cold it should become an easy kill.

Cone of Cold, while dealing little damage against Gaxkang's high frost resistance, has a good chance to freeze Gaxkang for a second or two, reducing his damage output by that much more.

Loot
— A legendary warrior-only longsword. — One of the best shields in the game (occasional drop).

Note

 * According to the quoted codex page above, Gaxkang the Unbound has some sort of relationship with Xebenkeck (appear in Dragon Age II) along with two other demons, perhaps being the first demons to teach mortals blood magic. They also seem to be all of one type of different demon, so Gaxkang could be a Hunger Demon, since he can take human form, a characteristic only usable by a Hunger Demon (Sloth Demon can take other forms but not human form).

Trivia

 * In Bioware's Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, one of the strongest optional opponents in thegame (arguably, the strongest in the entire game since he can only be defeated with a few highly specialized strategies) is a demilich named Kangaxx, who can be found beneath a derelict house in the docks district of Athkatla.