Rare Loot - Awakening

Looting System Explained
Dragon Age - Origins uses a unique system for distributing loot and balancing gameplay unlike many other RPGs. In Dragon Age - Origins Creatures maintain potentially 2 inventory systems, an equiped inventory, and a dropped inventory. The former controls the appearance of the NPC's model(eg: armor, weapons etc) whereas the latter controls the loot yielded and available to the player upon looting the NPC's corpse.

Rare Loot Explained
In Dragon Age - Origins (not confirmed in Awakening) there appears to be a small, unparsed % chance of a creature/npc to drop one of more items in his equiped inventory when killed. Causing the generic dropped loot table to be dropped, along with x-item from his/her person. In many cases this results in a piece of generic armor, or a generic weapon. However, occasionally this can result in rare magic items, or even unique magic items not found anywhere else.

Unique/Alternate Item Locations

 * Smuggler Leader - The Felon's Coat The Rose's Thorn Spear-Thrower  Gloves of Guile
 * Apostate Mage - Vestaments of Urthemiel Enchanter's Cowl Elementalist's Grasp
 * Adria the Ghoul - Noble clothing- however unique noble clothing with tattered graphic on women, mesh doesn't exist for men and results in a yellow outfit
 * Rylock - Landsmeet Shield
 * Various "Blood Mage"s - Skins of the Keeper
 * Various casters, including Hired Goon Leader - Lorekeeper's Robe

Notable Rare Magic Items

 * Lightning Rod - Dropped by many casters a possible inventory item
 * Executioner's Helm - Dropped by many melee/figther as possible inventory type
 * Chasind Crusher - Dropped by Qunari Mercenary, in Deserted building, possibly all qunari with hammers. (confirm?)