Wynne

Wynne (pronounced "win") is a Spirit Healer from the Circle of Magi, focusing her magic on the ability to briefly summon protective and restorative spirits from the Fade. She is a possible companion to the Warden.

Background
She has served the Circle for most of her life, and is well respected for her strong sense of duty and morals. She believes wholeheartedly in what the Circle stands for, and has been a vocal advocate in the College of Enchanters, that through discipline, and education, mages can learn to control their gifts and use them to serve mankind.

The fear of magic is born of misunderstanding, but Wynne cautions mages never to forget that the fear is also a real one. For all the good that a mage's gifts can bring, it will also always attract demons and bring the risk of possession. Too many times in history have possessed abominations wreaked destruction on the lands, and thus every mage has a debt to repay. "Earn your place," she has said, "and you shall not be reviled."

Her peers thought so highly of her that she was asked to become the new First Enchanter of Ferelden's Tower. She refused, saying that she had no desire to work in the upper ranks of the Circle. When word recently reached the Tower of King Cailan's call to arms against The Blight, Wynne readily volunteered to go to Ostagar.

Wynne seems to have been born into the Spirit Healer role as a natural. In her childhood, she can recall entering the Fade in her dreams and feeling a particular spirit watching over her. Later in the game, if you get to know her, she speculates that this is a Spirit of Faith- much like the benevolent spirits of courage and compassion, but never before encountered by any mage except herself.

Involvement
The Warden first meets Wynne at the army camp at Ostagar, near the mage tents. She can be talked to for limited dialogue.

The Warden will meet Wynne again in Ferelden's Tower where a demon outbreak has forced her to magically seal some parts of the tower off. The Warden can then either persuade (Skill not needed) Wynne to reopen the doors and join their quest or just kill her.

If Morrigan is in the party when you encounter Wynne several different dialog options become available, if the wrong ones are selected, Wynne will refuse to give the Warden access to the mage tower before attacking the party with surviving mages of the circle. Overall she is like most mages, she can deal a significant amount of damage in this battle, however she has very little hit points and will die easily. Your Codex will update to reflect her death if this is how the game is played out.

Wynne may also turn on the Warden later if the Warden decides to side with the trapped templar higher up in the tower. You can avoid this, however, by switching her out of the party as you exit the Fade portion of the Circle quest. She will also turn on the Warden if the Warden destroys the Urn of Sacred Ashes with her in the party, or else leave the team the next time at camp. If you want to stay in Wynne's good graces, making morally right choices is the way to gain her approval.

If the Warden becomes involved with Alistair/Zevran/Leliana/Morrigan, Wynne will express concern stating that the relationship is dangerous and does not want to see either two get hurt. The Warden must place duty first and make difficult decisions even sacrifice. She does not want suffering to befall either of you. You can choose any response, but keep in mind that Wynne is of a serious disposition and will respond badly or remain neutral to smart remarks.

Once Wynne's approval of you is high enough, she'll reveal that she has a 'condition' after falling down momentarily after a battle. The truth is that during the initial battle in the Circle Tower, she was killed and was saved by one of the spirits in the Fade entering inside her. In her words, she is living on 'borrowed time' to help the Warden defeat the darkspawn.

Wynne's Regret
Once The Warden is friendly enough with Wynne and she has confessed her condition, if she is asked further questions about the Circle, she will admit to feeling regret over a particular apprentice she worked with, a city elf named Aneirin. She believes the Templars who say they hunted Aneirin after he ran from the circle, an act which Wynne believes is her fault as she feels she was very hard on Aneirin who she believed was a very talented mage. The only clue given is that Aneirin had told Wynne he hoped to seek out the Dalish. Agree to find Aneirin for her. Talk to Sarel at the Dalish Camp to to find where he is staying. He will then appear in the East Brecilian Forest, just northwest of the Mad Hermit. Once her personal quest is completed, approval points will be gained from Wynne, but she will also receive a gift from Aneirin in the form of 'Aneirin's Token' an amulet which adds a 10% bonus to electric, nature, and spirit resistance

Initial Statistics
Class: Mage

Specialization: Spirit Healer

Starting Talents:

Mage: Arcane Bolt

Spirit Healer: Group Heal, Revival

Primal: Rock Armor, Stonefist

Creation: Heal, Rejuvenate, Regeneration, Heroic Offense, Heroic Aura

Strategy
Wynne is a very solid choice to take as a healer. Depending on level, she joins the group with at least Expert Combat Tactics mastered, which gives her four additional combat tactics slots. During more difficult encounters of of the game it is advisable to change her tactics so that she will consume a Lyrium Potion whenever she gets too low on mana. If you are carrying a healthy supply of Lyrium Potions this can improve the staying power of your party significantly.

Go up to the top-tier spirit healer spells as soon as possible. In the Creation tree, Mass Rejuvenation is a great party boost when you have a free spell point. Paralyze in the Entropy school provides excellent defense for those occasions when a creature locks onto her, and Earthquake and Petrify fill out the chain beginning with Rock Armor and deliver serious offensive muscle.

Save your mana for your healing spells unless absolutely necessary. Spot heal companions as wounds appear. If someone is getting hammered, such as the tank in a large fight, Heal and Regeneration continually. If several companions get injured at once or combat slowly chips away at everyone's health, use Group Heal to increase everyone’s health. Later, add Lifeward to the rotation for companions who are reaching to their death in a fight. If they pass over, use Revival and raise them right back into the fight - the spell has an area of effect and can revive several companions, but the huge cooldown will restrict it's usage to only once per battle. Remember to apply an Injury Kit immediately to revived companions while still in the fight.

Since her first specialization, Spirit Healer, is already chosen when she joins the crew, you can only choose one second specialization as soon as the right prerequisites are met.

Blood Mage would be an excellent choice for a second specialization, as she can cast spells until her health is low and then deactivate Blood Magic and heal herself, giving her effectively infinite health. This is a good offensive magic damage dealer combo.

Another good choice for the second specialization is Arcane Warrior. Equipped with medium armor and all 4 tiers of the Arcane Warrior specialty class, she makes a decent brawler that is difficult to wound. Spirit Healer talents, the basic Heal spell and Mass Rejuvenation can all be cast with a sword out, making this a fairly hassle-free setup. Because her Magic score will be fairly high, you can use Combat Magic to equip her with a high-tier greatsword farily early on for a surprising amount of damage; the longsword Spellweaver is also a useful choice if you have a good spare shield lying around.

Plot Skills and Plot Spell
As you befriend Wynne and gain her approval she will gain additional skills, including the following:

Additionally, Wynne can gain the following new spell as you progress through the story:

Vessel of the Spirit Wynne disorients nearby enemies with a release of energy, restoring some health and mana and earning bonuses to spellpower and mana regeneration. However, once she deactivates the ability, she is stunned and suffers penalties to movement attack and defense.
 * Sustained
 * Range: Personal
 * Upkeep: 60
 * Fatigue: 15%
 * Cooldown: 300s
 * Effects
 * default:
 * One Time Effects upon activation:
 * Daze all targets within radius 2.5f. Friendly fire possible.
 * Mana restoration: restore 50% max mana instantly
 * Health restoration: restore 50% max health instantly
 * Sustained bonus:
 * Spellpower bonus: 10+Level
 * Mana regen bonus (in and out of combat): 2
 * Penalty upon deactivation:
 * Wynne is stunned for 10s
 * Defense penalty: -30 (may not be accurate) for 30s
 * Movement penalty: unknown
 * Attack pentaly: unknown
 * augmented:
 * One Time Effects upon activation:
 * Knowdown all nearby targes within radius 5.0f if the target fails physical resistence check, if a target passes physical resistence check, it is dazed instead. Friendly fire possible.
 * Mana restoration: restore 100% max mana instantly
 * Health restoration: restore 100% max health instantly
 * Sustained bonus:
 * Spellpower bonus: 20+Level*2
 * Mana regen bonus (in and out of combat): 4
 * Penalty upon deactivation:
 * Defense penalty: -30 (may not be accurate) for 30s
 * Movement penalty: unknown
 * Attack pentaly: unknown

Note: Aneirin's Token doubles this spell effect bonus, while preventing her getting stunned upon deactivation. This is by far the most powerful spell in terms of increasing a mage's spellpower and mana regen. In order to receive the buff, Wynne does not have to equip Aneirin's Token: as long as it's in the player's inventory, the buff is in effect. (tested in PC, if the token is sold to a merchant, the buff is gone)

Gifts
Wynne likes books and scrolls, as well as wine. See Gifts for Wynne for all of her gifts.

Quotes

 * "I'm not the sort of person that leaves things unfinished. I'll see this through, I promise."


 * "You think one would find a less perilous place to explore."


 * "But why should you fear death if you are happy with the life you have led, if you can look back on everything and say, 'Yes, I am content. It is enough.'"
 * (To Alistair) "Now that you're in an intimate relationship I think maybe I should tell you where babies come from."
 * (After the Spirit talents are learned) "Well, we can't all be Quickwits McSmartypants now can we? Apparently you have a monopoly on cleverness."

Dialogue

 * Wynne's Dialogue

Trivia

 * When asked to compare a set list of NPC companions to food, BioWare employee Cori May said that Wynne was most comparable to "oatmeal with raisins and honey, and lots of them".
 * Writer Sheryl Chee, who wrote Wynne, has said that when going out for a drink Wynne would "drink the beer, but only good microbrews, none of that mass-produced swill."
 * Writer David Gaider said that of all the companions, he'd rather share a dorm room with Wynne because she'd at least be considerate and tidy.
 * Writers Sheryl Chee and Mary Kirby joked that Wynne has a "magical bosom," which is of particular interest to some of the other companions.
 * The name Wynne originates from the Welsh language, being the female form of the name Wyn (derived from Welsh gwyn meaning "blessed, white, fair".)
 * Wynne is quite the connoisseur when it comes to fine beers and ale.
 * Wynne bore one son out of wedlock while a member of The Circle