Loghain Mac Tir

Born into a time where his country was under the boot of a foreign tyrant, Loghain Mac Tir and his close friend Maric Theirin drove out the occupying forces of the Orlesian Empire more than 30 years ago. He is more a symbol than a man, representing the Fereldan ideals of hard work and independence. Now with his friend's death, he is left to defend the land with the naïve and inexperienced King Cailan Theirin, who is married to Loghain's daughter Anora. Loghain is the Teyrn of Gwaren.

Background
Loghain was born a "Freeman". He and his family were farmers until the Orlesian Emperor forced them from their land with higher taxes. The Emperor declared a new tribute tax that applied to all of Ferelden's Freemen. Loghain's father, Gareth, refused to pay the tax collectors, and as a result the farmhold was declared forfeit and Loghain’s father was arrested for tax evasion. The family resisted and, as a result, Loghain and his father were forced to watch soldiers rape and kill his mother. From that point forward they lived on the run in the Fereldan wilds, banding together with other desperate Fereldans to eke out a living however they could.

While living with the outlaws, he met Maric and subsequently joined the rebel army. He became one of Maric's closest friends and a key military advisor of the rebel cause, with his strategies responsible for many of the rebels' greatest victories. He was rewarded for his contribution to the rebel cause by being made a teyrn.

He also fell in love with Rowan, who was betrothed to Maric. After Maric fell in love with Katriel, Rowan and Loghain formed a romantic relationship. It was short lived, however, as Loghain revealed to Maric that Katriel was a spy, which resulted in Katriel’s death. After this, Loghain encouraged Rowan to marry Maric to help him become a better king, and because he felt Ferelden needed her as a queen. With Maric and Rowan married, his friendship with them grew strained and he rarely spent time with them again.

During the action of the novel Dragon Age: The Calling, Loghain appears to be the closest advisor and friend to King Maric. Duncan observes actually that he seems to be the one who is really in charge. Loghain is suspicious if not outright hostile to the Grey Wardens, whom he suspects are a cover for nefarious Orlesian interests. This suspicion is only confirmed later on when he comes to the rescue of Maric in the Circle of Magi, which had been taken over by Orlesian mages allied with the Architect. From his perspective, Maric had almost died due to a Grey Warden plot, and was highly naïve to still believe in them.

It is also suggested throughout the novel that, although married to a beautiful woman and father of a beautiful daughter in Gwaren, he prefers to stay in Denerim, claiming Maric needs him. Maric reflects on this by saying "we are all running away from something".

Involvement
Loghain is responsible for devising the tactics that will be used in the Battle of Ostagar. Although Loghain advises Cailan not to fight on the front line, Cailan wants to fight with his men, away from Loghain. As part of his plan, Loghain and the bulk of the army will stay apart from the Cailan and the Grey Wardens and wait for a beacon to be lit, signalling Loghain and his men to come in and flank the darkspawn. However, the Wardens are delayed and the beacon is not lit on time. When the beacon is lit the valley of Ostagar is already overrun with darkspawn and Loghain retreats, leaving King Cailan and the Grey Wardens to die.

After the battle at Ostagar, he labels any remaining Grey Wardens traitors and places an extremely large bounty on their heads. He also declares himself regent for his daughter Anora. This is not met with approval from the Bannorn, and civil war ensues.

Loghain takes drastic measures to secure Ferelden, including allowing elves to be sold into slavery, and hiring Zevran Arainai, an Antivan Crow to assassinate The Warden, on the advice of Arl Howe.

At the Landsmeet, The Warden finally has a chance to confront Loghain. If The Warden has not gathered enough support from the nobles in attendance, Loghain will attempt to arrest the party and Arl Eamon, and a fight will ensue. This fight can be avoided with enough support. Whether there is a fight or not, the matter of who will rule Ferelden is still uncertain. To resolve the impasse, a duel must be fought. The Warden can elect to fight this duel, or select another companion.

Loghain will eventually yield, and The Warden must decide his fate. He can be executed by either Alistair or The Warden, or at Riordan's suggestion he can undergo the Joining and become a Grey Warden and companion. If he becomes a Grey Warden, Alistair will permanently leave the party.

Adding Loghain to your party gives you a strong tank-character with a good set of armor; he can play a similar role to Alistair in combat as a tank. His high willpower also gives him good damage-dealing power. Recruiting Loghain also develops his character further via cutscenes and conversation, and his dialogue with other party members will reveal his feelings about Ostagar and other recent events.

If Loghain becomes a companion, it is easy to get high influence with him. When he asks what The Warden sought to gain by making him a Grey Warden, speaking to him in a forgiving manner and asking him "What do you want?", will also raise his approval. When discussing Anora's childhood, using the final option that says "No one must know her better than you" will net some good influence with him as well.

If you ask him to consider Morrigan's ritual offer, he will express reluctance to participate and request to be the one to sacrifice his life to strike the killing blow against the Archdemon, arguing that it is a form of redemption for his mistakes. You can insist on doing the deed yourself, though.

Strategy
When Loghain has to be fought for the crown, any of the four people in the group can fight him (with the exception of your dog). Every class can beat Loghain with the right strategy.

Warrior

 * You can beat him fairly easily as a warrior with average stats (~40 str/dex) if you equip some +physical resistance weapons/armor so that he can't knock you down as often. The fight ends pretty quickly if you can get to the point where you don't get knocked down every time he uses War Cry. Just watch your health (his shield bash will still send you flying) and hack away at him, and he won't last long.


 * A PC with the full Shield-and-Weapon tree should have little-to-no trouble with him with proper handling, due to the relatively high Dexterity and Strength requirements for mastering the tree. Activating Shield Wall will prevent your PC from being knocked over, which is generally the largest factor in taking damage from him due to his War Cry and Shield Bash.


 * Another efficient strategy is using a warrior with maxed-out 2H skill tree as well as the second Reaver talent. Keep him feared, pummeled to the ground, and stunned by the passive 2H ability. The Legion of the Dead massive armor is a good goal for this battle, as it requires much strength, which aids you in the battle -- and the Legion armor is not half bad either.

Mage

 * One tactic is to use Morrigan. Use cold damage; he can't block it (unlike warrior attacks). He can be stunned with Mind Blast; Cone of Cold will also freeze him. Use Drain Life when you can. Sleep plus Nightmare makes for a great combo.
 * A good combination to use for a mage is Vulnerability Hex followed by Crushing Prison. That will take off most of his health if he doesn't resist it (which is why you want to use Vulnerability Hex). Then just get some distance between you and nuke him while he's held static.
 * If you are a mage with the ability to cast certain spells, you can defeat him easily. Start by casting Force Field on him. This will give you uninterrupted time to cast Inferno. If you do not have Force Field, other stuns such as Mind Blast or Cone of Cold will work as well. All you really need is a few seconds without interruption so you can cast Inferno. Wait until Force Field almost expires and cast Inferno. Use a Greater Warming Balm and let him chase after you IN the flame. He will quickly burn to death while you run in circles. To make this even quicker, cast Stinging Swarm (if you have it) on Loghain for additional Damage over Time.

Rogue

 * A rogue with at least level 3 Stealth and level 1 poison-making can simply enter stealth mode at the start of the fight, stand at a distance, and throw ranged attack items (such as acid flasks or shock bombs) at Loghain until he dies. Loghain cannot attack stealthed opponents, but he can approach the Warden's position whenever he takes damage. When he gets close enough, your character may attempt to automatically attack him, but this can be prevented simply by running away from him until he stops chasing you.
 * Dirty Fighting always works to stun Loghain.
 * A rogue who uses the Below the Belt talent to stun Loghain and then backstabs him should have little difficulty, providing they maintain distance when Loghain is not stunned.
 * If you've invested in the Dual-Weapon tree and you happen to get your hands on Concentrated Deathroot extract (whether from drops or Poison-making), all you need to do is use the extract and fight Loghain. If your dexterity is high enough, you'll rarely miss, and he'll stay stunned throughout the whole battle.

Quotes

 * "Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend to reality."
 * "Lords and Ladies... Stand with me and we will defeat even the blight itself!"
 * "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, your majesty."
 * "The Emperor of Orlais also thought I could not bring him down. Expect no more mercy than I showed him, there is nothing I would not do for my homeland."
 * "'A man is made by the quality of his enemies', Maric told me that once. I wonder if it's more a compliment to you or me." At the Landsmeet, once The Warden defeats Loghain in the voting
 * "You'll have to forgive me if I shut my eyes and think of my dead wife."

Dialogue
''See Loghain's Dialogue

Trivia

 * The voice of Teyrn Loghain, Simon Templeman, is also widely known for his voice acting in The Legacy of Kain and Uncharted series.