A Noble Agenda is an Act 3 side quest in Dragon Age II.
Acquisition[]
The quest is received from Ser Marlein Selbrech in Hightown, after siding against Knight-Commander Meredith in the opening dialogue.
Ser Marlein commends Hawke for their public rebuking of Meredith and notes that several nobles who share similar concerns are quietly conspiring against the Knight-Commander. Marlein is wary of templar spies listening in on them and must leave soon but seeks to ally with Hawke in undermining Meredith. Marlein offers Hawke a scroll that reveals the location of the Knight-Commander's hand-picked zealots who have been "purging" mage sympathizers in Lowtown and also the location of one of Meredith's hidden supply caches. Killing the zealots and helping Marlein steal the caches (that Marlein intends to repurpose for their uprising) will help Marlein mobilize some of the nobles against Meredith.
Walkthrough[]
After receiving the quest, there are two tasks to complete:
- Head to Darktown to the entrance of Hidden Supply Depot. Clear out the mercenaries and Templars. There are two locked chests available (1 Standard-ranked and 1 Complex-ranked, 20 and 30 Cunning, 100 and 150 XP respectively, the latter containing Cynoeswr Sain). Not too difficult, but the group of templars has a Lieutenant and Hunter present at the same time. Freeze and kill the Hunter first, then pile on the Lieutenant while also keeping the archers stunned.
- Head to Lowtown near Gamlen's House, and defeat Meredith's death squad led by Ser Mettin. It's not too different from the supply depot group, but it's not too difficult when you've got all of Lowtown to spread out across and the Hunter isn't there right away. With Bloom or The Celebrant you can probably kill the initial group in as close by as the Alienage and drop out of combat before the Hunter shows up.
Return to Hawke's Estate to check the writing desk, where there will be a message asking you to head to Lowtown at night to protect Ser Marlein at a meeting.
Ser Marlein is attempting to persuade the nobles to take up arms against Meredith. While Ser Marlein has support for her cause, Ser Edgert the Hound is reluctant to fight the Knight-Commander and joins the templars when they suddenly attack.
Defend Ser Marlein against Edgert the Hound, cementing the nobles' support. This fight is much more difficult, as there will be two Lieutenants and two Hunters in total. If the second Lieutenant is allowed to spawn before the first Lieutenant dies, they will heal each other and combine their healing efforts for everyone else, namely the Hunters. If Ser Marlein holds their aggression it will make it difficult to withdraw and divide the waves, so bring a tank with Taunt. Use Bloom or The Celebrant to overcome their healing rates, try to keep two Elites paralyzed at the same time, and use Brittle cross-class combos to deal the most damage.
With the templars dead, Marlein promises the nobles' support when the time comes. The quest concludes.
Notes[]
- If you do not kill the Followers of She before going to meet Ser Marlein against Edgert the Hound, then you will need to fight the templars as well as the Followers of She. A good strategy to deal with this is to hold your party at the entrance and wait for the Followers of She to come to you.
- Garahel's Helm is found within a chest in the Hidden Supply Depot after charging the remaining templars. The chest is standard level (requiring 20 cunning and resulting in 100 experience).
Rewards[]
- 3
and 1200 XP after reading the message at Hawke's Estate (quest update) - 1200 XP from Ser Marlein after the fight (quest completion).
- She says that she gives you something, but you don't get any items or coin.