Ameridan's End

Ameridan's End is a main quest from the Jaws of Hakkon DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Preparations are in place to wage assault on the Jaws of Hakkon and search for Inquisitor Ameridan.

Acquisition[]

Complete On Ameridan's Trail and then speak to Thane Svarah Sun-Hair at Stone-Bear Hold.

Walkthrough[]

Speak with Svarah Sun-Hair
Assault the gate
Find Inquisitor Ameridan's resting place

Joined by the Stone-Bear Avvar, the Inquisitor launches a raid on the gate to the Tevinter ruin where the Jaws of Hakkon are attempting to call forth Hakkon Wintersbreath, while Inquisition forces lure the bulk of the Jaws of Hakkon's forces to Razikale's reach with the hope of re-engaging the magical barrier.

The Avvar will climb the wall and open the gate, however a level 26 Hakkonite Bruiser will drop down from the walkway and attack directly. Storvacker will aid in the battle. Once through the gate, several Hakkonite Bowmen and a Hakkonite Spellbinder will attack. Past them a party of 4 Hakkonite Spies will Stealth and ambush the Inquisitor's party for an easy critical hit. Using Barrier can be very effective here in keeping the friendly Avvar alive to assist. The Spies are immune to sleep and slow, so abilities which induce knock down can be very useful here also.

The gate on the right will shatter and a Hakkonite Champion, an enhanced Bruiser, will attack. The Champion has a high level of Guard so abilities which erode Guard quickly, such as shield bash can be helpful here. Past the Champion is a strange box that on activation, teleports the party back to the shattered gate. At the base of the path, there are a number of 'Winter Shards', magical wards which when destroyed, freeze anything nearby in place. Before descending towards the base, there is a path to left which can be traversed to eliminate most of the wards with ranged attacks. At the entrance to the Temple, a final group of Hakkonites will attempt to bar access. An Avvar Bruiser and two Bowmen will attack from the left, while two other Bowmen flank from the right. Once they are disposed of, enter the Temple.

The Old Temple is rife with Ice magic and will freeze the party to death if left alone long enough. Note that the campfires dispel the cold effect as long as the selected party member is near it. It is sometimes advantageous to keep at least one party member back by a campfire and send the other party members ahead to fight, toggling back to the reserve party member when the warmth meter drops too low. For this, using the point-and-double-click (on PC) method of hold position works better than the UI bar command. It is also useful to use tactical mode to "scout ahead" for the location of the next campfire to minimize the time the cold is in effect. It is easier to put off looting the Temple until after the ice magic is turned off when the quest is completed. There is a Supply Cache with healing potions just inside the main entrance.

To the left there is a room with a campfire, a potions equipping stand, and a codex entry. A veilfire brazier allows you to light a torch needed for the acquisition of the Hakkon's Wisdom Schematic from a veilfire rune in the room off the first right from the main hall as well as a key needed for a door further down the main hallway. Use search here to find and pickup the key. Stairs lead to a dead-end hallway with a campfire in the far end.

Further down the main hall is an already lit campfire. Climbing the rubble on right of it leads to a campfire and a door, and a glyph for the Hakkon's Wrath Schematic (veilfire required to acquire it).

The door in the main hallway leads to the inner chamber. Just inside is a campfire, a journal entry by Gurd Harofsen, and several loot containers.

Beyond this flight of stairs, is an already lit campfire. A Hakkonite Bruiser and two Hakkonite Defenders with tower shields are on patrol. The Defenders can be knocked off the balcony to their deaths with any knock-down ability for a quick disposal. To the right a Hakkonite Spellbinder and two Bowmen are waiting. Up some stairs is a Veilfire Rune for the Hakkon's Honor Schematic. Beyond a Rogue locked door is a campfire, a rune for Hakkon's Mercy Schematic, and a Veilfire Brazier.

To the left of the locked room is path through some rubble. At the right end of the path stairs leads down to a camp fire. Down another stairs are three Hakkonite Spellbinders and a Hakkonite Bruiser guarding the magical barrier leading to the ritual chamber. Just down the stairs is a Veilfire rune for the Hakkon's Valor Schematic. Further on is a campfire.

Once you enter the Frozen Altar, the battle will begin. Two Hakkonite Bruisers and 4 Spellbinders protect Gurd Harofsen while he summons Hakkon's spirit. The Bruisers will immediately charge the party as soon as you enter the Altar area, however the Spellbinders will only engage once attacked. This provides a useful opportunity to dispose of the Bruisers by themselves. The Spellbinders are clustered close together and can be dealt significant damage with area of effect spells. Once all the Hakkonites have fallen, Gurd will transform into a monstrous Revenant and attack the party.

The Gurd Harofsen Revenant is a devastating foe. At least two mages capable of casting barrier is recommended. Unlike usual revenants who pull targets towards them, Gurd will warp to his current target, also inflicting frozen on them at the same time preventing escape. Fade Step can be useful for evading this attack, otherwise use a barrier to mitigate the damage. Aegis of the Rift is invaluable here as it blocks Gurd's grappling attack entirely.

Be wary of the Temple freezing effect, which will sap health from all party members once the meter drops to 0. There are several braziers around the frozen altar so positioning as many party members as possible can help avoid this damage, as only the controlled party member is measured for a drop in temperature. However, Gurd will freeze one of these braziers every 25% of health he loses.

Aside from this, Gurd fights like any other Revenant. At 75% HP Gurd will use an area of effect spell damaging the whole party and summons two Undead Archers to aid him. Gurd will also max out his current guard when using this spell. Gurd will repeat this process at 50%, where Gurd will be joined by an undead archer and two Hakkonite warriors and again at 25% where he will call forth two Hakkonite Bruisers. Finally slaying Gurd will complete the quest. Afterwards, there will be a class specific armor set in the nearby chest.

Results[]

Unlocks the main quest Hakkon Wintersbreath and the side quest Where Once We Walked.

Rewards[]

Codex entries[]

The torn page when read unlocks Codex entry: Journal of Gurd Harofsen.

Notes[]

After completing the quest, the Frostback Basin shifts from day to night.
Professor Kenric is eager to learn more about Ameridan, the Inquisitor will have the option to either tell him the truth about Ameridan being an elven mage, or lie about Ameridan's origin, this will unlock either Assuage Ameridan's Heirs or Celebrate With Ameridan's Heirs war table operations respectively.
Cassandra will have several lines of unique dialogue in the final conversation before this quest is completed regarding the Seekers. This dialogue is affected by the outcome (or lack of outcome) of her personal quest, Promise of Destruction, as well as decisions regarding the Seekers overall that occur in conversations with her at Skyhold. However, this dialogue does not affect the overall outcome of the quest.
While it is easier to loot the temple after completing the quest due to dispelling of the freezing effect, there is no way to backtrack through the Temple. This thus requires a lengthy travel back to the fortress gates which do not have any fast travel points accessible nearby.
After a winter ward is destroyed, Cole may parody himself and shout, "You can't freeze us!".