Changes: Archdemon

Revision as of 20:46, 12 February 2012

No one knows what it is that drives the darkspawn in their relentless search for the sleeping Old Gods. Perhaps it is instinct, as moths will fly into torch flames. Perhaps there is some remnant of desire for vengeance upon the ones who goaded the magisters to assault heaven. Whatever the reason, when darkspawn find one of these ancient dragons, it is immediately afflicted by the taint. It awakens twisted and corrupted, and leads the darkspawn in a full-scale invasion of the land: a Blight.

—From Codex entry: Archdemon

Archdemons are the Old Gods manifested in the form of powerful and terrifying dragons and tainted by darkspawn. They possess an intelligence far beyond the average dragon and are purely evil creatures. Most of the time, the darkspawn are organized as a simple hive-mind, concerned only with expanding the horde. They rarely appear on the surface, except in raids and small invasions.

A Blight begins when the darkspawn find and taint an Old God, who then unites them into a great horde and unleashes them onto the surface in a wave of darkness and destruction. The Archdemon is their leader, and a Blight will not end until the Archdemon is destroyed.

Before the events of Dragon Age: Origins, there had been four previous Blights, led by the Archdemons Dumat, Zazikel, Toth and Andoral, respectively.

Since the dwarves managed to fend off the darkspawn invasion of the Deep Roads after the First Blight, no Archdemon has led a Blight against them. Instead, the dwarves consider the Blight to be something of a respite, as all darkspawn activity is focused on the surface.

Involvement

This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.

Archdemon11 — The Archdemon in the Dead Trenches

The Archdemon in Dragon Age: Origins is revealed to be Urthemiel, the Tevinter god of beauty. In Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, the Mother reveals that it became an Archdemon due to a botched attempt by The Architect to turn it into a Disciple.

It first appears during the Warden's Joining ceremony after drinking from the Joining Chalice. It appears again in the Warden's dreams while in the Party Camp. While traveling to the Dead Trenches, the ruins of the dwarven fortress of Bownammar, the Warden finally sees it in person.

The Warden discovers on the eve of the Battle of Denerim that the Archdemon must be killed by a Grey Warden. If killed by anyone else, as Riordan explains, its soul will move into the body of the closest darkspawn (who are soulless), and reshape it in the dragon's image, making it almost immortal, short of exterminating every darkspawn in existence.

However, if a Grey Warden is the one to kill it, the Archdemon will seek out the body of the Grey Warden. The result of two souls attempting to occupy the same body causes both to be destroyed. As the most senior Grey Warden present, Riordan volunteers to be the one to slay the Archdemon.

Once the Warden discovers this, Morrigan will be waiting in his/her bedroom to offer a deal. If the Warden is male, she will ask him to help her conceive a child that will bear the taint, attracting the Archdemon's soul in the Warden's place. If the Warden is female, Morrigan will ask her to convince Alistair or the Secret Companion to do this instead.

The Battle of Denerim

Fereldan's capital of Denerim becomes the site of the final battle. When the Warden reaches Redcliffe, s/he is informed the Archdemon has been sighted near Denerim and must march there to fight it. This is where the Warden will call all the allies gained through the Grey Warden treaties for the final battle.

The Archdemon is first sighted some time after reaching Denerim, flying over the city followed by a charge of human soldiers. It is next seen at the Elven Alienage as the Warden leaves the area by either killing or avoiding the Hurlock General there. The Archdemon flies overhead and destroys the bridge, making backtracking impossible for the Warden's group.

At this point, Riordan, who has separated from the Warden early on, will be atop a tower dealing with his own group of darkspawn. The Archdemon swoops down past the tower, and Riordan takes the opportunity to jump onto its back, maintaining his position by stabbing his sword into various points in its body. As the Archdemon struggles to get rid of him, it tries to fly into a tower, forcing Riordan to jump onto its right wing. However, it then flies directly upward, and the force of gravity pulls Riordan down to the ground, but not before inflicting a massive wound on the Archdemon and forcing it to land atop Fort Drakon, where the remaining Wardens can finish it off.

When the Warden reaches the top of the fortress, the Archdemon is quite busy demolishing the soldiers up there. This leades to the final battle of the Fifth Blight.

Strategy

For strategies, please see Archdemon (strategy).

Abilities

Breath (Monster)

Buffet

Grab (Monster)

Massive Attack (Monster)

Roar (Monster)

Slap may refer to:

Slap (dragon), a talent used by Dragon.
Slap (high dragon), a talent used by High dragon.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Sweep may refer to:

Sweep (broodmother), a talent used by Broodmother.
Sweep (high dragon), a talent used by High dragons and Archdemon.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Archdemon Corruption Blast

Spirit Smite

Vortex

Detonate Darkspawn

Bugs

Bug! The Archdemon is the strongest enemy in Origins, but if your character has the final in-game hit on it and you transfer your character to Awakening, the "Most Powerful Foe Slain" line during loading screens will remain blank for most of the playthrough (PS3, PC, 360). However, in most cases the Xbox 360 version of the expansion is unaffected, listing your "Most Powerful Foe Slain" as "Archdemon".

Bug! In Dragon Age: Origins-Awakening, when you slay the High Dragon near the end, the "Most Powerful Foe Slain" will be listed as the High Dragon.

Bug! If the player character enters Denerim Palace District during The Final Battle, they will witness the Archdemon fall onto Fort Drakon after having its right wing sliced by Riordan. If the player immediately turns around and leaves through the gates and heads back to the Alienage without having yet been there during the end battle, they will see the Archdemon swoop past and destroy the bridge, its wing completely intact. This is due to the scene chronologically taking place before the Archdemon's encounter with Riordan.

Bug! It is possible for the game to freeze during or after the encounter with the Archdemon due to a corrupted auto-save. If this happens, revert to a load point then turn off auto-save. The game should no longer freeze.

Bug! On some occasions, if you didn't take Morrigan's deal at Red Cliff Castle and didn't make Alistair king, after defeating the Archdemon Alistair will engage you in conversation and say it is his duty as king to kill the Archdemon. This has no impact over the story, however, Alistair will not become king in the epilogue if he survives.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 A [[Blight]] begins when the darkspawn find and taint an [[Old God]], who then unites them into a great horde and unleashes them onto the surface in a wave of darkness and destruction. The Archdemon is their leader, and a Blight will not end until the Archdemon is destroyed.
-Before the events of [[Dragon Age: Origins]], there have been four previous Blights, led by Archdemons [[Dumat]], [[Zazikel]], [[Toth]] and [[Andoral]].
+Before the events of [[Dragon Age: Origins]], there had been four previous Blights, led by the Archdemons [[Dumat]], [[Zazikel]], [[Toth]] and [[Andoral]], respectively.
 Since the [[dwarves]] managed to fend off the darkspawn invasion of the [[Deep Roads]] after the [[First Blight]], no Archdemon has led a Blight against them. Instead, the dwarves consider the Blight to be something of a respite, as all darkspawn activity is focused on the surface.