The Baroness was once the Orlesian ruler of the Blackmarsh, during the Fereldan occupation. She defeated the Queen of the Blackmarsh through her powerful sorcery.
Background
Once the Orlesian ruler of the Blackmarsh during the occupation, the Baroness met her end when her subjects turned against her and burned down her mansion. With one last spell before dying, the Baroness captured all their spirits into the Fade, shaped as a nightmarish version of Blackmarsh itself.
Involved In
Involvement
After you are brought into the Fade by The First, one of the Mother's Disciples, you'll eventually reach the village's square where you are greeted by a Spirit of Justice. The spirit will explain that the Baroness has been feeding from the souls of the villagers for many years now and that for all this time he has watched their torment, seething with anger. Now he has finally decided to step up and end her reign. Justice will ask for your help during the fight and, after a brief cutscene, you will be in the mansion's court and have the option to intimidate the Baroness or to fight her. She is aided by some faithful servants and by the First, who has sought her help to escape the Fade.
When you defeat the First, the Baroness, in a desperate attempt to escape, will use the First's remaining life force to tear the veil open and enter the mortal realm. In the process, the Spirit of Justice is also hurled through the Veil and he ends up in the body of Kristoff, the dead Grey Warden who was investigating the darkspawn presence in the Blackmarsh. Together with Justice, you must confront the Baroness, who, during the long years spent in the Fade feeding on the peasants' spirits, has become a Pride Demon so powerful that she's able to enter the mortal world even without a body to possess.
It is also possible to choose to fight at her side against The First. If you persuade her to offer a greater reward than the mere escape from the Fade, she will offer the following: either a bonus to health, to magic, to cunning or she will teach you blood magic. After your choice is made, a short cutscene follows in which the Baroness kills The First to empower the Warden-Commander. In any case, it is necessary to fight her demon form in the real world.
Skills
Same skills as the Pride Demon, but with an extra ability: she can summon portals but she can be stopped with enough damage, just like a normal long casting spell.
- Fire Bolt deals approximately 50 Fire damage and leaves a burning damage over time effect (on Nightmare difficulty).
- Ice Bolt deals about 50 Frost damage and freezes the target solid for a few seconds (on Nightmare difficulty).
- When she summons a Fade Portal, an elite-rank Fade Portal enemy spawns which continually spawns Shades until its destruction. Shades deal minimal damage but can be a nuisance with their knockdown attacks. The Baroness only opens Fade Portals for the first phase of the fight.
- Drain deals approximately 10 points of damage per tick on Nightmare - around 50 to 60 total damage if the Baroness is not interrupted via Shield Bash/Overpower/Pommel Strike/etc. However, she also heals herself for several hundred points of damage each tick. On Nightmare, the Baroness will gain nearly 2,000 health over the brief duration of this attack. She only uses this ability in the second phase of the fight (when she runs and breaks open the gate into the courtyard). She will never use this ability above 50% health.
Note that the healing effect of Drain is actually unaffected by how much damage is dealt to the target. Tested with a Bulwark of the Ages-enhanced Carapace effect and Strength of Stone enhanced with Blessing of the Ancestors - the warrior took no damage at all but the Baroness healed for the same amount.
Bugs
- Although the Baroness agrees to reward you, you actually receive no statistical increase regardless of your choice.
- You can kill Baroness fairly easy by continuously using Petrify, Cone of Cold and other attacks that will stun, paralyze, freeze or otherwise prevent her from doing anything but taking damage. Beware though, you will never see her destroying the gate to the courtyard this way, and it will be inaccessible.
Quotes
- "The spirits will watch in envy as the mortals of this realm bow down before me!"
See Also
- Codex: The Baroness's Secret