Encounters (Awakening)

The following is a list of random encounters the Warden can stumble upon while journeying between locations in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.

• Avvar - A band of Avvar nomads attack you. Two crates of random loot.
• Bandits - Bandits attack you. No special loot, just two random crates.
• Blood Mages - A small group of two or three blood mages attack the party. Herbs and poultices are amongst the most common loot.
• Burning Bridge- A wood bridge across a chasm. Very desolate environment. Crow assassins, Qunari mercenaries and some bandits. Poultices for loot.
• Canyon Road - A random darkspawn encounter. There are 5 enemies here, 3 Hurlock Emissaries and 2 Genlock Emissaries. The only loot is what the enemies drop.
• Darkspawn - Random darkspawn encounter.
• Dragon attack - One dragon and a dragonling attack you. Just a small bag and one crate of random loot.
• Dragon and Drake Attack - One dragon and a drake attack. Two large sacks with random loot.
• Dragonbrand - Some dragonlings, drakes, a dragon and the corpse of an adventurer out for revenge on the dragon who killed his family. The tier 9 anti-dragon greatsword, Dragonbrand, is found on the corpse.
• Dwarven Warriors - Bandits or dwarven rebels.
• Elven Warriors - Never given who they are or why they attack. Dalish in appearance, they'll attack even if the Warden is an elf, even a Dalish.
• Forest Path - A Fen Witch and wolves attack, they drop some random loot.
• Mercenaries - A group of six mercenaries attack you on a abandoned farmhold. Encountered when traveling from Amaranthine to the Wending Woods. Only loot is from the bandits, there are no crates.
• Pirate Infested shore - A shore full of pirates. Unique weapon, Dumat's Claw, drops from it.
• Qunari Mercenaries - A band of qunari mercenaries with one leader. Random loot.
• Roadside Farm - A random Encounter while heading towards the Knotwood Hills. A band of Darkspawn is encountered. 4 Genlocks, 4 Hurlocks, 1 Hurlock Alpha, 1 Genlock Emissarie. There is a Pile of Filth and Bones for random loot.
• Shadow Wolves - A small pack of shadow wolves ambush you. A small sack and a pile of trash have random loot.
• Spiders - A farm with five spiders. No loot.
• Sylvans - Two charred sylvans and one wild sylvan are in the area and attack if approached. A broken crate and small sack appear as loot.
• Wildfire - A wildfire has occurred in the wilds and it causes bears to attack the Warden. A chest and wooden crate spawn as loot.
• Wolves - Alpha wolf and 6 regular wolves. No loot.
• Skeletons - Six skeletons attack in the canyon road, a pile of filth and a small sack with random loot.

Bugs

• It seems that the area map for Canyon Road, Qunari Mercenaries, and Dragonbrand random encounters (along with any other encounter that shares the same area) is glitched. Both the mini map and map are blank and only the icons for the Warden and a lone X that marks the world map to leave are visible. Also the radar that comes from the Warden on the map is gray and white instead of clear.
• It is very difficult to get these random encounters. Whether it is a bug or not is unknown but it seems that the farther the player gets into Awakening the less likely of getting a random encounter. The only encounters that the Warden will definitely get are the quest-linked random encounters such as the one for Trade Must Flow.