Born into a time where his country was under the boot of a foreign tyrant, Loghain Mac Tir and his close friend Maric Theirin drove out the occupying forces of the Orlesian Empire more than 30 years ago. He is more a symbol than a man, representing the Fereldan ideals of hard work and independence. Now with his friend's death, he is left to defend the land with the naive and inexperienced King Cailan Theirin, who is married to Loghain's daughter Anora. Loghain is the Teyrn of Gwaren.
Loghain is voiced by Simon Templeman.
Background
Template:StolenThroneSpoilers Loghain was born a "Freeman". He and his family were farmers until the Orlesian Emperor forced them from their land with higher taxes. The Emperor declared a new tribute tax that applied to all of Ferelden's Freemen. Loghain's father, Gareth, refused to pay the tax collectors, and as a result the farm hold was declared forfeit and Loghain’s father was arrested for tax evasion. The family resisted and, as a result, Loghain and his father were forced to watch soldiers rape and kill his mother. From that point forward they lived on the run in the Fereldan wilds, banding together with other desperate Fereldans to eke out a living however they could.
While living with the outlaws, he met Maric and subsequently joined the rebel army. He became one of Maric's closest friends and a key military advisor of the rebel cause, with his strategies responsible for many of the rebel’s greatest victories. He was rewarded for his contribution to the rebel cause by being made a teryn.
He also fell in love with Rowan, who was betrothed to Maric. After Maric had fallen in love with Katriel. Rowan and Loghain formed a romantic relationship. It was short lived however, as Loghain revealed to Maric that Katriel was a spy, which resulted in Katriel’s death. After this, Loghain encouraged Rowan to marry Maric to help him become a better king and because he felt Ferelden needed her as a queen. With Maric and Rowan married, his friendship with them grew strained he rarely spent time with them again.
During the action of the novel Dragon Age: The Calling, Loghain appears to be the closest advisor and friend to King Maric. Duncan observes actually that he seems to be the one who is really in charge. Loghain is suspicious if not outright hostile to the Grey Wardens, whom he suspects are a cover for Orlesian nefarious interests. This suspicion is only confirmed later on when he comes to the rescue of Maric in the Circle of Magi, which had been taken over by Orlesian mages allied with the Architect. From his perspective, Maric had almost died due to a Grey Warden plot, and was highly naive to still believe in them.
It is also suggested throughout the novel that, although married with a beautiful woman and father of a beautiful daughter in Gwaren, he prefers to stay in Denerim, claiming Maric needs him. Maric reflects on this by saying "we are all running away from something".
Involvement
During the Battle of Ostagar, the plan of attack agreed upon by King Cailan and Duncan is this: during the battle they will signal a beacon to be lit; Teyrn Loghain and his men will then come in and flank the darkspawn. However, once the beacon is lit, Loghain retreats and leaves King Cailan and the Grey Wardens to die.
After this transpires, he labels any remaining Grey Wardens traitors and places an extremely large bounty on their heads.[1] Loghain is also a companion you can get when you spare him at the landsmeet; this, however, will cause Alistair to permanently leave the party. Loghain will also take part in the Joining, officially making Loghain a Grey Warden. The only other option for him is death, which either you or Alistair may give him.[2]
If you choose Alistair to fight him at the Landsmeet you will not be offered the option to allow him to become a party member. At the close of the fight you will instead see a cutscene where Alistair announces, "This is for Duncan," before beheading him.
Strategy
When you are asked to fight for the crown, you are given the option to use any of the four people in your group. If you are a warrior don't try to fight him unless your PC has exceptional dexterity; he hits hard and is hard to hit. He also resists most if not all stuns, and knockdowns.
- You can beat him fairly easily as a warrior with average stats (~40 str/dex) if you equip some +physical resistance weapons/armor so that he can't knock you down as often. The fight ends pretty quickly if you can get to the point where you don't get knocked down every time he uses War Cry. Just watch your health (his shield bash will still send you flying) and hack away at him, and he won't last long.
- A PC with the full Shield-and-Weapon tree should have little to no trouble with him with proper handling, due to the relatively high Dexterity and Strength requirments for mastering the tree. Activating Shield Wall will prevent your PC from being knocked over, which is generally the largest factor in taking damage from him due to his War Cry and Shield Bash.
- One tactic is to use Morrigan. Use cold damage, he can't block it (unlike warrior attacks). He can be stunned with Mind Blast; Cone of Cold will also freeze him. Use Steal Life when you can. Sleep plus Nightmare makes for a great combo. Another strategy is to use a rogue and vanish from his sight when possible; Dirty Fighting always works to stun Loghain.
- Another efficient strategy is using a warrior with maxed out 2H skill tree as well as the second Reaver talent. Keep him feared, pummeled to the ground, and stunned by the passive 2H ability. The Legion of the Dead massive armor is a good goal for this battle, as it requires much strength, which aids you in the battle -- and the Legion armor is not half bad either.
- A rogue with at least level 3 Stealth and level 1 poison-making can simply enter stealth mode at the start of the fight, stand at a distance, and throw ranged attack items (such as acid flasks or shock bombs) at Loghain until he dies. Loghain cannot attack stealthed opponents, but he can approach the player's position whenever he takes damage. When he gets close enough, your character may attempt to automatically attack him, but this can be prevented simply by running away from him until he stops chasing you.
- A good combination to use for a mage is Vulnerability Hex followed by Crushing Prison. That will take off most of his health if he doesn't resist it (which is why you want to use Vulnerability Hex), then just get some distance between you and nuke him while he's held static.
- If you are a mage with the ability to cast certain spells, you can defeat him easily. Start by casting Force Field on him. This will give you uninterrupted time to cast Inferno. If you do not have Force Field, other stuns such as Mind Blast or Cone of Cold will work as well. All you really need is a few seconds without interruption so you can cast Inferno. Wait until Force Field almost expires and cast Inferno. Use a Greater Warming Balm and let him chase after you IN the flame. He will quickly burn to death while you run in circles. To make this even quicker, cast Stinging Swarm (if you have it) on Loghain for additional Damage over Time.
(If you DO take Loghain as a companion, it is very easy to get very high influence with him early on. When you speak to him regarding his daughter, use the final option that says "No one must know her better than you." this will net some good influence with him, then when you get back to camp, speak to him, and he will ask you what you seek to gain by making him a warden, speak to him in a forgiving manner and then ask him "What do you want?", in doing this, after the conversation you will net 32 influence with him.)
Quotes
- "Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend to reality."
- "Lords and Ladies... Stand with me and we will defeat even the blight itself!"
- "You rely on these Grey Wardens too much, your majesty."
- "The Emperor of Orlais also thought I could not bring him down. Expect no more mercy than I showed him, there is nothing I would not do for my homeland."
At the landsmeet, once the warden defeat Loghain in the voting:
- "A man is made by the quality of his enemies", Maric told me that once. I wonder if it's more a compliment to you or me.
Trivia
- The voice of Teyrn Loghain, Simon Templeman is also widely known for his voice acting in The Legacy of Kain and Uncharted series.