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“Understand this: I will brook no threat to this nation...from you or anyone!”


Born into occupied Ferelden, Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir and King Maric Theirin drove out the Orlesian Empire more than thirty years before the events of Dragon Age: Origins.

Loghain was raised to the position Teyrn of Gwaren for his service to King Maric. To Ferelden, he represents ideals of hard work and independence. After King Maric was lost at sea, Loghain became responsible for defending Ferelden and guiding his naïve and inexperienced son-in-law, King Cailan Theirin.

He is the primary antagonist of Dragon Age: Origins.

Background


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne.


Born a Freeman, Loghain was the son of a farmholder from Oswin in the western Bannorn, Gareth Mac Tir. After the Orlesian invasion, the Emperor declared a tribute tax from all of Fereldan's Freemen. Loghain's father refused to pay the tax collectors, and, as a result, was accused of tax evasion and lost the farmhold.

The Mac Tirs resisted, but the Orlesian soldiers bested them, forcing Loghain and his father to watch as they raped and killed Loghain's mother. Gareth was nowhere to be found for the next three days. When he finally returned, he informed his son that he had murdered the Orlesian commander responsible. Unable to stay in Oswin, 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, Loghain met Maric, though he was not aware of Maric's royal blood, and later joined the rebel army. He became one of Maric's closest friends, as well as a key military advisor of the rebel cause. His strategies responsible for many of the rebels' greatest victories. He was rewarded for his leadership by being made a Teyrn.

Over the course of the rebellion, Loghain fell in love with Rowan Guerrin, who was betrothed to Maric and thus the future queen. After Maric fell in love with Katriel, Rowan and Loghain formed a romantic relationship. Both relationships were short-lived, however; Loghain discovered and revealed to Maric that Katriel was a spy, which resulted in her death. After this, Loghain encouraged Rowan to marry Maric to assist him and guide Ferelden as queen.

Despite his encouragement of their relationship, Loghain's own relationship with both Maric and Rowan became strained. After the marriage, he rarely spent time in their company.



This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: The Calling.


In Dragon Age: The Calling, after the death of Queen Rowan, Loghain becomes King Maric's closest friend and advisor. Duncan observes that Loghain seems to be the true ruler.

Despite having a beautiful wife and young daughter in Gwaren, Loghain prefers to stay in Denerim, claiming that Maric needs him. However, other characters think there are other reasons; Maric comments on this, "We are all running away from something."

Loghain is suspicious of the Grey Wardens, who he suspects are working for the Orlesians. This suspicion is exacerbated when he must rescue Maric from the Circle of Magi, which had been taken over by Orlesian mages allied with the Architect.

Loghain believed the plot was the doing of the Grey Wardens and felt Maric made a mistake in continuing to trust them. He disapproves when Maric allows the Wardens to return to Fereldan.


Involvement

Dragon Age: Origins


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins.


Loghain

Loghain

Loghain first appears at Ostagar; the Warden can meet him at his tent, or in the pre-battle meeting.

As the Teyrn commanding the army, Loghain is responsible for devising the tactics that will be used in the Battle of Ostagar. Loghain's plan utilizes the anvil and hammer strategy; the Grey Wardens are to act as the anvil, drawing the main body of darkspawn, and Loghain's troops will flank the darkspawn once the beacon is lit.

Although Loghain advises him not to fight on the front lines, King Cailan refuses and insists on accompanying the Wardens. Cailan also insists on having the two newest Grey Wardens, the Warden and Alistair, light the beacon; Loghain and Uldred disagree, but acquiesce to the King's desire in the end. Despite a darkspawn attack on the beacon tower, the Wardens eventually manage to light the beacon; however, on seeing the lit beacon, Loghain orders his troops to retreat, leaving King Cailan and the Grey Wardens to die.

After the battle at Ostagar, he declares the Grey Wardens traitors and places a bounty on their heads. He also declares himself regent for his daughter Anora. This is not met with approval from the Bannorn, and civil war ensues.

With Arl Rendon Howe as his main advisor, Loghain takes drastic measures to secure Ferelden, such as allowing elves to be sold into slavery, and hiring Zevran Arainai, an Antivan Crow to assassinate the remaining Grey Wardens.

He refuses all Orlesian reinforcements, not believing Celene's intentions are honest. Neither Howe nor Anora can convince him otherwise. Rumours circulate that the reason he abandoned Cailan at Ostagar was that Cailan hoped to cement a union of kingdoms with the Orlesians by putting aside Anora, who was believed to be barren, and marrying the Empress Celene.

At the Landsmeet, Arl Eamon Guerrin and the Warden confront Loghain. If he wins the Landsmeet, Loghain will attempt to arrest the party and Arl Eamon, and a fight will ensue. If the Warden wins the Landsmeet, Loghain will refuse to abide by the Landsmeet's decision and try to stage a coup.

This fight can be avoided with enough support. Whether there is a fight or not, the matter of who will rule Ferelden is still uncertain. To resolve the impasse, a duel must be fought. The Warden can elect to fight this duel, or select another companion.

If anyone besides Alistair duels Loghain, he will yield after losing the duel, allowing the Warden to decide his fate. If this happens, Riordan will suggest he be recruited to the Grey Wardens; the Warden also has the option of personally executing Loghain or allowing Alistair to do it. If Alistair is chosen for the duel, he will kill Loghain after he yields without any other options.

If Loghain is recruited, the Warden can speak to him regarding a number of things, from his feelings about Ostagar to why Alistair was not acknowledged as an heir. Recruiting Loghain causes Alistair to leave the party, without exception.

If asked to consider Morrigan's offer, he will express reluctance to participate and request to be the one to sacrifice his life to strike the killing blow against the Archdemon, arguing that it is a form of redemption for his mistakes.

If Loghain survives the battle with the Archdemon: During the Post-Coronation celebrations he'll state that he has come to respect the Warden and reveals that Anora has now tasked him with recruiting new Grey Wardens.


Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening


This section contains spoilers for:
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening.


In Awakening (if a Warden was imported with Loghain alive at the end), he arrives at Vigil's Keep and states that he has been transferred to the city of Montsimmard to serve with the Orlesian Grey Wardens, by order of the Grey Warden leaders in Weisshaupt.

He hands the Warden-Commander the battleaxe Frenzy, ten sovereigns and a Grey Warden shield banner he found in the Denerim vault before departing. If the Male Human Noble married Anora, he will make a number of related comments, including suggesting plans for an heir.


Strategy

Any present party member can duel Loghain, except Dog. (Selecting Dog for the duel results in some amusing dialogue.) Any class can beat Loghain, with the right strategy.

Loghain has high physical and mental resistance, so it is difficult to knock him over or paralyze him. Unlike other boss level creatures, he is not explicitly immune to these effects.

He will use Shield Bash and War Cry to knock over the player, so high physical resistance is very helpful.

General

  • If you run around out of melee range for long enough, he will eventually bring out a crossbow and attack at range. He doesn't hit particularly hard, nor does he have any ranged abilities, so he can be quickly and easily taken down through ranged attacks if your chosen character is good at ranged combat.

Warrior

  • 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 Weapon and Shield talent tree should have little-to-no trouble with him with proper handling, due to the relatively high Dexterity and Strength requirements 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.
  • 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.

Mage

His high resistances make it unreliable to disable him with spells that have resistance checks, but unlike most bosses he is not immune to most disabling effects, so spells that do not have resistance checks are highly effective - Crushing Prison in particular is almost an "I win" button, and Mind Blast and Cone of Cold are also effective.

While he has high physical and mental resistance, he does not have spell or elemental resistance, so damage spells are quite effective compared to rogue and warrior attacks.

Rogue

  • 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 runs out of health. Loghain cannot attack stealthed opponents, but he can approach the Warden'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.
  • Dirty Fighting always works to stun Loghain.
  • A rogue who uses the Dirty Fighting talent to stun Loghain and then backstabs him should have little difficulty, providing they maintain distance when Loghain is not stunned.
  • If you've invested in the Dual-Weapon tree and you happen to get your hands on Concentrated Deathroot extract (whether from drops or Poison-Making), all you need to do is use the extract and fight Loghain. If your dexterity is high enough, you'll rarely miss, and he'll stay stunned throughout the whole battle.
  • If you invested in the Ranger Specialization you can use the trick to summon two pets at once and have both of them use overpower on Loghain. Make sure to click on the new tactics prompt when you summon each one, or you won't be able to use the skills. Using Dirty Fighting while Loghain is targeting your pets will insure an easy victory.
  • A Duelist/Assassin can very easily win this as a straight fight. You could probably win with just auto-attack, but using Dirty Fighting and Riposte to stun him will allow you to Backstab him if you have Coup De Grace to make the fight faster.

Gifts

Loghain is fond of maps; giving these as gifts will significantly boost his approval.


Name Notes Description

Ancient Map of the Imperium
Ancient Map of the Imperium
An antique, wine-stained map showing the boundaries of the ancient Tevinter Imperium.
Botanist's Map of Thedas
Botanist's Map of Thedas
Unobtainable via normal means
A botanist's map of Thedas, showing where rare plants may be found on the continent.
Current Map of Ferelden
Current Map of Ferelden
A clean and fairly up to date map showing the borders of modern Ferelden.
Map of the Anderfels
Map of the Anderfels
A beautiful illustrated map of the Anderfels that includes drawings of strange beasts.
Map of Occupied Ferelden
Map of Occupied Ferelden
An old map showing Ferelden as part of Orlais. Naturally, many such maps were destroyed when the Orlesians were driven out.

Initial statistics

Relative Attribute Weightings on Auto-Level: Strength 0.95, Dexterity 0.8, Willpower 0.5, Magic 0, Cunning 0.15, Constitution 1.6.

Champion: War Cry, Rally, Motivate, Superiority.

Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Bravery, Precise Striking, Taunt, Disengage, Perfect Striking.

Weapon and Shield Talents: Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Overpower, Assault, Shield Block, Shield Cover, Shield Tactics, Shield Mastery.

Note: His base strength and dexterity are not high enough to normally learn high-tier Weapon and Shield Talents. It is also noteworthy he will have Superiority even if you trigger Landsmeet before he reaches level 16 (marginally possible, if you postpone all side quests and all DLC content until after Landsmeet).

Initial gear

River Dane armor set River Dane armor set

Armor of the River Dane Armor of the River Dane

Armor of the River Dane Boots Armor of the River Dane Boots

Armor of the River Dane Gloves Armor of the River Dane Gloves

Loghain's Shield Loghain's Shield

Borders Yet to Be Borders Yet to Be

Plot skills

Skill Name Benefit Requirement
Inspired: Minor Strength +1 to strength 25% approval
Inspired: Moderate Strength +2 to strength 50% approval
Inspired: Major Strength +4 to strength 75% approval
Inspired: Massive Strength +6 to strength 90% approval
Note: These bonuses are non-cumulative, i.e., the companion will get a total bonus of +6, not of +13.

Quotes

Main article: Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir/Dialogue
  • (To city elf female Warden at Ostagar) "You're pretty for a Grey Warden. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong. The first Warden Maric brought to Ferelden was a woman, best warrior I've ever seen."
  • (To the dwarven Warden at Ostagar) "You're no surface dwarf. I can see it in your eye, smart of the Wardens to look for recruits in Orzammar."
  • (To the Dalish Warden at Ostagar) "I see you're a Dalish. Maric knew a Dalish elf once; never saw an equal with the bow before or since."
  • "How fortunate Maric did not live to see his son ready to hand Ferelden over to those who enslaved us for a century!"
  • "Your fascination with glory and legends will be your undoing, Cailan! We must attend to reality."
  • "My Lords and Ladies... Stand with me, and we will defeat even the Blight itself!"
  • (Upon losing the vote at the Landsmeet) "Traitors! Which of you fought the Orlesian Emperor when his troops flattened your fields and raped your wives!?
  • (At the Landsmeet, once the Warden defeats 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."
  • (At the Landsmeet, when the Warden defeats Loghain in the duel) "I underestimated you, Warden. I thought you were like Cailan, a child wanting to play at war. I was wrong. There's a strength in you I've not seen anywhere since Maric died."
  • (Before dying at the hands of Alistair or the Warden during the Landsmeet) "Daughters never grow up, Anora. They remain six years old with pig tails and skinned knees forever. Just make it quick, Warden. I can face the Maker, knowing Ferelden is in your hands."
  • (About Loghain's thoughts on the occupation of Ferelden) "Hate doesn't describe it, I see painted masked lords beat an old farmer to death with riding crops. To this day I don't know why, is that hate? I saw good sensible men fighting armored Chevaliers with nothing! No weapon, no armies, not even hope of success to see the occupation end, is that hate?"
  • "Please, I've done so much wrong. Allow me to do one last thing right." Before sacrificing himself to kill the archdemon.

Dialogue

  • Loghain: "Pray our king proves amenable to wisdom, if you're the praying sort."
  • Warden: "And if he doesn't?"
  • Loghain: "Then simply pray."
───────
  • Anora: "Did you kill Cailan?"
  • Loghain: "Cailan's death was his own doing."
───────
  • Loghain: "So there is something of Maric in you after all. Good."
  • Alistair: "Forget Maric. This is for Duncan." (kills Loghain)

Trivia

Teyrn Loghain and Ser Cauthrien

Teyrn Loghain and Ser Cauthrien at Ostagar

  • Loghain's last name, Mac Tir, may be a reference to mactìre, which is Gaelic (gàidhlig) for wolf.
  • In modern Irish "Mac" means son and "Tir" means land. Therefore his name would mean "the son of the land" which is arguably apt due to, not only his patriotic beliefs, but also because he is the son of a farmer. This is entirely unofficial, except the translation is correct.
  • In the novel, The Stolen Throne, Loghain forms and leads a skilled company of elven archers known as the 'Night Elves.' These were elves recruited from within the rebel army.
  • Loghain was featured in the December 2010 issue of Game Informer, listed as the 9th most influential video game character of the decade.
  • Loghain's Betrayal at Ostagar was listed in IGN's "Top 100 Video Game Moments" as #83
  • He married Celia, the daughter of a cabinet maker.

See also

Codex entry: Loghain Mac Tir Codex entry: Loghain Mac Tir

Codex entry: Arms of Mac Tir Codex entry: Arms of Mac Tir

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