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Questioning Beliefs is an Act 2 companion quest for Anders in Dragon Age II.

Acquisition[]

The quest becomes available at 50% friendship or rivalry after completing Dissent.

Walkthrough[]

The conversation is different for a friend and a rival:

Friendship[]

If a friend, Anders is laying out milk for the cats. He thanks Hawke for their help and support. If Hawke is a mage, Anders will thank them for providing an example of the good mages can do.

  • Diplomatic "It's the right thing to do."[confirmation needed] Friendship (+10).
  • Humorous "It wasn't on purpose." Friendship (+5).
  • Aggressive "I'm not doing it for you." Rivalry (+5).

Anders says that you make him think he can really lead a revolution.

If Hawke chooses the investigate option "A revolution?" then Anders says that no small change will address the injustice that mages face and that the Chantry needs to be overturned. He further states that mages will always be born, but that templars were made by men and can be unmade.

If Hawke chooses the investigate option "Was the Circle that bad?" then Anders says that in the Circle, they are told that magic is a sin and a sign of the Maker's hatred and that suicide is the most common death for mages.

  • Diplomatic "I'll be with you": Friendship (+10).
  • Humorous "You don't have small goals."
  • Aggressive "You need more self-control": Rivalry (+5).

Anders then ends the conversation by saying that he couldn't do this without Hawke's support and that he knows they won't let him lose himself to the spirit of vengeance inside of him.

Romance[]

If pursuing the friendship romance, you can select one of two flirts in the first conversation ("I'm doing it for you") or ("I root for the little guy.") If you haven't previously told him that you wanted to remain friends only, then he says you can’t tease him like this and expect him to resist forever.

Hawke can then choose another one of two flirts ("Kiss me.") or ("I like to tease you."). Anders kisses you and says that he doesn’t want to die before he tells you how he feels. No matter what you say, Anders says that if your door is open tonight, he’ll come to you, and that if your door is closed then he’ll know that you took his warning. Friendship (+25).

You can choose "Get a hold of yourself!" to break the romance. Friendship (+10).

Rivalry[]

If a rival, Anders is writing a manifesto to convince Hawke that the Circle is abusive and unjust (accusing them of supporting it even if Hawke resolved several certain quests along a "mage-friendly" route). If prompted, he reads it aloud.

The first dialogue choice has no effect on approval, unless "What are you writing?" is selected, then the top right option changes to "That's a good point," yielding Friendship (+5).

Anders will state that the Chantry's laws are based on fear of an empire that crumbled a thousand years ago, that "change will not come in increments. There must be a revolution." A new choice opens up:

The humorous choice ("That's ambitious") yields no effect on approval. Anders lightens his tone slightly, responding that he has been given gifts beyond those of normal men, that if he doesn't use them for good he might as well muck cattle barns.

The aggressive choice ("You're mad") leads Hawke to say "You've lost your mind if you think you can single-handedly destroy the Chantry." Anders responds that it won't be single-handed, that "sooner or later, everyone in Kirkwall will have to pick a side." The result is Rivalry (+15).

The diplomatic choice ("Is this Justice talking?") leads to a third dialogue about the spirit. Anders defends it, saying that it is a force of absolute good and if it disapproves of something, it is wrong:

The humorous and aggressive choices result in the same retorts from Anders as the previous choices, with no approval change and Rivalry (+15) respectively. The diplomatic choice allows Hawke to call out what Justice did to Ella, at which Anders will concede that they're right. He resolves to make sure as few innocents are hurt as possible, resulting in Rivalry (+10).

Romance[]

If Hawke has flirted with Anders up to this point, Anders will profess his reluctant love and may passionately kiss Hawke, depending on the dialogue options chosen.

If Hawke asks Anders about his writing (investigate), he reads some of it aloud, leading to further discussion about mages.

  • Choosing the humorous dialogue option after he reads his manifesto ("You need to lighten up") will prompt Anders to confess his love and kiss you, even if you didn't choose any flirtatious lines during this quest.
  • If you choose the aggressive option ("I'm not arguing with you"), you will have two flirt options (which lead to the kiss) and one "end romance" option.
  • Choosing the diplomatic option avoids all romance options. Do not pick this if you want to pursue rivalmance.

Selecting 2 "diplomatic" options: Friendship (+10)
Selecting 2 "aggressive" options: Rivalry (+15)

These rivalry romance options (after investigation) will only be available if:

1. You flirted with Anders in conversation at any point before this quest or
2. Did not reject Anders (did not opt to "end romance") in Talk to Anders after he expresses romantic interest in you (after picking the diplomatic option "You did the right thing" in Talk to Anders)

Otherwise, no rivalry dialogue lines during this conversation trigger the romance scene. You must "express interest" (flirt icon) in any dialogue quest at some point before this quest to "activate" rivalmance if he did not flirt with you before.

If Hawke declined a romance with Anders before:

  • At the first choice, replying with "Is this going anywhere?" results in no approval gain and the end of the conversation.
  • At the second choice, replying with "The mages should submit." results in Rivalry (+15). Flirting with Anders results in Rivalry (+15).
  • At the third choice, replying with "You're an abomination." results in Rivalry (+10). Replying with "You have to control it." results in Friendship (+5).

Notes[]

  • (Rivalry) - Anders's dialogue is slightly different for a Hawke who can pursue rivalmance vs. one who has been "locked out," with an extra line (If I convince no one else... I'll at least have you by my side...) in response to Hawke's first line of dialogue (regardless of tone).
  • (Friendship) - If Hawke attempts to flirt with Anders but is already in a romance with another companion besides Isabela, he will ask Hawke to stop teasing him, as it is already been made known to him that their relationship is only friendly. Whether he is referring to Hawke's already existing romance partner is unclear. Only a single flirt option will be available in this case; there will be no usual "I did it for you", only "I root for the little guy". (Occurred when already in a rivalry romance with Merrill).
  • (Friendship) - (In a romance with Isabela.) There were two flirt options on the first wheel "I'm doing it for you" and "You're cute when you rebel." Both lead to him saying that Hawke can't tease him like this and expect him to resist forever. There are two flirt options after that "Kiss me." and "I like to tease you." Both lead to him kissing Hawke. (There is a third option to end the romance and the conversation ends immediately.) Any of the next options will result in Anders coming to Hawke's Estate next time you visit there at night. After he arrives you have two flirt options and one option to end the romance again. No matter which flirt option you pick Anders will ask about Isabela. To respond, there are two flirt options, one option to end the romance, and another to lie to him. All except the ending romance leads to him spending the night. Afterward you can end the romance or choose one of the first two options and he will ask to move in with Hawke. If you say no, the romance ends otherwise he'll move in. Be aware that pursuing any kind of romance with Anders during this quest may end your romance with Isabela permanently (even if you dump him right after) so proceed with caution.
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