Questioning Beliefs (Anders Act 2)

Questioning Beliefs
Act	2
Location	Anders's Clinic (Darktown)
Quest Giver	Anders
End	Anders
Previous	Dissent
Appearances	Dragon Age II

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

Non-Romance

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 help and support.

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 (+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 Sarcastic 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 (+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 sarcastic and aggressive choices result in the same retorts from Anders as the previous choices, with no approval change and (+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 (+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.

Selecting 2 "tactful" options: (+10)

Selecting 2 "aggressive" options: (+15)

For Rivalry (pursuing rivalmance):

If Hawke asks Anders about his writing (question mark), 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.

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 (+15). Flirting with Anders results in (+15).
• At the third choice, replying with "You're an abomination." results in (+10). Replying with "You have to control it." results in (+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 he/she is already in a romance with another companion, 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)