Raiders on the Cliffs

Raiders on the Cliffs is an Act 2 secondary quest in Dragon Age II.

Acquisition

You can trigger this quest by walking south, past the location where the Qunari patrol is attacked by abominations, along the path that leads to the southernmost section of the Wounded Coast area in Act 2.

Walkthrough

Approach Lieutenant Harley to hear an appraisal of the situation. Both Aveline and Isabela have interesting reactions to this quest, so you may wish to bring them.

You have three choices:

Fight alongside the guardsmen. Players who favor diplomatic or aggressive speech responses can inspire these allies before the fight begins. This is without question the easiest option.

Walk away. You can return to complete the quest later, but Aveline, if present, will express mild disapproval. You can also head into the marauder camp of your own volition.

Attack the raiders without support from the guardsmen. This is difficult, but not intractably so. Aveline will deprecate this choice: why can't her guards contribute to the fight?

Note: It is possible for the player to talk to Lieutenant Harley again after the initial dialogue. Selecting any dialogue options not already selected will add friendship/rivalry to those already selected, however once the guards have been convinced to help once, they will always help even if they are later told to stay down.

There are seven (7) Standard-ranked traps (20 cunning to detect and disarm - 100 XP/trap = 700 XP total) and two (2) Complex-ranked traps (30 cunning to detect and disarm - 150 XP/trap = 300 XP total). If fighting with the guards, they may run over the traps, costing the player the experience from disarming some if not all of them. However, the traps are mostly on the outer perimeter, so if a rogue pushes forward enough they can disarm them before the guards cross them. There is also a single Complex-ranked chest behind the raiders.

Note: Whether you have the guards' support or are fighting alone, you can skim the outer perimeter with ranged characters and pick off the lesser groups of raiders without aggro'ing the more difficult Fell Orden and Thug. They tend to have the high ground and the natural obstructions favor their aim while obscuring yours, so the guards can be useful in this regard, as they will advance on them and attack in melee. They can run right past Fell Orden without aggro'ing him, so as long as your party is instructed to hold position you can use the guards to take down virtually all of the raiders while the more dangerous ones do nothing. Fell Orden himself has a detection zone which seems to be right in front of him and to his left, allowing him to be completely sneaked up on by taking the eastern route. Lastly, dropping out of combat causes the guards to return to their starting position, regardless of how deep into the Marauders' territory they are.

The most dangerous targets are Fell Orden, a blood mage, and an Elite-ranked assassin. Attacking Orden with all characters causes him to die very quickly, provided he can't get off a Hemorrhage-like AoE to utterly obliterate your party while regenerating his own health. As a "leader" blood mage, he is resistant to spirit damage (immune on Nightmare difficulty), whereas lesser blood mages are highly vulnerable to it, so keep this in mind. The raiders are resistant to Nature damage and vulnerable to electricity.

Orden drops the Swatch of the Jackyard (which begins the related side quest), the Robe of the Notorious Pirate, and the Flex-Chain - Guardsman Pattern armor upgrade for Aveline. When done looting the bodies and the surrounding area, visit the Viscount's Keep and speak to Lieutenant Jalen for your reward.

Result

Hawke has cleared the Wounded Coast of a dangerous group of raiders and assisted the guard. Evets of Evets Marauders will attempt to exact revenge during a future visit (Act 3).

Rewards

Random loot and (about) 300 XP (for fight) & 1000 XP (quest update)
Flex-Chain – Guardsman Pattern (extra rune slot for Aveline Vallen)
Robe of the Notorious Pirate (dropped by Fell Orden)
3 and 1000 XP (quest completion) - when you turn in the quest to Lieutenant Jalen (Viscount's Keep).

Friendship and rivalry

Telling the guards to stay put:
- Aveline: rivalry (+5).

If Hawke works with the guards and increases the morale of the men in a diplomatic fashion:
- Aveline: friendship (+10).

If Hawke works with the guards and boosts the men's morale in an aggressive fashion:
- Aveline: rivalry (+10).

Notes

If the quest is refused or ignored, Hawke's journal updates at the start of Act 3, stating that Harley and her guards were left to die.

Bugs

ps3xbox360 In unpatched versions of the game the player may repeatedly talk to Lieutenant Harley, with each end of the conversation netting friendship/rivalry points with Aveline.
pc As of 1.03, if the party leave the Wounded Coast in act 2 before completing this quest, it will glitch and won't complete. This happens even if the quest has not yet been received.(confirmed in 1.04)
xbox360 In some cases, if you fail to finish this quest during your first run through the Wounded Coast in Act 2, one of the raiders will stare at the battlefield, non-moving, non-targetable and the quest will go unfinished.
pc 1.03, Disarming the first group of traps to the west sometimes leaves one or more traps "flashing" as if you haven't disarmed them, and you will be unable to click them again. However, the traps are inactive as they should be, and XP is earned normally.
Hawke may not receive friendship points from Aveline following the process mentioned above. ^{[citation needed]}