Reining It In is an Act 3 Gangs side quest in Dragon Age II.
Acquisition
The Reining Men are trying to take over the Docks (Night). Killing the majority of them will reveal the location of their hideout and leader.
Walkthrough
Enter the Run Down Alley and defeat the gang and its leader Jess Varvel. Afterward, return to The Hanged Man and speak to A Friend for your reward.
Strategy
Jess Varvell is an ordinary mage, the kind that casts Barrier religiously. She is no threat provided she stays far away and you aggress her just enough so she'll activate her barrier. The others have decent armor and are immune to cold on Nightmare but will fall to a strong DPS party that can hit harder and faster than they can. Fenris, Anders, and Merrill/Varric have you covered, and if you've made it this far on Nightmare, the battle should pose no trouble.
Result
You can now walk around the Docks at night without being ambushed by thugs.
Rewards
- Random loot
Woodsman's Ire (dropped by Jess Varvel)- 2
- 500 XP
- Should this be the last of the night-time quests that you turn in: 5, 800 XP, and the Woodsman's Ire axe will be given to you by A Friend. She will then depart.
(2+5), 1300 XP (800+500), and the Woodsman's Ire axe. A Friend walks away after it's granted, and you receive the intended 5, 800 XP, and the Woodsman's Ire axe (again).Notes
- A Friend only appears at night, in the back room of The Hanged Man. She will continue to give out rewards each time the player clears out a band of thugs in the subsequent side quests.
- Like all nighttime gang quests, several waves of enemies will not appear unless you change area and come back. Also like all other such quests, the hideout location will be revealed even if 1-2 groups of gang members have not been cleared (so as not to be rendered impossible to complete if another quest npc is curretly blocking a group from spawning in a specific location).
- The thugs are generically named Slave Hunter.
Bugs
- The player may have to move around the hideout and all its small side areas repeatedly to get all of the enemies to appear.
- When leaving the Run Down Alley the player will appear in the western Warehouse District (map marker), despite entering in the eastern Warehouse District.
- * Looting Jess Varvel before killing all enemies (possible due to bug listed above) *may* prevent the quest from being completed and instead pointing you to a point outside the map. If this happens and you leave the area (at western Warehouse District due to bug listed above) you will be pointed back in again, without possibility to finish the quest. Even if you have looted Jess Varvel, you can still complete the quest by killing remaining enemies as discussed above.
- The Codex entry for completing the quest references the wrong area as it says, "According to all sources, most of the slavers have abandoned Lowtown."
See also
Gallery
