The Silverite Mine is located in the Wending Wood and is home to the Architect. It can be accessed after talking to Velanna near the Dalish tents; however, once the Warden-Commander has completed the area, it is not possible to venture back.
Involvement[]
Upon entering the mine, the Warden-Commander and their party wander into a trap set by the Architect and end up imprisoned with their equipment confiscated. The party is set free by Seranni and must escape using scavenged equipment. If the Warden-Commander passes a persuasion check on her (requires Master Coercion), she will give a key which unlocks a chest in the Architect's Room. The party's equipped items can be reclaimed from the Architect's Experimental subjects, and all unequipped items are found in a chest near the exit. There is a known bug that can completely destroy the Warden-Commander's equipped items; see bugs section below.
Quests[]
Map of the area
Main quest[]
Side quests[]
Characters[]
Hostile creatures[]
Enemies[]
Location of the secret room
- Darkspawn
- Genlock (Critter)
- Genlock alpha (Lieutenant)
- Genlock necromancer (Lieutenant)
- Hurlock (Critter and Normal)
- Hurlock alpha (Lieutenant)
- Hurlock emissary (Lieutenant)
- Hurlock Dragon-Tamer (Boss)
- Ghouls
- Experimental subject (Normal) - the Architect will confiscate the party's equipped gear and put them on the Experimental Subjects (see notes section below for possible bugs).
- Undead
- Animated Dead (Normal)
Notable items[]
- 12
- inside an unlocked chest which is found at the Architect's Lab gas pit. - 4 - secret room.
- Blackblade Helm - secret room.
- Blackblade Tunic - inside an unlocked chest which can be found at the Architect's Lab gas pit.
- Dragonspite - inside an unlocked chest which can be found at the Architect's Lab gas pit.
- First Enchanter's Cowl - found in a locked chest in the Architect's room which unlocks only with the Architect's Key.
- Landsmeet Shield - looted from the Dragon Thralls.
- Leg-Crusher - looted from the Hurlock Dragon-Tamer.
- Ring of Discipline - found in a locked chest in the Architect's room which unlocks only with the Architect's Key.
- Shock Treatment - looted from the Dragon Thralls.
- The Slippery Ferret's Gloves - looted from the Dragon Thralls.
- Elemental Trap Plans - found in a Pile of Books in the Architect's room.
- Masterpiece Frost Rune Tracing - Architect's Lab.
- Masterpiece Hale Rune Tracing - secret room.
- Paragon Frost Rune Tracing - Architect's Lab.
- Paragon Hale Rune Tracing - secret room.
- Architect's Key - from Seranni.
- Fresh Dragon Egg - found in the dragonling breeding room.
- Holding Cell Key - source: hurlock.
- Keenan's Wedding Ring - source: Hurlock Dragon-Tamer.
- Lyrium Sand - found in a corner in the opposite direction of the dragonling breeding room.
- Silverite Ore - found in the room before the Darkspawn Necromancer encounter.
- inside an unlocked 
Companion Gifts[]
- Shiny Malachite - source: stones.
- Phylacteries: A History Written in Blood - Architect's Lab.
- Spyglass - source: soldier's corpse.
Special objects[]
- Puzzle at the Architect's Lab - solved by extinguishing all fires.
- Ballista - used to topple the statue on the darkspawn. Velanna, Anders, Sigrun and Nathaniel will advice to use it, while Oghren will make a comment about it as a weapon for cowards and elderly women.
- Secret room - located just after the room with the ballista-toppled statue (located on the right while heading south through the double doors).
- Chest (Personal Effects) - found beside Armaas; the Architect will confiscate your unequipped items and put them in this chest.
Codex entries[]
- Codex entry: A Miner's Letter
- Codex entry: The Architect's Journal
- Codex entry: A Letter from the Architect
- Codex entry: The Architect's Notes
Bugs[]
- There is a bug where equipment, armor and/or weapons the Warden-Commander was wearing are unrecoverable after waking up in the Holding Cells. You will know the bug has occurred if the main character is naked instead of clothed like the others and only three Experimental Subjects spawn. It is advisable to save before entering the mines in case this does happen, as the only way to fix it is to reload the save and try again, or take off all equipment before entering. If you do that, you can then retrieve your gear from the chest beside Armaas. In some cases you will retain all items in your inventory, and only lose equipped items. Taking all items off each character has caused all inventory items to be lost in some cases. This bug has not been fixed on the PC version and still persists with the latest update 1.05. There is an unofficial preventive fix for this issue.
- The bug seems tied to specific pieces of equipment or combinations, perhaps those imported from other campaigns. Removing even one piece sometimes fixes the issue.
- You can also just manually add your items using the console.
- The bug may occur when you have a secondary weapon equipped. Try emptying your secondary weapon slot if the bug persists.
- The bug seems tied to specific pieces of equipment or combinations, perhaps those imported from other campaigns. Removing even one piece sometimes fixes the issue.
- It is possible to enter the Silverite Mine before talking to Velanna. If you are standing close enough, the cursor can select two doors. One is titled "Door" and cannot be picked but another is labeled "Silverite Mine" and can be picked easily and entered, bypassing the other. You will still be imprisoned by the Architect if you explore inside, however, it is not recommended to evade Velanna for this quest due to possible unintended consequences. If you enter without Velanna, it will appear as if the plot is carrying on normally. However, once you exit the mine and recruit Velanna, she will ask that the party go into the mines to find the darkspawn. Upon reentering the mine, you will not be captured by the Architect, nor will you be able to enter the main mine. It's possible to continue through the game normally by proceeding with the next quest, however, it is highly advisable to recruit Velanna before entering the mine.
- If you recruit Velanna (she will be locked in your party) but instead of going directly to the Silverite Mine, you go the Vigil's Keep to sell a few items, you will be able to choose not to take Velanna with you to the mine. When you go back to the Silverite Mine and finish that quest (with 3 other different party members), after seeing The Architect, Velanna will appear in your party as a 5th party member. You will not be able to directly control her or her powers, but you still have access to Velanna's tactics menu. Probably, if you go to some place where you can choose your party members, this bug will disappear.
- If the experimental subject does not see you when your party begins battle with the darkspawn surrounding it, as by beginning with large area of attack spells, it may not become hostile, making it impossible to kill and so retrieve your equipment. Running headlong into battle so it sees you early in the fight seems to avoid the problem.