[GUIDE] Paragon of her Kind - Branka, Caridin and the Anvil - To Golem or Not to Golem?
Sept 13, 2018 11:51:42 GMT
mousestalker, docsteely, and 1 more like this
Post by Heimdall on Sept 13, 2018 11:51:42 GMT
At the end of a rather long and tedious journey, you’ll find yourself confronted with two supposed dead Paragons and some choices to make:
- Do you support Caridin and destroy the Anvil of the Void?
- Do you support Branka and keep the Anvil?
- Do you support Branka and convince her to destroy the Anvil?
Let’s get into the consequences of these choices...
Please note: There are a myriad of different epilogue cards in Dragon Age Origins, many of which don't hold true with the story as it progresses through DA2 and DAI. To get round this BioWare has said they were merely rumours and not hard facts. Thus, information past the ending of DAO should not be considered hard canon.
Branka:
The first thing you need to know about supporting Branka is that doing so will cause Shale to turn on you to defend Caridin if she’s in the party. If you want to keep her, you can’t bring her with you on this one. You can still complete her quest if you leave her in camp, but when she asks you about Caridin you must not reveal that it was because he was protecting the Anvil. Her quest will trigger the next time you take her to the Deep Roads.
Now, if you don’t mind alienating Shale and possibly missing out on the rest of her quest, you may wish to side with Branka to preserve the Anvil in the hopes of furthering your fight against the darkspawn. You will be able to use her golems in your final battle, if that is your choice. You may also want to keep her alive for Oghren’s sake, if you’re particularly fond of him. It is the whole reason he came with you.
If you choose to side with Branka and preserve the Anvil, Branka will quickly master Caridin’s techniques and use it to provide Orzammar with golems, for awhile anyway.
If Bhelen is crowned king, he will happily provide her with the necessary “volunteers”. However, Branka eventually grew tired of providing golems exclusively for Bhelen and refused to do so. After an ill advised attempt to seize the anvil by Bhelen’s men, Branka shut herself and the anvil away. Years of siege prove fruitless.
If Harrowmont is king, having golems helps him crush Bhelen’s rebellion definitively. He eventually forbids the practice of using dwarves to produce golems. But the demand for new golems in the Deep Roads was endless, so secret surface raids to capture elves and humans came into practice. When these were discovered, a brief war ensued between Ferelden and Orzammar, with the city gates being sealed. Despite the dwarves being more isolated than ever, Branka insists that the raids continue.
Branka can be persuaded to destroy the Anvil, but she will commit suicide immediately afterward. Unsurprising, given her obsession and how much she had already sacrificed to find the anvil. The end result is the same as if you sided with Caridin, so it seems a bit pointless unless you have some RP justification.
Caridin:
The morality of converting fleshy beings into stone and steel automatons against the darkspawn threat is debatable, especially if the process is involuntary. If you agree with Caridin that it isn’t worth it, and he’s in a position to know better than most, then that’s reason enough to support him. Shale is another reason, as she insists on supporting Caridin whatever you do. Don’t worry too much about Oghren, despite his pleading he’s surprisingly level headed about the situation. He knew how crazy Branka was and he won’t turn on you for her.
Whether you helped Caridin or convinced Branka to destroy the anvil, the result will effectively be the same, except that Shale will side with Caridin if you don’t.
The obvious consequence of this choice is that Orzammar doesn’t get to bolster it’s forces with golems, you’ll have to settle for dwarven warriors in the final battle, but it doesn’t stop them from trying. With either king, they send out forces to look for and study the anvil to relearn how to create golems. The result of these studies leads to the events of The Golems of Amgarrak DLC (Note: this DLC happens regardless, if Branka lives the goal is to get around her control of the anvil and research alternatives)
Conclusion:
Branka will drop a shield and a mace if killed. Caridin will drop a shield, an amulet, and a master lightning rune. None of these items are game changers in the grand scheme so they probably won’t be a determiner of your choice.
The price of golem creation presents not only moral but significant political problems. Consider that the sort of people controlling this process aren’t the most stable. Choosing to save the Anvil is a high risk high reward choice, you’re effectively betting that bolstering their forces with golems will give the dwarves a better chance against the dark spawn in the long run, assuming they can weather the political consequences.
Siding with Caridin is the safer choice in the short term, not least because Shale won’t try to grind you into bloody paste. It also won’t alienate the allies of Orzammar.
Of course this may just come down to how well your character can stomach the idea of people being sacrificed to make golems.
Once you get back to Orzammar, you’ll have more choices to make, more on that in Bhelen or Harrowmont - Who Should Rule Orzammar?
- Do you support Caridin and destroy the Anvil of the Void?
- Do you support Branka and keep the Anvil?
- Do you support Branka and convince her to destroy the Anvil?
Let’s get into the consequences of these choices...
Please note: There are a myriad of different epilogue cards in Dragon Age Origins, many of which don't hold true with the story as it progresses through DA2 and DAI. To get round this BioWare has said they were merely rumours and not hard facts. Thus, information past the ending of DAO should not be considered hard canon.
Branka:
The first thing you need to know about supporting Branka is that doing so will cause Shale to turn on you to defend Caridin if she’s in the party. If you want to keep her, you can’t bring her with you on this one. You can still complete her quest if you leave her in camp, but when she asks you about Caridin you must not reveal that it was because he was protecting the Anvil. Her quest will trigger the next time you take her to the Deep Roads.
Now, if you don’t mind alienating Shale and possibly missing out on the rest of her quest, you may wish to side with Branka to preserve the Anvil in the hopes of furthering your fight against the darkspawn. You will be able to use her golems in your final battle, if that is your choice. You may also want to keep her alive for Oghren’s sake, if you’re particularly fond of him. It is the whole reason he came with you.
If you choose to side with Branka and preserve the Anvil, Branka will quickly master Caridin’s techniques and use it to provide Orzammar with golems, for awhile anyway.
If Bhelen is crowned king, he will happily provide her with the necessary “volunteers”. However, Branka eventually grew tired of providing golems exclusively for Bhelen and refused to do so. After an ill advised attempt to seize the anvil by Bhelen’s men, Branka shut herself and the anvil away. Years of siege prove fruitless.
If Harrowmont is king, having golems helps him crush Bhelen’s rebellion definitively. He eventually forbids the practice of using dwarves to produce golems. But the demand for new golems in the Deep Roads was endless, so secret surface raids to capture elves and humans came into practice. When these were discovered, a brief war ensued between Ferelden and Orzammar, with the city gates being sealed. Despite the dwarves being more isolated than ever, Branka insists that the raids continue.
Branka can be persuaded to destroy the Anvil, but she will commit suicide immediately afterward. Unsurprising, given her obsession and how much she had already sacrificed to find the anvil. The end result is the same as if you sided with Caridin, so it seems a bit pointless unless you have some RP justification.
Caridin:
The morality of converting fleshy beings into stone and steel automatons against the darkspawn threat is debatable, especially if the process is involuntary. If you agree with Caridin that it isn’t worth it, and he’s in a position to know better than most, then that’s reason enough to support him. Shale is another reason, as she insists on supporting Caridin whatever you do. Don’t worry too much about Oghren, despite his pleading he’s surprisingly level headed about the situation. He knew how crazy Branka was and he won’t turn on you for her.
Whether you helped Caridin or convinced Branka to destroy the anvil, the result will effectively be the same, except that Shale will side with Caridin if you don’t.
The obvious consequence of this choice is that Orzammar doesn’t get to bolster it’s forces with golems, you’ll have to settle for dwarven warriors in the final battle, but it doesn’t stop them from trying. With either king, they send out forces to look for and study the anvil to relearn how to create golems. The result of these studies leads to the events of The Golems of Amgarrak DLC (Note: this DLC happens regardless, if Branka lives the goal is to get around her control of the anvil and research alternatives)
Conclusion:
Branka will drop a shield and a mace if killed. Caridin will drop a shield, an amulet, and a master lightning rune. None of these items are game changers in the grand scheme so they probably won’t be a determiner of your choice.
The price of golem creation presents not only moral but significant political problems. Consider that the sort of people controlling this process aren’t the most stable. Choosing to save the Anvil is a high risk high reward choice, you’re effectively betting that bolstering their forces with golems will give the dwarves a better chance against the dark spawn in the long run, assuming they can weather the political consequences.
Siding with Caridin is the safer choice in the short term, not least because Shale won’t try to grind you into bloody paste. It also won’t alienate the allies of Orzammar.
Of course this may just come down to how well your character can stomach the idea of people being sacrificed to make golems.
Once you get back to Orzammar, you’ll have more choices to make, more on that in Bhelen or Harrowmont - Who Should Rule Orzammar?