The Blanketfort (crying and throwing up) - The Official Solas Thread [Spoilers]

Information on companion approval and disapproval for Solas

[Taken from the strategy guide and originally posted by RebbyWriter on the BioWare forum (she also corrected errors made by the guide following feedback in the thread); posted here as part of the Solas thread info preservation effort.]

"The key to winning approval with Solas is to show that you are thoughtful and inclined to see shades of gray in the world. Declaring things to be simply black-and-white matters will earn Solas’ disapproval quickly, but asking many questions and looking for more information will impress him. He prefers the thoughtful approach in most situations and does not approve of you claiming to be sent by Andraste in order to win alliances. You can improve Solas’ opinion of you by finding elven artifacts and activating them in order to get a more accurate measurement of the strength of the veil. These are scattered around the world, but Solas will point them out to you when you are near them." 

[Note: the following list is not an exhaustive list of things Solas approves and disapproves of, but the approval/disapproval results of various major decisions in game]

Fate of the Rebel Mages:

- Mages as conscripts, greatly disapproves

- Mages as allies, greatly approves

Fate of the Templars:

- Disband Templars, greatly approves

- Ally with Templars, greatly disapproves

Inquisitor’s Resolve (speech given by PC on being made Inquisitor):

- Servant of faith, disapproves

- Do it for my own power, greatly disapproves

- Lead them to vengeance, slightly disapproves

- Because it is right, slightly approves

- [Special option] An elf will stand for us all, slightly approves

Fate of the Wardens:

- Join Inquisition, greatly disapproves

- Exiled, greatly approves

New Orlesian Leadership:

- Support Briala, slightly approves

- Florianne arrested, slightly approves

Temple of Mythal:

- Complete the elven ruins, approves

- Skip the elven ruins, greatly disapproves

- Ally with sentinels, greatly approves

- Do not ally with sentinels, greatly disapproves

Well of Sorrows

Inquisitor drinks, disapproves

Morrigan drinks, approves

Paraphrasing Solas portion, w/ parenthetical comments by me: Interviewer mad b/c Solas absconded w/ awesome gear. SO MANY QUESTIONS. Does the Dread Wolf inhabit the body of an elf? Weekes can't answer, just says there are different interpretations. Solas interesting, fascinating, multi-dimensional (WE KNOW THIS ALREADY). Solas is sort of the Big Bad, right? He certainly has the possibility of being that. Well he did give Corypheus the orb after all. PW: For me...I'm really bad at writing bad guys. I can turn in a serviceable villain. My villains say mean, hurtful things. If you tell me to write someone who is morally conflicted or someone who is doing something awful for a moral reason, I can really dig my teeth into it. Draws parallels btwn Mordin (from ME) and Solas. "In the same way, Solas has done some unfortunate things." Interviewer points out Solas seems to genuinely care for characters based on his interactions. Weekes: Well yeah, he doesn't kick puppies (unlike that rat bastard Blackwall). He rarely suggests anything morally ambiguous. He really approves of intelligence and thoughtfulness. But yeah, he is always the person who looks for thoughtful solution. If you want to understand Solas, listen to the things he brings up on his own [in the banters]. He is one of the strongest believers in freedom of personal thought; the Qun is one of the things that makes him angriest in the game. Makes note of explosion of emotion during "All New, Faded for Her." Gets very, very angry about the Wardens' plan. "Super bad plan." Wasn't that the Architect's plan?

Can I ask you about the Solas romance? It was not originally planned. Why do it? PW: I feel like the honest answer will make people grumpy with me. IN A WAY, IT WAS TO MAKE IT SADDER. (OH GOD.) HI, Solasmancers. I'm so sorry guys. If you want to see the utter sadness of Solas, it's the playthrough in which you romance him. I hope it's obvious his feelings are not fake and he cares deeply about you, and he's one step away from telling you everything. HE ALMOST TELLS YOU. Then he chickens out on it. Then he kisses you, and is ready to lose himself, but then pulls back again. He realizes he must break it off, or betray himself. AND IT IS SO SAD. It has broken the hearts of many players and it broke my heart when I wrote it.

PW then reveals he cried while he wrote the romance scenes.

HERE'S SOME QUOTES (pls forgive typos)

There is an amazing level of difficulty and opportunity in writing a character who you know the entire time has a giant side to that character that we're never going to show you until the stinger - until the post credits scene. Dave and I worked together on him pretty heavily because yes, he is somewhat involved in the critical path of the game and the main plot.

For me, I'm really bad at writing bad guys. If you give me, "Hey write a villain." I will turn in a servicable villain and he will probably say snarky things about you. Like, I was the main writer on Here Lies the Abyss, so if you remember when the demon speaking with Cory's voice is taunting you and all your followers, and Hawke and whichever Warden ally is with you... that's me writing a villain. That's about the best I got.

But if you tell me to write someone who is morally conflicted, or someone who is doing something something awful for a - what he thinks - is a fully moral reason, that's where I can really dig my teeth into it. I kinda feel the same way about Mordin from Mass Effect.

----

He doesn't kick puppies. He is not the person who is going to - he very rarely, in fact, will even suggest something morally questionable. He might approve of it, but what he really approves of is intelligence and thoughtfulness, even if that intelligence and thoughtfulness is coupled with something that is ruthless or something that is not what you would think of as the nice guy route. It's just: You've thought this through, the most important thing to do right now is eliminate these bad guys - okay, good!

But yeah, he is always the person who's going to look for more thoughtful solutions. He's someone who, if you've looked at his banters, if you want to understand Solas, listen to the things he brings up on his own.

He is one of the strongest believers in freedom of personal thought. And yeah, the Qun is one of the thigns that I'd say gets him angriest in the game. If you look at the few places he gets really, really angry in the game, it's when talking to Iron Bull, especially if you sacrifice the Chargers. Solas and Bull have one last banter, and Solas cuts him to the bone. It's watching the idiot mages bind his buddy and turn his buddy into a demon. And he does not like what the Wardens are doing.

----

SOLAS ROMANCE STUFF

The romance WAS a later addition.

The romance was meant to make EVERYTHING SADDER??? I HATE YOU PATRICK.

You get to see that he DOES care about you. It's obvious, I hope, that his feelings for you are not fake, and he cares about you deeply, and he is one step from telling you the truth about himself. And GDL, his voice is just amazing, and he did a fantastic job on the delivery. There's one key moment where he says you deserve the truth, and he just breaks a tiny bit on that line, that's the part where he almost tells you. Then he twists it into telling you about the vallaslin instead.

He chickens out on it, because in that moment, and he's about to tell you, pulls back at the last moment, tells you about the vallaslin instead, goes in on the kiss and is just so ready to just lose himself and just forget about the past. And then he has to push back. The part where he steps back and his face changes because he knows he has to break it off right there or he's going to have betrayed himself - I just love that. And it is so sad, and it has broken the hearts of many players, and it broke my heart when I wrote it.

Solas hating tea was Patrick's own chance to justify his own personal dislike of tea. LMFAO

EDIT: The lore friendly reason is that caffeinated stuff makes it harder for Solas to cross into the Fade when he sleeps.

Patrick wrote Here lies the Abyss

Solas is morally conflicted, he has done some "unfortunate things"

Patrick says Solas approves of intelligence and thoughtfulness (even if coupled with something ruthless)

"If you want to understand Solas, listen to the things that he brings up on his own" (banter), he believes in freedom of personal thought,

He gets really angry when talking to Iron Bull (especially the banter if you sacrifice the chargers), the other thing he hates is what the Wardens are doing

Solas romance was to make us sad

He does care about you and cares deeply, he's one step from telling the truth about himself (he's says it's THE TRUTH PART DAAAAMMNNN)

He wants to loose himself and forget about the past in the last scene and has to push back.

Comparing Mordin and Solas in one part.

Another part: Rarely will suggest morally questionable, but will approve of it.

More thoughtful solutions.

Listen to things he brings up on his own.

Strongly believes in the freedom in personal thought.

Doesn't like the Warden's plan. "Thinks it's a bad plan"

Why romance?

"Sadder. Hi Solasmancers, I'm Sorry."

Feelings are not fake and he cares deeply.

Was going to forget about the past and just go with Quizzy. "Break it off or have betrayed himself"

He was going to tell Quizzy the truth about being the Dread Wolf.

"Did you cry writing Solas?"

Yes

"Does solas hate green and black tea?"

His own personal dislike to tea projected on Solas.

Solas hates caffeinated because it makes it harder to process the fade.