Goatmoose

Dragon Age: Origins is an epic BioWare game. For years, few games have consumed me the way Dragon Age has eaten the past several weeks of my life. Having invested 120+ hours over several playthroughs and having nabbed all but one achievement (which is rumored to be glitched), I feel confident in giving suggestions for how to nab the many achievements available in the game. There are a good many, some of which will require mad amounts of time, but with the right resources they are all attainable no matter what your skill level.

Since there are an infinite number of ways to play the game, tailor your character and progress through the story, any suggestions on this page are by no means the ONLY way to get an achievement. Having played the game with every character type and having seen the story from each angle, I will merely suggest routes by which I unlocked the points myself. If you have a suggestion to add or a different/better/easier way to unlock something, please let me know via the comments and I’ll toss it in the post.

**There will be some spoiler stuff within this list, so be aware.**

Last of Your Line 10
Completed the Human Noble origin story
Each character type has an origin story. First you pick your race – human, dwarf or elf – then you pick a class. The human noble is the first of six options. If there are certain class combinations you don’t wish to play the entire game with, that’s okay, you can do the origin story then quit. Each origin story takes around an hour (some less, some a bit more) and completes when you arrive with Duncan at Ostagar.

Corrupted 10
Completed the Dalish Elf origin story
Arrive at Ostagar with Duncan.

Conscripted 10
Completed the City Elf origin story
Arrive at Ostagar with Duncan.

Harrowed 10
Completed the Magi origin story
Arrive at Ostagar with Duncan.

Casteless 10
Completed the Dwarf Commoner origin story
Arrive at Ostagar with Duncan.

Kinslayer 10
Completed the Dwarf Noble origin story
Arrive at Ostagar with Duncan.

Last of the Wardens 20
Completed Ostagar
Ostagar is the first mission area outside of the origin story. If you play the game, this one will unlock naturally as it is a story-related quest. No real strategy here. Since it’s the first part, it’s easy and will end quickly.

Standard-Bearer 20
Used the Grey Warden treaties to recruit all possible allies
This is story-related. The point of the bulk of the game is to recruit allies using these treaties. The four main Blight quests deal with the treaties, and completing each one will lead you to this achievement. Each location you travel to has different groups you can ally with and recruit (for example, at the Circle Tower, you can side with the mages or the Templars. In the Brecilian Forest, you can side with the elves or the werewolves). There are four treaties to accumulate – Circle Tower, Brecilian Forest, Redcliffe and Orzammar. Since 80% of the game is working towards getting these allies, that’s all that’s worth saying right here. If you have specific questions about anything quest-related, post in the comments.

Hero of Redcliffe 20
Completed “The Arl of Redcliffe”
This is one of the quests en route to assembling your army of allies. You can’t miss it as it is a story requirement. It will be unlocked after you seek the Urn of Sacred Ashes and handle the situation with Arl Eamon.

Rabble-Rouser 20
Completed “The Landsmeet”
The Landsmeet occurs late in the game, after you acquire all allies and Eamon moves to Denerim. Another story-based achievement that you can’t miss.

Mercenary 20
Complete 15 job-board quests
Job board quests can be found in Redcliffe Village, Denerim, Lake Calenhad Docks and Lothering. They come in various forms – Chantry board quests, Mages Collective quests, Blackstone Irregulars quests, Antevan Crows quests and Favors for Interested Parties. There are plenty more than 15 available and if you aim to complete as many as possible, the achievement will unlock when you’re about half done with everything you can possibly do. Some are considered illegal and shady, but that fact doesn’t have any bearing on anything, so it’s no big deal. They’re a good way to get nice rewards, level up and investigate new areas.

Recruiter 25
Across all playthroughs, recruited all party members
You can do this in one playthrough if you hit all the right spots. The characters you need to recruit are:
Dog – Comes to you after the Mabari quest in Ostagar, unless you play as a human noble, where you get him right off the bat.
Sten – Found in a cage in Lothering. Convince the Chantry priest to free him.
Leliana – Found in the bar in Lothering. She offers to come with you after a fight.
Morrigan – Comes with you from the Kocari Wilds.
Wynne – A mage in the Circle Tower. Will come with you if you don’t side with the Templars.
Allistair – Unavoidable, comes with you after Ostagar.
Zevran – The assassin sent by Loghain, he will come with you after your fight if you choose not to kill him.
Oghren – A badass dwarf, also unavoidable. He comes with you on The Anvil of the Void quest in Orzammar.
Loghain – Can join your party after The Landsmeet if you let him live. If you accept him, Allistair will leave your party for the rest of the game.
Shale does not count toward this achievement as she is from the “Stone Prisoner” DLC. She is, however, awesome.

Hopelessly Romantic 25
Across all playthroughs, experienced all possible romances
There are four possible romances – with Allistair, Leliana, Morrigan and Zevran.
Speaking with each character as much as possible, and not being a douche when talking to them, will add approval points. When you look at each character in your menu screen, an approval bar appears right underneath their picture, showing what they think of you. Gifts can also be given from the backpack to characters. Certain gifts will please characters more than others and can really boost approval.

Some romances are more difficult than others to unlock. Romances can only be started in camp, though you can speak with characters, build your approval and give gifts anywhere. See the individual achievements for romancing each character below for more specifics. Keep in mind nothing is cut and dry with romances. Think about the characters and interact with them as you would in reality. There are guidelines and advice available in this guide that will help with each person, but in Dragon Age, nothing operates exactly the same for everyone.

If you’re really stuck, Xbox360Achievements.org created a really good romance guide that may offer some help.

Perfectionist 50
Across all playthroughs, discovered all possible endings

There are four endings – You accept Morrigan’s ritual and stay alive, you sacrifice yourself, Allistair sacrifices himself, Loghain sacrifices himself.
In order to get Allistair or Loghain to sacrifice themselves, you have to tell Riordan that you don’t intend to sacrifice yourself for this during the conversation prior to the final battle, right before you speak to Morrigan about her ritual. Allistair or Loghain (depending on which one is still with you) will say they’ll take the final blow when you decide not to. They will confirm this with you after you defeat the archdemon, giving you one last opportunity to change your mind and decide the ending.

Obviously, this takes several playthroughs, as Loghain and Allistair can’t both be with you at the end, and you can’t accept Morrigan’s offer and still sacrifice someone. Keep in mind if you deny Morrigan, she leaves, and you won’t have her for the final battle.

Educated 15
Used a tome to improve the main character’s attributes, talents, spells, or skills
Tomes can be found all over and can be bought from stores. Just buy any tome and use it, and you get this achievement.

Magic Sympathizer 20
Sided with the mages in “Broken Circle”
As you go through the Circle Tower, you’ll enter the Fade, where you ought to visit every possible area on the Fade Map for a future achievement. When you leave, you’ll make your final decision on whether to side with the Templars or the mages. Siding with the mages gets you this achievement and keeps Wynne with you. You’ll have a boss fight and it will unlock, making the mages your ally and fulfilling a treaty.

Annulment Invoker 20
Sided with the templars in “Broken Circle”
The opposite of the previous achievement, you side with the Templars here and wipe out the mages – including Wynne. You can always save the game, do this, then re-load and side with the mages (or vice versa) if you want to get them both on one playthrough. That goes for all other alliance decisions, too.

Slayer 20
Sided with the werewolves in “Nature of the Beast”
The elves send you on a quest to kill the lead werewolf, gaining the elves as allies. If you instead side with the werewolves, they’ll wipe out the elves and you’ll gain them as allies.

Poacher 20
Sided with the elves in “Nature of the Beast”
You wipe out the werewolves or convince Zathrian to break their curse, turning them back into people. You gain the elves as allies.

Sacrilegious 20
Sided with the Cult of Andraste in “The Urn Of Sacred Ashes”
These are the crazy folks that want you to dump blood into Andraste’s ashes. If you do, Leliana will fight you to the death and the cult will be pleased. If you don’t… you get the next achievement.

Ceremonialist 20
Defied the Cult of Andraste in “The Urn of Sacred Ashes”
When you leave the ashes without having defiled them, the cult will attack you. It’s not much of a fight, making this another easy situation where you can save, make one decision, load, then make the other.

Bhelen’s Ally 20
Sided with Bhelen in “A Paragon of Her Kind”
Your escapades in Orzammar depend on which person you side with for the throne. Bhelen is one option, Harrowmont is the other. Bhelen will have you show some promissory notes to a few nobles and turn them against Harrowmont. If you choose Harrowmont, you’ll have to fight in the Provings. From that point on, the quests are the same regardless of which person you side with – you’re just aiming your support in one direction or the other.

You’re given a last-minute opportunity to change your mind and decide Behlen or Harrowmont after coming back from the Anvil of the Void, regardless of what you did earlier, which is really where the achievement kicks in. Once someone is crowned king, you’ll get the appropriate achievement.

Harrowmont’s Ally 20
Sided with Harrowmont in “A Paragon of Her Kind”
See Behlen’s Ally above.

Liberator 20
Destroyed the Anvil of the Void
Finding the Anvil of the Void is the third part of the quests given by Behlen or Harrowmont. You’re in search of the paragon Branka. Once you reach the Anvil, you speak with paragon Caradin and have the option of preserving or destroying the device. Destroying it will cause a fight with Branka and leads to this achievement, preserving it will cause a fight with Caridin and leads to the Pragmatist achievement. Either way, you gain the support of a paragon and are fashioned a crown to give to whoever you decide should be king back in Orzammar. Preserving the Anvil gives you golem support during the final battle, which can be helpful… though it’s the “evil” decision of the two.

Pragmatist 20
Preserved the Anvil of the Void
See Liberator above.

Heavy Hitter 10
Main character inflicted 250 damage with a single hit
There’s a lot of ways to do this one. Note that this has to be a single hit on a single target, not a total of 250 points dished out from one attack.

I achieved this first with a Warrior. I recommend being at least level 15, with a good many points being attributed to Strength and Willpower when leveling up, Berserker skill learned with Final Blow power and a good two-handed weapon like the Chasind Maul that has high damage and can support some extra runes for added power. Activate it all and you’ll dish out over 250 points every time.

Another popular strategy is to play as a rogue and max out archery skills. Get the Pinning Shot and Arrow of Slaying and you’ll be doing double the required damage.

As a mage, max out your magic and use Walking Virulent Bomb.

Bloodied 10
Completed an origin story without the main character ever falling in battle
This is pretty easy and I’d imagine opens for most people naturally. The origin stories are simple and have minimal combat. If you just don’t let your main character die at all, this will open for you after the origin story finishes.

Traveler 35
Set foot in every area in the game
The one achievement I still haven’t opened…

There are many reports that this achievement is glitched. The claim is that you have to set foot in every area in the game to unlock it. Some people say that means every house, every shop, every everything. Others claim it only refers to things that apply a codex entry. I’m not sure what’s true.

I have read lists posted by people that have had this unlocked where they document every place they went while they played. Some end the game with a world traveled percentage of only 80% and have got this reward. My best completion percentage was 97% and it’s yet to unlock for me. I’ve spent time doing every single job board quest, every side quest and ensuring I went into every door, shop and house on the map. I’ve looked at other people’s lists of where they went to unlock it and made sure I visited everything. Over 30 hours of play has been dedicated to this achievement alone, but it still hasn’t opened.

If you have any more new tips, please let everyone know via the comments.

Master of Arms 25
Main character achieved level 20 as a warrior
Reach level 20 as a warrior. Just keep playing, do as many side quests and job board jobs as you can and it’ll get there before the game ends. I’ve reached level 22 before the end battle just by playing, with no exploits.

There is a leveling glitch for those who don’t want to play the whole game as a certain class. In Ostagar, you are given the quest to go collect three vials of darkspawn blood from the Wilds, as well as the documents that Flemeth has. Go on that quest, collect the darkspawn blood and return to Duncan without the Warden documents. You’ll be able to choose the dialogue option that says you have the vials but not the treaties. Duncan will tell you to go back and find them. Start the conversation again, tell him the same thing, and keep repeating that process. After about 15 minutes of this you’ll be at level 20. Use X to skip the scenes and it’ll go much faster.

It is important to note that each time you level up, you have to go into the level up screen and use your points and attribute your skills. If you don’t, you won’t unlock the achievement when you get to level 20. And make sure you stop when you get to 20. If you go to 21 and didn’t use your points, you’re screwed.

This is also a great way to get a maxed out character at the very beginning of the game if you’re a sissy and want to make the game really easy

Shadow 25
Main character achieved level 20 as a rogue
See Master of Arms above.

Archmage 25
Main character achieved level 20 as a mage
See Master of Arms above.

Pilgrim 10
Completed a Chanter’s Board quest
Just do one quest from the Chantry board. You’ll first be given this opportunity in Lothering.

Grey Warden 20
Killed 100 darkspawn
Will come naturally as you play. This carries over to all playthroughs so don’t go out of your way trying to get it. Even so, I got all the way over 1,000 kills during my first game.

Master Warden 25
Killed 500 darkspawn

Blight-Queller 25
Killed 1000 darkspawn
Just keep killing.

Tinkerer 10
Crafted an item
Learn basic herbalism or trap making, and make a potion or trap. Boom, achievement. You don’t have to make anything special.

Persuasive 10
Succeeded at five difficult Persuasion attempts
Build your coercion skill and this will be easier. You’re given lots of opportunities to persuade, so take all the chances you get. If your stats are high enough, you’ll win most.

Silver Tongued 20
Succeeded at 25 difficult Persuasion attempts
See Persuasive above.

Bully 10
Succeeded at five difficult Intimidate attempts
These don’t happen as often as Persuasion attempts, but follow the same logic. Be coercive, you’ll win them. They carry over between playthroughs.

Menacing 20
Succeeded at 10 difficult Intimidate attempts
See Bully above.

First Knight 10
Experienced the thrill of romance with Alistair
Allistair will only romance women. He’s a virgin and isn’t willing to give it up to just anyone. You’ll need his approval rating to be very high and he’ll take some convincing. As with the others, ask about his past and his life. Flirt with him. He’s cute and into you, but isn’t willing to give it up right away. He really likes statues as gifts, and his mother’s locket can be found on Eamon’s desk in Redcliffe Castle. Once you give him that, you’ll get a huge approval boost. His dialogues go on for a while so keep up with them. The first time you have the chance to offer him sex, he may even turn you down. Keep at it.

Witch Gone Wild 10
Experienced the thrill of romance with Morrigan
Morrigan will only romance men, so you can’t do this with a female character. She’s not too tricky to get into bed if you go about it the right way. Her approval rating doesn’t need to be 100%, but it needs to be fairly high. If you’re sort of rude to other people that’ll help. Talk about her past and her upbringing, talk about Flemeth, give her grimoires and jewelry and she’ll like you. Bodahn sells a grimoire that she’s very interested in, and the crazy vendor in the Commons in Orzammar sells a mirror that she’ll love. Both initiate cutscenes, and the grimoire initiates a quest. Eventually she’ll start talking about how she cares for you and from that point it’s not difficult to move forward.

Easy Lover 10
Experienced the thrill of romance with Zevran
For Zevran, you basically just have to talk to him through all his dialogues. The achievement called easy lover for a reason. He doesn’t take a lot of convincing and you will be able to get into his tent after only a little while. You can be male or female to initiate a romance with him. Flirt, compliment and otherwise seduce him that way. If you’ve got any gold or silver bars you can give as gifts, he’ll like those. He’s by far the easiest romance to unlock.

Wine, Woman, and Song 10
Experienced the thrill of romance with Leliana
Leliana’s romance is difficult. There are conversation options that you can choose that will totally kill your chances of it ever happening. There’s no cut-and-dry time when it’s made available, and it seems to be glitchy. The internet is filled with people asking about her romance. Personally, when I unlocked it, it was well after I had given up on the idea of romancing her because I had followed several paths that others said make it impossible to romance her. Then, suddenly, it happened.

Here are some things I do know that will make romancing Leliana easier:
It’s best to have her as your only romance on the playthrough, or at least your first romance. Having a romance with someone else that you have to break up with in order to woo Leliana will throw off the string of conversations that lead to it.
Do her personal quest, which is brought on by asking her about the Bards in Orlais being assassins and spies. She’ll deny she was involved with that stuff, which opens up a quest once you’re attacked by someone who’s after her. Leliana lies.
Get her approval rating up all the way to 100%. For gifts, she loves anything dealing with Andraste.
Don’t defile Andraste’s ashes. She’ll attack you and you’ll have to kill her.
If you follow certain strings of conversation, she’ll eventually be the one that invites you to her tent. This post has the dialogue sequences that must be followed if you want to unlock her romance. The final one listed is the one that leads to her inviting you to her tent.

Now, many people have stated that after doing her personal mission, they went back to the camp and she began the conversation that starts with “I lied to you,” which is the one that leads to her romance. For me, that didn’t happen. Since I had not yet done the Urn of Sacred Ashes mission, she did not have that conversation with me until after we went through the Gauntlet and the Guardian revealed her past. Just something structural to keep in mind if you’re feeling trapped.

Veteran 25
Main character learned a specialization
Specializations can be learned various ways. You can buy manuals at certain vendors, or have party members teach you. For instance, Leliana can teach you to become a Bard, Zevran can teach you to become an Assassin, Oghren can teach you Berserker, and Allistair can teach you to become a Templar. Each person has some sort of lesson to offer. Get your approval up and convince your fellows to teach you their skills, then when you earn a specialization point (Levels 7 and 14) you can learn them from the level up menu. Learn one and you get this achievement.

Elite 30
Main character learned two specializations
Learn a second specialization to get this one.

Master of the Peak 25
Completed ”Soldier’s Peak” (Warden’s Keep DLC)
This achievement is awarded for finishing the Soldier’s Peak DLC. Just play through the mission and you’ll get it.

Rock and a Hard Place 25
Completed ”The Golem in Honnleath” (The Stone Prisoner DLC)
This achievement is awarded for finishing the Stone Prisoner DLC, which is Shale’s content that came free with most copies of the game. Just play through the mission and you’ll get it.

Secret Achievements

A Dark Promise 50
Defeated the Archdemon and, through a dark ritual with Morrigan, spared your own life
Accept Morrigan’s ritual and finish the game.

The Ultimate Sacrifice 50
The ultimate sacrifice was made in defense of Ferelden
Don’t accept Morrigan’s ritual and finish the game, sacrificing yourself. Sacrificing Allistair or Loghain doesn’t work.

Dragonslayer 30
Defeated the dragon guarding the Urn of Sacred Ashes
This is the dragon that the cultists think is Andraste. Out in the open area there is a gong you can hit. Doing so calls down the dragon and starts the battle. It’s hard as hell and, with some configurations, downright impossible. Don’t feel too bad about switching your difficulty to Casual for this fight. Use fire resistant salves, have really strong characters with you and a mage for healing, and make sure people’s tactics are set to defense and everyone knows how to heal themselves. It’s a long, tough fight, but it is worth it.

Defender 20
Preserved the lives of half the troops at Denerim’s Gates in “The Final Battle”
During the final battle, you’re given command of your allies you recruited and can call on them to help you. Half of them still have to be alive when you reach the gates of Fort Drakon to unlock this achievement. It’s not all that difficult. Just only use them when/if you need them.

Diabolist 25
Took advantage of Avernus’s research (Warden’s Keep DLC)
In the Warden’s Keep DLC, there is a jug of liquid you can drink before reaching Avernus. Drink it. You get an achievement. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Stone’s Lament 25
Completed ”A Golem’s Memories” (The Stone Prisoner DLC)
After speaking to Caridin in the Deep Roads, Shale has some memories of her past. She asks you to travel to a new place in the Deep Roads where she goes through a personal revelation. Finish the quest to get the achievement.