7 Darkest Side-Quests In The Dragon Age Series

The Dragon Age series is well-loved by a wide range of players, as it perfectly combines RPG gameplay with well-written characters and stories. The quests are one of the key parts of what makes the series so successful, as many players have favorite quests throughout the series, including the darker and more unsettling quests included in the series. These may be more common in the early days of the series, but there are dark moments throughout.

There are many quests with horror elements or simply more heartbreaking storylines that make the player feel things. Players looking for the darkest quests in the whole Dragon Age series should look no further.

7 Something Wicked

Players Make A Brief Ally Before Something Unthinkable Happens

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Origins

When players explore the Denermin Alienage in Dragon Age: Origins, they will meet a templar named Ser Otto who will express that something evil has taken hold of the Alienage, and the player will have to find proof of this before he will accompany them to the orphanage. Here, the player and Otto will fight off enemies until, eventually, all seems to be well again. Of course, this is only a facade and players can only watch in horror as Otto meets his end.

Something Wicked makes players love a character before he is killed off in a brutal way, making it a dark experience.

6 Lost To The Curse

A Darker Taker On A Werewolf Story

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Origins

This quest begins in the Dalish Camp as a member of the camp, Danyla, is pronounced dead by Zathrian. However, this doesn’t seem to be the whole story as Danyla’s husband, Athras, believes she has succumbed to the werewolf curse and is not actually dead. The player then ventures into the forest and finds Danyla, who is, in fact, a werewolf and is begging the player to kill her. If the player refuses, she will go on to attack the party, forcing them to kill her anyway.

This quest is dark because it is all about the hopelessness of the situation. There is no way for both Danyla and Athras to be happy, which is tragic.

5 Zerlinda’s Woe

An Examination Of The Harsh Caste System

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Origins

This quest involves a woman named Zerlinda who can be found begging on the streets of Dust Town in Dragon Age: Origins. When the player starts a conversation with her, she will explain that her child is casteless and that she has been cast out of her home because of this and encouraged to abandon her child in the Deep Roads. The player has several options available, including encouraging her to reconcile with her family, but the story of this quest is one of the darkest and most heartbreaking in the series.

Zerlinda’s Woe isn’t as creepy as other quests in the series, but the story alone is one of the darkest.

4 Chateau d’Onterre

An Idyllic Location Hides Dark Secrets

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Often called one of the best side quests in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Chateau d’Onterre is one of the darkest in the series overall. What makes this quest so unsettling is the fact that the location it takes place in, the Chateau itself, is idyllic in comparison to the secrets the player discovers about it. As players fight off the spawning undead, they will find notes and codex entries that will help piece together the horrors of the Chateau.

Chateau d’Onterre is not the most immersively dark quest in the series, but the story is unsettling, and the location contrasting with that makes this a dark quest.

3 A Mother’s Hope

A Hero’s Journey Comes To A Devastating End

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Origins

A Mother’s Hope is a quest that starts out with a lot of hope and happiness as players find Filda in the Commons. She’s praying to find her son, who went missing in the Deep Roads a long time ago. The player can agree to go find him, which sets off a real hero’s journey. Players will find her son Ruck in the tunnels of Orton Thaig and will discover the heartbreaking fact that he has become tainted after eating Darkspawn flesh.

This quest is so dark because players have hope to find Ruck and reunite him with his mother, but at the end of the quest, there isn’t really a hopeful option to do so. Ruck actually prefers if players tell his mother that he is dead.

2 Still Waters

Experience Hordes Of Undead In Crestwood

• Appears in: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Still Waters is a side quest that is automatically picked up on the player’s arrival to Crestwood. As players approach the village, they will be terrorized by undead and will have to make their way through the gates to talk to the mayor about the situation. The solution is to drain the lake, but this is no easy task. Players will have to fend off bandits as well as demons and undead just to make it to the rift they need to close to fix the situation. Seeing an entire corner of the world so overrun is a dark experience for any player.

Crestwood is an area that seems more beyond help than any other area in the Dragon Age series, making this quest an unexpectedly dark one.

1 Haunted

This Will Chang The Player’s Opinion On The Lovable Rogue Varric

Finally, the darkest quest in the Dragon Age series is in Dragon Age 2, and it is Haunted. This quest is the third act Varric companion quest in Dragon Age 2 and offers players a look at a different side of the loveable rogue Varric.

After a battle, there will be a red lyrium shard, which Hawke offers to Varric to either keep or destroy. Players familiar with the series know that red lyrium is an extremely dangerous and life-altering substance in the game, which makes this quest the darkest as it’s treated so flippantly. Haunted is the darkest quest in the Dragon Age series, as red lyrium is offered up to a character as if it’s nothing when long-time players know that this is not the case at all.

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