How to Not Start the Romance with Anders in Act 1

After helping Anders with his quest, Tranquility, you will have a conversation where it appears that you must initiate the romance if you want to avoid a rivalry gain with Anders. However, there are actually two ways to end this conversation without a rivalry gain and without an active romance.

The easiest way to avoid the romance without a rivalry gain is to simply select the first broken heart option available:

The downside to this option is that it will put an end to conversation right then without any increase in friendship or rivalry points. If you want to gain friendship, there is another way. Pick either the "I'm always ready to listen" option or the "It happens a lot" option:

On the following wheel, select the "You did the right thing":

This option will lead Anders into flirting with Hawke, and you will be able to respond with one of two heart options or one broken heart option. Picking the broken heart option will cut off the romance and end the conversation with a +10 rivalry gain. But, picking the very bottom heart option ("It's... unexpected") will not actually start the romance:

Even though the dialog may indicate that the romance does start, it does not. Perhaps it is a bug that causes the "It's... unexpected" option to not flag the romance, but it does provide a way to avoid the romance while still receiving 10 to 15 points of friendship.

Dev T-shirts Hint at Future DLC?

Several BioWare developers have been seen wearing T-shirts with uncompleted games of hangman printed on them. It's unknown what was the purpose of the T-shirts, but perhaps they hint at locations of future DLC, expansion or Dragon Age 3 content.

1. Dragon Age's lead writer, David Gaider was seen wearing a hangman T-shirt at the Comic-Con Writer Q&A. The letters as were seen on the T-shirt:

_ _ _ _ _ _ D
_ _ R _ _

The letters N, O, Y and P were crossed out as being wrong guesses. Exalted March fits.

Exalted March hangman T-shirt.

 2. The Dragon Age 2 lead designer, Mike Laidlaw, was seen at PAX with T-shirt that contained a ship logo and an uncompleted game of hangman. The letters on the T-shirt:

_ST_ _T_H

The letters, Q, N, R and I, were crossed out as being wrong letters. Estwatch fits into the spaces. Estwatch is an island that is located east off the coast of the Free Marches, and south of Llomerynn.

 Estwatch hangman T-shirt.

3. Jennifer Brandes Hepler had already said previously that, "Sebastian's story is not finished yet", but another developer was seen at PAX wearing a hangman T-shirt that further hints that there will be DLC or other future content that involves Starkhaven and Sebastian. Sebastian's belt buckler icon was on the T-shirt, and the letters on this shirt were:

_ T _ _ K H _ _ _ _

The letters, D, U, P and I were crossed out. Starkhaven fits in the spaces.

Starkhaven hangman T-shirt.

4. One last hint was on Mark Darrah's hangman T-Shirt seen at PAX. The T-Shirt had a Dalish elf tree icon on it, and the letters:

_ I _ D E _ _ _ E 

Wildervale fits the spaces. Wildervale is a location north of Vimmark Mountains and Kirkwall.

Talk Tables

The following links lead to various talk tables for Dragon Age that I have converted into txt files:

•  Dragon Age 2 Talk Table
•  Dragon Age 2: Legacy Talk Table
•  Dragon Age 2: The Exile Prince
•  Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening Talk Table

Legacy Torch Puzzle

In the Corphyeus Prision-Tower Base, there is a room with torches and a Sarcophagus. All six torches must be lighted to open the Sarcophagus.

The room contains the six torches (boxes) and the Sarcophagus (rectangle):

 

To solve the puzzle, click on the torches in the order as numbered in the image above:

1. Click on the middle left torch
2. Click on middle right torch
3. Click on bottom right torch
4. Click on bottom left torch
5. Click on middle left torch
6. Click on bottom right torch
7. Open Sarcophagus to receive the gloves for the “Regalia of Weisshaupt” set