#like no Bioware youre not dragging us along for another game to finish this story

[littlegalerion]

The fanfiction scene for Dragon Age is about to get insane. With the recent leaks on Veilguard, I just wanna say: write your own ending. We ain't getting a good conclusion, and we deserve one.

So come forth, great multiverse tides of fanfiction stories, and show me your conclusions to the great Dragon Age franchise's story!

[ageofdragon]

(1/2) Hey! I'm getting ready to do a new playthrough and have a question. When are the suggested times and/or best times to play through all the DLC from a story perspective? (DLC with set timing like Trespasser and the post-game Origins stuff excluded.) I don't care about optimal levels or best loot, I'm just trying to squeeze the most of them all story-wise.

(2/2) So far I’m thinking I’ll start Stone Prisoner when I’m doing my Redcliffe quests and finish it when I’m doing Orzammar. Return to Ostagar maybe after I finish my first main quest. Mark of the Assassin at the start of Act III. Exiled Prince as it becomes available. Do those sound like good plans so far? Not sure about Warden’s Keep, Legacy, and Last Descent. (I think that’s all of them.) Thanks for your time!

Alright, finally rewritten. I thought I had a DLC post like this, but could not find it. So whole new post!

DAO

The Stone Prisoner

If Redcliffe is your first quest, doing The Stone Prisoner afterwards sounds great (I always do The Circle first myself). Since the first quest in The Stone Prisoner is Shale’s recruitment, you want her as soon as possible so you have the option of dragging her around to work on her approval. Plus get some of her dialogues and friendship cutscenes.

I would recommend just making sure to do Shale’s recruitment before doing A Paragon of Her Kind, since you can take her along during that quest and get some great insight into her story. Just be sure to be ready to make some Hard Choices™.

If you find your team unbalanced by taking Shale through the Deep Roads though how could you lol, you really only have to take her in the final area of the Deep Roads to unlock her extra dialogue.

The last quest should come after A Paragon of Her Kind, even if you didn’t take Shale with you. So just be ready to work that in later in the game.

Warden’s Keep

Warden’s Keep doesn’t really have a place it specifically fits, it is mostly just standalone Warden Lore. If your aren’t interested in Levelling and Equipment, it is pretty much just up to you when you play.

I’d probably say play it two allied factions into the game (Elves/Werewolves, Redcliffe, Dwarves/Golems, Mages/Templars) for pacing.

Return to Ostagar

Now Return to Ostagar is probably best played after The Landsmeet, seeing as the Warden is not longer considered an enemy of Ferelden. So it’d make more sense for them to return and collect the things of the Fallen, as well as clear the location since the Darkspawn have started to move out.

This is especially true if you plan on using the “Secret Companion” aka Loghain. He has some incredibly fascinating dialogue during the quest and of course can only be recruited after The Landsmeet.

However, if you plan on using Alistair then I’d say before or after the Landsmeet would work. Or if you want to suffer from feels then after you give Alistair Duncan’s shield, is an excellent time to punish yourself by returning to where his mentor sacrificed himself.

And I know you said Post-Game DLC not included, but just for anyone else or if I do link this again. Witch Hunt is considered the Final DLC for DAO/DA:A.

DA2

Mark of the Assassin

MotA is another DLC that doesn’t have a specific time that it needs to be played. Which the great thing about DA2 DLCs specifically is the content in them changes from Act to Act.

That said, the beginning of Act 3 is probably the best time to play it. Given it lines up better with All That Remains having happened and Hawke being named Champion. Since it makes more sense for them to receive the invitation while in a position of influence, Orlesians like that kind of thing. Plus having defeated the Arishok (and how you did it) also factors into an Act 3 play.

Isabela and Aveline have unique side quests during MotA unlike the other companions who only have Collection quests.

Legacy

Now canonically Legacy does take place in Act 3 of Dragon Age 2. I would recommend playing it close to the end of the main game, probably before The Last Straw. Partially because this sets up for Inquisition in the best way and in part because it lines up Cassandra and Varric’s scenes in it, with the timing of Varric’s tale (he goes to finish and she calls him out on omitting something).

Also during this quest Anders, Varric, and the Hawke sibling all have unique dialogues, important scenes, and banters that other companions do not receive.

DAI

Jaws of Hakkon

So this DLC really just adds a new region to the game, it can be done at any point. However, it is a high level area so you may want to do it later in the game. Of course it being a region, means you can always complete a few quests and come back to finish them later.

There are a few lines of dialogue that can change depending on if you finish the game or not before playing this game. But they are relatively small and shouldn’t affect when you play the Frostback Basin.

Fun Fact: In the Dragon Age Tabletop RPG there is a campaign called Where Eagles Lair. The Avvarian Hold you interact with in the story is the same one who can (and in Bioware canon do) become the Jaws of Hakkon. I say can, because in the tabletop, your actions can stop them from seeking out Hakkon later on.

The Descent

This DLC might actually be best finished at the end of the game? Since it is completely unrelated to the main story of Inquisition and actually sets up for Trespasser kind of.

Plus The Descent has all the enemies levelled to your current level, which makes it a bit hard to beat when you are the lower levels and easier at higher levels. Of course, it depends on if you mind the challenge or not.

You could, however, play it like JoH and finish parts of it bit by bit.

If you do decide to run this DLC at the end of Inquisition though, be warned some of the companions will be unavailable obviously. This goes for Jaws of Hakkon too, if you decide to not finish it before the end of the main game.