Exploits (Origins)

An exploit is a vulnerability that can be triggered within a game that allows the player to use a bug or loophole to give the player an advantage. Exploits are not always available across all platforms or all software versions. 
Because they are often the result of programming errors, exploits can become obsolete as the developer patches the game. Some exploits can cause saved game corruption or instability in some cases; players who use these do so at their own risk. 
== Vendor exploits ==
These are issues with the sales interface through which a player can duplicate items and/or increase income.
=== Pre/Post-Camp Bodahn ===
# When you first arrive in the Party Camp (after leaving Lothering), purchase any desired items from Bodahn Feddic.
# Leave the camp. 
# The next time you return, his inventory will be completely reset, allowing you to purchase multiple copies of the same items.
=== Infinite Dragon Scale Armor from Wade ===
# Kill a high dragon and at least three drakes, collecting their scales. The quest for Dragon Scale Armor should appear as they are picked up. 
# Go to Wade's Emporium in the Denerim Market District.
# Commission the first set of Wade's Superior Drakeskin Armor. It will also work if you commission Wade's Drakeskin Armor Set, but you will not get the best quality dragon scale armor later.
# Sell the dragon scale, preferably to Herren because he is the closest
# Commission the Dragon Scale Armor, first making sure that the dragon scale is no longer in your inventory.
# Buy the dragon scale back, and you will receive the quest again.
# Repeat as needed from step 4.
=== Unlimited Money ===
Using this exploit, you will get twice the selling price of an item (25% of item value) when selling at a merchant, after which you will be able to buy the item back. Net benefit: 25% of the item's value per repetition. Thus, this works best (i.e. fastest) on the most expensive items. 
The usual advantage of selling at 50% of item value for a Warden of Dwarf Noble Origin at Gorim's still applies. 
;Item selection
The preferred item is The Veshialle (sells for ), in part because it's one of the most expensive items but mostly because it can be reached very early in the game (as soon as the first time you enter the Party Camp). The Rose's Thorn (sells for ) might also be an interesting option if you can make your way into Orzammar Commons early, possibly through stealth or the stealth exploit. While the best possible item would be The Reaper's Cudgel (sells for ), obtaining this item is far from easy. Also, the Chasind Great Maul (sells for ) is not unlocked until later in the game (three main quests completed). The Smuggled Lyrium (sells for ) is valuable enough, but may cause some problems with the associated quest (see item page for details). 
;Exploit execution
 and :
# Add any item (preferably an expensive one) to your Junk and visit any merchant. 
# When selling the item hit the "Sell All Junk" button and immediately after hit the "Sell" button. You will need to hit the buttons nearly simultaneously, so it might take it bit of practice. If done correctly, you will receive twice the selling price, potentially providing you with sovereigns in the thousands in a short amount of time. (Note: you need to hit sell all junk a little before sell).
# Simply buy the item back from the merchant and repeat for more cash.
# Make sure the highlight is always on the right side of the screen under "Party Inventory". After you sell the item for double the selling price, buy the item back from the left side and move your highlight back to the right side.
# It is possible to use this method to sell entire stacks of items at a time, so that you can maximize your profits. For example, if you have a stack of 40 Lyrium Potions, you can use this method to sell all of them at once, gaining double the profit for the sell, then buy all of them back, and repeat the process again. This works with any stack of items, including the Skill Tomes.
:
# Move your mouse over the item in your inventory.
# Hold down the Left and Right Mouse buttons together (hold down Left then Right mouse button), drag the item to the Shop Inventory and release both buttons at the same time. 
# Buy the item again and repeat as needed. 
# Double-selling a stack, e.g. of potions, is not possible on the PC. The confirmation of number of items to sell cancels the exploit. 
;Notes
* If you don't intend to sell the item for good, make sure you buy it back before exiting the merchant screen. After you close the screen, the item you sold will be back for sale at the full item value + merchant's markup
* On you can temporarily set the item's price on your inventory back to the merchant's price (full value + markup) by double-buying (that is, buying with the two buttons pressed and dragging to your inventory). However, this will cost you full merchant's price, and when you double-sell again, you will receive the merchant's price you paid, plus the usual selling price (25% of value). Do not be confused, this doesn't add any value. 
;Early items and buying ladder
* Some DLC items, specially the Blood Dragon Plate (sells for ) are very useful as early game gold generators. Failing that, the Enchanter's Staff (sells for ) may serve through Ostagar and Lothering. As for the origin stories, you'll have to make do. 
* To efficiently increase your gold in Bodahn until the needed for The Veshialle, it's suggested that you:
** Buy Bard's Dancing Shoes for (sells for ). Exploit 9 times for 
** Buy Grandmaster Slow Rune for (sells for ). Exploit 9 times for 
** Buy Tome of Physical Technique for (sells for ). Exploit 24 times for 90
** Buy The Spellward for (sells for ). Exploit 9 times for 
** Buy your new, shiny, beloved axe. Total exploits: 42 times, plus whatever you needed for the initial 10
;Trapmaking for money
* By making traps for Allison in Lothering (Traps are a Girl's Best Friend) you can earn infinite experience and money (at 100 XP and 50 for each set of three traps)
* This quest requires Trap-Making skill. If you want to use this method to get gold before the first visit to the Party Camp (so as to exploit Bodahn Feddic's restock bug), you need Trap-Making on the main character, since Leliana will not have this skill yet.
* It's also covered below, on "Level and Experience" because this quest also causes a gain of XP, and thus levels. This may become a problem as enemies are scaled while you remain on your starting gear, requiring the Item tier bug as a compensating measure. 
* As exploiting this quest requires so many conditionals and caveats, the main Unlimited Money exploit should be usually preferred, if money is what is needed.
=== Duplicate Items ===
This glitch is similar to the infinite money exploit above. This will only work if the icon for the item says "x", such as "x3" or "x4" denoting the number of that item you have, and you require at least TWO (x2) of the same item for it to work. 
Some items, such as equipment or enchantment runes, will stack but cannot be duplicated. However, they can still be used to generate money using Infinite Money. The simplest way to figure out which items can be duplicated and which ones can't be is by checking the item icon to see which side of it the number is on; items with the number in the right corner of the icon can be duplicated, while those with the number in the left corner cannot. 
As always, take precautions when attempting to duplicate certain usable items and save your game beforehand. 
#You must have at least TWO (x2) of the item you wish to duplicate. 
#Move all copies of the item to your Junk.
#Sell all of them to any merchant, then buyback all but one of the items.
#Select the item now back in your inventory. Hit "Sell All Junk" and immediately afterwards hit "Sell." If done correctly, you should see the "Sell how many items?" prompt window, however the Junk inventory window behind it will now be empty. The merchant has now bought the original item/stack (now showing in their inventory window) but is also still in the process of buying from you (the "sell how many?" window).
#The merchant will now have twice the number of items you actually sold to them, and these can then be bought back. (Note that it's usually not possible to keep more than 99 of an item using this exploit - one "stack" of 99 is fine, but any additional stacks can reset the item count, keeping only the lower "stack" and ignoring any "99" stack(s). So if you duplicate 150 arrows, you would have one stack of 99 arrows and a second stack of 51 arrows. When you leave the merchants screen to check your inventory, you will only have one stack of 51 arrows showing.)
 
#Have a stack of at least TWO (x2) of an item in your inventory.
#Sell the whole item stack to the vendor.
#Buy back one normally.
#Left click (and hold) the (single) item in your inventory, then right click (and hold), then drag over to the vendor's inventory and release both. (same as with the money exploit above)
#Repeat previous two steps to increase vendor inventory by +1 each loop (and your money by the same value)
#Once there are enough items in the stack, simply buy them normally (you've generated the extra gold through the duplication)
## You can also do this by selling only one, and using both clicks to buy it back, so that the stack increase happens on your inventory side (same as with the double backpack exploit below) but this will cost you money as if you were buying each duplicate item (and you will need to select the amount to sell each time)
#You cannot duplicate more than one item per cycle of sell/buyback. The confirmation screen for number of items to sell cancels the exploit. (Note that certain items can not be duplicated with this method. The common factor seems to be named items for which duplicates were obtained through exploits, such as gaining duplicates of The Veshialle or Sylvan's Mercy using the Pre/Post-Camp Bodahn. A possible identifying characteristic is that when viewing the item in inventory, the quantity number is on the the lower right of the icon instead of the lower left.)
==== Tomes ====
The only tomes that can be duplicated are
* Tome of Physical Technique (Sold by Bodahn (x2), and Garin at Orzammar Commons)
* Tome of Arcane Technique (Sold by Bodahn (x2), Wonders of Thedas and Quartermaster (Circle Tower)
* Tome of the Mortal Vessel (sold by Legnar in Orzammar Commons and Varathorn after 3 main quests)
* Tome of Skill and Sundry (sold by Old Tegrin in the Gentle Path, Varathorn after 3 main quests, and Alarith in the Denerim Alienage)
And as you can see, the first two types are available much sooner than the others. 
A quick way to use your duplicated tomes is to put them into a quick slot (button or bar) and simply button smash until you've used the desired amount. CAUTION: The attribute point adder maxes out at 100 (150 on the ). If you use more Tome of the Mortal Vessel than that, points from tomes used over the maximum are lost. Go to the level up screen, add your points, then you can use more. 
;Known problems
You can get carried away when it comes to using duplicated tomes. If you use more duplicated tomes than you have space to add talents (or leave no room to add talents via leveling) it makes it impossible to level because you need to put a point in a talent to level. Be cautious!
* On v1.04, this has been tried without a problem. With 90 points for talents, and having bought every available talent, going up a level goes smoothly. Having leftover points for skills, talents or attributes does not pose a problem for leveling. You just keep getting the "+" sign to assign those leftover points. You may still avoid it by being cautious on the number of tomes used. Anyway, since duplicating is much slower in this version, this may not be a problem after all. 
If you duplicate any particular tome and reintroduce the lot of them back into your usable items inventory list AND have a set of any other tomes, the duplicated lot of tomes will NOT function and cannot be used at all. When attempting the duplication, make sure you have one and only one set of tomes available to your inventory. For this, the duplication effort has highest results if you have Warden's Keep DLC and have access to the Party Storage Chest at Soldier's Peak, for safety. Moving the other tomes into your junk list temporarily should work as well. As long as your duplicated tomes are the only sort of tome in your usable inventory list, it should be fine.
* This is not a problem on the PC version, v1.04. Having other kinds of tomes, either single ones or stacks, of either other kind or several other kinds of tomes, does not cause any problems. 
*While duplicating tomes for use, please be aware that you will be unable to leave the 'Talents' page if you have bought all skills available to you at that time. This also means you will be unable to increase your Attributes on a conventional level-up without entering the 'Talents' page.
*:However, this does not mean that you are unable to continue to level up - Simply press the 'Y' button to Auto Level Up once on the attributes page - this will continue to level up your skills, the only downside being that you cannot choose which skills to level up. 
 Can also be used at the Party Storage Chest at Soldier's Peak instead of going to a shop.
 Duplicated Tome of the Mortal Vessel can disappear once moved to the players "usable items". To stop this from happening, after duplicating the tomes, only buy one or two back and leave the rest with the vendor. Move the tomes back into usable items and then buy the rest of the duplicated tomes. Leave the duplicated tomes in the "junk" inventory and use them via "potions" on the dial. 
OR if you have access to the party chest at Soldier's Peak, you can duplicate 99 with the vendor using the instructions listed above. Stash 98 or whatever amount you don't need to use to duplicate (it's suggested that you stash 79, that way it duplicates faster starting with 20 instead of 2), duplicate until that new stack is 99, stash. Continue the process until you have the desired amount of duplicated tomes.
You MUST duplicate the tomes using the vendor, if you try and duplicate them using the chest instead, they will glitch out and disappear once you leave the chest.
=== Double Backpacks ===
This glitch is similar to the item duplicating glitch above. When you encounter a vendor who sells a backpack, click with both left and right mouse buttons simultaneously, and then drag it over to your inventory. The game will deduct twice the required amount of money from your inventory, but you will have gained 20 item slots.
Note that your inventory size is still capped at 125 or 120 items; this exploit merely allows you to reach that limit more quickly and efficiently.
=== Potent Lyrium Potions ===
This is not exactly an exploit, but at extreme repetition one should heed the "CAUTION" below. This tactic involves crafting Potent Lyrium Potions on a large scale because they can be sold to vendors at a profit, effectively allowing enough cash flow to buy everything you want.
# Promote one character to master level herbalism.
# Buy the Potent Lyrium Potion Recipe from the tranquil proprietor of Wonders of Thedas in the Denerim Market District for .
# Decide how many potions to craft, presumably, but not necessarily to make a profit from. Note: At a certain time, one could only afford to make as many potions as the integer floor of the quotient of Money Owned divided by Cost of ingredients for one potion (.) However, one can still plan to make more than this amount in one trip, should enough potions be meant for profit, by acquiring the amount needed of the first ingredient and then using the rest of the money owned for ingredients you needed for the first of the potions. The profit from those first potions will allow a second crafting. One could mistake by not leaving sufficient gold to buy the ingredients to even a single potion, so Beware!
# Decide how many units of the first ingredient, lyrium dust, to buy. The more one purchases, the fewer trips one needs to make. Though, should one have bought more lyrium than needed for the amount that can be afforded, more vendor screen and crafting screen openings will need to be made. That is to say if one put all the money into lyrium, or nearly all of it, one would need to then see the vendor about getting the rest of the ingredients after crafting only 1 potion, repeatedly. Might be better to just buy the amount of lyrium needed to make the potions one can afford the ingredients for, rather than paying with time.
# Buy the decided amount of lyrium dust from the Quartermaster in The Circle Tower, the only vendor selling an unlimited supply in the game.
# Calculate the amount of potions one can now purchase ingredients to complete as the integer floor of the quotient of Money owned divided by .
# At the Gnawed Noble Tavern, buy one flask for every potion calculated to be able to be made and double that amount of concentrator and distillation agents. The tavern offers unlimited amounts of these ingredients at the lowest price one can get from a vendor selling unlimited amounts with one exception. Flasks are cheapest in Orzammar if you have handled Figor's situation appropriately, but that is really just more travel time (and the 10 improvement in profit per unit is a negligible 0.5% at best.)
# Create potions.
# Sell to the Gnawed Noble bartender (best prices).
#* Dwarf Nobles should sell to Gorim in Denerim, who offers even better prices.
#* Parties that helped Lord Anwer Dace during A Paragon of Her Kind might also receive better prices from Gorim.
# Repeat steps 3 to 9.
== Item exploits ==
These item exploits often involve DLC bugs and can recreate DLC items, and allow item statistic manipulation by forcing an item to increase in level when normally it's level has been set based upon the level of the player character at the time the object was initially discovered. 
=== Item tier bug ===
The Item Tier bug can be exploited in two ways:
# Storing items in the Party Chest from Warden's Keep and returning later causes many non-fixed-tier items to raise to the tier they would be found at, if discovered at the character's current level. This method does not work on the .
#The same effect can be achieved by selling items to any merchant except Old Tegrin, exiting the trade menu, saving, reloading, opening it again and repurchasing the items (this may still require Warden's Keep - see below).
=== Templar Boots ===
Now I assume these drop in both awakening, and origins as a rare drop via the rare drop system mentioned on the previously linked page, however these can be obtained via rare drops from the named templar Rylock (presumably her buddies, but I only got them off her) during Anders' short loyalty mission in the abandoned warehouse. I would also assume they drop from the various templars the character can face during the Broken Circle quest in origins. These boots however, have no graphic, and as long as they are worn by anyone not wearing a templar armor (or knight commander's plate) or a robe/clothing style armor, they make your character's feet literally disappear. This serves no real function, aside from comedy, and potentially confusing cut scene animations. The wearer appears to be walking on air with amputated knees. (this is only confirmed on 360, but as it's a missing mesh/model I assume it applies to all systems, please confirm anyone with these boots on ps3 or pc (if you have the toolset for pc this is a quick check).
*The previously mentioned exceptions are only because those chest graphics include foot graphics (and potentially glove graphics).
=== Equipping Items that are out of Stat Range ===
If you have a character that is close to reaching a stat requirement (such as needing 20 strength to equip Drakeskin light armor), it is possible to equip the items by artificially raising your stats with items that boost stats, like the Helm of Honnleath. Just equip the stat boosting item and then proceed to equip the items that you wanted, after you are done you can remove the stat boosting item with no consequence. It is also possible to use a stat boosting item to equip for the same slot, so you can use the Helm of Honnleath to equip another helmet.
=== DLC Reappearing items ===
When DLC-items are sold, they reappear after deactivating / activating the DLC enabling the user to sell them again. Also is great for adding attribute slots with the book you get from DLC. 
Note: This is patched on v1.04 on PC, as confirmed in my recent playthrough and on the Talk page
=== Origins' to Awakening DLC Item Bug ===
When using an imported character, some of the DLC (promotional & Warden's Keep) items will not be transferred (excluding Memory Band, Return to Ostagar and The Stone Prisoner). However, if you have these items equipped on your character, even though the items themselves disappear, their bonuses and fatigue modifications will be merged into the character's base attributes. (You can end up having character with 30% or more starting fatigue, or +25% Cold Damage & Resistance while naked). This is especially handy if you acquired the DLC items from Dragon Age: Journeys.
== Level and experience ==
=== Level up in Ostagar ===
On Xbox as well as early PC versions (see info to the right), there is an exploit in Ostagar during the mission Tainted Blood where you are asked to collect three vials of darkspawn blood and the Grey Warden Treaties. 
#Collect the three vials of darkspawn blood, but do not get the treaties
#Return to the main camp at Ostagar where you will talk to Duncan 
#Choose the choice option "We have the blood, but not the scrolls." On exiting the conversation you will collect experience for the mission 
#Repeat steps 2 and 3, collecting experience each time you talk to Duncan. 
Once you collect the treaties you can no longer exploit this bug for experience. This is an easy way to level up early if you need to. Using this exploit will skew the leveling/experience of future recruited companions. Although the future party members will be of a comparable level to the Warden, they will not have any attributes to accompany that level.
=== Level Up using Allied Supply Crates ===
==== Method 1 ====
# Buy 99x stacks of Deathroot (1 60) or Elfroot (1 18) from Varathorn at the Dalish Camp
# Put them into the Elven Allied Supply Crates at the Party Camp for 880xp per stack, a very cheap and easy way to reach the Levelcap. 
==== Method 2 ====
Here is a faster, easier way to take advantage of this:
# Clear your inventory as much as possible.
# Buy as many as you can fit of the Elfroots and Deathroots from Varathorn.
# Go back to your Party Camp and go directly to Bodahn Feddic. Sell all of your roots except for 88 of each.
# Head over to the Allied Supply Crates to hand in the roots. Once done, head back to Bodahn and pick up two new bunches of 88 from his inventory and repeat until you run out.
* The benefits? There is no travel time between areas, so no loading screen. Packs of 88 eliminates the 11 wasted items. Also, if you do not have your stacks separate, you will hand in all stacks at once, but only receive a total of one stack. (You give one stack at a time on )
* You can also use the Party Storage Chest at Soldier's Peak. This takes more time, but considerably less money.
==== Method 4 ====
An even quicker way (a detailed version of the one above)
# Recruit the knights of Redcliffe
# Use the unlimited money exploit to get roughly 1000 gold
# Donate 30 gold at a time for 750 exp apiece
=== Shade Exp ===
#In Blackmarsh accept a mission called Tears in the Veil.
#After killing the three sets of desire demons and returning to the real world there will be three Fade portals that appear where the tears were (a fourth one if you activated the summoning circle).
#Killing each portal gains about 170xp but the shades it spawns generate 79xp. If you have the time and patience you can sit there and kill the shades as they continuously spawn.
#Set tactics for the party to only attack the Warden's target to prevent accidentally destroying a portal before you are done. 
=== Unlimited Experience (Mountain Top) ===
On the PC (only), as you Enter onto the Mountain Top area from either the Ruined Temple or The Gauntlet, each party member gains 750xp. All that is required to use this exploit is to transition onto the mountain top area as so:
# Enter the Mountain Top, gain 750xp.
# Turn around and exit to Ruined Temple or The Gauntlet.
# Repeat as desired
=== Trapmaking (Experience) ===
By making traps for Allison in Lothering (Traps are a Girl's Best Friend) you can earn infinite experience and money (at 100 XP and 50{s} for each set of three traps)
This quest requires Trap-Making skill. If you want to use this method to get gold before the first visit to the Party Camp (so as to exploit Bodahn Feddic's restock bug), you need Trap-Making on the main character, since Leliana will not have this skill yet.
It's also covered above, on "Unlimited Money", but the main result of this quest is the gain of XP, and thus levels. This may become a problem as enemies are scaled while you remain on your starting gear, requiring the Item tier bug as a compensating measure. 
=== Unlimited Lockpick Experience (Redcliffe Castle Vault) ===
After completing The Arl of Redcliffe questline, the vault door is once again closed and locked but can be lockpicked by a rogue character with a total Cunning of 60 (or 20 Cunning with Device Mastery) for 50 XP. Upon leaving and re-entering the second floor area, the vault door is continuously closed and relocked, allowing it to be lockpicked each time.
== Approval exploits ==
If you have the feast day combo pack add-on, it is possible to buy the items from Bodahn Feddic and then sell them to another vendor other than Bodahn, or even destroy them and the next time you show up in camp they will be back on Bodahn. They can be given to your companions again allowing you to max out their approval with two gifts. It's presumed that the second gift deduction applies which would make the second one a maximum of 49 approval if it is only the second gift you have given.
=== Unlimited Leliana Approval in Village of Haven ===
Once you find Brother Genitivi inside Haven Chantry, you will have a lot of option for discussion, make sure to choose the "Is this the medallion you were talking about?" option to trigger the exploit then ask him if he is sure he can make the journey (option 2), he will insist that he can make it and would endure any pain for the Urn. Then choose (option 3) No, I think you should return to Denerim. 
==== Method 1 ====
At this point, he will insist further and Leliana will join the discussion. Choose "I'm trying to keep him alive", and Leliana will insist that Brother Genitivi comes along and will offer to watch over him. Agree to Leliana's statement (option 1) then choose (option 4) Could you answer some questions for me first? Then choose any options you wish to discuss as long as you do not choose the option to leave just yet. No matter what you choose Brother Genitivi will say to run along and get the medallion and choose (option 4) I'll be back soon. You will earn each time. Then start the whole process again; just make sure not to say you're leaving until you're satisfied with Leliana's approval rating.
==== Method 2 ====
It is even more efficient to repeat a loop within a single conversation:
After you agree with Leliana (1. Oh, very well....), rather than ending the conversation as noted above, choose a repeat of option 3 ("No, I think you should return to Denerim"). Leliana rejoins the conversation...
Choose options: 
2. I'm trying... 
1. Oh very well...
3. No, I think you should...
Repeat these three until you are ready to leave the conversation.
=== Morrigan: unlimited approval ===
==== Method 1 ====
#In Lothering, tell Sten you will try to get the Revered Mother to release him.
#Enter the Lothering chantry accompanied by Morrigan. (Dog may tag along); Alistair shouldn't if you care about his approval rating, because it will take a hit every time Morrigan's rises; and Leliana will take an approval hit and then intervene, which will end the conversation and resolve the quest, preventing the exploit.)
#Speak to the Revered Mother about releasing Sten. When the first (Intimidate) option appears, choose it. As long as it fails, she will refuse to release him and demand that you leave. ( from Morrigan)
#Repeat step 3. Morrigan will repeat her amusement and approval gain, and the Revered Mother will repeat her refusal.
==== Method 2 ====
In the Dalish Camp, Athras can be persuaded to tell you why he is unhappy. Choose "I really don't have time to be a search party." This ends the conversation, and if present. Repeat.
=== Unlimited Oghren Approval from Personal Quest ===
When Oghren has reached Minor Inspiration (), he will automatically start his personal quest with the warden the next time they talk. The conversation is very involved and loops/jumps around frequently. Using this to avoid using gifts is especially useful when importing a Warden to Awakening (Despite Oghren's approval being reset in Awakening, the diminishing returns from gifts given in Origins will still carry over).
For infinite approval, proceed as follows:
Oghren: There you are. Wanted to talk to you.
*What about?
**Oh, by the Maker, we don't have time for this. (Loop Start)
***Fine, Oghren, what is it? (Returns to Loop Start)
A female warden can also add "I love you, too, Oghren." as the start of the loop for a total of per loop.
=== Unlimited Sten Approval while in Lothering ===
After you free Sten while in Lothering, speak with him and complete the dialogue that starts with "I think we should talk for a moment.". After this dialogue is completed, the next time you speak to him, you should have the "I have a question." option.
Proceed as follows:
*I have a question.
**Why did you come to Ferelden?
***What was the question?
****Why would the Qunari care about the Blight? (Loop Start)
*****I'm a Grey Warden. It's my job. 
******Did you find the answer to his question. (Returns to Loop Start)
Each time you complete the loop, it adds more to the conversation as a whole.
=== Unlimited Zevran Approval from romance ===
While in a romance with Zevran you will have the dialogue option to invite him to join you in your tent. If the first such conversation ends without triggering the cutscene, dialogue for a second invitation can be repeated with a +7 Approval gain each time. The exploit will stop working if the love-making cutscene is ever triggered.
Proceed as follows. First invitation:
*I want to discuss something personal.
**Care to join me in my tent?
***I was only joking, really. Just forget it.
****Fine. Get in my tent. No more questions.
*****That's… not what I had in mind. (Ends conversation)
Second invitation, can be repeated as many times as desired:
*I want to discuss something personal.
**Care to join me in my tent?
***Enough with the coy bit. Get in the tent.
****That's… not what I had in mind. (Ends conversation)
Each time you complete the loop, it adds .
=== Unlimited approval from any companion ===
#Take the appropriate gift and give it to the chosen character, e.g. with Morrigan the 'Alistair Doll'. You gain 
#Travel to Soldier's Peak and put the item in the Party Chest.
#Travel back to camp where the gift will have respawned
#Repeat as many times as you wish for until the maximum. 
You can also carry multiples of the same item to give as soon as you meet the appropriate character.
== Encounter and map exploits ==
=== Forcing Random Encounters ===
 You can experience random encounters without actually going anywhere: simply select a map access location as if you were going to travel, move the cursor to select another region (it should start out highlighting the region you are in), then go back to the region you're at and select it. If you spam this it will trigger a random encounter approximately once for every ten attempts. This is typically either an alternative to level-grinding, or attempts to get Rare loot, particularly from the elven leader and the Fen Witch. (exploit is unconfirmed for Origins)
=== The Architect's Best Trap Yet! - Bugged Lever - Silverite Mines (Awakening) ===
After triggering the sleep rune and following the cutscene that shows the Warden awakening in the Architects custody, if you progress shortly after this cutscene towards his lab, to the North East you find a room with some quest codexs, a pile of books, two levers, and two chests, one of which appears to be out of reach.
 If the player carefully walks up (yes, climbs) the lever on the right side, the player falls off the edge and into the secret area with the chest. Bear in mind this is not a solution to obtain this chest, as the trick door remains still magically locked and the player is stuck unless he/she masters the range activation bug also mentioned on this page. Bear in mind 
=== Range/ In-Combat Activation and Looting ===
This glitch may result in looting of rare or multiple items, and potentially achieving 100% completion regardless of which factions you side with in Amaranthine, if successful. The glitch is not guaranteed to work, as it relies mostly on an over taxed system causing the game to lag. It is not recommended that players overheat PC or game systems purely for the purpose of attempting this exploit.
The most viable use found for this is to get the mater archer which is normally only attainable if the Warden sides with the smugglers of Amaranthine. It can also be exploited to obtain the ever-elusive dagger the Withered wields at the beginning of the game (which by the way, is kind of funny when you DO get it). 
The optimal circumstances to trigger the glitch are described, but: 
* It's easier on slower computers with less memory or more programs running; system lag is very useful. 
* It only works when the item is within targetable range, meaning when you use your radial window, and turn to see it within view, the action image next to it is visible. Just the name/text normally will NOT work. This image by default of the Xbox 360 is usually a little eye, with a green box next to it, or something similar based on the type of object (box, chest, quest object, etc.)
* This glitch has been reported to sometimes cause a game-breaking error. 
To use this exploit:
#While keeping the radial menu up, move the target crosshair (center circle) over the objects window, as if you were going to cast a spell on it with a caster character (this should bring up the green box i referred to) 
#While dropping the radial menu, hit your button to interact with the object. Timing has to be precise, similar to the merchant item duplication cheat, and it is very difficult to explain what is the "correct" timing, so it may require trial and error.
In-combat looting/interacting is far easier to successfully accomplish than range activation/looting, but can be done. For example, it is possible to trigger the lever encountered when first entering Vigil's Keep by only stepping up on the stairs nearby to get a clear action shot. 
This glitch can be combined with the Reaver ability to use Devour which can often make corpses that were unlootable, lootable. Sometimes this will allow the player to loot corpses not intended to be looted as their battles are almost immediately followed but a cutscene, after which it is not possible to return to the area.
Walkthrough to perform the glitch on the Withered: 
#A warrior with the Reaver Devour ability must be in the party (Oghren via a glitch method works, or a Warden Commander Reaver with the Devour skill).
#Save the game before entering battle on the roof of the Vigil. Repeated attempts may be necessary as the Withered's rare dagger and shield have low drop rates.
#Set the game to the highest manageable difficulty level (the higher the difficulty, the better the chance of triggering the glitch).
#Set all non-controlled characters' tactics so they focus on the Withered, not his companions. 
#When he dies, wait about 5 seconds, and halt the attacks on the darkspawn allies either via use of the Force Field spell with Anders, or the hold position command with some intuitive character control. 
#After about 5–6 seconds (depending on your system's heat, memory, etc.) use the devour ability. This can potentially make the Withered's corpse lootable.
The end result is a darkspawn dagger, with slightly better stats, though not really significant, with the graphic from the top section of the Lamppost in Winter, a named legendary staff obtained from the Herald. The shield is just a basic darkspawn shield with a different graphic.
=== Unlimited Enhancement Crystals ===
This bug will give unlimited enhancement crystals for Shale. If Bella is made to own the tavern in Redcliffe, it is possible to get unlimited crystals for free. Sell them at the smith and return to Bella.
=== PS3: Unlimited Frozen Lightning ===
 Have a mage with Death Syphon, and travel to the west side across the bridges in Ortan Thaig. Find the dead stone golems. Activate Death Syphon, go up to a dead Stone Golem, and use a little bit of mana. You will absorb mana from the dead golem and be able to loot it for 1 Frozen Lightning. The golem will not disappear like a normal enemy should. Repeat as many times as you want for unlimited Frozen Lightnings.
=== Avoid Some Denerim Encounters ("go to camp") ===
This is a minor exploit, or possibly a feature, which can help the PC avoid Denerim random encounters. After opening the Denerim city map to leave a location outside the Market, select the world map and go directly to the party campsite to avoid any immediate Denerim random encounters. This appears to work even for "non random" random encounters such as the Mercenaries attack after they've been convinced to leave the Pearl—however, this does not prevent the encounters from happening at all but simply postpones the opportunity for an encounter.
=== Out of area bounds ===
Using the same mechanism described above, when attacked or simply cornered by NPCs near a certain area's gameplay bounds, it is possible to fade/slip through the bounds and be freely allowed to roam that whole area like a ghost, though this is quite difficult to achieve out of combat.
=== Mugging ===
A quick way for beginner players to get some nicer armor and weapons is to simply take them from temporary party members. Most, if not all, origin stories will have a temporary companion who, after the origin, will never join you again. 
These steps are only necessary if a temporary party member leaves the group, alive. If they are killed, their possessions appear in the player's inventory automatically.
Prior to their departure, go to inventory and unequip all of their gear. Weapons, armor, accessories, even clothing can be taken without refusal or any notice at all from the companion. Doing so produces no negative effects, aside from making the companion less useful in a fight (especially if it isn't a mage).
It is not recommended you use this trick on normal companions, unless they are about to leave or betray you. While completely disarming your companion will make that sort of fight easier, for any confrontation that ends in death, it's unnecessary. If the companion will leave, such as Alistair might depending on your choices at the Landsmeet, it is recommended you "mug" them before the confrontation.
=== Grey Warden Vault ===
 After gaining access to the Warehouse (easiest by accepting the first quest Solving Problems from the Favors for Certain Interested Parties board) you can gain free access to the Warden's Vault. Simply climb up on the weapons rack near the hidden entrance and move your camera around until you see the weapon rack with the loot icon. Once you see that simply click on the loot icon for the weapon rack and you will run into the Warden's Vault. This makes Duncan's Shield obtainable from your first time in Denerim.
The PC version of this (since you can not target items off the screen) is to keep climbing around on the weapon racks next to the bookshelves with multiple party members until one of your party members falls through the wall. This seems easier with Shale because her size makes her more likely to get moved farther.
=== Skip The Joining ===
 It's possible to use the Ostagar map hole to move outside the map and then return to the map in the area right outside the Tower of Ishal. The area can be accessed day or night, but the door to Ishal is absent from the Ostagar day map. Ishal can only be accessed after returning from the Korcari Wilds with their missions completed. Move to the outside edge of the Ishal area and then simply right-click inside the map area. You may need to zoom out and move the camera to do this. The character should appear within bounds. From here the player can enter the tower and start the quest to light the beacon. This exploit can also make Daveth and Ser Jory skip the Joining, thus allowing the player to take them into following levels of the game.
If you wish to complete the Joining after reaching the Ishal area prematurely, simply speak to the Tower Guard at the gate to be brought to the proper side.
== Attribute exploits ==
=== Essences/Fonts (Fade) ===
While in the Fade at Circle Tower, it is possible to get two +1 attribute bonuses per Essence/Font. 
On PC, 
#Save the game before this is attempted on each Essence, as if done incorrectly there is no way to repeat it
#Right-click the Essence to move towards it.
#Right click it again, immediately (almost at the same time) as the player reaches it. If done correctly, two +1 Bonuses will be shown on screen, one after the other.
If this exploit is successfully used for every single Essence and Font available in the Fade, the player can gain not 21, but 42 +attribute bonuses. This is equivalent to 14 level-up bonuses.
Alternate PC method:
Depending on your computer, the game will lag for a very quick moment, less than a second (this generally happens around 1–3 seconds after loading the game). By cramming as many clicks as possible in this lag, it's possible to achieve more than two or three +1 attributes. To be sure of when the lag occurs in your game, reload your game, and immediately initiate some sort of continuous animation such as rotating the camera angle or walking around. While paying attention to the amount of time that has passed since the game loaded, watch for a very subtle and very brief freeze in the game. 
Then:
#Reload the game again 
#Spam-click the font exactly as the freeze happens. You may be able to cram several clicks into the lag time, and when the lag disappears, multiple permanent +1 to attribute messages will queue up above the player. 
Because this glitch exploits the lag time after loading a game, in theory it might be easier to pull off on a slower computer, or if ram is minimal. Therefore, one would logically take away as much memory as possible before loading the game (running other apps and whatnot) to do the glitch, so in that sense, the lag time would ideally retain itself for a longer period of time. 
Alternate PC method for v1.04+:
It's still possible to do this on the PC v1.05 if you can use some kind of scripting to spam right clicks very fast. I've successfully gained two +1 attributes by programming a key to repeat right clicks at 15 or 25 ms intervals (I use a Logitech G15 keyboard). Make sure you stand close to the font or essence, but not so close that you don't have to walk anymore. Target the font or essence and use the script to spam right clicks and make sure your cursor stays on target. You will start walking very slowly and if done right will gain the bonus twice. It may also help to be in a slow form such as golem or spirit and you may have to reload a couple times to get it to work.
Another method is to; using the lag that occurs after loading in, use 'q' or 'e' to step side while using space to pause. At the same time using a command that spams right click (for example, a macro on a keyboard or mouse), this will hopefully overwhelm the game, so once you click on the font to receive the +1 bonus, you'll instead receive multiple. Note: This was done during the fade segment in the 'Awakening DLC' on the 22/03/2018. So it can be assumed that is should also work within the base game.
In patch v1.05 (PC), it's still possible to accumulate several attribute points (>2) with a macro, as shown in this video.
=== Free Attribute Points ===
In the PC version, it is possible to get free character attribute points (statistics) during a level up. To do this, first allocate all 3 points to an attribute you do not need. Now select "Reset". The attributes will all return to their original values, with 3 points available, however, you can now deduct 3 more points from the attribute that you previously modified, giving you 6 available points to spend (although no net gain of points yet). Allocate all 6 points to the attribute, select "Reset", and now you will be able to deduct 6 additional points from that attribute. Repeat this process, and when you can deduct more points than the attribute contains, the attribute will stop at zero (or -1 or -2, depending on the character), but the number of available points will continue to increase as you attempt to remove points from the attribute. Now each time you repeat the process, you will net 3 additional attribute points to spend. Note: You do not have to remove the points from the attribute until the end (Just allocate, reset, allocate, reset, etc., until you are satisfied, then press the down arrow repeatedly until the number of available points stops increasing). Then allocate the points to other attributes.
== Ability exploits ==
=== Stealth without using stealth ===
Many stationary enemies can be simply avoided instead of fought if the character walks sharply along the very edge of whatever corridor/alley/roadway the enemies are standing on (somewhat like avoiding tripwire traps). Enemies will not detect the player and thus will not engage in combat. This is useful for example if one wishes to purchase the Knight Commander's Plate at an early level like 7 or 8, as otherwise the group of mercenaries standing near the bridge will attack the player on sight and can prove to be quite a challenging fight. The same mechanism works for the thugs at the entrance in Dust Town, bandits in the alleys of Denerim, and so on.
After avoiding enemies with this maneuver, normally approaching them afterwards will sometimes reveal that they are completely unaware of the player's presence, acting as non interactive neutral NPCs. This effect lasts until the player furthers himself enough from the enemies so that they disappear from sight, and return, after which they will behave normally and attack the player on sight unless the above exploit is used.
=== Summoning Exploits ===
Category:Guides