Касандра Пентагас – это женщина-воин из Неварры, в венах которой течет королевская кровь. Она является Искательницей Церкви, которая, как не странно, проявляет сильный интерес к Хоуку и всему его окружению. По мнению Касандры, великая война между магами и храмовниками, которая вскоре может захлестнуть весь Тедас, может быть остановлена, если суметь понять действия и помыслы Хоука. На данный момент, все планы Касандры связаны со слежкой главного героя и дальнейшей его поимкой.

Жизненная история Кассандры

Что бы понять данного персонажа стоит углубиться в историю, и узнать, какой путь пришлось пройти Касандре с самого детства. Касандра родом из очень древнего и всеми уважаемого рода Пентагас из Неварры. Её семья славилась своим мужеством и способностью ловить драконов. Лучшим из ловцов драконов во всем роде Пентагас считался старший брат Касандры по имени Энтони.

Когда Касандра была маленькой девочкой, на её город обрушилась беда. Пришли маги крови, которым нужна была кровь драконов для проведения их зловещих ритуалов. Маги обратились к семье Пентагас и потребовали, что бы те ловили драконов, и отдавали их магам для жертвенных ритуалов. Семейство ловцов драконов ответило отказом, так как не хотели ловить благородных существ для таких целей. Услышав отказ, маги крови убили всю семью Касандры на её же глазах, после чего она возненавидела всех магов, не разбираясь к какой касте они относятся.

После трагедии, Касандра попала в орден Искателей Истины, где её наставником стал мудрый воин. Совсем скоро маленькая девочка превратилась в искусного воина, не знавшего страха, чем и завоевала уважение всех окружающих. Касандра стала сильной, а иногда даже агрессивной, в ней кипит сплав мудрого воина,а так же безрассудного и жестокого разбойника.

Роль в группе

Касандра – это воин, который способен успешно воевать, комбинируя свои стили. Она прекрасно справляется с мечом и щитом, может воевать с одним мечом или использовать по одному мечу в каждую руку. Данный персонаж отлично справляется с ролью танка или же в битве может использовать акробатический стиль.

It annoys me how BioWare coddled so many devout Andrastian human characters regarding past crimes, and/or gave them easy-peasy redemption arcs.

Cassandra: The Seekers are just as responsible for the Mage/Templar War because they didn’t do their job of stopping Templar corruption or abuse, and encouraged the abuse of the Rite of Tranquility. While Cassandra became disillusioned and quit off-screen, she never really acknowledges this.

She carries no guilt as a Seeker who failed to do more to prevent the war (she angsts a lot about failing to protect the Divine or find Hawke, but not investigating Templar abuse and corruption like Seekers are supposed to do), and in fact primarily blames mages for the war and still idealizes Seekers and Templars. The Inquisitor can never really call her out on this. (To say nothing of her insulting the Dalish Inquisitor’s religion twice and not only never getting called out on it, but getting praised by the other characters for being so open-minded.)

Cullen: Was complicit in Meredith’s tyrannical reign for years, which caused the torture, rape, lobotomy, and deaths of a lot of innocent mages (many of which he implies he knew about), and didn’t try to stop her until she threatened HAWKE (a human noble). Like Cassandra, he became disillusioned and quit the Order off-screen, but also like Cassandra he still mostly suspects and blames mages for the war and idealizes the Chantry and Templars.

He gives some half-assed “I should have seen what Meredith was sooner” but then lets himself off the hook, and continues to see Circles and Templars as the best option despite witnessing their inherent corruption and abuse for years. The Inquisitor can never call him out on this. Most mage dialogue with him (especially romanced) has the Inquisitor acting all guilty and self-loathing for what mages did to HIM, and asking whether HE’S all right with you being a mage, rather than being pissed off or holding him accountable for what he did to your kind. The narrative itself handles him with kit gloves, acting like, “Oh, he feels so bad about it, so that makes it okay.” He SHOULD feel bad. He was complicit in something awful. Feeling bad is the first step to redemption, not the last.

Celene: I hate how the game completely glosses over all the horrible things Celene did to Briala and the elves, and how the Inquisitor can never find out about it, hold Celene accountable, and wring some guilt out of her. While you can headcanon that your Inquisitor knew and/or let her die or blackmail her into serving you along with Gaspard and Briala, the Inquisitor can’t specifically cite this as the reason.

Reuniting her with Briala basically involves convincing Briala to drop all the grudges she rightfully holds against Celene: had her family murdered in a fake assassination attempt so she could take Gaspard’s throne, let her think someone else did it so she could keep her unwittingly as a fuck toy, trivialized and dismissed Briala’s requests to help her people, then right after finally promising to help them she immediately, brutally massacred over 3,000 elves just to show the nobles she “wasn’t soft on elves” just because some nobles mocked her in a play.

You can’t find out about or convince Celene she was wrong. Like Cullen, she gives a half-assed, “Maybe I should have done more…“ but then lets herself off the hook. By convincing Briala to forgive her, Celene gets her lover returned to her under her thumb, in a relationship on her own terms, where she has all the power as Empress and Briala surrenders all the power she’s earned (elven spy network and eluvian network) to Celene.

Worse, the narrative acts like, “Well, she still cares about Briala, so that makes it all okay.” Like with Cullen, feeling bad is the first step to redemption, not the last.

Michel de Chevin: Like Celene, the game completely glosses over his jerkassery or crimes against elves in The Masked Empire , and doesn’t let the Inquisitor discover it at all . In fact, it depicts him as this golden boy who lost favor in Celene’s court for seemingly no reason, and unless you skip Emprise du Lion or side with Imshael, he gets everything restored to him guilt- and effort-free.

Compare Blackwall , who is very much tormented by guilt over what he did, the Inquisitor DOES find out what he did, is very much held accountable by all the other characters for his crimes, and has to struggle, bleed, and work for his redemption.

Compare Iron Bull , who has to make the difficult choice of allowing his Chargers or Qunari allies to die, and (if the Qunari die) has to struggle with knowing he’s Tal-Vashoth, he’s cut off from everything he found familiar and stable, he has to question his previous dehumanization (de-personization?) and demonization with Tal-Vashoth, and grapple with his guilt and moral implications of hunting down and butchering thousands of Tal’Vashoth whom he previously believed were just insane, rabid monsters. He’s very much shaken and (if Trespasser is any indication) takes years to recover.

Why do the devout Andrastian human Chantry and nobility characters get easy-peasy “Oh, they feel bad , so that makes it okay” redemption arcs while everyone else has to wrangle through blood, sweat, and tears to get their redemption?

Updated on December 4, 2014

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a hefty game. There"s tons of stuff to organize: what characters are you taking? What equipment do you need? These character guides aim to give you a rough idea how you can build each character, playing to their strengths and giving them a robust set of options in combat, hopefully making your time playing through the game more fun.

Obviously these aren"t meant to be "the best" ways to build each character. Leave a comment if you feel a particular strategy has been neglected and we can all benefit from it.

Cassandra Pentaghast

Cassandra is the first character who joins you throughout Dragon Age: Inquisition , so it"s rather fitting that she should be geared towards being a tank. Not only is Cassandra a Warrior, her unique, Templar, skill-tree, is geared towards defensive fighting and support, emphasizing her role as the vanguard of your party.

Skills - Weapon and Shield

So where do you start? Well, the best option is to head into the Weapon and Shield skill-tree and grab a few key perks. First up, there"s Shield Wall , a very classic tank-style ability that lets you build up guard whilst blocking attacks. It does consume stamina, so can"t be held up indefinitely, but it will help protect Cassandra.

What"s more, there"s no healing spells in Dragon Age: Inquisition , instead, each class gets a different way to mitigate damage, and, for Warriors, that"s by building up guard. Guard operates as an additional layer of health, that, unlike barriers, the Mage equivalent, don"t degrade over time, essentially allowing a skilful tank to operate with almost double their standard health.

Grabbing this also handily puts us in range of Bear Mauls Wolves , a passive skill that prevents you from being flanked, along with a resistance to being staggered. Cassandra is likely to spend a good amount of time being surrounded, so an ability like this is incredibly useful.

After that it"s time to switch sides and go over and get Payback Strike , a counterattack that also potentially staggers the enemy. Stagger and stun effects are great for defensive fighters, allowing them to mitigate even more damage by simply preventing the enemy from doing anything, even if the tank can"t actually kill them. This also allows us to grab Turn the Bolt , a sort of ranged equivalent of Bear Mauls Wolves , giving us a whopping 50% damage reduction from frontal ranged attacks. Just keep in mind Cassandra"s position when fighting plenty of archers/mages, for obvious reasons.

That"s the basics from the Weapon and Shield tree. There"s plenty more you could pick up later on, however. The upgrades to both Shield Wall and Payback Strike are decent, and the final skill, Turn the Blade ,simply provides you with greater defensive power. If I had to choose a path to go down to get Turn the Blade , I"d say the right path, so that you also pick up Lunge and Slash , an ability that allows you to close the gaps to opponents, and keep Cassandra in the centre of the fight.

Vanguard - Skills

Vanguard is the other tree geared towards a defensive warrior, and it"s here you"ll find all the skills needed to maintain enemy aggro. There"s nothing worse than having a perfectly kitted out tank who can soak up hits, only to see your Mage get stomped on because all that enemies simply ignored the Warrior.

So, without further ado, make sure to grab Challenge early on, allowing Cassandra to pull the nastiest opponent into combat with her. The upgrade isn"t particularly worth it here, as it doesn"t improve the taunting aspect in anyway, so just grab the basic skill and move on.

You then want to grab War Cry ,which is a little weird. The actual rulings state that it doesn"t taunt enemies, only improves your guard, but the description also reads that enemies are taunted. I"ve tested the skill plenty of times, and it does seem to encourage enemies to attack the user (which makes sense) even if it doesn"t explicitly taunt them. Don"t forget to pick up the upgrade, Call to Arms , either, improving the guard bonus you get from using the ability.

After those it"s up to you which way to go. Both wings of the skill-tree offer some good skills. Unbowed offers more defence for Cassandra, whilst Bodyguard provides a greater level of protection to fellow party members. See how your party is doing up until this point, and decide based on that how you want to proceed in this skill tree.

Templar - Skills

As a general rule of thumb, it"s best to base each character build around their unique skill tree. Not only does that give each party member some individuality and unique applications, the unique skill trees are by far the strongest in the game.

The primary focus with Cassandra should be to head down the right side of the skill tree, making a bee-line for Wrath of Heaven , an area-of-effect attack that has the benefit of stunning the enemy. Along the way you"ll pick up some useful passive skills in There Is No Darkness and The Maker"s Will , improving the effectiveness of your team as a whole. Make sure to pick up the Embrace The Light upgrade too.

Summary

With all the skills I"ve mentioned you"ll have a solid crowd-control tank with Cassandra. Whilst Blackwall is perhaps the best de facto tank in the whole game (minus main characters, of course), Cassandra comes equipped with much better utility in my opinion, enabling her to handle both single strong opponents, as well as mobs of weaker enemies, with ease. It goes without saying if you think that you"re going to be up against lots of demons, she"s easily the best option.

Updated on February 28, 2019

Dragon Age: Inquisition is the latest in the epic fantasy roleplaying video game series by BioWare. One of the many great features of this game is the ability to certain party members of the game; this is somewhat of a tradition in the Dragon Age series.

This article describes how to romance one of the most popular female characters in the game, Seeker Cassandra Pentaghast.

Cassandra is only romancable as a male Inquisitior , though it doesn"t matter which race or you choose.

Unlike most other characters in the game, Cassandra does not always react well to open flirtation (a hint is her reaction to some of "s seedy lines). Therefore, approaching her romantically can be a little more difficult than others.

Meeting Cassandra

Cassandra is with you from the very beginning of the game, so there is no quest to obtain her on your team (unlike certain party members such as or ). She appears from the start, interrogating you about a magical mark that has appeared on your hand, and questioning why you were the only one to survive a huge blast that created the deadly Breach, a portal to the world of demons.

Here, you are introduced to her passionate and tough nature, which made many players instantly fall for her.

Gaining Approval

It is easy to gain Approval points from Cassandra from early on in the game. When you follow her outside Haven to observe the Breach, respond to her questions by saying "If I can help, I will."

When you are attacked by demons, you will see a weapon appropriate to your character"s fighting class. After defeating the monsters, Cassandra will command you to drop your weapons. Choose the option "All right, I"ll disarm."

When asked how to approach the Breach, side with Cassandra by saying "I say we charge."

Selecting these three options gives Cassandra an excellent first impression of you.

Other ways to gain Approval (in general) are:

• Show her respect. Cassandra is a Seeker, a Warrior, and a passionate fighter.
• Say you believe in the Maker . A few times, Cassandra will ask you about your religious beliefs. She trusts in the Chantry and is passionate about the Maker and Andraste, so select dialogue options that show you trust and believe in the Maker.
• Reassure her. She may be tough, but she isn"t without emotion. Sometimes she will feel guilty about her actions. Don"t berate her; tell her she did her best.
• Ask for her opinion. Meeting certain characters, such as Belle in Val Royeaux and Ser Barris, sometimes prompts you to ask for Cassandra"s input.

Approach Cassandra in Haven, and you"ll see her sparring alone. Flirt and say:

• "You"re impressive."
• "You had cause."
• "Yes." (When asked if you believe in the Maker. Bear in mind this cements your character as a believer.)

After you have traveled to the Hinterlands to meet Mother Giselle, approach Cassandra. She will ask you where you"re from. Select the following:

• Tell her the truth.
• "Home is where I am."

Speak to her again, and select the following:

• The romance option "You"re delightful."

Ask Cassandra about herself, and she will talk about being a Seeker. Select the following for Approval:

• "I agree with you."
• "It does sound wonderful."

Choosing Between the Templars and the Mages

Your War Council and Cassandra will discuss whether to ally with the Mages or the Templars. You will have a dialogue option offering to suggest either, and another to say "we must decide soon". Choose the latter for Cassandra"s Approval. This doesn"t affect your decision later.

If you"d like a chance to greatly improve Cassandra"s Approval, choose to ally with the Templars. During the "Champions of the Just" quest, you"ll have many chances for Cassandra"s Approval rating to increase.

• When asked to raise the flags in order of importance, raise Andraste"s flag the highest.
• When the Templars join with you, select the option "Rebuild as our partners." Cassandra will Greatly Approve.
• Optional: when Cole appears back at Haven, Cassandra doesn"t trust him. You must then choose between trusting Cole and inviting him to join the Inquisition, or banishing him. If you want to add Cole to your party, then you can. However, Cassandra will Slightly Disapprove. If you aren"t bothered about having Cole in your party, select "He"s too dangerous. Kill him." Cassandra will Approve, but you will permanently lose the chance to gain Cole as an Ally.

Approval in Skyhold

You can"t romance Cassandra until after you have completed the quest "In Your Heart Shall Burn". Once at Skyhold, speak to Cassandra. This will open several conversations and sidequests in varying order. These include:

• Cassandra"s argument with Varric. When prompted to act, select "don"t intervene" (however, this will sacrifice some of Varric"s Approval), and afterwards, select the romance option "I still like you."
• Cassandra"s soft spot for reading. Don"t tease her about it; say "nothing wrong with that " and go to Varric. Ask him to finish the sequel so you can give it to Cassandra as a gift. This will earn a big boost in Approval. You can later select the flirting option "So you"re a romantic?"
• Her planning battle movements. She will talk to you about her hopes for the future. When she asks you what guides you, select the romance option "You guide me."
• Cassandra"s Inner Circle quest "Unfinished Business". Depending on how much of the world you have unlocked, this can be very time-consuming. You have to unlock inaccessible areas in the Exalted Plains and the Western Approach by completing the quests "Gain Access to Ghilan"nain"s Grove" and "The Trouble with Darkspawn," respectively.
• Complete her personal quest "Promise of Destruction" by locating missing Seekers at the War Table.