Dragon Age -- Harvester on Nightmare Difficulty

Channel:

Denny Ayard

Subscribers:

16,200

Published on July 5, 2014 8:56:35 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsRRZba8OmE

Game:

Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

Duration: 4:04

6,781 views

60

-- The Harvester
The Harvester is believed to be the hardest boss in Dragon Age: Origins. There is an achievement for beating him on Hard or Nightmare difficulty. This achievement unlocks The Reaper's Cudgel in Origins and Awakening, which is a massive cash boost at the start of those campaigns.
For surviving the battle, you'll want your Golem to avoid drawing attention and instead focus on healing.
Brogan will be your tank for most of his fight. Make sure his tactics are set to use Taunt and Carapace. The Harvester and its skeletons will deal heavy damage, so set Brogan up to use Greater Health Poultices or stronger when his health gets low. If another party member is getting slaughtered by skeletons, have Brogan activate Grievous Insult to pull the enemies away from their target.
Jerrik will be your main damage dealer if you yourself are not a Dual-Wield fighter or Archer. Set his tactics to make use of Ghost, Strength of Stone, and healing poultices. If he knows Enduring Hardship, he can be your last man standing and could solo the fight if other party members fall in battle. Make sure his tactics are also set such that he won't waste time by summoning Snug the Bronto if the battle is already well under way.
Now tips for the actual battle:
The battle has two main phases. One fight against the flesh golem, and another fight against the Harvester's head. During the first phase, skeletons will periodically spawn and the battle will shift between the physical world and the Red world. Skeletons will be buffed if they are alive when a Red shift ends. You can prematurely end a Red shift and kill all previously spawned skeletons by hitting one of the switches at he side of the room. Be careful about hitting a switch too soon, only go for it if Elite or Boss rank skeletons are in the battle. Try to kill the Harvester's body during a Red shift so that you can zero the number of fighting skeletons by hitting a switch at the start of the second phase.
During the second phase, Red shifts will occur more frequently and can't be ended by hitting a switch (unless its a Red shift that started in the previous phase). Also, there's a chance that the skeletons that spawn will be immune to normal physical attacks. To be perfectly honest, you are royally ****ed if more than one Boss-rank skeleton spawns, so there is a luck factor to finishing this battle. The Harvester will attempt to regenerate health by feeding on corpse piles. Luckily, its health doesn't regenerate fast enough to counter an assault from an Archer or Dual-Wielder. Your goal is get it below 20% health so that its skeleton backup dies. Once it's below this threshold, the battle is smooth sailing to victory!

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