Dragon Age Inquisition War Table Missions Guide: Timing and Missable Rewards

The war table is where the Inquisition actually gets run. It opens half the map, hands out gold, gear, and influence, and quietly locks away content that most players never realize slipped past them. The wrinkle? Everything runs on real-world time, so one sloppy pick can leave an advisor tied up for most of a day. So here's how the table works, what to run early, and where the permanent misses hide.

How Operations and Advisors Work

Three people report to that big map in Haven (and later Skyhold). Josephine runs Connections, your diplomacy arm: nobles, trade, the Chantry. Leliana runs Secrets, so her people handle spying, theft, and quiet digging. Cullen runs Forces, the soldiers, for jobs that need boots and swords. Most operations can go to any of the three, and each one wraps them up differently.

There are two kinds of operations, and they play by different rules:

• Mission operations are free to start and take real time, anywhere from 10 minutes to a full 24 hours. They pay out gold, influence, items, story flags, sometimes all four.
• Scouting operations finish instantly but cost Power, and they're usually how a new region opens on the map. Each one is hard-locked to a specific advisor, so there's nothing to decide.

The timer is what trips people up. Mission clocks tick in real time, and they keep ticking with the game closed and the console unplugged. That 24-hour job you started before bed will be done when you load up the next evening. It cuts both ways, though. A four-hour operation is a four-hour wait no matter what, and nothing you do in-game speeds it along.

A few more rules worth knowing:

• Each advisor can only run one operation at a time. Three advisors, three slots, that's the whole board.
• You can't cancel. Whoever you send stays sent until the clock runs out.
• Some operations have a preferred advisor who finishes 20% faster. Faster isn't the same as better, and the speed bonus has zero connection to the reward.
• Agents help. Certain people out in the world can be recruited, and each one trims 5% off that advisor's times. Over a full game you can pick up roughly five to nine per branch, and a few of them are missable (more on that in a bit).

Story operations are the exception to all the waiting. They're instant and just charge Power. In Hushed Whispers runs 15 Power through Leliana, Champions of the Just runs 15 through Josephine, and later on Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts costs 30, Here Lies the Abyss 20, and What Pride Had Wrought 40. Plenty of regular ops are also gated behind Influence level. The specialization batch doesn't even show up until Influence 8.

The three advisors at a glance

| Advisor | Branch | Strong suits | | --- | --- | --- | | Josephine | Connections | Diplomacy, noble politics, trade, the Chantry | | Leliana | Secrets | Spies, theft, digging up information | | Cullen | Forces | Soldiers, escorts, open fighting |

No branch is flat-out better. The payouts just differ, and picking well is most of the skill on this table.

Early Operations Worth Prioritizing

Power runs the early game, since every region unlock and story op charges it. You earn Power out in the field by closing rifts, claiming camps, and finishing quests, so the loop is simple: go do stuff, come back, spend it at the table.

So what deserves Power first? New zones, because each one means more rifts and camps to farm:

| Region | Operation | Power | Who can run it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hinterlands | Scout the Hinterlands | 1 | Leliana | | Val Royeaux | Address the Chantry in Val Royeaux | 4 | Josephine | | Storm Coast | Scout the Storm Coast | 4 | Leliana | | Forbidden Oasis | Investigate the Shards | 4 | Josephine | | Fallow Mire | Rescue Soldiers Missing in Ferelden | 8 | Anyone | | Crestwood | Find the Warden | 8 | Leliana | | Exalted Plains | Investigate the Exalted Plains | 8 | Cullen | | Western Approach | Investigate the Western Approach | 8 | Cullen | | Emerald Graves | Make Contact in the Emerald Graves | 8 | Leliana | | Emprise du Lion | Liberate Emprise du Lion | 20 | Josephine | | Hissing Wastes | Stop Venatori Activity in the West | 20 | Leliana |

The Fallow Mire one is the only region unlock all three advisors can take. Crestwood's doesn't appear until you've talked with Hawke at Skyhold.

Past the scouts, Haven has a stack of cheap wins sitting right there:

• Your race opens a quick unique op. Humans get Deal with Relatives of the Trevelyans (10 minutes, 30 influence, plus a small follow-up chain). Elves get Contact Clan Lavellan, which kicks off a long storyline you'll want running later. Dwarves get The Carta Gets Its Cut, and Qunari get Contact with the Valo-Kas Mercenaries, which drops a Qunari Battleaxe and an Amulet of Power for Iron Bull.
• Hard in Hightown 3: Varric's Revenge runs 15 minutes and pays an Amulet of Power for Varric along with his approval. It also opens a six-op chain with real gear at the end.
• Red Jenny: Inquisition Needs Beeees! shows up once Sera's recruited. It's 29 minutes for the Jar of Bees grenade recipe, and that grenade stays funny and useful for a surprisingly long stretch of the game.
• Utilize the Grey Warden Treaties is a 24-minute Josephine job after recruiting Blackwall. Easy gold and iron.
• Gather Coin is repeatable: 48 minutes for 70-120 gold in Haven, 60-250 at Skyhold. Anytime someone's idle, park them on it.
• Locate Weapon of Tyrdda Bright-Axe, once you've claimed all the Tyrdda landmarks in the Hinterlands, takes a full 24 hours (19:12 if Cullen runs it) and pays Tyrdda's Staff. Start it early and let it cook.

The day you reach Skyhold, two instant ops deserve immediate clicks. Acquire the Arcanist brings Dagna in to run rune crafting, and Specializations for the Inquisitor summons the trainers for your class quests. Run that second one with whoever matches your class: Josephine for mages, Leliana for rogues, Cullen for warriors.

One goofy money sink, if you're sitting on cash: a merchant named Deraboam in Val Royeaux sells a Mystery Box for 10,000 gold. Buy it, poke the golden nug it comes with, and The Big One? spends two hours unlocking five mounts, Battle Nug included. Ten grand stings early. It's five mounts, though, and they're ridiculous in the best way.

Companion-Linked Operations

The pattern is simple: recruit somebody or catch them at the right conversation, and their personal business shows up on the board. These pay approval and, better, Amulets of Power. Each amulet hands that companion a free ability point, which is about as good as table rewards get.

Varric

Hard in Hightown is the longest companion line. It starts in Haven with Hard in Hightown 3, rolls through The Search for the Hack Writer and Unsavory Parallels, then branches at Trouble in Skyhold. Leliana's route (Revenge of the Merchants Guild, then A Worthy Dwarf) ends with the Ornate Bianca Grip Schematic. Cullen's route (A Dagger in the Back, then No Dwarf Less Worthy) ends with the Firm Bianca Grip Schematic. Either way, Bianca gets an upgrade and Varric approves. Later, after Here Lies the Abyss, talk with Dagna about the Fade: The Arcanist and the Fade pays the Bianca Aiming II (Enhanced) schematic.

Sera

Her Red Jenny stuff is all over the table. Grab the bees and Drop and Grab early in Haven, since Drop and Grab is Haven-only. After her Verchiel March quest, A Battalion for Sera and Verchiel is a Cullen-only 24-minute step, then the line runs through Red Jenny Attends a Party into Red Jenny and the Bad Goods, which pays an Amulet of Power for Sera once you hit Influence 5. The tail end branches again around Influence 7 depending on whether Josephine or Leliana takes it.

Vivienne

Truth or Dare: The Imperial Court is a 12-minute starter once she joins. Lake Celestine, available after either treaty quest, branches the chain: Josephine continues to See and Be Seen, Leliana to A Dangerous Game. Once Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts is done, The Endgame hands over an Amulet of Power for Vivienne.

Dorian

Dorian's Request opens at Skyhold once he's recruited, then A Friend in Qarinus (talk with him) rolls into The Tevinter Resistance at Influence 6, which pays an Enhanced Chain Lightning Ring.

Cassandra

Talk with her at Influence 6 and Locate the Missing Seekers opens, feeding her Seeker business. Separately, Shadows over Denerim (Leliana or Cullen only) leads into Delicate Negotiations after the Winter Palace, a 19-hour Josephine job that pays 60 influence and the Avenger.

Blackwall

Utilize the Grey Warden Treaties in Haven (Josephine only), Conscript for the Inquisition at Skyhold, and Nobility and Casualty after Champions of the Just, which carries an Amulet of Power for him. Midway through Revelations, Thom Rainier's Fate is a 1-Power instant op that sets up his judgment at the throne.

Iron Bull

Two lines here. Choose Successor in Lydes appears as soon as he joins, and Part II pays either the Ancestral Shield or the Ancestral Blade of Lydes depending on who you sent for Part I. The other line, Investigate Hunter Fell, sits on a hard deadline. More on that below.

Cole

Talk with Cole about his past to open Locate Rhys and Evangeline, then Deploy Rhys and Evangeline. Leliana's finish pays an Amulet of Power for Cole.

The advisors have personal ops too

Josephine's Of Somewhat Fallen Fortune line has a fork you can't undo: Destroying House of Repose's Contract (Leliana) and Find a Sponsor for the Du Paraquettes (anyone) are mutually exclusive, and finishing one deletes the other. Romancing her adds Challenge Josephine's Fiancé to a Duel, a 15-minute Cullen job. During Cullen's quest Before the Dawn, Finding Samson's Weakness is a Josephine-only 24-minute step.

Timed and Missable Rewards

Here's the part the game never warns you about. A handful of operations sit on invisible deadlines, and crossing the wrong story beat with them unfinished deletes them, rewards and all, for the rest of the run.

The Haven deadline

When the story moves you from Haven to Skyhold, several Haven operations vanish if they haven't been finished. The flagged list:

• The Cult of Andraste and its follow-up The Secrets of Andraste (the chain continues into Upon the Waking Sea once you hit Influence 4)
• The Chantry Remains, plus one of its two follow-ups, The University of Orlais (the other follow-up, Grand Cleric Iona, survives the move)
• Address a Nobleman's Concerns
• Red Jenny says "Drop and Grab"
• Investigate Therinfal Redoubt (if you recruited the mages) or Investigate Redcliffe Castle (if you took the templar deal), both Haven-only and both needing a chat with Krem first

Those last two deserve real care. Leliana's finishes are the good ones: Therinfal with Leliana opens Hunt Therinfal Redoubt Demon and slips you an Amulet of Power for Iron Bull, while Redcliffe with Leliana opens Deal with Venatori Ally and captures the Tevinter mage instead of letting him slip away.

One kindness, at least. Anything already in progress when you leave Haven carries over and finishes normally at Skyhold. Started jobs are safe. It's the unstarted ones that burn.

The Demands of the Qun deadline

With Iron Bull recruited, Investigate Hunter Fell and its follow-ups (Continue Investigation, Identify Venatori Agent) have to wrap up before his quest Demands of the Qun, and Krem has to come through it alive. Miss either and the whole line fails and disappears. Identify Venatori Agent is best on Leliana anyway: 19:12:00, 100 influence, the Elfsnake Vitaar, and she's the one who actually names the smuggler.

The Clan Lavellan storyline (elf Inquisitor only)

The scariest chain in the game, because your clan can genuinely die. The safe route, step by step: Contact Clan Lavellan in Haven (Leliana or Josephine), Protect Clan Lavellan with Leliana, Investigate Duke Antoine of Wycome with Josephine, Stop Purge of Wycome's Elves with Leliana, then the finale, Protect Clan Lavellan and Wycome, with Cullen. The finale only appears once both Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts and Here Lies the Abyss are done, and it runs a full day on Cullen. His finish is the happy one: clan safe, a new city council in Wycome, 192-288 gold, 100 influence, and the Royal Sixteen mount.

Why so specific? Because wrong picks kill, quietly. Cullen's quick finish on Contact Clan Lavellan itself costs Dalish lives, and so does Josephine's on Protect Clan Lavellan. Leliana's finish on Investigate Duke Antoine destroys the clan outright, and so does Cullen's on Stop Purge. Josephine's finish on the finale? Every elf in Wycome dies. The game waves none of these flags at you.

Sutherland and his crew

A kid named Sutherland hangs around Herald's Rest wanting to join up, and his eight-part line is one of the best in the game, mostly because it's so easy to fumble. Send Cullen on New to the Crew (Part I): Leliana's finish ends the whole storyline on the spot for 50-65 gold. When Part II comes up, don't pick the "Return the gear; go to work" dialogue with Sutherland, since that kills the chain dead. Part IV only opens Part V if Leliana runs it. Check in with him (and later Rat, in the tavern) between every step, because each part waits on a conversation. Stick with it and A Company of Heroes (Part VIII) pays a Heavy Shield Schematic.

World-state missables

Imported saves matter here. An Ally from Starkhaven (3:12, Josephine only) exists solely if Sebastian Vael joined you in Dragon Age II, and it gates Aiding Kirkwall or Annexing Kirkwall, a pair that also needs three major main quests finished and swaps around depending on whether Anders lived. Contact Hero of Ferelden is a 19-hour Leliana op that only shows up if the Warden survived Origins and you've finished Here Lies the Abyss and talked with Leliana or Morrigan. It's just a letter and a belt, honestly. For Origins fans it's still worth the slot.

Missable agents

Agents can be missed too, and three of the painful ones stand out. Jana, in Crestwood, has to be recruited before you enter the Flooded Caves during Still Waters. Wait too long and she's gone, and she ends up a blood sacrifice at Adamant later, which is grim. Solas can talk her around, or you can handle it yourself with the Nobility Knowledge perk. Sky Watcher in the Fallow Mire vanishes forever if you leave the region before recruiting him after Lost Souls. And Clemence, in Redcliffe's Gull and Lantern, is only around during In Hushed Whispers. Finish Champions of the Just first and he never appears at all.

One patch note

Some rewards changed with patch 10 and the Trespasser DLC installed. A few gold payouts became belts and sigils instead. If a reward doesn't match an older guide you're reading, that's probably why.

Choosing an Advisor Safely

So who do you actually send? It depends on the op, and the game is bad at telling you, because each advisor's briefing is deliberately vague. The outcome gaps can be huge:

• Deal with Venatori Ally: Cullen has Arl Wulff executed. Josephine gets him feeding the Venatori bad information willingly. Nobody warns you.
• Have Ser Barris Lead Against Demons: the Countess dies unless Cullen takes it.
• New to the Crew: Leliana's finish ends Sutherland's storyline immediately.
• The Influence 8 specialization ops have no-reward traps. Endure pays nothing on Cullen, and Inspire pays nothing on Leliana.
• Truth or Dare: Lake Celestine sends Vivienne's whole chain down different paths depending on Josephine or Leliana.

The preferred-advisor speed bonus is its own trap sometimes. Protect Clan Lavellan is fastest on Cullen at 12 minutes, and his finish costs Dalish lives. Other times the speed is free: the Tyrdda Bright-Axe op runs 19:12 with Cullen against 24 hours flat for the others, same staff either way. That one's just a win.

A few habits keep you out of trouble:

• Read all three advisor cards before committing, especially on operations with named characters in the text. If two briefings mention a person and one doesn't, that's usually a hint.
• On multi-op chains, look down the whole chain before starting. Half the disasters above come from grabbing the fast pick on step one of a five-step line.
• Don't park your own class's advisor on a 24-hour job right when the Specializations op needs them. Warrior players have done exactly this with Cullen and Tyrdda's staff, then sat there unable to kick off their specialization quest for most of a day.
• Collect finished operations and refill the slots whenever you pass the table. Idle advisor time is pure waste, and late lines like Sutherland's will happily sit half-done for 20 real hours if you let them.

The table rewards patience more than cleverness, in the end. Keep all three advisors busy, start the long jobs before you log off, clear the Haven-only operations before the story moves you, and double-check who does what on anything with a name attached. Do that and you'll finish the game with a living Dalish clan, a fully tricked-out Bianca, and a heavy shield schematic most players never see.