The Last Holdouts is an Act 3 side quest in Dragon Age II.
Acquisition[]
You must have favored Meredith in the dialogue at the beginning of Act 3. You must have completed some quests before it will be acquirable. Head to The Hanged Man at night and a lady barmaid there will tell you that some men in one of the back rooms wants to meet with you.
Walkthrough[]
The Hanged Man[]
Talk with Ser Mettin and Ser Agatha in the Hanged Man. Since Hawke has shown their support for the templars by siding against First Enchanter Orsino, Agatha and Mettin hoped that Hawke would provide further aid by helping them capture apostates and blood mages. Mettin explains that while lone apostates or blood mages are easily handled by them, the apostates they are hunting are organized and also aided by mage sympathizers and mercenaries. Although Ser Agatha believes that the commoners are simply misguided, Ser Mettin has contempt for the mage supporters. The apostates will go into hiding if Agatha and Mettin approach them, but Mettin hopes that with Hawke being a non-templar, they can take the fugitives unawares.
Darktown[]
Go to Darktown; go east from the north/west/east/south intersection south of the northern entrance and enter the Hidden Sewer.
Hidden Sewer[]
Kill off all the Blood Mages in the area, along with their Mercenary allies. You don't have to read all the letters lying around to continue the mission.
Hawke Estate[]
Return to your Estate and read the letter from Ser Mettin.
Sundermount[]
Travel to Sundermount and head through the caverns to the upper mountain path with the Graveyard, but turn right and head towards the trapdoor to enter the Blood Mage Refuge.
Blood Mage Refuge[]
Ser Mettin and Ser Agatha will assist you in killing off the apostate mages in this area. Most of them simply shoot bolts of fire at you and are no threat. In the large chamber at the end target Bancroft, the Elite-ranked mage, first.
After the last mage falls, Mettin expresses a wish to kill the friends and family assisting the mages there as well, with which Agatha disagrees. You have the option to side with Mettin or Agatha. If you refuse to take sides, Mettin will consider you Agatha's supporter.
If you side with Mettin 
Anders: rivalry (+5)
More templars will arrive, half of them standing by each of the leaders. As always, kill archers first to reduce health losses over time and time spent traveling across the battlefield, then kill the opposing templar leader before cleaning up the rest. In a short dialogue the surviving templar will thank you for help and promise their support. The quest concludes after this exchange.
Optional: After the fight, unlock the Complex-ranked chest next to the shrine for The Vague Blade.
Result[]
- No matter whom you decide to help in the second fight, the templars promise to provide future assistance.
Rewards[]
- 810 XP (for the fight)
- 330 XP (second fight - no matter whom you decide to help)
- Templar helmet - heavy issue may drop from Ser Mettin (low drop chance).
