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  • Inquisition Perks, Explained
  • How To Get The 'Deft Hands, Fine Tools' Perk
  • Where To Find All Masterwork Locks

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a game that encourages exploration. Many of the secrets hidden throughout the game's dozen-odd sprawling regions can be uncovered through little more than thorough strolls and combat encounters. But the game's rich enough in RPG mechanics to know when to hide certain treasures especially well - and that's when a specific perk comes into play.

Related: Dragon Age: How to Influence Who Becomes The Next Divine In Inquisition

That perk is called 'Deft Hands, Fine Tools', and it's required in order to retrieve some of Dragon Age: Inquisition's best loot. In this guide, we'll go over the perk system, sending you on a path to crack Masterwork Locks with ease.

Inquisition Perks, Explained

Dragon Age: Inquisition hosts a rather tidy mechanical economy. What we mean by this is that the designers found ways to feed its various systems into each other in fairly satisfying ways - take influence, for instance.

Players earn influence through a number of primary methods, including quests, war table missions, defeating foes, and even purchasing it outright from special vendors.

Influence, in turn, grants various things. For this guide, we'll focus on perks. After accumulating enough influence, the game allows you to purchase a perk. These perks grant a broad variety of good things, from increasing your Inquisitor's knowledge on specific matters during conversations to improving party member focus or even increasing available crafting schematics.

There are 34 in total, though a maximum of 19 can be obtained per playthrough.

How To Get The 'Deft Hands, Fine Tools' Perk

The Inquisition Perks overlay seen above will pop up for you the first time you access the war table upon accumulating the requisite influence to obtain a new perk. As you can see, there are four categories:

  • Forces, affiliated with Cullen
  • Secrets, affiliated with Leliana
  • Connections, affiliated with Josephine
  • Inquisition, overall organization

'Deft Hands, Fine Tools' belongs to Leliana's 'Secrets' category. When scrolling over it, you'll be able to read the following description:

"The training, gear, and experience working with master locksmiths needed to tackle the toughest and most ingenious locking mechanisms. Allows all rogues in the party to open masterwork locks."

However, some perks can only be acquired when a fixed number of points have been spent in a given category. That is to say, perks like 'Deft Hands, Fine Tools' cannot be obtained until you've grabbed three other perks within Leliana's 'Secrets' category. This is to prevent players from opening Masterwork Locks too early in the game, no doubt.

We recommend 'Arcane Knowledge' and 'Enhanced Studies' for two of the three predecessor perks you unlock on the road to reaching 'Deft Hands, Deft Tools'. The former gives your Inquisitor more speech options in matters related to the study of magic; the latter bolsters the number of researchers studying the Inquisition's foes.

More to the point, both these perks increase the amount of EXP you'll earn. 'Arcane Knowledge' gives you a 50 percent increase in experience points earned from magic-related codex entries, and 'Enhanced Studies' provides the same boost for completing creature research.

You'll need to be controlling a character classified as a Rogue to open Masterwork Locks with 'Deft Hands, Deft Tools', so if that's not your Inquisitor, be sure to bring someone along who fits the bill - Varric, Cole, and Sera are all Rogues.

Related: Dragon Age: Inquisition - Guide To Completing A Nightmare Difficulty Playthrough

Where To Find All Masterwork Locks

Armed with 'Deft Hands, Fine Tools', you're ready to retrace your steps and crack open all those Masterwork Locks strewn across Thedas. Good times! We've compiled this list of Masterwork Lock locations so that you can keep quick track of your pending treasures.

Area

Location

Treasure

Notes

The Hinterlands

A hut in Redcliffe Farms.

  • Heavy Warden Armor
  • Gold

-

The Hinterlands

Inside the wheelhouse in Redcliffe

  • Bottles on the Wall Vintage
  • Masterwork Ornate Bianca Grip Schematic
  • Gold

The Bottles on the Wall Vintage changes name depending on choices made via the Dragon Age Keep, referencing either Warden Bethany, Warden Carver, or Warden Steed. The item is a functionally identical collector's trinket regardless.

The Hinterlands

House in Redcliffe

  • Ten Obsidian
  • Codex Entry: Lyrium
  • Sigil of the Tusket

Sigil of the Tusket requires that the player has installed the 'Trespasser' DLC.

The Hinterlands

House in Redcliffe

  • Leads to an ocularum
  • Gold

This particular house is closer to the docks than the other one.

Fallow Mire

Avvar Fortress

  • Grey Warden Tomb
  • Mosaic piece
  • Bianca Arms 3
  • Superb Belt of Healing
  • Codex Entry: Hargrave Keep

Prepare to be haunted by your party members commenting that something is nearby here for many hours before you're able to unlock this door.

Crestwood

House in Crestwood Village

  • Amulet of Power
  • Malika's Guard
  • Gold

The house in question here will be inaccessible until after you have sealed the Flooded Caves rift.

Exalted Plains

North Tower at Fort Revasan

  • Superb Belt of Staggering
  • Gold

-

Exalted Plains

North Tower at Fort Revasan

  • Enhanced Belt of Sunder
  • Sigil of Deathroot
  • Gold

Sigil of Deathroot requires that the player has installed the Trespasser DLC.

Western Approach

Coracavus

  • Mosaic piece
  • Master Demon-Slaying Rune
  • Superb Ring of Critical Damage
  • Gold

Coracavus is the ancient Tevinter prison to the far north of the area.

Western Approach

Still Ruins (Eastern Door)

  • Mosaic piece
  • Codex Entry: Responsible Blood Magic
  • Ten Phoenix Scales
  • Ten Infused Vyrantium Samite
  • Three Heartwood

-

Western Approach

Still Ruins (Western Door)

  • Spirit Rune
  • Sigil of the Nug
  • Tevinter Banner

Sigil of the Nug requires that the player has installed the Trespasser DLC.

Emprise du Lion

Valeska's Watch

  • Gold

-

Emprise du Lion

Northern Tower

  • Curse of Morrac
  • Rebuke of the Sunderland

-

Emerald Graves

Chateau d'Onterre

  • Mosaic piece
  • Superb Ring of Staggering
  • Codex Entry: Lord d'Onterre's Journal
  • Gold

-

Emerald Graves

Din'an Hanin

  • Random loot

Keep an eye out for a nearby elven artifact while you're here.

Frostback Basin

Abandoned Jail

  • Scepter of Razikale

The Frostback Basin requires the 'Jaws of Hakkon' DLC.

Frostback Basin

Abandoned Jail

  • Master Belt of Grenades

The Frostback Basin requires the 'Jaws of Hakkon' DLC.

Frostback Basin

Old Temple

  • Hakkon's Mercy Schematic
  • Gold

The Frostback Basin requires the 'Jaws of Hakkon' DLC.

Cradle of Sulevin

Main Area

  • Mosaic piece
  • Spirit Rune
  • Gold

The Cradle of Sulevin is not a region in and of itself, but rather, a dungeon accessible from the world map after completing the 'Rumors of the Sulevin Blade' war table mission.

Next: Dragon Age: Inquisition - Red Water Quest Walkthrough