Dragon Age: Inquisition
69 Achievements
1750
Belle of the Ball
Gain the full approval of the Orlesian court.
15
14.19%
How to unlock the Belle of the Ball achievement in Dragon Age: Inquisition - Definitive Guide
Apocalypse Kane
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
Have fun!
EDIT:
I would add the 2.0 version of the video (made by the same author) suggested by Meszerus in the comments, in this second video are shown more ways to get approval and the position of all the Halla Statuettes if you need them.
TriRock
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
You can get support through dialogue with court members. Find people with a speech bubble and save before talking (even if not everyone has something meaningfull to say) - obviously use multiple saves throughout this quest. Play your cards close to your chest, and never be blunt or you'll lose approval. Small amounts can be earned by finding Caprice coins and throwing them into the fountain.
When exploring areas outside the main attraction, be quick, for you will lose approval constantly.
If you enter the ball room after the bell rings for a second time you'll gain approval for being 'fashinonably late'.
You can earn a large amount of approval during the dance with the Duchess if you always pick the center-right option.
Finally, when -
*EDIT* Since people seem to fail to understand: Picking any other choice than the peaceful one described in the spoilers will lower your score (and void the achievement), while making that choice will increase your score. This one final choice will influence your score by +/- 10 points, but it won't be displayed. Which is why people with 100/100 didn't get the achievement when picking a fight, and people with 90/100 got it when choosing the peaceful option.
I finished the quest while finding only four Hallas, and learning less than half of the scandals and secrets, so those aren't required to neither finishing the quest nor getting this achievement.
togethawiistand
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
I got overly concerned after seeing the other solutions, so after I got the achievement I decided to write my own to assure and clarify some points.
This is far easier than it may sound. You have plenty of opportunities to keep the court approval at 100 or very close to it. Then, at the very end of the mission you just have to pick the dialogue option ("I'll talk with Florianne") that avoid further bloodshed. That's it, in a nutshell.
To begin and be safe, when talking to other party guests pick the middle dialogue option most of the time. With some characters that are straightforward, such as Morrigan and Briala, it doesn't really matter if you are straightforward. In any case, if you save before talking to someone each time it will be easier to undo any possible mistakes you make on choosing dialogue.
Now, there are 3 major moments/cutscenes that mark your progress through this mission and they happen when it's time for you to go back into the ballroom. In fact, the third time you enter the ballroom after completing specific area investigations the mission will come to its end. You can enter the ballroom normally at any time you wish before this 3rd major moment.
The first moment you're supposed to go to the ballroom you will have a custscene with Morrigan. After that you can explore and investigate the Servant's Quarters with the key that she gives you.
When you come back from there (after having fought Harlequin and had a chat scene with the elf embassador Briala), don't forget to explore all of the same areas you had previously explored. They should now have more eavesdropping spots, scandalous secret documents (which you turn in to Leliana) and caprice coins (which you throw into a specific fountain for +1 approval) to be found. Also, don't forget to go into the Trophy Room (near the door that leads to Servan'ts Quarters) by tricking the guards into going talk to Cullen.
The second moment you're supposed to go to the ballroom you will have a dance with Grand Duchess Florianne. After that you can go investigate the Royal Wing. You can explore all of that area, but if you still need/want to go back to the main area, then DO NOT enter the room where the Duchess will ambush you. That is the point of no return for this mission in terms of exploring the other areas.
After you cross that door, the cutscene plays and then you close a rift. You can explore the rest of this area, but the only way out now is directly to the ballroom, which will be the 3rd moment before mentioned.
I did a lot of sweeps through all the areas, but could only find 11 out the 15 coins, 29 out of the 30 scandalous secrets and 11 or 12 halla statuettes (even though only 10 are marked in a quest), and there are more doors to be open than statuettes, so you have to choose which ones you will try to open. The one for the empress room, for instance, take a whole 5 of them and won't help much if you're incline to side with Celene. I left that and other 2 doors which required 4 stattuetes each remained unopened. In the end, you don't need to find all secrets nor coins nor hallas to succeed at this achievement.
BONUS (nothing to do with the achievement, only extra loot in this mission): If you found the secret room in the library with the Veilfire and wanna know what is proper order to lit the busts, starting from the door that leads outside: Etienne 1, Reville and Etienne 2. Then, on the other side, a similar order: Judicael 1, Judicael 2 and Florian.
If this solution helps you to understand the proper requirements for this achievement leave a comment or a thumbs up.
Subliminal-Cuts-
TrueTrophies
TrueTrophies
1. Having above 85% when entering the ballroom after fighting Florianne's bodyguard.
2. Select I'll talk with Florianne when talking to Cullen.
Anyway I'm going to offer some tips for getting the approval rating high...
1. Fashionably Late: A bell will toll for the beginning of some festivities in the ballroom, wait for a small while for the bell to ring again, this will give you +10 approval. This can be done twice at 2 separate times. It may not notify you of the 10+ gain but you will notice it if you're paying attention to this.
2. Being Social: Talk to random people around the place, this is straight forward, just don't be a tool to them and you get small boosts of +5 etc.
3. Roaming: Don't spend too much time away from the main ball areas, although the counter goes down fairly slowly you'll still want to pause it if you need a toilet break, and don't worry about collecting all evidence etc, it's not related to the any trophies.
4. THE DANCE: So major approval can be gained here, just select these conversation options when prompted...
1. You have interesting timing.
2. Let's dance.
3. None special: I was briefed by my staff.
3. If you have the Noble special perk: Special > Orlais' war is Thedas' war.
4. Is that what we both want?
5. Which am i to you?
6. Do you trust me?
7. Isn't everyone.
Note: If you're playing on nightmare (especially) I recommend being level 15 before starting this quest as the boss is a big challenge or even a progress blocker if you go in too early.
You may lose approval for simply being an Elf, don't worry this happened to me and I still got it up to 100% using these methods.
Don't worry too much about finding every social event etc, the main chunk of points come from the Dance and fashionably late parts.
Feel free to comment any suggestions
User has been removed
TrueTrophies
TrueTrophies
You MUST have Court Approval of 85% or above. Upon re-entering the ballroom (after fighting Florianne's bodyguard) and entering dialogue with Cullen, select the option "I'll talk with Florianne" to pop this trophy.
SooFany-R
TrueTrophies
TrueTrophies
For this trophy you must perform specific actions and specific final choice in order to get it.
Floyd
To unlock this achievement, you must have your approval rating at 100/100 by the end of the Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts quest.
- Talk to to members of the court and make sure to say the right thing to impress them, speaking politically and whimsically
- When wandering outside of the party to locations like the library, try to move quickly as you lose points every few seconds
- When dancing with the Duchess, choose the middle right option every time, and say you trust the Inquisition (40-50 points can be gained here alone)
- Throwing coins in the pool and listening to whispers while letting Leliana know also gives you approval
- Waiting for the second bell to be fashionably late will gain 10 points each time, but make sure not to wait until the third or you will lose 20 points
When the quest is near it's end, you will be presented a choice by Cullen as you re-enter the ballroom. In order to unlock the achievement, you must choose to speak with, then publicly expose, then detain, then warn the court. If this is not how you wish the quest to end, make sure you have saved before entering so you can reload and play it out how you like.
Floyd, bantycakes, BiggD
To unlock this achievement, you must have your approval rating at 100/100 by the end of the Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts quest.
- Talk to to members of the court and make sure to say the right thing to impress them, speaking politically and whimsically
- When wandering outside of the party to locations like the library, try to move quickly as you lose points every few seconds
- When dancing with the Duchess, choose the middle right option every time, and say you trust the Inquisition (40-50 points can be gained here alone)
- Throwing coins in the pool and listening to whispers while letting Leliana know also gives you approval
- Waiting for the second bell to be fashionably late will gain 10 points each time, but make sure not to wait until the third or you will lose 20 points
When the quest is near it's end, you will be presented a choice by Cullen as you re-enter the ballroom. In order to unlock the achievement, you must choose to speak with, then publicly expose, then detain, then warn the court. If this is not how you wish the quest to end, make sure you have saved before entering so you can reload and play it out how you like.
Vuule, scharn
**MISSABLE**
During the "Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts" quest, you'll get an approval meter in your quest log. In order to get this trophy, the approval needs to be at a 100/100 after finishing the quest. In order to do so, you'll need to do a multitude of things, but most importantly, say the correct things in order to achieve approval. Say or do something wrong and you'll lose approval. Since this a pretty long quest and the trophy can easily be missed, make a manual save before starting this quest. Since I'll be focusing on a trophy walkthrough, I'll skip any unnecessary exploring. If you want to explore, you might want to do it after obtaining the trophy using a manual save to start over.
By using this walkthrough, you'll more than likely finish with somewhere between 90-99 Approval after the one and only Fade Rift right, depending on how quick you were during the fights before it. This is pretty much the end and it's quite impossible to leave that fight with 100/100 Approval. Don't worry though, as long as enter the Ballroom after the Rift fight with 85+ Approval and follow the text guide below, you'll get the trophy.
Full Text Walkthrough:
Part 1 - Palace Gardens
When you first arrive, you'll have to speak to a man named Gaspard. Dialogue doesn't matter.
If you're playing as an Elf or Qunari, you'll lose approval. If you're playing as a Mage you'll receive an even bigger penalty. When playing as a human you'll receive 5 approval.
After the talking to Gasspard, go to the Noblewoman at the back of the area. Talk to her and choose the following dialogue:
- Interesting stratagem.
(It might say you receive 10 Approval for this, but it's 5 actually.)
Use Ping (press 
) afterwards to a ring at the small fountain near her. Return the ring to her to gain 5 approval. (It might say you lose 5 Approval, but you gain 5 actually.)
Walk towards the entrance of the Winter Palace, but don't enter it just yet. Go up the stairs on the right and use Ping to find a hidden Halla Statuette. Now go up the stairs on the left and try to initiate a conversation with the man there. He and his company will move away. An eavesdrop location will appear; use this to eavesdrop on that man.
Behind the man and the woman you eavesdrop on, if you follow the narrow path and use ping, you'll find a Storage Key. Use this on the door below you and use ping again to reveal a Caprice Coin. You can use this later on, dropping them in the water to gain 1 Approval per coin. There are many coins like these, but they're not necessary. Behind the coin is also a secret love letter you can find with ping. These are scandals you can find and there are many like them. You can give these to Leliana in the Ballroom to receive more approval, but they're not necessary.
After eavesdropping, enter the Palace. Josephine will strike a conversation; it doesn't matter what you say to her.
Part 2 - The Grand Ballroom
Afterwards, enter the Grand Ballroom and you'll be greeted by the Empress. Choose the following dialogue:
- The weather may turn foul.
- I can't do it credit.
Part 3 - Vestibule
After the cutscene with Lelianna, go back to the Vestibule. The dialogue when talking to Lelianna doesn't matter. Afterwards, go towards the quest marker. You'll pass two huge statues and on the left in the back are two Elves. Talk to them and they will move away. Go to the stairs close to you to eavesdrop on them.
Below the stairs, next to the statue is another easy Caprice Coin you can pick up.
Now go into the next room and enter the first room on the left. Use Ping to find another easy Caprice Coin. In the same room is a man named Duke Germain (Council) that you can talk to for approval. Choose the following dialogue:
- [Investigate.]
- Gaspard is your nephew?
There's also a man named Council of Heralds Vassal in the same room that you can talk to for approval. Choose the following dialogue:
- Philippe is a jerk!
Go back to the previous room and try to talk to the elves in the back of the room. They will move away and an eavesdrop location will appear next to you; use it. Once you're done eavesdropping, go towards the quest marker and through the door to a balcony. Use Ping to find a hidden Cylinder. Pick it up.
Part 4 - Guest Garden
Now go towards the new quest marker and you'll be greeted by three ladies. Choose the following dialogue:
- I'm happy to hear from her.
- How kind of her.
Afterwards, go to the back of the area and eavesdrop on two people. Once done, go towards the water, you can toss the coin you found earlier into it for 1 approval. Go to the left of the water and climb up the white trellis. This will put you in Off-limit area, losing approval over time, so be quick. First go into the door in front of you. On the left in the back is a bookshelf. Use ping to find a hidden switch. Activate it and go inside the secret room and pick up the letter on the desk. Now go back outside and open the door on the right with the Halla Statuette you picked up earlier. Pick up the Negotiations inside. Afterwards, a bell will start to ring. Hurry back to the Ballroom, else you'll lose approval.
Part 5 - Grand Ballroom
At the ballroom you'll be confronted by Morrigan. Dialogue doesn't matter.
Part 6 - Servant's Quarters / Gardens / Grand Apartments
Go towards the quest marker after the conversation. You're in off-limit space again, so be quick. Equip your armor and weapons and examine the corpse in front of you. Go left outside and at the fountain go right. Skip all of the fights you come across. Follow along the walls from the building on your left and you'll find an entrance in the back corner. Go straight ahead, skip the room on your left and go inside the first room on your left. Go up the stairs in the corner on the left. Once up the stairs, go into the room straight ahead. Follow the path until you get to the quest marker. Defeat all enemies here.
Afterwards a conversation will start. Dialogue doesn't matter.
After the conversation, follow the path the woman took, take a u-turn at the end and go towards the quest marker. This will lead you back to the Guest Wing. Now you'll need to be quick. Go up the stairs and towards the Ballroom. Close to the two huge statues where you eavesdropped on the elves earlier you'll see three guards on the right. Talk to them and choose the following dialogue options for extra approval:
- The stories I could tell!
- You should talk to Cullen.
Now run back to the Ballroom, but don't go inside yet. Wait for the second bell to ring. Your character will say something about being fashionably late, which will give you extra approval. Wait any long to enter the ballroom and you'll lose approval.
Part 7 - Grand Ballroom
Once inside the ballroom you'll be greeted by Duchess Florianne. Choose the following dialogue for a lot of approval:
- May I help you?
- Let's dance.
- Why don't you educate me.
- Is that what we both want?
- Which am I to you?
- I trust the Inquisition.
- Isn't everyone?
Afterwards you'll start a conversation with Josephine and your advisors. Choose the following dialogue.
- I got some information.
- I found Venatori agents.
- We're not doing that.
- We save the empress.
Part 8 - Royal Wing / Royal Quarters
Go towards the quest marker afterwards. You'll be in off-limit space again, so be quick once more. Equip your weapons and armor again and go up the stairs. Go to the door in the back and enter it to start a new conversation. Dialogue doesn't matter.
Go towards the quest marker and you'll meet up with Florianne again. Dialogue doesn't matter.
After the fight you'll talk to a man. Dialogue doesn't matter, but if you have the "Underworld Knowledge" Inquisition Perk, you can recruit him as an agent which is useful for the Persuasive trophy. Quickly move towards the quest marker once more.
Part 9 - Grand Ballroom / Finale
After the conversation with the man, you'll meet up with Cullen. Choose the following dialogue:
- I'll talk with Florianne (It's important you choose this option.)
- It's over.
- Take her away.
All the dialogue afterwards doesn't matter. That's it.