Dragon Age: Inquisition
69 Achievements
1,570
106-134h
Trial of the Emperor
Defeat 20 foes promoted by Walk Softly.
15
1.29%
How to unlock the Trial of the Emperor achievement in Dragon Age: Inquisition - Definitive Guide
Note that only enemies that are "promoted" count for this achievement. If you highlight them using the tactical camera they'll have a promoted status effect. They also have much more HP than enemies of the same type.
The way this achievement is tracked, it would appear that the 20 kills have to be on a single save file.
I played through the DLC and got to 17/20 with little trouble, then loaded an earlier save and noticed that the % didn't increase after I killed a few of these more powerful enemies. If this happens with you, persevere, eventually it'll catch up with your other tally and it'll start tracking again.
There are lot of them, and you typically don't have to wait long for them to respawn, especially along the river in the middle of the map or near the shard Temple.
I found they tend to spawn the promoted enemies with greater frequency than the other areas I was wandering through, so I'd recommend trying there and see how often you're getting a good kill.
Of course, they will be tougher than normal (and they aren't pushovers to begin with), so if you choose to hunt them, make sure you're properly equipped.
My suggestion is to turn this trial on and progress throughout the game as the enemies that are affected by this are completely random. I play on nightmare so these enemies can be extremely difficult to kill so if you are having difficulties I suggest lowering the difficulty as it does not affect the achievement or the chances of encountering one.
Active trials can be configured under "Options" in the Hero menu at any point during the game. They can also be activated with the "Custom" difficulty option during hero creation for a new game.
The Trial for this Trophy is called "Walk Soflty" - Turn the trial on at any point and kill any 20 creatures, including non-hostile creatures, with "Promoted" listed in their traits in the tactical camera.
Tips:
A good way to farm this achievement is to seek out a wilderness region that frequently spawns several non-hostile creatures, such as the Level 12-15 range nugs in Emerald Graves - Great Bear Cove, and use the Tactical Camera to seek out the one(s) with the "Promoted" status.
Promoted enemies may gain one or more of the following abilities:
"Elite" status (enemies that are normally always elite, e.g. bears, may be promoted to "Boss" instead)
New attacks and abilities, e.g. archers may gain Leaping Shot and mages may gain Fade Cloak
Additional health
Additional traits:
Perceptive - allows enemies to flush rogues out of stealth
Barrier Breaker - destroys allies' barriers
Guard - enemies begin combat with a full guard bar
Random elemental resistance(s), in addition to any elemental resistances already in place
Random immunity to any status effect, in addition to any immunities already in place
Mages and Spellbinders' barriers may regenerate over time; dispel will reduce the barrier, but never completely eradicate it
Enemies that have been given additional traits but do not specifically carry the "Promoted" status effect will not count towards the achievement.
Not every enemy in a group will be given "Promoted" status with this trial enabled. On average, one enemy per group will be given the "Promoted" status, and even then the promotion is only done on an occasional basis, with no guarantee that every group of enemies will have a "Promoted" unit. However, enemies can still be given an additional trait as listed above without otherwise being labeled as "Promoted."
After killing 20 Promoted enemys, the Trophy will unlock
These Enemys also Spawn in all there DLC's.
I got mine in the Jaws of Hakkonen DLC in the last dungeon
Once “Walk Softly” has been activated, it will randomly, from time to time, promote enemies in combat by giving them more health and deadlier attacks. This achievement must be done in one playthrough and it's recommended to turn on this trial when starting the Trespasser narrative.
If you’re lucky, you should unlock the achievement by the end of the narrative; if not, reload any previous end-game save file and head over to the Fallow Mire with the trial activated. As mentioned by Blue Slime, undead archers will always spawn out of the rivers/swamps in this region, which makes it a perfect farming spot for killing enemies affected by the trial. You can tell when an enemy has been promoted by using the tactical camera; promoted enemies have much more HP than enemies of their same level. On average, it shouldn’t take any longer than half an hour of running around the swamps killing archers to get it done in this manner.