ENTERING THE DEEP ROADS
Anvil of the Void is the next sub-quest. As though clearing out the Carta wasn't enough, the Warden must then complete a third task: to go into the Deep Roads and find the Paragon Branka.
Branka went into the Deep Roads a couple of years ago to look for a lost dwarven relic called the Anvil of the Void, a forge that was used to make golems. She is presumed dead, but because the other candidate is also looking, whoever the Warden is supporting will request she be found.
Upon accepting this quest, head toward the Orzammar exit to the Deep Roads.
Note: Before entering the Deep Roads, head to the Orzammar Proving. There are 6 Fanatics near the entrance that attack. If you are working for Bhelen they are Harrowmont Fanatics; if you are working for Harrowmont they are Bhelen Fanatics.
After getting close enough to the Deep Roads entrance, Oghren will accost the Warden, explaining his involvement with Branka and asking to go to the Deep Roads with their party. Choosing to put him in the Warden's party at this point is entirely optional, but adding him will get you some extra cut scenes during this quest.
Oghren
Note: At this point Oghren is not a mandatory party member (he will be when you get to Anvil of the Void (location)). You can leave Orzammar and use him on any other quest, but he will not engage in conversation with you until you complete A Paragon of Her Kind, so the only way to increase his Approval is with Gifts.
Completing this quest involves battling through several locations in the Roads, in the following order:
Aeducan Thaig
(optional) - This area can be cleared regardless of who the Warden supports. Getting the first quest from Vartag Gavorn in support of Bhelen just gives access to it earlier.
Caridin’s Cross
On the first entry into Caridin's Cross, if Oghren is in the party, the Warden has a short conversation with him where he can tell you a bit about Caridin, Caridin’s Cross, Ortan Thaig, and the Anvil of the Void.
If you tell him to lead on and shut up then Oghren disapproves (-1).
Close to the entrance, Bhelen or Harrowmont will have hired some mercenaries to stop your progress (they will not appear if you are working with both candidates by betraying one secretly).
It is advisable to clear the area completely, although it is not necessary. Clearing the entire area nets you more experience and helps you find all the parts for Asunder, The Drifter's Cache and An Admirable Topsider.
The southernmost exit leads to Ortan Thaig; it doesn't matter what path is taken to get there.
Some notes:
The Darkspawn Emissaries here use the spell Curse of Mortality.
Dog can find Duty here or in any of the Deep Roads areas (except Cadash Thaig).
A Genlock emissary drops Topsider's Hilt to begin the quest An Admirable Topsider.
There are two parts to be found here for Asunder (the third is in Aeducan Thaig).
There are four parts to be found here for The Drifter's Cache.
There is a Revenant that is part of The Black Vials here.
Ortan Thaig
On the first entry into Ortan Thaig, if Oghren is in the party, the Warden has a short conversation with him where he will remark that he can see Branka's traces all over the place. The party also remarks that the Legion of the Dead passed through here, leaving behind numerous darkspawn corpses.
If you suggest that Branka and everyone else may be dead then Oghren disapproves (-3).
It is advisable to clear the area completely, although not necessary; you can find quest progressions for several sidequests here.
In the middle of the map, the Warden will come across Ruck (part of the A Mother's Hope quest); following him ends in an inevitable spider ambush. After killing the spiders, the Warden can speak to him for information about Branka. After speaking with him, crossing either bridge from his cave will get the Warden to the spider lair area.
Branka's Journal is located in the next area. It is surrounded by spiders, including the Corrupted spider queen, all of which need to be cleared first in order to access the diary safely.
Corrupted Spider Queen
Outside the spider's lair, there are two Genlock emissaries who call normal corrupted spiders for backup. Make sure to kill these before engaging the Corrupted Spider Queen, or they will assist her in the boss battle.
Contrary to basic instinct, it is better to engage with the Queen in melee rather than at range. She is fond of using Poison Spit in quick succession against ranged characters, which deals tremendous amount of nature damage that can easily take down any character even with Shimmering Shield active. Her Overwhelm, on the other hand, is much less dangerous (for Arcane Warriors and sword-and-shield warriors at least) and can be easily interrupted.
Every 20% of her health you damage, the Queen will shoot a long-lasting Web at your entire party and withdraw back into her lair. The third and fourth times (at 40% and 20% of her total health) she will also spawn 4 corrupted spiders. However, the Queen herself is not invincible during the transition: a mage with high spellpower could potentially kill the creature using damage-over-time spells (Blood Wound and Flame Blast) out of sight. Be cautious as if she does not have the opportunity to summon all 8 spiders during the fight, all remaining ones will spawn simultaneously upon her death.
Try to take out her minions first; they will use Overwhelm to interrupt your attacks on her, which can be distracting and dangerous.
Tips & Alternate Strategies
Using two melee fighters, an archer and a spirit healer in hold mode: positioning the range fighters in the back of the cavern and using the tank to pull as few minions as possible, it is possible to get the Queen to disengage upon retreating, allowing you to save your game.
Using two high-level mages: tactically use Force Field to hinder the Queen when she has her minions summoned. Kill the minions while she cannot move. Use Cone of Cold or Force Field to prevent members from being Overwhelmed.
Taking advantage of the bridge as a choke point: position party members at the side of the bridge furthest from the Spider Queen area, and send one member to bait the minions. This is a time-consuming method, but saves supplies.
Blood Magic can make this fight very easy, as Blood Wound can disable an arbitrary amount of Corrupted Spiders for a long time and Blood Control allows you to even the odds by taking over one of the minions. Ideally, you want to do this as a "last resort" option when a vital party member gets Overwhelmed.
A solo rogue with expert Trap-Making can easily defeat the Queen by stealth-laying multiple firetraps near the corner.
Pulling the Queen
A rogue in stealth, or a sufficiently quick and lucky tank, can be used to selectively pull the queen - ensure your party is held out of sight and trigger the queen with the rogue and then run around a corner.
The Queen will not web the rogue and will be dormant. Attack the Queen with the rogue from a distance with a flask then run back towards the party. The Queen will follow even if the rogue is still in stealth mode.
Once the Queen is within spitting distance of a visible member it will stop moving; as long as it is out of sight from the spawn point, you should be all right.
Simply Sleep, Horror, and Nightmare the Queen and go to melee town on it with your party. As soon as it comes to, it will web and go to the ceiling. Your party is out of sight of the spawn point so can rest/save and then the stealthed rogue can pull the Queen again. Rinse and repeat.
You will find that a lot of corrupted spiders are spawned using this method, but lots of fireballs and sleep/horror/nightmare with some selective pulling (they should pull in twos) makes short work of them.
Notable Loot
Bloodline
Silk Weave Gloves
Exiting through the north after having read Branka's Journal should take you to The Dead Trenches.
Some notes:
The Warden can let Ruck live and access his shop, or kill him; see the quest A Mother's Hope for more information.
Orta's papers for Lost to the Memories are in a chest near where Ruck is first sighted.
The resting place for An Admirable Topsider is in this area.
The altar for Asunder is in this area.
An activation point for Places of Power is here, near the altar for Asunder.
Dead Trenches
Traveling to the Dead Trenches the first time will trigger a cutscene, in which the Warden sees the Archdemon for the first time (the first time in 'person'; you may have already dreamed about the Archdemon in camp).
Kardol
Following the only path at the entrance of the Dead Trenches will lead to a bridge, where some dwarven warriors are fighting off darkspawn. Assist them, and once the battle is over, speak to Kardol.
Kardol will explain to the Warden who he is, and what the Legion of the Dead is doing down there. Afterwards, go ahead and clear the bridge. There is a large group of archers supporting an Ogre at the end of the bridge.
After clearing the group at the other end of the bridge, the Legion will move to the other side. The Warden can speak to Kardol again for a short dialogue.
Scattered throughout the area are pieces of Legion of the Dead armor, unlocking codex entry: The Dead Caste. Finding the complete set triggers the quest The Dead Caste.
There is another long bridge roughly in the middle of the map; be on guard here. There is an ambush on your party from both sides once you reach the middle of the bridge.
Past the ambush bridge, there is a set of caverns where the Warden can hear a voice reciting some sort of poem. After passing the caverns and entering some more normal architecture, the Warden encounters Hespith.
Hespith
Speaking to Hespith can reveal some insight on what the darkspawn do with their prisoners, and on Branka.
After conversing with Hespith, continue on to the next large open area, where two ogres await. A large Ominous Door (requiring a special key to unlock) is behind one ogre. After taking care of the ogres, enter the room furthest to the south, which is inhabited by Legion spirits. They will not attack until you have retrieved the Legionnaire Key, which is on an altar with the final piece of the Legion of the Dead armor at the opposite end of the room.
Interacting with the Legion of the Dead relic while a character is equipped with all the pieces of the Legion of the Dead armor set (including the helm) starts The Gangue Shade quest.
In some rubble on the broken bridge is the fairly amusing codex entry of Load Limit Reached. Head back out and use the key on the large door in the center of the area.
Saving here is advisable because the next encounter is the Broodmother.
BROODMOTHER STRATEGY
Get ready for a very challenging boss battle with the and I urge you to remember about three things here. In the early stages of the battle you should be focused mostly on destroying her tentacles.
Each tentacle has its own health bar and won't be able to regenerate itself, so it should make the fight a little easier. Destroying all the tentacles will allow you to focus mostly on the main boss and that will make the difference near the end.
Keep attacking the tentacles until they disappear and that's when you should switch your attention to attacking the Broodmother. Make sure to keep your archers and mages in the back, because some of Broodmother's attacks will be nasty and will stun your warriors for a short period of time.
Don't forget to heal your allies and to apply antidotes. Being poisoned will become an important factor near the end when the broodmother won't be able to defend herself using the tentacles.
From time to time you'll also be dealing with standard enemy units and sadly you won't be allowed to ignore them, because they won't go away overtime. Remember that the faster you kill them the sooner you'll be allowed to focus on the boss again. This is going to be a long and a tiresome battle, but as long as you won't make any major mistakes you should win it in your first attempt, without having to repeat the entire scene several times
Although immobile, she is fairly strong, has a variety of attack options (multi-targets, ranged, and tentacles), and is made more difficult by the darkspawn she summons during the battle.
After felling the Broodmother, Hespith will make another appearance. Listen to what she has to say, then continue to the exit. The Anvil of the Void area is now unlocked and accessible through the Deep Roads map.