To assist the player in their conquest, various types of darkspawn minions will be encountered during the mission. Evil creatures that formerly existed only to torment the player, from genlock grunts, to shrieks, to the fearsome ogres, can all now be made into the player's willing thralls. Once made into a thrall, the creatures occupy a party slot just like a party member in the main campaign, and they and their unique abilities can be controlled directly. If all party slots are filled, any additional minions encountered will follow the player around and offer support, but cannot be directly controlled. If the player encounters a minion they'd rather have in their party, but the slots are full, they simply “retire” one of the existing party members...by killing them, of course.

If players were ever frustrated in the main game by some of the nasty abilities the darkspawn horde brought to bear in combat, they can now turn the tables. Knocking the city defenders down and shredding them with a howling shriek, or holding a guard captain helpless in the air while they are pounded senseless by a giant ogre, can be very satisfying. It is advisable, however, to adjust the AI tactics of any new minion as soon as they are recruited. The A.I. tactics are set to make some really poor decisions by default, such as hurling devastating area affects at targets surrounded by allies. This was perhaps done to emphasize the brutishness of the darkspawn, but mostly, it is an annoyance. You wont last long if your new pet ogre keeps scattering your party like bowling pins, with giant boulders.

The tactical combat experience is still up to the Dragon Age standard, however, that is really all players can expect out of this DLC. “The Darkspawn Chronicles” is a simple, straightforward, combat scenario. The traditional rewards system that helps drive the game, in the form of acquiring better gear or a choices of new abilities for characters, has been diminished or disabled entirely. While the Vanguard may occasionally come across a few items that represent minor increases in effectiveness, the other minions will likely be unable to equip items, or too fragile to make doing so worthwhile. For the most part, the best loot found is going to be healing items or other useful consumables. Experience gain and leveling-up has been disabled, not that the adventure is really long enough to make either worthwhile in any case. While the player's thralls may gain modest stat increases from watching the Vanguard kill his foes, or from receiving battlefield trophies ( the “gift” and approval system from the main campaign), the player is stuck with the abilities he is given at the start of the mission.

On the positive side, the fact that players aren't using characters with an excess of abilities or decked out with top end gear, makes for a few reasonably challenging encounters, unlike Dragon Age: Origins-Awakening, which offered little combat challenge to its high level adventurers. Depending on the difficulty setting, players will need to proceed cautiously, and make good use of their thrall's abilities to keep casualties low. When a minion dies, they can't be revived, and not all minions can use healing items. There are usually replacement thralls available before too long though.