Dragon Age 2 - Wayward Son is one of the lengthier quests in the game. The walkthrough will take players on a fact finding mission through the city and then the nearby sea-coast. Players will encounter large numbers of relatively weak enemies throughout the mission, so heavy use of AOE abilities is recommended.

1. Speak with Arianni (elfish woman in Lowtown's Elf area). Accept her quest.
   
2. Head down towards the quest arrow on the mini-map.
3. Speak with Lady Elegent. You can now use the reagents you picked up on your travels to make potions. Click on the table nearby if you want to purchase some potions.
4. Speak with Viscento nearby.
5. Head out of the Low Market, and go to the Gallows. Follow the quest arrow to speak with Thrask.
6. Pick up a side quest if you want, down at the marked location nearby.
7. Head back out of the Gallows, and go to the City at Night icon. Choose Lowtown as your destination.
8. Speak with Samson. Head back out and choose the Docks at night as your location.
   
9. Here, you will be attacked by a large number of raiders. The biggest thing to keep in mind here is to make the best use of your characters’ AOE abilities, as the enemy will be packed in tight groups. If you run into trouble use your health potions.
   
10. Head on towards the quest arrow.
    
11. Head inside. You will once again have to fight through a large group of enemies.
    
12. Head deeper into the building. Focus down the abomination enemy after the cutscene, and loot the chest to update the quest.
    
13. Head back out, and go to Darktown.
    
14. Here, you will once again have to fight a group of enemies. They will also be tightly packed, so make good use of your AOE abilities. Focus down the mages first, and the melee after.
    
15. Loot the bodies to progress the quest.
    
16. Head out of the area, and choose the Mountain icon on the bottom right. Go to the Wounded Coast.
    
17. You will be ambushed along the way (a common occurrence in both Dragon Age 2 and the original game). In these cases, you have to defeat your attackers before you can move on to your destination.
    
18. After you clear out the spiders, the Mercenaries will give you a quest. Since it is in the same location as your current one, there’s no reason to not do it.
    
19. Take the exit to head on to the Coast.
    
20. Start out by heading left. You will have to kill some enemies on the way but nothing major.
    
21. Talk with the Elf. Tell her to let the man go by choosing the “Don’t do this” Dialogue option, in order to avoid having to fight the elves (unless of course you want to).
    
22. Continue heading down and take a left to the quest location.
    
23. Head into the cave. You will once again have to fight large numbers of enemies. If all of your team members start getting low, pause quickly and queue a health potion for all your party members by clicking on every individual character and using the health potion.
    
24. Head towards the marked location. Ask Varric to talk with the man to prevent a confrontation, and you will get both the boy freed along with some cash.
    
25. Head out of the cave.