The Dread Wolf Rises is the final quest of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. No turning back now. It begins with, and ends with, a key decision, and also features a tough boss battle in the middle, so you’ll need to give it everything you’ve got.
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Make sure you talk to Isabela before you leave, as she is selling wares from either the Antivan Crows or Shadow Dragons (whichever faction you didn’t help), so it lets you stock up on some important items. We also suggest taking Taash and Emmrich into the final battle, as Elgar’nan is Vulnerable to Nectrotic but Resists Electric, and you fight Darkspawn Vulnerable to Fire on the way. But first, a choice.
If Emmrich doesn’t have healing, take Lucanis. If neither have healing, swap out Taash for someone who does. If Neve is available, take her instead of Taash.
Who Should You Send To Help The Factions?
This is a relatively easy choice compared to some others, which you may have been checking with our endgame decisions guide right here. The best person for this task is either Harding or Davrin – whoever made it through.
So long as either your companion is a Hero of the Veilguard or the Factions are of good strength (at least two stars in each one aside from Crows/Dragons), this character will survive until the end of the game, but will be unavailable for selection until then. If you also kept everyone (except one) alive in the choices of the previous quests, you will unlock the The Ones That Last Trophy/Achievement at the end of this quest.
How To Defeat Elgar’nan
You will need to battle your way through a lot of Darkspawn to reach Elgar’nan, but that’s nothing new at this stage. As ever, take out the Emissaries and Blighters first, then concentrate on pushing forward through this linear combat gauntlet. Soon, you will face Elgar’nan himself.
Elgar’nan has a big health bar, and moves or teleports around a lot, but he stays in the same arena throughout so using Emmrich/Lucanis for Nectrotic damage and also triggering Detonations is key to defeating him. However, there are some key attacks to watch out for.
- Crackling electricity – When the ground around Elgar’nan turns red, he will summon down lightning. Dodge away and land a ranged attack from outside the circle.
- Summon lightning – Immediately after, he will summon bolts in smaller red circles. Use Abilities here and keep moving to avoid them.
- Aspect of Elgar’nan – These ghosts of himself are very weak, but do major damage. Dash alongside them and melee attack them to take them out quickly.
- Sword attacks – When Elgar’nan floats backwards, he is gearing up to swing his sword.Dodge backwards repeatedly.
- Energy balls – These ranged attacks can be parried, or dodged as the aim line glows. Make your way towards him for a melee attack while these strikes play out.
Also remember to use the Ultimate Salvation Of Felassan if Morrigan gave you it for completing her quests.
Elgar’nan Second Phase
When Elgar’nan’s second phase starts, you will not have your companions to help. The damage you can do to Elgar’nan here is negilgable, so instead just dodge his attacks until the cutscene starts. After this, you will fight him all over again, and you companions will be back.
During this phase, Elgar’nan’s elemental weaknesses change. He now Resists Fire and is Vulnerable to Cold. He also gains new attacks.
- Slam attack – A combination of crackling electricity and his sword attack, dodge away when Elgar’nan jumps up.
- Ring of fire – Run to the centre and land a melee or heavy attack on Elgar’nan when red circles surround the arena.
- Sword attack – Same as before, except the sword is now made of fire.
- Fire balls – Like summon lightning, these flaming bombs now move in a line rather than a random pattern, making them easier to doodge but more powerful.
Should You Fight Or Trick Solas?
We said the first choice was relatively easy, but this one is even easier – it simply does not matter. You will not actually fight Solas if you choose to fight him, this just changes how the game ends from a more emotional point of view.
If you have Mythal’s Essence from either fighting her or convincing her after seeing every memory of Fen’Harel, this is the best ending. Solas will agree to bind himself to the Veil in a happy ending.
If you choose to Trick Solas, he will realise too late, and congratulate you for besting him as he ends up trapped in the Veil. This is a happier ending than fighting him, but again, nothing material changes.
If you choose to Fight Solas, there’s no boss battle. This all plays out in a cutscene and Solas is bound to the Veil by force. The end result is the same – the Veil is sealed, the gods are defeated, everyone gets a big party, and so on, but Solas remains angered and his views on the world have not changed.
It remains to be seen how much this choice may impact any sequels, as Solas’ mindset is very different in all three. However, as far as the here and now goes, whatever choice you make Solas loses, The Veilguard wins, and all that’s left is for the credits to roll.
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