Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Where the Dead Must Go Guide

Where the Dead Must Go is a main quest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, where you recruit companion Professor Emmrich Volkarin of the Mourn Watch faction. Emmrich wants to investigate a disturbance in the Shrouded Halls and strange happenings with the Necropolis’ Bell. As you might guess, the Venatori are up to no good and there are also several demons to overcome. Although Where the Dead Must Go isn’t overly challenging, there are various pathways, enemies, and obstacles ahead.

Completing Where the Dead Must Go also opens up more Mourn Watch Faction quests and increases faction strength. There are also several Necropolis chests to grab, although some are only accessible after completing more Necropolis quests.

How To Complete Where The Dead Must Go In Dragon Age: The Veilguard (Quest Walkthrough)

How To Start Where the Dead Must Go

Where the Dead Must Go typically appears after you complete the The Smuggled Relic Case mission in Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s campaign. Shortly after fast-traveling to and entering the Grand Necropolis, you meet Professor Emmrich Volkarin in the Lost Watcher’s Wing during a short cutscene at the very beginning of the quest. Near the end of the conversation, you hear a strange shriek coming from the Shrouded Halls, and Emmrich wants to investigate before your conversation can proceed.

Follow Emmrich and Defeat the Despair Demon

The first objective is simple enough, involving following Emmrich as he leads the way down the steps and through the Necropolis Halls. Drop to the ledge below and follow Emmrich until you come across a despair demon blocking the way forward. Defeat the despair demon to proceed to the next area, being careful to avoid or destroy its blue orbs that cause significant damage. The despair demon can extinguish the lights, trying to disorientate you, but it shouldn’t be too tricky to take out. Once defeated, follow Emmrich through the door and into the next area, grabbing any collectibles such as health potions and gold. There’s also a small chest to the left of the bridge ahead.

Defeat the Undead and Unlock the Door

Follow Emmrich into the main chamber in front to learn about the Necropolis Sunken Star bell. It turns out someone barred the door and chained the bell in place – a powerful object that can banish despair spirits once freed. After a shortcut scene, it’s time to fight a wave of undead enemies that spawn. Take them out and help Emmrich open the door by finding and locating a wisp in the corner of the room near a green health potion pot, as pictured above. Approach the wisp to get it to follow you, and take it to the power crystal by the locked door to open it.

Get Past the Despair Demons (Reach Emmrich’s Consultant and Find Out What’s Been Happening to the Bell)

While you can’t break the red barrier in the next room, which has been magically sealed by the Venatori, you can travel through the open doorway ahead. Follow the quest marker forward and down the steps into the large room ahead, defeating the enemies that appear. Once defeated, keep following the path, traveling towards a long corridor lined with tall skeletal figures.

The corridor is peppered with patches of blue fog which you want to avoid, as making contact releases more despair demons into the open, which you’ll have to fight. Otherwise, you can avoid extra fights if you can move past the fog without touching it.

To avoid waking up the demons, traverse around the fog as best you can, picking up any collectibles along the way and any health as needed. There is also the Ancient Illustration Memento to pick up on the left. Continue until you reach the locked door on the right, which you need three wisps to open. Fortunately, you can grab all three wisps down the same corridor, including a chest near the large door at the end. Return each wisp to each power crystal by the door to open it. You can also investigate the door at the end of the corridor, which can only be opened in another Necropolis Halls quest.

Reach Emmrich’s Consultant

To reach Emmrich’s consultant, head through the door you unlocked to find another chest down the corridor on the right. Continue down the steps and into another large room with many enemies to defeat, including Deathchill Mages. Take them out and head through the door at the end of the bridge. Grab another chest on the right in the next room and climb up the rocky cliff and across the wooden beams in the next area to reach the top. Nearby, there is another chest to open next to another Momento.

Light the Braziers

After grabbing all the collectibles you can, open the door to reach a chamber containing Emmrich’s Consultant, which happens to be a skeleton on the table which Emmrich briefly re-animates for information. However, to get the ball rolling, you must first light four braziers around the room, as pictured above, and then investigate the skeleton. When Emmrich is done, grab the wisp off the table and bring it to the next power crystal by the door to open it.

Get to the Upper Belfry

Continue forward and take out the Venatori enemies that appear. The red barriers seem impassable in this quest, but you can grab another chest in the corner before jumping across the gap and into the next area. Follow the path around and up the steps for an intense battle with another despair demon and a group of Venatori, with the demon pulling its usual tricks. Once you’ve defeated all enemies, take out the crystal in the center of the red barrier to open. Talk to the prisoner lying on the ground under the canopy, plus grab the small chest and check out the note nearby. Once you’ve finished chatting, let Emmrich unlock the gate and travel through the door to reach the Upper Belfry.

Destroy the Crystals Anchoring the Chains

The next step involves destroying four crystals holding the chains around the balcony, as pictured above, defeating any enemies along the way, and grabbing the small chest at the end of the path. Once finished, drop below to the main chamber where you started and speak with Emmrich to ask him to ring the bell. It’s a long drop, but no need to worry about fall damage.

Survive Until the Bell Rings

The final objective is to survive the waves of enemies for approximately three minutes before the bell rings and dispatches any enemies left, including a deadly Rage demon. Afterward, search the Venatori equipment in the same room and open the nearby medium chest containing a Rare Arcane Staff for Emmrich. You can either continue investigating the area or speak with Emmrich to depart, triggering a conversation of you meeting Manfred and co that completes the quest once finished. There are several red barriers you can’t open until returning for another Necropolis quest.

Where the Dead Must Go Quest Rewards In Dragon Age: The Veilguard

After completing Where the Dead Must Go, you get increased Bond levels for the Dragon Age: The Veilguard companions who accompanied you, as well as the following quest rewards:

• +100 Mourn Watch Faction strength
• A new Missive
• A Codex update

After picking up your rewards, you can return to the Lighthouse to speak with Emmrich again to unlock the Necropolis Halls as an explorable area and embark on the next Mourn Watch faction quest called Restless Spirits.