Dragon Age: The Veilguard – The Cobbled Swan Case Walkthrough

After the Siege of Weisshaupt in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you can start helping out your companions with their personal problems. For Neve Gallus, this means accepting “The Cobbled Swan Case” and heading back to Dock Town.

The Cobbled Swan is the tavern where you meet new contacts throughout Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and you’ll find it at the southwest edge of the Dock Town map. To start the quest, enter the glowing area in front of the tavern, and then enjoy the short flashback.

Where to Find Clues in the Cobbled Swan

After speaking to the Templar, Rana Savas, your first job in this side quest is to search the scene of the crime for clues. You can find several investigation points throughout the area, but you only need to find two of them (bolded below).

• The base of the stage
• Between the tipped-over tables
• The scuff marks to the left of the stage
• The door to the left of the stage
• The table covered in blue flower petals to the left of the stage
• A table to the right of the stage

While you’re here, you can also find a Codex item in the curtained area to the left of the stage, and a Memento in the curtained area to the right. When you’re finished, head down the stairs to Rana.

Where to Find the Cobbled Swan Informants

The next step of the investigation is to speak to people on the street to learn who the singer was and where she went. The first person is Hal, the fish merchant you met during Neve’s first companion quest. From there you need to find:

• “Diner,” who was at the Cobbled Swan. Head west along the dock from Hal’s stall. The diner is wearing a leather tunic and red pants.
• Benny. Go north to the giant statue in Wharf Crossing South. Benny is sitting on a cart north of the statue.
• Nira. Go northeast to Shoreline Passage. Nira is sitting on a pile of sacks on the southern stone pier.

Nira finally gives you the name of the singer, and Neve connects her to a second tavern, the Lamplighter. Take the stairs northwest from the Shoreline Passage and follow the quest markers. The Lamplighter is the building surrounded by broken rowboats.

Inside, you’ll find the singer and Elek Tavor, the contact you were supposed to meet when you began this quest. Elek has his own reasons for wanting Rook’s party to find the missing man, Damas, and he knows where to find him. But before you leave the Lamplighter, be sure to check the other room. You can find a Codex item next to the piano, and a merchant (who only sells valuables).

Where to Find Every Collectible in the Thread Market

Head back down to the Shoreline Passage, and approach the red barrier at the north end of the rocks. Several Venatori will ambush you. As always, Venatori are vulnerable to cold and resistant to fire. Continue north through the open barrier to reach the Thread Market.

Once there, you’ll have to fight another set of Venatori cultists, including a Venatori Mage Captain standing on a platform above the main road. To continue, you’ll need to destroy the large red barrier blocking the way north.

• The first crystal you need to break is on the wooden platform behind the Mage Captain.
• The second crystal is above the large statue by the barriers.

Destroying both will cause the barrier to fall on its own, but another set of Venatori will rush in from behind the barrier. At this point, you can continue the quest by opening the door in the southwest building, but there are plenty of chests and other collectibles to find in the Thread Market, first.

This area makes extensive use of Neve’s Frost Binding ability. By using Frost Binding on a special pulley, Neve can force a connected lever to move one gate instead of two. By removing a Frost Binding, the opposite will happen. Here’s how to use it to get through the Thread Storehouse:

• Pull the lever behind the eastern Threads prisoner.
• Pull the lever by the gate straight ahead. This opens a gate that blocked access to a Frost Binding pulley.
• Interact with the pulley to break the Frost Binding, then pull the lever to open the way forward.
• Before heading through the next open gate, look up and behind you. Use Frost Binding on the pulley you find.
• Before you go up the ladder, look through the broken wall to the left. Neve or Bellara can use Unbind Wards to remove a barrier in the room to the east. Go outside and through a doorway to the east to pick up a Memento.
• Climb the ladder and pull the lever at the top to open the one gate that needs opening.
• Open the chest, then use the Ignite companion skill on the gaatlok barrels to blow a hole in the wall.
• Drop one floor, then break through the wooden boards straight ahead to collect a Memento and a large chest.
• Head around to the right and pull the lever to open the gate back out to the street.

There’s another pulley puzzle on the south side of the Thread Market. Look for a lever, but don’t pull it immediately. Instead, climb up the ledges to the south, and open the chest on the platforms above. From here, you can look into the room that the lever opens and break the frost on the pulley inside. The lever will now open both the gates blocking the door at the same time. Head in to open a large chest.

The last large chest in this area is in the southwest building. Instead of opening the doors that lead to the next quest phase, check behind the shelves at the south end of the building. You can now continue the quest (and if you missed anything, you can come back to the Thread Market at any point later on).

How to Beat Damas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

It turns out that an old enemy of Neve’s is puppeting Damas, and you’ll have to fight him to break her control.

Damas is level 24, and he’s an “assassin” enemy type. This means he can deflect light and heavy attacks that come from the front, aside from charged attacks, and you can break his guard if you hit him with enough charged attacks. This means that Damas works the same as a shield enemy, except that Damas is faster and can teleport around the battlefield.

After Damas drops below half his health, two Venatori will appear to assist. However, the fight ends once Damas goes down, so you can ignore them if you’re dealing enough damage to Damas. Once the fight ends, Neve breaks the villain’s control over Damas, and Damas offers to give blackmail material to the Templars to bring in Bataris, the Venatori who got away earlier in the game.

• Accepting Damas’ offer will get rid of Bataris, but strengthen the hold of the Threads gang on Dock Town.
• Refusing the offer will keep the Threads weaker, but Bataris remains a threat.

The quest concludes with Rook and Neve talking things out in her room in the Lighthouse. Your rewards for this quest include 2,500 XP, a Keepsake for Neve, 400 gold, and +100 Shadow Dragons Strength.