Dragon Age: The Veilguard – House of the Dead Walkthrough

Emmrich’s companion story in Dragon Age: The Veilguard focuses on a rogue necromancer who allowed Venatori into the Grand Necropolis. The “House of the Dead” quest represents his first chance to catch up to the villain, and it takes place in a very spooky setting.

You can first pick up the “House of the Dead” quest after the Siege of Weisshaupt, and before starting the Dragon Age: The Veilguard quest “Fire and Ice.” You must also complete Emmrich’s first companion quest, “Walking the Graves.” Once it’s active, you must use the world map to teleport directly to the quest’s location, Blackthorne Manor.

Where to Find Every Collectible in Blackthorne Manor

Blackthorne Manor is surprisingly big, with lots of corners and rooms to explore. This is partly because the game returns to the manor for a later quest, which will open some doors that stay closed during “House of the Dead.” As such, this guide will only cover the collectibles you can gather during the first Blackthorne Manor quest.

Before you even enter the manor, turn left after the bridge. The Blackthorne Mausoleum is straight ahead. Take the ladder down and bear right, and you’ll encounter the Groundskeeper miniboss. The Groundskeeper has the Necrotic Imbued and Trapper traits, which means it can create pools of poison randomly on the ground, and necrotic damage is less effective. Since you need Emmrich for this quest, make sure you bring a companion with a different damage type.

• The first Blackthorne Manor collectible is a large chest in the room just past the Groundskeeper.
• Take the ladder up and go around, and in the next room there’s a small chest in the back left corner. You can now head back to the manor’s front door.
• From the front door, turn right and smash through the boarded-up doorway. Once inside, there’s a small chest on the ground to the left, and a small chest behind some breakable crates on the platform in the back.
• Go up the stairs and head east to enter the library. Emmrich will explain what you need to do to proceed. Pick up the Skeleton Key on the table in front of the green wards.
• Break the display cases on the south side of the library to pick up a Codex item and a small chest.
• You can find a small chest in an alcove at the southern end of the second floor of the library.
• Open the door on the north side of the library and follow the path. When you reach a long room with barrels at the south end, go through the doorway to the left of the barrels. Jump across the rafters you find and climb up the platforms to reach a large chest.
• To the west of the barrels is a curtained alcove. There’s a small chest in the alcove.
• Your first quest location is the Master Bedroom, which is at the north end of the long room. Defeat four Frenzied Shades to continue, then head back to the library.

• Go to the west side of the Grand Foyer (staying on the second floor) to find another door you can open with the Skeleton Key.
• There’s a small chest in front of the giant statue in the Ruined Balcony area.
• Take the stairs north from the Ruined Balcony. Go through the doorway in the northwest corner of the North West Wing to enter the Storage area. Use the boxes to jump to the raised walkway on the north wall, and use the balance beams to smash through some crates and reach a large chest.
• There’s a small chest on the ground between boxes in the northwest corner of the Storage area.
• Take the stairs down from Storage to enter the Servants’ Wing. You’ll see a chest behind bars in the northwest corner, but you can’t open this chest during this visit to Blackthorne Manor.
• Open the two doors on the west wall south of the stairs. The southern bedroom contains a small chest and a secret door behind the bookshelves. Take the ladder down to open a large chest and read a clue that hints at what happened to the Blackthorne family.
• Go south from the west bedrooms to find a small chest in yet another bedroom.
• Walk through the Servants’ Kitchen to find a small chest next to a table covered in meat. Past that is a door you can open to create a shortcut back to the Grand Foyer.
• Head back to the Ruined Balcony. Follow the quest marker to reach your second goal, where you’ll fight three Devouring Shades and one Devouring Voltaic Shade. There’s a small chest in the northwest corner of this room. You can also drop a ladder from the room’s balcony to create a shortcut to the front courtyard.
• The east door of this room leads straight back into the Grand Foyer.

You can now head back to the library and enter the sealed door, which leads to the Fade.

How to Get Through the Fade in Blackthorne Manor

Before anything else, you’ll need to open a door with a wisp node. Climb the rocky path east of the main path to reach a Mischief spirit. Emmrich can use Placate Mischief to turn it into a wisp. Once it’s following you, jump down to the wisp node and open the way forward.

The rogue Mourn Watcher is ahead, but there are a few more collectibles you can gather on your way there.

• Past the wisp door is a note. It’s on the ground to the left of the central path. This note is a reference to the Dark Souls series, which provides similar hints. Follow the directions and jump down to the wooden platform below to open a small chest. You can climb back up by following the platform to the west.
• After the encounter with a Rage Demon, you’ll discover a room covered in books. Take the lower path and jump onto the book platforms. Follow them around to reach a large chest. You can then climb the ladder to drop onto the upper path.
• Go back to the stairs leading to the upper path to grab a Codex item.

The path eventually leads to the rogue Mourn Watcher, who reveals her identity and then escapes to reality, leaving you to fight another miniboss. You can pick up some good items from a chest the miniboss drops, plus there’s a large chest to the southwest. However, if you want to leave, you’ll need to find a pair of candles.

Placing both on the marked pillars will create a bridge back to the entrance. Be sure to open the large chest on your way out.

How to Beat Rampant Ego

The necromancer has retreated to the ballroom north of the Grand Foyer. You can go straight there, or you can explore Blackthorne Manor one last time. The necromancer and Emmrich speak one last time, and then she summons a level 30 Pride Demon named Rampant Ego to cover her escape.

Rampant Ego is vulnerable to necrotic damage but resists electricity. It has the traits Captain and Electric Imbued, which means it takes even less damage from electricity, and it allows the Shades that appear with it to attack more often.

• As a Pride Demon, Rampant Ego can summon a ball of electricity that randomly strikes nearby locations. It can also teleport, use a line attack, and has a mostly unblockable melee combo.
• Rampant Ego has a barrier and armor. The barrier takes damage first, then the armor.
• The fight ends when Rampant Ego goes down, so ignore the Shades if you can.

A large chest appears after you win the fight. Open it, then speak to Emmrich to end the quest. Back at the Lighthouse, Emmrich tells you what he knows about the rogue necromancer, and you then get your quest rewards of 3,000 XP and +100 Mourn Watch Strength.