Dragon Age: The Veilguard – The Cauldron Walkthrough

While most companion quests are optional, you’ll have to complete a few of them to continue the story in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. After all, you can’t face the blighted elven gods unless you can trust the team at your back.

Following the Siege of Weisshaupt in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, two companion quests get promoted to story quests: one depends on which city you saved between Minrathous and Treviso, while the other one is “The Cauldron.” Davrin needs to do something to help the Grey Wardens after Weisshaupt, and his quest will take you to a secret Warden base deep in the Hossberg Wetlands.

How To Get Inside The Cauldron

For the first part of the quest “The Cauldron,” you don’t need to bring Davrin along. However, he has plenty of dialog as you explore the keep’s exterior, plus his bond goes up as you fight the darkspawn you’ll meet.

You can reach the Cauldron by traveling to the southwest section of the Hossberg Wetlands. The area’s name is Castle Gates. If Davrin isn’t in your party, he’ll meet you at the now-broken gate that leads to the Cauldron.

Say ”
No time to waste
” for an approval bump.

Past Davrin, you can use him or the Lyrium Dagger to drop a stack of boards and create a way into the Cauldron’s front courtyard. You’ll face a large group of darkspawn once you’re inside, so be sure to explode the blight boils as soon as they appear to limit their reinforcements.

Your goal in this area is to find a way inside. To get an idea of what to do (along with some quest markers), you should walk up the main stairs that lead to the front door. The gap here is too wide, but Rook will notice some blight holding another wood pile in the air, and you can drop it by blowing up a set of blight boils. Two of them are to the left of the entrance (south), and two of them are to the right (north).

• For the north boils, turn right while facing the entrance and climb up the ladder near the ballista. Go through the tunnel, then climb up the wooden stairs and platforms to the right. Cross the stone walkway covered in dead Wardens. The boil is to your right as you enter the chamber. After it explodes, you’ll have to fight a Frenzied Berserker and a Repellent Berserker.
• Go up either staircase to the next floor. The second boil is in the south corner of the room.
• Destroying both boils unlocks a third on this side of the building. Head back out to the stone walkway and look right. The boil is behind the ballista.
• For the south set of boils, turn left while facing the entrance and head to the Inner Courtyard area. You may need to fight more darkspawn. From the Inner Courtyard, walk up the ramp along the southern wall, then jump across the wooden walkway. The boil is on a stone wall to the right. A Frenzied Javelineer and a Repellent Javelineer will appear and attack as you get close.
• The next southern boil is on the wall in the room with all the wooden platforms.
• Destroying both boils will let you smash through a blight growth. The last boil is on the stone walkway behind the growth.

Where To Find Every Collectible In The Cauldron

Aside from the blight boils, you can also find plenty of chests and other collectibles in the Cauldron and its courtyard.

• From the central staircase, run towards the giant door on the opposite wall. Jump onto the stone platform to the left, and then jump onto the wooden platform. You may need to use a ranged weapon to clear away the barrels. There’s a small chest on this platform.
• Turn right from the giant stone door to use Griffon Strike on a wood pile, then climb up the platforms to reach a small chest.
• From the ladder you used to enter the Cauldron courtyard, go north along the wall and kick down the balance beam. Cross it to open a small chest, and activate a ladder that leads back to the Castle Grounds.
• Climb the left staircase in the artifact room to reach a small chest.
• Turn left after entering the Inner Courtyard to spot an Evanuris Altar. You can see all four targets you need to hit by walking a short distance north.
• On the western side of the Inner Courtyard is a blighted gate you can’t open during this quest. To the right of this gate and up some stairs is a small chest.
• Climb the Inner Courtyard ramp and look for a balcony to the right. There’s a small chest here.
• Jump over to the platform with the ballista. Behind the ballista is a large chest.
• Head over to the room full of wooden platforms. Down near the red wisp is a small chest.
• Use Soothe Torment on the red wisp and wait for it to follow you. Climb the ladder, then run counterclockwise along the wooden platforms to reach a wisp node. This will drop a ladder you can climb. From the platform above, jump across to a wooden ramp, then head over to the large chest.
• After you drop the wooden platform and enter the Cauldron, walk past the blight doors and head down to the large gate flanked by statues. There’s a small chest in the dead end to the left.

The last collectible you can only find after starting the actual “The Cauldron” quest.

How To Beat The Darkspawn Horde In The Cauldron

After you enter the archdemon’s tomb, the Gloom Howler will scream, and darkspawn will start to climb out of all the blight pools. Don’t try to defeat all the darkspawn. Instead, focus on destroying all the blight boilsand getting access to the archdemon’s skeleton.

• One is on a raised platform on the south wall of the room.
• One is under a pair of pulleys on the north wall of the room.
• Destroying both of these will reveal a boil in front of the archdemon’s skull.
• You can now destroy the blight growth blocking the staircases. You only need to unblock one staircase.
• The next boil is in the southwest corner.
• After that, blow up the boil in the northwest corner.
• The last boil is right behind the archdemon’s skull.

Take them all out to begin a cutscene. Once it ends, you’ll have to fight the Darkspawn Horde.

• The horde includes several enemy types, including ogres, berserkers, grenadiers, and ghouls. Most appear immediately, but the first ogre won’t appear until around a minute in.
• Each time you kill a darkspawn, another darkspawn of the same type will appear and take its place.
• Each darkspawn type has a specific number of reinforcements. For instance, you’ll face a total of six grenadiers, but only two ogres. Once a darkspawn type runs out of reinforcements, you can get rid of them for good.
• With all of this in mind, the best strategy is to focus on one enemy type at a time. Doing so will reduce the total number of enemies you have to worry about at once.
• Another good strategy is to run to the far corner of the room when you’re feeling overwhelmed. The darkspawn move at different speeds, so you’ll have a chance to concentrate on one or two of them at a time.
• Every enemy except the ghouls has armor, so heavy attacks are very useful during this fight.

Following the big fight, you’ll have a conversation with Davrin. Once that ends, open the large chest in front of you, then speak to Davrin to leave the Cauldron. While you get plenty of XP from the fight, your only quest reward is +100 Grey Wardens Strength.