An Academic Interest is one of many quests inDragon Age: The Veilguardbuilt around the power of spirits and themes of legacy. It involves exploring the further reaches of the Hossberg Wetlandsmap onthe hunt for Gaspin Manor, where you’ll find yourself gaspin' for an answer to the puzzle as you fight off spirits.
Oh, we have fun here. Since it isShades, Demons, and Venatori you’ll be fighting, we suggest takingNeve and Lucanis or Davrin, as they can exploit the enemies’Vulnerabilities to Cold, Necrotic, and Firewhile also inflicting helpful (or, more literally, hurtful) status afflictions on the foes you fight.
Get To Gaspin Manor
When you head to the quest marker, you will seea Venatori wall. The crystal powering it is shielded, and if you follow the beam of light off it and around the corner, you will seethe next three are too. Eventually, you will come to anunsheilded crystal.Destroy it, then go back along the corridor, destroying each one. You can now attack the wall to drop the barrier.
Destroy The Crystals
Inside, there are moreshielded crystals,but also Darkspawn. Thankfully, the first fewGhoulsare weak. AnyFire Abiltiesshould make short work of them, or just rushing them withHeavy attacks.A bigger threat are the tworanged Darkspawn.
You shouldrush the one up the stairs, pinning them in. This takes youout of line of sightfor the other. You can then sneak around the back, past theshielded crystals, to take out the other with aranged Charged attack at its boil. Going this way also puts you right next to theunshielded crystalon the ledge.
There is anothercrystal, now unshieldedon the ledge for you to destroy, and anotherdirectly up - hit it with a ranged attack.This drops the shield around thelarge central crystal below, and destroying this means thosecrystals in the corridorcan also be destroyed.
In the next room, it’s the same idea but withno combat. Destroy thecrystal to the left of the stairs, and the one it connects to, then go up the stairs anddestroy the crystal on the ledge, plus the one it connects to. You can nowdestroy the large crystal in the middle,and the one connected to it,to open the door.
You can also go through the blue barrier across the bridge to find a chest with a weapon. Playing as aRogue, we got Cold Steel +4. There’s also a Caretaker Memento.
Enter Gaspin Manor
You will appear in the Gaspin Manor Courtyard, where you will immediately see anunshielded crystalto your left down the steps, and a Venatori to your right. Take out the crystal with a bow attack thendeflectwhen the Venatori attacks to make short work of them.
The large crystalsexplodeif you get too near, but this does not destroy them. When theground around them turns red, dodge away.
The secondcrystal is directly above the fountain, and then theVenatori will attack. Switch attention to defeat them withranged attacks,ADD Abilities, and anyarea control Abilitiesas they rush down the steps.
You can then go up to the raised huton the right as you face the Manor. Anothercrystalis waiting here, and destroying itlets you destroy the next two going down the steps. After this, go to the top of the courtyard steps and destroythe next crystal, at which point you hear a spooky voice from the Manor.
This crystalstarts a chain going back to the fountain,and with that you’ll be able todestroy the large crystal in the corner.This lets you destroya crystal under the building on the right,which leads to a wooden barrier. Break it to reveala Venatori wall,and you’re halfway done.
After this, run tothe castle walls at the back of the area. Inside, there is acrystal, and anotherchain can start. This takes you through the archway on the right, down the steps, and back to theVenatori wall, which can now bedestroyed.
Defeat Consuming Obsession
After usingR1/RB to bring down the blue wall,interact with thecracked wall at the back of the cellar.This reveals a hidden room where aConsuming Obsession demonawaits. This isVulnerable to Necrotic damage,so anyNecrotic Abilitiesare useful here.
Since the Consuming Obsession hasboth Armor and Barrier, ranged and Heavy attacks are useful. However, sincethe hidden room is so smalland the demon is so big, it’snot wise to fight it in there. Instead, useNeve’s Blizzard to trap itas soon as you find it, theninflict as much damageas you canbefore retreatinganddrawing it into the open.
Most of the Consuming Obsession’s attacks aremelee sweeps, so you shouldkeep your distancefrom the demon at most points in the fight. It also usesflaming orb hazards,but these are only destroyed when it falls or they time out, soavoid rather than attacking.
It also summonstwo Shades, which areVulnerable to Neve’s Cold damage. These are nusiances more than true threats, so should bedealt with by you and Neve after the first Blizzard spell has worn offthe Consuming Obsession.
Consuming Obsession dropped aViridian’s Tusk +4 axe for Taashwhen we killed it, while the chest held aGriffon’s Talon +4 longsword for Davrin.
Back at Bastian, the quest rewards are200 gold,100 Mourn Watchers strength,100 Grey Wardens strengthandfive Fade-Touched Ore, as well as500XP.
