Rivain’s coastal fortress is one of the most beautiful and exotic locations inDragon Age: The Veilguard, but the ruins various ledges, hidden areas, and mysteries can make it a little tricky to get around. One quest that makes the most of the twists and turns isThe Warden Vault, which requires you toactivate three separate switches. More to the point, it requires you to find them.
This quest begins when you get tothe grand hall of the Warden Castle, and godown the large stairs off to the side. Down here, you will findthe vault door,three Grey Warden Shieldson the wall, anda dead explorer holding a noteexplaining that there are three separate mechanisms that need to be triggered. At this point,the starting location of each puzzle appears on your map, but after that, you’re on your own. Or you would be, except you have us.
How To Solve The First Shield Puzzle In The Warden Vault
Each puzzle is completely different to the other two, and thus theycan be completed in any order. By ‘first’, we simply mean the one on the left of the room, the first one you see when you go down the stairs. Head back upstairs andhead out the back of the grand hall until you emerge in Castle Bailey. To the immediate right of the exit, you will seea flammable flask sitting on the edge of a wallwhere the quest marker is.
UseTaash’s ability (or Rook’s knife, if Taash is not not present) to explode the flask, causing a ladder to drop down. you may nowclimb up and grab a Wisp. After you’ve got it,jump back down and run inside the Warden Castle again. But instead of going forward into the hall with the Vault,go left.
Here you will seea crack in the wall next to a thick wooden door. TheWisp will float insideand animate a skeleton, whopulls a lever to open the door. Inside, there isanother switch next to a Grey Warden shield. Flick it, and you’re one third of the way there.
The room also contains 11 Gold, an Eternal Wail Memento for the Caretaker, Vhenadahl’s Tears, and (for a Rogue) a Dragon’s War bow.
How To Solve The Second Shield Puzzle In The Warden Vault
The middle shield puzzle can be a little tricky, because it taunts you by showing you the right answer in the wrong order. Firstly,you need to go through the twisting stone corridor in the Warden Castleto activate the first spirit.Interact with the pile of bones, and you will seea green spirit rise out from the dirt. The point is to follow it, butit very quickly floats through a walland makes it very difficult to follow.
You’d think that the very obvious pile of bones next tothe Fast Travel Beacon outside of the Castleis the go to, but that’s the second stop the spirit makes. However, you should stillgo to this Beacon, which is atthe north entrance to the Warden Castle. Gothrough the cavern to the right where the skeleton is, andthrough it to the left. Keep goingunder the doorway, then on the right, the spirit is waiting for you. You can see this location on the map below.
Alternatively,if you have solved the Third Shield Puzzleand havedropped the ladder, you can also simplyclimb this ladder and head to the outside balcony, thenrun along to the left until you’re past the connecting wall. Jump down and you will seethe spirit in the sheltered, shadowy area. Interact with it and it will move again.
As those of you who have been paying attention will know, you’ll need togo to the Fast Travel Beacon by the Warden Castle entrance againfor the third spirit, where the ground gives out to a cavern, in front of some red tents.To the right as you look at the castle, there is a small cavernous room with the spirit in the corner.
Head straight on into the Warden Castle next, past the stairs to the back of the room where you’ll seea familiar green glow. Interact with the spirit and they willfly through the wall, and trigger a switch that opens a door, revealingthe second shield switch.
How To Solve The Third Shield Puzzle In The Warden Vault
The quest marker itself takes you to a raised platform in the grand hall, but this is theend of the puzzle, not the start, so it canbe ignored. If you’ve already been up here anddropped the ladder, climb up it, jump off the balcony outside, and head intothe hidden alcove directly beneath it. Here, you’ll need tosmash the boxes and barrels to reveal three switches.
If the ladder hasn’t been dropped, you’ll need tohead to the Fast Travel Beacon by the north entrance to Warden Castle, andthrough the cavern off to the right (where the third spirit was for the second shield). Immediately after exiting,turn left and find a hidden area full of old boxes and barrels. Smash ‘em good.
You need toget all three fires burning, which means interacting withthe left switch, then the right switch, then the middle switch. Once this is done, eitherhead back inside and climb the ladder, orturn left as you exit the alcove and go all the way to the end. Here, you canclimb a stack of wood to get onto the balcony, and go inside. Drop the ladder down here, theninteract with the switches on the wall, which should all be lit.
If you flick the switches out of order, you can reset by travelling to another area and then heading back. Progress will be saved on the shield’s activated so far.
The wall switchopens the door next to it, leading to a room thatcontains the final shield switch, as well as a chest withKeen With A Twist +5 (for Rogues), +5 Imperial Weave, Fine Silverwork, and 83 Gold. After this, climb the ladder down tothe great hall and head down the stairs to claim your spoils.
What Is Inside The Warden Vault In Rivain?
Inside the Warden Vault, there are three chests for you to open, as well as some rewards merely for opening the door. It grants you+50 Grey Warden strength, +100 Lords of Fortune strength, and a mild approval boost for whichever two companions are with you when you open the vault.
While Taash is a Lord of Fortune, their approval boost is no greater than any other companion.
As for the Gear, one item here is tied to your class, but the others are universal. However,the key reward here is the Unique Ring, Serpent’s Kiss(it causes Charged attacks to deal Necrotic damage in the area around the target when Necrotic Weapons are active, at the cost of losing the Necrotic Weapons state).
There’s also aPetrified Dragon’s Egg Mementothat boosts Caretaker Power,Trusted Finery +5 for Taash, and playing as a Rogue, we found anAzure Bow +5. Across the three chests, we got5 Etheric Remnant, Vhenadahl’s Tears, Fine Silverwork, and a total of 401 Gold.
