The Cauldronis a interesting quest inDragon Age: The Veilguard, because when it starts, it hasn’t really started. When you go to the location and speak to Davrin, you get a short cutscene about the entrance being blocked, and need to figure it out from there.
It sees usconfront the Gloom Howler, but the major combat hurdle to overcome is theDarkspawn Horde. Once you get in, most of the Cauldron is easy to navigate - it’sstaying alive at the end that’s tough.
For that reason, we suggest someone who canprimer Davrin’s detonations, butnot Emmrichas the DarkspawnResist Necrotic.Bellara or Neveforarea controlorTaashfor extraFire damageare our picks.
How To Enter The Cauldron
As the cutscene ends, goup the ramp and use R1/RB to call Assan. Climb onto thew dropped platform and up the ladder. In here,destroy the three Blight Boils from range, then take out theDarkspawn.There aren’t very many, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. UseFireandHeavyattacks on the Greater Hurlocks to remove theirArmor, and this should be over quickly.
This will revealfour Blight Boilsthat must be removed in order to enter the Cauldron. Go through thearch on the leftand defeat the Ghouls and single Greater Hurlock like before. AnotherBlight Boilwill drop, sotake it out before enemies spawn.Then go all the way along to theleft and up the ramp that doubles back.
From here, continue along the path until you reach theballista. Use it toaimat theBlight Boil on the wall,and you’re one step of the way there. After this,continue past the ballistaand over thewooden gap, wheretwo smaller boils drop. Destroy them before they spawn enemies, or quickly fight those that appear. The produce Javinleers, sorushing them with melee attacksdulls their effectiveness. After this,climb the steps at the backto attack thesecond Blight Boil.Halfway done.
Headback to the central courtyardand headup the stairs on the right. Keep going up andclimb the wooden steps. Ignore the ballista this time andhead inside the castle,where oneBlight Boil is on the right.Two Frenzied Berserks appear here, but aDetonation attackandHeavy attacks on their Armorshould see them off.
Now go up theleft stairs on the back wall,and you will see thelast Blight Boil.Attack it then head back to the courtyard.
Find The Gloom Howler
Making you way through The Cauldron is fairly straightforward. It’smostly a linear exploration, where dialogue from Davrin or Rook, or lore discovered in the building itself, offers more depth to the narrative. However, when you enter and reach the twin statues, check the alcove to the left for aWarden’s Signet.
After this, continue on until you see aroom with a Blight Boil. When youdestroy it and head through the passageit creates, you will be in theGloom Howler’s Lair.You are attacked by lots ofDarkspawn, which is a rehersal for the next phase.However, here you should focus on the Blight Boils. In order, you need todestroy the two to the furthest left (up a ledge)andfurthest right (around the corner),then the onein the middle.
This will let you attack theBoil in the left archway.Inside,destroy the Boil in front of youthen keep pushing around to thefinal one on the ledge. The battleends when the Boil is destroyed,sododge enemies rather than attackingand make your way to the edge.
Defeat The Darkspawn Horde
This challenge is much like other ‘defeat every enemy’ objective, except there areway more enemies. Theiroverall numbers are indicated by a health bar, but that’s not too important -nothing in the fight changes as it drops. Having Davrin obviously helps, and if you haveTaash you should focus them on the biggest enemies, like the Greater Hurlock Blighters or the Greater Ogre. If you instead tookBellara or Neve, theircrowd control Abilities like Galvanized Tear or Blizzardshould let you thin the herd byfocusing on weaker enemies.
You’llimmediately be surrounded by weaker Ghouls, so anyarea Abilitiesthat lets you take a lot of them out quickly will make things easier for you. Once youdrop down from the top platform, over to therightyou will seeGreater Hurlock Blightersspawning. Since these domajor damage from distance, you want rid of these before yoou get trapped by larger enemies.
After this, you’ll want tokeep movingandtarget the Greater Hurlock Blighters. Since these chase you, you canlead them into area Abilities easily.The biggest threat is theGreater Ogre,but this isso slowyou want to eliminate as many enemies as possible before facing it, anduse Abilities from distance on it. Once every enemy falls, you will get a cutscene and the quest will be over. Next up, we take the fight to the Gloom Howler herself.
