The Last Gambitis a crucial quest inDragon Age: The Veilguard, andpotentially a deadly one for your companions. While the last quest saw you make an unavoidable decision, this timethe choices you make can lead to happy endings, as long as you make them correctly and have the strength to back it up.
However, it’s not all about the choices here. There’s alsoa fiendishly difficult boss battleat the end of this, and your options may be limited on who you have by your side. However, we’re here to stay you through, and make sure you’re able to get thatThe Ones That Last Trophy/Achievement for keeping everyone alive.
Who Should Support The Factions?
As with the choices inThe Isle of Gods, we havea full breakdown of all the choices you can make in these endgame quests and their consequences. But for now, lets focus on thethreechoices(actuallyfour, because this alsopicks your companions for battle) that you make at the start of The Last Gambit.
As explained in the earlier guide, the ideal situation here is to haveevery faction at three stars aside from the Shadow Dragons or Antivan Crows(depending on whether yousaved Minrathous or Treviso), which should be attwo. Everycharactershould also be aHero of the Veilguard.
If this is true for you, congratulations - it’svery simple to keep everyone alive. If you either haveeveryone at two stars, ordon’t have Heroes of the Veilguard, things aretough. We ran this quest a few times anddeath is not guaranteed in this scenario, but whencombined with poor choices, it is likely.
So let’s get into the right choices. Fortaking down the magic wards, it should be Emmrich, Neve, or Bellara.Obviously one of Neve or Bellara is captured, so that narrows down the choice. That’s also a factor in the next two choices.
Fortaking out the Venatori leader, it should be Neve or Lucanis, and fordisabling the Juggernaut, it should be Taash or Bellara.This meansone of Harding or Davrin will be in your squad for this quest. SinceElgar’nan’s Wrath is Vulnerable to Necrotic and Resistant to Lightning, theidealteam featureseither Emmrich or Lucanisalongside Harding or Davrin.
That meansif Neve was captured, the order should be:Bellara wards, Lucanis Venatori, Taash Juggernaut. IfBellara was captured, it should be: Neve or Emmrich wards, Neve or Lucanis Venatori, Taash Juggernaut. And obviouslyone of the two ‘Neve or’ choices should be Neve.
If yourRookis aDeath Caller Mageor aDuelist RoguewithNecroticAbilties, youshould send Emmrich and Lucaniswhilekeeping Neveas she will be useful for area control and fighting Venatori.
After this, you’ll see a long cutscene which will reveal the fate of your companions, though with these choices you should be fine. You then have a similar linear combat gauntlet to The Isle of Gods, facing Darkspawn and Venatori. Neve, Davrin, and yourself as the Necrotic fighter is the ideal combo, but it’s no tougher than what you’ve faced before.
A key thing to remember is totake out the ranged attackers first, usingHeavy attacks on Armor and ranged Weakpoint attackson Barrier. If your companions havehealing Abilities,prioritiseusing these over your potions, unless you’re able to keep them topped up by finding new ones.
How To Defeat Elgar’nan’s Wrath
Elgar’nan’s Wrath is a Blood Prime, which you will have fought at least once before in Blood of Arlathan. But here, you need to watch out for several key attacks.
The best way to fight Elgar’nan’s Wrath is to use some Ability to hold it in place (Neve’s Blizzard being the best option, but Detonations also work enough) to rush it withHeavy attacks to remove its Armor. After this, you shouldkeep your distance and use Nectrotic Abilities. When itbreathes fire, there are two main ways to hurt it.
The first is torush to the sideas it will temporarily not attack you until thefire breath ends. This allows you to landHeavy attackswithout it defending itself. The other is toaim inside its ‘mouth’ with a ranged attack.When the grill is open to shoot fire, this is the only time Elgar’nan’s Wrath has a Weakpoint. You should alsosave your Ultimate for this moment, oruse it to thin out the crowd.
It’s also worth noting thatyou can parrythecircular mace swingattack. However,getting this wrong traps youin a long cycle of constant heavy damage, so it’snot usually worth the risk.
While this is going on,several Venatori and Darkspawn will also attack. While you want tothin out the herdhere, thebattle ends when Elgar’nan’s Wrath falls. Therefore, we suggestkeeping the Necrotic companion (or yourself) on Elgar’nan’s Wrath, and usingthe rest of the party to either set up Detonationson Elgar’nan’s Wrath or usearea Abilitiesto damage a lot of the mobs collectively.
Though the weaker enemies can still pack a punch, it’smostly when you get trapped in by Elgar’nan’s Wraththat things get dangerous, so theother creatures shouldn’t be the focus here.Once the battle is over, you get a cutscene with Solas, and prepare yourself for the final assault.
