Best side quest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Important takeaways

• Completing side quests in Dragon Age: The Veilguard unlocks legendary loot and secret content.
• Missing quests like “Dead Men Tell Some Tales” and “Warden Grey's Final Repose” means you're missing out on powerful items and lore.
• Completing quests like “The Warden Vault” and “Something Wicked” lead to unique weapons, achievements and special endings.

IN Dragon Age: The Veilguardthere is tons of hidden content and many secondary quests to complete. But players, especially those who want to follow the main quest line, don't always pay attention to everything they can do in the game. In some cases, this leads to missed opportunities such as Legendary Loot, Secret Cutscenes and Lore that will never be found.

The following examples are side quests that players should not skip if they want all that precious loot and unlock a bunch of secret content, including one of the special endings in the game.

1 Dead men tell some tales

Missing this mission would mean missing out on the best tool belt in the game

• Place: Rivain Coast
• Reward: Unique belt and treasure

Players will unlock this sub-quest as a follow-up to Taash's personal quest “In The Lair Of The Dragon King”, and it will send Rook and their party to an encounter with the Spirit of Adventure. The spirit will tell the story of a certain eager pirate who tried to loot a chest in the middle of battle and met his death. Not until a store of gold was prepared for whoever could find his lair.

So, that's basically it: a treasure hunt, and battling undead pirates through the Rivaini coasts. The best part? It's a simple quest that ends with one of the best items in the game: the Glorious Ultimatum. Equipping it turns healing pots into Ultimate Pots, and using Ultimate now heals players to maximum health. Players should not miss this chance to get this unique item.

2 Warden Grey's final rest

Triggers an important hunt for loot

• Place: Rivain Coast
• Reward: Treasure chests

This quest starts way earlier during the first encounter with Taash. Rook and his party will be sent on a wild hunt through the ancient Gray Warden ruins on the Rivain Coast, and as they make their way through the fortress they may stumble across several Lore Objects that trigger this quest. It will send players to investigate various signs left by the First Qunari Gray Warden: Grey.

After a while the quest will stop, but it will trigger again later when players unlock the Sharksmouth Mount area, after the “In The Lair Of The Dragon King” Companion Quest. Track down the remaining pieces of lore, and this will also trigger another quest called The Warden Vault. Following up on Warden Grey's Final Repose will reward players with exp, invaluable pieces of lore, and memories needed to level up the Caretaker's Workshop.

3 The Warden Vault

There's plenty of loot to be found here, including the elusive unique two-handed weapon from Dragon Age 2

• Place: Rivain Coast
• Reward: Unique staff/two-handed weapon/bow

Warden Vault tasks players with solving yet another statue puzzle, which consists of investigating a series of clues about ancient gray wardens from the second corruption. The vault itself is hidden in one of the towers of the Sharksmouth Mount ruins.

The puzzle itself is easy to solve, but the solution is detailed in the images above. The important thing is the reward at the end of the path, which is several treasure chests, mementos, Lore items, and a unique weapon, which can be a greatsword, a staff, or a bow. Players can even get Meredith's Legacy (from Dragon Age 2) and Arcane Stave, which deals necrotic damage and has an overwhelmed Self-Heal perk.

4 In memoriam

The first of a series of important missions in the port city

• Place: Dock Town – The Market
• Rewards: New area open, triggers quest chain and unique rewards

This quest will be automatically available from the moment players unlock the Dock Town area as an explorable zone, and if they go to the Market, they will notice a quest marker nearby. After that, it will trigger the first in a long chain of quests that will ultimately lead to a unique armor.

A Spirit of Compassion will appear before Rook and asks the team to investigate a series of murders occurring all over Dock Town. Just follow the marker, search for the clues and discover what is happening with the murder cases. Having Neve with the team helps a lot. After helping Compassion, this Spirit will leave with a warning. Something evil feeds off Dock Town's suffering. This means that there is still a long way to go before completing a series of quests that will periodically appear in this area.

5 Corner in the Catacombs

Will unlock access to Dock Town's subway

• Place: Dock Town – Shadow Dragons Hideout
• Rewards: New area open: Treasure, Evanuris Statue, A Hidden Hoard follow-up quest

This mission will send Rook and friends on a hunt in the sewers of Dock Town to rid them of the remaining Darkspawn after the Blight Dragon attack. If players choose to help Dock Town instead of Treviso, they will be able to complete this mission. If they don't, they will be blocked from the follow-up quest “A Hidden Hoard”, and the quest chain will break there.

After investigating a series of disappearances in Dock Town, Rook will be able to clear a Darkspawn nest just below the Shadow Dragon base, which will lead to the opening of a new area: The Catacombs. After defeating the corrupted monsters and destroying some cysts, players will be able to explore further in and discover some mysterious traces of demonic influence.

6 A hidden treasure

Gives a lot of treasure

• Place: Dock Town
• Reward: Mementos, Random Treasure, new Area Unlock, “Desperate In Dock Town” Sequel

Shortly after completing the “Cornered In The Catacombs” quest, Rook notices a strange sign while browsing the Dock Town Market that tells of a treasure hunt. Following the clues, players will soon discover that it was all a trap, and some mercenaries will lay an ambush in the catacomb area.

Killing them unlocks the vault which contains a “stinky” hidden treasure, some memories, a random treasure and most importantly, a Lore item that finally triggers the “Desperate In Dock Town” quest. The demonic influence in Dock Town has been a problem ever since the war with the gods started, and now Rook finally has a clue to its origin. This mission must be completed to unlock the next stage in the Dock Town series.

7 Desperate In Dock Town

The last of a series of quests, unlocks powerful unique armor

• Place: Dock Town
• Reward: Unique Armor/Random Treasure, Mementos

After the follow-up on “A Hidden Hoard”, players will be able to reach the final part of the Dock Town Catacombs, which will lead to the final confrontation with the Desperation Demon, the one who has moved the threads behind the curtains, and has been feeding on the suffering of the people.

Go down further into the catacomb, unlock the encased treasure chest by activating the mechanism, then go down the wall next to the Zipline to find a hole in the wall, with a lore piece nearby. Enter the arena and kill the Desperation Demon and his minions, then claim the loot, a unique Light Armor called Magister's End.

8 Unwelcome guests

Important to unlock one of the key missions for an achievement

• Place: Navarre – The great necropolis
• Reward: Access to Vault Area – Pinnacle of Its Kind Follow-Up Quest

Once players have completed Emmrich Volkarin's intro quest and unlocked the Nevarran Great Necropolis area to explore, they must return to this location, to the central area, and talk to Myrna. She will send players to “get rid” of unwelcome guests: Venatori, who have been digging around the bones without caring about the dead.

When Rook kicks out these rude intruders, they'll be able to investigate what was going on with all that digging. This will lead to a mysterious voice beckoning from the depths of the vault, the place Venatori was trying to access. And then the “Pinnacle Of Its Kind” quest will appear, and now the players have an important task ahead of them.

9 Pinnacle of its kind

Will have players fighting an undead high dragon, possessed by a demon

• Place: Navarre – The great necropolis
• Reward: Unique Weapon/Treasure Chests/Bringing The Sky Down Achievement/Trophy

The mission “Pinnacle Of Its Kind” consists of getting rid of three demons holding the seal of the vault door, one in Dock Town, another in Hossberg Wetlands and the last one hidden in Arlathan Forest. Once they break this three-part seal, they will be able to access the vault and face The Formless One, which is also required for the Bringing The Sky Down Achievement/Trophy.

This quest is important because it also provides a lot of faction strength with both the Mourn Watch and Lords of Fortune, and players will also miss out on some unique weapons (depending on their class) and tons of treasure chests, memories, and other loot.

10 Something mean

Important to the fate of the Gryphon and the Gray Warden

• Place: The Anderfells – Hossberg Wetlands
• Reward: Hidden Chests, Gray Warden Good Ending Trigger Quest

If players follow all of Devrim's companions to the end, they will also notice a series of follow-up quests with Antoine and Evka, the only Gray Wardens who were willing to help Rook in the first place. Returning the favor and helping them deal with the corruption spreading through the Hossber Wetlands will not only unlock new areas to explore, but also grant access to chests that were locked behind the Blight Corruption.

The mission series begins with “Something Wicked” and will end with “Something's Coming”, where Rook must defeat a huge mutated Blight Cyst that appears to have gained sentience. Blasting away the ugly tangle of corruption will give Rook the chance to help Antoine and Evka retire and live happily ever after away from fighting the Darkspawn. But there is more. If players choose the “Gyiphons Return to the Wardens” option at the end of Devrim's quest chain, Antoine will become the new Gryphon Master of the Order, and players will be able to witness one of the funniest scenes in the entire game.

11 The heart of corruption

Will allow players to unlock the best possible ending

• Place: Crossroads
• Reward: Unique weapons, amulets, armor/treasure/good ending unlock prerequisite

The Crossroads is a place that players need to fully explore if they want to understand Solas and also unlock the best possible ending. But to do so, they must open a series of corrupt doors protected by Champion Essences, which are obtained throughout the adventure by destroying Blight cysts and defeating the Darkspawn champions.

There are several doors to open, but the most important ones are the ones that lead to the pillar of corruption. Not only do these hidden bosses provide tons of rewards when defeated, but Rook will also break the gods' hold over the fade, which in turn will give them a purified essence. After defeating the three pillars, players will be able to face the Revenant Dragon, which is also required for the Bringing The Sky Down Achievement/Trophy, and also earn some juicy rewards.