Skip to main content

Dragon Age Veilguard The Heart of Corruption walkthrough

How to clear the Blight from Beacon Island.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

You have to track down the three sources of corruption in the Crossroads to clear the Blight from Beacon Island and complete 'The Heart of Corruption' side quest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Heads up - even though you get this quest near the start of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, 'The Heart of Corruption' can't be completed for quite a while. It's lengthy because you need to track down and defeat three high-level Champion bosses across Treviso and the Hossberg Wetlands, then defeat three Revenant bosses and a dragon in the Crossroads.

It is a quest worth doing, however, as you get an incredibly overpowered Rune to use against the last boss of the game for doing so.

To help you plan ahead, we've explained everything in our The Heart of Corruption walkthrough below.

On this page:

For more help on your travels across Thedas, check out our Dragon Age: The Veilguard walkthrough.

How to clear the Blight from Beacon Island in Dragon Age The Veilguard

I hope you're ready for a long adventure and some tough battles, because 'The Heart of Corruption' is one of the longest and most difficult side quests in the entire game. The quest length isn't exactly a bad thing though, as this allows you to level-up at a pace that matches the bosses.

We've got far more details below, but in short, here's how to clear the Blight from Beacon Island in Dragon Age Veilguard:

  1. Defeat the Champion of Treviso and unlock the Gate of Deep Sorrows.
  2. Kill Betrayal of Felassan.
  3. Defeat the first Champion of Hossberg Wetlands and unlock the Gate of Parched Hope.
  4. Kill Slaughter of the Pillars.
  5. Defeat the second Champion of Hossberg Wetlands and unlock the Gate of Pale Reflections.
  6. Kill Fall of the Protector.
  7. Use the three Revenant essences on the Thrice-Sealed Gate.
  8. Defeat the Revenant Dragon.

For more details and pictures, keep reading.

Dragon Age The Veilguard The Heart of Corruption walkthrough

Here's exactly how to complete 'The Heart of Corruption' in Dragon Age: The Veilguard:

Gate of Deep Sorrows

You unlock the Gate of Deep Sorrows in the Crossroads by defeating Desmal, Bloodhound to Elgar'nan in Treviso. Desmal is Level 25, weak to Fire, and resistant to Necrotic. Devrin and Taash can deal Fire damage if you can't.

You gain access to Desmal's map location by following the 'Gate of Deep Sorrows' quest after unlocking Treviso.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

We recommend waiting until you're at least Level 20 to take Desmal on, but there's no harm in leaving the fight until you're far past its level, as you have bosses of a higher level to defeat before you can complete the side quest anyway.

Once you defeat Desmal and pick up its essence, head back to the Gate of Deep Sorrows and use the essence to clear the Blight. When you're ready, head down the path to reveal the Converged City, where the Betrayal of Felassan boss awaits.

Betrayal of Felassan is Level 32, weak to Necoris, and resistant to Cold. Lucanis and Emmrich can deal Necrosis damage if you can't.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Pick up Betrayal of Felassan's essence after killing it, but don't forget to open the nearby chest to get a unique-rarity item - we got The Burden amulet while playing as a Mage.

Gate of Parched Hopes

You unlock the Gate of Parched Hopes in the Crossroads by defeating Disciple-in-Ichor in the Hossberg Wetlands. Disciple-in-Ichor is Level 30, weak to Fire, and resistant to Necrotic. Devrin and Taash can deal Fire damage if you can't.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

We noticed we could access Disciple-in-Ichor's map location by following the 'Gate of Parched Hopes' quest after entering Act 2, once we did The Siege of Weisshaupt main quest.

Pick up Disciple-in-Ichor's essence after killing it, then head back to the Gate of Parched Hopes and use the essence to clear the Blight. When you're ready, enter to find the Slaughter of the Pillars boss.

Slaughter of the Pillars is Level 37, weak to Necoris, and resistant to Cold. Lucanis and Emmrich can deal Necrosis damage if you can't.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Pick up Betrayal of Felassan's essence after killing it, but don't forget to open the chest up the stairs in the left to get a unique-rarity item - we got Andraste's Ring while playing as a Mage.

Gate of Pale Reflections

You unlock the Pale Reflections in the Crossroads by defeating Amarell the Unwoven in the Hossberg Wetlands. Amarell the Unwoven is Level 35, weak to Fire, and resistant to Necrotic. Devrin and Taash can deal Fire damage if you can't.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Just like with Disciple-in-Ichor, we noticed we had access to Amarell the Unwoven's map location by following the 'Gate of Parched Hopes' quest after entering Act 2.

Pick up Amarell the Unwoven's essence after killing it, then head back to the Pale Reflections and use the essence to clear the Blight. When you're ready, enter, where you'll find the Fall of the Protector boss.

Fall of the Protector is Level 42, weak to Cold, and resistant to Fire. Neve can deal Cold damage if you can't.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Pick up Fall of the Protector's essence after killing it, and remember to open the nearby chest to get a unique-rarity item - we got the Frozen Facade light helm while playing as a Mage.

Place the corrupted essences in the door

Now you have three Revenant essences, it's finally time to head back to the very start of the Crossroads and insert all three into the Blighted door and clear a path to the source of the corruption.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Face the source of the corruption in Dragon Age The Veilguard

The source of the corruption in the Crossroads is the Revenant Dragon, who is the hardest boss we came up against in our playthrough of The Veilguard. The Revenant Dragon is Level 50, weak to Fire, resistant to Cold, and periodically takes your companions away from you.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

It's a very tough fight, so we highly recommend you wait until you're around the same level as the dragon, and tailor your build to take it on. On top of this, we recommend you get another helping hand from a certain character by seeing the Regrets of Dreadwolf side quest to its very end.

We're warning you now, it's a pretty big spoiler when it comes to Dragon Age lore. So if you'd rather find out on your own, just complete the 'Regrets of the Dreadwolf' side quest before you attempt to kill the Revenant Dragon.

If you don't want to know what this spoiler is, don't scroll past the image below!

Rook with all of their companions facing the camera in Dragon Age: the Veilguard.
Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

If you see the 'Regrets of the Dreadwolf' side quest to its end, you'll get to chat with Morrigan in the Crossroads, who reveals that she has Mythal's memories, but that there is another fragment of Mythal stuck in the Crossroads. You have to speak with this fragment of Mythal and select the correct answers to convince her that you are worthy to receive her essence.

Don't kill her, or you won't get help in the Revenant Dragon fight. Instead, if you do convince Mythal to give you her essence, she will swoop down in her Dragon form to help you during the fight. You'll also get an extra option at the end of the game to see a secret ending.

The Heart of Corruption rewards in Dragon Age The Veilguard

Here's what rewards you get for completing 'The Heart of Corruption' in Dragon Age: The Veilguard:

  • 1000 XP
  • Dragonfire Catalyst
  • Etheric Remnants
  • Dragon Scales
  • +200 Mourn Watch Strength
  • +300 Lords of Fallen Strength
  • Unique-rarity item

We got the The Last Resort ring as our unique-rarity item while playing as a Mage. The chest containing this item is up the southern stairs in the area where you fight the Revenant Dragon.

Later on, near the end of the game, you'll also get 'The Ultimate Salvation of Felassan' Rune from Morrigan, which gives you a huge advantage against the last boss.

Image credit: Eurogamer/EA

Good luck taking on all of the bosses!

Read this next