How to Open the Warden Vault in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

When you begin exploring the Rivain Coast in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you may eventually stumble upon Warden Castle and the Warden Vault. There are some formidable foes to vanquish along this path, but your toughest challenge will be unlocking the Warden Vault.

The process of triggering each lock is more complex than you might imagine, and it will involve helping some spirits navigate the expansive Warden Castle. Once all three locks have been taken care of, you can open the Warden Vault and claim the treasure in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

How to Open the Warden Vault in Veilguard

If you're trying to find the Warden Vault, the front entrance is by the fast travel beacon circled in red on the map above. When you first arrive at Rivain Coast, you'll be at the upper left-hand corner of that map.

However, you won't be able to open the Warden Vault your first time. Players will need Taash in their party as a full member, and thus access to Taash's out-of-battle ability to burn or blow things up.

How to Enter the Warden Castle

With the gate locked shut as you approach, head through a few doorways to the right of the main entrance to find a Gaatlok Barrel that Taash can ignite. Blow this up and head through the new opening, then immediately to your left will be a small area full of barrels with three crests and torches against the wall. We ignited them in the order of middle, then right, then left. After that, all three will ignite and get things moving towards actually entering the castle. Now, in the area you opened a path to, continue further along just south of there and up a flight of stairs.

To your left, there is a large pallet of wood planks. Climb up onto that then up to a higher level of the Warden Castle. Open the door on your right to step inside the Warden Castle. After entering, there will be a lever on the floor to your left. Use this to open the main entrance gate and give yourself easier access to the Warden Castle. Pull the nearby lever under three torches, then be wary of the chest which has loot but will trigger a necrosis trap upon opening. Finally, you'll see a larger crest with a lever in that same little room. Pull it to ignite a small green flame and acquire the Warden Vault quest.

Warden Vault Lock Locations

First off, the good news is that the lever you pulled to trigger this quest opens the first of three locks on the Warden Vault. Once you take the ladder back down to floor level, there are a handful of enemies to deal with. Some are behind the columns on your left, a few are down the starcase to your right, and straight ahead there's a stronger enemy with a shield. If you're careful about taking them on in that order, you'll be able to deal with these in sequence rather than all at once.

When you defeat the final one, straight ahead from where you climbed down, head through the door on your right. This will take you to the spot seen above, though we accidentally did the locks out of order.

Once you investigate the skeleton surrounded by green butterflies, a spirit will rise up and move back towards the hallway you entered from but pass directly through the north wall. Head back up the ladder and back to the area where you initially entered by a large set of stairs. To the right of those stairs is the small area seen above, and you just need to walk up to the spirit which will acknowledge it.

The spirit will then go on the move again, and if you watch closely you'll notice it heads back in the direction of the main gate to the Warden Castle. You'll find it just through the right-hand doorway when looking at the main entrance. Again, approaching will acknowledge the spirit and cause it to go back on the move.

Go back inside the castle and return to the area where that main enemy you fought earlier was located. On the right-hand side as you approach, you'll spot the above mechanism at the wall and the spirit standing beside it. When you walk up to the spirit, it will now move through the wall at that mechanism and cause it to unlock. The second lever to open a lock on the Warden Vault is through that newly created door.

Now head back into that hallway you used earlier to reach this first spirit. Instead, continue south then take a left then a right to enter a larger room with several huge barrels on the right-hand side. Continue south down a small flight of stairs, then you'll have to take a left and enter another large room.

On the right-hand side of that room is a door where you can continue south towards a large sandy area. Go through that door, but stop before you head out onto the sand. Instead, take a right into the above hallway and use Taash's ability to melt the obstacle blocking your path. Through that, you'll find a locked door and a diamond shaped hole in the wall with a skeleton on the ground which you can't reach.

You need to do this first, as a clear pathway will help you get the final spirit into that skeleton. Head back out and step into the sandy area mentioned earlier, but be prepared for a battle as several enemies will come at you fairly quickly. Work through each of them until you finally have free reign of this area.

Directly to the right of where you first stepped out of the Warden Castle onto the sand, look for the large hole in the wall above and another Gaatlok Barrel. Once you use Taash's ability to ignite it, the explosion will cause a ladder to drop just to the left of this opening.

Climb up, and you'll spot a small blue-green wisp floating in the air. This is your second spirit, and it's the key to opening the final lock. After you have it following you, time is of the essence. The wisp will eventually return to its original location and force you to start this step over again.

Hop down to the ground, run through the sand and back into the Warden Castle. Follow the pathway you cleared back to the locked door. If you reach it in time, the wisp will pass through the diamond in the wall and inhabit a skeleton that pulls a lever to open that locked door. Pass through to claim some treasure, and you can pull the lever on the wall to open the final lock to the Warden Vault.

Head back out towards the main area in the Warden Castle where you first fought enemies after climbing down the ladder, this is also the same area you accessed the lever for the second lock. This time, take the stairs which are on the right-hand side just after you enter the Warden Castle via the main gate. If you haven't already, use Taash's ability to clear your path here.

Head down the stairs past three crests lit with green flames on the wall and a note you can read, then walk up to the large doors and open the Warden Vault. As soon as the doors open, the quest will complete and you'll earn the XP, companion bond boosts, and faction bonuses. One chest holds a rare medium armor for Taash, one has an Azure Bow, and finally the most ornate chest contains the Serpent's Kiss. You'll also get some gold and resources from each chest.

The Serpent's Kiss is a unique ring that's especially deadly for players that use their weapons to deal necrotic damage. When Necrotic Weapons is active and you have the Serpent's Kiss ring equipped, charged attacks deal area of effect Necrotic damage to any other enemies surrounding your target. However, this also removes Necrotic Weapons. For that reason, the Serpent's Kiss is most valuable for someone who has built a Dragon Age: The Veilguard character that can frequently activate Necrotic Weapons.