Some of the most dangerous enemies in Dragon Age: The Veilguard are the High Dragons. You can stumble upon them during main and side quests of companions, regions and factions. There are eight High Dragons in the game.
Where to find and how to defeat all the High Dragons, we will tell you in our guide.
General tactics for fighting High Dragons
Each dragon has its own distinctive weaknesses. For example, fire dragons will be vulnerable to ice damage and vice versa. Also, during the battle, the weakest points of the enemy will be highlighted, hitting which will cause good damage.
If the purple stagger bar above the boss's health bar fills, the dragon will fall to the ground and reveal its most vulnerable spot – the heart.
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To defeat a High Dragon, you need to learn its attacks in order to dodge them in a timely manner. Basically, the blows will be the same, with rare exceptions, which we will note for each dragon separately.
Standard attacks of high dragons
Dragons are capable of inflicting paw strike which is closest to you. Watch for the red halo above Ruk's head to dodge the attack in time.
One of the most noticeable and common attacks of dragons is head attackin mid-air. The boss will begin snapping its jaw before lunging at you, attempting to pin you with its head.
Periodically, the enemy will soar into the air and charge up a powerful attack before slamming down on the ground, dealing area damage.
Each dragon has a breath attack, the damage of which will vary depending on the type of dragon (frost, fire or lightning).
As soon as the enemy turns his back to you, he will begin to swing his whole body, trying to deliver a strong blow with his tail.
The only attack that can be blocked is the tail attack. However, if you are playing as a warrior and have chosen the Intercession specialization (specifically the “Inspiring Defense” trait), you cannot block it.
Most dragons will fly onto the arena walls several times during the fight and from there throw various attacks at the player (at 66% and 33% HP).
All High Dragons in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Student Corius
After Davrin's quest “The Guardians' Best Friend”, you will have to make an important choice – to help Minrathous or Treviso during the dragon attack. In a separate article, we described all the outcomes of this or that choice.
If you chose to help Treviso, the quest “On the Wings of Death” will automatically start, and you will have to go to fight Student Corius.
This fight will end when the dragon has only half HP left, after which, at Ghilan'nain's command, he will hide and the quest will end.
However, later, according to the quest “Fire and Ice”, in the Hossberg Marshes you will find the final battle not only with the Coldbringer, but also with the second dragon that attacked Minrathous – Heatmaw Vyranthus.
How to Defeat
The Student has attacks withfrost damage in her arsenal, and therefore has a vulnerability to fire damage and resistance to cold.
As soon as the fight begins, Studennitsa will try to attack your team with a powerful jump attack. Try to dodge in time to avoid taking a lot of damage.
Be careful when attacking the dragon's paws, as the dragon will attack you with them in response. These attacks cannot be blocked, so try to jump back in time.
The dragon will often fly into the air and fall on the arena, causing area damage. As soon as the dragon leaves the ground and a huge red spot appears on it, try to run away as quickly as possible.
Attack the glowing legs of the dragon to deal maximum damage and knock it down. Once the Stout falls to the ground, attack its most vulnerable spot – the glowing spot on its chest.
Heatmaw Vyranthus
Battle with the fire dragon Heatmaw Vyranthuswill happen if you choose the city of Minrathous. By choosing the corresponding option in the dialogue, you will go to the Port City for the quest “On the Wings of Filth”.
As in the case of the Cold-Eyed Korius, the Heat-Maw will also leave the battlefield when its health is reduced by half.
Much later, for the quest “Fire and Ice”, you will have to go to the Hossberg Marshes and defeat two corrupted dragons at once that had previously attacked Treviso and Minrathous.
How to Defeat
Heatmaw is a fire dragon and has vulnerability to cold. Fire attacks, in turn, will be useless in battle.
The tactics of the battle with Heatmaw will be similar to the tactics of the battle with the Cold-Eyed Korius. Try to focus on filling the stun gauge to bring the dragon to the most vulnerable state. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to deliver the most powerful blows to the heart of the dragon.
Formless
You can fight the Formless at the end of the quest line of the Necropolis region. You can start this quest in the Halls of the Necropolis, in the Chambers of the Unforged location, which can be reached by completing the quest “Restless Spirits”.
After finding enough clues, also examine the mysterious door to activate the quest “The Strongest of His Kind”.
Defeat all the demons in Arlathan Forest, Port City, and Hossberg Marsh. Then return to the Necropolis to open the sealed door and fight the final dragon form of the Formless.
How to win
The Formless deals lightning damage and has weakness to necrotic.
Once the Formless One's health drops to a certain point, it can form a barrier – additional magical protection.
During the fight, the Demon Dragon will additionally summon undead. Focus on the smaller enemies before returning to the main one.
As with other dragons, focus on completely stunning the enemy to access their weakest point.
Mythal's Retribution
Once you have collected all the wolf statues for the quest“The Regrets of the Dread Wolf”, you will be able to talk to the goddess Mythal to ask for help. In order for the conversation to go smoothly, you need to persuade Mythal to help you.
How to persuade Mythal to help, and what rewards await you after this or that choice, you can find out from a separate guide.
If you made a mistake, choosing bad answer options or intentionally expressed a desire to engage in battle with her, Mythal will transform into the form of a level 45 high dragon – Mythal's Retribution.
Important: if you choose to fight Mythal, you will not be able to get the Clear Mind, Open Heart achievement associated with the goddess's help.
How to win
Mythal's Vengeance is a lightning dragon. Take advantage of attacks with necrotic damage, to which the dragon is vulnerable. Before the battle, take companions with the appropriate attacks to your team: Emmrik or Lucanis.
You will also need companions with high abilities for explosions and stagger, such as Davrin or Harding. Try to land your heaviest hits or use skills when Mythal is fully staggered to deal maximum damage.
The Resurrected Dragon
The Revenant is the final boss of the Source of Corruption quest. Complete the quest and open the sealed gate on Lighthouse Island to engage the undead dragon.
The fight with the undead can be quite difficult due to its high level and changing elemental damage.
How to Defeat
The Revenant has the same set of attacks as other dragons. However, unlike them, it has the ability to periodically change the type of damage. The dragon begins the fight with ice attacks, subsequently changing them to fire and lightning.
The transition from different types of damage occurs during the blinding attack of the boss. Despite this, the dragon has vulnerability to fire throughout the fight.
This dragon, like others, has a weak spot in the chest when you knock it down. But this is only available for a short period of time. Attack the Risen's legs to knock it off balance, and then use the most powerful blow Rook.
If you completed the quest “Regrets of the Dread Wolf” before starting the fight with this dragon, having agreed with Mythal and received Favor from her, she will help you in this battle. During the fight, Mythal will perform a unique attack that takes away a decent portion of the dragon's health and leaves it vulnerable for a short period.
Sparktooth
The next High Dragon appears first in the Taash quest line. When the Qunari arrives at the Lighthouse, speak to her to receive the quest Hunt for Sparktooth. You'll find the dragon herself deep in the Arlathan Forest.
How to defeat
The difference between Sparktooth and other dragons is that it has a unique attack with fireballs, releasing them from its mouth both on the ground and in flight.
Weak spots – the point between the front and back legs, as well as the head. Watch for glowing parts of the body to hit them and quickly put the enemy into a state of complete stun.
Sparktooth is a fire dragon, so take a party member with frost attacks to your team in advance.
Buregon Kataranda
The next High Dragon can only be encountered after the fight with Sparktooth. Visit Taash's room and read the letter, after which the quest “Buregon Kataranda” will start.
Meet Taash at the notice board in the Hall of Valor and explore the coast Rivaina for treasure. After finding all the treasures, return to the beach and fight the level 35 dragon.
How to win
Kataranda, like the other dragons in the game, has the same set of attacks. Buregon is almost a copy of the first two dragons: Coldbringer Corius and Heatmaw Vyranthus.
The only difference from them is that Kataranda is a dragon with lightning damage. Cataranda's weakness will be necrotic damage, so make sure to have a party with the appropriate party members.
As soon as Cataranda flies to the edge of the arena and attacks you from afar, beware of the electrified water in the arena during elemental area attacks.
Kaltenzan
Kalcentan is the last dragon in Taash's quests. The quest “Lair of the Dragon King” becomes available after talking to Taash at the Lighthouse.
Having gone to the Rivain Coast, you must find the Dragon King deep within the Lava Caverns.
How to Defeat
The Dragon King has ice attacks, meaning it is resistant to cold and vulnerable to fire.
Kalcentan differs from other high dragons in its unique attack, similar to a hurricane. The dragon begins to flap its wings, creating powerful streams of wind that can cause damage and knock down.
Focus on the highlighted weak spots and fill the stagger bar. In a state of complete stun, Kalzentan is immune to finishing moves, however, attacks to the heart will also cause a lot of damage.
Achievements and rewards
For defeating each dragon, you will receive additional faction points associated with quests, ethereal echoes, valuable items and a rare material, the Dragonfire Catalyst.
Also, in the game you can get two achievements associated with high dragons.
- «From Heaven to Earth»— this achievement can be obtained for killing Formless, Sparktooth, Buregon and Kaltenzan.
- «Liberation» — the next achievement is given upon completion of the quest «Strongest of His Kind». To get the achievement, you need to defeat Formless.
Possible Bugs and Their Solutions
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you may encounter a possible bug related to High Dragons.
After knocking down about 66% of the enemy's health, he will rise to the edge of the arena and will not return to the ground. Also, damage no longer passes through him and the battle with the boss comes to a standstill. To solve this error, you must in any case start the battle over again by reloading the game.
The battle with the High Dragon may stall due to the large amount of damage dealt from the very beginning. Do not rush to use special skills or the most powerful weapons. Try to deal damage to the dragon so that during one phase of being on the ground, he gets completely stunned at least once. When the dragon flies up the wall, do not attack it, but just dodge the attacks and wait for it to come down.
If this does not solve the problem, and you have mods and cheats installed, we recommend removing them or reinstalling the game.
