The start of your journey with Dragon Age: The Veilguard begins with Rook and Varric finding Neve Gallus, a powerful mage who may be able to help stop Solas’ ritual. After completing the World State questions and going through the Character Creation, you’re pulled straight into the action with the first quest, The End of the Beginning.

Like any exciting role-playing game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard wastes no time putting you into an end-of-the-world situation. Here’s everything you need to know about the game’s opening mission.

Finding Neve¶

The opening part of the quest sees you attempting to find Neve Gallus, one of the Companions of the game and a mage who can help stop Solas’ plan. Alongside Varric, who is desperate to stop his old friend, you’ll witness the start of the Dread Wolf’s ritual, as demons pour out from The Veil.

Here are the steps during this part of the quest:

• Get to Harding
• Defeat the demons
• Get to Dumat Plaza
• Defeat the Venatori
• Destroy the barrier
• Continue to Dumat Plaza
• Defeat the Venatori
• Investigate the ice barrier

Considering this is the first mission in the game, The End of the Beginning is focused on teaching you the combat and basics of the RPG. No matter which of the classes you picked, you’ll get a rundown on attacking and defending against enemies, as well as how to use your skills.

Finding Solas¶

After defeating the Venatori and finding Neve, your next objective is to find the Dread Wolf himself, Solas. Much like the first part of this quest, finding Solas is a fairly simple task. At least, until after you travel through the eluvian.

Here are the steps for the Find Solas part of the opening quest:

• Get to Our Lady of Victory
• Defeat the demons
• Explore the hideout
• Defeat the demons
• Unlock the door
• Continue to explore the hideout
• Travel through the eluvian

Stopping the Ritual¶

The final part of the quest is stopping Solas’ ritual and (hopefully) preventing the end of the world. To do that, you’ll have to make some choices, as well as defeat your first boss.

Here are the parts of the quest you’ll need to complete to finish the quest:

• Get to the ritual site
• Defeat the Pride Demon
• Get to the statue
• Bring down the scaffolding

Pride Demon Boss Guide¶

As the first boss you’ll encounter during your time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the Pride Demon doesn’t exactly put up a good fight. This is where your training throughout the quest will be put to the test, but there are a few things to look out for.

Firstly, the Pride Demon fire magical blades towards you and your companions, so the best thing to do is dodge these attacks. It also has two bars protecting its health - a barricade (blue bar) and armor (yellow bar).

After dealing enough damage, the Pride Demon will summon a purple ball of electricity. Red rings will appear on the ground beneath your feet, so if you want to avoid damage, your best bet is moving. We recommend not dodging as the variety of rings will make it easy to stumble into another attack.

After a couple of minutes, you should have the Pride Demon easily defeated, so you can continue your mission to stop Solas’ ritual.

Taking Neve or Harding to Stop the Ritual¶

One of your first major choices comes between picking Neve or Harding during the first quest of the game. One will join you in stopping the ritual and bringing down the scaffolding, while the other will defeat demons and protect Varric as he talks to Solas.

While the consequences of your choice will only affect the next quest, it’s an important choice. Whoever you take with you to stop the ritual will be injured, and left with the Veil Jumpers in the following quest. They’re only out of action for a little while, but if you’re hoping to protect one over the other, you better choose the one you like a little less.

Unsurprisingly, after shutting down Solas’ ritual, things don’t go to plan. However, at least you finally got to the end of first quest!