The Caretaker is an enigmatic being that not only ferries you from The Lighthouse to the Crossroads, but also allows you to upgrade equipment. This function is essential for increasing your power and staying ahead of enemies, and this page will discuss how to upgrade the Caretaker, how the Caretaker’s upgrades affect new weapons and armor found or purchased over the course of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Page Breakdown¶

Unlocking the Caretaker’s Workshop¶

You’ll discover The Caretaker at the end of the main quest In Entropy’s Grasp, near the beginning of the game, and once you’re done with the compulsory linear series of main quests in Arlathan Forest you’ll be free to return to The Lighthouse and make use of the Caretaker’s abilities to improve your gear. You’ll find The Caretaker’s workshop across from the eponymous lighthouse structure, nestled between the stairs that lead up to the dining hall and pantry where Lucanis lurks.

Upgrading Equipment¶

Once the Caretaker’s workshop is available you can visit it whenever you’re in The Lighthouse. When you do you’ll get two options - upgrade your equipment, or rank up the workshop. More on the latter in a bit, but as far as upgrading goes it’s a pretty simple process - all gear can be upgraded, gaining a bonus to their core stats (Damage, Stagger, Defense, Ability Damage, etc) as well as a modifier to indicate its newfound potency. An Acolyte’s Staff becomes an Acolyte’s Staff +1, for example., and you can upgrade gear a number of times equal to the workshop’s rank, up to a maximum of +10.

This is a pretty straightforward boost to an item’s combat efficacy, and while a single upgrade probably won’t turn the tide of battle in your favor too much, a few upgrades can make a significant difference. At lower levels these upgrades will have a fairly marginal cost in Flawless Crystals and Heartwood, but as you keep upgrading, rarer materials like Fade-Touched Crystals will become necessary. Even if you don’t have an immediate need to upgrade any equipment, ranking up the Caretaker’s workshop is important, as it’ll increase the modifiers on all gear you find going forward. If the Caretaker’s workshop is at rank 3, you should expect to find +3 gear while exploring or shopping as standard!

Equipment Rarity¶

While not a function of the Caretaker, your equipment can be upgraded in other ways, as well. If you find duplicates of the same piece of gear, the rarity of said gear will increase, as follows:

Equipment Rarity Ranks¶

Equipment will upgrade from one rarity tier to another in order, although it should be noted that some gear can be found or bought as higher-tier variants from the get-go. Upgrading an item’s rarity tier unlocks one of that item’s traits. For example, the Frostbranch staff has the following traits:

• +20% Charged attack damage
• +50% Charged attack damage vs Armor
• Apply Frozen to enemies when this weapon breaks their Armor

At common rarity, all of these traits will be locked. Once upgraded to uncommon rarity, the topmost trait will become active, and so on, until all three traits are functional when the item hits epic-tier. In addition to increasing its rarity, finding a duplicate item will also upgrade the item’s modifier to match your Caretaker workshop’s rank, so there’s some incentive not to run out and buy a new upgrade for every item whenever possible - finding a duplicate may save you the upgrade cost!

Mementos and Upgrading the Caretaker’s Workshop¶

As mentioned earlier, upgrading the Caretaker’s workshop allows you to upgrade gear to higher levels and improves the quality of gear you subsequently find. In short, the higher the rank of your Caretaker’s workshop, the more powerful your gear will be. In order to rank up the Caretaker’s workshop you’ll need to find Mementos scattered across the world as you explore or buy them from shops. Mementos are part collectible and part codex, and each one found will boost the Caretaker’s power by a set amount. Boost the Caretaker’s power enough by finding Mementos and you can visit the Caretaker’s workshop and rank it up at the press of a button.

There’s not really anything in the way of inventory management in the game, so you can and should just pick up everything you find (remember to destroy environmental objects to find hidden items - sometimes including Mementos!), which will get you a good number of Mementos if you’re thorough and explore. On the other hand, ranking up the Caretaker’s workshop is worth spending money on, as it functionally makes all your gear better… albeit once you find or buy upgrades. Mementos might not be the most glamorous purchase you can make, but save for buying permanent stat-boosting items and duplicates of gear you’re currently using, there are arguably few better ways to spend your gold.

Enchanting Equipment¶

Once you finish the main quest On Deadly Wings or On Blighted Wings, depending on the choices you make, you’ll unlock the ability to enchant gear at the Caretaker’s workshop. To do this, visit the workshop and select the “Enchant” option, which will allow you to add one of several stat modifiers to an item. The types of enchantments you can put on items varies by type - weapons, armor (including helmets), rings and amulets all of their different sets of modifiers you can apply. NPC weapon and armor enchantments are also distinct from what Rook has available. An enchantment can be added, removed or changed freely, so there’s no good reason not to enchant all your gear when you get the chance, and to swap enchantments out to suit your circumstances. You will unlock more enchantments you can apply to equipment as the Caretaker’s workshop ranks up.

All in all, the Caretaker is an invaluable NPC for its ability to upgrade and customize your weapons to give you an edge over your foes. Even if you’re not keen on micromanaging your gear, simply finding Mementos and increasing the Caretaker’s power will prove to be a huge boon!