An Academic Interest

To start this quest, talk to a guard located along the southern end of Lavendel, just south of the beacon.

Head to the southeastern end of Lavendel and destroy a blight cyst at the mouth of the Blighted Tunnel. Gather a blight sample from it.

Enter the Blighted Tunnel and follow the blight vein north. Destroy another blight cyst and any darkspawn you encounter. Be aware of explosive blight pustules falling from the ceiling.

Follow the blight vein south to another blight cyst blocking an exit. Destroy it and proceed south to the Old Crossroads area.

Continue south to find a beacon, then head southeast to stairs. Ascend to reach the Cavernous Tunnels.

In the Cavernous Tunnels, you will find three crystal puzzles. For each puzzle, find the unshielded crystal and destroy it. Then, destroy the newly unshielded crystals in succession until the door crystal is vulnerable and can be destroyed.

Be wary of “surging crystals” in the second and third puzzles. These emit damaging area-of-effect (AoE) pulses. You can temporarily halt these pulses by destroying the small crystals that appear above the surging crystal, but it is more effective to find a safe spot outside the AoE to target the unshielded crystals.

After clearing the third crystal puzzle, you will find Gaspin Manor.

Upon arriving at Gaspin Manor, you will encounter a squad of Venatori. Defeat them and destroy the numerous crystals scattered around the manor grounds. Two “surging crystals” are located in the northeastern half of the area.

The sneakiest crystal is located within the manor house itself.

After destroying the crystals, focus on the ruined multistory structure between the two surging crystals. On the upper floor, you will find a brazier. On the lower floor, you will find the local beacon and a boarded-up doorway.

Destroy the feeble barrier blocking the doorway on the lower floor, then destroy the more sophisticated barrier behind it.

Head downstairs into the cellar. Use the Unbind Wardings ability to dispel a second barrier.

Search the cellar for notes and the corpse of a dead Venatori.

Examine the northwestern corner of the cellar to find a bricked-up doorway. Interact with it to reveal a hidden doorway.

Enter the hidden doorway to confront the demon.

The demon is a Pride Demon called the “Consuming Obsession”. It attacks with slashes that shoot energy blades, unblockable claw attacks followed by a slam (indicated by a red reticle on the ground), a slow-moving electric orb, a line of lightning, electric eruptions (marked by reticles), and a spinning energy lance.

The demon is joined by two Greater Shades that spawn in the previous room. Prioritize defeating the Greater Shades quickly.