Navigate the Vestad Hills in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. This guide covers clearing the Brightwater Cove, facing Saurians, and dealing with Bandits near Aernst Castle.
When you enter Cassardis again, you’ll hear shouting from the well. That place is nothing but trouble, it seems… well, better go down and see what the ruckus is about. Once down, you’ll find Rorric. Talk to him to find out that he was… well, using the well as a convenient spot to be delinquent. While down here, however… well, you know. More monsters in the well. Seems like you need to go deeper and get rid of their nests once and for all. Rorric, being the nice drunk that he is will even give you some Throwblasts to help out. Yay…
Climb down the well to find Rorric, who will inform you that the well needs to be cleared of beasts again (left). More Saurians lurk in a previously-blocked chamber (right).
No use in guiding you through the place again-you should know the way. Head back to the chamber with the ‘Emperor’s Pillar’ in the middle of it, south from the entrance. Once there, head west through some water to reach a chamber that… well, was blocked by a giant boulder earlier. Earlier, but no longer, this chamber is marked on your map as ‘Brightwater Cove’, inside of which you’ll find plenty of Saurians. Your goal here is simple: kill them, and kill their babies, just like in the Bible stories. After smashing a few nests, a big ass queen Saurian will show up. Don’t let her intimidate you, though-she’s stronger, but nothing you can’t handle. Once these reinforcements are dealt with, continue with your genocidal ambitions. Before you go tell Rorric the good news, however, head into a watery tunnel to the south-west to find a square chest to loot. Once looted, head back to the entrance, report the news of your victory to Rorric, and collect your quest reward.
| Square Chest |
|---|
| Bone Plate Armor |
| Hand Covers |
| Objective | Reward |
|---|---|
| For clearing out the well… again | 6000 XP, 15 Rift Currency, 8000 Gold |
After slaying enough lesser Saurian, the Saurian queen will show up to challenge you! (left) Kill the Saurians, their queen, and their babies to end the threat to Cassardis for good (right).
Now it’s time to explore the Vestad Hills. In case you don’t remember the way, head to the Encampment, and from there, continue north until you reach a fork in the road-instead of continuing north to the Waycastle, turn south-west and head uphill through a narrow pass through the mountains… if you go through Dripstone Cave to reach the ‘Dripstone Cave Rear Passage’ you’ll be at the foot of this mountain pass, but either way is fine, as you prefer. Remember the Wolves, which should now be more tolerable, and the boulders that fall down the pass, all that fun stuff.
At the top of the pass the Vestad Hills will open up before you. If you follow the road south and do not deviate, you’ll reach the Witchwood again. Wolves and weaker Bandits lie along the way. You should be much stronger now, especially if you’ve been making a Strength-build (Assassin) or Magick-build (Sorcerer) character. If you’ve done everything in the guide thus far, including non-escort Notice Board quests, you should be around level 25-30, depending on your killing habits. Still, this next area can be pretty rough. If you’re having trouble, head back to safer lands. Do runs on dungeons for loot (Witchwood, Everfall, Watergod’s Altar) and experience, and start leveling Vocations to gain power-boosting augments. Warrior for Clout, Fighter for Vehemence, Mage for Attunement, Sorcerer for Acuity, and most of all, Assassin for Bloodlust and Clout.
With that warning out of the way… let’s start exploring. From the top of the mountain pass that connect Manamia Trail to the Vestad Hills, go downhill to the south-east, smiting whatever low-level Bandit or Wolf dares show itself. There are chests to loot on the eastern side of the road, but they contain garbage, so aren’t worth describing in detail. Continue until the path forks in front of a large boulder that is crawling with a variety of Bandits during the day-of widely varying power. The eastern fork leads to the Witchwood, as you already know, so take the western-most fork.
The road will turn decisively south-west and run to a castle off in the distance. This road is absolutely crawling with Bandits, which are much stronger than the ones you are used to. These Bandits are a good measure of how difficult this area will be-so fight well. Once they’re dead and the way to the castle lies open (how’s that for a vote of confidence?) ignore the castle and turn south into the hills. It’s time to discuss the enemy-packed area east of the castle.
To the far north of the area east of the castle lies the road leading to the Witchwood, marking this section’s northern boundary. In the far south lies the sea. Even with the northern side of the castle lies a small Bandit camp, occupied by more of the same high-quality Bandits you fought earlier. This small camp is bounded by a boulder to the north, against which sits a square chest, a small ridge to the south. The chest contains junk, and in general, superior treasure and foes lie south.
Kill the Bandits lurking near Aerst Castle (left) then dispose of their pet Cyclops (right).
So… south it is. Here you’ll find more powerful Bandits based around a shelter (poles with a fabric ‘roof’, you could call it a tent, but any tent worthy of the name has sides, dammit!) These Bandits even come with their own pet Cyclops, and this one tends to be armored, at least sporting a helmet. It’s a wise move to try and kill off as many Bandits as possible before engaging the Cyclops-but be warned more lurk on nearby boulders to the south (typically annoying dagger-and-archer types). Once alone, however the Cyclops should be little trouble
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