Following the events during the Blood of Arlathan main quest, you’ll be able to undertake the final companion quests in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Through the Shadows is one of Bellara’s last main quests (the quests that follow are more of a wrap up) and will finally put you in pursuit of Anaris. Keep reading to learn how to complete every objective and what Hero of the Veilguard choice you should choose.

Table of Contents¶

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Through the Shadows Quest Location¶

As mentioned above, the first requirement for unlock Through the Shadows is to complete the Blood of Arlathan main quest, near the end of Act 2. Once that is complete, the final quests of your companions will become available (if you’ve been keeping up with them) and considering you need all the help you can get for what’s about to come, this is the time to knock them out.

When you return to The Lighthouse, speak with Bellara and she will mention that she’s managed to detect a really big ritual being conducted in Arlathan, but, fortunately, Bellara believes there may be time to stop it. Once you’re in Arlathan Forest, fast travel to the Mystical Tower beacon (to the northwest) and speak with Bellara to get the quest underway.

Find the Ritual Site¶

You’ll find yourself at the ancient capital, on the cliffside, and you’ll need to make your way to the location of the ritual site. Start by turning around and going just to your east to find a chest containing some gear and then head down the northern stairs until you reach a fork, opting to go east across the bridge to continue. Before heading through the northern door, however, look behind the statue to the west to find a second gear chest.

Follow the path and you’ll soon come to a beam generator, direct this to the northern door and head through, then climb the platforms and direct a second beam generator at one of the two power crystals to the east. Go back through the door that the first beam generator is aiming at and then redirect it to the other power crystal to the east, this will conjure a bridge you can use to cross and enter the ancient capital properly.

Before going any further, stand under the tear and then get out just before it explodes to create a hole in the western wall, go through it and you’ll find yet another gear chest for you to open. Return to the main path now and you’ll eventually drop into the ritual site. Follow Bellara here and speak with her to get her to begin the process of destroying the site.

Defeat Anaris’s Minions¶

You’ll need to destroy the amplifiers while Anaris’s Minions are assaulting you, and the Sentinels especially can be tricky to deal with. Your first goal should be to ignore the enemies and get those amplifiers down as soon as possible, these are indicated with an objective marker. Once they’re down, you can focus on finishing any enemies that may still be remaining, AoE is helpful here as it’s not the largest battle arena you’ll be in.

Return to the ritual and interact with it once more, you’ll need to repeat the same process again two more times, only there will be more enemies attacking you this time, don’t be afraid to use an Ultimate here if needed. The final time you interact with it will only spawn enemies, no amplifiers, so it should be a little easier. You will, though, have to deal with an Envy Demon, don’t forget these tricky customers have a spinning attack. Once it’s finally safe, interact one final time to cause the device to drop into the ground below and create a hole for you. Head down the hole and loot the nearby gear chest, then head into the Floating Ruins, where demons will spawn as you follow the linear path.

Get Past the Barrier¶

As you enter the Lower Chamber, you’ll notice there are plenty of beam generators and anchors all over the place. Your goal, then, is to make sure every generator is directed toward an anchor. Sounds simple, but there’s more to it, as certain generators need to go to specific anchors as there may be obstructions.

Begin by heading up the stairs to your left and opening the gear chest next to the power crystal. Pick this up now and take it down to the center of the room and place it in the western pedestal to get that beam generator working. Point this at the crystal on the southern wall, this will create a bridge over to the other side.

Now go back up the stairs again and take the ladder up, you’ll find the first beam generator here that you should point at one of the two anchors on your left. Go across the bridge you created a moment ago to reach the next beam generator, point this one at one of the two anchors to the right.

Make your way down the stairs, kick the ladder down for a shortcut, and then head over to the next beam generator and small chest. Point this one at the other free anchor on the right.

Finally, for the last anchor, head up those stairs to the left again but this time, ignore the ladder and instead continue around to the final beam generator. This one should be directed at the final anchor which is located in the center, high up.

Once you have all five anchors and generators lined up, go to the orb in the center and disable the barrier. This will open the door and allow you to open another gear chest. All that remains now is to follow the open path to finally confront Anaris and put an end to this.

Defeat Anaris¶

A spirit no longer, it’s time to stop Anaris once and for all, and the first thing you’ll notice is that he’s completely invulnerable to begin with. If you look carefully though, you’ll spot some crystals behind the statues (follow the beams), quickly break this and then you’ll find you can start attacking Anaris directly.

Anaris has a Barrier you’ll need to deal with first, remember that ranged attacks help with depleted these (or using Runes that target Barrier damage). Anaris will also teleport around the arena, so he won’t be in one place for long. Additionally, you’ll need to deal with other demons spawning throughout the battle, only deal with them if you begin to get overwhelmed, otherwise focus your assault on Anaris.

You’ll find that he’s weak to Electric but resistant to Fire, handy, then, that you have Bellara who is an Electric-user. Any combos involving her will deal heavy damage to Anaris, so make sure you’re using them on cooldown. When Anaris teleports away, watch out for a line of AoE circles, these will drop Arcane Bombs on them, one after the other, and if you’re in the middle of them, you’ll take heavy damage.

Throughout the battle, the crystals will return, granting Anaris invulnerability once again, make sure you keep an eye on it and take them out as soon as possible before resuming your assault on him. This will also recharge his Barrier to 100% too, so you’ll need to work on removing that again.

Once the battle is over, the quest will come to a close and you’ll obtain 2,500 XP, a Sunspoked Spectrometer, 400 Gold, and +100 Veil Jumpers Strength. This is not where it ends there, though, as Bellara will want to speak to you again when you get back to The Lighthouse.

Choice: Free the Archive or Keep the Archive¶

During your conversation with Bellara, you’ll have a major choice to make with regards to the Archive. Do you keep it or free it? This is an important choice, as this will decide what skill and armor Bellara gets for her Hero of the Veilguard status once this conversation is over. You can find the outcome in the table below:

There you have it; you now know how to complete Bellara’s Through the Shadows quest and what rewards you will get for each of her two major choices at the end. All that’s left to do now is see out her final, non-combat quest to obtain her Trophy/Achievement.