How to complete Pinnacle of Its Kind in Dragon Age Veilguard

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind
(Image credit: EA)

The Dragon Age Veilguard Pinnacle of Its Kind quest is one that has you find the locations of three demons, avatars of the Formless One. Though this boss is waiting behind a door in the Necropolis, the Demons you need to hunt to reach it are threaded all throughout the world, in Dock Town, Arlathan and the Hossberg Wetlands - and even then you need to come back to the Necropolis afterwards and slay the Formless One itself.

Pinnacle of Its Kind is one of the more involved quests in Dragon Age The Veilguard, and one that will test players pretty substantially if they're not prepared. The final boss is level 40, so unless you're supremely confident, I do recommend being at least level 33 before you take it on. Either way, if you feel you're ready to be a proper demon hunter, here's how to bring the pain to these monstrous foes and beat the side quest Pinnacle of Its Kind.

Pinnacle of Its Kind walkthrough for Dragon Age Veilguard

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

The Pinnacle of Its Kind side quest can't be started until you recruit Emmrich, one of the last Dragon Age Veilguard companions, and unlock the Necropolis area. Once you return there, you need to do the following:

  1. Head to the Hollow Belfry and complete the Restless Spirits side quest, which involves leading four Wisps to a door for them to open, and killing the cultists beyond.
  2. This opens the Chamber of the Unforged. Go to the massive door at the end and interact with it to begin the Pinnacle of Its Kind quest.
  3. Go to the marked area and read the "Bloody Note found on Venatori" and "Words Scrawled Faintly In Blood", found on the bodies.
  4. This will mark three demons as targets. They are in the Hossberg Wetlands, Arlathan, and Dock Town respectively.
  5. Head to the marked areas in each location and interact with a brazier filled with green fire to begin the fight with a Formless One Avatar. 
  6. Once all three avatars are slain, return to the Chamber of the Unforged and open the door.
  7. Inside, you'll have a fight with The Formless One itself - a demon possessing the corpse of a dead dragon. This is a level 40 boss fight, and a tough one.
  8. Slay the Formless One to complete Pinnacle of Its Kind and end this side quest.

All Demon locations in Pinnacle of Its Kind

All the three demons you need to hunt in Pinnacle of Its Kind are called "The Formless One", being avatars of the main big bad, but they're in very different locations and have very different abilities and weaknesses. I've laid out where you can find them all below, as well as their weaknesses, so you can be as well-prepared as possible to handle them.

Hossberg Demon

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

This demon is found in the South Area of Hossberg Wetlands, named Solitude's Edge. The green brazier you need to interact with is on the west side of the marked area, at the base of the stairs. This demon manifests as a flighty wraith, vulnerable to electricity and resistant to necrotic damage.

Dock Town Demon

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

This avatar of the Formless One is on the southeast corner of Dock Town, in a dead end in the Spillway. The brazier is on the west side of the arena near where you enter, and the demon it summons is a slow, hulking brute - one that's vulnerable to necrotic damage and resistant to electricity.

Arlathan Demon

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

This demon is in northwest Arlathan, on the end of the Tattered Bridge, with a brazier just on the west side of the marked area near where you climb up the ladder. It's a small arena that you have to fight this avatar within - a fast-moving, charging demon of flame that is, appropriately enough, resistant to fire damage but vulnerable to cold attacks, like the ones that Neve specializes in.

After you've slain all three demons, you can head back to the Necropolis and to the door - it's time for the true fight, and certainly the toughest one yet.

How to beat the Formless One undead dragon in Pinnacle of Its Kind

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

The Formless One is a level 40 dragon that mirrors the encounters you had to battle at the end of the Dragon Age Veilguard Minrathous or Treviso choice further back in the campaign, with a similar moveset and weaknesses. Here's some advice on how to bring it down.

  • The Formless One is Vulnerable to Necrotic and Resistant to Electricity. Bring Emmrich and Lucanis to exploit this well.
  • Target the glowing sections of its legs to deal maximum damage and stagger.
  • The Formless One can swipe with its legs quickly for high damage - be ready to dodge whenever you're close.
  • Its electrical breath weapon is marked by a shrinking circle of lightning on Rook - as it's about to close on you, dodge to avoid the resultant beam of lightning.
  • At moments, the dragon will land on a wall and spit electricity at you, as well as summoning undead. Clear the minions to bring it back to land.
  • If you stagger the dragon, you won't get to do a finisher, but its heart will become a glowing weak point. Strike it with all your most powerful moves to do maximum damage before it recovers.

Pinnacle of Its Kind rewards

Dragon Age Veilguard pinnacle of its kind

(Image credit: EA)

After you kill the Formless One, the quest should be completed. You'll automatically get the following rewards:

  • 1x Dragon Tooth (Valuable Item)
  • 2x Dragonfire Catalyst (Legendary Material)
  • 11x Etheric Remnant
  • +200 Strength for the Mourn Watch faction
  • +300 Strength for the Lords of Fortune Faction

There'll also be whatever loot the summoned minions dropped, as well as two chests on the edge of the arena that should now be accessible.

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Joel Franey
Guides Writer

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.