The Cauldron

First off, you need to head to the Hossberg Wetlands. Your destination is way down south of Lavendel. To save yourself some time, fast travel to the Swamp Road beacon. Even so, there's still a bit of a trek ahead, and you'll run into some darkspawn along the way. Fight your way through the Lost Village until you reach the Castle Gates. This place looks like it's seen better days, but it's where you need to go.

Once you're at the castle, enter through a broken gate. Davrin will be there, and you can respond however you like – saying 'No time to waste.' actually nets you some approval. After that, use Griffon Strike to bring down a palette of lumber. Use this fallen platform to get to a ladder, climb it, and you'll move from the Castle Gate area to the Castle Grounds.

From the Castle Grounds, immediately head southwest. You'll find stairs leading down to a beacon. Beyond that, it's swamp, blight, and more darkspawn. If you're feeling stealthy, you can avoid the enemies in the courtyard below. Instead, stick to the walls and head northwest. When you reach a building, turn southwest and follow a blight tendril through an archway. This leads you to a ballista. You can use this to thin out the darkspawn in the courtyard below, making things a little easier. Just be aware, they can climb ladders, so the ballista won't solve all your problems.

After you've dealt with the darkspawn (don't worry about the blight cysts just yet), backtrack southeast to the caged-off building you passed earlier. Head inside through an open archway. You'll need to kick down a beam to the northeast. Use this beam to cross the swamp and reach another building. Inside, you'll find a small chest containing the Hemorrhage rune, plus a ladder to the northeast that you can lower. With that side loot secured, it's time to explore the courtyard more thoroughly.

Head back to the Castle Grounds beacon and go downstairs southwest towards the swamp area you targeted earlier. Keep heading southwest through the swamp until you find stairs leading up to the northwest. Unfortunately, the walkway ahead is destroyed, but there's another palette of lumber that can serve as your way into the fortress. Assan can help knock this down, but first, you'll need to deal with the blight holding it in place.

While you're at it, don't forget about optional loot! Head southeast across the courtyard towards some large gates at the top of some stairs. At these gates, turn northeast, jump a gap, go up a wooden platform, and smash any barrels or crates in your way. Jump another gap to a wooden platform under a ruined arch. Here you'll find a chest with some minor items, including the Banded Mage Brim cosmetic. Now, backtrack to the gate and turn southwest. Use Assan to drop a palette, then jump up to an elevated wooden platform to find another chest.

Drop back into the courtyard and make your way northeast towards the beacon. Destroy any blight cysts you see on the ground – they don't count towards the main objective, but they're still worth popping. From the beacon, follow the wall northwest, then turn southwest towards the ballista. As you get close, look to your left for some wooden stairs leading up and around the broken stone walkway above. Jump a gap and follow the wooden platforms until you reach the edge of the stone walkway, which you can easily climb up.

Enter the archway to the northwest and take out the two darkspawn Berzerkers inside the keep. Then, turn northeast and destroy a blight cyst – this is one of several you'll need to clear to reach The Cauldron. Kick a ladder down to create an easier path back up here. If you head to the southwestern edge of this chamber, you'll find another way to drop down to the ballista, but we don't need that right now.

Instead, head to the northwestern edge of this chamber. You'll see two staircases flanking a gate. Go up the southwest stairs; it leads to a dead end with a small chest. Loot it for the Divert rune. Then, blast the blight cyst across the gap. Drop back down to the lower floor, and then return to the ballista. You'll find a new blight cyst on the wall behind it.