Dragon Age: Inquisition

69 Achievements

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106-134h

Xbox One

Xbox Series

Trial of the Tower

Rub Some Dirt on It on: slay the Hivernal high dragon.

0.22%

How to unlock the Trial of the Tower achievement in Dragon Age: Inquisition - Definitive Guide

Flezza

TrueAchievements

09 Sep 2015 21:47

To activate trials you must pause, go to options and select the Trials sub menu.

For this particular achievement you must make sure you have the "Rub some dirt on it" trial turned on. This modifier makes it so "All healing potions heal only 1 health".

Hivernal is found in Emprise Du Lion. It is a level 19 dragon and can be found in the first "Colosseum" building you come across over the bridge. (The bridge is located in the middle of the map, to the west of Tower camp, and is unlocked via a War table operation.)

This can be done on casual to make it easier.

It can also be done by reloading an older save if you have one. Or at least I was able to do so, I had the trial on before fast travelling to EDL. (No idea if that matters, I would assume not but figured I'd mention it in case someone has trouble with a loaded save.)

If you do not have a save you can go back to and have already killed it, you will have to do it on a new play through.

I've added a video by VGFAQ which has the location of the dragon at the start just for anyone who needs reminding/has no idea where it is.

09 Sep 2015 21:47

9 Comments

Beat it twice... Nothing, turned trial on before I left skyhold.. Only achievement I got was for hitting level 20

By GRAM71789 on 31 Jan 2016 09:21

Nvm, watched that video, I was killing highland ravager, another guide pointed me to the wrong location

By GRAM71789 on 31 Jan 2016 09:26

Glad you got it in the end and that it hadn't glitched or something!

By Flezza on 01 Feb 2016 00:48

Just in case some folks were wondering: I was able to defeat the Hivernal dragon with all characters on level 17. My main character was a dagger-wielding rogue, and then I used Cassandra and two mages, Solas and Vivienne. I re-specced my mages to focus exclusively on barrier magic and fire, since the Hivernal dragon uses ice. And if you kill Ihsmael the demon in Suledin Keep he drops a nice staff with a master dragon-slaying rune. I brought along ice resistance potions and just kept hacking away. I didn't even have a character die, and was never in any real danger.

By Cellar Attic on 06 Feb 2017 21:40

Ah nice! I mentioned it was a level 19 to give people an idea of it's difficulty (or lack there of in some cases haha) but that is great info for people to see in additon.

I did it with a level 21 Knight Enchanter who pretty much solo'd it with that OP mage magic lol so every new piece of info for other classes and diff levels and that is appreciated.

Thanks!

By Flezza on 06 Feb 2017 22:40

I did this at level 19! It was a lot easier then i expected.

By ZoZombify on 07 Oct 2017 08:29

Yeah, this was significantly easier than I expected too. I was Level 26 and had it set to Casual, though.

By Moozipan Cheese on 23 Mar 2018 15:06

Threw Trial on in Skyhold.
Saved at the base of the colosseum.
Went up, killed it, nothing.

Reloaded that last save, checked the Trial was on still, killed it, popped.

By O4OUR on 23 Apr 2023 21:54

I was level a level 17 warrior, Solas, Cassandra, and Varric were 16. Casual difficulty. No issues.

By Vulker707 on 04 Sep 2023 15:16

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DarkRicochet117

TrueTrophies

22 Nov 2016 00:15

The Hivernal Dragon is located in the east area of Emprise Du Lion. To access the area requires completing the Restore Judicael's Crossing war table operation. It can be found in the first colosseum ring across the bridge: Etienne's Ring. This is an easy trophy to achieve if you haven't already killed the Hivernal Dragon, if you have already killed it you will need to reload a previous save to when the dragon is still alive and give it a go. This trial does not need to be turned on for your entire play-through, you can just turn it on right before you start the fight.

22 Nov 2016 00:15

2 Comments

I just killed the dragon when turning on the trial near the end and it didbt unlock. I had to activate it before the fight.

By boldfox85 on 30 Apr 2018 16:49

Can confirm, the trial had to be active before the map was travelled to.

By SolaceCreed on 03 May 2020 06:29

Floyd, bantycakes, BiggD

XboxAchievements

Once “Rub Some Dirt on It” has been activated, it will make all healing potions only regenerate 1 point of HP. In other words, potions become useless.

Unlike most trials, this one is fairly simple. Provided you have a previous save file to jump off from, or even if you need to do this in a new playthrough, just travel to Emprise du Lion and turn on the necessary trial. Progress through the region a fair way until you reach the broken bridge that must be repaired via a War Table operation. Once the bridge has been repaired, cross it and take notice of the ruined coliseum on your right; this is the nest of the Hivernal High Dragon. Head up to its nest and engage the dragon!

Since healing potions are basically unavailable with this trial activated, I would recommend to either do this at a level that's higher than the Dragon (20+), or bring along two Spirit-focused Mages for maximum Barrier protection and the Revival skill. Once the Dragon has been slain, the achievement will unlock.