Dragon’s Dogma 2: How To Complete “The Caged Magistrate”

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a hardcore RPG by design, which means that sometimes it’s not immediately clear how you’re supposed to complete certain quests. The Caged Magistrate is one such quest that players might struggle with, and because it’s a main story quest, you’ll probably want to complete it as soon as possible. Here’s all the info you need to know.

The Caged Magistrate is a main story quest that you receive upon speaking to Brant when you reach the capital city of Vernworth, along with a few other quests. He’ll also give you the Gaol’s Key, which you’ll need to complete the quest. On the surface, The Caged Magistrate seems like a simple quest to complete, as you simply need to free the Magistrate from the city’s gaol (jail), but the process of doing that is actually more obscure than you’d expect.

First things first, you’ll need to speak to Magistrate Waldhar, who can be found in the city’s gaol. The safest way to reach this area is by following the cliff on the southeastern side of the city, just next to the Slums. Head up the path next to the cliff, then double back on yourself and you’ll be able to find a tunnel that leads to the gaol, with a couple of gates you can unlock with your key.

Eventually, you’ll reach a room patrolled by two guards, though both follow an incredibly simple pattern. Just follow behind one and keep out of their line of sight and you should be fine. Another solution is to complete another main story quest, Disa’s Plot, as during the course of that mission, you acquire a Vernworth guard uniform you can use as a disguise when exploring the castle grounds, the gaol included.

At the far end of the room from where you came in, on the left side of the room, you’ll find Magistrate Waldhar sat in his cell. Talk to him, and you’ll find your efforts to get him to leave fruitless, because he’ll only leave if you can take him to a place that’ll quench his thirst for knowledge. The man loves his books.

In order to actually complete The Caged Magistrate, you need to complete a side quest called The Heel of History, which can be found next to The Gracious Hand orphanage in the Slums of Vernworth. Head there and you’ll meet the leader, Kendrick, who’s currently begging for donations. Make two donations of either food or coin (1000G) and he’ll then implore you to look for a missing orphan by the name of Malcolm.

To find him, you’ll need to speak with three other orphans that can be found near The Gracious Hand. NPCs can move around in Dragon’s Dogma 2, so you’ll need to search well, but for us, the three orphans were found nearby. One was repairing a house opposite The Gracious Hand, one could be found near a cliff to the left of The Gracious Hand if you’re facing it, and the last one was inside The Gracious Hand itself.

After speaking to all three, you’ll find that Malcolm has decided to venture into the Vaults of The Gracious Hand, which had previously been sealed off. Report back to Kendrick, and he’ll open up a path to the Vaults near to The Gracious Hand, allowing to go in and explore. Head through the tunnels, jump over the gap and keep going and you’ll encounter Malcom, who’ll brag about a treasure trove of books in another room. Before following him, destroy the wooden block on the locked gate, as you’ll need to head back here later. Follow Malcolm through a few corridors and you’ll discover a new library full of books.

Now that you’ve completed the quest (and collected the pawn specialisations from Malcolm and Kendrick), Kendrick will ask you to find someone who would be able to handle the responsibilty of looking after all these books. Fortunately for him, we have someone in mind. Book it back to the gaol and speak to Waldhar again. Lead him outside, and he’ll thank you for escorting him before heading to The Gracious Hand by himself. Now you can report back to Brant and complete the quest. However, be sure to visit Waldhar again after a couple of days pass, because he’ll give you a new quest with a very handy item as a reward.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is available now on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X & S.