Dragon's Dogma 2: Nameless Village quest walkthrough
Pitfalls literal and metaphorical block your path to completing the Nameless Village quest in DD2, so here's a complete walkthrough to help you get there.
Nameless Village is one of those quests in Dragon's Dogma 2: the type that gives you a starting point and an end goal, but where the individual steps aren't really explained until you've already completed them. It's stressful enough trying to prove your right to the throne of Vermund as the true Arisen without worrying if you've missed out on something critical, so below we've put together a step-by-step walkthrough to help you make the most of your time in this curious little settlement.
Beware spoilers below the video for Dragon's Dogma 2's main storyline and the Nameless Village quest.
How to start the Nameless Village quest in Dragon's Dogma 2
Nameless Village will be added to your quest list during one of your regular check-ins with Captain Brant during the Vernworth questline. He's heard a rumour that the false Sovran, a man known as Arthur, has origins that can be traced back to the eponymous village with no eponym. So he adds investigating the area to your list of tasks. Luckily, there's no particular time pressure associated with any of Brant's extensive list of rather time-consuming quests.
The Nameless Village is on the eastern border of the kingdom (and the game map), not too far north of the city. You could hop on an oxcart leaving from North Vernworth station, but to be honest there's not much point, since you need to hop off the main road fairly soon anyway.
Save your gold and make your way on foot instead; I only encountered a few groups of regular enemies and one mini-boss en route, which is pretty good going for DD2, so you shouldn't have too much trouble making it to the village in more or less one piece — there's an inn once you get there if you're keen to heal up and save your progress. There are also a couple of campsites along the way, however, so there's no need to worry about resting earlier if you need to.
Where to find the Thief-Maister
Once you arrive at the village, you'll be collared by a travelling merchant type, who warns you away from entering with some vague ominous words. Naturally, you're going to ignore that and walk right in there anyway.
The good news is that nothing's going to attack you in the Nameless Village; it's creepy but not dangerous. Speak to any locals you come across and poke around in every building to get a few murky hints as to what's going on, plus some decent loot.
While it's not strictly necessary, speaking to a beastren woman named Rosy nets you the best advice: do to others in the village the same thing they've been doing to you. Which I took to mean: lie, steal, and remain suspicious of everything and everyone.
The only key item to find, however, is in this building on the village's north-eastern edge. Take note of its location on the map below, because it's easy to overlook during a sweep of the village, since it's set back a short way from the road.
It seems like this probably used to be Arthur's house. Inside on the table you'll find a folded letter on which you can make out the phrase "a piece of brass". I think it's possible to complete the quest without finding this, but it gives you something to press with in your questioning later on, which at the very least opens up some unique dialogue, as well as providing a few possible hints.
After another few encounters with villagers, you'll be directed towards the Old Noble Manor at the north end of the town, although if you've been paying attention to the map you were probably already making your way towards it anyway.
Enter the manor and talk to its resident, Flaude. He'll explain to you that Nameless Village is home to a renowned guild of thieves of which he is maister, and that as a reward for not being put off by the theatrical warnings to stay away, you'll now be taught their greatest trade secret. He gives you the Legend's Opus tome, which when read teaches both you and your main pawn the Thief-exclusive skill Blades of the Pyre.
Ask him about Arthur and he'll claim ignorance, but present the folded letter mentioning "brass" to him and he'll admit that it's thieves' cant for imitation, specifically assuming an identity that is not your own. Which we basically knew already as far as Arthur is concerned but also, hmmm, bit of a clue there, maybe?
Before you leave the manor, look up to see a hole in the ceiling leading to an upper floor that is otherwise inaccessible. Unfortunately, but appropriately, you can only reach it if you're a Thief with the Concussive Step skill needed to launch yourself off a nearby wall, so this might be one to come back to later once you've progressed through some alternate vocations. Get up there, however, and you'll receive a Seeker's Token for your troubles!
Entering the Village Depths
Finding Flaude was a bit too easy, yet you still haven't fulfilled Brant's request to find out more about Arthur's origins. Not to mention the fact that if you showed him the letter, Flaude all but admitted that he's only pretending to be the leader of the village. Also, his name sounds almost exactly like the word "fraud".
Naturally, you're going to poke around a bit more before heading back to Vernworth. Head to the left side of the manor as you look at it from the road, and you'll notice a hole in the ground nearby with a ladder leading into the darkness. Your pawns will regretfully inform you that they can't follow you down there, so you know it's got to be important.
Follow this underground passage to find a two-part obstacle course you need to pass in order to get to the real Nameless Village. Everyone loves 3D over-the-shoulder puzzle platforming, right?
Don't worry, this actually isn't too difficult. It might take you a couple of tries to get the hang of the timing, but there's no real penalty to falling: it's not far enough to fall for you to take damage, so quickly dispatch a few Leapworms wriggling around in the pit, then just climb up the ladder and try again.
The trick is to sprint before jumping, which gives you enough momentum to run up a seesaw section and jump to the next one before you get dumped on the ground.
The second room of the course is more or less the same as the first, but includes swinging weights to knock you off-balance, as well as a stationary platform midway, allowing you to take a breather and assess the last pair of seesaw jumps. The swinging weights look intimidating but aren't actually guaranteed to drop you; they will make you stumble, but odds are good that since you're at the top of the ramp, you'll be able to shake it off and still make the next jump in time unless you get completely bodied.
To reach the end of each course, just jump straight ahead from the end of the final ramp. You can then pull a level to drop the rope ladders to the side of each landing spot, making this bit of traversal a whole lot easier in case you ever end up coming back this way.
After clearing the second obstacle course, follow the corridor to an underground chamber where the whole population of the Nameless Village is here to congratulate you on finding them for real this time. You'll be greeted by the real Thief-Maister, Srail, who — surprise, surprise! — was the very "travelling merchant" who tried to warn you away upon your arrival.
Srail will fill you in a bit on Arthur's history: his real name is Darragh, and he used to be a respected member of the village, the next-in-line to become maister. However, he failed his trial, during which he received an injury to his chest that happened to resemble the Arisen's distinctive scarring. He was exiled after announcing he had taken a commission to "brass" as the Sovran of Vernworth, breaking a cardinal rule of the guild to avoid exposure by drawing attention to the thieves' arts. Srail ends by giving you an arrest warrant for Darragh, alias "Arthur", to pass on to Brant.
Srail will also gift you another tome, this one called the Pilferer's Handbook. Reading it teaches you and your main pawn Formless Feint, another Thief-exclusive skill that's naturally a bit better than the one Flaude fobbed you off with. You can also pick up some good Thief-exclusive daggers and leg armour by raiding the chests in the next room, after which you can exit through the next door into one of the houses in the village, where you'll reunite with your pawns.
Reporting back to Brant
To complete this quest, make your way back to Vernworth and pass the arrest warrant onto Brant. He'll thank you for your efforts and explain his plan to post the arrest warrant publicly, thus fermenting distrust against the Sovran without immediately outing himself as a loyalist to the True Arisen. Canny political mind, our Brant.
You'll receive a healthy dose of Gold and XP, as well as the extremely useful Dragon's Gaze item, which can be activated to show the locations of nearby Wakestone shards on the map. There are a few Dragon's Gaze items in the game but, happily, each one seems to be infinitely reusable, so don't be shy!
For more guides on how to fulfil Brant's requests during the Vernworth arc in Dragon's Dogma 2, see our complete walkthrough to The Caged Magistrate.