Patch 7.45 has landed! With the first news of Patch 7.5 landing soon, there’s one major piece of content to enjoy beforehand. The Merchant’s Tale is a new variant dungeon, taking players on a storybook tale to Corvos, literally. Here’s how to unlock the dungeon, how to explore every path, and how to access the more challenging versions.
Unlocking and Variant Paths
To get started, make your way to Old Sharlayan and talk to Shallow Moor (X:12.0 Y:13.3). If you can’t see the quest, make sure you’ve spoken with Osmon in the same area (X:11.9 Y:13.3). Despite being Dawntrail content, you only need to be level 90 to access the quest A Spellbinding Read.
Once underway, you’ll gain access to The Merchant’s Tale, which is playable solo or in a party of up to four other players. As with previous variant dungeons, there are branching paths that lead to other story outcomes and bosses. You’ll decide which route to take at the beginning of the dungeon: the Residential Area, the Marketplace, or the Great Gate. In total, there are twelve different paths you can take to unlock the full codex of story information. Here’s how to access every path.
Residential Area: Paths 1-4
After defeating the first boss past the residential area, you’ll come across a path leading left down to the palace. Alternatively, you can destroy a fence in front of you to take a shortcut down the hill.
Break the damaged fence for paths 1 and 2. You’ll encounter a nest of birds and a Willful Wind trying to steal an apple from the birds. Stop the Wind from stealing the apple for path 1. Let it snatch the apple for path 2.
For paths 3 and 4, ignore the damaged fence and continue down the left path. You’ll encounter some Airy Whisp enemies next to yet another damaged fence on the left. Use the Whisps’ AOEs to break the fence for path 3. Otherwise, defeat them and continue on for path 4.
Marketplace: Paths 5-8
Once you’ve made a local delivery and defeated the Genie of the Lamp, you’ll come to a fork in the road where you can either continue walking along the beach or take the path laden with seaweed.
Follow the seaweed for paths 5 and 6. You’ll encounter a Goobbue you will need to take care of to continue onwards, but pay attention to your surroundings. There are four sets of multicolored rocks around the area. Bait the Goobbue’s AOEs into these four rocks to unlock path 5. Kill the Goobbue without doing this for path 6.
Keep on the beach for paths 7 and 8. After killing a set of adds you’ll notice an interactable green conch shell before continuing on the beach. Interact with the shell for path 7. Ignore it for path 8.
Don’t think you’re done with the beach yet. You’ll be coming back here for a secret later…
The Great Gate: Paths 9-12
Go straight ahead to the Great Gate for the final set of entries in the codex. After scaring off some thieves and dealing with Rukhkh, you’ll encounter another divergent path. You can make your way through a cave full of mushrooms, or go across a set of floating rocks.
Go for the mushrooms for paths 9 and 10. Shortly after entering the cave, you’ll need to kill a Stone Puppet that will regularly target you with lightning AOEs. But keep an eye out, there are unusual rocks around the cave that will light up when hit by the AOE. Hit all three rocks with the AOE for path 9. Kill the puppet without doing so for path 10.
For the supposed final two paths, go towards the floating platforms. As you proceed, you’ll notice large rocks you can stand on. Simply stand on these three rocks for path 11. Ignore them for path 12.
Secret Path
As you go through the variant dungeon, you’ll encounter pieces of lore that will help you unlock a secret 13th path. This will help you unlock a secret final boss, and the true ending to the Merchant’s Tale.
Start by going to the market. Continue onwards, defeating the first boss and the Gobbue. After you kill the Gobbue and the two other adds, take a right instead of going to the boss arena. You’ll find a platform with five colored stones on it.
To activate the stones, use /bow. Then say “I am returned!” in chat and an icon will appear above each stone. Walking across these will play a set of musical notes. Your goal is to play the correct pattern, do so by stepping on the stones in this order: coral, conch, starfish, and pearl. This will unlock the final, secret path, and boss fight.
Advanced Dungeon
Regardless of whether you have unlocked every variant path, once you’ve taken the three main roads from the beginning of the dungeon, you will be able to unlock The Merchant’s Tale (Advanced). Talk to Osmon in Old Sharlayan at (X:11.9 Y:13.3). Unlike the variant dungeon, you’ll need to be level 100 to access this one. The advanced dungeon will be the three final bosses from the variant dungeon in a row, each with more advanced mechanics. This can be accessed in parties of 2-4.
After you finish each boss, you will have the option to exit the dungeon, or continue to the next boss for more Corvosi Brass. The brass will get you a different set of rewards than the potsherds from the variant dungeon, but you’ll need quite a few if you want the 100 brass mount.
Criterion Dungeon: Another Merchant’s Tale
Still itching for a challenge? Once you’ve completed the advanced dungeon, you can unlock the criterion dungeon with yet even more advanced mechanics. Talk to Osmon once again for the unlock. This will lock you into a party of four with one tank, healer, melee DPS, and ranged DPS. Not only that, but raises are restricted to your variant action. You can only use a raise once, but there are opportunities to refresh the action. Completing this dungeon will net you some Corvosi manuscripts, exchangeable for yet another set of rewards.
To see our resources for the Merchant’s Tale, check out our page here.
