How to complete The Caged Magistrate in Dragon's Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 contains a litany of quests. Some are hard to find, and even the easy-to-spot ones can have strange segues or opaque objectives. The Caged Magistrate is one such quest. Fortunately, I'm here to help you get through one of the game’s early main missions.

How to start The Caged Magistrate in DD2

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The Caged Magistrate is part of the main quest, given to you by Captain Brant, so it’s impossible to miss. Once you get to Vernworth, Brant will instruct you to meet him in a tavern. Go there at night and he’ll give you a series of missions. You can take these all on at once, saving you many return trips to the tavern. 

One of the missions is to free a magistrate loyal to the true Arisen from jail-spelled gaol in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Simply go toward the castle in the royal quarter, in the southern part of the city. Look to your left and you’ll see the jail tower as well as a well with a ladder sticking out of it. You should climb down this ladder to find a chest full of guard armour. Put this on to avoid the guards accusing you of trespassing and throwing you in the slammer, too.

Go back up the ladder and enter the jail tower. Go down the winding spiral staircase and you’ll eventually find the cells. The magistrate is in the first cell on the right. The catch is, he doesn’t want to be rescued. He’s perfectly happy just sitting there reading books and instructs you to find a place where he can continue to do that.

How to find a room full of books for the magistrate

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Rather than doubling back on yourself, continue through the jail and out some locked double doors on your right. This will take you to the slums. Go and speak to the religious man, Kendrick, in front of the church - the only fully standing building in the slums - and offer him a couple of donations. He’ll then ask for help finding a lost boy, Malcolm. This starts a side quest, The Heel of History. You can also get a hint to come to this man if you return to Brant and explain the magistrate won’t leave, but this way is quicker.

Speak to all the kids in the slums to find out about Malcolm. You'll probably stumble upon Daphne, too, who requires a bunch of flowers. Once you've got the info, return to Kendrick. He’ll suggest searching a ruined tower with some underground tunnels for the lost boy. Simply explore these tunnels and you’ll find Malcolm. He leads you to a discovery he’s made, a chamber full of books, perfect for the magistrate. 

Now, just return to the jail via the back entrance connected to the slums and tell the magistrate what you’ve found. Lead him out of the jail to the slums and then he’ll make the rest of the journey himself. You can return to Brant now for your reward, but make sure to check in on the magistrate from time to time as he’ll offer you more side quests.

Once you've turned in this quest, how about figuring out how to make a camp? We've also covered all the smithing styles, all the trophies and achievements, and if you can fix bridges in Dragon's Dogma 2.