Where the Devil Waits

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

This quest starts at the end of Madam Eva's reading in The Seer at Tser Pool. Her fifth and last card is "where the darkness will be waiting when you come for him". It comes from the Tarokka's high deck of fourteen cards, the second high card after your ally's (The Destined Ally), so it's never the same card as your ally. It names the room in Castle Ravenloft where Strahd von Zarovich will be waiting for you. The reading is fixed for the whole playthrough, and the journal entry tells you the room. The verses are on The Tarokka Reading.

The quest moves to "Confronted" the moment the final battle begins, and ends at "Destroyed" when Strahd is destroyed.

Every possible final room

Castle Ravenloft is reached by the road south from the River Ivlis crossroads. Each card puts Strahd in one room, with company:

Card	Where he waits	Who waits with him	How to get there
Artifact	The Chapel, kneeling at the altar	Two thralls in the pews (Vampire Spawn)	The chapel doors off the main floor; it starts as you step into the nave.
Beast	The audience hall, on his throne	Two wolves of the dais (Dire Wolves)	Up the grand stairs from the main floor to the Court of the Count.
Broken One, Innocent	Sergei's tomb	Two Dire Wolves and two Swarms of Bats	Down from the catacombs to the old tombs.
Darklord	His own tomb, beside his coffin	Two Vampire Spawn	The black stair down from the catacombs.
Donjon	The hall of bones	Six guests of bone (Skeletons)	The dungeon under the larders (stairs, or the lift cage once it's working).
Executioner	The overlook, the high balcony	Three Swarms of Bats	Along the wall from the castle gates.
Ghost, Raven	The tomb of King Barov and Queen Ravenovia	Three Specters	Through the hall of stone guardians in the old tombs.
Horseman	The catacombs, at the black horse's stall	Beucephalus (Nightmare) and two Swarms of Bats	The crypts under the castle.
Marionette	The Heart of Sorrow, top of the high tower	The Heart's Warden (Helmed Horror)	All the way up the high tower.
Seer	The study, reading by the fire	Two Swarms of Bats	In the Court of the Count.
Tempter	The treasury, on his hoard	The vault's warden (Helmed Horror)	The secret stair behind the lady's portrait in the King's Hall (see the treasure table, Mercenary).
Mists	Anywhere: one of the eleven rooms above	Whoever waits in that room	The cards couldn't see. The game quietly picks one of the other rooms from your playthrough's seed, and it never changes, but the journal only says "anywhere in the castle". Search them all.

Step by step

1. Get ready first. The reading's other four quests are what this fight is built around: the Tome, the Holy Symbol, the Sunsword and your ally.
   • Break the Heart of Sorrow at the top of the high tower if you can. While it beats, Strahd fights inside his castle behind a 50-point ward that soaks up damage before his hit points.
   • Bring Holy Water and radiant damage.
2. Walk into his room. Strahd is waiting, as the cards said. Before any blow he talks, and comments on what you carry (his brother's sword, the old priests' sun, his own book), on what you've done to him, and on Ireena. Then he names his price:
   • "We came to end you." The fight begins. Godrick and Thistle approve (+2 each), Wren and Liriel too (+1 each).
   • "Take her, then. Let us go." Only offered if Ireena is with you or he already holds her. You hand her over and the game ends: The Bride of Ravenloft. Every companion hates it (Godrick −10, Liriel, Thistle and Wren −8, Kip and Ratatouille −6).
   • "We yield." You kneel, and the game ends: The Mists Remain (Godrick and Thistle −4, Wren and Liriel −3, Kip and Ratatouille −2).
   • "You can't leave this valley either, can you?" Only if you've seen him trapped by the valley before; flavour.
   • Insight DC 18 to see the fear behind the courtesy: flavour.
3. Fight him. Strahd in his own house:
   • AC 16 and 144 HP, resistant to necrotic damage, and he takes half damage from nonmagical weapons.
   • He regains 20 HP at the start of each of his turns, unless he took radiant damage or holy water since his last turn, or stands in sunlight or running water.
   • Three legendary actions a round (move without provoking, a strike, or a bite for two). Three times a day he turns a failed save into a success.
   • Lair actions: he walks through walls, doors obey him, a vengeful ghost strikes, or your shadow tears loose and serves him (DC 17 Charisma save).
   • He charms (DC 17 Wisdom save), calls bats or rats once a day, and casts as a ninth-level wizard: Fireball, Greater Invisibility, Polymorph, Animate Objects and more.
   • Keep radiant damage on him every round. Light the Sunsword or raise the Holy Symbol's sunlight: in sunlight he can't regenerate.
4. Drop him to 0 hit points. What happens depends on where he is:
   • In sunlight or running water, or in his own tomb: he can't escape, and he's destroyed on the spot. The game ends.
   • Anywhere else: he turns to mist and flees to his coffin. Go down the black stair from the catacombs to Strahd's Tomb. If you haven't beaten its keepers yet (two vampire spawn and three swarms of bats), they meet you as you walk in.
5. Finish him at the coffin. He lies grey and still, only his eyes moving.
   
   Choose how:
   • Drive the stake through his heart.
   • Give Ireena the stake, if she's with you (Godrick, Thistle and Wren +2 each, Liriel +1).
   • End it with the Sunsword's light.
   • Raise the Holy Symbol and call up the dawn.

   "Let him speak" gives his last words. "Not yet. Close the lid" leaves him there to come back to.

6. If you swore Vladimir's grudge oath at Argynvostholt (The Order of the Silver Dragon), Vladimir Horngaard comes down the stair to stop the killing blow. You can:
   • Remind him of the dragon's last words, if you heard them from Argynvost (Godrick +3, Liriel +1).
   • Pass Persuasion DC 18.
   • Fight him and two Revenants. Breaking the oath openly costs Godrick 1 approval, and a failed Persuasion also leads to this fight.

   Either of the first two makes him stand aside.

By day, another way in. If Strahd has never been beaten and it's daytime, he's asleep in his coffin. Drive a stake at him, or draw the Sunsword over him, and he wakes in a fight in his tomb: Strahd and two swarms of bats. Because it's his resting place, dropping him to 0 hit points there destroys him outright. If his tomb is also the Darklord's final room, walking in starts the final battle instead.

Choices and endings

Destroying Strahd ends the campaign. The ending is the first of these that fits:

• The Second Thirst: someone in your party accepted the Hollow's dark gift. Strahd is destroyed, but the thirst finds a new home in one of you.
• At Sergei's Side: at The Pool of the White Sun Ireena promised to go back to Sergei, and she keeps that promise.
• Dawn over Barovia: Strahd is destroyed and the sun rises over his valley.

Other ends:

• The Bride of Ravenloft: you gave him Ireena at the parley.
• The Mists Remain: you yielded, or your party fell in the final battle.

The last pictures also change with Vladimir's knights: fallen at the foot of the stair if you fought them, bowing if he stood aside, saluting if the Order rode with you.

If you're stuck

• Nothing in the room? The final battle only starts once you've had the reading, and only in the room the cards named. With the Mists card, check each of the other rooms.
• He keeps healing. That's his Regeneration: hit him with radiant damage or holy water every round, or fight him in sunlight.
• He turned to mist. That's not the end, but it's close: go to his tomb and finish it at the coffin. His final room stays quiet while he lies there, so there's no second fight to walk into on the way.
• At night his coffin is empty. If you reach it after dark before beating him, he's out. You can pour holy water into his earth (it's still smoking under him when he's back), then go and find him in his room, or come back by day.

Rewards

What your companions think

• Godrick Pendlebrook: +2 you gave Ireena the stake; +3 you reminded Vladimir of the dragon's last words at Strahd's coffin; -1 you broke your oath to Vladimir at Strahd's coffin; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I can't read; +1 you asked Madam Eva to read for the valley's sake; -3 you threatened an old woman for her cards
• Thistle: +2 you gave Ireena the stake; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I don't fit anywhere
• Wren Featherfoot: +2 you gave Ireena the stake; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'm not finished; -1 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -1 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces
• Liriel Dawnsong: +1 you gave Ireena the stake; +1 you reminded Vladimir of the dragon's last words at Strahd's coffin; +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'm afraid of the dark; +1 you asked Madam Eva to read for the valley's sake; -2 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -1 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces
• Ratatouille: +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva I'd rather cook
• Kip Smudgewick: +3 you stood by me when I told Madam Eva who signed the contract; -1 you threatened an old woman for her cards; -3 you kept what was stolen from the Vistani to their faces

Fights

• He is out of the coffin before the lid stops rocking, and he is not at all sleepy., in Castle Ravenloft, Strahd's Tomb: Strahd von Zarovich, Swarm of Bats.
• Vladimir draws, and his knights come down the black stair behind him with their swords already out., in Castle Ravenloft, Strahd's Tomb: Vladimir Horngaard, Revenant.

Journal

Related

• People: Vladimir Horngaard, Madam Eva
• Places: Castle Ravenloft, Strahd's Tomb, Madam Eva's Tent
• Next in the story: Sanctuary