What Is the Dog Days Quest?

If you've ever wondered why a pack of hostile wolf-people keep guarding a broken fortress in the Stormtouched Highlands, the Dog Days quest is where you finally get an answer. This is a secondary quest, added in the 15 April 2025 update, that asks you to investigate the Garou and their rituals on behalf of an NPC named Vannaka. It's not a required main-story quest, but it does hand you a unique cosmetic reward and a good excuse to clear out a dangerous stronghold. Anyone searching for the runescape dragonwilds dog days quest is usually trying to find Vannaka's camp, beat the Garou King, or figure out the purification ritual — this guide covers all three.

| Detail | Info | |---|---| | Quest giver | Vannaka | | Location | Stormtouched Highlands | | Type | Secondary Quest | | Requirements | None | | Released | 15 April 2025 | | Reward | Garou Highborn's Cloak |

How to Start Dog Days

To begin, head to the Stormtouched Highlands and find Vannaka's small camp, tucked under a cliff overhang near the center-east part of the region. He'll explain that he's been studying the Garou and asks you to investigate their rituals — specifically, to track down a lore book that explains their practices. Vannaka only gives you one real clue: check the Garou camps "beneath the spines of a great wyrm."

That book, titled Ritual of Purification, sits in a Garou camp near the tip of a large dragon spine to the west. There's a Garou thane guarding the area, but it's facing away from the book, so approaching from the north lets you sneak in, grab the lore, and avoid a fight entirely.

Before you go any further, it's worth gearing up. The Highlands are full of Garou patrols, and the fortress you'll eventually storm is guarded from top to bottom.

  • Craft and equip Bronze armor or better
  • Craft and equip a Bronze weapon or better (a one-handed weapon with a shield works well)
  • Craft several Weak Healing Potions
  • Craft Wardstones to keep your Lifeward topped up
  • If you're running a bow build, stock up on arrows
  • Bring Antipoison potions and Air runes for Windstep if you have them

Defeating the Garou King

Once you've read the lore book, the next objective is to challenge the Garou King and take his token. He's holed up in a castle in the northwest section of the Stormtouched Highlands, at the top of a hill inside the ruined structure. Getting there means fighting or sneaking past multiple Garou along the way — using Windstep to skip past patrols, or safe-spotting attacks from the ruined temple's arches, can save you a lot of healing potions.

| Enemy | Power Level | Notable Behavior | |---|---|---| | Garou King | 5 | Uses a body-length shield to block attacks; fights like a Garou Thane | | Garou (patrols) | Lower | Guard the path to the fortress | | Garou Thane (book area) | Lower | Faces away from the lore book, easy to sneak past |

The Garou King himself isn't a mechanically complex fight, but it does demand good timing. He relies on a large shield to block incoming damage, so a one-handed melee weapon paired with a shield is the strongest loadout — parry his attacks with your shield to stun him for a moment, then punish the opening with a full combo. If you're carrying the Abyssal Whip, its Abyssal Snare attack (middle mouse button) works just as well for creating that same stun window. Outside of the parrying, it's mostly dodging and repositioning, and the fight shouldn't feel much harder than a standard Garou Thane encounter.

Once he's dealt with, the Garou King drops two things:

  • Tainted King's Token (needed for the quest)
  • A Garou Pack, which can be opened for Rune Essence and a rune or two

Purifying the Tainted King's Token

Bring the Tainted King's Token back to Vannaka, and he'll tell you it's corrupted — it needs to be purified before it's of any use to him. This is where the lore book you read earlier pays off. The purification ritual takes place at Lougrim's Shrine, located north of the fortress at a spot described as being where "a heart once beat," near the wyrm's remains. The shrine area is guarded by Garou druids, so expect another fight before you can interact with it.

Once you clear the druids and reach the shrine, it will tell you exactly what materials the ritual needs:

| Material | Quantity | Where to Get It | |---|---|---| | Ram Horns | 2 | Killed from rams in the Highlands | | Shocking Plant Bulbs | 3 | Harvested from wild lapulis vines |

You'll likely need to fight one or two rams and one or two wild lapulis vines to gather enough of each item. Once you've got both materials in hand, return to Lougrim's Shrine and perform the ritual of purification. This turns the Tainted King's Token into a Purified King's Token, which is the item Vannaka actually wants.

With the token purified, head back to Vannaka in the Stormtouched Highlands and hand it over to complete the quest.

Rewards and Quest Stages

Dog Days boils down to three linked objectives: read the lore book, defeat the Garou King, and complete the purification ritual. Here's the full sequence in order, along with what each stage requires.

| Stage | Objective | Key Requirement | |---|---|---| | 1 | Talk to Vannaka | Find his camp under the cliff overhang | | 2 | Read the lore book | Locate it beneath the wyrm spine, west camp | | 3 | Defeat the Garou King | Reach the northwest fortress and win the fight | | 4 | Purify the token | Gather 2 ram horns and 3 shocking plant bulbs | | 5 | Return to Vannaka | Hand over the Purified King's Token |

Completing all five stages rewards you with the Garou Highborn's Cloak, a cosmetic item tied specifically to this quest. There's no crafting recipe or skill unlock attached to Dog Days — the cloak is the sole reward, which makes this a quest players typically do more for the story and the fashion piece than for any power gain.

FAQ

Where does the runescape dragonwilds dog days quest start? Speak to Vannaka at his small camp under a cliff overhang in the Stormtouched Highlands. He'll ask you to investigate the Garou and their rituals.

What do I need to purify the Tainted King's Token? You need 2 ram horns and 3 shocking plant bulbs, gathered from rams and wild lapulis vines, then used at Lougrim's Shrine.

Is the Garou King hard to beat? Not particularly. He fights like a Garou Thane and relies on a large shield, so parrying his attacks with your own shield opens up stun windows for free damage.

What reward do you get for finishing Dog Days? The quest rewards the Garou Highborn's Cloak, a cosmetic item with no other way to obtain it.

Do I need to fight through the whole fortress to reach the Garou King? Yes, the fortress in the northwest Highlands has multiple Garou guarding the path up to the King's clearing, though using Windstep or safe-spotting can reduce how many fights you're forced into.