The Sorcerer's Appraisal – Where to find Maelstrom in Dragon's Dogma 2

The two most powerful sorcerer spells in Dragon’s Dogma 2, Meteoron and Maelstrom, are available after a pair of quests, Spellbound and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Ideally, you’ll do these quests in tandem, which I didn’t do, but I can help you avoid that same mistake.

I already covered Spellbound in another guide, so I won’t get into detail, but the two quests crossover so heavily that you’ll get the jist of that quest here. But while that quest was for a hopeful mage named Trysha, this one is for her stuffy father, Myriddin. The objective is almost exactly the same, but with some careful forgeries, you can save yourself from having to delve too deep.

How to start The Sorcerer’s Appraisal quest

Actually talking to Myriddin is the first problem. His house is located in Checkpoint Rest Town at the top of the hill that winds up the southeast side. When you go to the door, he’ll step out, tell you that you dress like a circus gorilla, then walk back inside and close the door. If you use the wall to jump onto the balcony and break in, he’ll attack you.

Hopefully, you have some fancy raiments stored away, but if not, this guide will tell you how to find them. If you walk up to the door wearing Noble attire, Myriddin will let you in. If you’re a mage or sorcerer vocation, he’ll surmise that you are worthy of his teachings but that you need to prove it by getting a few books for him. You’ll get The Sorcerer’s Appraisal quest, which puts the list of books he needs in your quest log.

If you already picked up Spellbound, you’ll note that these are the same books that Trysha wants for her quest.

How to complete The Sorcerer’s Appraisal

If you’re not familiar with Spellbound, the objective of The Sorcerer’s Appraisal is simple. You need to gather five books. Some of them are not unique. In fact, unlike other quest items, if you sell any of the books, they don’t turn up at Ibrahim’s Scrap Store. I’ll give you known locations, so you don’t have to search if you promise not to sell or gift these to a departing Pawn.

Let There Be Light – Strangely enough, this book is in Myriddin’s house. I’m not sure why the guy wants you to get a book he already owns. Rumor has it that he hasn’t quite been the same since his wife died. Speaking of which, don’t let him see you steal the book, or he’ll try to kill you. Try sneaking in the balcony door instead and escape the same way. That’ll fool him.

Fulminous Shield – This book is found in Melve. There’s a trader (guy with a backpack) near the gate who has it for sale.

Nation’s Death Knell – I found this book in the Waterfall Cave, which is in the far north of Vermund with entrances north and northeast from the fort. One of the entrances is right where you crashed on a griffin at the beginning of the game. The Griffin will be gone and you can enter the cave. The book is on the upper level, and is guarded by a Wight.

Howling Blizzard – Conveniently, you can find a copy of this tome in the exact same spot you found Nation’s Death Knell in the Waterfall Cave.

Towering Earth – The kingdom magistrate, Waldhar, will give you this book. This means you have to have first freed him from the gaol in The Caged Magistrate quest. To get the book, you’ll need to return to the Gracious Hand’s Vault. Speak to him and he’ll just hand over Towering Earth.

Before you hand these over to Myriddin, you’ll want to create counterfeits at Myrridin’s scrap store. This is so you can provide copies to both Myriddin for The Sorcerer’s Appraisal quest and Trysha for Spellbound. 

To note, both Myriddin and Trysha only require you to hand over three of the books before they’re satisfied. So, technically, you only need to create one copy. Also, as I mentioned previously, I think these tomes are rare but not unique. Offhand, I can confirm that there’s more than one copy of Nation’s Death Knell. I’m also rather confident that, at the very least, Fulminous Shield and Howling Blizzard have copies of their own. However, until I can confirm their locations, I’d recommend the counterfeit method.

Lastly, I’m told that you need to hand the counterfeit copies to Myriddin. Trysha needs the real versions so she can get overpowered and go on a rampage, which ends the quest and results in Meteoron.

Speaking of which, completing The Sorcerer’s Appraisal will result in Myriddin teaching you the powerful Maelstrom spell for the sorcerer vocation.