In the Dragon Slayer questline, you craft the Challenge Horn last, immediately before the boss encounter; it is the quest item used to make Velgar fight. This ornate dragonkin horn goes into the Dragonkin Altar atop Velgar’s Rise. One horn is enough, since you can reuse it for every attempt.
Quick answer: Learn the recipe from Cathan near Velgar’s Rise, then craft the horn at a Blacksmith’s Bench using 1 Dragon Tooth, 1 Bloodwood Sap, and 5 Bronze Bars.
Challenge Horn crafting requirements
The horn is assembled at a Blacksmith’s Bench and needs 100 Artisan experience. Since the crafting update, the old Smithing Anvil has been removed, so the Blacksmith’s Bench is now the correct station. The three materials are fixed in a standard world, though the exact quantities can shift if you changed the resource difficulty when setting up your game.
| Material | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Dragon Tooth | 1 |
| Bloodwood Sap | 1 |
| Bronze Bar | 5 |
Two of the materials are gated behind advanced tools. Bring the following before you set out, or rely on the equivalent spells:
- Break the dragon skull and ore nodes with an Iron Pickaxe (or cast Rocksplosion).
- Fell the Bloodwood tree with an Iron Logging Axe (or cast Astral Projection).
Unlock the recipe from Cathan in the Fractured Plains
The recipe does not appear on its own. Travel to the Fractured Plains and find Cathan, the ghostly spirit standing just outside the gates of Velgar’s Rise, near the bridge. Speak with him and he teaches you the dragonkin horn design.
After the conversation, a banner confirms the Challenge Horn recipe is unlocked and your Dragon Slayer objective updates to ask you to gather the ingredients. You can then check the full recipe in your journal at any time.
Mine the Dragon Tooth in Stormtouched Highlands
The single Dragon Tooth comes from a giant dragon skull in the Stormtouched Highlands. Open the map and head to the southwest area, roughly beneath the “S” of “Stormtouched,” where the skull sits. The Dragon Slayer quest marker also points here.
This zone throws constant lightning strikes at you and holds level 40-plus enemies. Eat a Squeaking Sausage or a Wild Pie first to gain the “Grounded” buff, which grants resistance to shock effects.
Once you reach the skull, mine the tooth from it with an Iron Pickaxe or cast Rocksplosion to blast it loose. One extraction gives you the Dragon Tooth you need.
Harvest Bloodwood Sap in Bloodblight Swamp
The Bloodwood Sap is found in the Bloodblight Swamp, to the southeast. The air here deals continuous poison damage that can kill you quickly, so prepare protection before you step into the fog.
Bring a supply of antipoison, roughly five Weak Antipoison Potions or Lesser Antipoison Potions, or eat a Pungent Omelette or Mushroom Kebab for the “Fungal Fortitude” resistance effect. Both approaches negate or resist the swamp’s poison.
Make your way to the ruined castle structure and clear the enemies around it. The large red Bloodwood tree is your target. Chop it with an Iron Logging Axe or cast Astral Projection to fell it instantly, then collect the Bloodwood Sap it drops.
Smelt five Bronze Bars
To make Bronze Bars, gather Copper Ore and Tin Ore from the Fractured Plains. Tin nodes line the rock wall by the Fractured Plains lodestone, while copper nodes are on the opposite side near the large anima tree. Use a pickaxe or Rocksplosion to mine either ore.
At a Furnace, use charcoal or wood as fuel, then smelt copper and tin together into Bronze Bars. Repeat the process until the total reaches five bars.
Craft the Challenge Horn at the Blacksmith’s Bench
With the Dragon Tooth, Bloodwood Sap, and five Bronze Bars in your inventory, go to a Blacksmith’s Bench and open the recipe under the Quest Items category. Select the Challenge Horn and craft it.
You will see a “Crafted – Challenge Horn x1” confirmation, and the horn drops into the Quest inventory tab. That confirms the item was made correctly.
Summon Velgar with the Challenge Horn
Return to the top of Velgar’s Rise and interact with the Dragonkin Altar. There is an indentation shaped to fit the horn. Choose the option to place the horn and summon Velgar, and the encounter begins. Because the horn stays with you, you can trigger the fight again from the altar every time you want another attempt at the boss.
