The Balancing the Scales side quest in Death Howl takes place in the Meadows of Delusion within the Realm of the Distorted Hollows. To complete it, the hunter Ro must locate five missing fish scales scattered along the western riverbank for an injured giant fish. Finishing this quest removes the cumbersome quest cards from your draw pile, unlocks the Balancing the Scales achievement, and rewards you with the Pearl Totem.
How to Start Balancing the Scales
You can access the Meadows of Delusion after advancing the main story quest, "Death, Release My Child," past the collapsed eastern bridge cutscene in the Forest of Howling Shadows. Taking the opened northern route from the Northern Sacred Grove leads directly into the Meadows of Delusion.
- Enter the Meadows of Delusion and look for a rock cluster with red stones near the entryway.
- Turn left at this landmark to reach a body of water where a giant wounded fish rests.
- Speak with the fish. It explains that a beast attacked it and scattered its scales across the region.
- Agree to retrieve the scales. The fish submerges into the pond, and the side quest begins.
Before hunting down the scales, head north from the red stones to complete your first area encounter (two Gloomcroaks, a Sobslug, and a Hatchwing) and activate the first Sacred Grove on the left side of the trees. Activating this grove reveals the regional map layout and sets your respawn anchor.
Key Quest Mechanics and Restrictions
Balancing the Scales introduces quest-specific deck constraints that heavily influence combat:
- Scales become active deck cards: Each scale you collect is added directly to your deck as a "Scale Shield" card. If drawn and not played, Scale Shields linger in your hand, reducing your draw efficiency.
- Fast travel is disabled: While carrying any quest cards in your deck, fast travel between Sacred Groves is locked. 11 bit studios developers confirmed this restriction ensures players navigate combat encounters with the burden of quest items rather than bypassing them.
- Removing cards resets their location: If you open your card crafting menu and manually remove a quest card from your deck list to re-enable fast travel, that specific scale immediately returns to its original pickup location in the environment.
- Resting respawns regular spirits: Resting at a Sacred Grove restores Ro's health and converts unspent Death Howls into teardrop progress, but it also respawns all cleared standard enemy camps. Plan your path carefully to avoid fighting through the same gauntlet multiple times while your deck remains clogged.
All 5 Fish Scale Locations
All five scales rest along the water network on the western side of the Meadows of Delusion.
| Scale Number | Location Description | Nearby Encounters and Points of Interest |
|---|---|---|
| Fish Scale 1 | North of the first Sacred Grove, lying on the ground next to the stream. | Directly before the Dreadfin and Dire Shroom encounter. |
| Fish Scale 2 | Southwest meadows, across the log bridge on the southern edge of the stream. | A shimmering patch of grass directly to the right hides a stork corpse for the Saboteur side quest. |
| Fish Scale 3 | Northwest of the second spirit camp, directly adjacent to the riverbank. | Guarded by a fight against a Dreadfin, Dire Shroom, and Gloomcroak. |
| Fish Scale 4 | Just south of the third scale encounter, positioned along the river path. | Positioned just before the path turns toward the Elder Spirit clearing. |
| Fish Scale 5 | Far southwest edge of the map, resting beside a Nest on the ground. | Guarded by an Elder Spirit encounter (Elder Dreadfin, Dreadfin, Gloomcroak). The nest contains the Beehive Totem. |
Step-by-Step Retrieval Route
- Fish Scale 1: From the first Sacred Grove, walk north along the eastern edge of the stream. The first Scale Shield rests directly on the grass by the water.
- Fish Scale 2: Continue west along the river and cross the log bridge leading to the southwestern meadow. You will find the second scale lying on the southern bank. While standing here, inspect the shimmering grass patch to the right of the scale to uncover the stork corpse needed for the separate Saboteur side quest.
- Fish Scale 3: Push westward into the next Spirit combat against a Dreadfin, a Dire Shroom, and a Gloomcroak. Clear the encounter, then step immediately north to pick up the third scale near the water.
- Fish Scale 4: From the same clearing where you defeated the third spirit group, walk slightly south along the riverside path to grab the fourth scale.
- Fish Scale 5: Head to the southernmost dead-end of the southwest area. You must clear a demanding Elder Spirit encounter guarding the final nest. Once the enemies fall, grab the fifth scale from the ground next to the nest, and open the nest itself to claim the Beehive Totem.
Combat Strategies for Scale Encounters
Carrying up to five Scale Shields reduces your active offensive options. Adjust your turn tactics to handle the specific threats guarding the river path:
- Exploit Dreadfin directional vulnerability: Standard Dreadfins have 7 HP and retaliate against incoming attacks by dashing forward. However, they carry the "Fragile from behind" trait, taking double damage from back attacks. If you cannot get behind them, face them with an impassable obstacle directly behind Ro so their retaliation dash cannot displace your line.
- Elder Dreadfin management: The Elder Dreadfin possesses 12 HP, moves 3 spaces, retaliates, and can inflict broken bone cards. Because of its larger health pool, boosting an attack to 6 damage while striking its back allows for a clean one-shot elimination.
- Leverage the Overwhelm skill: Unlocking the Overwhelm ability on the regional skill tree at a Sacred Grove grants +1 bonus damage to every attack card played during that turn. This extra power offsets lost hand capacity caused by drawn Scale Shields.
- Use battlefield hazards: The final Elder Dreadfin battle features an interactive fruit tree in the center of the grid. Using Quick Strike or similar displacement attacks to push a Dreadfin two spaces into the tree deals collision damage and drops a bonus fruit card that can replenish mana, draw cards, or inflict poison.
- Card cycling and discards: Cards like Repurpose let you draw two cards while discarding an unwanted card from your hand, making it ideal for throwing away unplayed Scale Shields. Pair multi-hit cards like Double Strike or Triple Strike with damage enhancers like Sharpen Weapon or Enchant Weapon to clear targets before they swarm your position.
Balancing the Scales Quest Rewards
Once you possess all five scales, walk back to the pond on the western side where the quest began. If you need to heal, you may visit the first Sacred Grove, though you will need to re-fight the opening spirit camp blocking the path back to the pond.
Speak to the giant fish at the water's edge to return the scales. Completing the dialogue yields the following rewards:
- Pearl Totem: Equipping this totem causes Ro to discard a random card at the start of each turn in exchange for Shield equal to the discarded card's mana cost.
- Teardrops: Regional progression currency used to unlock new abilities and skills at Sacred Groves.
- Deck cleanup: All five Scale Shield cards are permanently removed from your deck, restoring your standard hand draw consistency.
- Achievement / Trophy: Unlocks the "Balancing the Scales" achievement (30 Gamerscore on Xbox / Silver Trophy on PlayStation).
Don't forget that the final scale area also holds the Beehive Totem inside the nest beside Scale 5. This totem grants +1 Mana each turn at the cost of shuffling Bee Sting cards into your draw pile.
