The Blood of Dawnwalker Walkthrough – Tips and Tricks

The Blood of Dawnwalker gives you a lot of freedom once the prologue is over, but that freedom can make the opening hours a little confusing. There are quests you can miss, abilities worth unlocking early, and areas where the enemies can easily overpower you.

I recommend taking care of a few important things before simply wandering around the map. Some early quests also teach you mechanics that become much more important later, especially time management, Corruption, crafting, and exploration.

Here are the things I’d prioritize after starting your journey as Coen.

The Blood of Dawnwalker Walkthrough – Tips and Tricks

The first important task actually happens during the prologue. Coen’s mother is sick, and his father asks him to collect medicinal herbs from Anca.

You should make this your priority because the quest has a time limit. If you see a clock icon next to a quest objective, that means the quest will expire after a certain amount of time.

You’ll receive notifications for other quests while traveling to Anca, but don’t get distracted by them yet. Follow the herb quest and complete it first.

When you need to brew the medicine, use:

• Hot water
• 3 scoops

This is an important early lesson about how time works in Dawnwalker. Once you’ve taken care of your mother, you can spend the rest of the day however you want.

Invest in Your Basic Stats

You’ll get your first opportunity to level up during the prologue, and you’ll have many more chances once you reach the main game.

Early on, I recommend putting your attention toward your basic attack, defense, and stamina-related abilities rather than immediately trying to unlock everything.

This applies across all three of Coen’s skill trees:

• Swordmastery
• Witchcraft
• Vampirism

Some of the stronger Swordmastery and Witchcraft abilities require specific manuals before you can purchase them. Vampirism has another requirement to keep in mind: Corruption.

So don’t worry if some of the more powerful skills are unavailable early. Build up your basic abilities first and work toward the requirements for the stronger ones.

Increase Your Corruption

If you want to make good use of Coen’s vampire abilities, start building Corruption early.

You’ll see the Corruption meter as a small fang icon beside your health bar while you’re playing at night. You increase it by using Voracious Bite to drink an enemy’s blood.

Every time the meter fills completely, your Corruption level increases by one.

You can also feed on innocent civilians outside combat to increase Corruption, although you’ll naturally build it up while fighting in vampire form.

There’s also an ability called Hastened Corruption that increases the amount of Corruption you gain. If you’re planning to focus heavily on the Vampirism tree, I’d consider investing in it early.

Unlock Shapeshift and Mercurial Fervor

Once you have your first point of Corruption, one of the first vampire abilities I’d pick up is Shapeshift.

Shapeshift allows Coen to transform into a wolf. To activate it, sprint and then activate sprint a second time while you’re already running.

This is currently one of your fastest ways to travel around the map. You can stay in wolf form as long as you have enough stamina.

During the daytime, you’ll want the equivalent ability from the Witchcraft tree: Mercurial Fervor.

Dawnwalker doesn’t give you a traditional mount to ride around on, so these movement abilities become especially important. As you upgrade them, they become more efficient and can eventually let you travel without constantly worrying about stamina.

Craft Healing Potions

Don’t ignore crafting materials while you’re exploring.

Pick up plants and loot barrels, crates, and other containers whenever you come across them. Coen can carry a decent amount of materials, and you can store extra items at shrines if your inventory starts filling up.

One of the first useful items to craft is the Minor Healing Ointment.

You already have its basic recipe, and it requires:

Ingredient	Amount
Canteen of Water	1
Ribwart Plantain	2

The exact locations of these ingredients aren’t fixed, so keep an eye out while exploring. Ribwart plants can be found along the ground, while other crafting materials can turn up inside containers.

Food can help with recovery, but I wouldn’t rely on it as your only source of healing. Having a few healing items ready can save you during an unexpected fight.

Climb the Early Towers

There are several towers around Dawnwalker that act as vantage points.

Two of the easier ones to reach early are:

• The church in Laslea Glen
• Briar Sloughs Watchtower, south of town

There’s an important catch: you can only climb these towers at night.

Coen needs his vampire abilities, including Shadow Step and Planeshift, to reach the higher sections. You’ll need to think about where you’re teleporting and manage your stamina while climbing.

Once you reach the top, you can scan the surrounding area and reveal points of interest on your map.

Since Dawnwalker gives you a large world to explore, these towers are worth visiting early. Having more locations marked on your map gives you a better idea of where to go next instead of wandering around blindly.

Complete the First Pilgrimage for Power

While traveling toward the Briar Sloughs Watchtower, you’ll encounter a quest on the other side of the river to the south. This begins one of the Pilgrimages for Power.

I’d recommend doing this early because it gives you experience and unlocks a new Witchcraft ability.

Follow the quest markers along the climbing trail until you reach a large bear guarding a rune carving.

Defeat the bear and examine the runes. You’ll then unlock Ravenous Flock for purchase in the Witchcraft skill tree.

Ravenous Flock is a strong area-of-effect attack that can damage and stun enemies around the impact area.

There are two things to remember, though.

First, the ability requires two activation charges. You’ll need to invest in Forbidden Sigils to gain another charge.

Second, casting Ravenous Flock costs 40% of your current health. Several Witchcraft abilities have similar blood costs, so don’t forget to account for your health before using them.

Follow the Will-o’-the-Wisp

After the pilgrimage, head toward Mert’s Mill.

As you continue south, watch the western side of the road. You’ll eventually encounter a Will-o’-the-Wisp and receive a quest involving it.

These wisps can lead you to hidden treasure, so they’re worth following when you encounter one.

This particular one takes you through the hills and eventually leads to another bear encounter. Once you’ve dealt with it, continue following the wisp to find a treasure chest.

Inside you’ll get the Knightly Greatsword, which is a nice early upgrade to Coen’s attack power.

I’d definitely pick this up before moving on, especially since you’ll soon be dealing with more difficult combat encounters.

Rescue Mert the Miller

Once you’ve followed the wisp, return to Mert’s Mill and speak with his wife, Renna.

You’ll discover that Mert has been kidnapped, starting the The Firebrand quest.

There are a few ways to approach the rescue.

You can enter the prison camp during the day, although you’ll have to surrender your weapons. Alternatively, you can approach the camp at night and make full use of Coen’s vampire abilities.

Your main objective is to free Mert.

You have multiple ways to gain access to his cell. For example, you can bribe the jailkeeper or deal with a soldier who has been bullying Mert to obtain access.

The important part is completing the rescue. This quest also has larger consequences for your relationship with the vampires, so it’s worth doing rather than simply leaving Mert behind.

Start Angering Ambrus

Dawnwalker lets you approach its major vampire enemies in different ways, but Ambrus is intended to be your first major target.

He controls the northern portion of the map, and you can keep track of your progress toward the vampires through the Court section of the pause menu.

You’ll see a meter underneath Ambrus’ portrait showing how angry he is. Your actions throughout the world can increase this meter.

The Mert questline is one way to start filling it.

After freeing Mert, continue along the road south from the mill. You’ll eventually encounter a patrol of soldiers, which starts another combat encounter.

Defeat them and you’ll increase Ambrus’ anger further.

Hunt Down the Blood Leech Shipments

After defeating the soldier patrol, make sure to read the notes they drop.

The notes reveal information about additional camps containing special shipments of blood leeches. These locations will then be marked on your map.

You should consider clearing these camps early.

Each camp contributes toward increasing Ambrus’ anger, helping you progress toward confronting him. More importantly, you’ll receive blood leeches as rewards.

Blood leeches are useful healing items while you’re in vampire form, so having a supply of them can make the early game much easier.

As you work through these early objectives, you’ll naturally build up your abilities, equipment, healing supplies, and map knowledge. That puts you in a much better position before you start pushing deeper into the world and taking on tougher enemies.