Are you looking for The Blood of Dawnwalker tips? This is an open-world RPG made by the talented folks who, once upon a time, helped with the development of The Witcher 3. You can expect everything from macabre creatures and dark fantasy themes, as well as unique mechanics that are totally refreshing for the genre. Of course, it goes without saying that things can get a tad bit confusing at first, which is why our guide aims to assist you for the long road ahead.
You’re a Dawnwalker – A part-human, part-vampire hybrid
In The Blood of Dawnwalker, you play as Coen, a commoner from a small village called Laslea Glen. Circumstances have not only caused Coen’s family to get kidnapped by vampire lords known as vrakhiri. He’s also been turned into a monstrosity–a dawnwalker–someone who lives as a human by day and turns into a vampire at night.
This dynamic changes how you approach the game. During the day, you heal up normally by eating food and you chat with shopkeepers who ply their craft in settlements. You may also cast Witchcraft spells and commune with the spirits of the dead. You’re basically a warrior-spellcaster with the limitations of being human.
Learn to manage your bloodthirst as a vampire
Things change drastically at night. As a vampire, you need to satisfy your bloodthirst. This means feeding on hapless stragglers and wildlife. If your health is too low and you approach a person, you might lose control, causing you to bleed them dry as you feast.
That said, being a lord of the night has its perks. You get to use serrated claws to strike foes. You get to teleport across short distances. And, yes, you can even walk vertically on walls, defying gravity and all that is holy.
Related guide: How to heal as a vampire
Drink the blood of your enemies (left), and be ready if you’re about to lose control (right).
Carefully discern how activities impact Time Progression
One of the most important Blood of Dawnwalker tips to remember is that various actions impact the passage of time.
- As mentioned earlier, Coen’s family has been kidnapped, and you have only 30 days to save them. Go past that point and they’ll be sacrificed to satisfy the cravings of the vrakhiri.
- Roaming around the world normally does not cause time to elapse. It’s not as though you have an actively running clock or a stopwatch.
- Instead, actions, quest steps, and skill upgrades cost Time Segments, which are shown in a bar in the upper-right portion of the screen.
- Do a bunch of things during the day and you’ll transition into night, and vice versa. If you’re not careful, you might panic and notice that you have only a few days left to rescue your loved ones.
Related guide: How to manage Time Progression and the day-night cycle
Complete only the most pivotal tasks during the prologue
Time management is impactful at the very start of the game. During the prologue, your main goal is simply to do your chores. What those chores are is entirely up to you as you go around the village helping other folks.
But you’ll soon realize that the sun is about to set and the Blood Mass is about to begin. Once that happens, everything you weren’t able to complete beforehand would fail, preventing you from earning those rewards. In one particular instance, you might not even be able to save Coen’s own mother.
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Tag and repair fast travel Shrines
Over a hundred Shrines dot the countryside of Vale Sangora. You can interact with most of these, but some need to be repaired:
- Once activated, you can use Shrines to fast travel, pass the time, level up your perks, and store items that you don’t need.
- If a Shrine is in disrepair, you need to investigate the tracks to find the location of its heart–i.e. figurine. Once you’ve acquired that object, you can place it inside a Shrine to activate it permanently.
Survey your surroundings via Scouting Towers
Another exploration tip for The Blood of Dawnwalker concerns Scouting Towers. These tall structures can only be climbed at night since you need your vampiric traversal abilities. Once you’ve reached the top, you can take a look at the surrounding lands to learn about the region. This causes all points-of-interest to appear as question marks on the world map. All you need to do is head over to them to reveal the type of activity or quest.
Related guide: All Scouting Tower locations
Visit points-of-interest like Sacred Stones and Ancient Circles
Once a Scouting Tower reveals more information about the area, you should go to those landmarks. Some of them might be Sacred Stones, glyphs with dormant power left behind by the uriashi. Others could be Ancient Circles or Haunted Sites, places where you exorcise the ravenous dead. These activities yield nifty rewards, including equipment and training manuals.
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Sacred Stones (left) and Ancient Circles (right) offer challenges and rewards.
Help out commoners and sabotage the boyars
Before you can rescue Coen’s loved ones, you need to weaken the grip of the vampiric boyars throughout the Vale Sangora. If you check the Court tab/menu, you’ll see different kinds of activities pertaining to the three boyar lieutenants: Ambrus, Xanthe, and Bakir. These tasks include sabotaging facilities, ransacking blood deposits, and ambushing patrols. The more you do this, the bigger the threat you’ll be to their leader, Brencis, who’ll enact edicts to stymy your progress.
As an aside, you can also look for people that are in danger–i.e. they’re being accosted by soldiers or they’re surrounded by a pack of wild animals. Help them out and, assuming they’re a vendor, they might reopen their shop in a settlement.
Waylay patrols to weaken the influence of the boyars (left) and look for common folk that you can aid (right).
Directional combat: Block, dodge, strike, and cast
Combat in The Blood of Dawnwalker emphasizes fast reactions based on directional inputs. Here’s a quick summary:
- Enemy attacks can come from four directions: up, down, left, or right. You can do a deflection by holding the button/thumbstick for that direction and pressing the block button. Alternatively, you can press the block button without any other input for an Omniblock, though this action costs stamina.
- Attacks with a red skull icon cannot be blocked, which means you have to dodge them.
- Perfect blocks and successful attacks restore your activation charges. In turn, these charges can be used to cast powerful abilities.
Learn skills via manuals and pick the ones you really need
Coen has to juggle three skill trees: Swordsmanship, Witchcraft, and Vampirism. While a few perks are available at the start of the campaign, the vast majority need to be learned:
- Swordsmanship and Witchcraft skills can be learned via skill manuals. These come from vendors, activities, or general loot.
- Vampirism skills can be unlocked through Corruption levels. Coen’s Corruption increases as he keeps drinking blood, whether from living beings or liquids left in phials.
Likewise, going back to what we mentioned earlier about Time Progression, skill unlocks and upgrades do cost Time Segments. That’s why you need to think hard about the perks that you really need. Trying to unlock everything will just waste so many days.
Related guide: The best skills for Swordsmanship, Witchcraft, and Vampirism
Think twice about the perks that you upgrade (left) after learning them via manuals (right).
Upgrade your gear instead of throwing them away
Perhaps one of the most integral Blood of Dawnwalker tips to keep in mind is this: You don’t need to throw or sell items that you like. They can actually be upgraded via blacksmiths and armorers, boosting their stats up to your current level.
- Per level-up, weapons and armors have their damage and defenses increased.
- Secondary stats–i.e. maximum health, health/stamina restoration, activation charges, and the like–get increased every five level-ups.
- Amulets and rings gain increases every 10 level-ups.
Collect and sell silver contraband
If you’re spending a lot on training manuals and gear upgrades, then you definitely need more denarii. The best way to amass enough cash is to collect silver, which is considered a contraband since vampires are weak against it. Thankfully, a certain vendor buys the silver ores and wares that you don’t need.
Related guide: Where to sell your silver
Meet new characters and romance them
Coen doesn’t have to go at it alone, since he meets a wonderful cast of supporting characters. Some might even lead to deeper bonds, especially if you play your cards right.
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Explore far-flung locations and discover secrets
Vale Sangora is filled with fiendish foes and dark domains, which is why we encourage you to explore off the beaten path. In some cases, you might stumble upon a quest that leads to an awesome unlockable perk. In another instance, that nondescript ruin in the distance might have a chest with a legendary armor. Oh, and in a couple of areas, you might just unlock secret endings.
You can always rush to the finale if you’re ready for a challenge
Brencis goads you and you have 30 days to prepare for a final confrontation. But if you feel that you’re ready (or you really want to get things over with), you can rush Brencis’ citadel as soon as you’re done with the prologue. After a short climb, you’ll find yourself in the fortress’ courtyard, but don’t expect a cakewalk. The citadel is full of soldiers and every vampire boyar that’s still alive will be waiting for you.
Related guide: How to finish the campaign early
That does it for our Blood of Dawnwalker beginner’s guide. We hope these tips help you overcome all the challenges in the ravaged lands of Vale Sangora.
