The Blood of Dawnwalker features immersive open-world elements, like the passage of time, which makes the world evolve and locks you out of certain choices, and a protagonist who is human by day, vampire by night. Additionally, all quests and choices are optional - You make your own adventure and can reach your objectives in whichever way you find best.
In this Beginner's Guide, you'll learn everything you need to know to start your journey in Vale Sangora, including comprehensive explanations of the game's systems and mechanics, the best quests and things to do in the early game, advice on how to make the best use of your time, and several tips and tricks to elevate your experience playing Dawnwalker.
Time in Dawnwalker doesn't progress automatically; instead, it's a resource you can spend by completing quests or other activities.
Dawnwalker's time advances by ticks, indicated in the top-right bar on the screen. When the bar fills, time will turn from day to night, or vice versa. Coen has different abilities during the day vs at night, which are important to exploration and combat. Read the Day and Night Differences section to learn more about it.
Time-limited quests
As you progress in the game, you'll unlock quests that must be completed before a certain time passes, or else they'll automatically fail.
You should focus on completing these quests as soon as possible if you are able to.
Advancing Time
When doing activities toward completing a quest, the time bar will progress by a certain amount, indicated by the hourglass icon in the UI. Quests can have multiple steps, meaning they could take most of a day to finish.
This means you should be mindful of which quests you take on, prioritizing the ones that seem most important to you, or those that could lead to better rewards.
Failing Quests Doesn't Mean Game Over
Even if certain story quests must be completed before a deadline, like rescuing your family, it doesn't mean that the game is over if you fail them. It will alter the story and the ending in important ways, meaning you can shape your own adventure to the fullest.
Day and Night Differences
During the day, Coen behaves like a normal person, using his sword and witchcraft to fight and explore. At night, however, he turns into a vampire, gaining access to powerful combat and mobility Skills and having to deal with drawbacks like blood-thirst and corruption.
Daytime Exclusives
During the day, Coen has access to Witchcraft Skills, which offer a wide variety of effects like crowd control and serious damage. You can also use Mercurial Fervour to quickly traverse the map, and the Compel Soul spell to speak to the dead, which can let you advance quests by gathering important information.
Certain quests, merchants, and NPCs display a Sun Icon, indicating that they are only accessible during the day. Most Armourers and Stores close at night, too, so make sure to stock up while the sun is up. This gets worse once Edit 5 goes into effect, imposing a Curfew which makes most NPCs inaccessible at night.
There are Haunted Sites that require Witchcraft to be unlocked, so they can only be accessed during the day.
Healing Items and Consumables can only be used during the day, so you can heal without using blood.
Nighttime Exclusives
Coen unlocks Vampiric Skills at night, gaining powerful Skills and combat abilities. In particular, he can use his Vampiric Claws for melee combat, which is a better alternative to swords in most cases.
Some Vampire Skills are great for map traversal: Shadowstep, Clawride, and Planeshift allow you to reach elevated places that are inaccessible during the day. This is especially important as they let you reach Towers, which display nearby interest points.
While in Vampire form, Coen cannot use healing items. Instead, he must drink the blood of humans or animals with the Voracious Bite skill, which raises his Corruption level. Corruption acts as a secondary level-up, unlocking more powerful Vampiric powers, but also affecting Coen's personality and having an effect on the story and endings.
You must keep track of your bloodthirst at night, as going too long without drinking blood can make Coen murder allies or quest NPCs. If you see warnings about craving blood, it's usually best to avoid going near important NPCs until you satiate your thirst by feeding off someone or by using a Vial of Blood.
At night, certain merchants, monster lairs, and quests become active, shown by a Moon Icon on the map and in the quest list.
Edicts: Difficulty Increases as You Progress
As Coen progresses through Vale Sangora, he becomes a bigger problem for Brencis' Court, and he will issue Edicts that raise the game's difficulty in various ways. Coen can gain Infamy from different sources:
Court Activities: Completing tasks that weaken each of Brencis' followers will earn Infamy.
Defeating Vrakhir: Defeating each of Brencis' 3 officers (Ambrus, Bakir and Xanthe) will raise Infamy by a full level each.
Defeating Brencis' soldiers and committing violent acts during quests can earn Infamy.
Killing and stealing from civilians and merchants.
While getting some Infamy is unavoidable, it has upsides, as you can unlock specific quests to defeat Brencis' officers, which has a bigger effect on your eventual confrontation with Brencis. In your first playthrough, we recommend you unlock and complete these quests.
9 Edicts can be issued in total, each causing a permanent effect on Vale Sangora. You should change how you interact with the world of Dawnwalker based on the active Edicts:
Level
Effect
1
More patrols and soldiers in settlements and towns.
2
Military Checkpoints appear throughout the map.
3
Merchant prices increase.
4
Increased soldiers on roads, and commanders recognize Coen.
5
A curfew is put in place, and fewer NPCs are outside their homes at night.
6
Prices increase even higher, and more military checkpoints appear.
7
All Soldiers recognize Coen, and Headhunters start pursuing him.
8
All soldiers become stronger.
9
Svartrau City's gates close, restricting entrance during the day.
Read our Tips & Tricks section for more information on how to play around Brencis' Edicts.
Tips & Tricks
Dawnwalker has several mechanics that players must keep track of. These tips and tricks will help you find your footing in the early game and make the most of what Vale Sangora has to offer:
Use Consumables & Blood To Heal
During the day, consumable items are the best way to replenish Coen's HP. Witchcraft Skills cost health to cast, and healing becomes harder at night, so try to keep your HP at full during the day.
At night, however, you rely on drinking blood to heal, which increases Coen's Corruption level. Managing HP at night can be harder, so try to avoid needless combat.
Unlock Fast Travel Locations
You'll find Shrines throughout Vale Sangora, which activate when nearby. You can use Shrines to fast travel to any other Shrine you've previously unlocked. Some Shrines can require you to find a Shrine Heart nearby to repair it.
Unlock Scouting Towers Early
There are 11 Scouting Towers in Vale Sangora, which have a Tower icon on the map. They can only be accessed at night, as you'll need to use Vampire skills to climb them.
Once you reach the top, you can scout to reveal activities and points of interest in the surrounding area, which can give you a better clue as to where to go next.
Climbing towers does not consume time, so there is no drawback to unlocking them as soon as possible. Furthermore, most towers have Manuals at their top, too, which let you unlock new Perks and Skills.
Choose Between Regular and Directional Combat
The Blood of Dawnwalker offers two distinct combat styles: Omni-attack and Omni-block, which are regular attack and block inputs, and Directional Attacks and Blocks, which must be manually aimed based on the direction an enemy attacks from.
If you prefer a straightforward combat experience, choose Omniattack and Omniblock. If you prefer a more tactical and precise approach, choose the Directional options.
Plan Two Different Builds: Day and Night
Coen has access to Swordmanship, Witchcraft, and Vampire Skill Trees. Swordmanship is active both during day and night, but is less powerful than Witch or Vampire abilities, though those come at their own cost each: HP and Corruption, respectively.
Early on, you'll want to make the most of whichever Abilities you unlock, as well as level up Stamina perks to defeat low-level enemies.
During the night, you should fight using your Vampire claws instead of your sword, as they are stronger. You can choose whether or not to use Vampire abilities, always keeping an eye on your Corruption.
As you level up and get more Manuals and gear, you can start investing in Witchcraft and Vampire-exclusive Perks and gear to make Coen more powerful.
Play Around Edicts
Edicts have permanent effects on the world of Dawnwalker. You can see their effects before they activate the following day, giving you some time to prepare:
Avoid getting caught in Military Checkpoints, as it costs you a time segment.
Spend your money buying gear and consumables before prices increase in Edicts 3 and 6.
Avoid riding near military groups, as commanders recognize Coen from Edict 4 onward, and all patrols and soldiers recognize him in Edict 7.
After Edict 5's Curfew goes into effect, spend daytime talking to NPCs and merchants, as they won't appear at night. You can use nighttime to explore and defeat enemies.
After Edict 8, all soldiers become much stronger, so avoid needless confrontation unless it is unavoidable.
