On this page · 10 sections
  1. How to Use This Walkthrough
  2. The 30-Day Clock, In One Paragraph
  3. Prologue Walkthrough
  4. Day 1
  5. Day 2
  6. Day 3
  7. Day 4
  8. Day 5
  9. Choices That Actually Cost You Something
  10. Tips Before You Leave the Prologue

Quick Answer

This walkthrough follows Coen from the opening moments in Laslea Glen through the prologue and the first five days of the 30-day story window, listing the quests available in each period, the objectives that actually matter, the dialogue choices that cost you time, and the confirmed XP and item rewards.

There is no "correct" route. The game is built so that you cannot complete every quest in 30 days, so use this as a menu of what is available rather than a checklist to finish. Days 6–30 are not covered yet — we only publish days we can document from real play material.

Vale Sangora opens up fast. Once the prologue ends you are given 30 days to save your family, and from that point the developer hands you complete control over how you get there. That makes a traditional step-by-step walkthrough a strange thing to write for this game: there is no optimal path, because every path closes off other paths.

What follows is a diary instead. Each section covers one story period, lists what is on offer in it, and flags the choices that change what you get. Skip what does not interest you — the game expects you to.

How to Use This Walkthrough

Read a day section before you commit to it, not after. Time in The Blood of Dawnwalker advances when you start or advance quests, so the cost of a quest is paid up front, and some quests are mutually exclusive in practice simply because the clock runs out.

  • Prioritise by reward, not by order. Side activities listed under a day are available in that period, not mandatory in it.
  • Watch the time segment warnings. Several prologue conversations consume one to three segments. They are flagged below.
  • Do not fear losing a fight. Two major prologue encounters progress the story whether you win or lose — the outcome changes what you see, not whether you continue.
  • Use the shrine outside Anca’s hut early. It is where you spend skill points, and it also serves as fast travel and storage.

Before the blood mass

During the prologue only a limited number of quests can be picked up before the blood mass begins at sundown. Any quest still in progress when the sun sets will fail. Deep Down is the one most worth finishing first — it yields early armour and a large chunk of XP.

The 30-Day Clock, In One Paragraph

Coen has 30 days. Time does not drain while you simply explore — wandering, looting and sightseeing are free — but starting or advancing quests spends time segments. Perks, trainers and story routes are gated behind that budget, so the real decision in this game is not "what should I do next" but "what am I willing to lose". See the 30-day time system guide for the full breakdown.

Prologue Walkthrough

The prologue is a tutorial dressed as a disaster. It teaches hand-to-hand combat, then vampiric combat, then traversal, and it ends by taking almost everything from you. Treat it as a chance to learn the verbs, not to optimise.

Prologue quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
All Good ThingsN/A
Withering Away100 XP
Page-Turner100 XP
Like Father, Like Son100 XP and a Charge Skill Manual
Live Bait100 XP
Dead Drop100 XP, a Ring of Purging, and 24 Denarii
Blasphemy75–850 XP, possibly 25 Denarii, possibly a Daylight Amulet
Enter Not100 XP
If a Tree Falls in a Forest...100 XP, 2 Regenerative Salves, and a Witch’s Pendant
Deep Down250 XP, 25–50 Denarii, Master Light Bracers, Superior Shortsword
Sacred Covenant250 XP
Bad Blood700 XP

All Good Things

The game opens on an ordinary day. Coen’s sister Lunka wanders into the forest; follow the marker north until you find a crawlspace with a trail of blood, crouch through it, and keep going until a cutscene triggers. This is your hand-to-hand combat tutorial against the Blood Guards.

After Coen is fatally stabbed, Lunka lets him drink her blood and he turns. The combat tutorial restarts in vampiric form: you learn to dodge, unlock Voracious Bite, and fight your way forward. Later, after confronting Lunka, you unlock Shadowstep, a traversal ability that crosses gaps and reaches distant ledges. Use it to reach the church, trigger the cutscene, and you will wake at home and roll straight into Withering Away.

Worth knowing

Shadowstep is not just a prologue tool. It stays in your kit and later combines with Planeshift to walk on walls and ceilings. Learn the timing here while nothing is trying to kill you.

Withering Away

You wake to Pieter. Ask him about Lunka and about the nightmare before you regain control of Coen, then open the chest in your room for the Recipe for Minor Mending Ointment, Comfortable Tunic, Trousers with Wrappings, Grey Loafers and Excerpts from Fabulae. Check the Active Abilities menu while you are in there — Dirty Trick is already unlocked.

Go outside and use the chopping block on your left (250 XP and 1 Firewood), then take the firewood to the stove in the dining room. A breakfast cutscene follows. When Pieter restrains Esme to force-feed her you get a choice: "All right. Let’s try." or "I won’t feed her against her will." Either completes the beat for 250 XP and 25 Denarii. Before you leave, loot the dining room for a Parasol Mushroom, a Clay Cup and Fruit Juice, and pick up the Training Sword on the opposite side of the room — then actually equip it.

Head down the slope to find Yanna, Lunka and Mirto. Speaking to Yanna opens Live Bait. After that, go southwest to Anca’s Hut. She is not home: use Focus Mode on the vegetable patch and the barrel by the door, loot the supplies nearby (Hammer, Mountain Cider, Yellow Sweet Clover, Millet Beer), then check around the right-hand corner of the hut to find her by the river.

Time cost

Getting the herbs from Anca advances time by 1 time segment. Staying to practise Latin afterwards costs 2 more ("Gladly — I’ve missed it too") or 1 more ("I really have to go"). If you are counting segments, take the short option.

Anca asks 50 Denarii for the medicine. You only have 25 — pick "You know things are tight for us right now." and pay what you have. When you leave, you should be able to level up and spend a skill point at the shrine just outside her hut. Back home, Pieter is talking to Vladimir; hand over the herbs and prepare the medicine with hot water and three spoonfuls of herbs, and choose to tell Esme a story while she drinks it.

Like Father, Like Son

Follow Pieter to the field for a duel. Block his swings and counter; when he winds up for a kick, dodge instead of blocking — kicks cannot be blocked. The bout ends when either fighter drops to critical health. Pieter then tells you about Vladimir’s plan to move against Brencis, and gives you a choice about getting home before dusk.

  • Agreeing to be home before dusk costs 1 time segment.
  • Choosing to wait with Pieter costs 3 time segments.

Answer however you like; the reward is the same either way — a Charge Manual and 100 XP.

Sacred Covenant

At sundown the town gathers at the Laslea church for the blood mass. Before you sit down you can speak to Vasil at the front, brothers Gavril and Lazar at the back, and Anca and Vladimir on the third row behind Esme and Pieter. Talking to Anca adds a flirt option — "So I can come see you even when I’m not running errands?" — if that is the relationship you want to build.

Sit next to Esme to start the mass. Father Florin’s prompts are timed, and silence is a valid answer to both of them. Brencis and his officers arrive; Esme is forced to drink and is judged weak; Coen loses his temper. The scene cuts to the family home and to the silver mines. Reward: 250 XP.

Bad Blood

Coen wakes badly wounded in the mines beside Vladimir. Equip your armour and weapons before moving on, and loot the barrels as you go. Head southeast until the visions start, then turn left into the next room to find Ludwig trapped under a beam — lift it, and grab the common sword on the ground nearby.

Use Focus Mode and follow the gold-highlighted clues north to Kostel. After the cutscene he attacks and the two of you fall into a pit. Squeeze through the gap, then use Shadowstep to cross the precipice and climb back up. Along the way the game teaches you to feed on rats with Voracious Bite to recover health — a habit worth keeping.

Kobolds ambush you next; fight them with a weapon or switch to claws, your call. Then comes Planeshift: aim at a wall, Shadowstep to it, and walk up it — then Shadowstep to the ceiling and walk across to the far side. Clawride down the cliff face outside, deal with Brencis’s soldiers, loot them, and head southwest to Vladimir’s burning hut, which is guarded by a soldier and a Vrakhiri Banneret.

Talk Vladimir out of the fire — "You’re afraid — I get it. I am, too." followed by either "I do, yes." or "That’s not true.", then "Makes no difference now." In town, Coen confronts Brencis. When Brencis tempts him to feed on his father, answer "Never!". Beat Brencis and you are taken to Greifber Castle to fight his true form; lose either phase and you still continue, waking up in Anca’s hut.

Losing is a route

Both outcomes advance the story. If you are under-levelled or out of resources, losing the Brencis fight is a legitimate way forward rather than a fail state — just note that you will see a different version of what follows.

Smoke and Ashes

This one starts in Anca’s home. Loot it for notes, ingredients and consumables, equip armour, and travel to Laslea with Anca. At Coen’s house, clear the hostile stray dogs, then use Focus Mode to inspect: the charred exterior walls, the broken front door, the destroyed dining table, the cloth caught in the dining room window, Lunka’s Toy, the blood stain, the soldiers’ footprints outside Coen’s room, and Coen’s bed.

Report back to Anca and she teaches you the Witchcraft ability Compel Soul, which lets you speak to the dead. You will need three Catalysts before the soldier will say anything useful: Brencis’s Banner (on the ground in front of him), the Trampled Apple (to your left of where you picked up the banner) and the Drinking Gourd (on the dirt road, facing east).

Cast Compel Soul with all three in hand, bury the dead, then clear the rubble at the main gate of Laslea. Doing so shifts the Day Phase and ends the quest. Reward: 150 XP plus two Witchcraft abilities, Burning Blood and Astral Communication.

Day 1

With the prologue done, the open world opens. Day 1 is mostly about unlocking the shape of the valley: points of interest, a couple of Ambrus contracts, and the first of the witchcraft-adjacent side quests.

Day 1 quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
Smoke and Ashes150 XP, Burning Blood and Astral Communication abilities
From AboveBriar Sloughs Points of Interest unlocked
Briar Sloughs Soldier Camp2x Skill Manuals
Briar Sloughs Murohn’s Lair100 XP and a Skill Manual
A Pilgrimage for Power: Bear Trouble75 XP, Ravenous Flock Manual, Quickcast Amulet
Ambrus’s Collectors: Wetland Helpers250 XP and 5x Blood Leeches

Day 2

Day 2 leans into Ambrus contracts — repeatable-flavoured jobs with reliable XP — plus two story-flavoured quests. If you are short on gear, "Taking Back What’s Mine" is the one to prioritise, because it returns your weapons.

Day 2 quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
The Firebrand75 XP
Under Watchful Eyes250 XP
Taking Back What’s MineYour weapons, recovered from Stoneward Post
Ambrus’s Transports: Roadside Surprise250 XP and a Kobold’s Blood potion
Ambrus’s Dungeons: Evil and Convenience250 XP, Amulet of Endurance, Recipe for Minor Keen Eye Potion, 60 Denarii

Day 3

Day 3 is the first day where skill points enter the reward pool in bulk. Three of the four Ambrus contracts pay a skill point on top of XP, which makes this a strong day if you are behind on perks. "Shadow in the Woods" pays the single biggest XP chunk in the opening week.

Day 3 quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
Shadow in the Woods1,000 XP
Ambrus’s Prisoners: Fate’s Mercy250 XP and 1x Skill Point
Ambrus’s Collectors: Unsavoury Solutions250 XP, 11x Blood Leeches, 1x Skill Point
Ambrus’s Transports: Bloody Business250 XP and 1x Skill Point
Ambrus’s Dungeons: Twists and Turns250 XP and 1x Skill Point

Day 4

Two things make Day 4 worth planning around: Ambrus’s Cellars: Seeing Red pays 500 XP and a skill point, and Ambrus’s Prisoners: Lucky Crossing unlocks Ursul as a Swordmastery trainer. If you are building Coen around the sword, that trainer is the reason to do this day properly.

Day 4 quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
Forge It Anew: Do Not Disturb250 XP
Star-Crossed Lovers100 Denarii, 100 XP, Recipe for Minor Vitality Balm
Ambrus’s Cellars: Seeing Red500 XP and 1x Skill Point
Ambrus’s Prisoners: Lucky Crossing250 XP, Ursul unlocked as Swordmastery trainer
Ambrus’s Collectors: Bounty of the Mire250 XP, 1x Skill Point, 18x Blood Leeches

Day 5

Day 5 is short and top-heavy. The Gilded Gauntlet pays out Ambrus’s Cuirass and Ambrus’s Sword alongside 500 XP and a skill point — one of the best single-quest hauls in the opening days. Buried Past (Pt. 1) starts here and pays nothing yet, so treat it as a setup beat.

Day 5 quests and confirmed rewards
Quest / ActivityReward
A Good Deed Is Its Own RewardArtisanal Cardinal Bracers
Buried Past (Pt. 1)N/A
The Gilded Gauntlet500 XP, 1x Skill Point, Ambrus’s Cuirass, Ambrus’s Sword

Days 6–30

We have not published days 6 through 30 yet. The diary format only works if every entry is documented from real play, and we will not invent quest names, Boss encounters or rewards to fill the calendar. This page is updated as material is verified.

Choices That Actually Cost You Something

Most dialogue in the opening days is flavour. A handful of moments spend a resource you cannot get back, and those are the ones worth slowing down for.

  • Feeding Esme (Withering Away). Both options complete the scene, but the scene is one of the first places the game shows you that Coen’s compassion has a cost.
  • Latin with Anca (Withering Away). Two time segments for the long answer, one for the short one. If you are chasing a tight route, take the short one.
  • Waiting with Pieter (Like Father, Like Son). Three time segments instead of one. That is a meaningful slice of a 30-day budget.
  • Refusing to feed on your father (Bad Blood). "Never!" is the answer that keeps Coen’s humanity intact, and the game treats it as a real decision rather than a prompt.

Tips Before You Leave the Prologue

  • Finish Deep Down before the blood mass. It is the recommended early quest for a reason: armour plus a strong XP payout.
  • Equip the Training Sword the moment you get it. The game does not do it for you.
  • Feed to heal. Voracious Bite on rats and small animals recovers health; in vampire form it is your most reliable sustain.
  • Spend skill points at shrines, not in the field. The shrine outside Anca’s hut also handles fast travel and storage.
  • Do not try to clear everything. The design assumes you will miss most of it. Missing content is the intended experience, not a mistake.

Sources

Related Guides

FAQ

Is there a correct order to play The Blood of Dawnwalker in?

No. There is no clear division between main and side quests, and a 30-day budget is not enough to finish every story arc in one run. Pick the quests that fit the character you are building and accept the rest.

What happens if I lose the fight against Brencis?

You still progress. Losing either phase of the Bad Blood confrontation simply sends Coen to wake up in Anca’s hut instead of continuing to Greifber Castle, and the story carries on from there.

Which prologue quest should I do first?

Deep Down. It yields an early piece of armour plus 250 XP, 25–50 Denarii, Master Light Bracers and a Superior Shortsword, which is a large head start for a character about to enter the open world.

Does this walkthrough cover all 30 days?

Not yet. We currently document the prologue and Days 1 through 5 from verified play material. Later days are added as they are confirmed rather than guessed at.