The Blood of Dawnwalker: Best Skills to get early
Overview & Key Takeaways
The Blood of Dawnwalker's Skill tree isn't just a single tree. No, it's three trees in total - one lets you level up perks and abilities in Witchcraft, one in Swordmastery, and the last one in Vampiric.
Furthermore, Skills in The Blood of Dawnwalker consist of both Perks and Abilities. Abilities are special moves you use during fights which can be equpped to quick slots, used in the menu, and also run passively. Perks can apply to a variety of different aspects of Coen's life as a Dawnwalker, from how much stamina he has in battle to how much inventory he can carry, and a whole lot more.
You may be overwhelmed by all of these choices. Fear not - I've spent time figuring out some of the best early Skills in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and this guide will reveal all of them.
The Blood of Dawnwalker's Skill tree isn't just a single tree. No, it's three trees in total - one lets you level up perks and abilities in Witchcraft, one in Swordmastery, and the last one in Vampiric.
Furthermore, Skills in The Blood of Dawnwalker consist of both Perks and Abilities. Abilities are special moves you use during fights which can be equpped to quick slots, used in the menu, and also run passively. Perks can apply to a variety of different aspects of Coen's life as a Dawnwalker, from how much stamina he has in battle to how much inventory he can carry, and a whole lot more.
You may be overwhelmed by all of these choices. Fear not - I've spent time figuring out some of the best early Skills in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and this guide will reveal all of them.
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The Blood of Dawnwalker best Skills to get first
As mentioned, The Blood of Dawnwalker has three separate Skill trees, and unlocking the Skills that fill up their branches isn't particularly straightforward. Sure, you can spend your Skill Points, but you'll also need to consider if you're using any of your time up doing so. Oh, and you've got to unlock them in the first place by finding/buying Manuals, as well as levelling up your Corruption for the Vampirism tree.
With all of this to consider, we thought we'd made it easier.Here are the very best Skills (across Perks and Abilities) to get first in The Blood of Dawnwalker:
- Endless Effort
- Vigour
- Mercurial Fervour/Shapeshift
- Vrakhiri Might
- Second Skin
- Shred
- Pack Mule
- Burning Blood
- Blood Surge
- Stinging Blade
1. Endless Effort
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
It's a tale as old as time - you're probably not surprised to hear that Stamina is worth the investment during the early hours of The Blood of Dawnwalker (and as you journey deeper into the game). Boosting your stamina is pretty vital if you want to be able to sustain big fights and boss battles. Increase your stamina, increase your chances of defeating soldiers, Boyars and, eventually, Brencis.
There are several ways to help buff your stamina, like decreasing its cost with Perks such as Omniblock and Restless Claws. But Endless Effort is the best way to increase your stamina overall during both day and night by up to 100% without having to spend too many Skill Points or time tokens to get there.
2. Vigour
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In the early hours of the game, you're going to benefit from having more health, especially in your human form. For this, I recommend spending your Skill Points on Vigour. This is an anytime Perk that will increase your maximum health by 10%, then 20%, and eventually 50% (though you'll need to find the Manuals later in the game to increase it by this much). Every little bit helps for now.
3. Mercurial Fervour/Shapeshift
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To achieve Haste in the game, AKA fast movement, there are two skills you'll want to invest in - one for Coen as a human and one for Coen as a vampire. For Coen as a human, you can run really fast, which is harnessed by learning the Perk called Mercurial Fervour. It allows you to briefly slow down the world around you.
Meanwhile, for Coen as a vampire, you'll want to learn Shapeshift. Not only will Shapeshift help you travel around the map faster (and there's a lot of ground to cover, even with the Shrines activated), but it'll also mean you can turn into a wolf. And who doesn't want that? These are both passive abilities, and when unlocked to their full potential using Skill Points (and no time tokens) you'll be able to run perpetually without using any stamina at all.
4. Vrakhiri Might
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With three different Skill trees on the go, it's hard to know where to pull your focus - Witchcraft, Swordmastery, or Vampirism. And honestly, I think a mix of all three is important when you're looking at how many abilities you can quick slot for the fights. The more you have, the better it is.
For Vampirism, the most useful early Skill is Vrakhiri Might. For Witchcraft, it's Forbidden Sigils. For Swordmastery, it's Master Fencer. I actually find Witchcraft and Vampirism to be a better use of your skill points early on though, but being able to equip more abilities across the board is very helpful.
5. Second Skin
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Second Skin is a highly vital Swordmastery Perk that will decrease the percentage you're penalised for wearing Medium Armour (Second Skin I) and eventually Heavy Armour (Second Skin II). With so many fancy armour pieces out there to equip, it'd be a darn shame if the stats suffered. In the beginning of The Blood of Dawnwalker, invest in Second Skin I before bothering with Heavy Armour, as you won't find that until later in the game.
6. Shred
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Shred is one of those passive abilities that'll do you a real service in battle. It benefits your Vampiric form, increasing the bleed chance on your Weapon and Claw Attacks. With a 20% Bleed chance on the first unlock, this swiftly amplifies to not only increasing the Bleed chance, but also boosting the amount of damage the bleeding does. It's deadly and perfect.
7. Pack Mule
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In the early game, you're not going to really know what's worth holding onto and what's worth selling. And, to be honest, you might not want to spend time visiting traders and merchants, particularly after your Infamy rises and makes visiting busy spots during the day a difficult task. Investing in Pack Mule lets you sidestep these difficulties by increasing your Carry Weight, which also keeps you from being encumbered and unable to run (or use Haste).
8. Burning Blood
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Burning Blood is another excellent ability to use on your enemies. It falls under the Witchcraft tree, meaning it can only be used in the day time, but it shells out devastating damage over time to a target. Burning Blood also makes it easier to attack targets from further away while they're suffering.
9. Blood Surge
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For Vampirism, Blood Surge isn't only a great attack ability, it's also pretty fun to watch. Use it at the right time and you'll completely explode your enemies - a tactic that works particularly well on bosses. This is a handy ability to have in the early game, especially as you approach your first run-in with a Boyar during the battle against Xanthe.
10. Stinging Blade
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It'll become clear quite early on that using Witchcraft and Vampiric abilities in the day and night are more beneficial in battle, rather than investing in the Swordmastery ones. But, it certainly doesn't hurt to increase the level of damage your sword can do overall. With Stinging Blade, you'll add 5% weapon damage to any weapon you're using, 10% at the next unlock, and eventually this will culminate in a 20% boost overall.
How to unlock Skills
As mentioned, unlocking Skills isn't as straightforward as collecting Skill Points and spending them. Firstly, you must be at a Shrine in order to use your points. This cannot be done whenever you fancy.
As well as spending Skill Points, the cost of Perks and Abilities increases as you level up each one. This means that leveling up can start costing more Skill Points as well as costing you precious time tokens. So, spend your resources wisely.
For Swordmastery and Witchcraft, you'll often need a Manual to unlock certain Perks and Abilities, and you'll need even more Manuals as you level up each one. For Vampirism, you'll need to level up your Corruption. You do this whenever you drain the blood of an unsuspecting neutral creature or victim using Voracious Bite.
I recommend draining as much blood as possible early on so you can unlock more. You'll also increase corruption when completing certain quests or drinking certain Phials of Blood that you retrieve as you play. Be sure to drink them up rather than letting them sit in your inventory - often, they'll also unlock a new skill.
Now you should have a good idea of the best Skills to unlock first in The Blood of Dawnwalker. We've got plenty of other guides to help you get started on your bloodsucking adventure, so take a peek at our deep dive into the best weapons to get first. We also have guides on all locations in A Pilgrimage for Power, all Sanzhana locations, and how to defeat Ambrus.
