The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to defeat Bakir
Overview & Key Takeaways
As one of Brencis's three Boyars in The Blood of Dawnwalker, Bakir is a force to be reckoned with. Defeating him before you get to Brencis though is a wise idea.
It's likely you'll have already taken down Xanthe and Ambrus before you've found yourself here, but there's something a little more puzzling about the battle with Bakir. The Mad Khan is not as easy to get to, hiding behind his own cohort and a rather strange tournament. Plus, if you find yourself following one particular route, you might choose not to kill him at all (though we strongly advise that you do).
In this guide, we'll reveal how to defeat Bakir in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and what can happen if you choose to veer from our guidance.
As one of Brencis's three Boyars in The Blood of Dawnwalker, Bakir is a force to be reckoned with. Defeating him before you get to Brencis though is a wise idea.
It's likely you'll have already taken down Xanthe and Ambrus before you've found yourself here, but there's something a little more puzzling about the battle with Bakir. The Mad Khan is not as easy to get to, hiding behind his own cohort and a rather strange tournament. Plus, if you find yourself following one particular route, you might choose not to kill him at all (though we strongly advise that you do).
In this guide, we'll reveal how to defeat Bakir in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and what can happen if you choose to veer from our guidance.
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How to defeat Bakir
Before you reach Greifberg Castle to take down Brencis, you'll be angering his court as you wreak havoc on their own dirty ventures. Bakir is on the hit list. Here are the steps you should take to wipe Bakir from Vale Sangora for good:
- Anger Bakir
- Head to Lunar Manor
- Talk to Farkas
- Head to The Lunar Tournament
- Attend Bakir's speech
- Enter the maze
- Solve Bakir's puzzle
- Continue through the maze
- Reveal your truth?
- Feast or fight
1. Anger Bakir
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
In a similar vein to our guide on how to defeat Ambrus, the best way to come up against Bakir is to anger him. This happens via quests in your Journal directly related to Bakir from investigating his pillories to taking out his headhunters. Raise his anger level enough in the Court tab of the menu and you'll trigger The Lunar Game quest.
2. Head to Lunar Manor
For me, The Lunar Game quest began without a visit from Farkas, despite the quest log suggesting as such. It was only when I destroyed one more of Bakir's stations at Lunar Manor that 'Farkas the Fox' came to see me. Whether that's directly related to the fact it was at the Lunar location, the quest's namesake, I'm not sure.
If, like me, you find yourself being told to 'Wait for the right opportunity' as your first task in The Lunar Game, head to the quest near Lunar Manor to complete this step.
3. Talk to Farkas
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Farkas turns out to be Bakir's servant, scorned and ready to help you take his master down. He informs you of Bakir's upcoming competition, The Lunar Tournament. The competitors battle it out through a maze to retrieve the token that will win them favour with Bakir (and a face-to-face meeting). Fortunately, all the competitors also wear masks. So, Farkas says he'll smuggle you in.
He explicitly tells you that he wants his family heirloom back, an amethyst ring, that Bakir has taken. If you fight in the maze, you'll get to fight Bakir. But, you can't take any of your inventory into the maze and you also can't use any of your Vrakhiri powers as it'll reveal who you really are.
4. Head to The Lunar Tournament
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
You may be prompted to use time tokens here to get to the tournament, depending on where you are in the game. For me, I spent the time tokens to get my chance at taking Bakir down. It's entirely up to you though.
At the tournament, Farkas encourages you to speak with the other contestants before the game begins at sundown. You have enough time to speak with three contestants (or two, as well as poisoning the drinks).
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
I spoke with The Porcupine, who promised not to stand between me and Bakir; and I spoke with The Marten, who will like you if you're honest about wanting to kill Bakir. Be sure to suggest you could do it together though, rather than choosing to belittle her. I also chose to poison the liquor with berries from the bush beside it. Both of which are revealed using Focus Mode.
I replayed the quest to try talking to The Rat and The Cockroach, but found both to be unhelpful. You can also opt out of all of this and sit on a bench to waste time, but I highly recommend you at least poison the punch. Note: Looting the food at this stage is pointless, you won't take it with you inside.
5. Attend Bakir's speech
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In true Hunger Games fashion, Bakir will perform a rousing speech before the tournament begins to rile up the competitors. You're given time to decide whether you want to cheer along, stay silent, or provoke Bakir into an instant fight.
Whether you choose to cheer or stay silent has no quest-defining repercussions. Shouting for a fight though will mean you'll have to battle the entire cohort, as well as all the other contestants and eventually Bakir, with a real lack of inventory. You don't need to make your job harder here, just keep schtum during the speech!
6. Enter the maze
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The maze follows a pretty definitive route, though you can absolutely explore cracks and crevices for additional loot and I suggest that you do. As you loot up, you'll be able to swap in some goods to your severely lacking inventory.
And you'll need it, too. As you navigate the maze, you'll come up against a swathe of enemies from an undead wolf pack to Murohn to the Great Bog Wurm. You'll also have the opportunity to fight The Porcupine. You can choose to fight him or go your separate ways, though choosing to leave it will obviously mean no extra fight and one less dead body, which is a rarity in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
7. Solve Bakir's puzzle
After a whole lot of fighting, the tempo will change as you're presented with a puzzle. A riddle reads "Silver coin shimmers on the right, Middle feels like a summer light, Left reeks of blood and fear, Choose wisely, and you will scream!" And for this, choose the left one to advance.
8. Continue through the maze
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Next, you'll come across The Marten who is dying and hands you the Darkbane Amulet, a Master Amulet that increases your weaponry critical hit and damage against supernatural enemies. You'll need to fight a Giant Bog Wurm before you get to put it on though. Loot hard enough and you'll also find helpful armour like the Nobleman's Black Bracers, upping weapon damage and decreasing your attack stamina cost.
Soon after, you'll come across The Cockroach, wounded and incapable of fighting on due to the poisoning you dished out earlier. No poison? An extra and wholly unnecessary fight.
9. Reveal your truth?
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Now, throughout the maze, you do still have your Vrakhiri skills, but what happens if you use them? Well, you can certainly get through the entire maze without doing such a thing. But, if you've slipped up or just fancy provoking Bakir, Farkas will try to distract him from your tomfoolery. Eventually though, he'll catch on and insist the tournament is over and want to fight you, alongside the gnarly members of his cohort.
Keep it cool though and you'll make it to the end of the maze. The Rat will be tied to the willow tree in the middle of the maze and Bakir will ask you to cut the token out of him. I agreed and Bakir invited me to a feast.
10. Feast or fight
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If you didn't keep your cool, you'll just have to fight the cohort first and then Bakir. This way gets you immediate access to all their loot upon defeat, as well as a ticket to the Treasury via Farkas. He'll want you to find his heirloom ring, but you'll also be able to loot a bunch of goodies, namely the Vrakhiric Bracers, Bakir's Armour and Epic Amulet, Sunlight's Boon. This is the best way to defeat Bakir as reaching the end of the maze gets you the best armour and defence.
After looting, you can hide the ring from Farkas entirely, or tell him it's full of magic he doesn't understand and that you want to ask someone who will understand it, or just hand it over. I kept it to ask for advice and that launched The Ring quest that'll eventually lead you to the Uriash Matriarch in the mountains. She will tell you the ring is evil (but give you some lovely loot in return for your trust).
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
Attend the feast though and you can choose a different conclusion altogether – one that means you don't kill Bakir at all. By refusing to take off your sword and mask and talking of what you dream of, Bakir will like you enough to take you to the Treasury where you can ask for an item. He'll also hand you back all your items, so now would be the perfect time to launch an attack. Only, you might be too late. I chose the Magical Talisman as it sounded the most intriguing and he gave me Sunlight's Boon. Unfortunately, that's just one of the items of loot I got myself by killing them all anyway.
By choosing this route, you don't get to kill Bakir and I'm unsure of the knock on effect of keeping Bakir alive when you come to face Brencis, but I'd hazard a guess that we won't be buddies for much longer.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
Defeating Bakir eliminates his diamond plaque on the Court tab in the menu, but his quests will still remain active, if you wish to wipe him off the board entirely. This will also increase your Infamy for the final takedown. And what happened to Farkas? Well, you'll find him eventually in Parlita and he's pretty annoyed that Bakir lied to him. He'll repay you for your service, but it's certainly not loot worth talking about. Taking down Bakir though? Priceless.
Huzzah, Bakir is dead and long may you rise in greatness to take on Brencis at Greifberg Castle in The Blood of Dawnwalker ending. If you're searching for more assistance as you take on additional Boyars, check out our guides on the best weapons to get first, and the best skills to get first. And if it's additional quest help that you're after, take a peek at our guide to all locations in A Pilgrimage for Power.
