The Blood of Dawnwalker: All endings explained
Overview & Key Takeaways
The Blood of Dawnwalker has one main goal for Coen – to save his family. You spend 30 days (and nights) figuring out your best defence against Brencis, levelling up skills, collecting armour and teaming up with allies. But it turns out defeating him isn't the only way to get everyone home safe. In fact, sometimes defeating him might still lead to the demise of your nearest and dearest.
I played through the game's four full story endings to see what would happen and, unfortunately, it's bad news for Lunka at almost every turn. There's also three additional early endings you can try on for size, which we'll cover at the end.
In this guide I'll fully explain how to get all endings in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and what can happen to your family along the way in each case.
The Blood of Dawnwalker has one main goal for Coen – to save his family. You spend 30 days (and nights) figuring out your best defence against Brencis, levelling up skills, collecting armour and teaming up with allies. But it turns out defeating him isn't the only way to get everyone home safe. In fact, sometimes defeating him might still lead to the demise of your nearest and dearest.
I played through the game's four full story endings to see what would happen and, unfortunately, it's bad news for Lunka at almost every turn. There's also three additional early endings you can try on for size, which we'll cover at the end.
In this guide I'll fully explain how to get all endings in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and what can happen to your family along the way in each case.
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There are seven endings in total in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Four are considered full story endings, and three bring the game to a close a lot earlier than expected:
Ending 1. A Deal with the Devil
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
As you level up your Infamy in The Blood of Dawnwalker, you'll be subject to edicts across Vale Sangora including guards recognising you on sight and the gates of Svartrau City being closed indefinitely. Once you reach peak Infamy though, you receive the Edict: Invitation to Parley.
Thus comes the opportunity to meet with Brencis at Shrike's Crag after sunset to 'chat'. All you have to do is light a signal atop the watchtower and he'll descend.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
Brencis arrives with Coen's father, Pieter. Here, he'll offer you a chance to make a deal. He wants you to mark the manumit's hideout. You can agree to it to trigger a deal that ensures your family's safety. Or you can choose any of the dialogue prompts that instigate a fight to the death.
Pick a fight and you'll have to take down Brencis alongside a swathe of undead. Once you defeat him, he'll take you to Anachora to fight his Grotesque Ascendant form. Beat him again and he'll tell you he's left a gift for you at home.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
As you return to Shrike's Crag, Pieter is dead and you'll discover that so is all of your family (or, so it seems). You'll find yourself back in Laslea Glen completing the Things Will Be Different Now quest, finishing tasks and wrapping things up with Anca (who will give you a mysterious potion).
You'll also meet an unusual stranger called Neberu. You're prompted to take Anca's potion to a remote cave and find Lunka has been changed into a vrakhiri. Neberu arrives and reveals he's a dawnwalker, too, but that the Augurs can help Coen with his sister.
Ending 2. Rise at Dawn
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
If you choose the Rise at Dawn ending, you're opting to storm the castle with Crake (aka Marat), the manumits and Knyaz Skender's son, Catalin. For this quest, you move in the daytime meaning you can't use your Vampiric form.
This path also has a lot of fighting. You'll fight guards, breach the gate, fight more guards, dogs and uriash, and then The Unblinking Blasphemy, the humans encased in clay flying atrocities.
After taking the gate, you can then move on the castle via a secret passageway. Catalin wants you to check the tunnels are safe. They're not. Here, you'll fight a lot of kobolds, a whole hive in fact, before parting ways to go and save your family.
Only they're not in the dungeons anymore. So, you fight more guards and wolves, some more guards and, you guessed it, more guards. Until, you enter a magical loop of a trap set up by Xanthe. Then the guards are swapped for undead. Eventually, you enter a door in the back right that'll break you out the loop.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
The battle is turned up a notch as you fight the Commander of the Blood Guard. And then finally, Brencis. Brencis will have your family sat at a feasting table and threatens to make you watch them die. You must once again defeat Brencis in this form and then head to Anachora to fight him as a Grotesque Ascendant.
If you agree that he has helped you in some way by turning you into a dawnwalker rather than storming off in a huff, you get to choose whether to kill him or invite him in. He says he's punished you from beyond the grave, though this time it's just Lunka that suffers and not your whole family. The same errands ensue, though this time you can help Pieter with repairs.
Ending 3. A Lone Wolf's Hunt
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In this ending, you go it alone. But, how do you get into Greifberg Castle? Well, there's a quest hidden within the Svartrau Cathedral's Treasury called In the Name of the Father. One way to get there is with a key found in the back rooms of the cathedral itself. This will open the Treasury located at the back of the cathedral and you'll find Father Florin in the basement tunnels.
Complete his quest by retrieving some armour from the ancient ruins and he'll tell you about a secret side entrance. He's leading his own rebellion and one of his rebels stands at this entrance. You can then use the secret knock to infiltrate the castle.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
This time, there's plenty of guards for you to fight entirely on your own. But, you'll have skipped the gate and find yourself right infront of The Unblinking Blasphemy.
Your route will be similar to Rise at Dawn, only you'll not visit the dungeons with Crake. Instead, you'll fight guards, then find yourself in Xanthe's trap, then face the Commander of the Blood Guard. He'll reveal that Brencis went down to the prisoners.
Heading down to the dungeons will result in more guards and then heading deeper underground will mean lots of undead and even more guards. Eventually, you'll be led to a doorway that prompts you to confront Brencis.
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If you beg to Brencis here, he'll offer you another chance at a deal. You can choose to offer up Lacra or the manumits and he'll agree to free your family. The ending is the same as if you'd killed him in Rise at Dawn. Lunka is once again turned, but the rest of Coen's family is safe.
If you choose to fight instead of beg, you'll have to defeat him once and then defeat him again as the Grotesque Ascendant. The same outcome happens with Lunka's change but your family being safe happens. Only this time, you'll also receive the Gladius, a level 37 Legendary Shortsword, for defeating Brencis.
Ending 4. Midnight Reckoning
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Every quest you've done with Lacra leads up to this point, to join her to fight Brencis together. To reach the castle, you head into ruins under a house in Silberstein. This time, the first enemy you fight is The Unblinking Blasphemy. But, there's plenty more soldiers and undead to fight through to get to Brencis.
You'll make it to the sanctum where a ritual is being performed and once you've defeated the guards, Lacra will destroy the vessel which will make red roots appear across the castle and lots of guards reach an untimely demise (but, this also threatens your family).
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
You'll need to navigate your way into the castle with Planeshift before ending up in Xanthe's loop again. One more fight with the Commander of the Blood Guard and you finally reach Brencis. He's got Coen's family captured in red roots. He offers you the chance to take your family and betray Lacra. If you take it, Lacra will die, but your family will be saved.
Choose the option to fight and Lacra will almost die about halfway through your fight with Brencis, but she'll heal herself. Once you fully defeat Brencis, you'll head with him to Anachora alone to fight him in his Grotesque Ascendant form. This way, you'll kill Brencis, save your family and save Lacra. Apart from Lunka, who meets the same ill fate in every single ending.
Early endings
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There's also three alternative ways to end the game early, if you so wish. One of which RPS guides writer, Jeremy Blum, embarked on by attempting to find out can you take down Brencis in the prologue? A brave feat and one which, if accomplished, can trigger the same ending as A Lone Wolf's Hunt.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
You can also just head out of a gate on the far west of the map by Briar Sloughs at night using your vrakhiri skills to reach it. There, you'll be given the option to leave the valley for good.
Image credit: RPS/Bandai Namco
And one less than ideal ending is to get yourself stuck in the Home Sweet Home nightmare quest loop instead of saving yourself from it. Defeat the boss four times and talk to your family afterwards and you'll find yourself locked in, but at least your family will be safe.
So, there's seven ways to reach a conclusion for The Blood of Dawnwalker, but which one suits you? If you're looking to save Lunka, then it appears your feat is a lost cause. Before you embark on your final quest, why not 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.
