Blood of Dawnwalker Complete Walkthrough — Main Quest Path & All Major Decision Points

Let's be upfront: this isn't a linear walkthrough, because the game isn't linear. Rebel Wolves built a narrative sandbox where what you don't do matters as much as what you do. I can't give you a step-by-step list because your step 7 depends entirely on what you chose at step 3.

What I can give you is a map of the decision points, what each choice costs, and where the hidden content lives.

Act I: The Awakening (Days 1-5)

The crypt opening is linear. You meet the herbalist, you fight the bandits, the world opens up. The first real fork comes when you reach the crossroads after the bandit fight — plague village versus lieutenant pursuit.

Plague village path: Slower, dialogue-heavy, unlocks mimicry trainer, reveals Brencis's backstory through environmental storytelling. You learn why the valley is dying, not just that it is. Mechanically you gain access to the Witchery trainer two days earlier than the alternative path. Recommended for first playthroughs.

Lieutenant path: Combat-focused, moves the main plot faster, gives you your first boss fight against one of Brencis's blood generals. The loot from this boss includes a Vampirism-enhancing ring that's genuinely one of the best early-game items in the game. But you miss the plague village's dialogue entirely and that village has... consequences later.

There's also a third option nobody talks about: do neither for two full days. Just explore, help random villagers, unlock fast travel points. On day 3, a new NPC messenger appears at the inn with an alternative quest hook. It doesn't change the main story but it gives you a unique gear piece and some of the best writing in Act I.

Act II: Choosing Sides (Days 6-15)

The valley has three major factions: the Church of the Dawn (zealots who hunt both vampires and Dawnwalkers), the Blood Court (Brencis's vampire aristocracy), and the Free Folk (regular humans trying to survive).

You can ally with any of them. You can also piss all of them off, which is its own valid path. The game has endings for the "screw everyone" route.

Church alliance: Safe during the day, hostile at night (they consider your vampire half an abomination). Gives access to blessed weapons that do bonus damage to vampires and Dawnwalker enemies. Locks Vampirism progression beyond tier 3. If you're going Swordplay/Witchcraft hybrid, this is your faction.

Blood Court: Vampirism-focused. Brencis's lieutenants become quest givers instead of bosses. You gain access to blood magic upgrades that aren't available anywhere else. Most human NPCs become hostile or flee. The ending this leads to is... let's say it's not the happy one. But it's the most mechanically powerful path if you can stomach the narrative.

Free Folk: The hardest path mechanically — no special gear, no faction bonuses, just a lot of desperate people asking for help. But it unlocks the most quests and lets you see the most content. If you want to experience everything in one playthrough, this is it. The Free Folk ending is also the only one where you can save certain NPCs who die in other routes.

Critical Missable Content

Day 12, night. There's an eclipse. During the eclipse, your Dawnwalker powers are amplified — you can use both human and vampire abilities simultaneously regardless of time of day. This is the only time in the game this happens. The eclipse lasts about 15 real-time minutes.

During the eclipse, head to the Blood Court fortress (normally inaccessible without an invitation). The outer guards are gone. You can sneak into the western tower and find a chest with the "Eclipse Blade" — a unique sword that maintains a weakened version of the eclipse effect (5% chance to trigger dual-form on any attack). I missed this on my first two playthroughs.

Day 20 is a soft point-of-no-return. After completing the main quest objective on this day, one of the three factions is destroyed, and which one depends on your choices up to that point. You can't save all three. The game doesn't warn you explicitly — you just show up to a faction hub and it's gone.

The Endgame (Days 25-30)

The final five days are intense. Time advances faster — some quests now consume two days instead of one. The game is pushing you toward the end.

Your Corruption level at day 25 determines which endings are available. Below 30% Corruption: you get the "redemptive" path options. Above 60%: only the dark endings are accessible. Between 30-60%: hybrid endings that are honestly the most narratively interesting.

Brencis's final confrontation isn't just a boss fight. It's a dialogue-driven sequence where your choices throughout the game are reflected back at you. Characters you saved (or didn't) appear. Quests you ignored have consequences. It's the most Witcher 3-like thing Rebel Wolves has done — in a good way.

Multiple Endings, Actually Different

I've seen four endings so far and they're genuinely distinct, not palette swaps. The Dawnwalker ending (save family, break the curse), the Vampire Lord ending (replace Brencis), the Sacrifice ending (destroy the curse at the cost of your own existence), and the Chaos ending (burn it all down).

Each has different final gameplay sequences, not just different cutscenes. The Vampire Lord ending requires you to actually manage the Blood Court for the final hour of gameplay — quest giver becomes quest target. It's weird and I respect it.

Faction Betrayal Windows

You can switch factions once per playthrough without permanently losing all quest access. The window is narrow. Between days 14 and 18, if you've been allied with one faction, you can approach another faction's leader and defect. Doing so burns all reputation with your original faction and locks their unique gear, but opens the new faction's quest chain.

The church faction won't accept defectors with Corruption above 25%. The Blood Court won't accept defectors below 30% Corruption. The Free Folk accept anyone, but their faction rewards are the weakest mechanically (they make up for it with the most content and the best narrative payoffs).

If you're min-maxing gear: start Blood Court (best Vampirism gear from quest rewards), defect to church around day 16 (best blessed weapons), then finish with Free Folk for the narrative ending. You'll burn bridges with the Blood Court permanently. Worth it if you want the Eclipse Blade, a blessed silver sword, AND the Free Folk ending in one playthrough. It's a tight timeline and you'll need to be efficient with your remaining days.