With so much choice in how you progress in The Blood of Dawnwalker, which characters you get close to and complete quests with is in your clawed vampire hands. The Blood of Dawnwalker romance revolves around whose questlines you choose to follow and picking options that'll make you endearing.
Only a few of the main characters are romanceable, and it's usually quite clear which ones are up for exploring relationships with Coen. Likewise, in dialogue, it's usually laid out quite clearly whether you're being nice or mean, or are about to enter into romance or relations with another character. Below, I'll detail the romances we've uncovered in The Blood of Dawnwalker so far to give Coen the ultimate guide to forging bonds and having a good old time across the Vale Sangora.
Warning: The following will contain spoilers for certain questlines.
All Romances in The Blood of Dawnwalker
There are three characters in The Blood of Dawnwalker we've discovered that can be involved in romances and relationships with Coen.
- Anca. The village healer of Laslea and introduced in the prologue with the choice of whether to stay with Anca or go, she's a former nun with a few dark secrets.
- Lacra. A vampire with a ruthless streak, Lacra can get close to Coen while investigating Brencis' history.
- Crake. The leader of the rebellion fighting against Brencis, Crake is a guerrila warrior who recruits Coen to help rise up against Brencis.
The romances we've uncovered so far all revolve around characters who you interact with through multiple connected quests. So far, they all seem to hinge around getting a story choice to eventually be intimate with them, or to stay as friends. Choose the former, and you'll have an explicit scene. Generally, you can talk about what happened with them afterwards and say you want more, but because of the context of the 30-day time limit, time pressure stops you from doing it again.
Every romance has been quite forgiving so far, and I've yet to be turned down by anyone even while disagreeing with them. Still, as a rule of thumb, here's some tips for how we've been approaching forming strong relationships.
- Being nice to characters instead of mean.
- Pursuing their questlines promptly – many of which are optional.
- Being honest about decision choices, not simply people pleasing.
- Declaring your romantic interest whenever possible, don't hide how you feel.
- Taking upgrades for ourselves.
How to romance Anca
Introduced early on in the game's prologue when you're still deciding what to do before sundown Mass in The Blood of Dawnwalker, Anca is flagged as a romance option before we even meet her as Coen is teased by his siblings about his interest in the former nun turned learned village healer.
I successfully romanced Anca by choosing to spend time with her whenever we had the opportunity, being nice to her, and reassuring her about her witchcraft past and her anxiety around being an older woman. However, you don't have to spend time with her after she teaches you how to brew the medicine in The Blood of Dawnwalker early on in the first day - another player chose to go, and there was still potential for romance later.
There appears to be a lot of flexibility here. Whether you spend additional time with her in the Prologue doesn't seem to matter, nor does the early Anca questline choice at the end of "Echoes of Silenced Bells" at St. Tryna's, where you have to decide: should you throw the notes in the fire in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
If you continue on through her storyline past St. Tryna's and where she sets you on the path to the Cathedral and finding The Blood of Dawnwalker sword shard locations, you'll reach a quest called "The Font of Life. " Throughout that quest, we emphasized our romantic interest in Anca. Afterwards, back at the inn, we met her on that level, triggering an intimate scene.
How to romance Lacra
Spend time in Svartrau and you'll eventually trigger the "A Friend Like This" quest near the cathedral, leading you to follow supernatural signs of a struggle (you can also trigger it by slaying Ambrus). At the end, you'll have the option to forge an alliance with Lacra, an older Egyptian vampire who also wants to rid Vale Sangora of Brencis, though she's often quite brutal in pursuit of her goals.
Following through her questline, there's plenty of time to interact. Despite often disagreeing with Lacra and talking her down from violence throughout the Song of the Mountain quest (both denying her feeding from a shepherd, and attacking the Uriashi), I still had the option to romance her in the end – at least, partially.
Once Lacra opens the option to pursue the "Midnight Reckoning" final questline that will end the game, she also presents you with an optional quest, "The Night of Horrors", to find another ancient vampire's remains by following will o' wisps through a deadly bog. This quest isn't just important for romancing Lacra, but in deciding her ultimate fate, so you definitely want to do this quest if you're interested in her wellbeing.
At the end of the quest you uncover some Mandrakes, a blood magic source of power that Lacra equates to being the closest a vampire can get to feeling drunk. You need to accept the Mandrake, as refusing to do so prematurely ends the quest. Going along with her also leads to her offering her blood to you so you can enjoy the taste, evolving into her propositioning you, which you can agree to in order to see a romance scene.
After that, though, she leaves you to wake up alone (to be fair, as a Dawnwalker, only you can walk through the morning sun). Talking about it with her back at her base in the ruins has her saying she appreciated the fun, but isn't looking for anything serious. So far, that's the only ending we've reached for a Lacra romance option, which itself doesn't seem to directly affect her fate.
How to romance Crake
Also known by his birthname of Marat, romance with Crake is tied to the rebels' storyline, which you can start early on by going to save Mert the Miller in The Blood of Dawnwalker after the prologue and following his information to meet the Manumits. I recommend generally treating Crake fairly – don't question his processes too much or judge the tough decisions he has to make, and you'll generally get good reactions. He wants somebody who understands the struggles he's going through.
Crake will give you a task to raise your infamy, one of the first things to do in The Blood of Dawnwalker, before then going to meet them in the city. This starts a longer questline to investigate a winged monster. Pursue it to the point where Crake takes an injury to the shoulder, at which point you can offer to help him remove his armor and tend to the wound in a way that is obviously laden with sexual tension.
Afterwards you'll be given a few quests. Pursue the one that Crake gives you to follow a man named Ascar, called "Distant Shadows". After this is done, go back to report to him and he'll get angry and leave, triggering a time-locked quest called "A Closer Look." Meet Crake outside of town, and eventually he'll kiss you, with the option to kiss him back – triggering the romance scene.
In the wake of that scene, Crake admits that he doesn't really have time for long-term relationships with the rebellion, but is willing to be with Coen once Brencis is ousted, arguably making him the most serious of the three main romances, as he's the only one who really seems willing to make a long-term commitment with Coen in the aftermath.
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