The mechanics by which time passes in The Blood of Dawnwalker can be a little confusing early on, especially as an integral mechanic that's going to come up a lot, especially with regards to the day/night cycle. If you're struggling to understand it, I'll explain how time works in Dawnwalker, what the various symbols mean, and when the clock moves forward.
For a wider perspective, check out our answer to the question: how long is The Blood of Dawnwalker, and how many hours will it take you to get to the end?
Time passing mechanics in The Blood of Dawnwalker explained
Here's a simple summary of the time passing mechanics in The Blood of Dawnwalker and how they work:
- Time does not pass automatically, and is only linked to quests, choices and progression. This is very important: running around the map or standing around in the overworld doing nothing does not cause time to pass. You can run to the bottom of the map, back up to the top, and repeat this a hundred times, and not a single time section will pass.
- Time does pass when you trigger certain events. You're nearly always told when this is about to happen, but interacting with certain objects, making certain dialogue choices, or going into certain areas for the first time will cause time to pass (the amount will vary depending on the choice). For example, when you go to save Mert the Miller in The Blood of Dawnwalker, opening the cell will take several time segments. There might also be optional time-syncs, such as choosing to stay with Anca in The Blood of Dawnwalker early on, which takes up time, but allows you to know this character better
- Quests have markers in your journal telling you how long they'll take to complete. It's worth keeping in mind that these time lapses do not happen instantly, but might occur in the middle of the quest, or in multiple stages. For example, if a quest takes five hours, three of those might be spent at the beginning when Coen researches something, and two more spent at the end when he travels with somebody. If the amount of time will cause it to change from day to night, there'll be an icon of an hourglass with an arrow leading to a sun or moon, warning you about the time change. For example, certain quests to The Blood of Dawnwalker romances and relationships are time-sensitive - nobody likes a late date, after all.
- If you're nearing a location where time is about to pass automatically, you'll get a warning. If you're approaching an important place or NPC who will trigger a time jump just by proximity, you'll hear a ticking noise, and a section on the clock in the top-right of the screen will be greyed in. This is to alert you to the idea that "if you continue, this is what you'll have to spend immediately".
- Some quests have to be completed within a certain time. If a quest is marked with an icon of a blue clock (as shown in the image below), it will disappear at some point and you'll miss your chance to do it. Make these a priority.
- Some quests are specific to day or night. If a quest is marked with an icon of a sun or moon, you'll have to start it at day or night respectively, otherwise it'll be locked off. See more on that below,
Once they've completed the tutorial, players are given thirty days and nights to complete the main quest, though it can be completed before that. You can also keep playing the game once the main quest is done.
Day and night cycle in The Blood of Dawnwalker explained
The day and night cycle in The Blood of Dawnwalker will impact your gameplay in the following ways:
- Day and night are broken into eight "sections" each. You can see how far you are through each phase of the day via the bar in the top right of the screen.
- You have access to different powers. During the day, you can use your Witchcraft abilities, whereas at night, you use Vampiric powers. Vampire powers, including teleportation, wall climbing, and your claws, tend to mean that you're overall much stronger at night. When unlocking The Blood of Dawnwalker perks, they'll be labelled either "Daytime", "Nighttime," or "Anytime", accordingly.
- At night you risk giving into the hunger. If your health is one segment or lower during the night, your dialogue options erratically change to "Give in to the hunger", which will cause you to attack and kill the person you're talking to.
- How you heal changes. Potions and healing foods that work for humans during the day won't work at night. At that point you'll depend on blood, either pulled from items or drunk from enemies.
Can you turn off or change the time mechanics in The Blood of Dawnwalker
No, there is currently no way to modify or turn off the time passing mechanics in The Blood of Dawnwalker. While some players might find this system a bit alienating, the idea of time pressure is very clearly meant to be part of the intended experience by the developers.
Fortunately, I can say that thirty days is far more time than it sounds, and players will be able to see the vast majority of the game in that time, especially if they aren't using up much time to train their abilities.
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