Killing The Blood of Dawnwalker's hardest boss extremely early gave me a devastating ability that carried me through the whole RPG

I did not mean to kill Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker. At least, not yet. As a fledging Level 11 or 12 vampire trying to explore Svartrau Cathedral at night, stumbling right into the withered palms of the game's highest-difficulty boss fight seemed like suicide. Yet it turned out to be the smartest move I've made so far in the RPG.

Killing Knyaz Brencis' formidable lieutenants, known as boyars (or boyaresses, in Xanthe's case) is a fundamental part of the action loop. Usually you'd need to anger them first by disrupting their duties in their respective parts of the map. Xanthe seems to be the exception to the rule; despite holding dominion over the most challenging portion of the open world, you can and should ambush her early in Coen's 30-day push to dismantle the vrakhiri claim to Vale Sangora and rescue his family. Especially if you, too, want an early unlock for the most overpowered and best Blood of Dawnwalker perk in the whole RPG: Blood Surge.

Penitent one

Blood Surge is no joke – it's a favorite of our Games Editor in his Blood of Dawnwalker review, if you won't take my word alone for it. Ironically, the sheer might of Xanthe's personal perk – which can only be unlocked by defeating her in combat and drinking her blood – is what makes her so formidable when the tables are turned.

Capable of exploding a lower-level enemy in one shot, it's the kind of power Coen can only dream of at Level 11 – and one she can use to pop a Coen like a blood bag when challenged as part of The Court side-quest to take out vampiric ruler Brencis' supernatural allies.

It's also something I know nothing about when, during a quest called A Monk and a Saint, I make her acquaintance by falling off some scaffolding. I'm here to investigate the murals inside Svartrau Cathedral on the hunt for a powerful sword, expecting a slice of Sherlockian vampire detective work rather than a claws-out brawl. Even Coen himself whispers that he'd best stick to high ground, inspect the artwork from a distance, and avoid the boyaress below. That's precisely what I intend to do, assuming an encounter this early on would mean instant death, or that Coen would even take control away from me and refuse to enter her sight.

But, The Blood of Dawnwalker isn't the kind of game to say 'no'. I find that out through sheer clumsiness – I have never been the most dextrous of gamers, so while aiming my vampiric shadowstep ability to teleport across the cathedral scaffolding, I overshoot my target by a hair's breadth and watch in dismay as Coen falls right into Xanthe's path.

A short cutscene plays out – my first time actually hearing the wizened crone speak – in which Xanthe dismisses the puny, insignificant Coen as not being worth her time. She's not wrong; I have barely any notoriety at this point and have been foregoing a lot of side quests in favor of seeking out ways to weaken Brecis (see again: big scary sword quest). The cutscene flows into combat and I immediately regret everything.

But there's one thing on my side. My favorite thing about The Blood of Dawnwalker's combat, specifically the direction block mechanic, is how much it reminds me of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. That game, too, is all about timing, and despite being two very different action-RPGs, they have one thing in common: If you can parry it, you can defeat it.

If there's no such thing as being too under-leveled in Clair Obscur as long as you reflexes permit, the same applies to Dawnwalker. I've seen people defeat Brencis in the prologue, for goodness' sake, all off the back of being able to block each hit and counterattack opportunistically. I remind myself of this when I pause and hover over the "load game" button. If Coen can beat Brencis on day zero, why can't I defeat Xanthe early into my quest?

Parry it!

It is not an easy battle. Fending off her Blood Guard entourage is simple enough, providing me with ample health top-ups as I sup on their blood between claw strikes. Once the room is cleared of lackeys, though, the undead priestess descends like a fearsome nightmare and the fun really starts.

Xanthe is the first lieutenant I have fought at this point, and I don't know what to expect. Short of blocking attacks and getting the odd swipe in here and there, I rely primarily upon my swordsman abilities like Artery Strike after swapping from claws to a blade and throwing muck in her face with Dirty Trick. I can't even feed on her with Voracious Bite, since she's just that powerful and simply shrugs me off. Once her health drops low enough, she spawns blood orbs that heal her up like a medical drone, so I dash between each to destroy them as fast as I can.

Thanks to an odd quirk, Xanthe seems to be a little easier to duel here than later on her specific side-quest (perhaps she simply needs more R&R the extra days would provide). In this version of the fight, I never do get to witness Xanthe using Blood Surge on Coen. I'm left stumped by how seemingly easy the fight was, considering she is the ruler of the map's harshest, most haunted regions encompassing the Tantari Woods. But by fighting her early, I've actually nerfed Xanthe and robbed her of Blood Surge altogether.

I don't even know of the spell's existence until I've bested the woman and been spirited away to vampire Hell, otherwise known as Anachora, to have an actual conversation. Admittedly, what she has to say breaks my heart. I didn't expect The Blood of Dawnwalker to make me feel quite this bad for killing someone supposedly evil, but as she mourns the loss of her child (what child? No one told me she had a child!) and confides in me that all she did was for the good of her daughter, my heart softens.

She begs me to leave her here in Anachora to let her soul get torn apart and finally rest in pieces after such a horrid life. My brand of mercy seems to her quite the opposite when I invite Xanthe inside my own psyche to live on in Coen forever.

She hates this idea. But I kind of love it, because it's granted me witchy granny commentary when I explore some areas on top of her blood bursting power.

I don't know how I'd have bested most of the game's hardest enemies without Blood Surge; it takes huge chunks off larger, hardier baddies while outright obliterating anything with a single-chunk health bar, meaning I have gotten some excellent use out of it in my 22-hour playthrough so far. Sure, she's not full Johnny Silverhand, but I appreciate the odd remark to add some color. I'm also a little regretful that killing her during our first meeting means I missed most of Xanthe's torrid backstory, but doing so has given me the chance to ignore a whole corner of the map and stay focused on my quest.

I truly think Blood Surge is a must-have perk, and it's probably the only thing that will ensure I can kill all the boyars before confronting Brencis. To me, that makes it worth taking a little trip (literally) in Svartrau Cathedral if you happen to be there at midnight. I promise Xanthe's legend is worse than her bite.

Looking for love in Vale Sangora? Here's all the romances in The Blood of Dawnwalker, from Crake to Lacra and even "old" witch Anca.