Charge is one of the first real combat options Coen can add to his Swordmastery tree, and the game does not sell it to you or hide it in a chest. It comes bundled with the opening main quest, Like Father, Like Son, where Pieter drags his son up a mountain path for a sword lesson that turns out to be about something else entirely.
Quick answer: Finish Withering Away, follow Pieter to the ruined training ground, beat him in the duel, then read the Charge Manual from your inventory and spend a Skill Point on Charge in the Swordmastery tree at any Shrine.
Like Father, Like Son requirements and time cost
This is the first main mission in the game, and it sits behind a single prologue quest. It also has a hard window: leave it too long and it locks out. Everything you need to know before starting is below.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Starting point | Coen’s house in Laslea Glen |
| Requirement | Complete Withering Away |
| Fail state | Must be finished before Sacred Covenant |
| Objectives | Follow Pieter, then Train with Pieter |
| Time cost | 1 Time Segment |
| Reward | Charge Manual (Epic Character Development item) and 100 XP |
Time matters more here than the quest length suggests. The main story runs on a 30-day clock, so every segment you burn is one you cannot spend elsewhere in the valley.
Follow Pieter to the ruined training ground
Step out of the cabin and Pieter takes the lead up a mountain trail. The route involves one rock ledge to climb and a stone bridge to cross, and there is nothing to fight along the way, so just keep pace with him rather than wandering off.
If you lose him, open the map. The waypoint sits in the highlands near Oleska Glen, north of where you started, and the path only forks in ways that loop back to the same ruins.
The training ground is a wide cobblestone floor ringed by ruins. Pieter does not wait for a countdown. He swings the moment you arrive, and the cutscene rolls straight into the fight.
Beating Pieter, Retired Sellsword
Pieter fights slowly and telegraphs almost everything, which is the point. This duel is where the game teaches unblockable attacks, and it does it with a tutorial prompt mid-fight: when the enemy target indicator turns into a red icon, blocking will not save you. Dodge instead.
His pattern list is short. He has an unblockable thrust with the sword point that he chains into an overhand smash, and a forward kick that leads into the same overhead finisher. Occasionally he taunts you first, then throws a quick left-right-left combo. He will also sidestep a greedy swing and answer with a side slash, so stop at two hits and reset.
Perfect blocks are worth practising here, since you are not under real pressure. Once his health drops low enough, the fight ends on its own and the conversation starts.
The dialogue choice that costs you time
The talk after the duel covers Vladimir’s rebellion and the Vrekhir soldiers posted near the village. Most of the responses are flavour, including the option to back your father and stand up for the villagers, and none of them change the reward.
The last choice is the one that matters. Pick See you then to keep your afternoon free for other quests in the area before the Blood Mass. Picking I’ll wait with you fast-forwards straight to the Blood Mass and swallows a meaningful chunk of your remaining days.
Time then jumps to afternoon, Coen hits Level 3, and the quest closes out.
How to unlock Charge from the manual
Manuals do not teach abilities on pickup. They make an entry available to learn, and you still pay the Skill Point and any training time on top of that.
What Charge does at each level
Charge sends Coen forward, damaging and stunning the target along with anyone standing in the path. It runs on a 20-second cooldown, spends Activation Charge, and can be used at any time of day. The stun is a flat 2 seconds at every rank.
| Level | Damage | Bleed and extras |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200% attack damage | 50% chance to apply Bleed |
| 2 | 250% attack damage | 100% chance to apply Bleed |
| 3 | 300% attack damage | 100% Bleed chance, +66% Bleed duration |
| 4 | 350% attack damage | 100% Bleed chance, +66% duration, restores 1 Activation Charge on kill |
If Charge still shows as locked
There are only a few reasons the node refuses to open, and none of them require a reload.
- The manual is sitting unread in your inventory. Use it from the item screen, not the skill screen.
- You have no Skill Point spare. Points are shared across Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism, so spending elsewhere first leaves Charge greyed out.
- You are not at a Shrine. Skill trees are viewed and purchased there.
- You skipped ahead to Sacred Covenant. Like Father, Like Son has to be completed before that quest, and the manual comes with it.
Charge is not the only route into Swordmastery, either. Manuals for the tree turn up in soldier and bandit camps, drop from defeated enemies, and are sold by fencers and Swordmastery teachers, so a locked branch later on is usually an exploration problem rather than a dead end. Vampirism works differently and ignores manuals entirely, opening up as Coen’s Corruption rises from feeding.
