Gaming How-To

The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Show Up to the Duel With Ambrus

The exact route to the mountain arena, the bell prompt that starts the fight, and the timing that keeps the poison plan alive.

The exact route to the mountain arena, the bell prompt that starts the fight, and the timing that keeps the poison plan alive.

The Gilded Gauntlet ends with a single instruction that trips up more players than the fight itself: show up for the duel. Ambrus picks the venue, and it sits on top of a mountain with no fast travel point and no obvious road in. The objective marker points at a ruined arena, and the only thing that actually starts the confrontation is a bell you can ring after dark.

Quick answer: Climb the mountain east of St. Clement’s Monastery from its west side, enter the ruins at night, and press F at the bell when the objective reads “Ring the bell of night to summon Ambrus.”


Duel location: The peak east of St. Clement’s Monastery

The arena is a set of ruins on a mountain peak sitting east of St. Clement’s Monastery. The quest marker drops directly on the summit, which is why the compass distance keeps shrinking while your character stays stuck at the base of a cliff. The approach you want is on the west side, the face that looks back down toward the monastery.

Treat the monastery as your staging point. From there, the climb is short, and everything above it is walkable terrain rather than a maze of ledges.

Compass objective marker guiding Coen through wooded terrain toward the duel site
Following the objective marker on the forested approach beneath the peak. Image: Rebel Wolves

Two ways up the mountain

There is a normal path and a much faster vampire route. Both end in the same place, so pick based on the time of day you arrive.

RouteHow it works
Walking path (west side)A standard trail that winds up from the direction of St. Clement’s Monastery. Works at any hour and needs no abilities.
Shadowstep (night only)Scale the cliff faces directly with your vampire mobility. Much quicker, but only available after dark.
Set the duel objective as your active tracker and head for the western base of the peak. The compass distance should be counting down steadily as you close in on the monastery side of the mountain.
Objective marker reading 71 m as Coen climbs rocky ground on the mountain's west face
The distance counter ticking down while climbing the rocky west face. Image: Rebel Wolves
If it is night, use Shadowstep to hop straight up the cliffs instead of hunting for switchbacks. The climb takes under a minute this way, and you land on the upper plateau near the ruins.
If it is daytime, follow the trail on foot. It runs up the same western slope and connects the monastery area to the top, so you can retrace it in either direction later.

Tip: There is a chest near the top of the path worth grabbing before you continue. It holds 51 Denarius, Red Stringed Rivered Cuffs, a Mortal’s Blood Infusion, and a Silver Chalice.

Quest tracker showing a 49 m objective as Coen crosses the rocks near the summit chest
Crossing the upper rocks past the chest, with roughly 49 m left to the arena. Image: Rebel Wolves

Ring the bell of night to summon Ambrus

Walking into the ruins updates the quest text to “Ring the bell of night to summon Ambrus.” That update is your confirmation that you are in the right spot and that the game has registered your arrival.

Night-time quest tracker for The Gilded Gauntlet as Coen approaches the ruined arena
The Gilded Gauntlet objective updating as the arena comes into view after moonrise. Image: Rebel Wolves

The bell hangs in a wooden frame inside the arena. Walk up to it and the interact prompt appears as “F Ring the Bell.” Pressing it starts the encounter, and Ambrus arrives immediately afterward with his toast and his offer of blood.

Coen running toward the wooden bell tower in the arena at night
The wooden bell frame inside the ruins, where the interact prompt starts the duel. Image: Rebel Wolves

Ringing the bell after dark costs 2 time segments. The Gilded Gauntlet as a whole accounts for 3 time segments, with the first spent when you agree to meet Erdene’s master.


Showing up on time and the poison window

The journal lists a second, optional objective: show up for the duel on time. It matters only if you completed The Bittersweet Toast and had Iulian swallow Vera’s brew. Poisoned blood does not stay poisoned forever.

After The Bittersweet Toast wraps up, you have 48 time segments — three in-game days — before Ambrus notices something is wrong and brings a different mortal to the duel instead. Because the bell only works after sunset, the practical deadline is ringing it no later than two time segments before sunrise on that third day.

SituationWhat happens at the duel
Arrive within the windowIulian is presented, his blood is poisoned, and Ambrus weakens once he drinks.
Window expiresAmbrus swaps in another victim. The duel still runs, just at full strength.
Skipped Iulian’s plan entirelyA woman named Raluca is offered instead, with no poison involved.

Missing the timer does not fail the duel. The objective to face Ambrus stays available; only the poison advantage is lost.


Why the bell won’t trigger the duel

There are only a handful of reasons nothing happens when you reach the ruins.

  • It is daytime. The bell is a night-only interaction. The game offers to wait until dark, but burning the daylight on another quest, a shop run, or a nearby activity is a better use of the hours.
  • The Gilded Gauntlet has not started. Ambrus’s Anger has to reach its threshold first, which happens after roughly three quarters of his Court Activities. The quest then appears in southern Maragir.
  • You have not spoken to Erdene in Maragir. She directs you to Iulian Codrin and is the step that sets the duel invitation in motion.
  • You are on the wrong face of the mountain. The east and north sides do not connect cleanly to the plateau; approach from the west.

Once the bell rings, there is no backing out, so handle your loadout before the climb. Levelling Death from Above in the Vampiric skill tree pays off here, since it hits bosses harder than most of your other options, and Ambrus punishes long sword combos by blocking through them. Get to the peak, wait for dark, press the interact key, and the second Boyar fight begins.