The Blood of Dawnwalker: How to Defeat Ambrus (The Gilded Gauntlet)

Ambrus is one of the three vrakhiri serving Brencis in Vale Sangora, alongside Xanthe and Bakir, and he is usually the first of them a player is strong enough to challenge. The duel itself is short. What decides how hard it is happens well before you ever draw a weapon, in a side quest most players can skip without realizing what they are giving up.

Quick answer: Finish The Bittersweet Toast to poison Iulian’s blood, arrive for the duel promptly, ring the bell at night, then answer Ambrus’s drink offer with “I don’t trust anything you offer.” He feeds alone on poisoned blood, his health drains during the fight, and you take no poison yourself.

How to trigger the Ambrus duel (The Gilded Gauntlet)

The fight does not appear on the map on its own. You unlock it by raising Ambrus’s Anger Level in the Court tab, which tracks how much of his operation you have dismantled. The menu spells out the condition directly, telling you that maxing Anger Level unlocks a sidequest tied to that vrakhir.

Ambrus’s activities are scattered around his region and each one is short. His Collectors camps have you kill the guards and smash the leech barrels. His Transports involve ambushing a blood convoy and looting the captain. His Dungeons and Prisoner Transports both end with you freeing captives. Clear enough of them and The Gilded Gauntlet starts, pointing you toward Maragir.

In Maragir you find a crowd gathered around a body Ambrus has put on display. His servant, Erdene, explains he intends to keep killing until Coen agrees to a duel, then passes on an invitation from her master, Iulian Cordin. Accepting that invitation is the whole point.

Poison Ambrus first with The Bittersweet Toast

Iulian tells you plainly that fighting Ambrus on his own terms is a losing proposition. Ambrus keeps personal blood cows and feeds on one before every duel, and Iulian knows he is the one who will be offered up. His plan is to poison his own blood and let Ambrus drink it.

Pick “Fine. Where is he?” when Erdene relays the invitation, then choose whether the servant escorts you or you travel yourself. Either way the meeting costs one hour of your time budget.

During the conversation, answer with “How would we do that?” to open The Bittersweet Toast. Declining leaves the option available later, so a refusal is not permanent, but you cannot poison Ambrus without starting this quest.

Travel to meet Vera, Iulian’s poisoner contact. You find her dead inside an ancient circle. Her ritual instructions are still readable nearby with Focus Mode, and the brew survives, so the plan is still workable.

Perform the ritual during daylight. Light the pillars using Astral Communion, fight off the Fallen Witch and the undead that spawn, and then force Iulian to swallow the brew. If it is night when you arrive, wait or handle other business and come back.

Note: Once the brew is in Iulian, a clock starts. You have a few days to accept the duel before he dies, which wastes the entire setup.

Summoning Ambrus at the duel site

Track The Gilded Gauntlet and head to the marked location. The objective reads “Show up for the duel with Ambrus,” and the bell can only be rung at night, so plan your arrival around Moonrise rather than turning up in daylight and burning time waiting.

Map screen with the duel objective marker highlighted inside a yellow search area — The map screen with the duel objective marked inside its search area. Image: Rebel Wolves

Before you commit, it is worth putting points into Death from Above in the Vampiric skill tree. It deals extra damage to bosses and tough enemies, which is exactly what you are walking into. Ringing the bell itself consumes two time segments.

Select “[ring the bell] (2)” when prompted. Ambrus arrives with an escort of guards, with Iulian in tow if you completed his plan.

Ambrus arriving with his armed escort after the bell is rung at night — Ambrus answers the bell and arrives with his guards. Image: Rebel Wolves

The opening exchange is pure posturing on both sides and does not change the fight. Options such as “Cut the crap.”, “You’re in my way, I wanted you gone.” and “Enough of this jibbering.” simply move the conversation along toward the part that counts.

Dialogue menu open during the duel standoff with a reply highlighted — The early duel dialogue, including the reply “I saw evil and I dealt with it.” Image: Rebel Wolves

The drink offer: The only dialogue choice that changes the fight

Ambrus proposes a toast “to a juicy slaughter” and offers Iulian up as the drink. If you poisoned the blood, the game adds a small tell here, with Ambrus noticing the look passing between Coen and Iulian and insisting you go first. Your answer decides who ends up poisoned.

Your response	What happens
Gladly. To a juicy slaughter!	Both of you drink. Coen and Ambrus start the duel poisoned.
I don’t drink from humans.	Ambrus grows suspicious and kills Iulian. Nobody is poisoned.
Letting a peasant drink first? What kind of a boyar are you?	Ambrus feeds alone. Only he is poisoned.
I don’t trust anything you offer.	Ambrus feeds alone. Only he is poisoned.

Dialogue options for Ambrus's drink offer with the boyar taunt highlighted — The four replies to Ambrus’s drink offer, with the taunt about letting a peasant drink first selected. Image: Rebel Wolves

If you never took Iulian’s deal, none of this applies. Ambrus offers you a woman named Raluca instead, her blood is clean, and your answer makes no difference to the fight that follows.

You know the setup landed when Ambrus visibly sickens after drinking. That illness drops his defenses and drains his health steadily once combat begins.

Fighting Ambrus, the Right Fist of the Knyaz

The duel happens at night, which works in your favor. Claws are faster and hit harder than your sword after dark, so lean on your vampiric kit rather than swordplay. Opening with a flurry of attacks is the quickest way to lose a chunk of health early.

Watch the attack indicators. A shield icon means the incoming hit can be blocked or parried, which also feeds your Activation Charge. A skull icon means the attack cannot be blocked at all, so step out of its range instead. Shadowstep is the most reliable answer, since it repositions you behind Ambrus and hands you a free window to counterattack.

Combat against Ambrus, the Right Fist of the Knyaz, with the boss health bar on screen — The duel proper, fought against Ambrus, the Right Fist of the Knyaz. Image: Rebel Wolves

Kill Ambrus or drain his blood

Once his health is gone, a final prompt offers “[kill Ambrus]” or “[drain Ambrus’s blood]”. The two paths diverge more than they first appear, especially if you went through with the poison.

Final choice	Consequence
Kill Ambrus	The encounter ends immediately with no extra cutscene. The game treats it the same as not inviting him in.
Drain Ambrus’s blood	You are taken to Anachora, where Ambrus asks to be let in. Inviting him lets him speak inside your mind for the rest of the game.
Drain a poisoned Ambrus	The poison transfers to you. Your health drains continuously for up to nine time tokens after you return to Vale Sangora.

If you drain him after poisoning him, the cheapest fix is to run to the nearest Shrine and spend those time tokens on skill upgrades so the drain costs you nothing you were not already going to use. On a tight schedule, killing him outright is the safer call.

Ambrus rewards and quest completion

The Gilded Gauntlet closes out with a QUEST ENDED screen listing 500 XP and 1 Skill Point. The loot is the same whichever ending you picked.

Reward	Details
Song of Valour	Level 21 Epic Shortsword with Damage against Mortals, Passive Activation Charge Restoration and Activation Charge Restoration from Actions.
Ambrus’ Cuirass	Legendary Heavy Chestpiece, 329 Armour, reduced Vampiric Ability Cooldown and Attack Stamina Cost, plus Activation Charge Restoration from Attack and Perfect Block.
Quest completion	500 XP and 1 Skill Point.

If you followed Iulian’s plan, you also get the option to bury his body, which costs one time token and grants nothing mechanically. Beyond that, Ambrus’s slot in the Court tab darkens to mark him as dealt with, though his remaining activities stay open and still raise your Infamy if you clear them. Some NPC dialogue has not caught up and will keep referring to him as though he is still scheming in Maragir. He is not.