The Blood of Dawnwalker: All Romance Options and How to Unlock Them
Exact quest order, dialogue picks, and requirements to trigger Anca, Lacra, and Crake's romance scenes in one playthrough.
Exact quest order, dialogue picks, and requirements to trigger Anca, Lacra, and Crake’s romance scenes in one playthrough.
by Kabir Anand
Coen can pursue three people in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and the game does not punish you for pursuing all of them. What it does punish is wasted time. With only 30 days on the clock before the fight with Brencis, every romance questline eats into the same budget you need for the main story, so the real question is which dialogue lines actually matter and which ones are just flavor.
Quick answer: Finish Anca’s questline through Stronger Than Achilles, Lacra’s through The Night of Horrors, and Crake’s through A Closer Look, picking the committed reply at each ending conversation (“Screw decency. I want you, too.”, “[kiss her]”, and “[kiss him back]”). Doing all three in one save carries no penalty.
How romance works in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Each romance is a full optional questline attached to a character, not a hidden affection meter. You progress their quests, pick warm rather than dismissive replies, and take the explicit option when the game finally offers one. Nobody reacts to the others, so there is no jealousy check and no lockout for sleeping with all three.
Completing a romance also does something mechanical. Each partner will stand with Coen against Brencis, each hands over a concrete reward, and each closes with an intimate cutscene plus an appearance in the epilogue.
All three romances run as optional questlines alongside the main story. Image: Rebel Wolves
Character
Where you meet them
Reward for finishing the questline
Anca
Laslea, automatically during the Prologue
Font of Life skill (passive healing in human form) if Coen uses the Font
Lacra
Svartrau City, at Night only
Mandrake Ward skill, which blocks lethal damage once per night
Anca is the herbalist from Coen’s own village, and hers is the longest build-up of the three. The arc runs Withering Away, Echoes of Silenced Bells, Between the Words, Where Old Devils Lie, and Stronger Than Achilles. The early flirting is optional, but it sets up the payoff conversation.
In the Prologue, meet Anca by the river, ask about her scars, and pay the 50 denarii for her ingredients. Inside her hut, tell her you have missed studying Latin together, which costs two Time Segments.
Pick the red-covered book and keep pushing to read the Catullus poem, answering “kisses” and then “grains of sand.” When she injures herself, tell her to take off her shirt, tend the wound, and follow up with “I enjoy the company more than the books.” After Brencis takes Coen’s family, apologize for raising your voice.
During Echoes of Silenced Bells at St. Tyna’s Convent, answer “It must’ve been painful” when she opens up about her past, then “Pity we couldn’t do more for her” after Leonica falls in the catacombs. Hand over the notes with “There, take them” and let her finish the ritual instead of burning them.
Anca opens up about Leonica during the convent questline, the conversation that sets up her later romance beats. Image: Rebel Wolves
In Between the Words, prepare the warm drink for her (one Time Segment) and reply “It’s my pleasure.” After the reading scene, work through “There are better sources of joy than herbal brews,” “Always? What do you mean?” and “Your feelings toward me – it’s more than just faith.”
Where Old Devils Lie unlocks a day or two later. At the inn, inspect the map and say “Who knows what else I have in store for you?” By the lake, choose “Something troubling you?” then “I care about you,” and at the ruins pick “Nice to see you smile” and “I’m enjoying your company, too.”
Small interactive prompts like this meat pie appear as you move through Anca’s quest chain. Image: Rebel Wolves
In Stronger Than Achilles, put your own hand into the blood sacrifice pillar and answer “Better me than you.” When she admits what she wants, choose “You were hoping to use the Font yourself” and “I would, too, in your place,” then “I’d do anything for you” and “I love you.” That last line is the one the whole arc hangs on.
The Font decision does not change the romance, so take it for Coen if you want the Font of Life healing perk. Back at the inn, say “There’s a conversation we need to finish,” then “I beg to differ,” “Let’s do something fun for once,” and “Screw decency. I want you, too.” Follow the kiss with “Not sure I got that. One more time?” to trigger the scene.
Two things kill this romance outright. Telling Anca you want to stay friends ends it permanently, and speaking to her in vampire form while Coen is on low health can get her killed.
Lacra romance: mandrake, blood, and The Night of Horrors
Lacra is a vrakhir who refuses to serve Vale Sangora’s lords, which makes her a natural ally against Brencis. She only appears at Night, and you have to find her first. Talking to Vicho during A Study in Crimson points you toward her, as does a letter recovered from Ambrus; searching Svartrau’s northeastern walls and rooftops works too.
Start A Friend Like This once you have met her in Svartrau City, then move into Song of the Mountain. Choose to feed alongside her rather than refusing, and take the “Gladly. But we will actually talk.” reply.
Clear Hive and Seek and Our Rotten Roots. If you wander off the critical path during Our Rotten Roots and press her on something personal, apologize afterward with the “I’m sorry for going there” line to repair the mood.
In The Night of Horrors, eat the mandrake when it is offered. Refusing it is the single choice that locks you out of her romance scene, and it is also how you learn Mandrake Ward.
When Lacra calls it power you could get drunk on, answer “Can vrakhiri get drunk?” then “Who says I’m not?” Follow her, select “[drink]” to take her blood, and finish with “[kiss her]” to start the scene.
Crake romance: infamy, the manumits, and A Closer Look
Crake, real name Marat, leads the manumit rebels and is the game’s only male romance option. He does not trust Coen at first, and their introduction ends with you tied to a tree. Earning his respect means visibly hurting the Vrakhiri, not just saying the right things.
Raise Coen’s Infamy to Notorious before the questline will move forward. Boyar side activities are the fastest route, specifically destroying Ambrus’ blood barrels and freeing Bakir’s prisoners.
Work through Where Loyalty Lies and What Hunts the Night, taking the concerned replies when they appear, including “Don’t you want to talk about Sara?” and “You sure? You look upset.”
In What Moves the Dead, choose “First, I’ll walk you back to the hideout,” offer to help him out of his armor, and patch up his wounds. Add “May I join you then?” when the option shows up. This is also the point where he leads you back to headquarters and unlocks the legendary gear vendor.
A Closer Look is a night-time conversation and the only exchange that decides the romance. Choose “I know what this is about,” “Ascar is your father,” “Why?” and “I’m worried about you. What’s wrong?” to keep him talking.
Close it out with “Hey. Nothing you say can change the way I see you,” then pick “[kiss him back]” when he makes the first move.
How to confirm a romance triggered
Each successful romance ends in an intimate cutscene, so there is no ambiguity about whether it worked. After that, the character appears in the epilogue and can join Coen for the confrontation with Brencis. Skipping the romance does not cost you the alliance, though. All three will still fight alongside Coen as allies if you only complete their questlines platonically.
If a scene never fires, the cause is almost always one of three things. You took a friends-only reply with Anca, you refused the mandrake with Lacra, or you never pushed Infamy to Notorious and stalled Crake’s questline before A Closer Look. Running out of days is the fourth, quieter failure, since all three arcs together consume a significant slice of the 30-day limit.
If you only have room for one, pick on utility rather than story. Lacra’s Mandrake Ward is the most useful thing any of these questlines hands you, Anca’s Font of Life keeps Coen topped up during daylight hours, and Crake’s vendor is convenient but the least decisive of the three.
