The Blood of Dawnwalker: Stronger Than Achilles Full Quest Walkthrough

Stronger Than Achilles closes out Anca’s storyline in The Blood of Dawnwalker. It drops Coen and Anca into the ancient ruins near St. Tyna’s Grove, walls them in with undead, blood trials and a boss, and ends on a single decision that permanently changes both Coen’s build and Anca’s fate. The quest itself is linear, but a few dialogue picks along the way decide whether the romance scene triggers at the end.

Quick answer: Clear the undead, feed the stone idol your blood at the trial chamber, kill the Fallen Hero, unblock the door for Anca, activate the obelisk with Astral Communion and wipe out the Guardians of the Font. At the Font itself, Coen drinking unlocks the Font of Life perk, Anca drinking removes her witchcraft, and destroying it reveals the Ancient Greaves.

Font of Life choice: all three outcomes

There is only enough left in the Font for one person, and the choice is final. Before you pick, the ruins reveal where the blood came from: every contestant who died in the games was carried here, turned into a guardian, and drained to fill the basin.

Choice	What you get	What happens to Anca
Coen drinks (“If it’s alright with you, I’ll use it.”)	Font of Life perk in the Witchcraft tree — passive human-form health regeneration during the day. No other source in the game.	Keeps her witchcraft and her scars. She leaves the village in the epilogue to keep looking for a cure.
Anca drinks (“Go ahead. Make what you will with it.”)	No perk and no gear for Coen.	Her scars and “sins” are erased and she loses her witch abilities. She is visibly happier and stays in the village.
Destroy it	A hidden niche opens with the Ancient Greaves, legendary heavy trousers with Witchcraft ability damage, Activation Charge restoration from blocks, passive Activation Charge restoration and magical damage reduction.	Remains a witch and leaves the village in the epilogue.

None of the three locks you out of the romance. If you are optimising Coen for combat, drinking it yourself pairs well with the lifesteal on the Runic Enchantment chestpiece you are already wearing. If you care more about how Anca’s arc ends, give it to her — legendary trousers can be replaced, her ending cannot.

How the quest starts and what you need first

Stronger Than Achilles is not something you can pick up on its own. It begins automatically the moment Where Old Devils Lie ends, at the entrance to the ancient ruins, with the objective “Complete the trials and exit the ruins.” Anca has to be alive and travelling with you, which means working through her chain in order — Echoes of Silenced Bells first, then Where Old Devils Lie.

Both quests run back to back with no break, so start Where Old Devils Lie only when you have a solid block of daytime left — around six time segments. Stronger Than Achilles itself costs no time and is not missable once it triggers.

Painting the runes on Coen’s torso to open the ancient door hands you the Runic Enchantment, a legendary light chestpiece with no armour value and no weight. It carries magical damage reduction, bonus damage against supernatural enemies, Witchcraft ability damage and lifesteal on attacks. Equip it before you head down; the lifesteal covers the missing armour during the Guardian fights.

Quest tracker showing Stronger Than Achilles with the objective to complete the trials and exit the ruins — The tracker swaps to Stronger Than Achilles as soon as you step into the ruins. Image: Rebel Wolves

Ruins walkthrough: entrance to the stone idol

Head down into the ruins and kill the undead waiting in the first corridors. They come in small groups and go down quickly, so there is no need to conserve resources this early.

Move northwest and take the stairs down to a door. Open it and clear the next batch of enemies in the chamber beyond.

Take the stairs on the right to go back up, push through the next door, and keep going until you reach a large chamber packed with undead. Use Focus Mode as you go to catch side passages and lootable containers.

Coen climbing a torch-lit stone stairway with the objective marker 16 metres to the southeast — The compass marker keeps you pointed at the next chamber as you climb through the ruins. Image: Rebel Wolves

Clear that chamber, take the entrance on the north side, and crouch through the narrow gap. A few more undead guard the room on the other side.

Interact with the central grate to start the trial. It flashes red and spawns Guardians of the Font. Kill them all to open access to the blood-stained stone idol at the centre of the room.

Blood sacrifice at the idol and the romance dialogue

Highlight the idol with Focus Mode and inspect both interaction points. It has a hollowed-out mouth and needs blood to open the way forward. Coen has to put his hand inside twice, with quick-time prompts each time, and he collapses afterwards.

Dialogue picks	Result
“Alright… Wish me luck.” then Keep still	Coen does the whole bloodletting alone. Best option if you want the romance, and it opens the “Better me than you” line afterwards.
“Alright… Wish me luck.” then Take your hand out	Coen starts it, Anca finishes the job.
“Hell no. I’m not doing that.” then “If you think that’s the best.”	Anca handles the bloodletting.

All three open the door. Anca patches Coen up afterwards and explains what the trials are for. For the romance path, follow with “Better me than you” and any second option.

Fallen Hero boss fight

Take the southeast door, push forward and clear the undead in the next stretch. Then enter the door on the northwest side and keep going.

Move left a short way and look for a door on the southeast side. Opening it starts the Fallen Hero fight.

Read his swings and parry with directional block rather than trading hits. He drops the Undead Warrior’s Sword when he goes down, and clearing him opens the next section of the ruins.

Coen facing the Fallen Hero boss with its health bar shown across the top of the combat HUD — The Fallen Hero blocks the route deeper into the ruins and drops the Undead Warrior’s Sword. Image: Rebel Wolves

Crouch through the entrance on the south side to trigger a cutscene. Anca translates the Latin line carved here, “Pondus annorum oblitus, vetus cutis exuta est,” and admits she was hoping to use the Font on her own scars. You get an early chance to tell her you love her — it does not decide the romance, since the deciding conversation comes at the inn.

Crossing the broken floor and unblocking the shortcut

From where Anca is standing, jump to the next platform, follow the ledge left, then jump right and continue along the path over the chasm. Expect a couple more enemies on the way across.

The Find a way forward objective on screen as Coen searches the collapsed section of the ruins — The objective switches to “Find a way forward” once the floor gives out. Image: Rebel Wolves

Head southwest to a gap in the wall and squeeze through. A side chest along this route holds a Rope, and another tucked near a skeleton holds Boar Tusks and a Torch.

Go northwest until you find the door blocked from your side. Select Unblock to trigger a cutscene, then answer with “One way to find out.” Head southeast and force the door open together with Anca.

The Talk with Anca interaction prompt highlighted on screen inside the ruins — Clearing the obstruction reopens the route and puts the Talk with Anca prompt back on screen. Image: Rebel Wolves

Open the next door to reach a chamber full of interactables. Inspect the tools, the murals of the half-woman half-spider figure and the priests pouring blood, the statues, the items on the table and the stone monolith in the middle, then take the southwest entrance down.

Activate the runes with Astral Communion and beat the Guardians of the Font

In the large room below, inspect the inscribed tablet in the centre to trigger a cutscene, then reply with “Alright… I’ll get to it.” The objective updates to activate the runes using the Astral Communion Witchcraft ability.

Use Astral Communion on the central obelisk. A wave of Guardians of the Font spawns immediately, and Anca fights alongside you.

Take them one at a time with directional blocks and parries rather than swinging into the group. Once the wave is down, another heavier enemy joins in — dodge its wide swipe and keep parrying until it drops. The passage to the Font opens afterwards.

Tip: sweep the chamber before moving on. The chests here hold a Soul Stigma Manual and the Champion’s Vambraces.

Finishing at the inn and confirming the quest completed

Enter the chamber to the northwest, use Focus Mode to light up the interactables, and inspect the wall painting before the Font in the middle. After the conversation and your Font decision, speak to Anca again and pick “Let’s go back to the inn” to leave the ruins.

Back at the inn, the romance only triggers if you push the conversation. Say you enjoyed chasing a mystery with her, then that there’s a conversation you need to finish, that you meant what you said, and follow with the direct options when she tries to close the subject. If you would rather keep things platonic, the conversation simply ends and the story continues normally.

You know it worked when the quest clears from your journal and the Sins of the Past achievement pops. Every path awards 500 XP, plus the Font of Life perk or the Ancient Greaves depending on what you did with the basin. That also closes out Anca’s questline for good — there is no follow-up quest after this one.