The Blood of Dawnwalker: The Bittersweet Toast Quest Guide

The Bittersweet Toast is an investigation-heavy quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker where Coen and Iulian Codrin try to weaken Ambrus before their duel. The plan hinges on poisoning the person Ambrus feeds from, which sends you chasing the trail of a poisoner named Vera and, eventually, into a ritual against a group of spirits and the Fallen Witch.

Quick answer: Complete the investigation, finish Vera’s brew with salamander skin, then light the five pillars with Astral Communion during daytime and defeat the Fallen Witch. Adding the optional Lizard Gland to the brew only saves Iulian during The Gilded Gauntlet and changes nothing else. Iulian dies in every ending regardless.

Note: The following contains spoilers for The Blood of Dawnwalker.

Image credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Requirements before the ritual: daytime and salamander skin

Two things gate the end of the quest. The brew Vera left behind is only half finished and needs salamander skin to complete. The ritual itself relies on Astral Communion, which you can only cast during the day. If it is night when you reach the altar, advance time to daytime first, or you will not be able to light the pillars.

The reason Vera’s poison matters is that Vrakhiri cannot normally be poisoned. She found a way around that by strengthening the poison with a hex, which is what the brew and ritual are for.

Bittersweet Toast walkthrough

After the opening cutscene between Coen and Iulian, follow Iulian toward his friend’s home. You will pass a shrine with the body of a man torn apart, then reach Vera’s hut. Iulian knocks, gets no answer, and forces the door to find her gone.

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Search the hut for clues. On her table you will find a list of ingredients and notes describing the ritual she was preparing.

Speak with Iulian outside. He explains that Vera bypassed a Vrakhiri’s poison resistance with a hex, and that a second ritual needed salamander skin, so she placed traps to catch the creatures.

Head west toward the lake and follow the marker to find the first trap. Inspect the traps around the area until you reach one leaning against a tree stump, where Vera’s tracks are visible in the mud.

Switch to Focus Mode and follow her tracks southeast. You will pass a bear torn in half, then find Vera’s body propped against the ritual altar she had been building for Iulian.

Inspect Vera’s body, the knife, and the slime covering her. Then check the ground and bloodstains, which lead toward the swamp, and inspect her torn bag where her notes spilled out. These clues point to what killed her.

Keep following the trail until you reach a large blood stain, a sign the attacker was far bigger than a small creature. Pick up Vera’s ritual notes, the piece of meat she used as bait, and the scroll.

Return to Vera’s body and hand the scroll to Iulian. He reads it and explains the brew must be drunk before the ritual can begin.

Finish the brew at the altar where Vera’s body is, adding the salamander skin as the final ingredient. Make sure it is daytime so Astral Communion is available, then talk to Iulian to move on.

Use Astral Communion to light the five pillars around the area. After the third pillar, a group of spirits spawns. They are weak and attack with swords, so dodge and clear them, then light the remaining pillars.

A second wave of spirits arrives alongside the Fallen Witch. She is not particularly strong, so take your time and dodge her swings. Once every enemy is down, complete the ritual to trigger the final cutscene, where Coen forces Iulian to finish the rest of the brew.

The Lizard Gland choice and what it changes

The monster that killed Vera can be hunted down. If you keep following the trails, you can find and defeat it to obtain the Lizard Gland. Doing so unlocks a new dialogue option where you tell Iulian you found it.

Here is the weight behind that item. Iulian is the “blood cow” Ambrus feeds on before the duel. He intended to poison himself and die so he would be the cause of Ambrus’s downfall, while Vera insisted there was a way for him to survive and died trying to retrieve a Lizard Gland. Adding the Lizard Gland to Vera’s brew is what saves Iulian’s life later during The Gilded Gauntlet quest. Skip it, and Iulian dies there, something he tells you himself.

Mechanically, the choice does not affect the mission’s success. Whether or not you add the Lizard Gland, Iulian reaches Ambrus’s duel and poisons him successfully. Iulian himself insists you not add it, since surviving was never his plan.

Iulian’s endings

After Ambrus is defeated, Iulian is surprised to still be alive and asks Coen whether he did something. You can tell the truth or keep insisting you had nothing to do with it. Either way, Iulian is left broken and cannot accept that he survived. Admitting you added the Lizard Gland makes it worse, and he lashes out at Coen.

Every path leads to the same place. Iulian dies in all outcomes, because even when the Lizard Gland saves his life, he returns home afterward and ends it himself. There is no version of this quest where he lives on.

How to confirm the quest is complete

The Bittersweet Toast ends after the final cutscene at the altar. Once all the spirits and the Fallen Witch are dead and you complete the ritual, Iulian drinks the remaining brew and the quest closes out. From there you will not take on any further quests with Iulian, so decide on the Lizard Gland before you finish the ritual if you want it to factor into The Gilded Gauntlet.