The Blood of Dawnwalker is an intense, choice-driven, and detail-oriented RPG. Which means that there are oodles of things you can do to alter, buff, and customise your character to suit your playstyle.
With three combat schools to master, loads of gear to collect, and a slew of abilities to unlock and upgrade, it can be a little tough to build the ultimate Coen for the job.
So, allow us to do the heavy lifting for you. Here are some outstanding builds that will help you take down Brencis.
Note: If you need help finding any of these legendary items, you can check out all of our Best Gear guides for The Blood of Dawnwalker below:
- The Blood of Dawnwalker: Best Armor
- The Blood of Dawnwalker: Best Weapons
- The Blood of Dawnwalker: Best Rings/Amulets
Best Swordsman Build
| Slot | Item/Skill | How To Obtain |
| Weapon | St. Mihai's Sword | Complete Forge It Anew quest |
| Armor | Pieter's Garb | Complete the Buried Past quest |
| Greaves | Enhanced Shin Guards of the Arbiter | Complete A Bulwark Against Darkness |
| Boots | Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter | Complete A Bulwark Against Darkness |
| Bracers | Ancient Hero's Vambraces | Complete Xanthe's side quest Path of Glory |
| Amulet | Arbiter's Medallion | Found in Waterfall Cave near Great Bridge |
| Ring #1 | Ring of Focus | Sold by merchants |
| Ring #2 | Ring of Quick Strikes | Complete The Highland Grave |
| Essential Skills / Abilities | Artery Strike, Broad Swing | — |
| Ultimate Ability | Sword Sage | — |
First, we have the daytime build for anyone that wants to lean into becoming a good old-fashioned swordmaster. The key to this build is upping your weapon damage output, your critical hit power, and lowering your activation charge time and stamina costs.
This allows you to lean into crowd control skills like Broad Swing and powerful one-shots like Artery Strike, alternating them between strong strikes and weapon arts. Which is all the more efficient if you go for the ultimate perk Sword Sage, which will refill them every time you kill an enemy, making fighting big groups much more manageable.
Best Witchcraft Build
| Slot | Item/Skill | How To Obtain |
| Weapon | Hand of Fate | Complete A Hero's End |
| Armor | Runic Enhancement | Complete The Font of Life questline |
| Greaves | Ancient Greaves | Complete The Font of Life questline |
| Boots | Enhanced Boots of the Arbiter | Complete A Bulwark Against Darkness |
| Bracers | Ancient Hero's Vambraces | Complete Xanthe's side quest Path of Glory |
| Amulet | The Relic of St. Dasius | Found during The Cycle of Love questline |
| Ring #1 | Astrologer's Ring | Complete Home Sweet Home |
| Ring #2 | Leonica's Ring | Complete Echoes of the Silenced Bells |
| Essential Skills / Abilities | Burning Blood, Unholy Vitality, Cycle of Ruin | — |
| Ultimate Ability | Entwined Torment | — |
Next we have the Witchcraft Build, crafted for those who rely on hexes and abilities to get them through battles, with your swordmanship serving as a supplementary aid rather than the standout feature of your build.
The Hand of Fate, acquired during The Hero's End quest is a massive part of this build, as it's the only legendary weapon that really helps you lean into Witchcraft. Not to mention the Relic of St Dasius, which is the same story when it comes to Amulets. This is acquired during the Cycle of Love Quest.
The goal of this build is to increase your Witchcraft ability damage, lower Cooldown time and increase your activation charge restoration rate. All the while offering useful additional buffs like magical damage protection, Lifesteal, and higher human health.
Then, for your ultimate perk, we do think that despite Runic Bulwark being a solid option, Entwined Torment is the way to go, as this really shines when fighting larger groups, which, in our humble opinion, is when combat is at its toughest in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
Best Vampire Build
| Slot | Item/Skill | How To Obtain |
| Weapon | Gladius | Found during The Beast of Balaur quest |
| Armor | Isbrand's Plate | Found during Hive & Seek |
| Greaves | Isbrand's Greaves | Found in the Kobold Lair near where you find Isbrand |
| Boots | Vrakhir's Treads | Complete The Cycle of Love |
| Bracers | Enhanced Bracers of the Arbiter / Wolven Bracers | Complete A Bulwark Against Darkness / Found near the bandits intercepting the blood transport |
| Amulet | Arbiter's Medallion / The Shredder | Found in Waterfall Cave near Great Bridge / Defeat Headhunters |
| Ring #1 | Ring of the Night | Purchased from merchants |
| Ring #2 | Corrupted Ring / Slicer Ring | Purchased from merchants / Defeat Headhunters |
| Essential Skills / Abilities | Artery Strike, Broad Swing, Blood Surge, Piercing Shriek | — |
| Ultimate Ability | Renounce Death / Lethal Crescendo | — |
Lastly, we have the Vampire Build, which can be altered depending on if you want to be a claw-focused vampire or someone who still wants to showcase their skill with a blade.
For sword-focused vampires, Gladius, found during the Beast of Balaur quest is a must-have. Whereas if you're relying on the sharpness of your claws, items like the Slicer's Ring, the Wolven Bracers, and Vhakhir's Treads are essential to get claw damage up.
Then, as for your ultimate Vampire perk, I would suggest running Renounce Death for sword vampire builds, and Lethal Crescendo for claw builds. Lifesteal and a second wind function is super helpful in tough boss fights, and I would see it as the superior all-round perk of the two. But, it's hard to overlook a 20% buff to claw attacks that stacks.
