Full spoilers below. This guide names every ending, ally, boss and family outcome in The Blood of Dawnwalker. Updated November 2, 2026 for Update 1.1.
Quick answer
The Blood of Dawnwalker has 7 endings, and the best one for a first run is The Folk Hero, reached by entering Greifberg Castle alone.
- The 7 endings: The Folk Hero, The Patricide, The Knyazmaker, The Turncoat, A Hero They Deserve, Together Forever and Time Runs Out.
- Best first ending: The Folk Hero through the castle. Your family lives, except for Lunka, whose fate does not change in any full story ending.
- The trap: do not fight Brencis at the Shrike's Crag parley if you want to save your family. Rock Paper Shotgun reports that this route leaves your father dead and the rest of the family apparently dead with him.
- Time Runs Out does not end the game. After day 30 your family is dead, but you can keep playing with no timer.
- Plan on more than one save. A late save is the wrong tool for the two secret endings, so keep an early one too.
How many endings does The Blood of Dawnwalker have?
Seven is the count we use, and the most common one. IGN, Rock Paper Shotgun, the Fextralife wiki and Method all use it. PC Gamer counts eight, and Game8 has counted nine. The game has not changed. Those outlets split variants differently: PC Gamer, for one, treats the prologue kill of Brencis as its own ending.
Names cause more confusion than the count. Trophies and quests use different labels for the same outcome, so this table lists both.
| Ending or outcome (trophy where it has one) | Final quest | How you reach it | Your family |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Folk Hero | A Lone Wolf's Hunt | Enter Greifberg Castle alone and beat Brencis | Saved, except Lunka |
| The Patricide | Midnight Reckoning | Finish Lacra's questline and fight beside her | Saved, except Lunka |
| The Knyazmaker | Rise at Dawn, then Fall Before Dusk | Finish Crake's questline and storm the castle | Saved, except Lunka |
| The Turncoat | A Deal with the Devil | Accept Brencis's deal and betray an ally | Saved, except Lunka |
| A Hero They Deserve | None | Leave Vale Sangora through the Briar Sloughs pass | Abandoned |
| Together Forever | Home Sweet Home | Stay in the dream loop | Coen never wakes |
| Time Runs Out | Any, after day 30 | Let the 30 days expire | Dead |
Steam's global stats show how few players see the rarer routes. As of October 31, 2026, 40.3% of players had finished the story, against 9.9% for The Knyazmaker, 9.5% for The Turncoat and 4.1% for Together Forever.
Which ending is the best one?
The Folk Hero through the castle is our pick for a first run. It is the only full story ending where you win alone, keep your family safe apart from Lunka, and leave Vale Sangora free of both Brencis and a new tyrant. PC Gamer's guide writer Sean Martin says of the matching route, A Lone Wolf's Hunt: "This is genuinely one of my favorite endings." The valley becomes independent and the Manumits protect it, although the plague returns with the vampires gone.
The other three story endings cost more:
- The Knyazmaker hands the valley to Catalin Dragosti, who PC Gamer says burns districts of Svartrau and orders a genocide of the Uriashi. PC Gamer calls it "one of the worst endings."
- The Patricide frees the valley, but Lacra's plan turns Greifberg Castle into a cursed ruin and kills nearly everyone inside.
- The Turncoat is the only one that leaves Brencis in power. The plague stays away, but the Manumits die, Father Florin burns, and Lacra is killed.
There is no confirmed canon ending as of November 2, 2026. Rebel Wolves has not named one, even with a sequel planned. So pick the ending that fits the Coen you played.
How do you get each story ending?
The Folk Hero (A Lone Wolf's Hunt)
This route has three ways into Greifberg Castle (also spelled Griefberg), and you can use them right after the prologue if you are brave enough:
- Over the wall: at night, use Shadow Step and Planeshift to climb it. IGN says you will get several point-of-no-return warnings first.
- Father Florin's side door: finish In the Name of the Father, then A Hero's End. That gives you a password for the side entrance, which works by day or night.
- Side Gate Key: beat Georghe, The Rabid Duke, at Racovitza's Bandit Camp on the eastern edge of the map (Fextralife). The door is northwest of the Vedera Shallows Shrine.
Kill Ambrus and Bakir first. PC Gamer says any boyar left alive fights you during the assault, Ambrus in the entrance hall and Bakir in the dungeon. Xanthe's trap sequence still happens even if she is dead. When you reach Brencis, refuse to bow. Begging opens a deal that gives up Lacra or the Manumits. Fighting on earns the Gladius, a level 37 Legendary Shortsword (Rock Paper Shotgun). Our Brencis final boss guide covers both phases.
The Patricide (Midnight Reckoning)
You need Lacra's full chain: A Friend Like This, Song of the Mountain, Hive and Seek, Our Rotten Roots, then Midnight Reckoning. PC Gamer says you will most likely find her through a note on Ambrus's body. The Night of Horrors is listed as optional, but do it anyway. PC Gamer hasn't confirmed it, but a mid-fight cutscene implies Lacra dies if you skip it. It is also her romance finale.
Brencis offers a final betrayal on this route. Refuse it. Taking it gets Lacra killed and gives you the Turncoat outcome.
The Knyazmaker (Rise at Dawn and Fall Before Dusk)
Follow The Firebrand, Shadows in the Woods and Where Loyalty Lies to join the Manumits, then continue through What Hunts the Night and What Moves the Dead to Who Pulls the Strings. The assault runs by day, so you get no vampire form. Plan a human loadout using our best build guide.
The key moment comes in the throne room, when Brencis tries to kill Catalin. PC Gamer reports that saving Catalin keeps both him and Crake alive. If Catalin dies, the valley stays independent, as in The Folk Hero, which avoids his purge. Sources disagree on a late betrayal here: PowerPyx lists one just before the final boss, while PC Gamer says you cannot deal with Brencis once you reach him in the banquet hall.
The Turncoat (A Deal with the Devil)
Defeat Ambrus, Bakir and Xanthe to reach max Infamy, then let a day pass until the Invitation to Parley edict arrives. Go to Shrike's Crag after sunset and light the signal. Choose "I just want my family back," then "I'll do it" (Fextralife). You must then mark the Manumit hideout, which requires The Firebrand, Shadows in the Woods and Where Loyalty Lies. If you already know the hideout, this is a short trip.
Why does fighting Brencis at the parley kill your family?
This is the most dangerous choice in the game, and many guides present it as the normal Folk Hero route. Fextralife, KeenGamer and Sportskeeda all list "Enough. Time to end this." as a way to get the ending. They are right about the trophy route, but they leave out the result.
Rock Paper Shotgun played it through: "As you return to Shrike's Crag, Pieter is dead and you'll discover that so is all of your family (or, so it seems)." Method names this outcome the Deal Gone Wrong and calls it "the worst possible ending." PC Gamer agrees it is inadvisable, because the fight summons spirits and leaves your father to them. Game8's advice is blunter still: do not meet Brencis at all if you want to avoid both outcomes.
Our advice: if you want a clean Folk Hero, use the castle. Only pick the parley fight from a dedicated save, after you have seen the ending you actually wanted.
How do the two secret endings work?
A Hero They Deserve: head to the Coward's Path Shrine in Briar Sloughs at night, cross the broken bridge and choose to leave the valley forever. PC Gamer says the jump needs Corruption 11 and the second level of Shadow Dweller to extend Shadow Step. There is no epilogue, only the post-credits scene.
Together Forever: climb The Silts Tower and enter Aurelius's study to start Home Sweet Home. Ignore the well, finish four loops, then speak to Esme. Fextralife's route adds chopping logs first. PC Gamer says this is the only ending with no post-credits scene.
What happens if the 30 days run out?
The game continues. Rock Paper Shotgun says it plainly: "This does not end the game, but turns Coen's mission into one of vengeance." Your family dies in a cutscene, the timer disappears, and you can still reach the other endings. You lose the In the Nick of Time achievement and the family's epilogue scenes. Fextralife lists no unique trophy for this ending. Our time limit guide covers the details.
You are unlikely to hit it by accident. PowerPyx says the finale is reachable in under 10 in-game days if you focus on the main quests.
Can you get all endings in one playthrough?
Yes, but plan on more than one save. Fextralife recommends a manual save after beating all three boyars, which covers the finale routes. Finishing a run returns you to the title screen, so keep Home Sweet Home unresolved or hold an earlier save for the secret endings. This setup is the safest:
- Save 1, before Home Sweet Home: use it for Together Forever. Reload, then take A Hero They Deserve once you have the Corruption for the jump.
- Save 2, after the boyars and ally questlines: use it for The Folk Hero, The Patricide, The Knyazmaker and The Turncoat. Reload after each one.
- Save 3, any save before day 30: load this last and let the timer expire, because Time Runs Out costs you In the Nick of Time on that save.
There is still no New Game Plus to fall back on. Rebel Wolves says it intends to add one, but it was not in Update 1.1 and has no date. For trophy order, including the Duelist run, use our trophy guide.
What changes in the epilogue?
Your 30 days decide far more here than the ending does. IGN puts it this way: "These endings are primarily just methods of taking down Brencis." The final tableaus then show what your choices did. Bring 800 Denarius, because PC Gamer says the church asks for a donation and you can give your sister Yanna a dowry. It also lists these changes:
- Esme: absent if you made Anca's medicine wrongly in the prologue.
- Anca: stays in Laslea if you let her use the Font of Life, and leaves to seek another cure if you did not.
- Lacra: appears if you finished her questline and Brencis is gone.
- Father Florin: becomes a saint in some endings, and PC Gamer suspects that needs A Hero's End. He burns if Brencis stays in power.
- Svartrau murders: continue if you named the wrong killer in A Study in Crimson.
- St. Tyna's Convent: Echoes of Silenced Bells decides whether its curse lifts.
- The plague: returns unless Brencis still rules.
Lunka is the fixed point. PC Gamer writes that her "fate is the same in every ending," and Method agrees. She ends up changed by Brencis, and Coen leaves the valley with her after meeting Neberu, another dawnwalker who points him toward the Augurs. That scene, and the post-credits sequence, set up the wider saga.
Did Update 1.1 change the endings?
No ending was added or removed, but the fixes matter. The official Update 1.1 notes, released October 22, 2026, fix several finale blockers. The most useful for ending hunters:
- "Added a missing autosave during the "A Deal with the Devil" quest."
- "Fixed an issue that caused incorrect information to be displayed on the Epilogue boards."
- "Fixed an issue that caused an infinite loading screen during the “Things Will Be Different Now” quest."
- "Fixed an issue that permanently closed the hallway doors and blocked Coen from progressing the “Midnight Reckoning” quest."
If an older save showed a wrong epilogue board or locked up at the end, try that route again on the current version.
FAQ
How many endings does The Blood of Dawnwalker have? It has 7 endings by the most common count: four full story endings and three early or alternate ones. PC Gamer counts eight and Game8 has counted nine because they split variants differently.
What is the best ending in The Blood of Dawnwalker? The Folk Hero, reached by entering Greifberg Castle alone, is the best first choice. Your family survives apart from Lunka, and the valley becomes independent rather than falling to Catalin Dragosti or staying under Brencis.
Can you save Lunka? No. PC Gamer and Method both say her fate does not change in any full story ending.
Should you meet Brencis at Shrike's Crag? Only if you want The Turncoat or are playing from a spare save. Accepting betrays the Manumits, and fighting him there leaves your father dead and your family apparently killed.
Does the 30-day timer end the game? No. Your family dies, the timer disappears, and you can keep playing. You lose In the Nick of Time and the family's epilogue scenes.
Can you keep playing after finishing the game? Not on that ending. The game returns to the title screen, so reload a save from before the finale to clear side content or see another ending.
Is there a canon ending? No canon ending has been confirmed as of November 2, 2026, including for the planned sequel.
More Blood of Dawnwalker guides
- All bosses and how to beat them covers the boyars and every major fight before the finale.
- How to beat Xanthe explains the hardest boyar fight.
- Missable items and content lists what to finish before your final save.
- Companions and allies explains how Lacra and Crake join your side.
Sources: Rock Paper Shotgun, IGN, PC Gamer, Fextralife, Method, PowerPyx and the official Update 1.1 notes, checked November 2, 2026. Rebel Wolves has not published an official endings breakdown. Steam percentages are a snapshot from October 31, 2026.
