The Blood of Dawnwalker gives Coen three people to fall for across a single 30-day playthrough, and unlike the branching endings, you do not have to choose between them — every romance can be completed in one run if you know where to look. The catch is that two of the three are easy to miss entirely, the human romances can be killed off if you approach them as a starving vampire, and the vampire romance has a hard point of no return most players walk straight past.
Quick answer: The Blood of Dawnwalker has three romanceable characters — Anca (a human herbalist you meet in the prologue), Lacra (the only Vrakhiri/vampire romance, fully missable in Svartrau City), and Crake / Marat (leader of the Manumit rebellion, gated behind high infamy). All three can be romanced in the same playthrough, and romance is a narrative layer that doesn't gate the endings. PC Gamer frames Anca as the "canon," long-term option while Crake and Lacra read closer to one-night stands.
How many romance options are in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
There are three romance options: Anca, Lacra and Crake (whose real name is Marat). Developer Rebel Wolves built romance as an optional layer over the game's quest web rather than a menu you pick from, so each one is tied to a specific multi-quest chain you have to actively pursue. Because The Blood of Dawnwalker is a single-player game built around Coen's 30-day race to save his family, romance is a narrative choice rather than a gate — PCGamesN notes you "don't have to be romantically involved with these characters for them to remain allied," and you can reach any of the game's seven endings without pursuing anyone.
Two things make this different from a typical RPG romance system. First, there's no exclusivity: TheGamer confirms "romancing all three characters… is entirely up to you, and you won't face any consequences for doing so," and PCGamesN adds that "getting together with one doesn't lock you out of approaching the others." Second, the tone varies sharply. As PC Gamer frames it, Anca is the "canon," long-term partner while Crake and Lacra read closer to one-night stands. If you want the romance that pays off most narratively, Anca is the one to prioritize.
The universal rule, per PCGamesN, is simple: follow each character's questline, be nice to them, and take the romance option when it comes up. There are no hidden stat checks or gift systems — the "requirements" are just completing the right quests and picking the flirt option when it appears.
How to romance Anca in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Anca is the herbalist of Laslea Glen and the first romance you'll encounter — you meet her in the prologue, which is why she gets the most screen time and is framed by PC Gamer as the game's "canon" love interest. She's also the safest to start but easy to accidentally lose.
Her romance runs through a chain of quests, which VGC lists in this order:
- Withering Away
- Page-Turner — take the flirt option here when it comes up.
- Echoes of Silenced Bells
- Between the Words
- Where Old Devils Lie
- Stronger Than Achilles — the culmination of the arc.
One fail state can end Anca's story permanently, so treat it as a hard warning: do not talk to her in vampire form at low health. Per GameSpot's guide, speaking to Anca while transformed and low on health kills her outright — feed or heal first, and approach as a human. (The same danger applies to Crake, the other human romance, who can be killed by giving in to the hunger mid-conversation.) Beyond that, remember the game's general point of no return: once you commit to the finale at Greifberg Castle, ongoing questlines are effectively closed, so wrap up Anca's chain before you storm the castle.
The reassuring part: romancing Anca does not lock you out of any ending. She's the closest thing the game has to a canonical love interest, and her arc is a narrative payoff rather than a mechanical restriction on your final choices.
How to romance Lacra, the vampire romance
Lacra is the standout — the only Vrakhiri (vampire) romance in the game — and also the single most missable relationship in The Blood of Dawnwalker. You will not stumble into her by accident. She's found in the northeast of Svartrau City, and the thread that leads to her is the quest "A Friend Like This," which you pick up through the character Vicho's questline "A Study in Crimson."
Her romance runs through a chain of quests:
- A Friend Like This
- Song of the Mountain
- Hive and Seek
- Our Rotten Roots
- The Night of Horrors
The part that trips players up is the point of no return. As space4games spells out, you must complete "The Night of Horrors" before you begin "Midnight Reckoning" — and Midnight Reckoning is the game's finale (storming Greifberg Castle as vampires), not a quiet romance quest. Once you start it, the guide warns, "your opportunity is gone." The actual romance beat lands earlier, at the end of The Night of Horrors: per Method's walkthrough, when prompted, eat the mandrake, follow Lacra, drink from Lacra, and then kiss her to seal it.
Because Lacra is a vampire and her arc sits deep in Svartrau's political intrigue, she's the romance most worth planning a route around — miss the Svartrau City questline entirely and you'll finish the game without ever knowing she was an option. Notably, Lacra is also the companion who fights beside Coen in the Greifberg finale, so her thread ties directly into the endgame.
How to romance Crake (Marat), the rebel leader
Crake — real name Marat — is described by TheGamer and GamesRadar as a leader of the Manumits, the mortal-led rebellion against the vampire courts, and he's the most conditional romance in the game. Before his romantic thread opens up, you need to raise your infamy in the court system high enough (the "Notorious" tier); without enough notoriety, the relevant quest step won't unlock.
His arc begins with The Firebrand, which flows automatically into Shadows in the Woods, and from there into a long questline that also unlocks The Knyazmaker ending — the finale where Coen kills Brencis alongside Crake and the Manumits. One thing to get right: the "The Manumit" achievement is tied to the quest "A Closer Look," not to the romance itself. As PowerPyx and allthings.how note, the romantic scene with Crake is optional and isn't required for the trophy or for progression.
Crake is a good example of how Rebel Wolves wove romance into consequence: because his questline is entangled with the Knyazmaker path, pursuing him isn't just a fling — it steers your endgame. Per PC Gamer's read, though, the relationship itself lands closer to a one-night stand than the longer-term bond you get with Anca.
Where to find every romance option at a glance
If you're planning your 30 days and want to hit all three, here's the fast reference for where each romance starts and what gates it:
- Anca — Laslea Glen, introduced automatically in the prologue. Start quest: Withering Away; take the flirt option in Page-Turner. No prerequisites, but talking to her in vampire form at low health can kill her.
- Lacra — northeast of Svartrau City. Start quest: A Friend Like This, reached via Vicho's A Study in Crimson. Fully missable; the only vampire romance.
- Crake / Marat — a leader of the Manumits. Start quest: The Firebrand → Shadows in the Woods. Needs high infamy (Notorious) to progress; his questline also opens the Knyazmaker ending.
The through-line is that only Anca comes to you. The other two demand that you go looking — Lacra deep in Svartrau's vampire politics, Crake only after you've built up enough notoriety with the courts to matter to a rebellion.
Why romance works the way it does in The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Blood of Dawnwalker's romances aren't a separate system bolted onto the RPG — they're threaded through the same quest web that drives everything else, which is why there's no affinity meter or gift wheel to grind. You flirt when the dialogue offers it and you finish the questline; that's the whole mechanic. Rebel Wolves, the studio founded by former CD Projekt Red leads including Witcher 3 game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, clearly carried over CDPR's "romance as story, not stat" approach.
The deeper design point is the 30-day clock. Because every action in the game spends time from a fixed budget, the real cost of chasing all three romances isn't loyalty — it's the days you're not spending on the main quest to save Coen's family, or on the other content that feeds into your ending. That tension, not exclusivity, is the actual decision the game hands you.
Can you romance everyone in one playthrough?
Yes. All three romances can be completed in a single 30-day run with no exclusivity penalty — TheGamer and PCGamesN both confirm pursuing one doesn't lock out the others. This is deliberate: The Blood of Dawnwalker's design philosophy is that its 30-day clock forces you to prioritize time, not loyalty. If you have the in-game days to spare and you complete each chain's quests, Coen can be involved with all three.
The only real constraints are:
- Anca's fail state — don't talk to her in vampire form at low health.
- Lacra's quest order — finish The Night of Horrors before you trigger the Midnight Reckoning finale.
- Crake's infamy gate — you need a high (Notorious) infamy level for his thread to progress.
Romance is framed as a narrative choice rather than an ending gate, though Crake's questline specifically opens the Knyazmaker ending. If you're going for a complete-everything save, slot the romance quests into your day planning early — the game's biggest enemy is always the calendar, not the choices.
FAQ
How many romance options does The Blood of Dawnwalker have? Three: Anca, Lacra and Crake (Marat). All three can be romanced in a single playthrough with no exclusivity.
Who is the best romance in The Blood of Dawnwalker? PC Gamer frames Anca as the "canon," long-term romance — she has the most screen time and is met in the prologue. Crake and Lacra read closer to one-night stands.
Can you romance the vampire in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Yes. Lacra is the only Vrakhiri (vampire) romance. She's found in the northeast of Svartrau City via the quest "A Friend Like This" (reached through Vicho's "A Study in Crimson") and is completely missable if you skip that questline.
Does romance affect the ending in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Romance is described as a narrative choice that doesn't gate the endings — PCGamesN notes companions stay allied whether or not you romance them. Crake's questline does, separately, unlock the Knyazmaker ending.
How do you unlock Crake's romance? Raise your infamy to a high (Notorious) level, then progress The Firebrand into Shadows in the Woods and follow his questline. Note the "The Manumit" achievement is tied to the quest "A Closer Look," and the romance scene itself is optional.
Can you miss a romance in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Yes — Lacra and Crake are both easy to miss. Lacra requires the Svartrau City questline, and Crake requires reaching a high infamy level. Only Anca is introduced automatically in the prologue.
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