Quick Answer: In The Blood of Dawnwalker, side quests aren't free — time is spent "like a currency" on quests, upgrades and key dialogue, and you only have 30 in-game days to beat the three main bosses and save your family. The good news: the main story takes roughly 7–10 days, leaving around 20 days for side content. So "best" doesn't mean "do everything" — it means prioritise the side quests that gate allies, romances and endings (Lacra's A Friend Like This, Crake's path to The Knyazmaker, Anca's Page-Turner chain) and the ones that hand you Legendary gear before the Brencis fight, while skipping low-payoff time-sinks if you're racing the clock.
- Time is a budget, not a countdown. It doesn't tick in real time — walking the map and fast-travel cost nothing; quests, perk purchases and some dialogue choices spend it.
- Do first (allies & endings): A Friend Like This (Lacra), A Study in Crimson (Vicho → Lacra), the Crake/Marat chain toward Fall Before Dusk, and Anca's Withering Away → Page-Turner → Stronger Than Achilles.
- Do for power: the handful of side quests that drop Legendary gear — they make the finale far easier.
- Don't miss: Selfish (closes after Infamy Level 9) and Together Forever via Home Sweet Home (save before the fourth fight). All Prologue side quests vanish once the Prologue ends.
- Skip if rushing: there's no hard timer on side content outside the Prologue, and you can mop up quests from your ending save — so a tight run can safely ignore the long, low-reward ones.
Most guides treat side quests as a checklist. The Blood of Dawnwalker punishes that instinct. Because the game runs on a 30-day clock and the developers built nearly everything around spending time, the real skill isn't completing side quests — it's choosing them. This guide ranks the side content that actually matters: the quests that unlock companions and endings, the ones that arm you for the final bosses, the trophies you can permanently lose, and the time-sinks worth cutting when the clock is tight. If you're still fuzzy on how the clock works, start with our time system explainer.
Do side quests cost time in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Yes — and understanding exactly what spends time is the whole game. Time in The Blood of Dawnwalker does not advance on its own. As PowerPyx puts it in their trophy roadmap, "Time doesn't advance on its own, instead it's spent like a currency on completing quests, buying skills, and making dialogue choices." GamesRadar's time breakdown agrees: time "is only linked to quests, choices and progression."
That has two concrete consequences for how you plan side quests:
- Exploration is free. Walking around the map doesn't cost time, and Game8's time-limit guide states that fast travel does not advance time either. You can scout every region, open the whole map and reposition for free — the clock only moves when you commit to story actions.
- Quests draw from the budget. Completing a side quest spends time segments, and some quests are far more expensive than others. Game8's quest tables assign a per-quest time cost, ranging from zero up to the roughly 7–10 segments of The Bittersweet Toast — the heaviest single side quest they list.
The headline number that reframes everything: you have 30 days total to defeat the 3 main bosses and rescue your family (PowerPyx), but the main quests themselves only take around 7–10 days. That leaves roughly 20 days of slack for side content. The time limit sounds terrifying on paper; in practice there's plenty of room — if you don't blow it all on quests that give you nothing.
One honest caveat: critics are split on how much "teeth" the limit really has. PC Gamer argues it barely bites outside the Prologue; GamesRadar found it tight enough that players reached for mods. Treat the 20-day cushion as generous, not infinite — and spend it deliberately.
Which side quests unlock allies, romances and endings?
This is the tier that matters most, because these quests gate content you cannot get any other way. Skip them and you lock yourself out of companions, romances and whole endings.
Lacra — start with A Friend Like This. Lacra, a nocturnal vrakhiri, is only reachable at night, and her chain begins with the side quest A Friend Like This. You open that door one of two ways: by defeating Ambrus (in The Gilded Gauntlet) and reading his note, or by completing Vicho's side quest A Study in Crimson, after which Vicho points you to her. Her questline then runs A Friend Like This → Song of the Mountain → Hive and Seek → Our Rotten Roots → The Night of Horrors, and PC Gamer notes Lacra only appears in the epilogue if you finish the chain. If you want her, A Study in Crimson is a priority side quest, not an optional one.
Crake (real name Marat) — the road to The Knyazmaker. Crake's long side chain runs from Shadows in the Woods through Rise at Dawn, and it feeds directly into an ending: the Fall Before Dusk quest, which requires completing Rise at Dawn, is where The Knyazmaker ending is earned. There's a gate to watch — reaching Infamy Level 4 ("Notorious") advances the Manumit/Crake-aligned path (Where Loyalty Lies), and Court Activities are the fastest way to raise Infamy. During What Moves the Dead you learn Crake's real name is Marat. In short: a side questline here is the on-ramp to a main ending.
Anca — the Page-Turner chain and the Font of Life. Anca's romance is side content with real stakes. Withering Away must be finished with the correct medicine before the Blood Mass or Esme dies. Page-Turner starts when you accept Anca's offer to study Latin (it costs 2 Time Segments; declining locks you out and still costs 1). The confirmed payoff quest is Stronger Than Achilles, where you find the Font of Life — give it to Anca for unique romance dialogue, use it yourself for a Witchcraft perk, or destroy it for a Legendary armour piece. (The exact quests between Page-Turner and Stronger Than Achilles aren't consistently named across trusted sources, so don't go hunting a specific mid-chain title — follow the quest log.)
A hidden village only a side quest unlocks. The A Friend Like This → Song of the Mountain chain is the only way to reach the hidden Uriash Village: you meet Lacra at Crown Rock at night and follow the windchimes up the mountain. GameSpot warns that choosing violence there permanently removes its merchants and locks out A Mother's Plea — the peaceful route keeps the content. For the bigger picture of where these places sit, see our regions and map guide.
The side quests with the best rewards
Here is the priority shortlist at a glance before the detail:
| Side quest | Tier | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| A Study in Crimson (Vicho) | Ally gate | Opens Lacra's whole chain |
| A Friend Like This → Song of the Mountain | Ally + hidden area | Lacra romance; only route to Uriash Village |
| Crake/Marat chain → Fall Before Dusk | Ending gate | Unlocks The Knyazmaker ending |
| Page-Turner → Stronger Than Achilles (Anca) | Romance + Legendary | Font of Life: romance, perk, or Legendary armour |
| The Gilded Gauntlet, Hive and Seek, Tiny Dancer, The Good Samaritan, A Bulwark Against Darkness | Legendary gear | Arms Coen for the Brencis fight |
| A Hero's End (Svartrau) | Legendary gear | Legendary shortsword + heavy chestpiece |
| Selfish (fishmonger) | Missable trophy | Closes at Infamy Level 9 |
| Home Sweet Home → Together Forever | Missable trophy | Save before the 4th fight |
If your goal is raw power for the endgame — especially the Brencis fight — a specific set of side quests is worth prioritising.
Legendary gear. Game8 singles out five side quests as the ones that arm Coen with Legendary-tier gear: The Gilded Gauntlet, Hive and Seek, Tiny Dancer, The Good Samaritan, and A Bulwark Against Darkness (that last one gives a full armour set). Their guidance is blunt — doing these makes the final boss far easier. Separately, PowerPyx highlights A Hero's End in Svartrau City, which rewards XP plus a legendary shortsword and a legendary heavy chestpiece; it follows In the Name of the Father (itself a tidy 2-segment quest giving XP and a Skill Point).
Skill Points. Because XP and Skill Points both feed your Level, quests that hand out Skill Points are strong value for their time cost. Shadows in the Woods gives roughly 1,000 XP plus a Skill Point; In the Name of the Father gives a Skill Point; and Volk's Buried Past yields a Skill Point and an "Artery Strike" manual. GameSpot's note on Buried Past is instructive: its chores "seem like a waste of time, but patient players might obtain some really cool rewards" — a reminder that reward and appearance of reward don't always match. Pair this with our best build guide to spend those points well.
Which side quests and trophies are missable?
Several side quests and their trophies can be permanently lost, usually to either the clock or your rising Infamy. These are the ones to handle on a schedule.
"Selfish" (closes at Infamy Level 9). This trophy comes from selling any fish to the fishmonger in Svartrau City's market. The catch: once you hit Infamy Level 9, the gates to Svartrau City shut and the fishmonger stops spawning. If you have no fish, buy a Dried Fish from her and sell it straight back. (PowerPyx lists it as missable; Game8 files it under hidden trophies — either way, the Infamy-9 cutoff is the thing to respect.)
"Together Forever" via Home Sweet Home. This hidden quest, tied to Xanthe's Court Activity, is a time loop: you defeat a dream-insect boss across repeated cycles, and a secret ending/trophy triggers on the fifth cycle. Keep a save before the fourth fight — if you escape the loop early (by inspecting the well), you lose the ending. Game8 lists the quest itself as startable later; PowerPyx flags the trophy as the part you can miss.
All Prologue side quests. PowerPyx is explicit that side quests "except the Prologue side quests which all become unavailable after the Prologue" stay available later. You can't do them all — there are only about 8 segments before the Blood Mass — so GameSpot's advice is to clear the zero-time-cost ones first (All Good Things, Dead Drop). Watch for the "blue clock" journal icon too: PowerPyx notes that "some objectives within quests are time sensitive once started," and Fextralife confirms active quests can fail if time passes sundown. For more on not losing one-off pickups, our missable items guide tracks the rest.
Which side quests should you skip when rushing?
Here's the counter-intuitive part: on a tight or challenge run, the correct move is often to skip side quests entirely. PowerPyx says it plainly — "The safest option is to ignore side quests entirely" — adding that "You can still clean up all side quests later from your ending save." Because "There is no hard time limit for the side stuff, only on the main story objective" (PowerPyx), nothing outside the Prologue forces your hand.
No single side quest is universally branded a "waste," so don't go looking for one named trap. The warning is structural: the long, multi-step quests cost the most segments relative to their payoff, and The Bittersweet Toast (up to ~7–10 segments) is the most expensive single side quest in Game8's tables. If you're racing the three bosses, those are the first to cut. For perspective on scale: GamesRadar's reviewer hit the first ending at 26 hours, stretching to 31 hours with more side quests, while Game8's reviewer finished most major side content and still had nine days to spare. The budget is real, but it's roomy — spend it on the ally, ending and Legendary-gear quests above, and let the filler go.
FAQ
Do side quests use up your time in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Yes. Time is spent "like a currency" on completing quests, buying skills and making certain dialogue choices. However, walking the map and fast-travelling don't cost anything — only committing to quests and upgrades moves the clock.
How much time do you have for side quests? You have 30 in-game days to beat the three main bosses, but the main story only takes around 7–10 days. That leaves roughly 20 days for side content — enough to do the important quests comfortably, though not literally everything.
Which side quests are the most important to do? The ones that gate allies, romances and endings: Lacra's A Friend Like This (reached via Vicho's A Study in Crimson or defeating Ambrus), Crake's chain toward The Knyazmaker ending, and Anca's Withering Away → Page-Turner → Stronger Than Achilles. Add the side quests that drop Legendary gear to make the final boss easier.
Which side quests give Legendary gear? Game8 names five — The Gilded Gauntlet, Hive and Seek, Tiny Dancer, The Good Samaritan, and A Bulwark Against Darkness (an armour set). PowerPyx also highlights A Hero's End for a legendary shortsword and chestpiece.
Which side quests are missable? Selfish closes once you reach Infamy Level 9, the Together Forever trophy can be lost if you leave the Home Sweet Home loop before the fifth cycle, and all Prologue side quests disappear after the Prologue. Watch for the "blue clock" icon marking time-sensitive objectives.
Can you skip side quests entirely? Yes. There's no hard timer on side content outside the Prologue, and PowerPyx notes you can clean up quests later from your ending save. On a rushed run, skipping the long, low-payoff quests is the safe play.
