Blood of Dawnwalker Guide: All Romance Options & How to Unlock Them

The Blood of Dawnwalker gives you 30 days to save your family from Brencis and the Vrakhiri Court, but that ticking clock doesn't mean Coen has to go through it alone. The game has three fully developed romance options, and here's the part most players miss: you can pursue all three in a single playthrough without any jealousy mechanics or locked-out endings. This guide covers every quest, every key dialogue choice, and the rewards each romance brings to your run.

Who are all the romance options in Blood of Dawnwalker?

There are exactly three characters Coen can romance: Anca, Lacra, and Crake. Each has a dedicated optional questline, and each relationship develops through specific dialogue choices scattered across those quests. Skip the quests or pick the wrong responses and you'll lock yourself out of the intimate scenes, so knowing the path ahead of time matters.

The good news for completionists playing one of the best RPG games around right now: the game doesn't force you to choose. All three romances can coexist, and all three can appear in the epilogue if you finish their storylines correctly.

How to romance Anca

Anca is a herbalist who appears as early as the prologue when Coen goes looking for medicine. She's the earliest romance to start and the one that requires the most sustained effort across multiple quests. The relationship builds slowly through five quests before it pays off.

Blood of Dawnwalker Guide: All Romance Options & How to Unlock Them

Anca's romance quest order

1. Page-Turner: Agree to practice Latin with Anca and tell her "I enjoy the company more than the books."
2. Echoes of Silenced Bells: Let Anca take the notes so she can save the nuns.
3. Between the Words: Prepare tea for Anca. When prompted, say "It's my pleasure." After the reading scene, follow up with "Always? What do you mean?" then "Your feelings toward me, it's more than just faith."
4. Where Old Devils Lie: While inspecting the map together, say "Who knows what else I have in store for you." After finding the ruins, pick "Nice to see you smile" and "I'm enjoying your company, too."
5. Stronger Than Achilles: Offer yourself as the blood sacrifice for the idol. Tell her "I'd do anything for you" and "I love you." Letting Anca use the Font of Life makes her happiest, but the romance still works if Coen takes it.

For the full detailed walkthrough of every Anca dialogue choice, check out our complete Anca romance guide.

Anca's intimate scene choices

After the events of Stronger Than Achilles, you'll hit a final string of choices that determine whether the romance scene triggers:

• "I beg to differ."
• "I love you."
• "Screw decency. I want you, too."
• "Leave me hungry for more."

How to romance Lacra

Lacra is a Vrakhiri who wants Brencis dead for her own reasons, which makes her both a natural ally and a compelling romantic lead. Finding her takes a bit of work. You can reach her by defeating Ambrus during The Gilded Gauntlet and reading the note on his body, or by helping Ocha during The Heart Wants What It Wants and asking about potential allies. Either path leads to A Study in Crimson, which points you toward Lacra in Svartrau City.

Blood of Dawnwalker Guide: All Romance Options & How to Unlock Them

Lacra's romance quest order

1. A Friend Like This: When dealing with the Uriash, say "Gladly. But we will actually talk."
2. Song of the Mountain: Drop your weapons and tell Lacra to calm down: "Nobody needs to die!" Keep doing nothing until the Uriash trust you.
3. Hive and Seek: Flatter Lacra with "Now you're just showing off" and "Quite so."
4. Our Rotten Roots: You can take the left path to learn more about Lacra's past. If you do, apologize for prying when you return.
5. The Night of Horrors: Eat the mandrake, follow Lacra, and kiss her.

For the full step-by-step breakdown including the Night of Horrors scene, see our complete Lacra romance guide.

Lacra's intimate scene choices

The Night of Horrors is where the romance either locks in or falls apart. These are the choices that unlock Lacra's scene:

• [eat the mandrake]
• "Can vrakhiri get drunk?"
• [follow Lacra]
• "Like freedom."
• "I like it."
• [drink]
• [kiss her]

To appear in the epilogue, Lacra's storyline must be completed all the way through Midnight Reckoning.

How to romance Crake

Crake is the leader of the Manumit rebels and the game's only male romance option. He's distrustful of Coen by default, so the early quests are about proving your loyalty before the relationship can go anywhere personal. You can start his questline during the prologue by saving Vlad or investigating his home in Laslea if Vlad dies, then speaking with Mert to begin Shadows in the Woods. Alternatively, head directly to the Manumit hideout in Svartrau to start Where Loyalty Lies.

Blood of Dawnwalker Guide: All Romance Options & How to Unlock Them

Crake's romance quest order

1. The Firebrand: Start this during the prologue via Vlad or Mert.
2. Shadows in the Woods: Tell Crake you're a friend and pick all additional white dialogue choices before giving up on convincing him.
3. Where Loyalty Lies: Raise your Infamy to Notorious. When given your first mission, say "All clear. I'm on it."
4. What Hunts the Night: Let Crake open up by asking "Don't you want to talk about Sara?" Follow with "I know what it's like to lose someone."
5. What Moves the Dead: After escaping the ruins, walk Crake back to the hideout and tend to his wounds.
6. Who Pulls the Strings: Tell him "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the master" and "Good to know we're not alone in this."
7. Distant Shadows: Complete this quest to unlock A Closer Look.
8. A Closer Look: Tell Crake "Hey. Nothing you say can change the way I see you" and kiss him back.

Crake's intimate scene choices

A Closer Look unlocks directly after Distant Shadows. These choices trigger the scene:

• "May I join you then?"
• "I'm worried about you. What's wrong?"
• "Please just tell me the truth about Acar."
• "Hey. Nothing you say can change the way I see you."
• [kiss him back]

For Crake to appear in the epilogue, you need to complete Rise at Dawn and see the Manumit storyline through to its conclusion.

Which romance option is best?

All three romances lead to broadly similar endings, so this comes down to personal taste and how much you care about combat utility.

• Lacra gives the strongest mechanical reward. Eating the mandrake during her questline unlocks the Mandrake Ward skill, which blocks one lethal hit per night. That's a genuine lifesaver on harder encounters.
• Anca rewards passive survivability. Choosing "If it's alright with you" during Stronger Than Achilles lets Coen learn the Font of Life skill, which provides passive healing in human form during the day.
• Crake unlocks a legendary gear vendor when he brings you back to the Manumit headquarters. Useful, but less immediately impactful than the other two skill rewards.

Can you romance everyone in one playthrough?

Yes. The game has no exclusivity mechanics between romance options. Anca, Lacra, and Crake don't react to each other's relationships with Coen, so there's nothing stopping you from pursuing all three. The limiting factor is purely the in-game time system, so prioritize romance quests early and don't let them pile up toward the end of your 30 days.

If you need to keep your health up while juggling all these questlines, our guide on how to heal as a vampire and human covers every recovery method available to Coen. For everything else, the full Blood of Dawnwalker guide collection has you covered from prologue to epilogue.