The Blood of Dawnwalker · Core Mechanic
Coen levels up three separate skill trees at once, and which ones you can actually spend points into shifts with the time of day. Here's how each tree works, the ultimate perks locked behind them, and where it's worth putting your first points.
| Tree | When it's usable | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Swordmastery | Day and night | Available from the start |
| Witchcraft | Day only | Early main-story quest, alongside Vampirism |
| Vampirism | Night only | Early main-story quest, alongside Witchcraft; expands further as your Corruption rises |
Swordmastery is your constant — melee fundamentals, stamina, and directional combat all live here, and it works no matter the hour. Witchcraft and Vampirism are the two halves of Coen's split nature: you can freely respec which perks you've slotted, but which tree you can actively draw from is locked to the current phase of day.
Witchcraft covers ritual magic, corpse investigation, and support effects — it's the tree that leans hardest into utility and information over raw damage, though it has damage-focused perks too.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Compel Soul | Communicate with the recently dead to pull clues from corpses — key for investigation-driven quests |
| Soul Reaping | Lifesteal effect that also keeps enemies at a distance |
| Life Lock | Blocks and reflects incoming damage |
| Font of Life | Passive human health regeneration |
| Herbal Remedies I & II | Extends consumable durations and adds instant healing |
| Witchcraft Mastery | Witchcraft abilities deal more damage |
| Forbidden Sigils | Increases the number of Witchcraft ability slots you can equip |
This is the backbone of Coen's melee kit — stamina economy, the four-directional block/parry system, and weapon damage scaling all sit here.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Perfect Block | Restores more stamina and activation charges on a well-timed block |
| Perfect Riposte | Bonus critical damage when you counterattack in the direction you just perfect-blocked |
| Omniblock | Reduces the stamina cost of blocking from any direction |
| Charge | Rushes forward, damaging and stunning everything in your path |
| Vigour | Increases all health types |
| Endless Effort | Increases stamina |
| Growing Momentum | Weapon damage escalates the longer you chain consecutive attacks |
Vampirism is built around blood management and aggressive claw-based abilities, and it keeps growing as your Corruption meter rises over the course of the game — the tree you have access to at hour one isn't the full picture.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Voracious Bite | Restores health by drinking blood directly from your target |
| Endless Hunger | Increases the number of vampiric health segments you have |
| Shadow Dweller | Increases shadowstep range for traversal and repositioning |
| Shapeshift | Transform into a wolf for faster exploration |
| Mesmerise | Mind-control a target to fight on your side temporarily |
| Nourishing Blood | Blood drinking restores more health |
| Mandrake Ward | Once per night, survive a lethal hit by regaining three health segments instead |
Near the top of each tree sits a small set of mutually exclusive ultimate perks — you can only learn one per tree per playthrough, so it's worth knowing your options before committing.
+20% Witchcraft ability damage for each Witchcraft ability used, stacking up to +100%.
Your first Witchcraft ability in a sequence hits two enemies instead of one.
15% chance to apply a random hex to an enemy on a Perfect Block.
+100% weapon damage while your health is below 30%.
Resets the cooldowns of your active abilities whenever you eliminate an enemy.
Reduces the activation-charge cost of all active abilities by 1.
+20% claw damage after killing an enemy or depleting a boss's health segment.
Lifesteal on attacks, plus once-per-combat 10 seconds of immortality.
Voracious Bite resets the cooldowns of all your active abilities.
You can't fully commit to a single tree early — Witchcraft and Vampirism are locked to their respective half of the day no matter how many points you have, and Swordmastery underpins combat regardless of build. That makes survivability and utility a better early investment than a narrow damage build you can't fully use yet.
Practical takeaway: spread your first points across survivability perks in whichever trees you can currently access, rather than rushing a single tree's ultimate. You'll have both Witchcraft and Vampirism open for most of the game — there's no rush to specialize before you've seen both halves of the kit.
How many skill trees are there?
Three: Witchcraft (day), Vampirism (night), and Swordmastery (day and night).
When do I unlock Witchcraft and Vampirism?
Swordmastery is available from the start. Witchcraft and Vampirism both unlock after an early main-story quest that opens up Coen's dual nature.
Can I pick more than one ultimate perk per tree?
No — each tree has a small set of mutually exclusive ultimate perks, and you can only learn one per tree per playthrough.