Dawnwalker All Bosses: Full List and Which to Skip
This guide draws on official information from Rebel Wolves and Bandai Namco for The Blood of Dawnwalker (released September 3, 2026). Sections marked as unconfirmed reflect details that are not yet officially verified.
The boss design in The Blood of Dawnwalker breaks two conventions at once, and both are worth knowing before you plan a run. First, two of the five named bosses can be avoided completely — Xanthe can be resolved without a fight, and Brencis can be skipped outright on the Turncoat path. Second, no two of these fights test the same skill. One is a timing check, one is an observation puzzle, one is stamina management, one is arena control, and the last is pure adaptability.
That second point is why "one build to rule them all" advice fails here. A setup that carries you through Ambrus's armour will not help you pick the real Xanthe out of a room of illusions. This page is the hub: what the major encounters are, the order they slot into, what each one demands, and which ones you can walk away from.
The Five Named Bosses
| Boss | Identity and location | Main threat | Approach | What it tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mihai, Patron Saint of the Cathedral | Former religious figure, entombed alive in a sealed crypt beneath Svartrau Cathedral | Heavy strikes and diving lunges | Block through the early attacks, roll through the second phase | Timing |
| Xanthe | One of Brencis's three lieutenants, the cathedral | Illusions and teleportation | Identify the real target | Observation |
| Ambrus | One of Brencis's three lieutenants, the Iron Castellan | High armour paired with high damage | Perfect Block and positioning | Stamina management |
| Bakir | One of Brencis's three lieutenants, an alchemist | Poison, acid, and plague | Keep moving, control the distance | Arena control |
| Brencis | Final boss, Greifberg Castle | Speed, spells, and darkness | Every combat system you have, used together | Adaptability |
Individual pages go deeper on the three lieutenants and the finale: Ambrus boss guide, Bakir boss guide, Xanthe boss guide, and Brencis final boss.
Five named bosses, not a total count
These are the five major named bosses. Side bosses exist beyond this table, and no complete boss count has been published, so treat this as the spine of the game rather than the full roster.
Mihai and the Cathedral Crypt
Mihai is the outlier in the group: not a lieutenant, not part of the Court structure, and tied to a religious story thread rather than the regime. He was a religious figure who was entombed alive in a sealed chamber beneath Svartrau Cathedral, and he connects to the A Monk and a Saint quest and the legendary silver sword associated with St. Mihai.
Getting to him is a discovery problem before it is a combat problem. Community guides report that the crypt is reached at night, through a sealed well behind the cathedral rather than from inside the building itself — worth noting because a daytime approach simply will not find the entrance.
Mechanically he is your timing exam. Early attacks are heavy and telegraphed, which rewards blocking; the second phase shifts toward diving lunges that punish standing your ground, so rolling becomes the answer. His exact phase count is TBC — not officially confirmed yet, but the block-then-roll shift is the pattern to learn.
The Three Lieutenants and Their Infamy Cost
Ambrus, Bakir, and Xanthe sit at the centre of the game's structure. Each rules a region, each has to be provoked before you can reach them, and each lieutenant you defeat raises your infamy by a full level immediately.
That is the coupling worth planning around. A lieutenant fight is not just a fight; it is a commitment to the next tier of world state, and the ninth edict closes the gates of Svartrau. If you have unfinished business inside the city, do it before the fight that pushes you over, not after. Our infamy and edicts guide has the full nine-level table and the prep checklist that follows from it.
The recommended order is Ambrus → Bakir → Xanthe. Xanthe is the oldest vampire in Vale Sangora, and leaving her last means you arrive with more abilities, more allies, and a working read on how lieutenant fights escalate. Provoking them in the first place runs through Court Activities, which the game deliberately does not mark on your map.
Ambrus, the Iron Castellan
An endurance fight. High armour means your damage output matters less than your ability to keep functioning through a long exchange, and high damage on his side means mistakes are expensive. Perfect Block and positioning carry this one; flailing at his guard drains you and gets you killed at the point where you have nothing left to spend.
Bakir the Alchemist
An arena fight. Poison, acid, and plague turn the ground itself into the threat, which means the encounter is really about space rather than the enemy. Keep moving, control the distance, and treat lingering hazards as terrain you have lost rather than damage you can tank through.
Xanthe and the Illusions
An observation fight, and the one that punishes autopilot hardest. Illusions and teleportation mean your first job is target identification — swing at a duplicate and you have given her a free window. Patience beats aggression here in a way it does not against Ambrus.
Which Bosses You Can Skip
Two of the five are genuinely optional, and the cost is narrative rather than mechanical.
Xanthe does not have to be killed. There is a branch where the encounter resolves through negotiation instead of combat — you can strike a deal with her rather than fight it out. The Xanthe boss guide covers that route. What you trade away is whatever the kill would have given you, and any consequences of leaving the valley's oldest vampire alive.
Brencis can be skipped entirely. On the Turncoat ending path, the final boss fight simply does not happen. This is the single largest piece of content a player can miss without ever being warned, because it is gated behind a story choice rather than a difficulty wall. The Brencis final boss and endings pages both cover how that path diverges.
Whether skipping either fight forecloses specific rewards or trophies is TBC — not officially confirmed yet. What is clear is that neither skip is a shortcut in the ordinary sense: both are choices with consequences attached, not efficiency plays.
Day and Night Form in Boss Fights
Form choice is a real variable in these encounters, not just an exploration convenience. Coen's human and vampire sides give you different tools, and the fights above stress different things — a timing check and an arena-control fight do not reward the same loadout. Deciding when to approach a boss, and in which form, belongs in your prep rather than left to whenever you happen to arrive.
The mechanics of that split are covered in our day vs night guide, and ability unlocks in vampire abilities.
Known Side Bosses
Beyond the five named bosses, several distinct encounters have surfaced. This is not a complete list — no verified full boss roster has been published, and more side encounters almost certainly exist.
| Side boss | Where | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Svetlana, The Dark Prodigy | Inside Silts Tower, in The Silts | The room also holds a skill manual and a safe |
| Gargoyle side boss | Tied to the hidden Home Sweet Home trophy | Trophy-linked encounter |
| Constantin | Soldier camp leader in Rock Falls | Spare him and he becomes a Swordmastery tutor |
Constantin deserves a specific warning: he is beatable and killable, but killing him permanently removes a Swordmastery tutor from your run. This is one of the clearer irreversible choices attached to a combat encounter — see skill manuals for why tutors matter and missables for the wider list of one-way decisions.
Recommended Progression Order
A workable spine, drawn from how the fights connect rather than from any official gating:
- Learn the combat system on ordinary soldiers and camp leaders first — camps also feed infamy and drop manuals.
- Mihai when the cathedral thread opens, since he is the cleanest timing lesson available.
- Ambrus, then Bakir, then Xanthe, clearing your Svartrau list before the fight that pushes infamy toward the ninth edict.
- Brencis last, on whichever ending path you have committed to.
Boss FAQ
How many bosses are in the game? There are five major named bosses plus an unconfirmed number of side bosses. No complete count has been published.
Are there difficulty-based boss changes? TBC — not officially confirmed yet.
Can I refight bosses? TBC — not officially confirmed yet.
Which boss is hardest? It depends on what you are bad at, which is the honest answer given that each one tests something different.
If you are building toward these fights, our best builds and skills page covers loadouts and combat system covers the mechanics each boss stresses.