The Gilded Gauntlet Walkthrough | Choices, Time Cost & Rewards | The Blood of Dawnwalker

2026年9月22日

The Blood of Dawnwalker

This post is also available in: 日本語 (Japanese)

!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD — READ AT YOUR OWN RISK !!

This article covers the route I personally chose and the outcomes I was able to confirm. Branches resulting from other choices are still being tested.

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The Gilded Gauntlet Overview

Enraged by Coen repeatedly interfering with his operations, Ambrus personally challenges him to a duel.

The fight against one of the pillars of Brencis’s court begins.

How to Start and Where to Find It

Complete a certain number of Ambrus’s Court Activities and fill Ambrus’s Anger meter to its maximum to trigger the quest.

Time Cost and Deadline

Time Cost

Approaching the execution site in Maragir costs 2 Time Segments.

Following Iulian Codrin’s servant costs 1 Time Segment.

Ringing the bell to begin the duel costs 2 Time Segments.

Deadline

Starting The Bittersweet Toast introduces a deadline to this quest route.

Rewards

Common Rewards

500 XP
1 Skill Point
Increased Infamy

If You Drain Ambrus

Unlocks the Realmwalker achievement
Unlocks the Vampirism ability Scarlet Shield, which is a key component of an extremely powerful skill combo

Obtainable from Ambrus’s Bloodstain After the Fight

Legendary armour: Ambrus’s Cuirass

Items You Can Obtain

At the location where you ring the bell to duel Ambrus, you can find the recipe for Potent Powder of Sharp Mind inside a basket.

It has the powerful effect of increasing your Activation Charge restoration rate, so it is well worth picking up.

The Gilded Gauntlet Walkthrough

Approach the execution site. (Automatically costs 2 Time Segments.)
Speak with Iulian Codrin’s servant. Following the servant to Iulian Codrin costs 1 Time Segment.
Speak with Iulian Codrin. Depending on your response, The Bittersweet Toast may begin automatically.
Go to the duel site at night and interact with the bell to ring it. (Costs 2 Time Segments.)
Speak with Ambrus.
Duel Ambrus.
Choose whether to drain Ambrus or kill him.
Complete the quest.

Conversation Event with Iulian Codrin’s Servant

First Choice

When the servant tells you that their master wants to speak with you personally:

“What does Codrin want with me?” — I chose this option.
“I have nothing to say to a Vrakhiri slave.”

Second Choice

When the servant asks you to meet with Iulian Codrin:

“All right. Where is he?” — I chose this option.
“I want nothing to do with him.”

Third Choice

When the servant offers to lead you to Iulian Codrin:

“All right. Let’s go.” — Costs 1 Time Segment. I chose this option. → Leads to the conversation with Iulian Codrin.
“I’ll make my own way there.”

Dialogue Choices with Iulian Codrin

First Choice

When Iulian Codrin proposes poisoning the “blood cattle”:

“How?”
“I don’t want to poison anyone.” — I chose this option.

Second Choice

He once again proposes poisoning them.

→ “All right. How do we do it?” — I chose this option. → The Bittersweet Toast begins automatically.

Conversation with Ambrus

All of the dialogue before the scene involving Iulian Codrin’s blood is essentially flavor dialogue, so none of the choices appear to cause any major changes.

They also do not reveal any particularly significant additional lore about the world.

When Iulian Codrin’s blood is eventually presented, you are given the following choices:

“Gladly! To a juicy slaughter!” → Both Coen and Ambrus drink Iulian Codrin’s blood.
“I don’t drink from humans.” → Neither Coen nor Ambrus drinks Iulian Codrin’s blood.
“Letting a peasant drink first? What kind of boyar are you?” → Only Ambrus drinks Iulian Codrin’s blood.
“I don’t trust anything you offer.” → Same result as above.

Options 1, 3, and 4 allow you to make Ambrus drink Iulian Codrin’s blood.

If you completed the ritual in The Bittersweet Toast, this can weaken Ambrus.

However, weakening him in this way creates a downside if you drain his blood after the fight.

If you choose option 1, Coen is also poisoned for 12 Time Segments, causing his HP to continuously decrease.

If you choose option 2, Ambrus cannot be weakened as effectively. However, even if you completed the ritual in The Bittersweet Toast, this option allows you to avoid the poison affecting Coen while still weakening Ambrus.

Regardless of your choice, Iulian Codrin dies.

Duel with Ambrus

The Duel Can Only Be Fought at Night

The duel cannot be started during the day.

You will need to advance time and return at night.

This is particularly important if you have built Coen primarily around Witchcraft, since those abilities cannot be used during the fight.

Voracious Bite Does Not Work

Using Voracious Bite against Ambrus causes him to shake Coen off, preventing you from drinking his blood.

Not only does this mean you cannot restore HP, but the ability does not even deal damage, making it a complete waste of Activation Charges.

Swordmastery Skills and a Stock of Blood Phials Are Key

Since neither Witchcraft nor Voracious Bite can be used effectively here, developing Swordmastery skills such as Artery Strike, which can deal heavy single-target damage, becomes extremely important.

It is also a good idea to bring plenty of Blood Phials for healing.

Scarlet Shield Is Also Extremely Useful for Healing

In Lost Blood, defeating the Murohn can reward you with a Phial of Ambrus’s Blood, which teaches Scarlet Shield.

This ability is extraordinarily useful. At night, it restores HP after every Perfect Block and also has a chance to restore HP after other types of blocks, making combat dramatically easier.

The only slight problem is that Scarlet Shield can also be learned by draining Ambrus during this very quest.

Choosing Whether to Drain or Kill Ambrus

After defeating Ambrus, you are given the choice of draining his blood or killing him.

Drain Ambrus

Unlocks the Realmwalker achievement
Unlocks Scarlet Shield
If you poisoned Ambrus through The Bittersweet Toast and had him drink Iulian Codrin’s blood during the dialogue, Coen suffers continuous HP loss for 10 Time Segments

A special scene with Ambrus in Anachora then begins.

If you choose “I will accept you,” Coen absorbs Ambrus into himself.

Kill Ambrus

There appear to be no particular advantages or disadvantages.

Completing the related quest The Bittersweet Toast allows you to poison Ambrus.

If the poisoning succeeds, Ambrus will periodically double over in pain during the boss fight, leaving himself wide open and making the battle considerably easier.

The trade-off is that if you drain Ambrus after the fight, Coen will suffer continuous HP damage for a full 10 Time Segments.

The damage is severe enough that your HP drops at an absurd rate, making normal exploration extremely difficult.

One possible workaround, wasteful as it may be, is to use a Shrine to forcibly advance time by 10 Time Segments.

Another option is to save enough Skill Points beforehand to spend 10 Time Segments upgrading skills immediately afterward.

Draining Ambrus unlocks both the achievement and the extremely powerful Scarlet Shield ability, making this a surprisingly difficult decision.

If you are only aiming for the achievement, you can save before the battle, drain Ambrus to unlock the achievement, then reload your pre-battle save and fight him again without draining him.

Likewise, if you have already obtained Scarlet Shield through another quest reward — in my case, as loot during Lost Blood — there is less reason to force yourself to drain him.

Another option is simply to ignore or fail the related quest.

If You Want the Rewards from Both Quests

This means disregarding Iulian Codrin’s resolve, but after completing The Bittersweet Toast, choose “I don’t drink from humans” during the final dialogue before the duel.

This allows you to obtain the rewards from both quests while still draining Ambrus afterward without becoming poisoned.