Should you kill or spare Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Xanthe is one of Brencis's three boyars in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and a formidable opponent who you'll need to take on if you wish to make your final battle against Brencis that bit easier. That said, when the time to…
Xanthe is one of Brencis's three boyars in The Blood of Dawnwalker, and a formidable opponent who you'll need to take on if you wish to make your final battle against Brencis that bit easier. That said, when the time to slay this vrakhiri vassal comes around, you're given an important decision to make: should you kill or spare Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
In the below guide, I detail the outcome of both decisions, and suggest which one will provide you with the most benefits overall. As a result, the below guide contains light spoilers for The Blood of Dawnwalker.
On this page:
- The Cycle of Love quest location
- Should you kill or spare Xanthe?
- What happens if you kill Xanthe?
- What happens if you spare Xanthe?
The Blood of Dawnwalker The Cycle of Love quest location
Before you can choose whether to kill or spare Xanthe, you must first breach the Howling Keep where she resides.
This is done by completing various missions that anger her until her Anger Level is maxed. At this point, someone will come along and assign you the 'The Cycle of Love' quest which tasks you with infiltrating her lair in Tantari Woods, the Howling Keep. I've shown it on the map below.
Here, you'll need to use a special lantern – Xanthe's Lantern – given to you by the quest-giver to enter the Keep, and then you'll need to complete a Xanthe's Lantern-based puzzle and fend off some enemies before reaching Xanthe herself.
Should you kill or spare Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
As you approach the end of Xanthe's The Cycle of Love quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker, you'll be given a choice of either killing her or sparing her. This decision doesn't have any immediate consequences that you'll see right away, but instead, your choice will later affect your ultimate fight against Brencis.
If you'd like to know what decision to make without any spoilers so you can see the outcome of this decision for yourself, then I recommend that you kill Xanthe, drain her blood (if it is nighttime), and do not spare her.
If you wish to know more about the outcome of either decision, then keep on reading!
What happens if you kill Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Killing Xanthe is straight-forward. Brencis's boyar will die, and as a result, she will not have her soldiers defend Brencis during your fight against him so you'll be able to access him much more easily. That said, killing Xanthe comes with another decision if you fight her during nighttime, and that's whether to drain her blood or outright kill her for good.
Should you drain Xanthe's blood The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Yes, you should drain Xanthe's blood if you choose to kill her, but only if you want to. Doing so allows you to unlock her Vampiric Ability, and this option can only be chosen if you fight her during nighttime.
Draining Xanthe's blood also sees the pair of you taken to Anachora, where you're then presented with the choice of inviting her into your being or not. Doing this means you'll have Xanthe's voice floating around your head making remarks here and there, which is slightly annoying, but this also means special attacks will be unleashed by her during the fight against Brencis.
If you kill Xanthe and do not drain her blood, that's that. The boyar will die, her soldiers will retreat, and you'll have to deal with her trap and her soldiers within the Griefberg Castle when you go and fight Brencis.
What happens if you spare Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Choosing to spare Xanthe means that she will have her Blood Guards leave Brencis's castle, so there'll be less enemies for you to face as you approach the end-game. Another benefit of sparing Xanthe is that she'll provide some advice for fighting Brencis, and this allows you to skip an entire puzzle sequence later on in the game. Sparing Xanthe is the only way to skip this.
Killing Xanthe, on the other hand, gives you the opportunity to drain her blood (if you fight her at night) and learn a new Vampiric Ability you can't otherwise unlock.
To summarise, here's what happens if you spare Xanthe versus if you kill and drain her blood:
- Spare Xanthe: Her soldiers – the Blood Guards – will retreat from defending Brencis, and she will no longer inflict her trap puzzle on you in the castle.
- Kill Xanthe and drain her blood: Xanthe's soldiers will continue to defend Brencis and she will inflict her trap puzzle on you in the castle from beyond the grave. You will, however, be able to claim her Vampiric Ability.
- If you invite Xanthe in on top of draining her blood, she'll help out with special attacks during the fight against Brencis.
Ultimately, sparing Xanthe makes the final stretch of the game a little bit easier overall, but killing her and inviting her in grants you some help during the final fight against Brencis. I'd suggest that killing her, draining her blood is the best course of action here, unless you want the assault on Brencis's Castle to be easier. As for inviting her in, that's entirely up to you.
It's up to you which option you'd prefer, but in my opinion, sparing her is the more appealing option overall (and you also won't have to deal with having her voice inside of your head). You can always invite the other boyars in and utilise their special attacks instead though, if you wish…
For more on The Blood of Dawnwalker, take a look at the best armor and best Skills for Coen, as well as where to find all Sword Shards for the Sword of St. Mihia.