The Blood of Dawnwalker gives Coen three people to fall for across a single 30-day playthrough, and you do not have to choose between them. The catch: two of the three are easy to miss, two of them hide a one-click choice that silently closes the romance, and until Update 1.1 on October 22, 2026 several of the romance quests could break outright. This guide was updated on October 28, 2026 with the romance-quest fixes from the 1.1 patch notes and the full quest chain for each partner.
Spoiler note: this guide names quests, characters and romance scenes, but it doesn't reveal how any ending plays out.
Quick answer: There are three romance options in The Blood of Dawnwalker: Anca (human herbalist, met in the prologue), Lacra (the only vampire romance, fully missable around Svartrau City) and Crake / Marat (the male romance option, leader of the Manumit rebels). You can romance all three in one playthrough with no penalty. Romance does not lock any ending. Update 1.1 shipped 43 fixes to the three romance chains, including Anca failing to spawn in "Stronger Than Achilles" and an infinite loading screen in Lacra's "The Night of Horrors."
How many romance options are in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
There are three: Anca, Lacra and Crake (real name Marat). Rebel Wolves didn't build a romance menu. Each partner sits at the end of a multi-quest chain, and you unlock the relationship by playing that chain and picking the flirt option when it appears. There is no gift system, no affinity meter and no hidden stat check.
The numbers that matter:
| Romance | Quests in the chain | Where it starts | Hard gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anca | 6 | Laslea Glen, prologue | Don't talk to her as a vampire at low health |
| Lacra | 5 | Northeast of Svartrau City | Finish "The Night of Horrors" before "Midnight Reckoning" |
| Crake / Marat | 7 | Manumit hideout, Svartrau City | Infamy level 4 ("Notorious") to join the Manumits |
Two design choices set this apart from most RPG romances. First, there's no exclusivity. TheGamer says romancing all three "is entirely up to you, and you won't face any consequences for doing so." Second, the tone varies a lot: PC Gamer frames Anca as the "canon," long-term partner (that's PC Gamer's reading, not an official designation), while Crake and Lacra play closer to one-night stands.
Can you romance everyone in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Yes. All three romances fit into one 30-day run, and pursuing one never locks out another. The real cost is time: every quest spends part of Coen's fixed 30 days and nights, so a three-romance run is about planning your calendar, not about loyalty. If you're unsure how the clock works, read our time system explainer first.
What actually locks you out:
- Anca: talking to her in vampire form at low health can kill her (GameSpot). Feed or heal first.
- Lacra: starting the "Midnight Reckoning" finale before finishing "The Night of Horrors."
- Crake: antagonizing him at the end of "What Hunts the Night," or choosing "I'll leave him be" after "Distant Shadows" (Game Rant). Either one removes his final romance quest.
Romance also doesn't gate the endings. PCGamesN notes you "don't have to be romantically involved with these characters for them to remain allied." Crake's questline does feed into the Knyazmaker ending, but that comes from the rebel storyline, not from the kiss. For the full branching, see our all endings guide.
What did Update 1.1 fix for romances?
Update 1.1 went live on October 22, 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Game Rant counts more than 1,100 fixes and improvements in it. By our line-by-line count of the official patch notes, 43 of those fixes touch the three romance chains (18 quests plus two Anca and Lacra fixes that name the character but not the quest), including six for "A Friend Like This" alone. Several were progression blockers. These lines are copied word for word:
- Anca: "Fixed an issue that prevented Anca from spawning in the 'Stronger Than Achilles' quest and blocking progress". This is the last quest in her romance.
- Anca: "Fixed an issue that caused the objective to meet Anca at the inn to remain unfinished even after completing the quest"
- Anca: "Anca is no longer missing from the dialogue during the 'Where Old Devils Lie' quest" and "Anca will no longer get into idle state during the 'Page-turner' quest"
- Lacra: "Fixed an issue that caused an infinite loading screen during 'The Night of Horrors' quest" and "Fixed an issue that caused Coen to get stuck in a sunken crypt during 'The Night of Horrors'". This is the quest where her romance pays off.
- Lacra: "Fixed an issue that caused Lacra to disappear under certain circumstances right after meeting the Matriarch"
- Lacra: six separate fixes for "A Friend Like This," including Coen falling through the map before Lacra destroys the rocks and Lacra getting stuck on the mountain road
- Anca's chain: "Fixed an issue that caused Coen to get stuck in combat, blocking progression of the 'Where Old Devils Lie' quest" and the same fix for "Between the Words"
- Crake: "Fixed an issue that prevented Crake from appearing in the Rebel's Hideout during the 'Distant Shadows' quest". Distant Shadows comes right before Crake's final romance quest.
- Crake: "Fixed an issue that blocked Coen from interacting with the beehive under certain circumstances during the 'A Closer Look' quest"
If one of your romances got stuck before October 22, update the game first. The patch notes don't promise that an already-broken save repairs itself, so if the step still won't progress, reload a save from before it. The patch also improved Lacra's Blood Hunger animation, though that's a visual change only. For the rest of the patch, including the Draught of Mind Rebirth respec and the new Story difficulty, see our Update 1.1 patch notes breakdown.
How do you romance Anca in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Anca is the herbalist of Laslea Glen. You meet her in the prologue, so she's the only romance that finds you instead of the other way round. Her chain has six quests:
- Withering Away
- Page-Turner: take the flirt option here.
- Echoes of Silenced Bells
- Between the Words
- Where Old Devils Lie
- Stronger Than Achilles: the culmination of the arc.
One fail state can end her story for good: don't talk to Anca in vampire form when you're low on health. Per GameSpot, doing that can kill her. Feed or heal first and approach her as a human.
Every quest in Anca's chain received at least one fix in 1.1. The worst bug, where she never spawned in Stronger Than Achilles, could block the romance's ending completely. Stuck-in-combat blockers in Between the Words and Where Old Devils Lie are fixed too.
How do you romance Lacra, the vampire romance?
Lacra is the only Vrakhiri (vampire) romance and the easiest to miss entirely. She's found northeast of Svartrau City. You reach her through "A Friend Like This," and one way into that quest is Vicho's "A Study in Crimson." Her chain has five quests:
- A Friend Like This
- Song of the Mountain
- Hive and Seek
- Our Rotten Roots
- The Night of Horrors
Point of no return: you must finish "The Night of Horrors" before you start "Midnight Reckoning." Midnight Reckoning is the game's finale, where you storm Greifberg Castle, not a romance step. As space4games puts it, once you start it "your opportunity is gone." The romance beat lands at the end of The Night of Horrors. Per Method's walkthrough, eat the mandrake, follow Lacra, drink from Lacra, and then kiss her when prompted.
Lacra is also the companion who fights beside Coen in the Greifberg finale, so her thread ties straight into the endgame. This was also the romance most affected by 1.1: an infinite loading screen and a stuck-in-the-crypt bug in The Night of Horrors are both fixed now.
Who is the male romance option in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Crake, whose real name is Marat, is the only male romance option. He leads the Manumits, the mortal rebellion against Brencis's vampire court. He's also the most conditional romance, because you can't interact with him properly until you've joined the rebels. IGN's walkthrough lists seven quests:
- The Firebrand
- Shadows in the Woods
- Where Loyalty Lies: Crake won't let you join the Manumits until your Infamy reaches "Notorious," level 4 (Game Rant). Sabotaging Brencis's boyars raises it. Killing Xanthe raises it a full level at once.
- What Hunts the Night: at the end, agree with Crake / comfort him. Game Rant warns that antagonizing him here means he "won't give you the quest later on."
- What Moves the Dead: help him take off his armor and tend his wounds (IGN).
- Distant Shadows: an optional quest where you tail a beekeeper named Ascar for Crake. It rewards 500 XP and 1 Skill Point.
- A Closer Look: the final romance quest, where the kiss happens. Per PowerPyx, you must finish it within 16 time segments of starting it, or it fails automatically.
The missable choice most players miss: after Distant Shadows, Drogos tells you Crake has gone off to clear his head. Choose "I'll go talk to him." According to Game Rant's Distant Shadows walkthrough, picking "I'll leave him be" means you "won't get this quest for the remainder of the playthrough." If you're chasing trophies, A Closer Look also unlocks "The Manumit." PowerPyx's dialogue path for it runs "May I join you, then?", "I'm worried about you. What's wrong?", "I know what this is about.", "Ascar is your father.", "Why?" and "Hey. Nothing you say can change the way I see you." The romance choice comes after that, and PowerPyx says accepting or rejecting him "isn't required for any progression."
Crake's rebel storyline also leads into the Knyazmaker ending, where Coen kills Brencis alongside the Manumits. For more on raising Infamy, see our Infamy explained guide. If you'd rather take down Xanthe for the quick level, read our Xanthe boss guide.
Which romance should you pick first?
If you only have time for one, pick Anca. She's the "canon" partner in PC Gamer's reading, she gets the most screen time, and her chain starts on its own in the prologue. For a full three-romance run, this order works:
- Start Anca early. Her quests sit in Laslea Glen, which you're already in for the opening hours.
- Plan Crake around Infamy. You'll reach Notorious naturally if you're sabotaging boyars anyway, and his chain needs it before Where Loyalty Lies.
- Don't leave Lacra for last. She's hidden behind Vicho's Svartrau questline, and her deadline is the finale. A late start risks running out of days.
Before you commit to Greifberg, check our missable items and content guide. The finale closes off open questlines, and romance chains are among them.
FAQ
How many romance options does The Blood of Dawnwalker have? Three: Anca, Lacra and Crake (Marat). You can romance all three in one playthrough with no exclusivity penalty.
Is there a male romance option in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Yes. Crake, real name Marat, leader of the Manumit rebels, is the male romance option. His seven-quest chain ends in "A Closer Look."
Can you romance all three in one playthrough? Yes. Pursuing one romance never locks out another. The only real limit is the 30-day clock, plus the missable choices in Crake's and Lacra's chains.
Who is the best romance in The Blood of Dawnwalker? PC Gamer frames Anca as the "canon," long-term romance. Crake and Lacra read closer to one-night stands.
Why can't I finish Anca's or Lacra's romance? If your progress stalled before October 22, 2026, you may have hit a bug Update 1.1 fixed, such as Anca not spawning in "Stronger Than Achilles" or the infinite loading screen in "The Night of Horrors." Update and reload an earlier save. If your game is already patched, check the lockouts: Lacra's chain closes once "Midnight Reckoning" starts.
Why didn't I get Crake's "A Closer Look" quest? You either antagonized Crake at the end of "What Hunts the Night" or chose "I'll leave him be" after "Distant Shadows." Both remove the quest for the rest of the playthrough. If you started it but it failed, you ran past its 16-time-segment limit.
Crake is just standing there in "What Hunts the Night." How do I fix it? One player reported this on r/TheBloodofDawnwalker the day after 1.1 shipped. Another player who hit the same stall before the patch said they "had to reload an earlier save each time to before the AI started acting weird and make sure I didn't overtake or interrupt the NPC pathing." This is anecdotal player advice, not an official fix, but it's worth trying before you reinstall: don't run ahead of a companion who's walking you somewhere.
Does romance affect the ending? No. Romance doesn't gate any of the endings. Crake's rebel questline separately opens the Knyazmaker ending.
More Blood of Dawnwalker guides: the endings, builds and patch coverage that pair with this guide.
