How Coen Plays as Human and Vampire in Blood of Dawnwalker

In The Blood of Dawnwalker, players take control of Coen, switching between human by day and vampire (Dawnwalker) by night. Each identity comes with unique combat styles, traversal, and abilities, which are altering how you approach the world and its quests!

While we do not have that many details yet, here is a quick breakdown of yesterday’s first gameplay reveal stream!

If you did not see it, you can catch up on the livestream as well:

Human Form

The Human form takes effect during Daytime. When Coen is human, he has access to the following features:

• Magic & Ritual Powers
  • Coen uses “raw, ritual-based” magic tied to elements like blood. These powers are channeled through runes carved in his own body, and come at the cost of his own health. As you explore the world, you will find various forgotten spells that you can learn and upgrade over time.
• Traditional Combat
  • Sword and shield tactics dominate! During your sword fights, you have access to directional strikes, timing-based parries, and tactical gameplay that mimics medieval swordfighting.
• Dialogues & Quests
  • As a human, Coen has access to NPC interactions, standard questlines, and social encounters that you can not access as a Vampire at night. It also allows you to enter churches through the front door, instead of sneaking through the roof.

Vampire Form

The Vampire form, on the other hand, takes effect during the night. As a Vampire, or Dawnwalker, Coen has access to various new abilities and features, such as:

• Supernatural Abilities
  • Coen gains parkour-style movement, such as:
    • Wall-scaling
    • Air-dashing
    • Shadow-teleportation (Shadowstep/Planeshift)
    • Stealth takedowns
• Claws & Dark Powers
  • More violent close-combat with claw strikes and blood-based dark magic. These vampiric abilities consume hunger pools tied to health, risking Coen losing control if he doesn’t feed.
• World-Specific Access
  • Night reveals alternate paths and interactions: rooftops open, hidden enemies emerge, and stealth routes become available.
• The Need to Feed:
  • As a Vampire, Coen needs to feed. You can drink blood from NPC or animals, but be careful, if you eat an important NPC, it may change the course of your story. Feeding constantly on humans instead of animals will make you more powerful, but at the cost of your humanity, so choose wisely.
  • You can also decide to feed just for the sake of feeding, or kill. You do no not have to drain a human of its blood if you don’t want to.

How Does the Loop Between Vampire and Human Work

As you play, you will have to pick how you tackle every situation. The game has a time mechanic. Some quests will make time pass. You will also have to decide to complete certain quests as human or vampire. This creates some sort of loop that can build up tension:

• Time Mechanics
  • A calendar tracks “30 days and 30 nights” to save Coen’s sister, Lunka. Only quest actions advance time, exploring does not seem to pass time. The amount of time that passes for completing a quest, will be indicated on each one of them. This allows you to plan ahead easily.
• Strategic Decision-Making
  • Deciding when to operate in human vs. vampire form affects access to areas, NPC dialogues, and combat options. Each form brings some sort of advantages and story implications.
• Consequences
  • Feeding on NPCs can pave the way to different story paths, or shut out questlines entirely.

Why This Is an Important Feature

• RPG Depth: The dual-form design adds a lot of intrigue, letting you master two distinctly different gameplay systems.
• Replayability: With story branches shaped by human or vampire choices, feeding habits, and who you help, paths shift significantly, making multiple playthroughs worthwhile.
• Atmosphere & Immersion: Day-night shifts are not just visually pretty, they alter the world access, enemy behavior, and interactions.

It basically allows you to play the game your own way, and sort of create your own story. So, which path will you choose?

For more information on the game, feel free to check out our latest news!