Best Skills to Unlock First in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Three trees, 65 skills, one shared pool of points — and on day one you can only spend in one of them. Here is why, and what to take.
Coen's development runs through three trees — Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism — fed by one shared experience bar and one shared pool of skill points. That framing makes it sound like a straight power comparison: pick the strongest tree, invest, win. It is not. The trees differ far less in what they give you than in what they demand before they give you anything, and that difference is the whole answer to what you should unlock first.
The real difference between the trees is the manual tax
| Tree | Skills | Ranks | Manual-gated | Usable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swordmastery | 24 | 71 | 18 of 24 | Any hour |
| Witchcraft | 21 | 50 | 16 of 21 | Day |
| Vampirism | 20 | 50 | 0 of 20 | Night |
That last column is the one that decides your first hour. Vampirism has no manual requirements at all — every one of its 20 skills opens on points alone. Swordmastery and Witchcraft between them lock 34 skills behind books, and there are only 49 manuals in the entire item catalogue to find or buy. On a thirty-day clock, a tree that costs you shopping trips and search time before it costs you a single point is a materially more expensive tree, whatever the perks say.
- 1Open with all four Vampirism entry perks
Razorsharp Claws (4 ranks), Nourishing Blood (3), Endless Hunger (3) and Shadow Dweller (2). Twelve ranks, twelve points, no prerequisites and no shopping. This is the only block of the skill system you can commit to on the first night without owning anything first.
- 2Take Sustained Focus as your Swordmastery foothold
Of the eleven Swordmastery skills in the first two tiers, Sustained Focus is the only one that does not want a manual. It is the single point of entry into the biggest tree in the game — 71 ranks, usable at any hour — that you can buy before you have found a book.
- 3Buy manuals on a trip you were making anyway
Manuals are stocked by general stores and by the trades that deal in techniques, and merchant stock rotates by story day. Because shopping itself costs no story time, the only real price of a manual is the walk — so fold it into a quest that already sends you that way. The merchant map shows which shops sit where.
- 4Match the tree to the phase you actually play
Witchcraft works by day, Vampirism by night, Swordmastery at any hour. That is the second filter after the manual tax: a perk you cannot use in the phase you spend your evening in is a point you have parked, not spent. Since your quest schedule already decides how your days and nights split, let it decide this too.
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Guide FAQ
Does learning a skill cost story time?
No. Perks are paid for with skill points and a minimum character level — the trait data carries no time cost on any rank of any skill. Story time is spent by quests and activities instead, which is what the [30-Day Planner](/dawnwalker/planner) totals. What a manual-gated skill costs you is the trip to find or buy the book, not the unlock itself.
Are skill points shared between the trees?
Yes — one experience bar feeds one pool that you can spend in any tree, so a hybrid build competes with itself for the same points. Taking all 171 ranks means clearing every tree, and every point you place in one tree is a point the other two never get.
Do I need manuals to learn skills?
For Swordmastery and Witchcraft, usually. 18 of Swordmastery's 24 skills and 16 of Witchcraft's 21 list a manual, and those books are found on soldiers and bandits, in ruins and haunted places, or bought from merchants. Vampirism lists none — not one of its 20 skills asks for a book.
What level do I need for the top skills?
Character level 15 is the highest requirement anywhere in the three trees. Nothing at the entry tiers asks for a level at all, so your first points can go in immediately — the gate on early skills is the manual, not your level.