Prologue guide

Dawnwalker Prologue Guide: Best Quest Order

A time-efficient Dawnwalker prologue route covering all eight segments, Anca's Page-Turner choice, Esme's recipe, Lazar, Blasphemy, and quests to skip.

Updated September 12, 20265 sources checked

On this page 7 sections

Coen and Anca outside a timber building in daylight

Official Steam store story screenshot of Coen and Anca. © Rebel Wolves / Bandai Namco Entertainment. View media credits

Best prologue routePrioritize medicine, Lazar, the banner, the grave, and Pieter

The prologue has only eight daytime segments and more time-sensitive work than will fit. Use the order below to protect the strongest village outcomes while keeping Page-Turner as an optional romance choice.

Two costly mistakes: getting caught stealing wastes four segments, and some Shrine skills consume time. Save training and risky theft for after the urgent village route.

Recommended prologue quest order

Time	Quest priority
Morning 1	Live Bait
Morning 2	Dead Drop, then start Withering Away
Noon 3	Optional Page-Turner, or save the segment for Into the Den
Noon 4	Finish Withering Away and brew Esme's medicine
Afternoon 5	Enter Not, If a Tree Falls, and Deep Down
Afternoon 6	Blasphemy and village turn-ins
Evening 7	Disturbed
Evening 8	Enter Not turn-in, then Like Father, Like Son

This is a consequence-focused route, not the only valid roleplay. It favors keeping key villagers alive and completing several time-sensitive threads over seeing every optional vignette.

Morning: family, fishing, and Anca

Start Live Bait by helping Yanna and the children at the river. Avoid the optional game of tag if you want the most efficient route. After fishing, collect the nearby quest leads in Laslea without immediately paying their time costs.

Pick up Disturbed from Crina at the graveyard, Blasphemy from Gremla, and Deep Down from Gavril. Do not chase Vasil for Someone Needs a Lesson on this route.

Take the eastern path near Coen's house for the Dead Drop clue and early money, then visit Anca for Withering Away. Pay attention to her medicine instructions. If you want Anca's early intimate scene, stay for Page-Turner, choose the red book, and help with the storm damage. This optional scene uses part of the limited day; it is not a verified requirement for her later romance.

Noon: brew the medicine correctly

Return home with Anca's herbs and prepare Esme's medicine with hot water and three spoonfuls of herbs. This is the Withering Away recipe, not the herb-gathering objective in Page-Turner.

PC Gamer's recipe guide and Polygon's Withering Away walkthrough agree on the ingredients but report different consequences for a wrong dose. Use the correct recipe; the evidence does not justify promising that this choice alone guarantees Esme's survival.

Do not follow Pieter to training yet. He will wait until the end of the day, letting Coen handle the quests that can expire. If you skipped Page-Turner, the saved segment can be used for the treasure step in Into the Den; otherwise leave that non-urgent activity for later.

Afternoon: save Lazar and resolve the banner

Head north from Anca's area and investigate Enter Not. Take the figurine and documents, then continue through the woods to collect the patrol evidence for If a Tree Falls.

Prioritize Deep Down before evening. Follow Lazar's trail into the haunted ruins; delaying this quest changes his outcome. Search the murals and sarcophagus for useful gear, defeat the guardian, then escort Lazar back toward Gavril for the cleanest turn-in.

Back in Laslea, report the fallen soldier and haunted ruins, sell valuables, and handle Blasphemy. Find the blood-marked banner clue, identify Premysl, and persuade or pressure him to return the banner if you want Gremla alive after mass.

Evening: Disturbed and Pieter

Complete Disturbed by following the red-soil trail from Kvet's grave to Kostel's shed. Recover the silver cross, keep Vladimir's involvement private when speaking to Crina, and skip spending another segment on re-burying the grave if the clock is tight.

Turn the figurine from Enter Not over to Father Florin, then return to Coen's house and follow Pieter for Like Father, Like Son. You do not have to win the training fight to receive the Charge ability.

If the route was completed correctly, the mass sequence reflects several saved or improved village outcomes: Esme has the correct medicine, Lazar survived, Gremla's banner was addressed, and Kvet's cross was returned.

What should you skip?

Someone Needs a Lesson: useful character flavor, but not central to the best consequence route.
On the Run: finding Iorgu's pig can wait behind more urgent village outcomes.
Into the Den: not time-sensitive; return after the prologue unless you skipped Page-Turner and specifically want to spend the freed segment.
Time-costing Shrine skills: unlock them after the urgent sequence.

Prologue FAQ

Can you complete every prologue quest?

No. The day is designed to teach that not every opportunity fits the time budget.

Should you do Page-Turner?

Do it if you want the optional early scene with Anca. Skipping it does not by itself establish that her later romance is blocked. The Anca route guide separates Page-Turner from the later quest chain.

How do you prepare Esme's medicine?

During Withering Away, use hot water and three spoonfuls of herbs. The recipe section explains the limits of the reported consequences.

When must you rescue Lazar?

Complete Deep Down in the afternoon. Waiting until evening changes his fate.

Do you have to beat Pieter?

No. Completing Like Father, Like Son grants Charge even if Coen loses the sparring fight.

The route was checked September 4, 2026 against a published multi-run walkthrough. The September 6 recipe update preserves the disagreement about its consequences. On September 12, Page-Turner was clarified as an optional early scene rather than a verified requirement for Anca's later romance. These branches have not been independently reproduced by this site.