Blood of Dawnwalker Kill or Spare - Every Mercy Choice Explained

Blood of Dawnwalker keeps asking one question: kill or spare? The three Boyars, their servants, even random named NPCs — nearly every defeated enemy with a name comes with a mercy decision attached. The game trains you to see mercy as weakness, then quietly makes it the strongest long-term strategy. Here is every major kill or spare choice and what each path actually gives you.

The Three Boyar Decisions

Each Boyar ends with the same fork — kill them, or take the alternative path (spare or drain). The outcomes diverge hard:

Boyar	Kill	Spare / Drain
Ambrus	Right Fist of the Knyaz trophy, Infamy boost, standard loot	Drain for Scarlet Shield; Anachora “let him in” choice; returns in Brencis fight
Bakir	Standard loot and Infamy	Drain for Shadowstorm; Farkas’s ring questline opens fully; returns in Brencis fight
Xanthe	Unique crafting materials; her network’s quests close	Her bargain: castle weakened, intelligence, a diversion at the critical moment

The pattern: killing is always the immediate, transactional reward. Sparing or draining is the investment.

Kill or Spare Ambrus

Ambrus is the blood-tax collector — the first Boyar most players face. Killing him is simple and pays a trophy, the Right Fist of the Knyaz, plus Infamy. For achievement hunters, that trophy is the main reason to choose the blade.

Draining him instead grants the Scarlet Shield ability — a genuinely useful defensive power against later bosses — and pulls you into the Anachora scene where you decide whether to let the vampire in. His soul then returns during the Brencis fight, is reabsorbed, and must be beaten again.

Verdict: drain him unless you are trophy hunting. Scarlet Shield serves you longer than a trophy point.

Kill or Spare Bakir

Bakir is the tournament master, and his fate decision is entangled with Farkas’s storyline. Killing him is straightforward: loot, Infamy, done.

Draining him unlocks Shadowstorm, one of the stronger offensive mutations. It also pairs naturally with Farkas’s ring quest: the amethyst ring sits in Bakir’s treasury, and how you resolve that choice decides whether Farkas’s brother Dusan lives. Like Ambrus, a drained Bakir returns inside the Brencis encounter.

Verdict: drain him. Shadowstorm plus the richer Farkas content beats the kill loot.

Kill or Spare Xanthe

Xanthe is the exception where sparing is not a drain — it is a diplomatic bargain, and it reshapes the endgame more than any other mercy choice. Killing her is a real fight with unique crafting materials on the line.

Sparing her buys the biggest long-term payoff in the game: at Greifberg Castle her intelligence opens hidden paths, her intervention thins the guard, and she creates a diversion that spares you a draining preliminary fight before Brencis. The full breakdown is in the spare or kill Xanthe guide.

Verdict: spare her. Her loot is replaceable; her endgame help is not.

The Mercy Decisions Beyond the Boyars

The kill-or-spare question does not stop at the lords:

• Farkas — killable after The Lunar Game, even accidentally at night with low blood. His house locks, his brother’s fate goes unrevealed. Keeping him alive opens the ring quest’s best outcomes.
• Iulian — Ambrus’s servant lives or dies based on your toast dialogue, not a blade. The right lines keep him alive and Ambrus poisoned.
• Tonis — the dark optional route in Heile’s quest. Killing him is sanctioned by the Sanzhani, but it is still a child’s brother.
• Named NPCs generally — completion evidence warns that killing non-hostile named characters can close questlines, vendors, and trainers. Save before swinging.

What Happens If You Spare Everyone

A full-mercy run is viable and quietly optimal: drained Ambrus and Bakir power you up, spared Xanthe opens the castle, and living Farkas and Iulian keep their questlines whole. The cost appears at the end — every drained soul returns in the Brencis fight. It is longer, but you face it with more abilities, more allies, and more world intact than any kill-run. See what happens if you don’t kill all vampire lords for the flip side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Boyar should I kill if I only kill one?

Ambrus — his Right Fist of the Knyaz trophy is the only kill-exclusive reward achievement hunters need. Bakir and Xanthe both pay better for mercy.

Does kill or spare affect the ending?

No single mercy decision decides an ending. But they stack into the final assault’s difficulty and which faces appear in your epilogue slides.

Can I spare a Boyar and drain them too?

Xanthe’s bargain is a pure spare. Ambrus and Bakir’s mercy path is the drain — it counts as sparing their soul from Anachora, at the price of their body.

What is the worst kill-or-spare mistake?

Accidentally killing Farkas at night with low blood — his entire storyline and the ring quest’s best outcomes close instantly, with no warning.

Related Guides

• Let the Vampire In — The Ambrus soul choice
• Drain All Bosses — Every drain reward and cost
• Spare or Kill Xanthe — The biggest mercy payoff
• Vampire Lords Choice — What if you spare them all
• All Choices & Consequences — The master decision list

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Source: Vulkk, VGTimes, Fextralife, QuestDuo, site walkthroughs — kill/spare outcomes cross-verified across four post-launch sources.