Worst Perks in Blood of Dawnwalker: 6 Skills to Skip on Your First Run

Why Some Perks Only Look Good

Skill points are the scarcest currency in The Blood of Dawnwalker — you earn roughly one per level, with a handful of bonus points from skill-point quests. Three trees (Swordmastery, Witchcraft, Vampirism) compete for every point, and the strongest builds all follow the same logic: reliable sustain and damage first, situational tricks last. The perks below fail that test. They are not broken; they are win-more picks that reward a specific playstyle you probably do not have yet on a first run. Save them for New Game Plus.

1. Entwined Torment (Witchcraft Ultimate) — Situational Link Damage

Entwined Torment extends debuff damage across linked targets, which sounds excellent against crowds. The reality: most fights are three enemies or fewer, and Witchcraft already kills packs faster by stacking Frugal Witchcraft healing and Witchcraft Mastery damage on one priority target. As an ultimate, it competes with Arcane Cascade, which amplifies every cast you already spam — a permanent multiplier versus a sometimes-proc. Skip.

2. Sanguine Renewal (Vampirism Ultimate) — Locked to One Ability

Sanguine Renewal resets cooldowns when you use Voracious Bite — a strong effect buried behind a condition. If you are not running a Bite-centric vampire build, the perk does nothing at all, and even in that build Renounce Death (a safety revive) and the top-rated Vampirism picks deliver more per point. It is the only ultimate in the tree that requires another specific investment to function. Skip until you know you want it.

3. Runic Bulwark (Witchcraft Ultimate) — A Coin Flip on Defense

Runic Bulwark can proc a protective rune when you perfect block. The catch is the trigger chance: even players who perfect block constantly report long droughts where it simply does nothing. A defensive ultimate that fails exactly when you are relying on it is worse than no defensive ultimate — points here are better spent on Unnatural Resilience for flat armor you can actually count on.

4. Clawpierce (Vampirism) — Outclassed by Stacking Options

Flat crit chance is never bad, but Clawpierce is a three-star pick in a tree with five-star ones. Endless Ferocity lowers cooldowns on crits you already land, Blood Theft is real lifesteal, and Razorsharp Claws scales your main vampire damage directly. Clawpierce only shines after those are maxed — which is a New Game Plus problem, not a first-run one.

5. Dancing Claws (Vampirism) — A Buff You Will Constantly Drop

Dancing Claws builds crit as you deal consistent claw damage — but the buff breaks the moment you get hit or mistime a block, which is most of the time against the aggressive enemies on higher difficulties. Conditional ramp-up perks punish the learning phase. Take Hastened Corruption instead: faster Corruption growth means more skills and levels sooner, with zero conditions attached.

6. Aether Flow (Witchcraft) — Fixes a Problem You Should Not Have

Cooldown reduction for Witchcraft debuffs is a fine stat — but the Witchcraft tree already manages uptime through Forbidden Sigils (more slots) and Frugal Witchcraft (healing while enemies are debuffed). Spending a point to cool down abilities you are not yet casting on cooldown is theorycrafting, not progress.

What to Pick Instead

The reliable first-run core, across sources and builds:

• Swordmastery: Sustained Focus, Perfect Block, Perfect Riposte, Endless Effort — stamina economy and riposte damage from hour one.
• Witchcraft: Mercurial Fervour, Amalgam, Forager, Frugal Witchcraft, Forbidden Sigils, Witchcraft Mastery.
• Vampirism: Nourishing Blood, Hastened Corruption, Endless Hunger, Endless Ferocity, Blood Theft.

Our best-skills ranking covers the full top ten, and the skill-path comparison explains the tree choice itself. If you are still in the opening days, follow the day-by-day unlock order before touching anything situational.

How to Spot a Trap Perk Yourself

The pattern behind every entry above is testable. Ask three questions before spending a point. First: does the perk work in every fight, or only against crowds, only at night, only after another ability lands? Conditional perks fail the first test for a scarce resource. Second: does it multiply something you already do constantly — blocking, claw attacks, blood collection — or does it ask you to rebuild your whole character to justify itself? Third: what competes with it at the same tier, and is that competitor unconditional? A perk that only wins in theorycraft threads loses to one that wins in the Briar Sloughs at 2 a.m. Run those three checks on any new pick and most trap perks expose themselves before the point is spent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I respec perks if I pick a bad one? Yes — respeccing is available in-game, so nothing here is permanent. The warning exists because the first fifteen levels feel the squeeze the hardest.

Is Duelist difficulty a reason to take defensive perks? No. Defensive numbers (armor, stamina, healing) matter more there; low-chance procs like Runic Bulwark matter less, because you cannot plan around them.

Do these perks become good in New Game Plus? Some — Entwined Torment and Sanguine Renewal scale with a finished build. First run, spend elsewhere.

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Source: Game8 perk ratings, G2A perk guide, and Gamespot perk coverage, cross-checked against community build threads.