How to beat Xanthe, and whether to spare her
The boyar who fights with witchcraft and blood. There are two ways to reach her, and the one you pick decides what choices you get when she falls.
Two ways to her
The Cycle of Love
Max out her anger with court activities, take the lantern to her lair, Howling Keep, and fight her there. You get every choice afterwards: kill, drink, or spare.
Early, at the cathedral
At night she performs a blood ritual in Svartrau Cathedral. Fight her there and every option except her death may be locked out.
The Blood of Dawnwalker - Spare Xanthe & Her Daughter Vs Kill Them (All Choices & Outcomes)
Ruba · 18:03
Both branches played out: the choice after the fight, what happens to her daughter, and the castle afterwards.
Unlocking The Cycle of Love
The quest appears once Xanthe's anger is maxed, which means court activities in her territory: disrupting her Blood Guard and her digs into ancient ruins. You do not need all of the activities below to max the meter; 12 of the 15 may be enough. Home Sweet Home counts as one of them, so that quest moves her anger as well as its own story.
Then someone brings you a lantern that opens her lair: Leonard, one of Brencis’ soldiers, or guards who approach you the next day. The lair is Howling Keep, either west of Tantari Woods or in the south of the map. Aim to be around level 30 before you finish the quest, and expect to fight her even if you plan to spare her.
All 15 activities and where they are
Blood Guard Recruiters
- Taste of Power — Svartrau City, in Altenmarkt
- Just a Bit More — East of the Silty Mug Inn Shrine, by the bridge
- Come Home — Southwest of Tantari village and the Tantari Shrine
Ancient Digsites
- Unsealed Secrets — North of the Vedera Spring Shrine, west of Tantari Woods
- Malevolent Presence — West of Tantari Woods, southeast of the Howling Keep Shrine
- Bloodied Dagger — North of the Tantari Bog Shrine, east of Tantari Village
Abducted Girls
- Fair Maiden — On the path south of Shepherd's Rest, north of Eastridge Outpost
- Chosen One — East of Tantari Twin Rocks Shrine, west of Birch Woodlet Shrine
Artefact Transports
- Past Glory — West of the Whispering Bogs Shrine, west of Tantari Woods
- When Two Dogs... — On the path between Drunken Bear Inn Shrine and Tantari Watermill Shrine
Blood Guard Mentors
- Unquenchable Thirst — West of Drunken Bear Inn Shrine
- Teach With Pain — Toward the eastern edge of the map near the Tantari Bog Shrine
- Loophole — Next to the Vedera Marsh Guardpost Shrine
Quests
- A Dubious Gift — The cathedral in Svartrau City
- Home Sweet Home — Aurelius's Tower, southwest corner of The Silts
The fight
Her attacks in The Cycle of Love. The early cathedral fight reportedly plays out essentially the same way; kill her three guards there first.
| Attack | What it does | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Wicked Tendrils | Lashes out with tendrils. | Hold block and press toward the side each tendril comes from. |
| Boiling Blood | Glyphs on the ground that explode after a short delay. | Dodge out of them. |
| Life Leech | Drains your health to restore her own. | — |
| Life Orbs | After each health segment she spawns orbs that heal her. | Destroy them straight away; left alone, they can make the fight close to impossible. |
| Blood Rush | At low health she keeps rushing at you, then explodes. | Dodge it. |
Blocking pays off beyond survival: several successful blocks in a row can stagger her, and when she starts glowing red you should get away from her immediately. The fight may run in three phases: the second adds a wide burst attack marked by a red circle on the ground, and in the third she vanishes and sends spectres that explode when they reach you. In the early cathedral fight, Voracious Bite may not work on her.
Kill, drink or spare
After The Cycle of Love fight you choose. The consequences land mostly in the final assault on Greifberg Castle. If you kill her, you also decide the fate of Chariklea, reportedly her daughter.
Spare her
What you get
No Blood Guard in the final castle assault, Xanthe meets you there and offers advice, and it is reportedly the only way to skip her trap sequence. She may also show up to help fight Brencis, or that combat help may come only on the invite-in path.
What it costs
She goes unpunished, and the epilogue may show her still killing. Sparing her is arguably not really worth it.
Kill her and drink
What you get
Blood Surge, a Vampirism ability. You then choose her fate in the afterlife: invite her in and she reportedly helps with special attacks in the final boss fight.
What it costs
Those you do not invite may appear on Brencis's side and face you as enemies. Killing her also means her trap sequence in the castle, with extra combat and a puzzle.
Kill her without drinking
What you get
You do not get the ability from the fight, but a vial of her blood later in Svartrau's cathedral can reportedly still unlock Blood Surge.
What it costs
The castle trap sequence, as above — the rest of the finale is on the bosses page.
Sparing her is either not worth it or probably the best outcome overall, even though she goes unpunished. After the early fight, drinking her blood and inviting her in may be the better call. Drinking may be a separate path, or simply an option that comes with killing her.
The early cathedral fight
You find her in Svartrau Cathedral at night, performing a blood ritual at the altar with three guards; the main gate is locked at night, so you climb the scaffolding. It works either any night, or only once, fairly early in the game. Aim for around level 25 to 30, though she has been beaten by a level 11 or 12 vampire, and she may be a little easier to duel there.
What you take away
- Blood Surge, if you drink her blood: it makes a target explode, reportedly costs three activation charges, and sits in the Vampirism tree.
- Loot from Howling Keep: the Corrupted Pendant, Potent Aetheric Attunement, and Vrakhir’s Treads, legendary medium boots from a chest in Chariklea’s room.
- XP and skill points, and the hidden achievement The Dark Mistress, which is probably tied to the quest (14.9% of Steam players in the game’s first week).
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