Your first night after the prologue: towers, healing, and a usable loadout

A practical starting checklist: read manuals, equip abilities, prepare both forms, scout nearby towers, then choose the route that fixes your biggest weakness.

Updated Sep 7, 2026Dawnwalker Wiki

You do not need a final ending plan the moment the open world unlocks. Establish a repeatable routine first: healing in quickslots, learned abilities equipped, a nearby tower scouted at night, and a weapon you enjoy using. Then choose a story thread.

Spend two minutes in the menus before leaving

Read unread manuals and recipes in the inventory. A manual makes a skill available to learn; you still need to spend points at a shrine. After learning an active ability, equip it in the Active Abilities panel and assign a quickslot.

Reading the Broad Swing manual in the inventory — Read the manual in the inventory. Owning Broad Swing's book, learning the skill, and equipping it are separate steps.深夜游戏99 · Bilibili · 3:26 (KhrazeGaming route)

Put shared Swordmastery skills on matching day and night quickslots. You can quickslot a torch too: prepare it before entering a dark cave.

First night: scout the nearest towers

IGN and WolfheartFPS identify the Laslea church tower and the Briar Sloughs tower south of the village as useful early targets. Use Shadowstep and wall traversal at night, then scout from the top. Check stamina before chaining climbs.

A scouting tower seen at night — Handle towers while it is night. Scouting reveals nearby points of interest; zoom in on the map afterward to inspect them.In-game tutorial · Rebel Wolves

When vampire progression permits, consider Shapeshift for wolf travel. Unlock useful movement before spending heavily on additional speed ranks. The tower helps you choose a destination; it is not a requirement to clear every new marker. Leave enemies well above your level for later.

First day: prepare useful healing

Ordinary food often heals slowly. Inspect your basic recovery recipes and collect their ingredients, including water and plants. Use Focus for roadside gathering and check merchants when materials are missing. Follow your crafting menu rather than expecting every barrel to contain the same supplies.

Coen prepares a consumable — Craft outside combat, then place the result in the quickslots for the appropriate form. Under default combat settings, an unslotted item may not help when you need it.In-game tutorial · Rebel Wolves

Prepare human healing and blood recovery separately. A buff lasting seconds behaves differently from one lasting time segments. Check whether a new buff replaces your current one before consuming it.

Choose the route that fixes your weakness

What is stopping you?	Next step	What it solves
Ordinary enemies overwhelm you	Blocking and counterattacks	A reliable defensive loop
Learned skills will not activate	Ability slots and builds	Manual, training, slot, and charge requirements
Your weapon is falling behind	The Durandal route	A specific equipment target and escape plan
You need a story direction	The miller and Court guide	A northern story thread to follow
Every action feels wasteful	Time budgeting	Separating deadlines from exploration

Avoid three expensive habits

Do not upgrade every drop. Compare arts, affixes, and form compatibility, then spend on equipment you will keep. A video's ordinary chest contents are not guaranteed in your save.

Do not equate heavier armour with better protection. Check proficiency penalties before equipping medium or heavy pieces.

Do not start a night conversation with one vampire health segment. Recover first. Keep manual saves at day transitions, dangerous locations, and major choices rather than relying entirely on rotating autosaves.

Sources: IGN's ten first steps, WolfheartFPS's menu explanation from 04:33, and ESO's beginner mistakes. Images come from the credited footage and game tutorials.