In The Blood of Dawnwalker, raiding Ambrus’s blood cellars is the fastest way to weaken his hold over Vale Sangora. Whenever you clear one of these cellars, interacting with the blood barrels gives you a choice: destroy the supply or pocket the blood for yourself.
Should You Destroy or Take the Blood in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
In Ambrus’ blood cellars, destroy the barrels in almost every situation, as it nets double the XP and crucial Skill Points across the cellar quests. The only time you should consider siphon feeding the barrels is during the Uninvited quest for a vampirism build that needs the blood items.
| Quest Name | Destroy Barrels Reward | Collect Blood Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Trouble Brewing | 500 XP, 2 Skill Points | 250 XP, 1 Skill Point |
| Seeing Red | 500 XP, 1 Skill Point | 250 XP, 1 Skill Point |
| Uninvited | 500 XP, 1 Skill Point | 250 XP, 2 Kobold’s Blood |
Breakdown of Ambrus’s Blood Cellars Choice and Rewards
Destroy the Barrels (Recommended)
Smashing the stock is the quickest way to level up your character. The 500 XP payout per cellar lets you burn through early levels, and the extra Skill Points accelerate your combat trees.
That’s a big enough reward gap that I wouldn’t bother collecting the blood unless I specifically wanted the role-playing choice. You already have plenty of reasons to raid Ambrus’ operation, so I’d take the extra progression and leave the barrels in pieces. Furthermore, destroying Ambrus’s stolen supply is also the right moral call to deny the boyar his resources.
Collect the Blood
Opting to take the blood drops your reward amount to 250 XP. In Trouble Brewing and Seeing Red, you can go with this choice in exchange for fewer total skill points or experience points while increasing your Corruption stat.
However, during Uninvited, you can siphon the stock for 2 Kobold’s Blood (an important ingredient for healing vials and combat buffs). This is where I will consider collecting the blood. A vampire Coen can make better use of the Kobold’s Blood, so don’t bother losing 250 XP when you get a valuable resource in return. Though for a human character, I’d definitely smash the barrels and walk away with XP in my backpack.
Where Does the Choice Appear?
Take or destroy the blood dialogue choice appears at the end of three different court quests in Ambrus’s blood network:
- Trouble Brewing
- Seeing Red (located in southern Maragir Wealds, southwest of Eerie Knoll Shrine)
- Uninvited
Clearing each cellar costs 3 Time Units, so check every corner before interacting with the final barrels. In Seeing Red, for example, grab the Map of Ambrus’s Blood Network off the wall near the first set of stairs to unlock the remaining cellar map markers automatically.
There are plenty of other decisions like this throughout the game. See our complete The Blood of Dawnwalker guide for quest walkthroughs, choices, boss help, exploration tips, and more.
