Skills Guide: Progression

Three paths, one progression economy

The Blood of Dawnwalker does not split daytime and nighttime experience into separate pools. Defeating enemies, completing objectives, discovering hidden places, and overcoming special encounters award experience. Level gains provide skill points, and Bandai Namco confirms that the same points can be assigned to any of the three trees.

The trees still have different access rules. Swordmastery is available in both forms. Witchcraft belongs to human Coen during the day, while Vampirism awakens at night. A point spent in one tree is therefore not just a damage choice; it changes which half of the day can use that investment.

Swordmastery is the universal foundation

Swordmastery emphasizes timing, positioning, defensive resilience, counters, mobility, and offensive combinations. Because it works around the clock, it is the safest foundation for a first build. The official combat explanation supports both assisted omniattacks and omniblocks and a more manual directional style, so progression can support different control preferences rather than one required technique.

New sword techniques are not granted by level alone. Manuals left by soldiers or bandits, and manuals sold by fencers encountered in the world, open or improve Swordmastery abilities. Books are therefore meaningful exploration rewards. Different short, long, and great swords alter attack speed, while axes and other weapons can also appear, so match perks to the weapons you actually use.

Witchcraft controls the daytime battlefield

Anca teaches Coen witchcraft. Official notes describe offensive and defensive spells, crowd control, damage over time, buffs, and debuffs. This makes the tree suited to setting up an encounter, weakening a group, or changing the terms of a fight before relying on the sword.

Witchcraft manuals are associated with ancient ruins, haunted locations, and magic practitioners. Method's launch guide reports that these skills are unavailable at night because Coen's transformed body heals over the runes used for magic. Treat that explanation as specialist guide detail; the stable planning point is that a witchcraft-heavy investment needs a capable night fallback.

Vampirism trades safety for power

Vampiric abilities are tied to night, feeding, and corruption. Increasing corruption unlocks access to stronger powers, while abilities may demand health or another sacrifice. This is not simply a second spell list: progression is connected to how often Coen embraces his curse and to the consequences of feeding.

Method reports that Vampirism includes claw-focused play and ultimates built around survival, kills, and feeding. Exact balance can change with patches, so choose the tree for its resource loop rather than treating one launch-week ability as permanently dominant. Maintain enough health to pay ability costs without turning every cast into a lethal risk.

Manuals, time, and skill points are separate gates

A level and available skill points do not guarantee immediate access to every upgrade. Sword and witchcraft techniques require the appropriate knowledge source; vampiric tiers require corruption. Learning or improving an ability can also consume narrative time. Check all four questions before committing: do you meet the level or corruption condition, own the manual, have enough points, and accept the time cost?

That final cost matters because the story gives Coen 30 in-game days. Collect manuals while exploring, which does not continuously consume time, then learn several deliberately chosen upgrades instead of paying for every available option.

Ultimates and respec planning

Method's launch-version guide places three ultimate choices at the bottom of each tree and reports a 35-point cost, with only one ultimate active per tree. It also reports that medic NPCs can reset ordinary talents and that ultimate choices can be swapped more freely. These are third-party tested interface details and should be rechecked after balance patches.

A practical first build uses Swordmastery to stay functional at all times, then favors either Witchcraft or Vampirism according to when you prefer tackling difficult content. For execution, continue with the combat guide. For scheduling upgrades, see the time-system guide.