Boss Blood Abilities and How to Unlock Them

Which blood grants each vampire power?

Consume the named phial to obtain the power described on it. The entries for Bakir’s blood and Brencis’s blood include map locations. For the people behind the powers, see Ambrus, Bakir, Xanthe, Brencis, Lacra.

Where to find each named blood phial

Drinking from a defeated vrakhir is not the only way to obtain these powers. Check the recruitment reliquaries and other locations below before spending points on the same ability.

• Ambrus / Scarlet Shield: drink from Ambrus after defeating him outside Maragir; search the recruitment tent’s blood reliquary outside the Silty Mug Inn, between The Silts and Tantari Woods; or defeat the Murohn in the cave in St. Tyna’s Grove, east of Svartrau.
• Bakir / Shadowstorm: drink from Bakir after his fight at Lunar Manor in The Silts; search the recruitment reliquary outside Tantari, north of Tantari Woods; or loot the Blood Guard who intervenes when you clear the third Leech Collector camp in Briar Sloughs.
• Xanthe / Blood Surge: drink from Xanthe after defeating her, or collect her phial upstairs in the cathedral treasury. Follow the treasury access route for the latter.
• Brencis / Piercing Shriek: the Isbrand encounter in Our Rotten Roots grants a rank. Other sources are the recruitment reliquary on Altenmarkt’s western edge and Brencis’s former cave on Mt. Balaur, west of Parlita. Enter the cave at night and Shadowstep onto the rear ledge beneath the dripping blood; this is also the Gladius location.
• Lacra / Mesmerise: finish the mandrake sequence in The Night of Horrors. You can drink from Lacra, or receive her phial if you decline the direct drink. These are alternatives for that reward.

The three recruitment sites belong to different quests: Just a Bit More near the Silty Mug Inn, Come Home outside Tantari and Taste of Power in Altenmarkt. For Ambrus’s phial, choose to take the blood from Just a Bit More’s reliquary; destroying it does not award the phial.

Find Xanthe’s phial in the cathedral treasury

Look in the box upstairs in Svartrau Cathedral’s treasury for the Phial of Xanthe’s Blood. It unlocks Blood Surge. The treasury route also explains the separate Stone Key downstairs, which opens The Hand of Fate’s chest beneath Florin’s ruins.

If you are confronting Xanthe herself, prepare for her glyphs and healing orbs. Her blood power and the post-fight decision about her fate are separate choices.

Blood access and higher ranks have separate requirements

The first drink unlocks the associated power; a later drink of the same blood advances it by one rank without the normal skill-point and learning-time purchase. When buying a rank through the skill tree, its Corruption threshold, skill points and learning time still apply. For example, Scarlet Shield rank 2 requires 6 Corruption, while Blood Surge rank 2 requires 10. A newly available first rank does not make every upgrade available.

Check the ability’s current learned rank after receiving a story reward or consuming a phial. In the skill calculator, account for ranks already learned before planning the next upgrade. This avoids budgeting points twice for a rank you already have.

If you intend to collect multiple sources of the same blood, learn the cheaper early upgrade before consuming a spare phial. A phial advances one rank, so using it for a later, more expensive rank saves more points and time. Check your current rank first, and do not count Lacra’s direct drink and alternative phial as two separate rewards.

None of the five powers uses a normal skill manual for these rank requirements. The manual guide covers the books needed by Swordmastery, Witchcraft and other book-gated skills.

Which upgrades should you buy before drinking spare blood?

After the first blood unlock, buying ranks 2, 3 and 4 costs 1, 2 and 3 skill points respectively, plus 1, 1 and 2 time segments. Reserve a spare drink for the highest rank you can reach with it. The plans below assume you start at rank 1 and can still obtain every remaining source listed above.

These totals cover learning costs only, not travel or quest objectives. Purchased ranks still need the Corruption levels in the table above. For Piercing Shriek, count Isbrand’s story reward as one of the blood ranks: if you already unlocked the ability elsewhere, buy rank 2 before that encounter when possible. A story drink cannot be saved in your inventory like a phial.

Already used a spare at rank 2? The ability still progresses normally; you simply have fewer blood rewards left to cover the expensive ranks. Budget from your current rank and remaining sources instead of following the first row unchanged. Choose whether the extra effect is worth the cost for your loadout; reaching rank 4 in every power is optional.

Connect Mesmerise with Lacra’s blood choice

The Night of Horrors contains a direct blood-drinking opportunity with Lacra. Phial of Lacra’s Blood is the carried consumable associated with Mesmerise. Check the ability panel before using a phial if you have already obtained the power through her story.

Lacra’s mandrake offers a different reward: Mandrake Ward, which protects against a fatal hit once per night. Her romance conversation, the mandrake and the blood choice each concern a different outcome.

Equip Scarlet Shield even though its effect is passive

Scarlet Shield works after it is equipped in the Active Abilities panel. It uses an ability slot and triggers through blocks; learning it alone does not activate the effect. The other four powers in the table are activated abilities.

Check the eight passive abilities that need a slot when arranging a loadout. The build planner helps you compare equipped abilities, while the night-healing guide connects Scarlet Shield with other ways to refill Blood Reserve.