THE FIELD GUIDE

Blood Phial Locations and Vampire Ability Upgrades

Named vrakhir blood unlocks five vampire abilities. Later drinks can grant another rank without the usual training cost. Find each blood source below, then check the upgrade order before spending skill points.

Updated 2026-10-15Independent game guide

Which blood unlocks each ability?

These abilities belong to Coen’s vampire form. Named phials significantly increase Corruption when consumed. Ordinary animal or human blood vials serve recovery and crafting instead of these specific unlocks.

The Corruption values below apply when purchasing ranks 2, 3 and 4 through the skill tree. Rank requirements and costs use PC build 25129649; phial descriptions use build 25232147.

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Which blood unlocks each ability?
Blood	Ability	Purpose	Corruption for ranks 2 / 3 / 4
Ambrus	Scarlet Shield	Restore health through blocks while the ability is equipped.	6 / 10 / 13
Bakir	Shadowstorm	Slow time around Coen for a short combat window.	8 / 11 / 14
Xanthe	Blood Surge	Explode a target; bosses receive damage instead.	10 / 12 / 14
Brencis	Piercing Shriek	Stun and weaken enemies in front of Coen; blocks reflect damage.	7 / 11 / 13
Lacra	Mesmerise	Make a non-boss enemy fight on your side.	9 / 12 / 14

Where to obtain the named blood

The locations below provide three sources each for Ambrus, Bakir and Brencis, two for Xanthe and one reward choice for Lacra. Some require a particular quest outcome or a direct drink after a fight. Prior choices can remove an opportunity, so use the list to track sources still available in your playthrough.

Ambrus’s blood: Scarlet Shield

A recruitment reliquary gives access to this power without first defeating Ambrus. Its location and choice are particularly useful if you want the block-healing ability early.

Defeat Ambrus outside Maragir and choose to drink his blood afterward.
Visit the Blood Guard recruitment tent outside the Silty Mug Inn, between The Silts and Tantari Woods. During Just a Bit More, take the blood from the reliquary when offered.
Defeat the Murohn in its cave in St. Tyna’s Grove, east of Svartrau City, and loot the Ambrus phial.

Taking and destroying the reliquary give different rewards

For Just a Bit More, choose the blood pickup if you want Scarlet Shield. Destroying the reliquary does not collect the Phial of Ambrus’s Blood. Confirm the phial in your inventory before leaving.

The peaceful monetary reward and the phial belong to different outcomes. Do not budget both as one guaranteed reward package.

Bakir’s blood: Shadowstorm

Defeat Bakir at Lunar Manor in The Silts and accept the blood-drinking opportunity.
Search the recruitment reliquary outside Tantari, north of Tantari Woods, during Come Home.
Clear the third Leech Collector camp in Briar Sloughs. Defeat and loot the Blood Guard who joins that encounter.

Xanthe’s blood: Blood Surge

You can drink from Xanthe after defeating her. The other source is a phial in a box in the upstairs office of Svartrau Cathedral’s treasury.

Enter Svartrau Cathedral. At night, the roof and open tower provide a route down into the building.
Go to the ground-floor storage room in the north corner and inspect the ledger on the table to collect the Treasury Key.
Cross the courtyard and use that key on the separate treasury building on its north side.
Search the upstairs office for the phial. The hidden cellar’s Stone Key is a separate pickup and is not needed for this blood box.

Brencis’s blood: Piercing Shriek

Receive the Isbrand blood reward during Our Rotten Roots. This grants a Piercing Shriek rank as part of the story.
Search the recruitment reliquary on Altenmarkt’s western edge in Svartrau during Taste of Power.
Enter Brencis’s former cave on Mt. Balaur, west of Parlita. Go at night and use Shadowstep to reach the rear ledge beneath the dripping blood. The phial is in the same cave as Gladius.

Reach the Isbrand encounter through Lacra’s quests

Lacra’s blood: Mesmerise

Complete the mandrake sequence near the end of The Night of Horrors. Accept Lacra’s direct drink or receive the alternative phial if you decline it. These are two ways to take the same reward; they do not supply two independent Mesmerise ranks.

The mandrake grants Mandrake Ward, while the blood grants Mesmerise. The later romantic response is another choice in the same conversation.

Buy cheaper ranks before using spare blood

After the first unlock, purchased ranks 2, 3 and 4 cost 1, 2 and 3 skill points, plus 1, 1 and 2 time segments respectively. A spare drink advances one rank, making it more valuable when used for a later upgrade.

Each plan below starts at rank 1 and assumes the listed remaining blood rewards are still obtainable. It covers learning costs only; quest objectives and travel preparations are separate.

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Buy cheaper ranks before using spare blood
Remaining blood ranks	Purchase and blood order	Purchased cost
Two: Scarlet Shield, Shadowstorm or Piercing Shriek	Buy rank 2; use the two remaining rewards for ranks 3 and 4.	1 skill point + 1 time segment
One: Blood Surge	Buy ranks 2 and 3; use the remaining reward for rank 4.	3 skill points + 2 time segments
None: Mesmerise	Purchase ranks 2, 3 and 4 if you want the full upgrade.	6 skill points + 4 time segments

Start from your learned blood-ability rank

Count Isbrand’s reward when planning Piercing Shriek

Isbrand’s story reward is one of the Piercing Shriek ranks and cannot be stored like a phial. If you unlocked the power from another source first, buying the cheaper second rank before that encounter can leave the story reward for a later rank.

If you already consumed spare blood early, use your current rank and remaining sources to recalculate the plan. The upgrade remains valid; fewer blood rewards simply remain to cover later costs.

What to check if an upgrade is still locked

When buying a rank, check its Corruption threshold, previous rank, skill points and time cost. The blood unlock alone does not satisfy every later purchase requirement. None of these five abilities uses a normal skill manual for the ranks shown here.

After drinking or receiving a story reward, reopen the ability panel and confirm the rank already learned before spending points. This prevents planning a purchase for a rank you have just received.

Equip Scarlet Shield to enable its passive effect

Scarlet Shield must occupy a slot in the Active Abilities panel. It then works through your blocks without a separate activation. Learning the ability and equipping it are separate steps.

At rank 1, a Perfect Block restores 20% of a health segment. Directional Block has a 20% chance to trigger the effect and Omniblock a 10% chance. Combine it with a blood restorative for moments when you cannot rely on a block or bite.

Scarlet Shield skill icon — Check the rank’s block triggers, then include it in the ability bar of your build.

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