The Blood of Dawnwalker Durandal Guide: Location, Quest Steps, and Stealth Skip
There are weapons in The Blood of Dawnwalker that you pick up, use for a while, and eventually forget about. Then there are weapons like Durandal, the kind of sword that can completely change the way the early game feels.
I’ve always liked when an RPG hides genuinely powerful gear behind something more interesting than simply reaching a certain level. Durandal is a perfect example. You don’t just walk into a shop and buy it. You have to discover what happened to a ruined treasure convoy, track its lost cargo into a dangerous chasm, and then decide whether you’re actually prepared to fight what is waiting down there.
The good news? You don’t necessarily have to fight it.
That is what makes the Durandal quest particularly interesting. You can take the straightforward combat route and defeat the enemies guarding the wreckage, or you can approach the entire situation as a vampire and use the darkness to your advantage. The second method is especially useful if you’re still relatively weak or simply don’t feel like burning through half your healing supplies for one sword.
In this guide, I’ll walk through the Durandal location, explain how to obtain Dimitar’s Orders, cover the chasm encounter, and break down the nighttime stealth method. I’ll also explain the one major drawback you should know about before committing to the weapon: Durandal costs you two day segments no matter how you obtain it.
Is Durandal Worth Getting Early?
In my opinion, absolutely.
There is always an argument to be made for saving time in The Blood of Dawnwalker. The game’s schedule isn’t decorative. Time matters, and spending day segments on optional activities can have consequences elsewhere in your campaign. That’s why I wouldn’t tell every player to blindly rush for Durandal the moment they hear about it.
But once you understand what you’re getting, the decision becomes much easier.
| Durandal Feature | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Legendary Weapon | Provides a major upgrade over many early-game swords |
| Strong Base Scaling | Remains useful as your character becomes stronger |
| Unique Perk | Improves the sword’s overall combat effectiveness |
| Early Availability | Can be acquired relatively early if you’re willing to spend time |
| Upgrade Potential | Can remain relevant with proper investment |
| Main Drawback | Costs two day segments when claimed |
For me, that last point is the only real hesitation. If you’re trying to optimize every single event in your campaign, two day segments can feel expensive. If you’re playing more naturally and want a weapon that makes the next stretch of the game considerably easier, the trade feels excellent.
Where to Find Durandal in The Blood of Dawnwalker
The weapon isn’t sitting in some obvious chest with a giant legendary-item marker hovering above it. The quest begins with a destroyed treasure convoy, and you have to pay attention to the environment to figure out what happened.
While exploring the relevant treasure transport route, look along the side of the road for a broken wooden cart. It should be immediately recognizable as the aftermath of an attack. This isn’t just random scenery, so don’t run past it assuming you’ve stumbled across another piece of environmental decoration.
Approach the wreckage and investigate it. Searching the damaged container will give you Dimitar’s Orders.
This is the important moment that turns the discovery into the beginning of the Durandal hunt.
What Dimitar’s Orders Tell You
Read the document after picking it up. The information inside explains that the convoy was transporting something far more valuable than ordinary supplies. Among the stolen cargo was the legendary sword associated with the former Nyaza: Durandal.
The attack scattered the cargo, sending the valuable equipment down into the nearby ravine.
And that’s your next destination.
Personally, I like this setup more than the usual RPG approach of having an NPC say, “Go into that cave and get the legendary sword.” The destroyed convoy gives the weapon a little history before you even touch it. You know something valuable was being transported, you see the evidence of the attack, and then the environment itself points toward the location where the sword ended up.
How to Reach the Durandal Chasm
Once Dimitar’s Orders have been added to your inventory, head toward the large depression near the wrecked cart.
Look around the area to the right of the convoy. You’ll find a huge chasm descending into the terrain. The route down isn’t exactly a comfortable staircase, so take your time with the descent.
Follow the rocky ledges and sloping sections until you reach the bottom.
There is one piece of advice I’d strongly recommend here: prepare before reaching the arena.
The bottom of the chasm is cramped, and that matters once the enemies appear. Replenish your health, check your equipment, and make sure your preferred healing items are easily accessible. You don’t want to discover that you’re missing half your consumables after you’ve already triggered the encounter.
Durandal Chasm Fight: Wolves and Vidmo Bosses
If you decide to fight for the sword normally, the encounter comes in two distinct stages.
Phase One: The Wolf Ambush
As you approach the wreckage at the bottom of the chasm, a group of hostile wolves attacks.
These enemies aren’t particularly terrifying on their own, but they become annoying if you leave them alive while dealing with the larger threats. Their job is essentially to keep you distracted, interrupt attacks, and force you to constantly turn your attention away from the real danger.
My advice is simple: clean up the wolves first.
- Focus on one wolf at a time rather than spreading damage around.
- Avoid letting the pack surround you.
- Use the walls and narrow terrain to limit the directions from which they can attack.
Once the initial group is dealt with, the real encounter begins.
Phase Two: The Vidmo Guardians
Two large spectral Vidmo enemies appear around the wreckage. This is where the fight suddenly becomes much more dangerous.
The Vidmo bosses hit hard, track movement aggressively, and can punish sloppy defensive play very quickly. The cramped arena doesn’t help either. There isn’t much room to endlessly roll around the battlefield, and blindly dodging backward can easily leave you trapped against terrain.
I’d recommend treating the fight as a positioning test rather than simply trying to out-damage the bosses.
Keep one target locked while monitoring the second. You don’t want to tunnel-vision one Vidmo only to discover that the other has moved behind you.
Perfect blocks and parries are also particularly valuable here. Their attacks are dangerous, but they aren’t completely unpredictable. If you’re comfortable with the defensive mechanics, this can turn the encounter from a chaotic brawl into a series of controlled counterattack opportunities.
My Recommended Strategy for the Vidmo Fight
If you’re taking the combat route, this is the order I’d personally use:
- Kill the remaining wolves. Don’t let minor enemies interfere with the boss phase.
- Pick one Vidmo as your primary target. Maintain pressure without losing awareness of the second enemy.
- Prioritize defense over greedy attacks. A missed attack can be far more expensive than waiting for another opening.
- Use the arena carefully. Avoid getting pinned against rocks or trapped in a corner.
- Finish both guardians and search the wreckage.
Once both Vidmo enemies are gone, return to the destroyed transport and interact with the glowing wreckage. This is where Durandal can finally be claimed.
The Secret Durandal Stealth Skip
Now for the part I find considerably more interesting.
If you have Vampire Form unlocked, you can approach this entire encounter differently. Rather than treating the chasm as a boss arena, you can treat it like a burglary.
The important requirements are straightforward:
- It must be nighttime.
- You must have access to Vampire Form.
With both conditions met, travel to the chasm after dark.
Step 1: Save Before the Attempt
Descend toward the bottom of the chasm as usual. Before moving directly into the wreckage area, make a manual save.
This is one of those tiny precautions that can save you a ridiculous amount of frustration. If your timing goes wrong and the enemies catch you before you’ve grabbed the sword, you can simply reload rather than repeating the entire descent.
Step 2: Sneak to the Wreckage
While in vampire form, use your stealth abilities to approach the center of the wreckage.
The goal isn’t to kill anything. You’re there to steal the sword.
Move carefully into position and interact with the wreckage when the prompt appears. If everything works correctly, Durandal will be added to your inventory before the encounter fully develops into a normal fight.
Step 3: Run Immediately
This is the part where you need to resist the natural temptation to admire your new legendary sword.
The Vidmo guardians can still spawn after Durandal is taken. That means your successful loot doesn’t mean you’re suddenly safe.
Run.
Don’t turn around and try to test Durandal against the bosses. Don’t waste healing items. Don’t get greedy. Head toward the dark cave system at the rear of the chasm and put as much distance between yourself and the guardians as possible.
Step 4: Break Their Aggro
Continue moving deeper into the cave until the enemies lose their line of sight and exceed their effective tether range.
Once the combat state disappears from your interface, you’re essentially free.
At that point, use your vampire climbing abilities to scale the surrounding rock face and escape the chasm.
It’s one of those wonderfully gamey solutions that I actually enjoy. You’re not exploiting some ridiculous damage glitch. You’re simply using the game’s stealth, nighttime, movement, and vampire mechanics to approach the encounter differently.
The Catch: Durandal Still Costs Two Day Segments
There is an important limitation to the stealth method that shouldn’t be overlooked.
You save yourself the fight, but you don’t save the time.
Claiming Durandal still consumes two day segments. The deduction happens when the sword is taken from the wreckage, so successfully sneaking through the encounter doesn’t somehow bypass the campaign’s time cost.
This is why I see the stealth route as a convenience rather than a way to optimize the quest’s resource cost. You’re trading combat resources and risk for a cleaner extraction, not getting the weapon for free.
Why Durandal Is One of the Best Early Swords
The biggest reason to bother with all of this is obvious: Durandal is extremely powerful for an early acquisition.
Its strong base performance and scaling make it more than a temporary upgrade. With investment, it can remain useful well beyond the point where most early-game weapons would normally be replaced.
The weapon’s unique perk is another major part of its appeal, particularly for players who build around aggressive melee combat. Rather than feeling like a simple stat stick, Durandal can improve the rhythm of your attacks and make your overall combat output more consistent.
And that’s really why I like this weapon.
A legendary weapon is much more satisfying when obtaining it actually changes how you play. Durandal feels like one of those pieces of gear you can build around rather than something you equip for ten minutes before finding another sword with a slightly bigger number.
Should You Fight the Vidmo or Use the Stealth Skip?
| Approach | Best For | Main Advantage | Main Disadvantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combat | Confident builds and experienced players | Earn the weapon through a full encounter | Higher risk and resource consumption |
| Stealth | Low-level or fragile characters | Avoids the difficult boss battle | Still costs two day segments |
If your character is already strong and you’re comfortable with parries, I’d say fight the Vidmo. It’s a good opportunity to test your build and learn their attack patterns.
But if you’re underleveled, playing a fragile setup, or simply don’t care about proving anything to two glowing monsters at the bottom of a hole, take the stealth route.
There’s no prize for making the game harder than it needs to be.
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Final Verdict: Don’t Sleep on Durandal
The Blood of Dawnwalker Durandal quest is one of those optional activities that I think is worth doing even if you’re normally the type of player who ignores side content. The weapon is powerful enough to make the time investment feel meaningful, and the quest itself gives you an actual choice in how you approach the objective.
You can fight through the wolves and Vidmo guardians, relying on precise defense and careful positioning. Or, if you have Vampire Form available and the timing is right, you can turn the whole thing into a nighttime robbery.
Personally, I’d choose the stealth method on a weaker character and the combat route on a stronger one. Either way, I’d still grab the sword.
The two-day-segment cost is the only thing that makes me hesitate, but once Durandal is in your hands, the payoff is hard to ignore. A powerful legendary sword obtained early can smooth out a huge portion of the campaign, and that’s exactly the kind of optional reward I want from a dark fantasy RPG.
Find Dimitar’s Orders, follow the trail into the chasm, and take Durandal. Just decide beforehand whether you’re going there as a warrior—or as a vampire thief.











