Blood of Dawnwalker Best Sword: Top Legendary Blades

The best sword in The Blood of Dawnwalker is the Imbued Sword of St. Mihai, a legendary greatsword you rebuild during the Forge It Anew quest; it adds critical hit chance, critical damage and bonus damage against supernatural enemies. Durandal is the best early pick, the Gladius is the top choice for vampire builds, and the Kingslayer and Runner-Up suit players who live on perfect blocks. Below is where to find each one, what its bonuses and drawbacks are, and which build it fits.

We compared the Method legendary weapons guide, the KeenGamer weapon and armor locations list, the Method build guide and the PowerPyx trophy roadmap in November 2026, and noted where they disagree.

How Swords Work: Types, Bonuses and Drawbacks

Swords come in three classes: longswords, greatswords and shortswords. Each legendary sword has a set of percentage bonuses, and many also carry a drawback, such as a longer Swordmastery cooldown or higher stamina costs. Those trade-offs are why there is no single "best" stat stick: a sword with huge critical bonuses and a slower ability cooldown suits a different player from one that rewards perfect blocks.

The second thing to understand is time. Several legendary swords cost in-game time to obtain, and the clock matters because Coen has 30 days to save his family. Method's guide counts the cost in time notches: every shard of the St. Mihai Sword takes three, and digging up the Kingslayer treasure takes one. Exploring and looting cost nothing, so the expensive part is the quest steps themselves.

Finally, a sword is only half the picture. Day and night change how Coen fights: he uses his sword and Witchcraft as a human by day and adds claws and vampiric powers at night. Method's combat explainer notes that the sword is stronger for the first few hours, but claw abilities overtake it as you level, so a pure vampire build may care less about its blade than a daytime duelist does. Our best build guide shows which sword fits each skill tree.

Best Sword Overall: The Imbued Sword of St. Mihai

Method calls it "arguably the best sword in the game," and it is the weapon its swordsman build is built around. The legendary version gives bonus weapon critical damage, bonus critical chance and bonus damage against supernatural enemies. Its one drawback is a longer Swordmastery ability cooldown.

Getting it is a multi-quest project:

1. Complete Echoes of Silenced Bells, then Between the Words, then A Monk and a Saint, which opens Forge It Anew.
2. Collect the Sword Shards. Cave paintings reveal where they are, and each shard costs three time notches.
3. Bring the pieces to the Uriashi Blacksmith at the Uriashi Hermitage, who repairs the sword to Epic quality.
4. Perform the Final Ritual: cut the corrupted vines behind the Hermitage, defeat the undead and a boss, and return to the ritual site. The sword becomes Legendary.

Completing the Forge It Anew questline also unlocks the Arbiter's Blade trophy. On Steam, 45.0 percent of players had it when we checked the global stats on November 6, so a little under half of Steam players have finished the questline that produces this sword. Plan the shard trips around other errands in the same area so the time cost does not eat your calendar.

Best Early Sword: Durandal

If you want a strong blade before the St. Mihai quests open up, Durandal is the one. KeenGamer places it in the Cursed Chasm in Briar Sloughs, in the ravine below the broken bridge, and calls it one of the earliest reliable legendary pickups. Method describes the route: speak to the innkeeper in Svartrau's tavern to start the quest about Skender's men, follow The Cursed Chasm to the wrecked bridge west of Briar Sloughs, drop into the chasm and defeat what waits there. Watch out for the boss, Echo, which drains stamina quickly.

Durandal gives bonus damage against supernatural enemies, which covers a big share of the bestiary in a game about vampires. Its drawbacks are real, though: higher stamina costs for attacks and dodges, and a longer Swordmastery ability cooldown. Method calls it "seriously powerful," and KeenGamer notes that legendary gear can be upgraded later, so an early Durandal can stay useful long after you find it. Note that guides spell the name both Durandal and Durandel.

Best Swords for Vampire and Parry Builds

These swords reward night play or precise blocking more than raw critical damage:

• Gladius (shortsword): found in a chest in the Beast of Balaur's lair on Mount Balaur, west of Parlita, on an upper ledge you reach at night. Method lists bonus damage against mortals, maximum vampiric health, critical damage and critical chance, with no drawbacks. It is the weapon in Method's vampire build and, according to Method, one of the best for fighting Brencis.
• The Vrakhir (greatsword): tied to Lacra's later questline, at Isbrand's remains. KeenGamer lists bonuses to vampiric health and ability use, so it pairs naturally with Isbrand's Plate.
• Kingslayer (greatsword): dig up the treasure west of Svartrau City, or buy it from the Silver Merchant in Svartrau's southern quarter for just under 5,000 denarii (skills can reduce the price). It widens the perfect block window and gives stamina back on perfect blocks, at the cost of a higher block stamina cost.
• The Runner-Up (shortsword): sold by the blacksmith near the Cathedral in Svartrau City for 1,000 to 2,000 denarii depending on your discounts. It adds critical chance and damage, a bigger perfect block window and stamina from perfect blocks, with no listed drawbacks. Stock is randomized, so check back if it is missing.

Vampire builds run on Corruption, which unlocks the stronger Vampirism tiers. Our Corruption explainer covers how to raise it efficiently so your Gladius build has the powers to match.

Best Swords for Witchcraft and Supernatural Hunting

Casters want swords that charge abilities faster or boost spell damage, and supernatural hunters want bonus damage against monsters.

• Hand of Fate (shortsword): after defeating Rigoz in A Hero's End, return to the empty sarcophagus area, turn left, squeeze through the hole and fight through to the chest. It can also be bought from the Uriashi Hermit. It boosts passive and action-based activation charge restoration and Witchcraft ability damage, with a longer Witchcraft cooldown as the drawback. It is the weapon in Method's Witchcraft build.
• The Prizewinner (shortsword): bought from the Uriashi smith during Forge It Anew. Method says you need the Bewitching Influence Witchcraft perk to buy it. It adds maximum human health, damage against supernatural enemies and critical bonuses, with no drawbacks listed.
• The Purge (longsword): sold by the Uriashi Hermit or the Silver Merchant in Svartrau. It adds maximum human health but raises attack and block stamina costs and lengthens the Swordmastery cooldown.
• Erkas's Sword (longsword): earned by defeating Erkas the Repenter in The Champion of Old, in the ruins beneath Svartrau. KeenGamer rates it as useful against supernatural enemies.

Hand of Fate and the Ancient Hero's Armour come from the same quest, so a caster can pick up both in one trip. Our best armor guide covers the armor side of that pairing.

How to Choose and Upgrade Your Sword

A simple way to decide is to match the drawback to your playstyle. If you rarely use Swordmastery abilities, St. Mihai's longer cooldown barely matters. If you dodge a lot, Durandal's higher dodge cost will hurt. If you parry everything, the Kingslayer or Runner-Up turns every perfect block into stamina. And if you fight mostly at night with claws, the Gladius gives you vampiric health with no downside at all.

Money is the other gate. Several of the best swords are bought rather than found: the Kingslayer costs just under 5,000 denarii from the Silver Merchant and the Runner-Up between 1,000 and 2,000 at the Cathedral blacksmith. Selling junk and old gear to vendors adds up quickly, and holding 5,000 denarii at once happens to unlock the Miser trophy, so saving up for the Kingslayer kills two birds with one stone.

Upgrading matters too. Update 1.1, released on October 22, 2026, rebalanced item upgrade costs, especially at higher levels, and added a merchant buyback so you can recover a sword you sold by mistake. Since the patch, items can also sit in the day and night presets at the same time, so a sword you like for both forms no longer needs swapping at dusk. Save before the St. Mihai Final Ritual and any boss that guards a sword, because the 30-day clock keeps running whether or not the fight goes well. If you are worried about the clock, our endings guide explains what happens when the 30 days run out.

Want Legendary Blades From the Start?

Collecting shards, buying from randomized stock and fighting Echo and the Beast of Balaur all cost hours and in-game days. If you would rather test these swords right away, the store's Blood of Dawnwalker modded starter save lists legendary weapons and armor sets as already acquired, along with peak weapon damage, a level 50 Coen and every skill tree unlocked. The save is for PS5 and PC only, and you need to own the game separately.

Other services for the game, including the PS5 platinum, are on the store's Blood of Dawnwalker hub.

Frequently Asked Questions