The Duskbloods Walkthrough Guide
Last reviewed: September 2026
Eight vampiric warriors called Bloodsworn are summoned into a Dusk Battle: one map, four timed phases, roughly 30 minutes. You are not primarily hunting each other. You are farming a score called Virtue by killing monsters, downing bosses, claiming objectives and looting secrets. At the end of Phases II and III, the lowest-scoring players are culled. Three survivors reach Phase IV and fight for First Blood, the prize at the heart of an event called the Twilight of Humanity.
This Duskblood guide explains the gameplay loop demonstrated during the Network Test and separates practical observations from systems that may still change before release.
Network Test disclaimer: The strategies below are based on the playable Network Test and reported observations from that build. Character balance, rewards, map layouts, Virtue values, and other systems may change in the final version.
How The Duskbloods Gameplay Guide Works
Killing enemies can give you experience. Experience makes your Bloodsworn stronger. Stronger characters can defeat tougher enemies. Tougher enemies can provide better Virtue or other rewards. Those upgrades can then make it easier to contest Ritual Sites or survive encounters with other Bloodsworn. The game is therefore built around an economy of time, power and Virtue. A typical Dusk Battle can be understood as five connected objectives:
Get stronger
Earn Virtue
Avoid falling into the elimination zone
Adapt to other players
Prepare for the final confrontation
What Is a Dusk Battle?
A Dusk Battle is the main match format. The Network Test placed eight Bloodsworn into a shared map filled with AI enemies, objectives, bosses and resources. The match was divided into four phases. The first three phases were primarily about exploration, combat, Duskbloods progression, and Virtue. Players who fell too far behind were eliminated as the phases progressed. The final phase shifted into a direct battle between the remaining players.
This means the match gradually changes character:
Early game: PvE and progression
Mid game: Objectives and contested areas
Late game: Player pressure and survival
Final phase: Direct confrontation
Understanding that transition is arguably more important than mastering any single character.
Anatomy of a Dusk Battle
A Dusk Battle is divided into four phases. The following structure reflects the Network Test build.
| Phase | Duration (test build) | Eliminations | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase I | ~8–10 min | None | Free build-up. Level, upgrade weapons, recruit Kin, grab Flame Virtue. |
| Phase II | ~8–10 min | Bottom players culled | Same loop under pressure; Ritual Sites open near the end. |
| Phase III | ~8–10 min | Bottom players culled | Field is thin enough that avoiding players stops being realistic. |
| Phase IV | Until one remains | Last player standing | Small arena, three players, two lives each. |
Dusk Battle elimination and spawn strategy
Nobody is culled in Phase I, five players are gone by the end of Phase III, and three enter Phase IV. Play to the aggregate, not to a specific number.
At the start of each phase you pick a general area to spawn into and land somewhere random inside it. That choice is a real decision, not a formality, because map markers show which regions carry which perks that phase — Flame Virtue, weapon perks, bonus Kin EXP. Getting to and from those hotspots efficiently is one of the clearest skill gaps in the game.
Virtue: the only thing that keeps you alive
Virtue is a single pooled score fed by many different actions, which is why dying early is survivable and idling is not. The real cost of a death is the Virtue you did not earn during it — or the Virtue you handed to someone else.
| Virtue type | How to earn it | Best phase |
|---|---|---|
| Repulsion Virtue | Defeat bosses, from mid-tier Great Foes up to the far tougher Trespassers | I–III |
| Commendation Virtue | Volume work: kill large numbers of common enemies, and out-collect rivals on dropped items | I–III |
| Flame Virtue | Find the special throne. One-time lump-sum boost, signposted on the Duskblood map | I, before rivals reach it |
| Sword Virtue | Beat other players inside a Ritual Site | II–III |
| Pledge Virtue | Activate golden symbols inside a Ritual Site | II–III |
| Corpse Virtue and secrets | Virtue-infused corpses and hidden finds while exploring | All |
| "Acclaim" | Named by Miyazaki, trigger never explained. Internally nicknamed "Longest Road" | Unknown |
Common Virtue mistakes
Two things newcomers get wrong. First, killing another Bloodsworn usually awards nothing. There are exceptions — Sword Virtue inside Ritual Sites, and Sigil targets — but a random duel in the street mostly costs you the one resource you cannot farm, which is time. Second, glowing dropped items matter. Item collection feeds the end-of-round commendation tally, so the loot you walk past is score you gave to someone else.
Phase-by-phase playbook
Phase I — nobody can eliminate you, so buy power instead of points
No culls means Phase I is the only completely safe phase in the game, and the strongest testers spent it compounding rather than scoring. The shopping list:
Kill everything that moves. XP feeds your level, and levels gate your abilities. Aggressive players reached roughly level 17–20 by the final phase; passive ones arrived underpowered and got farmed.
Rush the weapon upgrade crucibles. Player-reported testing suggests 2–3 crucibles per active zone and that an affinity can be maxed as early as Phase II. Five stacks of iron affinity reportedly made basic attacks genuinely frightening; lightning stacks reportedly let Zork stun a player in two hits. This is the most underrated line of play in the test community — most discussion fixated on Flame Virtue and early miniboss farming instead.
Recruit Kin early so they have time to level alongside you.
Contest Flame Virtue if it is on your route, since it is a one-time prize and whoever gets there first denies it to everyone else.
There is a coherent, deliberately contrarian strategy here that testers reported working: score almost nothing in Phase I, convert the whole phase into levels, Kin levels and affinity stacks, and then use that power advantage to take Virtue off other people at Ritual Sites later. It feels punishing if you check the standings, and it is strong.
Phase II — start banking, and be at the Ritual Site when it opens
Eliminations go live, so pure investment is no longer free. Keep the PvE loop running, but track the standings and know your quota. Ritual Sites unlock toward the end of the phase, which means the last few minutes reliably turn into a scramble as everyone converges — either to escape the cull line or to deny the players who are trying to.
Phase III — Duskblood map is too small to hide in
By now enough players are gone that avoiding contact is no longer realistic. Everyone knows roughly where they stand, and committing to a boss or an objective means accepting the risk of being third-partied mid-fight. This is where a Phase I power investment pays out and where a Virtue lead built on soft farming gets contested.
Phase IV — the arena
Three players, two lives each; a third death eliminates you. Virtue farming stops mattering entirely. Arenas are much smaller than the main map and vary in type — one has no walls at all, so players can be knocked or dragged over the edge, which testers exploited freely. If ring-outs are on the table, positioning outranks damage.
Two alternatives to the standard three-way duel are confirmed to exist but were not in the Network Test: a co-op final phase, and a PvE final battle against a boss which your character build can be set up to aim for. Miyazaki also acknowledged that the test build undersold reaching the final three, and said he wants that moment better presented and rewarded — story cutscenes and clearer acknowledgement — so that surviving to Phase IV feels like an achievement even when you lose it.
Ritual Sites in depth
Ritual Sites are the game's king-of-the-hill layer, and they are the single best comeback tool in a Dusk Battle.
Two ways to score. Fight players for Sword Virtue, or activate golden symbols for Pledge Virtue. Testers also found Virtue on corpses scattered inside the zone, which makes the site viable even when you are too weak to duel.
Pledges are not safe. A rival can activate your Pledge and take it. Claiming and leaving is how you donate Virtue to the person behind you; staying close enough to contest is the correct default.
Capture is interruptible. Player testing indicates that any damage interrupts a capture. That turns a ranged weapon into a denial tool: hold a point early, then play evasive and chip anyone attempting to take it.
Rewards appear to scale as a catch-up mechanic. Player-reported figures suggest that a player sitting near 200 Virtue was earning only 4–5 per red-stone kill, implying rewards shrink as your standing improves. Whether it keys off placement or off absolute Virtue is unverified. Either way, the practical read is the same: a leader cannot farm a Ritual Site into an untouchable lead, and a trailing player can survive one.
Combat fundamentals
The action is faster and more aggressive than FromSoftware's single-player games, and the stamina model is the key change.
Stamina is not spent on attacking. It drains from sprinting, dodging and similar movement. You can swing as often as you like, which fundamentally changes trade math versus Souls-style combat.
Everyone carries melee and ranged. Miyazaki explains this as a consequence of the movement design: with superhuman jumping and air dashing, ranged weapons had to be standard equipment. Melee covers swords, dual blades and axes; ranged is where the roster diverges most.
Triple jump and air control. You can chain three jumps to cross large gaps. Maps are built as vertical, three-dimensional playgrounds, and Miyazaki deliberately reduced the route-guidance and directional signposting of previous FromSoftware games so that repeat matches stay open-ended.
Light, heavy, ranged, block, dodge, plus a per-character skill move.
Two healing flasks, expandable by finding a specific item.
No death penalty in Phases I–III. You respawn in an area of your choosing. Only Phase IV enforces a life count.
In-match Duskbloods progression
You do not bring power into a match; you build it inside one, four ways at once.
Character level — HP, stamina and general capability. Aggressive killing produces roughly level 17–20 by the final phase.
Your level 12 ability — every Bloodsworn unlocks a signature skill at level 12, and testers described these as decisive in tough fights. Trang Lanh trades a starting cloak for a summoned giant snake dealing heavy AoE damage and knockback; Senator Samir Patres transforms into a homing dinosaur that chews targets up and throws them aside.
Powers of Blood — dropped by Great Foes and Trespassers, with effects like continuous HP recovery or increased attack power. Up to five stack, so boss clearing is a build path, not just a Virtue source.
Weapon affinity from crucibles — the sleeper mechanic described above.
Missing any one of these four is how you arrive in Phase III technically alive and functionally irrelevant.
Kin companions
Kin are summonable NPC allies and, by several testers' accounts, one of the largest swings in the game. You find glowing summoning symbols on the Duskblood map; a summoned Kin stays with you for the rest of the match. Depending on type they either fight or support, they level independently of you, and if they die they go on cooldown before returning. One tester singled out Baritone, a Kin who fights through music and singing with a devastating roar, as strong enough to carry boss fights alongside the player.
Kin also matter for accessibility. Miyazaki says full-release customisation will let you invest heavily enough in Kin that they can fight for you while you "take a bit of a backseat" — explicitly aimed at players who reach Phase IV but do not want to be the one duelling.
Sigils and roles
Sigils are the strangest and most characterful system in the game, and they are lifted from tabletop RPGs. A Sigil rewrites part of your Bloodsworn's backstory and assigns you a personal objective for the match. The clever part: rival players are silently given passive Sigils derived from yours, so they are cast in your story without knowing it.
Reported examples:
One Sigil marks a specific player as your sworn enemy; hunting them down pays extra Virtue. (Trang Lanh's, per one preview.)
Another sends you to find an old friend and form an alliance with them.
Another has you find your lost love — another player — and propose to them. (Senator Samir Patres', per one preview.)
Miyazaki named the "Fleeting Love" role as a personal favourite and framed transience as a defining trait of the game: alliances that expire just before the final battle, collaborations that last minutes. He also said the system is currently kept simple on purpose, that more complicated roles are coming in the full release, and that he is watching player reception closely because Sigils are one of the wild cards that can disrupt a match's normal rhythm.
Reading the Duskblood map: Lowanro City
Only one map was available in the test. Lowanro City leans hard into grim Victorian atmosphere — the comparison to Bloodborne is unavoidable, and the Duskblood map visibly darkens as each phase passes.
Testers describe it as three connected areas — the Cathedral, City Streets and Nether Gate Lake — knitted together by foggy swamp, a towering cathedral interior, dirty streets, crowded rooftops, poisonous sewers, a forest, and a bridge running through the middle. Warping exists. Miyazaki says final maps are sized to roughly the same balance window as the test map, and that he personally enjoys building vertically.
The practical skill is not memorising layout but memorising routes: which perk regions are live this phase, and the fastest path to chain two or three of them before the phase clock runs out. Testers were still discovering routing tricks after eight hours. Three maps at launch was reported during the test period.
Playing with other people
Alliances. You can request an alliance with another player. It disables accidental friendly fire and lasts only as long as you both want it — and it dissolves automatically if you both reach the final round.
Boss summons. You can invite players to help with a miniboss and share the Virtue, and you can be summoned into someone else's Trespasser fight. One tester fought a cavalry Trespasser with four players present.
Pre-match co-op option. The queue screen exposed a setting that gives you a teammate from the start of the match all the way through Phase IV. In that mode you receive a medallion with three uses that teleports you to your teammate, and the uses refresh every phase.
Planned: Invasions. Miyazaki confirmed a system where you join an in-progress match as a ninth player with no Virtue objective at all — your only job is PvP. There is no dedicated PvP mode planned beyond this.
Five mistakes that get testers culled
Duelling for its own sake. Most player kills pay no Virtue. You are trading your scarcest resource for nothing.
Coasting through Phase I. It is the only phase where you cannot be eliminated, and the only phase where you can compound uncontested.
Ignoring the crucibles. Affinity stacking was the most under-discussed power spike in the test, and it is what makes Ritual Site denial possible.
Claiming a Pledge and walking away. Unattended Pledges get stolen. Bank them or babysit them.
Letting Kin fall behind. They level separately. A neglected Kin is a wasted build slot in exactly the fights where you needed a second body.
Between matches, and outside matches
Your hub is the House of Night, where you prepare and customise your Bloodsworn. Testers noted its menus imply a considerable amount of lore and story sitting behind the slice they played. The game has multiple endings, and its fragmented storytelling was written for online play — specifically for the dramatic situations that emerge between players. Winning is not a prerequisite for progressing it. Miyazaki's stated ideal progression is that you enjoy the story first, gradually become capable of winning, and only then start wanting to.
Ranked matches, leaderboards and seasons are confirmed as planned. Offline content is deliberately minimal — customisation, practice, and simulated eight-player battles, so that server downtime does not leave you with nothing.
FAQ
How long is a match? +
Roughly 30 minutes, split into four phases of about 8–10 minutes each in the test build.
How many players are in a Dusk Battle? +
Eight, cut down to three for the final phase. A planned Invasion system will let a ninth player drop into a match purely to fight.
What is Virtue? +
The score that decides who survives each cull. It comes in named varieties — Repulsion, Commendation, Flame, Sword, Pledge, plus corpse finds and the still-unexplained "Acclaim" — that all feed one pooled total.
Do I have to fight other players? +
Not to reach the final phase; testers advanced on PvE and exploration alone, and most player kills pay nothing. The final phase is a fight, though confirmed co-op and PvE-boss finales exist outside the test build. A fully PvE playthrough is not possible.
What happens when I die? +
In Phases I–III, nothing but lost time — you respawn in an area you choose. In Phase IV you have two lives, and a third death eliminates you.
How do I get stronger during a match? +
Four parallel tracks: character level, the level 12 signature ability, stacked Powers of Blood from bosses, and weapon affinity from crucibles. Kin progress alongside all of it.
What are Kin? +
Summonable NPC allies found at glowing symbols. They stay for the rest of the match, fight or support depending on type, level independently, and go on cooldown if killed.
What are Sigils? +
Tabletop-inspired role objectives that rewrite your backstory and hand you a personal goal — hunt a marked rival, find an old friend, propose to your lost love. Other players get matching passive Sigils and unknowingly play their part.
Can I play with a friend? +
Yes. Alliances can be formed mid-match, and a queue option grants a persistent teammate through all four phases along with a three-use teleport medallion that recharges each phase.
Is it hard to learn? +
The first hour is genuinely overwhelming — multiple testers said so, and Miyazaki concedes FromSoftware has historically "just dropped players in and hoped they would figure it out," which is why Nintendo was brought in on onboarding. Testers consistently reported the systems clicking after a few hours.
Sources and verification
Fact sources
| Status | Source | Used for | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official | Nintendo product pageNintendo of America | Nintendo Switch 2 exclusivity, 2026 release year, Bloodsworn wording, multiplayer action, and up-to-eight-player description. | |
| Official | FromSoftware debut announcementFromSoftware | First-party announcement for The Duskbloods and its Nintendo Switch 2 release plan. | |
| Official | The Duskbloods official network test noticeFromSoftware / Nintendo | Official test eligibility, application period, selection timing, download-code timing, five PDT sessions, eight-player test limit, and network-test goals. |