The Cycle of Love is one of the most important quests involving Xanthe in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
The quest takes Coen to Howling Keep, where he must explore Xanthe’s mansion, solve a series of lantern puzzles, uncover what happened to the missing women, and eventually face Xanthe herself.
The quest also ends with one of the game’s more significant choices: kill Xanthe and drink her blood, or spare her and potentially gain her help later.
This guide covers how to unlock The Cycle of Love, how to get through Xanthe’s mansion, how to defeat Xanthe, and what happens if you kill or spare her.
Warning: Major quest and story spoilers ahead.
How To Start The Cycle Of Love
You cannot start The Cycle of Love immediately. First, you need to work against Xanthe and increase her anger level by completing her associated Court Activities around Vale Sangora.
Xanthe has a number of activities connected to her operations, including encounters involving her soldiers and recruiters. Continue completing these activities until her anger reaches the required level.
Multiple walkthroughs place the trigger at roughly 12 of Xanthe’s 15 associated activities, while the broader requirement is reaching maximum anger with her.
Once you’ve reached the required point, guards will eventually approach Coen and give him Xanthe’s Lantern. This is the key item needed to enter Howling Keep.
Requirements
- Complete Xanthe’s Court Activities.
- Raise Xanthe’s anger to maximum.
- Wait for the guards to approach Coen.
- Obtain Xanthe’s Lantern.
- Travel to Howling Keep in the southern part of the map.
The quest takes around four time segments to complete and has no listed fail state. Completing it rewards 500 XP, while drinking Xanthe’s blood can unlock the Blood Surge Vampirism ability.
Head To Howling Keep
After receiving Xanthe’s Lantern, make your way to Howling Keep.
You’ll encounter enemies outside the mansion. Deal with them before approaching the entrance.
At the entrance, you’ll find a statue where the lantern can be placed. Put Xanthe’s Lantern on the statue.
This causes the corrupted red vines blocking the mansion’s entrance to wither, allowing Coen to enter.
The lantern mechanic is essentially the main puzzle of the entire mansion. Certain statues control the corrupted vines blocking nearby doors, meaning you’ll frequently need to move lanterns between statues to open new routes.
How The Lantern Puzzle Works
Once inside Xanthe’s mansion, you’ll discover that several doors and passages are covered by red vines.
When you place a lantern on the correct statue, the nearby vines disappear.
The tricky part is that there aren’t always enough lanterns to simply leave them everywhere. You’ll need to move lanterns between statues as you progress.
In other words, don’t assume that opening one door means that lantern should stay there permanently.
Get The First Movable Lantern
After entering the mansion, explore the accessible rooms and look for another lantern attached to a statue.
You’ll eventually find routes that lead deeper into the mansion and give you access to additional lanterns.
Move the lanterns between the statues as necessary to keep your route open.
You’ll also encounter supernatural enemies throughout the mansion, so don’t rush through the rooms simply because you’ve solved a puzzle.
Explore The Mansion
As you continue through the mansion, search the rooms carefully.
There are documents, collectibles, and other useful items scattered throughout the area, and some rooms only become accessible after moving a lantern.
One particularly important item to look out for is the Relic of St. Dasius.
The relic can be found in a balcony room that becomes accessible after using the appropriate lantern statue.
If you’re interested in completing the area thoroughly, it’s worth exploring the mansion rather than following the critical path immediately.
Reach The Underground Kennels
Eventually, you’ll gain access to the mansion’s underground section.
Look for the trapdoor leading down into the Kennels.
The underground section contains another important progression item: the Key to the Kennels.
Pick up the key and use the underground route to continue progressing through the mansion before returning toward the main areas.
The lantern puzzle continues to be the central mechanic here, so if a door appears blocked by red vines, look around for another statue or consider whether one of your previously placed lanterns needs to be moved.
Open The Final Route
As you approach the end of the mansion, the lantern puzzle becomes more involved.
You’ll eventually need to arrange the lanterns so that the final route toward Xanthe’s chamber remains open.
The final locked section requires two lanterns to be placed at the appropriate statues.
Once both are positioned correctly, the final route opens, and you can proceed toward the confrontation.
Before committing to the final encounter, this is a good point to make a manual save if you want to experience both possible outcomes.
Meet Chariklea
After making your way through the final section, Coen encounters Chariklea, Xanthe’s daughter.
The discovery helps explain the disturbing events taking place inside the mansion and provides more context for Xanthe’s actions.
Continue through the sequence until the confrontation with Xanthe begins.
How To Defeat Xanthe
Xanthe is the main boss of The Cycle of Love, and the fight is split into several stages.
The most important mechanic to understand is her healing orbs.
Destroy Xanthe’s Blood Orbs
At certain points during the fight, Xanthe will summon red blood orbs that restore her health.
Destroy these orbs immediately.
If you allow them to remain active, Xanthe can recover a significant amount of health, making the fight considerably longer and more difficult.
When the orbs appear, don’t tunnel-vision Xanthe. Prioritize destroying them before returning to the boss.
Xanthe’s Second Phase
The second phase largely follows the same basic pattern, but Xanthe gains a powerful area-of-effect attack.
Watch the ground carefully. A large red circle indicates the area that is about to be hit. Get outside the marked area before the attack lands.
Keep moving and avoid staying directly in front of Xanthe for too long.
Xanthe’s Final Phase
The final phase changes the fight again.
Xanthe disappears and summons spectral enemies that rush toward Coen before exploding.
These enemies essentially act as kamikaze attackers.
Don’t panic when they appear. Keep your distance and time your dodges carefully.
Once you’ve survived the sequence, the fight will eventually return to Xanthe.
Defeat her to trigger the final choice.
Should You Kill Or Spare Xanthe?
This is arguably the most important decision in The Cycle of Love.
After defeating Xanthe, Coen can either kill her and drink her blood or spare her.
Your decision affects both your immediate reward and events later in the game.
Kill Xanthe
If you choose to kill Xanthe, Coen can drink her blood and gain the Blood Surge Vampirism ability.
This is the major immediate gameplay reward for taking this route.
However, killing Xanthe means she cannot help Coen later.
You’ll also have to deal with additional enemies and obstacles during the later assault on Griefberg Castle.
If your priority is getting Blood Surge immediately, this is the option to choose.
Spare Xanthe
If you spare Xanthe and continue the conversation, she can become an ally.
This changes the later assault on Griefberg Castle, making the sequence easier by removing some of the supernatural opposition Coen would otherwise have to deal with.
Xanthe’s survival therefore has a meaningful strategic benefit beyond simply changing the story.
The downside is that you don’t get to drink Xanthe’s blood during this encounter and therefore don’t receive Blood Surge from her immediately.
So, which choice is better?
For gameplay, sparing Xanthe is arguably the more useful choice if you’re looking to make the later castle sequence easier.
However, if you specifically want Blood Surge, killing Xanthe is the way to go.
Make a manual save before the decision if you want to experience both outcomes.
The Dark Mistress Achievement
The Cycle of Love is also connected to The Dark Mistress achievement/trophy.
Importantly, you don’t necessarily need to kill Xanthe to get it.
Defeating Xanthe and completing the confrontation is enough, meaning you can choose to spare her while still progressing toward the achievement.
The Cycle Of Love Rewards
The main rewards and consequences associated with the quest include:
- 500 XP
- Blood Surge Vampirism Ability if you kill Xanthe and drink her blood
- Progress toward The Dark Mistress achievement/trophy
- Access to additional loot and collectibles within Howling Keep
- A different path through the later Griefberg Castle sequence depending on Xanthe’s fate
