TL;DR
- Live Bait is a missable Prologue side quest — it disappears permanently once the Prologue ends
- Pick it up from Yanna on the road just outside Coen’s house
- Walk your siblings to the river — skip the game of tag to save a time segment
- Use Focus Mode at the riverbank to find four hidden fishing rods in the bushes
- Place all four rods at the marked spots and bait the hooks with worms — this uses 1 time segment
- When the soldier confronts you, stay calm to avoid a fight
- An Uriash intervenes, warns Coen about Brencis’s orders, and gives a charm to calm Lunka
- Reward: 250 XP — complete before the Sacred Covenant
The Live Bait quest in The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the first side quests available during the Prologue. It starts right outside Coen’s house and takes you to the river with your younger siblings. It feels low-key at first — just a fishing trip — but it ends with a tense confrontation that reveals something important about the dangers your family faces. This guide walks through every step and every choice so you do not miss anything.
Because this is a Prologue quest, it is only available in a narrow window. Once the Prologue ends, Live Bait is gone for good. For a full picture of everything happening in the Prologue — including the most important quest of all — check out our guide on how to improve Coen’s mother’s condition in The Blood of Dawnwalker, which should be your top priority before anything else.
Live Bait Quest Overview
- Quest Type: Side Quest (Prologue)
- Quest Giver: Yanna
- Starting Location: Road outside Coen’s House, Laslea Glen
- Requirement: Complete the quest All Good Things first
- Fail State: Must be completed before the Sacred Covenant (Blood Mass)
- Time Cost: 1 time segment (2 if you play tag with siblings)
- Reward: 250 XP
- Missable: Yes — permanently gone after the Prologue
Is Live Bait Worth Doing?
Yes. It only costs 1 time segment if you skip the tag game, rewards 250 XP, and introduces the Uriash — one of the creatures that serve Brencis. The conversation at the end of this quest gives you early context about the threats Coen’s family faces, specifically that Brencis has already ordered Pieter’s death. That is important background for everything that follows.
It also serves as a natural tutorial for Focus Mode, showing you how to find hidden items in the environment — a skill you will use throughout the rest of the game.
How to Start the Live Bait Quest
After the opening chores and the breakfast scene with Esme, head outside Coen’s house. You will immediately see Yanna standing on the road with Lunka and Mirto, your younger siblings. Mirto mentions that Yanna refuses to go to the river alone because she is scared of wolves on the path.
Talk to any of them and the Live Bait quest will be added to your journal. You are given two options:
- “I’ve got time. I’ll help you.” — You set off with them immediately
- “I have to get herbs for mother first.” — You get the objective to return to them later
Both options work. If you say no and walk away, Yanna will eventually set off without you toward the river. You can still catch up and complete the quest — you will just skip the walk dialogue and some background conversation about the mines. The reward and outcome are the same either way.
If you are managing your time carefully, the recommended order is to do Live Bait before visiting Anca, since it costs less time and does not block the medicine quest from progressing. Just make sure you still make Coen’s mother’s medicine before the Blood Mass deadline.
Live Bait Quest – Step by Step Walkthrough
Step 1 – Walk Your Siblings to the River
If you agreed to help immediately, the three siblings set off and you need to escort them down to the fishing spot by the river. Along the way, Lunka and Mirto start complaining and dragging their feet, as younger siblings do.
Yanna will suggest letting them play tag to keep them entertained. You have a choice:
- Play tag — costs an additional time segment. You have to run after Mirto and Lunka, get close enough to see the tag prompt, and tag them both. A short cutscene plays and then you continue to the river.
- Skip tag — tell them to stop complaining. Coen is a bit sharp with them but Yanna appreciates the backup. The walk continues without the extra time cost.
There is no meaningful difference in outcome between playing tag or not. The XP reward is the same either way. Skip the tag game to save yourself a time segment — those matter in the Prologue when you have other quests to fit in.
If Lunka or Mirto are complaining about the journey, a couple of useful dialogue choices are available. Telling Mirto “I’ll take care of you” gets a warmer reaction from him. Telling Lunka “You’re upset about something else” when she gets emotional opens up a more personal sibling conversation. Neither affects the quest outcome, but they make the scene feel more complete.
Step 2 – Find the Four Hidden Fishing Rods Using Focus Mode
When you reach the river, Yanna tells you that your father hid the fishing rods in the area somewhere. She asks you to find them.
This is where most players get stuck. The rods are not visible in normal view. You need to activate Focus Mode to spot them.
- PC: Right-click
- PS5: L2
- Xbox: LT
Focus Mode slightly desaturates the environment and highlights interactive objects in gold. The four fishing rods are hidden in a bush just northwest of where Yanna is standing. Walk through the highlighted area along the bank and pick up all four. The objective will not advance until you have collected every one, so sweep the whole highlighted stretch before moving on.
This is also where the Time Progression tutorial fires for most players, explaining that the clock only moves when you choose to act — not while you are standing around exploring. That is a useful mechanic to understand early.
Step 3 – Place the Fishing Rods at the Marked Spots
Once you have all four rods, you need to plant them at the marked spots along the riverbank. The game marks each position clearly on screen. Walk to each one and interact to set up the rod. Four rods, four spots — no guesswork involved.
Step 4 – Bait the Hooks with Worms
After all four rods are placed, interact with them to set up the bait. This is the step that spends your time segment. Coen shows his siblings how to bait a hook properly while they all start talking about what is going on with the family — the tension in Laslea, the vampire boyars, what it means for everyone.
The conversation turns personal here. You get a few dialogue options during this section. They do not affect the quest outcome, but they build character and show the sibling relationships before everything goes wrong later in the story.
Step 5 – Handle the Soldier Confrontation
While Coen is talking with the siblings, one of Brencis’s soldiers walks up to the riverbank. He knows that Pieter is usually the one who fishes here and starts pressing Coen about where his father is. The questions get more pointed until the soldier starts threatening the children.
At that point, the dialogue shifts. Some responses appear with a sword icon. Choosing any sword-icon option immediately triggers combat with the soldier. Choosing calm responses keeps the peace.
Here is what each path looks like:
If you stay calm: Keep the conversation from escalating. Useful dialogue choices include:
- “I don’t know” — plays dumb to stop things getting heated fast
- “Why all this interest in my father?” — deflects without escalating
- “Leave her out of this” — avoids drawing a sword when the soldier threatens Lunka
Staying calm skips the fight entirely and moves straight to the Uriash cutscene.
If you fight: Choosing a sword-icon response starts a duel with the soldier. The fight ends when one of you is badly injured — it is not a kill fight. After the duel, the Uriash still arrives and the conversation plays out the same way.
Recommendation: Stay calm and skip the fight. The end result is identical, you avoid taking damage, and you get more lore dialogue out of the Uriash conversation if you did not just finish a brawl.
Step 6 – Talk to the Uriash
An Uriash — a horned beast-man who serves Brencis — steps in and sends the soldier away. He shows the family unexpected mercy and gives Coen a direct warning: Brencis has already ordered Pieter’s death. The Uriash says he personally does not want to carry that out, but Coen should make sure his father stays in line.
He also notices Lunka is upset and offers something to calm her down — a charm to keep the family’s calf quiet. You can accept or refuse it. Take it. There are no negative consequences either way, but accepting the gift calms Lunka and gives you a useful item.
After the conversation, the Uriash reminds Coen and his siblings to attend the Blood Mass at sundown. Then he leaves with the soldier.
The quest ends here. You receive 250 XP and the quest drops off your active list in the journal.
Live Bait Quest Choices and Consequences
Here is a clean summary of every choice in this quest and whether it matters:
- Help Yanna immediately or go to Anca first — no consequence, both paths complete the quest
- Play tag with the siblings — costs 1 extra time segment, no other effect
- Dialogue with Mirto and Lunka on the walk — no consequence, just character building
- Fight the soldier or stay calm — same ending either way; calm is faster and safer
- Accept or refuse the Uriash’s charm — no lasting consequence; accept it
None of the choices here lock you out of content or change the story direction. Live Bait is a character-building quest more than a consequence-driven one.
Live Bait is Missable – Do It Before the Sacred Covenant
This is the most important thing to remember. All Prologue side quests disappear the moment the Prologue ends. Once the Sacred Covenant (Blood Mass) begins and the story moves forward, Live Bait and every other Prologue quest become permanently unavailable.
Post-Prologue, the open-world side quests stay available indefinitely and you can always return to them. But the Prologue quests — Live Bait included — exist only in that narrow window before the Mass. If you want the 250 XP and the lore content, do it early.
There are around ten Prologue side quests in total. You probably cannot do all of them in a single run if you are also doing the main quest properly. Live Bait is one of the more time-efficient ones at 1 time segment (if you skip tag), so it fits well even on a tight schedule.
Time Management Tips for the Prologue
- Do Live Bait before Anca — it costs 1 segment and gets the fishing trip out of the way early
- Skip the tag game — not worth a full time segment for no extra reward
- Get Esme’s medicine before anything else runs out — that quest has the hardest deadline
- Use Focus Mode at the river immediately — do not waste time searching the bank without it
- Stay calm with the soldier — avoids damage and saves a few minutes
If you are still finding your feet in Laslea Glen, our guide on all Laslea Glen shrine locations in Blood of Dawnwalker will help you find every shrine in the Prologue area before you leave it behind permanently. And if you want to understand how all these Prologue events feed into the bigger story, our Blood of Dawnwalker review on the time limit mechanic and open world covers how the 30-day structure shapes every decision you make.
Live Bait Quest Summary
- Talk to Yanna on the road outside Coen’s house to pick up the quest
- Walk the siblings to the river — skip tag to save a time segment
- Activate Focus Mode at the riverbank and collect all four fishing rods from the bush northwest of Yanna
- Place all four rods at the marked spots along the bank
- Interact with the rods to bait the hooks with worms — 1 time segment spent here
- When the soldier arrives, stay calm and avoid sword-icon responses
- Talk to the Uriash, accept his charm, and let him finish the scene
- Collect your 250 XP and move on
The Blood of Dawnwalker is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. Wondering how long the full game takes from here? Our Blood of Dawnwalker how long to beat guide covers every playstyle from a quick run to full completionist.
