Where Old Devils Lie Quest: How to Get the Font of Life Perk in The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Font of Life perk in The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the best passive upgrades in the game — it gives Coen passive health regeneration during the day. But you can only get it by completing two linked quests: Where Old Devils Lie and Stronger Than Achilles. And at the very end, you have to make a choice. Pick the wrong option and you are locked out of the perk for the rest of your playthrough.

• TL;DR
• Where Old Devils Lie unlocks after completing Echoes of Silenced Bells and Between the Words with Anca.
• Anca finds clues about the Font of Life in the books from the convent and leads you to ancient ruins.
• Visit before noon — Anca does not like hiking at night.
• The front door of the ruins is blocked. Squeeze through the rocks on the eastern side to get in.
• Completing Where Old Devils Lie immediately triggers Stronger Than Achilles.
• Inside, complete combat trials as guardians to reach the Font of Life chamber.
• You get a Runic Enchantment legendary chestpiece just for completing Stronger Than Achilles.
• To get the Font of Life perk, Coen must drink from the Font — do not give it to Anca or destroy it.

Where Old Devils Lie Quest How to Get the Font of Life Perk in The Blood of Dawnwalker

What Is the Font of Life Perk?

The Font of Life is a unique perk found in Coen’s Witchcraft skill tree in The Blood of Dawnwalker. It grants him passive health regeneration during the daytime. As a Dawnwalker, Coen does not naturally recover health while in human form — he needs food, consumables, or specific items to heal up. The Font of Life removes that limitation by adding automatic passive regen during daylight hours.

This perk is especially powerful because it pairs directly with the Runic Enchantment legendary chestpiece you earn just for completing Stronger Than Achilles. That chestpiece has lifesteal built in, so combining lifesteal with passive regen makes Coen far more self-sufficient in extended fights during the day. If you are planning a human-form build or just want to cut down on how many healing items you carry, this perk is worth chasing early.

How to Unlock Where Old Devils Lie

Where Old Devils Lie is part of Anca’s companion questline. It does not appear in your journal until you have completed the two quests before it in her arc. The full order of Anca’s quests is:

• Withering Away — completed during the prologue in Laslea Glen.
• Echoes of Silenced Bells — the convent quest where you help Anca access St. Tyna’s library and fight Leonica.
• Between the Words — a short follow-up at the Crossroads Inn after the convent.
• Where Old Devils Lie — unlocks after Between the Words.
• Stronger Than Achilles — begins immediately after Where Old Devils Lie ends.

If you have not yet done the convent quest, our Echoes of Silenced Bells quest walkthrough covers everything you need to get through it — including the Relic of St. Tyna choice and how to beat Leonica. Complete that first and return to Anca at the Crossroads Inn to continue her arc until Where Old Devils Lie appears.

Where Old Devils Lie — Full Walkthrough

Step 1 — Return to Anca After She Reads the Books

After the Between the Words quest, Anca spends time reading the forbidden books recovered from St. Tyna’s Convent. She is looking for anything that could give Coen an edge against Brencis. After a day or so passes in game, go back to Anca at the Crossroads Inn. She tells you she has found references to something called the Font of Life — an ancient source of power described in the old texts.

The two of you look at a map together and try to figure out where the ruins might be located. Anca marks a point east of your current position. She also makes one specific request: meet her before noon. She does not like travelling at night, and the ruins are not a place she wants to approach after dark.

Step 2 — Travel to the Ancient Ruins at the Right Time

Follow the quest marker to the ancient ruins. The path takes you toward a lake and eventually to a ruin entrance. Go in the morning or before noon to meet Anca there as she requested. Arriving at night is possible but she will not be happy about it, and the experience is better handled during the day for both the combat inside and the dialogue moments Anca shares along the way.

On the walk to the ruins, Anca opens up. She shares more of her past and the two have some genuinely good conversations. If you are working toward her romance, this is one of the more important dialogue stretches in her arc. Our full guide to romancing Anca in Blood of Dawnwalker covers the specific choices to make here to push the relationship forward.

Step 3 — Find the Way into the Ruins

When you reach the ancient ruins, the main door is blocked shut. You cannot open it from the front. Instead, look to the eastern side of the entrance — there is a gap in the rocks that Coen can squeeze through to get inside. Once through, you are in the outer section of the ruins.

This area is worth exploring before you push forward. There are:

• Valuables to loot — items and Denarius scattered around.
• Books and murals to examine — these give lore context about the ruins’ history and the purpose of the Font of Life.
• Enemies guarding the deeper sections — clear them as you go.

Take your time here. The ruins have several rooms and the lore is actually worth reading. You learn that ancient warriors participated in trials inside this place. Any contestant who fell in battle was taken, drained of their blood, and transformed into one of the Guardians — the enemies you will be fighting shortly. Their blood was collected and used to create the Font of Life. It is a much darker origin story than it sounds at first.

Step 4 — Interact With the Murals and Surgery Table

As you go deeper, Anca and Coen inspect murals on the walls and what appears to be a surgery table or altar used in the ancient trials. These interactions are important — they help both characters understand what the Font actually is and what they are walking into. Inspect everything highlighted in Focus Mode to make sure you do not miss any lore interactions.

At this point, Where Old Devils Lie ends and Stronger Than Achilles begins immediately. There is no break between them — it is essentially a two-part quest split for journal tracking purposes.

Stronger Than Achilles — Full Walkthrough

Step 5 — Let Anca Draw the Symbols on Coen

At the transition point between the two quests, Anca prepares Coen for the trials ahead. She draws ritual symbols on his body — his torso and arms — to mark him as a participant in the ancient rite. This is not just a story moment. This is when you receive the Runic Enchantment, a legendary light chestpiece that you keep regardless of what you choose at the Font of Life later.

The Runic Enchantment provides:

• Magical damage reduction
• Bonus damage against supernatural enemies
• Witchcraft ability damage
• Lifesteal from attacks

This is a strong chest piece and you get it for free just by reaching this point in the quest. It combines extremely well with the Font of Life perk if you choose to drink from it at the end.

Step 6 — Complete the Combat Trials

The deeper section of the ruins contains a series of combat trials. These are sequential fight encounters against increasingly difficult enemies — primarily Guardians, which are the ancient warriors who were transformed after dying in these same trials long ago. Each trial arena is a closed room and you must defeat all enemies before the path forward opens.

Tips for the trials:

• Prioritise blocking and parrying over dodging — Guardians hit hard and stamina matters more the further in you go.
• Use Witchcraft abilities between trial rooms to restore charges if you have them — the Runic Enchantment you are now wearing increases your Witchcraft damage so you will feel the difference.
• Loot enemies after each trial — Guardians can drop useful materials and Denarius.
• Do not rush to the next room — give yourself a moment to recover health between encounters using any food or consumables in your inventory.

If you are finding the Guardian fights difficult, it may be worth checking your skill loadout before going in. Our guide on best skills to level up in Blood of Dawnwalker covers which combat perks make the biggest difference in sustained fight sequences like these.

Step 7 — The Blood Sacrifice Pillar

Partway through the trials, Coen and Anca encounter a blood sacrifice pillar. One of them must use it to proceed — it requires someone to put their hand into the hole and allow it to draw blood. Coen should be the one to use it, not Anca.

When Anca panics at seeing Coen hurt, choose the dialogue option “Better me than you.” This is both the right narrative choice and the one that advances her romance path if you are pursuing it. It shows Coen is willing to protect her at personal cost — which is exactly what she needs to see.

Step 8 — Reach the Font of Life Chamber

After the final trial, the path opens into a deeper underground chamber. This is where the Font of Life waits. Coen and Anca enter together and find the source — a dark and unsettling structure containing the collected blood of the warriors who died in the trials above.

Inspect the glyphs on the chamber walls. There is enough power left in the Font for only one person to use it. Anca will express her own desire to drink from it — she sees it as a way to cleanse herself of the pacts she has made and the weight of her past. This is the decision point.

Font of Life Choice — Coen, Anca, or Destroy It?

At the Font of Life, you have three options. Each has a different outcome for Coen’s abilities, Anca’s character, and the reward you receive. This choice is permanent — you cannot undo it after the fact.

Option 1 — Coen Drinks From the Font of Life

Reward: Font of Life perk (passive daytime health regeneration)

Coen drinks from the Font and absorbs its power. He cleanses his own soul of past guilt and failures, and unlocks the Font of Life perk in the Witchcraft skill tree. This perk gives him passive HP regeneration in human form during the daytime — which is the most practically useful outcome for most playstyles.

Anca is disappointed but accepts the choice. She processes it without falling out with Coen, and the romance scene at the end of the quest can still proceed. The Runic Enchantment chestpiece you already have plus this passive regen perk creates a powerful combination for daytime combat.

This is the best choice if you want the Font of Life perk and a stronger combat build.

Option 2 — Anca Drinks From the Font of Life

Reward: Best narrative outcome for Anca, no perk for Coen

Anca drinks from the Font. It cleanses her of the unholy pacts she has made — the red sigils etched into her arms disappear. She is freed from the curse she has carried since her time as a witch. As a result, Anca loses her witch abilities. She is no longer a practitioner of Witchcraft after this point.

This is the best narrative outcome for Anca’s character arc and leads to the most emotionally rich version of the subsequent romance scene. Anca’s happiness here is visible and significant. In the game’s epilogue, she chooses to stay in the village rather than continuing to wander. If you are invested in her story, this is the most rewarding choice for her as a character.

Coen gets no new perk. You are locked out of the Font of Life passive regen for the rest of the playthrough.

Option 3 — Destroy the Font of Life

Reward: Ancient Greaves (legendary heavy trousers)

You and Anca tip over the Font and destroy it entirely. This reveals a hidden niche beneath the altar containing the Ancient Greaves — a pair of legendary heavy trousers. The Ancient Greaves provide Witchcraft ability damage, Activation Charge restoration from blocks, passive Activation Charge restoration, and magical damage reduction.

Destroying the Font means neither Coen nor Anca benefits from it. Neither gets a perk, and Anca is not cleansed. However, both characters are generally okay with the decision because of what they now know about the Font’s dark origins — the blood inside came from warriors who were killed and transformed against their will. Destroying it feels morally defensible given that context.

The Ancient Greaves are a solid legendary piece, but most players who want the best overall outcome for gameplay will find the Coen option more valuable. The greaves are useful but not exceptional compared to what passive daytime regeneration offers across an entire playthrough.

Which Choice Is Best?

• For gameplay and combat builds: Let Coen drink. The Font of Life perk is unique and cannot be obtained any other way. Combined with the Runic Enchantment lifesteal, it makes Coen highly self-sustaining during the day.
• For Anca’s story and romance: Let Anca drink. The narrative payoff is better, she is happier, and the romance scene at the inn has more warmth to it afterward.
• For a legendary gear piece with no strings attached: Destroy the Font. The Ancient Greaves are a unique drop but are generally the weakest outcome in terms of long-term benefit.

After the Font of Life — Return to the Inn

Regardless of which option you chose, Stronger Than Achilles ends with Coen and Anca returning to the Crossroads Inn. This is where the debrief conversation happens — and if you have been following the right dialogue choices throughout her questline, this is where Anca’s romance scene occurs.

The inn conversation picks up on an earlier confession Coen made before entering the ruins. If you told Anca you loved her before going inside, she now addresses that here. Choose dialogue options that continue that thread rather than walking it back to a friendship framing.

This is the climax of Anca’s full companion arc across five quests. It is also tied to the Sins of the Past trophy and achievement. Completing the full sequence — Echoes of Silenced Bells, Between the Words, Where Old Devils Lie, and Stronger Than Achilles — earns it.

Tips for Where Old Devils Lie and Stronger Than Achilles

• Visit before noon. Anca asks you to come in the morning and the quest plays best during the day. Plan your schedule accordingly and do not spend so many hours elsewhere that you miss the window.
• Explore every room in the ruins before the trials. The lore books and murals give important context and there are valuables to pick up. Use Focus Mode throughout.
• Use the Runic Enchantment immediately. As soon as Anca draws the symbols and you receive it, equip it. The Witchcraft damage boost helps with the Guardian fights inside.
• Let Coen use the blood pillar. When the sacrifice pillar appears, do not hesitate. Coen should take the hit. Choosing correctly here is important for the romance path and the narrative flow.
• Decide your Font choice before you get there. You will not have time to research mid-scene. Know in advance whether you want the perk, Anca’s happiness, or the Ancient Greaves.
• Save before the Font of Life chamber if you want to see all three outcomes without committing to one permanently.

While you are working through Anca’s questline, it is also a good time to knock out Ambrus Court Activities in Briar Sloughs nearby. The Ambrus’s Dungeons: Evil and Convenience quest is close to the Crossroads Inn region and contributes to Ambrus’s Anger meter — easy to chain with your Anca quest visits to save time.

And if you are maximising Coen’s skills alongside this questline, our guide on how to get ability slots in Blood of Dawnwalker covers how to unlock the Witchcraft skill tree slots needed to actually slot in the Font of Life perk once you earn it.

Where to Get The Blood of Dawnwalker

The Blood of Dawnwalker is available now on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. It is developed by Rebel Wolves and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

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