Quick Answer
Blood Guards are human servants transformed and bound to the vrakhiri. Xanthe strips away their humanity through dark rites and blood-bound oaths. In combat, their armor, stamina pressure, and dual weapons make them tougher than ordinary human enemies.
Confirmed lore and gameplay are separated from details that still require release-build testing.
Who Are the Blood Guards?
The Blood Guards are not ordinary city watchmen and should not be confused with Svartrau’s civic guard. They serve the vrakhiri directly and represent the human cost of the vampires’ rule. The official bestiary describes them as devoted servants whose bodies and minds are tied to blood-bound oaths. Their sealed armor deliberately leaves the person beneath it uncertain, reinforcing that the rite has taken away the identity they once possessed.
What Did Xanthe Do to Them?
Official lore names Xanthe as the vampire responsible for stripping the Blood Guards of their humanity. The precise recruitment process, whether service is voluntary, and whether the transformation can be reversed have not been revealed. What is confirmed is stronger than a simple allegiance: a dark rite binds them to ancient vampiric power. That makes Xanthe’s Blood Guards a useful clue to her influence before Coen confronts her directly.
How Do Blood Guards Fight?
The gameplay reveal shows armored, dual-wielding Blood Guards protecting Xanthe inside Svartrau’s cathedral. They are stronger than normal humans. Hitting their armor and blocking their swings consumes substantial stamina, so trading attacks carelessly is risky. Coen must defeat three before Xanthe accepts his challenge in the demonstrated route. Final enemy variants, weaknesses, loot, and respawn rules remain unconfirmed.
Blood Guards vs the City Guard
Search results often merge these two groups, but the official sources describe separate roles. Svartrau’s city guard pursues thieves and maintains order in the capital. Blood Guards are altered servants of the vrakhiri. A quest may place both under the new regime, yet the name “Blood Guard” refers to the supernatural oath-bound fighters, not every armored human encountered in Vale Sangora.
How to Use This Pre-Release Guide
This entry records what Rebel Wolves and Bandai Namco have actually disclosed before launch. It does not convert folklore from another game into Dawnwalker mechanics, and it does not treat a trailer edit as proof of a fixed quest route. Exact map coordinates, dialogue outcomes, weaknesses, rewards, and missable conditions will be added only when the release build or a new primary source makes them verifiable. That distinction keeps the page useful now without forcing players to unlearn invented details later.
Related Guides
Sources
See the editorial and sourcing policy.
FAQ
- Are Blood Guards vampires?
- They are described as humans tainted and transformed through vrakhiri blood rites, not as members of the ancient vrakhiri group.
- Who created the Blood Guards?
- The official bestiary says Xanthe stripped them of their humanity.
- Are Blood Guards stronger than normal humans?
- Yes. The gameplay reveal explicitly describes them as stronger than normal humans and costly to block.