Facing Ambrus in Blood of Dawnwalker's The Gilded Gauntlet quest is likely the first fight you'll encounter with one of Brencis's boyars. After all, this foppish Vrakhiri rules over the provinces you start exploring immediately after you leave Laslea, and is responsible for procuring blood from Vale Sangora's, often unwilling, subjects.
As with any of the boyar fights, there are different routes you can take to defeating them, so here are the approaches you can take, plus the consequences that each will have.
How to complete The Gilded Gauntlet in Blood of Dawnwalker
Unlike Xanthe and Bakar, no one will come to meet you when you anger Ambrus. Instead, you need to head to Maragir in the Maragir Wealds, where you'll find a new ? symbol has popped up. You'll discover that Ambrus has crucified some villagers to get your attention and left a note challenging you to a duel at the ruined castle above the town come nightfall.
Shortly after, you'll be approached by the servant of Lulian Codric, Maragir's previous ruler, who will tell you he has a plan to poison Ambrus as part of The Bittersweet Toast quest.
Should you poison Ambrus in Blood of Dawnwalker?
While you can fight Ambrus at any time, if you pursue The Bittersweet Toast quest, Lulian Codric will poison himself, and since he's revealed to be Ambrus' blood cow, the boyar will feed on him before the fight, contracting the poison.
During this sequence, Ambrus will grow suspicious and try to make you feed on Lulian first, but you just need to say "Letting a peasant drink first, what kind of Boyar are you?" to make him sup instead. Codric will die, but as he reveals to you in the quest, that's what he wants.
There are clear advantages to poisoning Ambrus:
- Ambrus's health will deplete throughout the fight
- At times he'll be stunned, clutching his stomach in pain
- His self healing will be less effective
There is one massive disadvantage in poisoning Ambrus, though, and that is you'll get poisoned too if you drink his blood. If you end the fight with less than one segment of health, you'll be forced to feed on Ambrus, so it's a risky tactic, especially as the poison is quite bad and lasts multiple cycles.
If you plan to kill Ambrus and don't drink his blood, though, the poison is a good option if you're struggling with the fight. If you don't use the poison, the main difference is that Codric will survive, though he won't be especially happy about it.
Should you kill Ambrus or drink his blood?
When you defeat Ambrus, provided you have more than one segment of health, you'll have two options:
- [Drain Ambrus's blood]
- [Kill Ambrus]
If you drain his blood, you'll be presented with the additional choice of whether to invite Ambrus in, but it will also give you a couple of levels of Corruption and unlock his Scarlet Shield vampiric ability, since you've drunk some Vrakhiri blood. This ability is very strong, providing healing whenever you perform a Perfect Block.
If you kill him, you won't gain access to his ability or be given the choice mentioned above, though you can still loot him for his sword and legendary armour set. Killing Ambrus also increases your infamy, so might be helpful if you're pursuing the Where Loyalty Lies quest.
