The Gilded Gauntlet Quest Guide in The Blood of Dawnwalker: Beat Ambrus

The first boyar duel arrives politely worded and nailed to a corpse. Ambrus runs the provinces you explore right after Laslea — the transports, collectors, and cellars on every sabotage list — and when his anger tops out, The Gilded Gauntlet begins. This walkthrough follows PC Gamer’s guide through the setup, the optional poison, the duel at Maragir’s ruined castle, and the ending choice that decides whether Scarlet Shield joins your night arsenal.

How Does The Gilded Gauntlet Start?

Anger him, then read the note. Unlike Xanthe and Bakir, per PC Gamer, nobody comes to meet you when Ambrus’s anger peaks. Instead, head to Maragir in the Maragir Wealds and find the new ? marker: Ambrus has crucified villagers to get your attention and left a note challenging you to a duel at the ruined castle above the town, come nightfall. Anger itself is a managed resource — hover his portrait in the Court menu to watch it climb, and clearing a whole node (every blood cellar, say) is the efficient way to tip him over.

Should You Take Codric’s Poison Route?

It is a boss debuff disguised as a side quest. Shortly after the challenge, the servant of Lulian Codric — Maragir’s previous ruler — approaches with The Bittersweet Toast: Codric poisons himself, and because he is revealed as Ambrus’s blood cow, the boyar feeds on him before the duel and contracts the poison. When Ambrus grows suspicious and tries to make you feed first, one line defuses it: “Letting a peasant drink first, what kind of Boyar are you?” He drinks. Codric dies — which, as he tells you himself, is what he wants.

The poison’s effects during the duel, per PC Gamer:

How Do You Beat Ambrus in the Duel?

Bring a parry plan. The fight itself is the game’s first full boyar exam, and the poison — if you took it — does passive work while you fight. PC Gamer’s practical framing: if you are struggling with the duel, the poison is a good option; if you skip it, the difference is that Codric survives, though he will not be especially happy about it. For the night arsenal side of the fight, the skill manuals page’s Swordmastery picks (Perfect Block, Swiftness) and Witchcraft hexes do the heavy lifting in day form — and boyar anger mechanics, for the other two, are on the enemies guide.

Drain or Kill: What Does the Ending Decide?

An ability, a Corruption chunk, or a loot bag. Win with more than one health segment and two options appear: [Drain Ambrus’s blood] or [Kill Ambrus].

• Drain — a couple of Corruption levels, the Scarlet Shield Vrakhir ability (healing on Perfect Block), and the follow-up invitation choice, whose consequences our choices guide covers in full: mechanically it changes almost nothing, but the voice commentary rewards the invite on its own, as its author writes.
• Kill — no ability and no invitation; the sword and legendary set are lootable either way, and your Infamy rises — which PC Gamer flags as potentially helpful for Where Loyalty Lies, the Manumit gate that wants your reputation Notorious.

Either way the duel itself closes Ambrus’s chapter — the note at Maragir was always going to end at this castle. The remaining question, as with every boyar, is what you want from the body: the enemies guide frames the same judgment for all three.