You will have to deal with all three of Ambrus, Bakir, and Xanthe before the endgame. The question is the order, and the order is a real strategic choice, not a cosmetic one — it changes your difficulty curve, your day budget, and the state you walk into the Brencis confrontation.
Why the order is a real choice
The game lets you set the sequence, but all three arcs must be resolved before the finale. That means every ordering has three costs:
- Difficulty. Your build grows as the game goes on. Matching the heaviest arcs to your weakest build is where players stall.
- Time. Each vassal’s arc consumes days from your 30, and the arcs are not equal in length. The biggest clock hit you take earliest is the one you can afford best.
- Endgame readiness. Clearing all three vassals (and reaching maximum infamy) is what lets Brencis summon you to the final quest.
Ending names
The four main endings — Turncoat, Folk Hero, Patricide, Knyazmaker — plus the hidden and bad outcomes are set by the dialogue in A Deal with the Devil (and, for the bad ending, by the 30-day window), not by the vassal resolutions themselves. The vassal arcs build your build and your days, which is what you bring into that conversation.
The costs compound, which is why the ordering matters more than any single arc. A bad order does not just make one arc harder — it shifts your day count, which shifts your build state when the next arc starts, which shifts the endgame choices you can make. Two players who finish all three vassals can still walk into Brencis in completely different conditions.
A practical order
A workable default:
- First: the vassal you are already adjacent to. The arc that sits closest to your current region flow costs the least in travel and idle days. Clearing one arc early also proves your build against a real endgame-level opponent.
- Second: the arc with the heaviest day cost. Take the biggest clock hit while you still have buffer. By the time you reach the third arc, endgame preparation is starting to eat days too, and you do not want the long arc to be the thing that pushes you past 30.
- Last: the arc that matches your strongest build. Walking into the Brencis confrontation immediately after clearing a full vassal arc — with your build at its peak for that stretch — is a better state than arriving flat after a lull.
Then re-evaluate. The order above is a starting point; if your day count is lower than expected after arc one, or your build is further behind, swap arcs two and three. The 30-day timer guide is the budget sheet for that decision.
Between-vassal checklist
Before you start each arc, three numbers should be in your head:
- Clock. Can you afford this arc plus the remaining arcs plus the final act, and still have buffer before 30?
- Build. Is your primary tree — Swordmastery, Witchcraft, or Vampirism — deep enough for this arc’s difficulty? If you are running something like the predator build, the Blood Hunger pressure in the later vassal territory is the thing to check first.
- Resolutions. Do you know, per vassal, how you intend to resolve them when the arc ends? Resolve each on purpose: a clean resolution keeps your infamy and your day budget where the finale needs them. (Your ending is chosen in the final-quest dialogue, so the key choice timeline is the reference for what you are setting up.)
If the math does not work
If you are running low on days in the middle of the vassal stretch, the fix is cutting optional conversations and non-vassal side content — not rushing the arcs themselves. A useful order of operations when you are short: cut the optional conversations first, then the side content that does not touch a vassal, then consider re-ordering your remaining arcs so the shorter one comes before the longer. Only as a last resort should you second-guess a planned resolution — a clean resolution protects your infamy and your day budget, which are what you bring into the final quest.
Each vassal’s resolution is a choice worth making with a full head, because it shapes the state you reach the finale in. The ending itself is decided by the dialogue in A Deal with the Devil (and the 30-day window for the bad ending), so the mistake to avoid is reaching that conversation under time pressure, not picking the “wrong” vassal side.
Once all three are resolved and your build is where you want it, the last mile is final fight prep. If you skipped the early act’s setup, the early game walkthrough covers where the vassal arcs begin.