'The Heart Wants What It Wants' quest walkthrough in The Blood of Dawnwalker

Here's what happens to Ocha and Nora in The Blood of Dawnwalker's "The Heart Wants What It Wants" quest, depending on your choices.

[Ed. note: This guide contains spoilers for The Blood of Dawnwalker, so continue at your own risk! Feel free to follow along or bookmark this page and come back if you get stuck.]

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'The Heart Wants What It Wants' quest walkthrough in The Blood of Dawnwalker

There are two ways to obtain "The Heart Wants What It Wants" in The Blood of Dawnwalker. You can either stumble upon it by entering the northwestern tavern in Svartrau City, or you can speak with The Elder in Uriash Village and obtain her quest, "A Mother's Plea," first.

Either way, speak with Ocha, the Uriashi sitting in the corner, to start "The Heart Wants What It Wants." Ocha will pick a fight with you, but it doesn't matter whether you win or lose. Afterward, agree to help Ocha and Nora.

This quest will take you through the following tasks and decisions:

1. Find a way into Andrei's hideout. The gameplay changes depending on the time of day.
2. Decide whether to kill Andrei, and how.
3. Convince Ocha to stay with the humans or return to Uriash Village.

We'll show you how to enter Andrei's hideout during the night first, but scroll further down if you'd rather do so during the day. Remember; "The Heart Wants What It Wants" offers quite a different experience depending on this choice.

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Enter Andrei's hideout during the night in 'The Heart Wants What It Wants'

At night, you can use Shadowstep to teleport onto the balcony (south side of the building) and enter through the unlocked door. In the upstairs room, you'll find three mementos: a ring, a cleaver, and a pendant. You can steal them all, but the only memento that works with Ocha's spell is the ring inside the box on Andrei's desk — the clue lies in Andrei's journals and notebooks, especially the one on the barrel.

With the ring in your pocket, go back to the balcony to meet with Ocha and cast her spell. Of course, you're also free to grab the wrong memento or go downstairs to kill Andrei and his men — scroll down to find out what happens if you do.

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Enter Andrei's hideout during the day in 'The Heart Wants What It Wants'

During the day, you can speak with either a beggar or a woman named Katja in front of the hideout. This is where you'll find them:

You can offer Katja 400 denarii (mention Nora, ask about her troubles, and offer to help her, first) or offer the beggar 50 denarii (the better deal), to gather intel on Andrei. Afterward, speak with Dragan the Butcher at the front entrance and tell him you have silver to sell. You likely have some on hand, but if not, you can find silver during the "A Study in Crimson" quest. Of course, you can also sneak into the building during the night (as described above), which doesn't require silver.

Follow the butcher inside and show him the silver — say anything except "Just move," as that will prompt the butcher to attack you. The butcher brings you before Andrei, who's about to chop a man's hand off. You can interfere, or let it happen:

• To interfere, say, "Leave that man alone," followed by "I said let him go." Beware that Andrei and his men will attack you, so you have no choice but to kill them all. This will influence the quest outcome (see below).
• To let Andrei mutilate the man, remain silent or say, "Leave him alone," followed by "Sorry." You can continue the conversation with Andrei.

If you allow Andrei to mutilate the man, you have another choice to make: Keep pretending you're just there to sell silver, try to make a deal, or be rude to Andrei.

• To keep up the pretense, say, "Here's what I've got." In your next conversation with Andrei, say, "Who wouldn't be?" or "I don't trust you." After that, say either "No wonder people don't want to work with you," or "You know how to handle it." You will have the opportunity to steal one of Andrei's mementos and return to Ocha.
• To provoke Andrei, say, "I'm here to talk about Ocha." However, no matter what you try, this route will end with Andrei and his men attacking you. You also get this outcome if you keep up the pretense but say, "You don't impress me," or "Your threats bore me," later on.
• To kill Andrei and his men directly, mention Ocha, then choose "attack." You'll get the same outcome as when you provoke Andrei, only faster.

If you keep up the pretense, Nora will interrupt your conversation with Andrei and you have a limited-time choice to make; which memento should you grab? The only memento that works with Ocha's spell is the ring, so be sure to take that one instead of the cleaver or pendant.

What happens if you attack Andrei before stealing the memento?

No matter how you enter the hideout, there are several opportunities to provoke a fight with Andrei. After you've killed all his men and depleted Andrei's HP, he'll plead for his life and promise to make it worth your while… However, even if you decide to spare him, he'll throw a dagger at you. In other words, picking a fight will always end in Andrei's death.

Beware that killing Andrei means you'll skip Ocha's spellcasting. Ocha will enter Andrei's hideout as soon as Andrei is dead, and she'll reveal her plan of becoming the new crime lord. However, since Coen's just wiped out the entire organization, Ocha's plan falls through and she'll either go back to Uriash Village or travel the world.

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How to cast Ocha's spell in 'The Heart Wants What It Wants'

Unless you already killed Andrei, you'll rendezvous with Ocha as soon as you leave Andrei's hideout. However, the situation changes depending on your method and time of day. If you stole the memento during the night, things are simpler:

• If you're using the ring: Ocha's spell is successful. Only Andrei dies.
• If you're using the pendant or cleaver: Ocha's spell fails. You're forced to kill Andrei and his men.

If you stole the memento during the day, thanks to Nora's distraction, you run into a problem: Andrei hasn't released Nora. Ocha expresses her concern, and you must choose how to proceed:

• Say: "We should stick to the plan." You and Ocha will cast the spell. Open the pig pen to distract the guard and draw the symbol on the window. If you use the correct memento (the ring), you will save Nora's life. If you use an incorrect memento (cleaver or pendant), the spell will fail, and you must yell "Stay away from her!" to interfere. You'll have to kill Andrei and his men, but Nora will live. If you don't interfere, Ocha will burst through the door, but it'll be too late, and Nora will die.
• Say: "You're right, no time for finesse." You and Ocha barge into the hideout and slay Andrei and his men. You'll save Nora's life.

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Decide Ocha's fate in 'The Heart Wants What It Wants'

No matter what happened, meet up with Ocha at the bridge southwest of Svartrau City. She'll ask you to catch some crayfish in the river, but whether you do so or not won't change the quest's outcome.

Depending on your previous choices as well as your next dialogue lines, you can choose between several quest outcomes for Ocha. She can return to Uriash Village or stay in the human world, either as the new crime boss or as a traveler. Here's how to reach each outcome:

• Ocha becomes the new crime boss. This option is only available if you cast Ocha's spell successfully, thus killing Andrei but not his men. Pick the following lines: "Do you like the city?" followed by "New things can be exciting, sure," and "Our neighbors helped a bit."
• Ocha travels the world with Nora. This option is only available if you killed Andrei and all his men. Pick the following lines: "Why do you want to travel?" followed by "New things can be exciting, sure," and "Our neighbors helped a bit."
• Ocha travels the world alone. This option is only available if you killed Andrei and all his men. Do the same as described in the previous quest outcome. If Nora has died due to failed spellcasting, Ocha will have to travel alone.
• Ocha returns to Uriash Village to become the new Elder. Pick the following lines: "Do you miss home?" followed by "Meh, nothing better than homemade food," and "Other villagers just cared about themselves."

Whatever the outcome, The Blood of Dawnwalker's "The Heart Wants What It Wants" quest is now complete. On top of 150 denarius, you'll receive the Broad Swing Manual for your troubles. If Ocha becomes the new crime lord, be sure to mention her whenever bandits are bothering you in the future; they will scram when they hear of your friendship with the boss.

Ocha is also available as a swordmastery teacher from now on, but her location will change depending on the quest outcome; find her in Andrei's hideout (crime boss ending), at the campfire (traveler ending), or in Uriash Village (return home outcome).

If you're also doing "A Mother's Plea," return to The Elder in Uriash Village to inform her of Ocha's decision. Even if Ocha decides to stay in the human world, The Elder will reward you.

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The Blood of Dawnwalker is a time-sensitive, narrative RPG where your actions and decisions matter. If you're just starting out, check out our beginner's guide and our recommended quests to do before mass. After the prologue, you're free to explore Vale Sangora and take on Brencis' boyars however you please, but the freedom can be a bit overwhelming. To help, here's what we recommend doing after the prologue.