The Blood of Dawnwalker wastes no time throwing players into decisions that actually matter. During the early-game Withering Away quest, Coen needs to prepare medicine for his ailing mother, Esme, and what looks like a basic herbal brewing sequence can have a major impact on what happens later in the prologue.

If you’re standing at the medicine-preparation choices and wondering whether the water should be boiling or how many spoonfuls of herbs you need, don’t overthink it.

The correct recipe is hot water that is not boiling and three spoonfuls of herbs.

Get those choices right, and Esme survives the later Blood Mass encounter. Get them wrong—or fail to obtain and prepare the medicine before the Blood Mass—and the consequences are much darker.

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Withering Away Medicine: The Correct Recipe

When the game asks you to prepare the medicine using the herbs Anca gives Coen, choose:

• Water: Hot water, but not boiling
• Herbs: Three spoonfuls

The correct sequence is:

1. Use hot water.
2. Add three spoonfuls of herbs.

That’s the solution.

The important detail is that hot does not mean boiling. Anca specifically tells Coen that the water needs to be hot but not quite boiling, so selecting boiling water gives you the wrong preparation.

Her instructions are:

“Brew three scoops of this mixture, with water that’s hot, but not quite boiling.”

Multiple walkthroughs confirm that these are the correct choices for the medicine section of Withering Away.

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Where to Find Anca’s Herb Instructions

Before Coen can make the medicine, he travels to Anca to obtain the herbs needed for Esme.

Anca provides Coen with the rarer herbal mixture and explains how it needs to be prepared. Her instructions cover two key details: the required water temperature and the amount of the herbal mixture.

While the instructions are accessible, you can check them in your inventory after receiving the herbs and before returning home. The catch is that once you reach the actual medicine-preparation sequence, the game does not let you simply reopen the instructions to check the recipe.

So, if you’re heading back home to Coen’s family, make sure you’ve read Anca’s note beforehand. Otherwise, you’ll need to remember the recipe when the brewing choices appear.

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Should You Use Hot or Boiling Water?

This is the first choice where the game can catch you out.

The correct answer is:

Hot water.

Not boiling.

Not cold.

Anca’s wording is very specific: the water should be “hot, but not quite boiling.”

So when the game presents the water-temperature options, select hot water. Choosing the wrong temperature contributes to an incorrect preparation.

How Many Spoonfuls of Herbs?

Once you have the water temperature sorted, the next choice is the amount of herbal mixture.

The answer is:

Three spoonfuls of herbs.

Anca’s instructions explicitly call for three scoops of the mixture. Choosing only one or two spoonfuls results in the wrong preparation.

So the entire recipe boils down to:

Hot water + three spoonfuls of herbs.

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What Happens If You Make the Medicine Incorrectly?

Spoiler warning: The following section covers story consequences from the prologue.

This isn’t one of those RPG objectives where messing up the recipe merely gives you a slightly worse potion. Esme’s fate is connected to the outcome of this quest.

If you prepare the medicine incorrectly—whether by choosing the wrong water temperature or the wrong amount of herbs—or fail to procure and complete the medicine in time before the Blood Mass, Esme will not be sufficiently prepared for what happens later.

Multiple walkthroughs report that she dies during the Blood Mass in the later Sacred Covenant sequence if the medicine is not properly prepared or the relevant task is not completed in time.

If you successfully complete Withering Away and prepare the medicine correctly, Esme survives that Blood Mass encounter. However, she is still considered weak, so the correct medicine does not suddenly make her completely healthy.

That makes this seemingly simple brewing puzzle a much bigger deal than it first appears.

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What Happens After You Brew the Medicine?

Successfully preparing the remedy isn’t quite the end of the sequence.

After the medicine is prepared, Pieter brings Esme up and Coen administers the medicine. You then get another dialogue interaction with her before the quest continues.

When Esme initially refuses the medicine, the appropriate dialogue choices are:

“I’ll tell you a story.”

Then:

“Just a sip.”

These dialogue choices are part of getting Esme to take the medicine and completing the medicine scene.

After the medicine is administered, Withering Away is completed and the story moves forward into Like Father, Like Son, the next part of the prologue.

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Does Paying Anca More or Less Change Esme’s Fate?

Thankfully, you don’t need to worry about your wallet deciding Esme’s fate.

The herbs normally cost 25 denarius, although Anca asks for 50 denarius during this encounter. If Coen cannot afford the requested 50, she accepts 25 denarius, and if he cannot afford 25 either, he can promise to pay the remaining amount later.

Most importantly, the amount you pay Anca does not determine what happens to Esme.

The outcome depends on obtaining and preparing the medicine correctly and completing the relevant quest in time—not on whether you paid 50, paid 25, or promised to repay later.

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The Blood of Dawnwalker Withering Away Solution: Quick Answer

Already at the brewing sequence and just want the answer?

Here it is:

Water: Hot water — not boiling
Herbs: Three spoonfuls

Correct Order

1. Use hot water.
2. Add three spoonfuls of herbs.

That is the correct way to prepare the medicine from Anca’s herbs.

Just remember that the brewing decision isn’t merely about completing a small quest objective. Preparing the medicine correctly allows Esme to survive the later Sacred Covenant sequence at the Blood Mass, while an incorrect preparation—or failing to procure and complete the relevant medicine task before the Blood Mass—can lead to her death.

And the brewing choices aren’t the only important part of the immediate medicine scene. After preparing the medicine, choose “I’ll tell you a story” and then “Just a sip” to get Esme to take it.

So when the game puts that brewing choice in front of you, pay attention. Hot, not boiling. Three spoonfuls. Get those two details right, follow the medicine dialogue correctly, and you’re on the correct path through Withering Away.