Play · Dusk Battles

Dusk Battles

Dusk Battles are the four-phase multiplayer match that decides who the grail beckons. Eight Bloodsworn are summoned to a Land of Dusk. They explore, fight wandering foes, compact with kin, and earn Virtue. In Phase II and Phase III the grail culls the lowest Virtue. At the end of Phase III the three highest-Virtue Bloodsworn enter Moon Blood Bestowal, where each receives two lives plus HP from Virtue, alliances disband, and moontears flow for one. Network Test Ver. ran Casual Match only. Ranked Match is listed in the House of Night menu and was not playable in the test.

Phase timeline

Phase I is exploration. Eight Bloodsworn arrive, fight, and begin earning Virtue. The grail does not cull here. During the intermission before a phase, each player selects a starting area and then loads into a random location inside it; if too many players pick the same area, some are relocated. Bloodsworn can revive any number of times on the land until they fail a cull. The clock at the top right of the HUD tracks the phase: when the hand reaches the shining dot a ritual site appears; when it reaches the red dot the phase ends.

Phase II opens ritual sites. Lowest-Virtue Bloodsworn are culled. Flame, Sword, Pledge, and Commendation Virtue all count. Leaving a ritual site after entering costs HP. Redstones increase Sword Virtue; goldstones increase Pledge Virtue; you can hold only one type at a time. Phase III culls again. Events may change the land — the gameplay guide names a zeppelin that can call supporting fire and a storm that relocates players. The three highest-Virtue Bloodsworn are beckoned when Phase III ends. Moon Blood Bestowal is the bowl: three survivors, two lives each plus HP from Virtue, alliances disbanded, moontears for one.

Two Bloodsworn fight hooded courtyard enemies: one swings a sword, the other in a wide hat and green dress brandishes a torch beside a brick church wall.

Match rules

House of Night matchmaking lists Casual Match and Ranked Match; only Casual was playable in Network Test Ver. Three rules sit under that: Standard, No Alliances, and Bloodbound Alliances. Standard is the default and lets players petition for an alliance during the match. Allies cannot hit each other, share Sword Virtue and Pledge Virtue earned at ritual sites, and receive a Fellowship Medal that teleports them together. You can abandon an alliance at the end of a phase at the cost of maximum HP. Alliances disband for Moon Blood Bestowal except under Bloodbound Alliances.

No Alliances forces every Bloodsworn to fight alone for the whole match. Bloodbound Alliances locks pairs from Phase I through the final phase, with united victory or defeat; those pairs are not abandoned when the grail beckons three. Friend invites are not in Network Test Ver. The gameplay guide says the release version is planned to let you enter matchmaking already in a blood pact with a friend you invite. Co-op trespasser fights are separate: when a trespasser battle starts, nearby Bloodsworn can accept a request, cannot hit each other during that fight, and receive Repulsion Virtue and Powers of Blood if they win.

Rule	Alliances	Note
Standard	Yes	Players may ally during matches. Default selected rule.
No Alliances	No	Players always fight alone and cannot form alliances.
Bloodbound Alliances	Yes	Battles are fought in bloodbound pairs that persist into the final phase; united victory or defeat.

Virtue that survives the cull

Virtue is the score the grail reads. Phases II and III keep the highest Virtue. Repulsion Virtue comes from great foes and trespassers, including co-op trespasser wins. Flame Virtue is lit in the skulls of corpses on chairs; larger lantern corpses grant more, and only the first lighter is paid. Sword Virtue is earned by defeating other Bloodsworn at ritual sites only — outdoor duels do not pay it. Pledge Virtue is sworn at ritual-site blood pledge pillars and is lost if another Bloodsworn overwrites the pledge.

Bloodfang Commendation rises on enemy defeats. Collector Commendation rises on items found in exploration, especially rare or newly acquired ones; enemy drops do not count. At the end of each phase the top two Bloodfang values and the top two Collector values convert into Commendation Virtue. Rankings update during the phase, so you can gain or lose Virtue as the order shifts. You can farm without hunting Bloodsworn, but the grail still ranks the sheet. The dedicated Virtue page repeats this table for players who only want the economy.

Virtue	Source	Note
Repulsion Virtue	Great foes and trespassers	Awarded for defeating great foes and trespassers; co-op trespasser wins also grant it.
Flame Virtue	Lantern corpses / chairs	Light flames in skulls of corpses on chairs. Larger lantern corpses grant more, first lighter only.
Sword Virtue	Ritual-site PvP	Earned by defeating other Bloodsworn at ritual sites only. Redstones increase it. Shared with allies.
Pledge Virtue	Blood pledge pillars	Swear at ritual-site pillars. Lost if overwritten. Goldstones increase it. Shared with allies.
Bloodfang Commendation	Enemy defeats	Defeating enemies contributes. Top values convert to Commendation Virtue at phase end.
Collector Commendation	Exploration items	Acquiring items, especially rare or newly acquired ones, contributes. Enemy drops do not count.

Combat in the grail

Bloodsworn sprint, high-jump, and perform up to three air jumps. Attacks, guards, and dodges work in midair. Every kit has a ranged attack; some of those ranged weapons are firearms. Filling an enemy stagger gauge lets you drink blood for large damage and HP recovery; weaker-willed foes become spellbound and follow. Howling in time with an attack interrupts it, spikes stagger, and can deflect some ranged shots. Guards block the front; repeated hits break the shield and open a punish window; broken shields repair over time. A guard counter after a block resists interruption.

Goldblood Stakes restore HP. If you have fewer than two uses when you die, they replenish to two remaining. Powers of Blood drop from great foes and trespassers as a two-option pick; up to five can be manifested and swapped in the Blood Manifestation menu during a match. Weapon affinities come from Alchemy Forges. Blood crystals from Bloodsacs enhance Bloodsworn Skills. The HUD tracks Virtue, lives in the final phase, level, HP, stamina, kin, instant travel, Goldblood uses, the selected skill gauge, compass, stagger, and both Commendations.

Night street fight before a clock tower: a white-haired Bloodsworn fires a pistol, a diving-suit fighter swings a cable, and an ally in a pale dress casts, with bodies hung from poles.

House of Night

House of Night is the Bloodsworn hub. From here you select a kit, read Battle Remembrance, open the Archive, practice in the Courtyard, and configure matchmaking. Battle Remembrance plays slices of a Dusk Battle so you can learn rules before a live eight-player match. The Archive stores tutorials, weapons, kin you compacted with, items, Powers of Blood, and events, and it can be opened from the info screen even during a match. The Courtyard Graveyard Scarecrow is a dummy you can retarget, compact with any kin, and set to a chosen Bloodsworn level.

Miyazaki’s Creators Voice describes the loop as: pick and customize in a hub, enter an online match of up to eight, then return for rewards win or lose. Network Test Ver. locked six kits. The full game is “over a dozen” with some customization, and Bloodsworn Skills and aspects are customizable after the test. Use the checklist on this page to mark Phase I–III, Moon Blood Bestowal, the hub, air jumps, blood drinking, and Goldblood Stakes; the boxes persist in this browser.