Dawnwalker Bakir Riddle: Left Switch, Allies & Boss Route
Choose the left switch for Bakir's Lunar Game riddle, recruit the best allies, poison the Cockroach, isolate Bakir and decide what to do with the ring.
This page synthesizes the attributed sources below. It does not present another outlet's test as our own; unresolved player reports stay provisional.
Choose the left opening at Bakir's riddle trap. Poison The Cockroach's liquor, recruit The Marten and The Porcupine, keep the mask on and ask Bakir for the reward to isolate him. Make a separate manual save after his crew dies and before Bakir engages: repeated PC and Xbox Series S reports describe a crash during the post-fight cutscene, and no released patch documents a universal fix yet.
Major quest and choice spoilers
This guide reveals the Lunar Game route, Bakir's attacks, post-fight rewards and The Ring outcomes. Save before entering Lunar Manor and again before choosing Bakir's fate.
The decision summary is cross-checked between two launch walkthroughs; exact combat stats are not presented as confirmed.
Unlock and preparation
Raise Bakir's anger through Court Activities until Farkas approaches and The Lunar Game becomes available. The event begins at Lunar Manor and consumes six reported time segments.
Do not waste a large block simply waiting for afternoon if useful daytime activities remain. Before the contest begins, talk to the competitors and take leaves from the bush to poison the liquor beside The Cockroach.
| Preparation | Effect later |
|---|---|
| Talk to The Porcupine | Can avoid or shorten his confrontation |
| Tell The Marten you want Bakir dead | Makes him more receptive |
| Poison The Cockroach's liquor | Removes his normal fight |
| Explore the maze | Builds a usable temporary loadout |
| Reveal yourself early | Skips preparation but triggers a harder group fight |
Bakir riddle answer and maze route
The route is mostly linear despite the maze framing. Vampiric abilities are restricted while Coen preserves his disguise, so rely on the sword and Swordmastery. Feed on the rats in the interior sections when healing is needed without exposing the disguise.
At the riddle trap box, choose the left opening or switch. The left choice is the safe answer corroborated by independent launch walkthroughs; the middle and right choices trigger the trap. Continue gathering equipment rather than rushing to Bakir undergeared.
| Riddle choice | Result | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Left opening | Correct route | Choose this |
| Middle opening | Trap or failure | Avoid |
| Right opening | Trap or failure | Avoid |
How to isolate Bakir
The easiest configuration is to keep the disguise through the contest and use the final conversation to reach the treasure room with Bakir. Launch walkthroughs agree on the critical tone: refuse to remove the mask, play along with the toast, frame the desired reward as dying in combat, then ask for the reward.
If Coen reveals himself early, the encounter includes Bakir's soldiers and a witch-type miniboss. The solo treasure-room route removes that extra pressure without sacrificing the principal rewards.
Bakir boss strategy
Bakir alternates close-range fist pressure with unblockable ranged blood lines and a bird volley. Move laterally through the blood-line sequence. For the birds, create space and dodge each part of the volley rather than attacking through it.
The published launch patterns do not show a major new late phase. Stay disciplined, punish the end of his ranged strings and avoid turning the fight into a crowd battle by using the treasure-room route.
| Attack | Reliable response |
|---|---|
| Fist pressure | Block or evade, then use a short punish |
| Blood lines | Dodge sideways across the pattern |
| Bird volley | Back away and dodge until the sequence ends |
| Group version | Remove soldiers and witch before committing to Bakir |
Avoid the post-fight cutscene crash
A repeated launch-build failure occurs after Bakir is defeated, when the result cutscene transitions into the next scene. A September 26 GamesRadar report reproduced the crash 13 times on Xbox Series S; several players in the same current community discussion independently report repeating the fight three to five times because the cutscene crashed. PC shader-loading failures are also reported around this transition, but the evidence does not establish one root cause for every platform.
Before choosing Bakir's fate, keep a separate manual save. Players report that a quicksave can be made after his crew is dead but before Bakir fully engages; use it only if the game allows saving in your route. Do not overwrite the save from before entering Lunar Manor. Skipping the cutscene, changing the outcome choice and replaying from an earlier point did not consistently solve the reproduced failure.
| What happens | Evidence status | Safest action |
|---|---|---|
| Crash as the post-fight cutscene changes scene | Repeated on Xbox Series S and independently reported by multiple players | Reload the closest pre-fight save; keep the older Lunar Manor save |
| PC crash with a shader-loading error | Reported around the same transition | Use the shader-crash diagnosis only when the error text matches |
| One retry completes normally | Possible, but not reliable | Save again immediately after control returns |
| Every retry crashes | No universal repair is confirmed | Preserve the save and report platform, build and exact choice to support |
Patch status and evidence boundary
Hotfix 1.0.5, released September 10 for Steam and GOG, only documents a shader-compilation pipeline improvement. It does not name Bakir, the Lunar Game or this post-fight transition, and no newer released changelog was found during the September 29 check.
Confirmed: the post-fight crash is repeatable on at least one Xbox Series S run and appears in multiple independent player reports. Provisional: that every crash is caused by shader loading, that one dialogue choice triggers it, or that skipping the cinematic, lowering difficulty or reinstalling always fixes it. The guide therefore recommends recoverable saves rather than a speculative universal workaround.
Drain, armour and The Ring
Draining Bakir unlocks the Shadowstorm Vampiric Ability. His body carries the Legendary Medium Chestplate Bakir's Armour, but the post-fight sequence can move Coen into the treasury; return outside and loot the body before leaving the area.
The Ring starts automatically after The Lunar Game. The purple-gem ring is in a small chest on the north side of the treasure room. Giving it to Farkas ends the quest but can lead to a later harmful event. Keeping it allows Anca at the Crossroads inn to destroy it in exchange for an Epic Quick Fighter's Ring.
| Ring choice | Reported result |
|---|---|
| Give it to Farkas | Quest ends; later misuse can harm his brother |
| Take it to Anca | Ring is destroyed; receive Epic Quick Fighter's Ring |
| Leave without looting | Risk missing the choice and treasury rewards |
Frequently asked questions
How do you unlock The Lunar Game?
Raise Bakir's anger to maximum through Court Activities, then meet Farkas at Lunar Manor.
What is the trap-box answer?
Choose the left opening.
How do you get Shadowstorm?
Drain Bakir after defeating him.
Why does Dawnwalker crash after the Bakir fight?
The repeated symptom occurs when the post-fight cutscene changes scene, but one cause is not confirmed across platforms. Make a separate save before Bakir engages; use the shader-crash guide only when the PC error text actually points to shader loading.
Is the Bakir cutscene crash fixed?
No released changelog through September 29 names this crash. Hotfix 1.0.5 improves the Steam and GOG shader pipeline but does not claim a universal Bakir fix.
Should you give Farkas the ring?
Giving it ends the quest but can cause a harmful later event. Taking it to Anca instead yields an Epic Quick Fighter's Ring.
What is the Bakir riddle answer?
Choose the left opening at the riddle trap box.
Official sources establish releases and documented features. Independent walkthroughs corroborate routes; community posts only show reported behavior. The article above combines these sources into an original answer, table or decision route and marks uncertainty where the evidence does not agree.
- Bandai Namco — official Bakir character profile ↗
- PowerPyx — The Lunar Game walkthrough ↗
- PowerPyx — The Ring walkthrough ↗
- ShowGamer — independent Bakir and Lunar Game walkthrough ↗
- VGC — independent Lunar Game allies and left-switch riddle cross-check ↗
- GamesRadar — repeated post-Bakir cutscene crash on Xbox Series S ↗
- Dawnwalker community — multiple current post-fight crash reports ↗
- Rebel Wolves — official Hotfix 1.0.5 scope ↗