How many spoonfuls of herbs should I add in The Blood of Dawnwalker?

For Esme's medicine during Withering Away, select Add three spoonfuls of herbs. The preceding water choice is Use hot water.

What water should I use for Esme's medicine?

Choose Use hot water, then Add three spoonfuls of herbs. Several launch-week walkthroughs reproduce the same recipe from Anca's note.

Can I read Anca's recipe while brewing the medicine?

No. The launch walkthroughs note that the recipe cannot be reopened once the brewing dialogue begins, so read it in your inventory before returning home.

Does the medicine choice matter in Withering Away?

It is presented as a correct-or-incorrect recipe choice. If you want to avoid an alternate prologue outcome, use hot water and three spoonfuls, and keep a manual save before advancing the quest.

PROLOGUE ANSWER · WITHERING AWAY

How many spoonfuls of herbs should you add in The Blood of Dawnwalker?

For Esme's medicine in the Withering Away prologue quest, select hot water and then add three spoonfuls of herbs. Read Anca's instruction note before returning home, because the recipe cannot be reopened at the brewing choice.

Last checked: September 3, 2026 · Facts and sources are updated when they change.

Where the herb choice appears

The choice appears near the end of Withering Away, the early prologue quest in which Coen gets medicine from the herbalist Anca for his mother, Esme. After returning home and speaking with Pieter, you are asked to brew the medicine.

Read “Instructions From Anca” in your inventory before you walk into the brewing scene. The recipe is not available to reopen once the water and herb prompts appear, which is why players are searching this answer.

Correct medicine recipe: exact order

01
Choose “Use hot water”
Select hot water for the first brewing choice. Do not choose cold or boiling water.
First prompt: use hot water.
02
Choose “Add three spoonfuls of herbs”
For the second prompt, choose three spoonfuls. This matches the instruction note given by Anca.
Second prompt: add three spoonfuls.

Does getting the recipe right matter?

Yes—treat it as a correct-or-incorrect recipe puzzle, not a cosmetic dialogue choice. Launch walkthroughs consistently describe the correct brew as important to Esme's immediate prologue outcome. To avoid revealing more story detail than necessary, this page does not list the full alternate scene.

If you deliberately want to see both versions, make a manual save before returning home. This preserves your own choice without claiming that every later consequence is mapped or permanent.

Common mistakes before the Blood Mass

Skipping the inventory noteThe game gives you Anca's instructions, but you cannot reopen the note during the brew dialogue.

Picking boiling waterThe correct prompt is hot water; do not infer that hotter is better.

Choosing two spoonfulsSome early reposts give a conflicting number. Three independent launch walkthroughs used here agree on three.

Waiting too longThe prologue uses time segments. Finish the medicine sequence before the Blood Mass instead of treating it as a free side activity.

Video walkthroughs

YOUTUBE · CURRENT QUEST VIDEOS

Watch the exact two-choice sequence

Launch-day video titles and uploads change quickly. This link opens current YouTube results for the precise herb question; use a video that shows both the hot-water and three-spoonful prompts.

Search YouTube for the herbs answer ↗

What to do next in the prologue

After giving Esme the medicine, continue the prologue normally. If your next concern is the wider time system rather than this single choice, use the 30-day time-limit guide. For a relationship route, use the spoiler-aware romance options guide instead of assuming an early dialogue choice guarantees a later route.