The hourglass icon means that an action will make time pass in The Blood of Dawnwalker.
When you see an hourglass next to a quest objective, choice, or activity, completing that action will use part of your limited in-game time.
This is important because Coen only has 30 days and nights before Brencis’ Coronation.
What Does the Number of Hourglasses Mean?
The hourglass shows how much time an action will use.
The game’s day and night cycle is divided into Time Segments, and different actions can use different numbers of segments.
For example:
- One hourglass means the action uses one Time Segment.
- An action showing several hourglasses uses several Time Segments.
Some activities can therefore take much more of your available time than others.
Where Can You Check the Time Cost?
You can check the Quest Journal before committing to many time-consuming objectives.
The Timeline at the bottom of the Journal shows your current progress through the time cycle and how much additional time the selected objective will use.
This makes it worth checking a quest before continuing if you are trying to save time for something else.
Does Every Action Have an Hourglass?
No.
Normal exploration does not constantly use your limited time.
The hourglass is there to help you recognize actions that do make time pass, so you do not need to worry that everything you do is eating into the 30-day limit.
You may also see the hourglass when learning or upgrading certain Perks and Abilities, since some of those upgrades cost Time as well as Skill Points.
Quick Answer
If you see an hourglass icon in The Blood of Dawnwalker, it means the action costs Time.
The number of hourglasses tells you how many Time Segments the action will use.
So before choosing an action with an hourglass, check the cost and decide whether it is something you want to spend your limited time on.
