Blood of Dawnwalker's First Big Patch Adds Easier Difficulty, Combat Fixes for Early October

Rebel Wolves is preparing a substantial patch for Blood of Dawnwalker scheduled for early October, introducing difficulty adjustments, combat refinements, and improved escape mechanics based on player feedback.

The patch will add a new easiest difficulty tier. Currently, Story mode is the least demanding option, but it will be renamed to something like Demanding. A new Story mode will take its place as the genuinely easiest difficulty for players prioritizing narrative over combat challenge. This brings the total difficulty count to five: Story, Story-renamed, Fair, Challenging, and Duelist.

Game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz explained the reasoning to Eurogamer: "We will introduce an additional difficulty level, but an easier one, because many people are asking for a more easy difficulty. We will add a new Story mode which will be even easier for people who don't want to experience the combat, they just want to learn the story and go through the game without this gameplay challenge."

Combat targeting is receiving attention. A particular quirk where Dawnwalker switches your target after using crowd-control abilities was intentional, not a bug. Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged the decision frustrated players. "That's my fault," he said, describing how he wanted to stun one opponent and hit another, leading to the auto-switch feature. The patch will modify this behavior. Players will need to take three hits to remove a stun effect, allowing more fluid target switching without losing crowd-control benefits accidentally.

Running away from combat is being streamlined. Currently, terrain and navigation mesh can trap players trying to escape, creating frustration. The fix will make escaping fluid by ignoring the nav mesh during retreat. Enemy animals won't "hard-catch" you if you're moving quickly through wolf form or witch-sprint mode; they'll attempt to strike but won't lock onto fleeing players. Tomaszkiewicz noted the team hadn't anticipated escape as a common player strategy. "Right now we're doing the fix where when you run or escape, you will ignore the nav mesh and it will be fluid. It will not be clunky," he said.

Performance optimization continues as a focus area. Incremental hotfix patches have already addressed some issues, though Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged the challenge of testing across PC hardware combinations. He noted that while some players report sub-120 FPS performance, the game isn't frame-rate dependent like a shooter. "The game is about something else. It's not a shooter. It's not a game where it's so important," he said, while confirming the team is still working on improvements.

New Game Plus mode is being explored but remains unconfirmed. When asked directly, Tomaszkiewicz smiled and declined to elaborate, citing publisher communications. He also teased potential new enemy types to improve combat variety, though again preferred not to discuss specifics yet. "There is a chance but I don't want to speak about it yet," he said.

Enemy health pools won't be rebalanced. Tomaszkiewicz explained that perceived sponginess depends heavily on character builds and gear. Strong builds can kill enemies quickly, while underdeveloped characters face prolonged fights. "If we decrease the health too much and you create a really strong build, you will one-shot everyone," he said, describing the balance challenge. Players who avoid spending perks early to preserve content will naturally encounter tougher enemies.

Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged the patch contains additional changes he couldn't recall during the interview. Blood of Dawnwalker launched in early September and has already sold over 1 million copies. Rebel Wolves has previously signaled interest in sequels following protagonist Coen across different time periods and locations, though the divisive time mechanic may not return.