The Blood of Dawnwalker is getting its first major post-launch update. On Friday, October 16, 2026, Rebel Wolves announced Update 1.1, "planned for next week," with a respec system, a new easier difficulty, accessibility options, a FrameGen update, combat and traversal improvements and, in the studio's words, "over 1,100 other improvements and fixes." It also adds something the community has asked for since launch: you can now pet the dogs and cats of Vale Sangora.
Coverage picked up through October 17, with GameRant calling it "a complete game-changer." Because the patch lands the week of October 19, this is the update to plan around if you have paused a playthrough or are deciding when to start one.
This guide covers every announced change, what each one means given how Dawnwalker's skill and time systems work, what is still missing (New Game Plus), and what we do not know yet about the release. The feature list comes from Rebel Wolves' official Update 1.1 post and the matching feature card on the game's official X account. Context is credited to Bandai Namco, GamesRadar+, Polygon, GameRant and others where used.
When Does Blood of Dawnwalker Update 1.1 Come Out?
Rebel Wolves' post is dated October 16 and says Update 1.1 is "planned for next week." That is the week starting Monday, October 19, 2026. As of October 18, the studio has not named a day or a time.
GameRant noted that most developers avoid weekend deployments, so any weekday from October 19 to 23 is a plausible candidate. That is a reasonable guess, not an announcement. Polygon added that Rebel Wolves has not said whether the patch will reach all platforms at the same time.
Pixel Herald reported that Rebel Wolves will publish full patch notes when the update goes live. We have not seen the studio say that directly, so we will treat it as likely rather than confirmed.
Every Announced Change in Update 1.1
Here is the complete headline list from Rebel Wolves' post, in the studio's own groupings:
The rest of this guide goes through the changes that matter most in practice.
Draught of Mind Rebirth: Why the Respec Matters So Much
In most RPGs, a respec is a convenience. In The Blood of Dawnwalker, it is a much bigger deal because of how the game charges you for skills.
How skills cost time in Dawnwalker
Bandai Namco's August 31 Community Bulletin Board explains that unlocking and improving abilities requires two things: Skill Points from leveling, and Time, "representing the effort needed to study techniques, deciphering arcane knowledge, or deepening Coen's connection to his curse." On top of that, Swordmastery needs manuals found in the world or bought from fencers, Witchcraft needs magic manuals, and Vampirism unlocks through Coen's corruption, which rises as he feeds on blood.
Time is the game's core resource. Coen has 30 days and 30 nights to save his family. Community guides such as GAMES.GG's time system breakdown describe each day and each night as eight segments, and report that most skill upgrades at shrines cost one segment, with a few costing zero or two. Rebel Wolves has not published that segment math itself, but the principle that learning skills spends time is official.
What the Draught actually gives back
The key phrase in Rebel Wolves' description is "use the time you spent learning them to master a different set of abilities." The Draught does not just refund skills. It lets you reinvest the time you already spent. If you poured early days into a Witchcraft build and now want to lean into Vampirism, you no longer lose that investment.
Rebel Wolves' post does not say:
- where you get the Draught or whether it costs anything,
- whether you can use it more than once,
- whether it refunds manuals or only the skills learned from them.
Who should use it
The Bulletin Board confirms there is "one shared experience bar and one type of skill points," which you can spend across all trees. That flexibility is why so many players ended up with builds they regretted. Good candidates for the Draught:
- Players who spread points thinly across all three trees early on.
- Anyone who wants to try a night-focused Vampirism build after a day-focused Witchcraft run, or the reverse.
- Players who invested in skills that do not suit their approach to combat after the 1.1 combat changes.
The New Story Mode and the Renamed Forgiving Difficulty
Game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz first mentioned a fifth difficulty mode in late September, according to GameRant, which pointed to his comments to Eurogamer. Update 1.1 delivers it, with a twist that is easy to misread:
So if you were playing on Story before, you have not been moved. That difficulty is now called Forgiving. The new Story option sits below it for players who mostly want the narrative. Rebel Wolves has not said what "additional combat assist" involves.
Combat, Camera and Traversal Improvements
These three lines are short in the announcement, but they target some of the most common launch complaints:
- Combat: improved targeting, locking onto enemies and disengaging from them. If lock-on has grabbed the wrong enemy in group fights, this is the fix to watch.
- Camera: adjusted animations and camera movement during combat.
- Traversal: better responsiveness when targeting and attaching to surfaces with Shadowstep and Planeshift.
FrameGen Update and Settings for PC Players
Update 1.1 brings an "update to the FrameGen technology, including dedicated settings." Frame generation creates extra frames between rendered ones to raise the displayed frame rate, which is useful in a demanding Unreal Engine 5 game like Dawnwalker.
The post does not say which frame generation technologies are supported or what the new settings control. GameRant describes the change as PC-specific. Polygon and the official post do not list platforms for it, so console players should not expect this item to change anything for them until Rebel Wolves says otherwise.
Accessibility: Bigger Subtitles and Subtitles for All Dialogue
Two subtitle options arrive:
- A larger subtitle font size.
- A setting to show subtitles for all dialogue lines, including the ambient lines.
Directional Animal Petting
It is the line most outlets led with, and the official description is worth quoting in full: "What happens when you merge a directional combat system with an ability to pet dogs and cats? Directional. Animal. Petting."
Dawnwalker's combat is directional, so petting uses the same inputs you use to swing a sword. Pixel Herald describes it as "directional stick flicks do the patting." It is a small feature, but it shows the studio is listening to community requests alongside the bigger fixes.
Japanese Steam Version Goes Uncensored
Rebel Wolves confirms that "blood and gore will no longer be censored in the Japanese version of the game on Steam." The post specifies Steam. It does not mention the Japanese console versions.
The 1,100+ Fixes: What We Know and Do Not Know
The headline number is "over 1,100 other improvements and fixes." Rebel Wolves has not itemized them. For context on what kinds of fixes the studio has prioritized so far, the early hotfixes after launch focused on stability, quest blockers and saving. The Fextralife wiki's record of Hotfix 1.0.4, released September 9, lists fixes for issues that blocked quest progression and saving, soft-locks in specific quests, and controller input problems on Steam.
Update 1.1 is far larger than any of those hotfixes. GameRant notes that it is officially framed as the first major post-launch overhaul. If you have hit a specific bug, the full notes on release day are the place to check, and until then there is no way to confirm whether your issue is covered.
What Is Not in Update 1.1: New Game Plus
Polygon's Willa Rowe called it "the most glaring omission in the patch 1.1 feature list." New Game Plus is not part of this update.
New Game Plus has been confirmed as coming. PlayStation Universe and Gaming Bible reported in September that Rebel Wolves confirmed it, and Tomaszkiewicz has said it is planned without giving a date. GameRant adds that the studio has talked about additional free content, including more enemy types. None of that has a date.
Should You Wait for 1.1 Before Playing?
This is our own advice, based on the announced changes:
Rebel Wolves has not said whether 1.1 affects existing saves. In general it is wise to keep a manual save before any large patch.
The Blood of Dawnwalker So Far: Context
For readers new to the game, a quick recap from official sources and reporting:
- Launch: September 3, 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, per Bandai Namco's launch announcement, with a major day-one patch.
- Developer and publisher: Rebel Wolves, which Bandai Namco described as a studio of 160 people at launch, with Bandai Namco Entertainment as publisher. The game uses Unreal Engine 5.
- Sales: narrative director Jakub Szamalek said on LinkedIn that the game "sold over one million copies in the opening weekend," GamesRadar+ reported on September 8.
- Future: Rebel Wolves describes Dawnwalker as the first chapter of a saga. GamesRadar+ reported the studio is already hiring a Lead Writer for the next chapter, and Tomaszkiewicz has said choices will carry forward from your last save.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is The Blood of Dawnwalker Update 1.1 release date?
Rebel Wolves says Update 1.1 is planned for the week of October 19, 2026. As of October 18, no exact day or time has been announced.
What is the Draught of Mind Rebirth in Blood of Dawnwalker?
It is the respec system added in Update 1.1. It lets you forget all your Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism abilities and use the time you spent learning them to learn a different set of abilities.
Does Blood of Dawnwalker Update 1.1 add New Game Plus?
No. New Game Plus is not in the announced Update 1.1 feature list. Rebel Wolves has said New Game Plus is planned but has not given a date.
What is the new Story mode in Blood of Dawnwalker?
Update 1.1 adds a new Story difficulty with additional combat assist. The old Story difficulty is renamed Forgiving and stays the same, so the new Story mode becomes the easiest option.
Can you pet animals in The Blood of Dawnwalker?
Yes, once Update 1.1 is live. You can pet dogs and cats using directional inputs based on the game's directional combat system.
Is Update 1.1 coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S?
The game is on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, but Rebel Wolves has not confirmed whether Update 1.1 releases on all platforms on the same day.
What does the FrameGen update in Blood of Dawnwalker do?
Rebel Wolves says it updates the game's frame generation technology and adds dedicated settings. It has not said which technologies are supported or which platforms get the new settings.
How many fixes are in Blood of Dawnwalker Update 1.1?
Rebel Wolves lists the headline features and "over 1,100 other improvements and fixes." The individual fixes have not been published yet.
Is the Japanese version of Blood of Dawnwalker uncensored now?
After Update 1.1, blood and gore will no longer be censored in the Japanese version on Steam. The announcement does not mention Japanese console versions.
Final Take
Update 1.1 looks like Rebel Wolves answering the biggest pieces of feedback from its first six weeks. The respec matters more here than in most RPGs because skills cost time, and time is the game's real currency. The new Story mode and subtitle options widen the audience, and the combat and traversal fixes target the moment-to-moment feel.
The two things to watch next week are the exact release day and the full notes for those 1,100 fixes. New Game Plus is still the missing piece. We will update this guide when Rebel Wolves publishes the complete patch notes.
