We’ve been enjoying The Blood of Dawnwalker, one of the year’s biggest games, but its release was a little rough around the edges. It took a lot of feedback from fans for developer Rebel Wolves to prioritize higher framerates at launch for consoles, but even then, the game certainly struggled at times on my PlayStation 5. Today, the game’s first major update drops, and it aims to smooth some of those performance issues and introduce a few quality-of-life features.
The trailer above highlights combat-specific improvements, like improved targeting and animations, and a less restrictive camera. Rebel Wolves is also lowering the health of wolves and boars, who previously remained tanky even into the later hours of the game, and it should be easier to disengage from combat, should you choose to do so. For casual players, there’s a new difficulty mode; what was previously “Story” mode has been renamed “Forgiving,” while the new version of “Story” mode adds additional combat assists.
Rebel Wolves has also added some new features outside of combat. A new Daught of Mind Rebirth potion allows you to respec your skill tree, re-allocating time and skill points spent to switch up your build. You can also increase the size of subtitles (an option I’m always grateful for) and pet dogs and cats. Finally, the Shadowstep and Planeshift systems should be more responsive now – here’s hoping I have an easier time teleporting onto rooftops instead of the wall right below them.
Those are the major, most visible highlights, but players can view the full patch notes here to see the hundreds of other minor improvements that aim to squash bugs, reduce crashes, and improve stability.
For more on The Blood of Dawnwalker, you can check out our review, in which our reviewer admires the swings the developers took, even though they don’t always pay off. You can also check out our coverage hub for our issue devoted to The Blood of Dawnwalker, including interviews with its ex-Witcher development team.
