The Blood of Dawnwalker: New Difficulty, Combat Tweaks, and More in Early October Patch

The Blood of Dawnwalker is preparing for a significant update in early October, according to game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz. The upcoming patch will introduce a new, easier difficulty setting, adjustments to combat targeting, and make it simpler to disengage from battles.

Tomaszkiewicz also indicated that the studio is considering a New Game Plus mode and the potential addition of new enemy types to enhance variety.

The new difficulty option will not increase the challenge; Rebel Wolves believes its Duelist setting, which omits directional attack indicators, is sufficiently demanding. Instead, this new setting will be the easiest available. It will effectively replace the current Story mode and adopt its name. Consequently, the existing Story difficulty will be renamed, bringing the total difficulty levels to five: Story, Story-renamed, Fair, Challenging, and Duelist.

'We will introduce an additional difficulty level, but an easier one, because many people are asking for a more easy difficulty. The Story mode which we have right now will be a different difficulty - we will call it Demanding or something like this - and 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.' — Konrad Tomaszkiewicz

Combat mechanics, specifically targeting and camera behavior, are also being refined. The developers are addressing an issue where the game would switch targets when a stun-like crowd-control ability was used. This was initially intentional, as Tomaszkiewicz explained, to allow for quick target switching after stunning an opponent, preventing accidental self-stunning. However, player feedback has led to a reconsideration, and the next patch will adjust this system. The new approach will require three hits to apply a stun, with the developers keen to observe player reactions to ensure a positive experience.

Gameplay performance is another focus, a common point of feedback on Steam. While incremental hotfix patches have already addressed some performance and controller support issues, the complexity of PC hardware configurations presents ongoing challenges. The team is actively collecting hardware information and implementing fixes.

'It's like, I understand [FPS concerns] but the game is about something else. It's not a shooter - it's not a game where it's so important. But people want to have good performance or performance above good: it's fine. We're working on it and we will still work on it.'

Improvements are also coming to the ability to disengage from combat. The developers are implementing a fix that will allow players to escape battles more fluidly, bypassing navigational mesh issues that could cause characters to get stuck on scenery. This change aims to make running and escaping from combat feel less clunky. This improvement extends to enemy AI, meaning that if certain enemies miss an attack while the player is in a fast-moving form (like wolf form), they will not persistently pursue, allowing for freer exploration.

However, enemy "sponginess" – the perceived difficulty in defeating enemies due to their health pools – will not be directly addressed. This is attributed to the significant impact of character builds and gear on combat effectiveness. Tomaszkiewicz noted that players can create builds that allow for rapid enemy takedowns, while other builds will naturally result in longer fights. He explained that attempts to universally decrease enemy health could lead to situations where powerful builds one-shot all enemies, creating balance issues. The current system allows for player-driven build optimization, and enemies may feel more resilient if characters are not developed with appropriate perks and gear.

While Tomaszkiewicz couldn't recall every detail of the ongoing work, he confirmed that the upcoming patch will be substantial and is expected around the beginning of October. The Blood of Dawnwalker, released in early September, received positive reviews for its unique time-limiting structure, freeform gameplay, engaging quests, characters, and its dual-natured protagonist. Rebel Wolves has expressed ambitions for sequels, supported by the game's initial sales success, with plans to explore Coen's journey across different times and locations, though the divisive time mechanic might not return. The studio is also exploring innovative ideas to redefine the RPG genre.