The Blood of Dawnwalker’s 1.1 Update Adds a “Forgiving” Difficulty, but “Directional Animal Petting” May Prove Hard to Forgive

Quick! Scratch the left ear! Rub the belly below! Pat the right bum! And now you’re dead, having failed to parry a paw aimed at you with the force of a vampire’s claw. That’s how I imagine things will go if I boot up The Blood of Dawnwalker once its 1.1 update launches. The developers, Rebel Wolves, in their infinite wisdom, say they’re planning to add “directional animal petting” as part of it.

Some of the contents of update 1.1, which the studio plans to release next week, were teased by game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz in September. In particular, the introduction of an easier difficulty setting. It has now been revealed to be a rebranding of the game’s previous lowest setting as “Forgiving”, while a new “Story” difficulty has been added in for those who want a bit of extra help with combat.

Movement, both in combat and while phasing about or walking on walls as a vampire should, is now to be less janky, while switching between enemy targets should be more seamless. Frame generation has also been given a kick up the backside in the hopes of improving performance.

Here’s what’s coming to The Blood of Dawnwalker with Update 1.1 planned for next week: pic.twitter.com/yi5yaoh3Us

— Dawnwalker (@DawnwalkerGame) October 16, 2026

Here’s what’s coming to The Blood of Dawnwalker with Update 1.1 planned for next week: pic.twitter.com/yi5yaoh3Us

Beyond those, a Draught of Mind Rebirth potion is being added in. When drunk, it resets all of your perk and ability points, allowing you to try out a different Coen build without having to start the story from scratch. Then, there’s the “directional animal petting”. “What happens when you merge a directional combat system with the ability to pet dogs and cats?” is all Rebel Wolves have said about this.

No. Please, lads. I’m crap at directional parrying. Please say there’s an omni-petting button that strokes cats no matter which direction they might be leaning in and eliminates any chance of having to dodge a flurry of scratches that are specifically coming from the left, right, up, and right. At the very least, please make sure that when Coen’s around animals, he always has his zippy vampire dodge animation at the ready, rather than the human one that got me swiped more times than I can count while playing for my Blood of Dawnwalker review.

In all seriousness, I’m sure I’ll manage. They’re just cats and dogs, how effective in combat can they b-