THE DAWNWALKER JOURNAL
Dawnwalker Update 1.1: Features and Planned Release
Update 1.1 is planned for the week of October 19, following the October 16 preview. Its announced features include the Draught of Mind Rebirth, a new Story mode, animal petting and changes to combat, traversal and subtitles. The preview does not give an exact release day or time.
Original announcement:
When is Dawnwalker 1.1 planned to release?
The October 16, 2026 preview scheduled Update 1.1 for the following week, October 19–25. The preview does not give an exact release day or time. The features below are the announced plans for 1.1.
Alongside these additions, the update is set to include more than 1,100 other improvements and fixes. The preview does not include the full change list.
Draught of Mind Rebirth lets you change your abilities
The new Draught of Mind Rebirth will let you forget your Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism abilities, then use the time spent learning them to master a different set. It offers a way to reconsider your ability choices when you want a different combat style.
Where to obtain the draught, its price or recipe, and the treatment of skill points and special unlocks have not been detailed. Reusing learning time should not be read as a promise that the campaign clock will rewind.
You can already compare builds and save an alternative plan with the planners below. Keep your current learned ranks in the Skill Planner until you have checked the reset in game; its learning totals do not yet simulate the new draught.
Story becomes Forgiving, with a new Story option
The difficulty previously called Story will be renamed Forgiving. A separate new Story mode will add combat assistance. If you return after the update, check the name and description of your selected difficulty before comparing it with an older guide or screenshot.
The preview does not list every rule of the new mode. In particular, it does not explain how older Story-specific behaviour maps to the two options. Existing advice about drinking blood directly from the inventory during combat was written for the earlier Story difficulty; that behaviour needs a separate check under the new labels.
| Announced 1.1 option | What the preview confirms |
|---|---|
| Forgiving | The new name for the previous Story difficulty. |
| Story | A new mode with additional combat assistance. |
Pet dogs and cats, and adjust more subtitles
You will be able to pet dogs and cats with a new directional petting interaction.
Subtitle settings will let you increase the font size and enable subtitles for all dialogue lines. These additions should make smaller text and incidental dialogue easier to follow.
Combat, camera and movement changes
Combat changes will improve targeting, locking onto enemies and disengaging from them. Combat animations and camera movement are also being adjusted.
Shadowstep and Planeshift are due to receive more responsive targeting and attachment to surfaces, helping when you select a ledge or surface for a crossing.
Frame generation and Japanese Steam version changes
Frame-generation technology is being updated and will gain dedicated settings. To compare performance after updating, use the same scene, resolution and graphics settings; the preview gives no measured performance increase.
Blood and gore will no longer be censored in the Japanese Steam version. The announcement specifically covers that version and does not extend this change to Japanese console releases.
Check your settings and keep a separate save
Once the update has installed, check your difficulty and the new subtitle and frame-generation settings. Keep a separate save before trying a different ability setup, so you can compare your learned ranks and available resources with the result.
Use the guides below to check saving restrictions or keep a separate build plan while you decide which abilities to relearn.