The Blood of Dawnwalker just got 1,000 new features, but one woof-ly mechanic stands out

Fangs, fangs, and more fangs. That's the order from The Blood of Dawnwalker this week, as the first post-launch update has rolled out over 1,000 fangfastic improvements to a hot Game of the Year contender, including one of the best gaming tropes of all time.

The Blood of Dawnwalker slashed and gnawed its way into GOTY conversations with a stellar launch in August, combining the brilliant storytelling from the former The Witcher 3 developers and a vampiric new world begging for further exploration.

Yet there were a few flaws - as expected with any new game - and a few divisive features that immediately drew the attention of the modding community.

Just six weeks after its launch, Rebel Wolves has now released its first post-launch update to right some of the minor wrongs, and it's safe to say that it's a colossal blanket of hotfixes and improvements.

The Blood of Dawnwalker's first update brings dog petting, combat overhauls, and ability resets

Announced today, The Blood of Dawnwalker update 1.1 will be rolling out 'over 1,100 improvements and fixes'.

Coming next week, the huge content drop is being headlined by three major improvements that are already being hailed.

Can you pet the dogs in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Damn straight.

Its the biggest trope in the gaming industry; where animals are concerned, its crucial you treat them with respect. Don't kill the chickens in Skyrim. Always pet the dogs. These are the unwritten rules that all RPG players - and developers - adhere to.

The latter of the points, dog-petting, is something that The Blood of Dawnwalker fans quickly found out was rendered impossible when they took to the game for the first time, which is enough to put some people off.

But as of next week, Coen will now be able to stroke the puppers and offer chin tickles to the cats. Already, that's a major W.

Easy mode activated

At its very nature, The Blood of Dawnwalker is supposed to be a dastardly difficult title. But its challenging gameplay has rendered a lot of players stuck, or unable to squeeze in the full experience by spending too much time on certain cycles.

So, a new difficulty has been scheduled for release.

A new 'Forgiving' difficulty will now allow players to have an easier time navigating combat, with extra support with fighting mechanics.

Ability resets

Although NG+ isn't arriving in this update, despite the demand from fans, a new feature called Draught of Mind Rebirth will allow players to explore more of Coen's skill set.

Taking the potion will unlearn all of the Swordmastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism abilities that you have gained, offering the chance to reallocate your points to a new playstyle.

1,100 more improvements

Releasing next week, The Blood of Dawnwalker 1.1 will also add subtitles; new FrameGen technology and settings; camera combat and traversal improvements; and an uncensored Japanese version.

Alongside these, Rebel Wolves has promised '1,100 more' fixes, which will likely cover all discovered bugs and glitches, and continue buffing the graphics map-wide.