For the first six weeks after launch, the answer to "can you respec in The Blood of Dawnwalker?" was a flat no. Every skill point you spent was permanent, and because the bigger abilities also cost time on the game's 30-day clock, a bad pick cost you twice. That changes with Update 1.1. Rebel Wolves has announced a new item, the Draught of Mind Rebirth, that wipes your learned abilities so you can rebuild Coen from scratch. This guide covers what the respec does, what the developer has actually confirmed, what's still unknown, and how to plan around it before the patch lands.
Quick answer: As of October 18, 2026, you cannot respec in the live version of The Blood of Dawnwalker. Spent skill points are permanent. Update 1.1, which Rebel Wolves announced on October 16, 2026 and says is "planned for next week", adds the Draught of Mind Rebirth: it makes Coen forget all his Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism abilities and lets you put "the time you spent learning them" into a different set. The patch also renames the current Story difficulty to Forgiving, adds a new Story mode with extra combat assist, and promises 1,100+ other fixes. Rebel Wolves hasn't said yet where you get the Draught, what it costs, or whether you can use it more than once.
Can you respec in The Blood of Dawnwalker right now?
No, not until Update 1.1 is out. On the current build, the skill trees are one-way. Game8's respec check sums it up: "Respec is currently unavailable in the game, meaning you cannot reset or redistribute your spent Skill Points once they have been assigned." Game Rant points to the reason. There is "no way to respec because spending time segments permanently advances time." In Dawnwalker, the higher-tier abilities cost a skill point and an hourglass time slot, so learning them moves the 30-day clock forward. A refund would mean handing time back, and that clashes with how the game was built.
That's why some decisions hurt so much right now:
- Only one Ultimate in the whole game. There are 3 Ultimates per tree, 9 in total, and learning one disables the other eight. Swordmastery and Witchcraft Ultimates need about 35 skill points invested in that tree first, while Vampirism Ultimates unlock at Corruption 15. Pick the wrong one and, until now, you were stuck with it.
- Max level is 50. You can't earn enough points to fill every tree in one save, so every point you spend is a point some other tree doesn't get.
- Corruption-gated Vampirism. Night powers unlock through Corruption, which only ever goes up. A day-focused player who later wants a vampire build has to make up a lot of ground.
If you've been searching for a respec option in a menu or at a shrine, you haven't missed it. It doesn't exist yet. Some auto-generated "wiki" sites have claimed the game shipped with a dedicated respec option, but that isn't true for any version released so far. On PC, the only workaround until now has been unofficial mods, and nothing in the base game does what the Draught will do.
What is the Draught of Mind Rebirth?
The Draught of Mind Rebirth is the new respec item coming in Update 1.1. Here's the official description, word for word from the Update 1.1 feature list Rebel Wolves posted on the official Dawnwalker site and the game's X account on October 16, 2026:
"Free your mind with the Draught of Mind Rebirth. Forget all your Swordmastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism abilities, and use the time you spent learning them to master a different set of abilities." — Rebel Wolves, Update 1.1 feature list
Taking that description at its word, three things are confirmed:
- It covers all three trees. Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism are all named. It isn't a single-tree reset.
- It's a full wipe. The wording is "forget all your … abilities", not "refund one point."
- The time you spent isn't lost. This is the part that matters most in Dawnwalker. The time you already gave to learning abilities can go into a different set of abilities.
Eurogamer reads it as a straightforward respec: the Draught "will make you forget all your Swordmastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism abilities, so you can respec and put the time you spent learning them towards a different set." Shacknews called it "a proper respeccing."
Does the respec give you back time on the 30-day clock?
This is the biggest open question, and outlets have read the same sentence in two ways.
Reading 1: the time carries over to new abilities. Rebel Wolves' wording is "use the time you spent learning them to master a different set of abilities." The plain reading is that the hourglass slots you already paid stay in your account for re-learning. You wouldn't pay time a second time for the replacement build. The clock itself wouldn't go backwards.
Reading 2: the time comes back to the clock. GameSpot goes further: "it will also give you back the time associated with those skills. That means you'll have the chance to complete extra missions if you happen to find yourself impeded with Dawnwalker's 30-day limit." Game Rant also says players "reclaim the time previously spent acquiring them."
As of October 18, 2026, Rebel Wolves hasn't published the full 1.1 patch notes, and the Draught isn't available in the game yet. Plan around Reading 1. The official wording suggests re-learning shouldn't cost you new time, but don't rely on a calendar refund until the patch notes confirm it. A clock rewind could let players dodge the "Time Runs Out" ending that triggers if you go past 30 in-game days, and nothing in the official text says it does that. We'll update this section when the full notes go live.
What don't we know yet about the Draught?
The official reveal was one feature card, not a full system breakdown. These details are unannounced as of October 18, 2026. Don't trust any site that states them as fact before the patch is out:
| Question | Status (Oct 18, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Where do you get the Draught? (vendor, crafted, quest reward, given on login) | Not announced |
| What does it cost? (Denarii, ingredients, time) | Not announced |
| One-time item or repeatable? | Not announced |
| Does it reset your chosen Ultimate? | Not stated. "All … abilities" suggests yes, but not confirmed |
| Does it reset perks bought at shrines, or only abilities? | Not stated. The text names "abilities" only |
| Does it lower Corruption? | Not stated. Corruption isn't mentioned, so assume no |
| Does it affect trophies or achievements? | Not stated |
| Exact release day and platforms | "Planned for next week" (posted Oct 16). No date, and Rebel Wolves hasn't said if all platforms get it at once |
The Corruption row matters most for vampire builds. Corruption is permanent, only goes up, and has no stat or ending penalty. It's a progression currency, and Vampirism abilities and the Vampirism Ultimate (Corruption 15) are locked behind it. The Draught's description talks about abilities, not Corruption. So the likely result is that you keep your Corruption level and just get to spend your Vampirism picks again. That would be good news if you're switching to a vampire build after a day-focused run.
When does Update 1.1 come out?
Rebel Wolves posted the Update 1.1 feature list on Friday, October 16, 2026 and described it as "planned for next week". That puts it somewhere in the week starting Monday, October 19. No exact day or time has been announced. Polygon notes that Rebel Wolves "hasn't said exactly when the new patch will be released, or if it will come to all platforms at the same time." Game Rant's guess is any weekday from October 19 to 23.
This is the first big content patch since launch. Earlier updates were smaller hotfixes (Hotfix 1.0.4 shipped in September). Our earlier October patch preview covered what game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz first described in late September. Update 1.1 is that patch, now with an official feature list.
What else is in Update 1.1?
The respec is the headline, but the official list has more. Here it is, as posted by Rebel Wolves:
New features
- Draught of Mind Rebirth. The respec covered above.
- Petting animals. "Directional. Animal. Petting." You can now pet dogs and cats using the same directional input as combat.
- Story mode update. The existing Story difficulty is renamed Forgiving, and a new Story mode with additional combat assist is added. That brings the presets to five: Story, Forgiving, Fair, Challenging and Duelist. Our difficulty settings guide explains how the current modes differ.
- Additional subtitle settings. Larger subtitle font, plus subtitles for all dialogue lines.
Changes and improvements
- FrameGen update. Updated frame generation with its own dedicated settings (PC).
- Combat camera. Adjusted animations and camera movement in fights.
- Combat targeting. Better targeting, locking on and disengaging from enemies.
- Traversal. More responsive targeting and surface attachment for Shadowstep and Planeshift.
- Japanese Steam version. Blood and gore are no longer censored.
- "Over 1,100 other improvements and fixes." These haven't been itemised yet.
What's not in 1.1: New Game Plus. Polygon calls it "the most glaring omission," noting Tomaszkiewicz has said the team is looking into it but can't say more yet. There's still no NG+ date. See our New Game Plus explainer for how the postgame works today.
Should you respec when 1.1 drops?
Being able to respec doesn't mean you should. Here's how to decide.
Respec if:
- You locked in the wrong Ultimate. This is the biggest reason. With only one of nine available per save, the Draught is your only official way to switch, assuming it resets Ultimates like the "all abilities" wording suggests.
- You spread points across all three trees. Points split evenly across Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism tend to leave you with no strong tree. Rebuilding around one main tree is usually the better play. Our best build guide uses Swordmastery as the core because it works both day and night.
- Your playstyle changed partway through. Many players start with hexes and then find they spend most of their fights at night. Moving points from Witchcraft into Vampirism (with Vrakhiri Might for extra ability slots) is exactly the kind of change the Draught is for.
- You're heading for a hard fight. If Xanthe or the final Brencis fight is beating you, a build aimed at that specific fight may help more than turning down the difficulty.
Don't bother if:
- Your build already works. Respeccing takes effort and, until we know the cost, maybe resources. If the game feels fine on your difficulty, keep playing.
- You're only short on raw power. A respec moves points around. It doesn't give you more. If you're under-levelled, the fix is clearing Monster Lairs and side quests along your route (see how to level up fast).
- You're chasing the Duelist trophy. We don't yet know if respeccing affects anything trophy-related. Wait for the full patch notes before changing a save you're using for the hardest-difficulty run.
How should you prepare your save before the patch?
You can do the first three now. The last one is for the moment the patch lands:
- Check your unspent points. Skill points stay unspent until you visit a road shrine to lock them in. Holding a few back until you've used the Draught keeps your options open.
- Plan your new tree before respeccing. Read through all three trees in our skill tree guide, choose the Ultimate you'll aim for, and list the perks you'll take on the way. Respeccing without a plan just gets you a different bad build.
- Note your current Corruption level. If you're switching to Vampirism, your Corruption decides which night powers you can buy straight away. Our vampirism abilities guide lists the gates.
- After 1.1 installs, make a manual save before you drink the Draught. Dawnwalker uses one ongoing save with no NG+. A manual save before any big decision is your undo button.
FAQ
Can you respec in The Blood of Dawnwalker? Not in the current version. As of October 18, 2026, spent skill points are permanent. Update 1.1, planned for the week of October 19, adds the Draught of Mind Rebirth, which resets all Swordmastery, Witchcraft and Vampirism abilities.
What does the Draught of Mind Rebirth do? According to Rebel Wolves, it makes Coen "forget all your Swordmastery, Witchcraft, and Vampirism abilities" so you can "use the time you spent learning them to master a different set of abilities." It's a full ability reset across all three trees.
Where do you get the Draught of Mind Rebirth? That hasn't been announced. The October 16 reveal didn't say whether it's sold, crafted, given as a reward or handed out automatically. We'll update this guide once the patch is live.
Does respeccing give you back in-game days? It isn't confirmed. The official wording says the time you spent can go towards new abilities. GameSpot reads it as getting time back on the 30-day clock, but Rebel Wolves hasn't said so directly. Don't rely on a calendar refund until the full patch notes confirm it.
When does The Blood of Dawnwalker Update 1.1 come out? Rebel Wolves said on October 16, 2026 that it's "planned for next week," which means the week of October 19. No exact date or time has been given.
Does Update 1.1 add New Game Plus? No. NG+ isn't in the 1.1 feature list. The studio has said it's looking into it, but there's no release date.
Update 1.1 doesn't change the 30-day structure. It just makes a bad skill pick much less permanent. Until the full patch notes are out, treat the Draught as a full ability reset, don't rely on it rewinding the clock, plan your new build before you drink it, and keep a manual save.
More Blood of Dawnwalker guides: build your next character with these.
