Combat Presets & Accessibility
The Blood of Dawnwalker Difficulty Settings
Start on Fair for your first run, pick Challenging if you want every duel to bite, and change your mind whenever you like: the preset can be switched at any point from the pause menu. The Blood of Dawnwalker ships with four presets — Story, Fair, Challenging and Duelist — plus separate sliders for fine-tuning. None of them touch the 30-day campaign clock or the outcome of your story.
Quick answer
- Combat presets
- Four: Story, Fair, Challenging, Duelist
- Best first run
- Fair, the intended baseline balance
- Effect on the 30-day clock
- None. Presets change combat only
- Change mid-game
- Yes, any time from Settings
The Four Combat Presets
Rebel Wolves built the preset ladder so narrative players and action-RPG veterans can share the same campaign. Story opens up exploration and pacing, while Fair, Challenging, and Duelist raise enemy pressure one step at a time.
| Preset | Recommended For | Combat Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Story | Players prioritizing family rescue, regional faction diplomacy, and narrative discovery. | Generous damage and parry windows, so you can learn directional combat and time management at your own pace. |
| Fair | Players seeking balanced, engaging combat that rewards tactical timing. | The standard baseline, where directional parries, witchcraft hexes, and vampire abilities create even duels. |
| Challenging | Experienced action-RPG players who want tighter counter timing and disciplined stamina. | Demands consistent directional parrying and active footwork through every melee exchange. |
| Duelist | Players seeking the pinnacle combat challenge from hour one. | The top preset, built around exacting tactical duels and precise defensive rhythm. |
Which Preset for Your First Run
Your opening hours ask you to juggle two loadouts, read the world clock, and commit to irreversible story choices. Fair keeps enemy pressure meaningful while leaving you room to learn all three at once.
Prefer to fine-tune rather than drop a whole preset? Advanced adjustable difficulty and individual assists let you keep the challenge you want and soften only the part that is getting in your way.
Duelist Mode: The Top Preset
Peak combat precision: Duelist is the highest combat preset in the game, built around flawless directional parrying, strict stamina discipline, and precise rhythm control.
Trophy hunters: The Duelist completion trophy only counts one of the four main endings. The two early endings close the story but leave the trophy locked, so keep a separate save before the final act.
What Difficulty Changes, and What It Does Not
Presets tune the precision and pacing of every encounter. Everything structural around combat stays identical on all four settings.
- Changes: enemy pressure and the emphasis on proactive directional parrying over static holding blocks.
- Changes: which combat aids stay available. Auto Block and using consumables straight from the inventory are switched off automatically on every preset above Story, so those two conveniences are exclusive to the lowest preset.
- Unchanged: the 30-day campaign clock, which advances on major quests, regional travel, and training regardless of preset.
- Unchanged: quest branching, faction outcomes, and the automatic day-and-night transformation of your loadout.
Free exploration costs you nothing on any preset. For exactly which actions spend a time block, see the 30-Day Time Limit Guide.
For the full breakdown of defensive inputs and lock-on camera behavior, work through our Combat Guide before stepping up to a higher preset.
How to Change Difficulty Mid-Game
You can switch presets at any point in a playthrough; nothing is locked in when you start a save. Pause the game, open Settings and change the preset on the Gameplay tab. Dropping a notch for a single boss and raising it again afterwards is a perfectly normal way to play.
Prefer to keep your preset and soften just one part of combat? Two separate menus handle that:
- RPG Difficulty tunes the numbers: enemy health, the damage enemies deal, and related balance values.
- Action Difficulty tunes behaviour: how aggressively and how fast enemies attack.
Pair these with our Beginner Guide to master dual forms, then use the Walkthrough Hub to plan your campaign.
Verified as of 2026-09-03 against official PlayStation accessibility features and developer gameplay deep-dives.
Combat & Parrying GuidePlayStation Store Page
Difficulty FAQs
How many difficulty levels does The Blood of Dawnwalker have?
The game features four distinct difficulty presets: Story, Fair, Challenging, and Duelist, alongside Advanced Adjustable Difficulty settings for granular assist customization.
What is the recommended difficulty for beginners?
Fair is the recommended baseline for most players, offering balanced combat while leaving room to master Coen's dual human and vampire abilities.
Can you change difficulty mid-game?
Yes. Pause, open Settings and switch the preset on the Gameplay tab at any point. Separate RPG Difficulty and Action Difficulty menus let you fine-tune enemy health, damage and aggression without changing the preset.
Does changing difficulty affect the 30-day time limit?
No. The 30-day campaign clock remains identical across all difficulty presets, governing major quest progression and regional travel.
What makes Duelist difficulty unique?
Duelist is the highest preset: enemies attack more aggressively and hit harder, and Coen has far less stamina to work with. Its completion trophy only counts one of the four main endings.