Good evening Kindred,

As the seasons change from winter to spring, so too does Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 with the Spring Update - our largest update, to date! Included are several quality-of-life features that the community requested, along with a large update to melee combat that now allows you to slash, stab and bludgeon to your heart’s content.

Description: Phyre and Phyre wielding melee weapons.

Save Last Checkpoint is a new menu option found in the pause menu that triggers an Auto Save (the same as exiting the game) but also makes a copy of it and labels it “Manual Save”. This allows you to bookmark different points in the quests to return to if things didn’t turn out as you hoped.  For example, you could use at the start of (or during) a conversation, play the conversation, and then if unhappy with the result, reload that save to play it again.

Description: Save Last Checkpoint option on the in game pause menu.

The save created uses the data from the last checkpoint you reached, which is typically before and after a conversation/combat encounter, or at the point an objective changes. For example if you save halfway through a combat encounter, loading that save will restore you to the start of the combat encounter, when the last checkpoint was created, rather than halfway through the encounter when you selected Save Last Checkpoint. The gap between the point of saving and where you restore to is never that large due to checkpoints occurring regularly.

Description: The Load Game menu containing multiple save files, labelled Manual Save.

Description: Map menu with one of Fabien’s phlegmatic informants highlighted.

To help reduce wear-and-tear on Fabien’s shoes we have added a Fast Travel option whenever you select one of his phlegmatic informants (Mr Lemon, Carla, Guru, Reggie, Marigold or Shelby) from the map. His informants were placed so there would always be one near to the locations Fabien visits - so not only will Fast Travel allow you to grab a quick bite to eat (as Fabien exclusively feeds from phlegmatic humans), it can be used to move within a short distance of your next lead in the investigation. 

Description: Fast Travel option allowing you to skip straight to the informant’s location.

During development of the Loose Cannon DLC, we added several features to Benny Muldoon’s melee combat that we have also added to Phyre in this Spring Update.

Wielding Melee Weapons

In addition to holding a melee weapon with Telekinesis, you can now pick them up directly to wield in your hands. Each weapon plays differently and adds alternate utility to the Nomad’s unarmed attacks (though being unarmed is still useful and in some situations superior, depending on your clan choice).  Knives for example stab and slash quickly, dealing damage to targets at a short range. A baseball bat has a longer range, but does less damage in favour of staggering opponents and interrupting attacks.

Heavy attacks do increased damage at the cost of destroying the weapon, so use as finishers or before switching to another weapon. A heavy attack with a Hammer for example creates a mini Earthshock blast, so use it strategically.

Description: Slaying ghouls with a knife.

Attack While Targeting

For players that find combat can get too chaotic, you can now attack while in ability targeting mode.  Ability targeting mode slows down time to a crawl, allowing you to freely look around and aim your next attack. Pressing attack during targeting mode will now return time to normal speed for the duration of the strike, then return it back to slow time.  This is especially useful when you are surrounded by multiple opponents.

Description: Using ability targeting mode to slow down time and aim an attack.

Guard

To give more options in combat, we have added a Guard mechanic that blocks enemy melee attacks.  When not attacking or doing a combat action, look at an incoming attack and the Nomad will block it, reducing the damage significantly and allowing you to strike back. Getting surrounded is still dangerous though, so evasion remains your best defence.

Description: Guard stance blocking an attack.

Combat Tutorial Collectables

To help teach these new combat mechanics, as well as existing mechanics that you may have not discovered, we have added a series of collectables throughout the game, located conveniently near combat encounters that you can practise these techniques on. There are 17 to find, including 1 technique we believe no player has ever discovered. Will you be the first?

Description: A combat tutorial collectable that teaches how to use melee weapons.

In addition to the bug fixes listed in the changelog below, we’ve had a spring clean of Phyre’s side quests. Several main quests (see changelog) have been changed to side quests, allowing more choice on repeat playthroughs on what quests to complete or skip. Mrs Thorn’s quests are now exclusive to Tremere clan players and Niko’s quests are exclusive to Banu Haqim clan players (NOTE: doesn’t affect playthroughs that have already reached “Keep the Peace” before the Spring Update). This change improves the pacing of the campaign for new players, reducing the time spent between main quests each night. Onda’s, Silky’s, Fletcher’s and Patience’s side quests are unchanged.

Description: Safia’s quest to rescue her ghouls as a side quest.

That concludes the Spring Update, which is available to play right now along with the Loose Cannon DLC! We look forward to hearing your thoughts and reactions to the update. If you’d like to be part of the conversation, please join us on the official Bloodlines 2 Discord[pdxint.at].

Gameplay Improvements

• Unreal engine updated to version 5.5.4. Make sure graphics drivers are up to date.

• Added Fast Travel mechanic for Fabien Quests allowing quick travel to the 6 phlegmatic informants (Mr Lemon, Carla, Guru, Reggie, Marigold, Shelby) on the Seattle map.

• Can equip and wield melee weapons, such as bats, knives, swords, hammers and batons.

• Can attack while in ability targeting mode.

• Added Guard mechanic to block melee attacks.

• Added 17 codex collectables that teach advanced combat techniques.

• “The Dutiful Beloved” changed from a main quest to a side quest.

• “Turning Down The Heat” changed from a main quest to a side quest.

• “A Plaything Discarded” changed from a main quest to a side quest.

• “Little Book of Blackmail” changed from a main quest to a side quest.

• “Dish of the Day” changed from a main quest to a side quest.

• Mrs Thorn’s side quests are now exclusive to Tremere clan players.

• Niko’s side quests are now exclusive to Banu Haqim clan players.

• Increased the total XP gained from completing main quests, to ensure players will be able to unlock at least one additional clan’s ability set on top of their chosen clan.

• To reward exploration have increased codex rewards from 10XP to 75XP and Phyre’s blood marks from 100XP to 150XP.

• New combat tutorial collectables award 150XP each.

• Removed XP reward from feeding on pedestrians so XP is finite and to remove incentive for a very long grind.

• Unseen Aura can now be cancelled to refund blood pips.

• Blurred Momentum can now be cancelled to refund blood pips.

• Mass Manipulation can now be cancelled to refund blood pips.

• Fall damage is now less harsh on humans for smaller falls.

• Fixed Sabbat incorrectly caring for the safety of their allies while using guns/grenades.

• Better visibility during feeds while under attack.

• Fixed Tremere's recall not triggering/cancelling correctly.

• Vampires will be less likely to use blurred momentum while they have other allies alive.

• Fixed an incorrect damage calculation on enemy thrown objects at easier difficulties.

• Fixed an issue preventing certain bosses re-entering combat on time when their allies are killed.

• Reduced enemy aggression to distant sounds of movement from the player.

Save and Load Improvements

• Save Last Checkpoint option added to the in-game pause menu.

• Player triggered saves listed as “Manual Save” on the Load Game menu.

• When performing an action that will overwrite the Autosave - such as NEW GAME - you will be offered the option to backup the Autosave, allowing parallel playthroughs of Phyre campaigns and DLCs without loss of progress.

• Updated EXIT TO MAIN MENU warning so that it states “Progress will be saved.” as it was incorrectly stating that “Any unsaved progress will be lost.”.

• Display a warning when saving on a Playstation 5 when there are already 180 saves, that you will be approaching the Title Storage limit and need to delete some saves.

Bug fixes

• Boss fight variant of Benny's character model incorrectly appears in the cutscene before his introduction conversation.

• Benny appears in T-pose inside the Dutchman bar during the quest "Blood Sisters.".

• Player camera locks when using the ability targeting button during mid-air glide.

• Scalp is visible for all Shaved hairstyles on Masculine Phyre in the Appearance tab.

• “Take” and “Attack” prompts overlap on the same interaction button for Striker enemies during gameplay.

• Mrs.Thorns parcel fails to appear if main quest is completed while the side quest is active.

• Unbirthed enemies failed to attack the player when standing in front of the door during the “As Above, So Below” quest.

• Side quest completion warning does not appear on the padlocked door of the Plastics Factory when playing in stealth mode.

• Player gets stuck OOW while traversing into the Regal building.

• Valentine’s eye patch animates incorrectly during cutscenes & conversations.

• When choosing "Casual" on a New Game, then attempting to change to "Normal" difficulty during gameplay, the apply button will not appear.

• Major flickering is visible for the light and shadow coming through the windows in the passage in Willem’s warehouse during quest “To Founder on the Lethe”.

• Christmas tree red ball decorations appear low-poly and levitated inside the Police Station.

• Unable to skip the city reveal (title) cutscene at the end of “To Taste a Foreign Body” quest.

• Blood bag can fall through ground when enemy is eliminated near ledges or meshes.

• Attack prompt fails to appear on all bosses upon using Cauldron of Blood ability.

• The attack and Feed prompt fails to appear after the player uses Cloud Memory on Unbirthed and IAO enemies during the last combat during “As Above, So Below” quest.

• Attack prompt fails to appear on Boss enemies after using the Unseen Aura ability.

• Fabien gets stuck between the snow pile and the boundary beside the Park Craft shop.

Hello Kindred,

To accompany the release date announcement trailer for the Loose Cannon DLC, we have created this dev diary to give you some details on what to expect, along with an updated roadmap for 2026.

Loose Cannon is a standalone story DLC where you will experience what it is like to be Benny Muldoon.  When we got the opportunity to create additional DLCs, Benny was the first character that came to mind for getting his own questline. While Benny features several times in Fabien’s quests, he doesn’t get as much screen time during Phyre’s quests and several questions are left unanswered as to his motivations and relationships with others. 

Loose Cannon contains 4 new quests that cover the events from shortly after Phyre meeting Benny during the quest “In Chains of Lead and Gold” to when Phyre encounters him again during “A Star of Cold Aspect" - as well as several events that occurred before the Nomad awoke in Seattle. You will discover what he knew, why he acted as he did, and how his choices influenced the city, adding new context to the main campaign.

Description: Screenshot of the main menu, featuring a button to launch the Loose Cannon DLC.

There are several differences between how Benny plays and what you have experienced as Phyre, even if you have already played as Brujah clan.  Phyre’s abilities of Glide, Telekinesis and Heightened Senses are replaced by Benny’s own offerings to create a gameplay experience that feels very different to being the Nomad.

Side Arm

The headline change is alluded to in the title of the DLC: Benny’s 1st-person gunplay, which replaces Phyre’s Telekinesis in the control scheme.  Benny’s sidearm is his prized possession.  A custom made 9mm pistol that has been heavily modified to be fully automatic, with a high-capacity magazine and  compensator.  Impractical for a mortal due to the extreme recoil, but not a problem for a Brujah vampire.

Description: Benny’s customised pistol. Not standard police issue.

Melee Weapons

In addition to his gun, Benny can wield melee weapons.  Interact with weapons you find to pick them up. Different weapons offer different attack styles, from slow but devastating swings with a warhammer, to quick stabs with a knife.  Like Phyre, Benny can also fight unarmed, but with his own strikes and finishers that express his ruthless approach to justice.

Description: Benny wielding a machete.

Soaring Leap

Soaring Leap replaces Phyre’s Glide as Benny’s main traversal mechanic.  Benny’s approach to rooftop traversal is more forceful, using Soaring Leap to jump great heights, and Air Dash to quickly cover large distances in the air. 

Description: Soaring Leap tutorial.

Abilities

Benny has access to several abilities that you will have witnessed him use in his encounter with Phyre along with some alternatives to give you multiple styles of play.  Split Second (a Celerity Discipline power) can be especially effective when coupled with his gun to get a “bullet time” style of combat.

Description: Benny’s ability tree.

To complement Benny’s gameplay and quests there is a new set of achievements/trophies for you to collect, including some additional ones for Phyre.

The DLC also includes 2 new cosmetic items for Phyre: Benny’s suit and his sunglasses.  Mix and match these with the existing cosmetics to create new Benny inspired looks.

Description: Phyre wearing DLC outfit and sunglasses.

Whilst working on the DLCs the team have also been hard at work improving the base game.  To let you know what is coming we have created this updated roadmap for 2026:

Description: 2026 roadmap showing 2 upcoming updates and 2 DLCs.

That wraps up Dev Diary 31, announcing Loose Cannon's release date of April 27th, 2026. Dev Diary 32 will arrive alongside the Spring Update, which ships with Loose Cannon and details the many improvements and bug fixes included in the update. Meanwhile if you’d like to be part of the conversation, please join us on the official Bloodlines 2 Discord[pdxint.at].

Hello kindred and welcome to our latest dev diary detailing what’s included in the Valentine’s update for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. In honour of the season of the heart, we have added blood bags, beards, a beret and more for you to sink your fangs into. Wishing you all a happy and more importantly, bloody Valentine’s!

Description: New variations of the Valentine-themed customisation options for Phyre.

To make rooftop encounters more rewarding we have added a new feature that allows enemies to carry an item of loot (elixirs or blood bags - see below). Rather than just spawning the loot upon their death, we have them carrying it on their waist, allowing the more sneaky among you to practise your pick-pocketing skills and take it without being seen. And for those of you who prefer to get your hands bloody, the item will drop on their death. Most rooftop encounters in the city will feature an enemy with an item of loot.

Description: An Anarch Ghoul carrying an elixir that can either be pickpocketed or taken from their corpse.

Blood Bags

To help those of you who are hunting for blood resonance, we have added a new item type - Resonant Blood Bags. They are typically found being carried by Anarch vampires and their Ghouls on the rooftops of Seattle using the Enemy Loot feature.  Collecting a blood bag will award blood resonance points of its type (e.g. 100 Sanguine points) that can then be used at a Clan Contact to awaken the Nomad’s blocked abilities.

Description: A blood bag containing melancholic blood in Dale’s apartment.

For those of you who want to look your best this Valentine’s, we have added several new customisation items, including hats, an eyepatch and an homage to a fan favourite character.

Description: A look for proud Anarch’s made with a Valentine’s hat and makeup.Facial Hair

A popular request upon launch of Bloodlines 2 was to be able to add facial hair to Phyre, and the Valentine’s update adds three facial hair options, under the Accessories tab, for you to mix and match into your favourite looks or create something new.

Description: For a classic gentleman Dracula look, combine this Valentine’s hat, glasses and beard, with The Sheriff outfit.

Overall, there are 7 new hair options, 8 new make-up looks, 4 new eye colours, and 7 new accessories, making a total of 26 new customisation options. Combine these with the existing 151 items and 24 outfits to create your Valentine’s look. Please feel free to share these creations with us on social media for a chance to get featured in our “Phyre Friday” social posts. 

Rotate Character

To help you admire your freshly follicled face, we have added a rotate character function to the customisation menu, so you can make sure you look perfect from every angle.

Description: Pirate Phyre staring contemplatively off into the distance.OUTRO

In addition to the bug fixes listed in the changelog below, we’ve added a shortcut to the Load Game Menu on the in-game Pause Menu, so you can easily jump to a previous chapter should the need arise.

Description: The in-game pause menu featuring Load Game menu option.

That wraps up the Valentine’s update, which is available to play right now. A quick reminder that there are two DLCs to look forward to this year: “Loose Cannon” lets you step into the shoes of Benny, the Brujah Sheriff, and the second DLC, “The Flower & The Flame”, you will play as Ysabella, the Toreador Primogen and owner of The Atrium nightclub. 
Thank you to everyone for all the feedback, memes, fanart and videos that you’ve been posting on your socials. If you’d like to be part of the conversation, please join us on the official Bloodlines 2 Discord[pdxint.at].

Cosmetics Update

• 7 hairs

• 8 faces

• 7 accessories

• 4 eyes.

Gameplay Improvements

• Rooftop enemies in the Seattle map can now carry loot.

• Blood bag items can be collected to gain blood resonance. Found in certain quests and some rooftop enemies in the Seattle map.

• Rebalanced input window for performing a kick to make it easier to achieve.

• Rebalanced Cauldron of Blood to be harder to interrupt with combat actions, making it more effective in a wider range of scenarios.

• Several performance improvements across all platforms.

• Shaders compile 90x faster.

• Ability descriptions updated:

  • Charge - Added “Each enemy struck applies damage to the held victim.” to clarify that you can increase the damage of the attack..

  • Taunt - Added “Armed opponents will drop their weapon.” to clarify its added utility in combat.

  • Earthshock - Added that “Being higher off the ground when casting increases the size of the blast.” to clarify that your positioning when casting affects how lethal the ability is.

  • Blood Curse - Added “Weaker opponents or targets closer to you are significantly quicker to curse.” to clarify that distance to target affects the cast speed. 

  • Recall - Added “Damages enemies standing nearby when you appear.” to clarify that Recall has combat utility.

  • Blood Salvo - Added “can be thrown at enemies or explosives” to clarify that explosives can be targeted.

  • Bladed Hand - Added “A silent attack” to clarify its utility as a stealth attack.

  • Unseen Aura - Added “Staying still increases the ability’s duration.” to clarify that the ability rewards being deliberate and strategic.

  • Possession - Added “Ventrue and Affect abilities can be cast while possessing someone.” to highlight the combination potential and stealth utility.

  • Blink - Added “Knocks over enemies that you Blink into.” to clarify that Blink has combat utility.

Save and Load Improvements

• Load Game menu can now be accessed through the in-game pause menu.

Bug fixes

• “Confirm Selected Clan?” UI continuously remained on screen when specific inputs were pressed after the final dialogue.

• Enemies affected with 'Glimpse of Oblivion' ability reset to unresonated when in stunned state, preventing players from obtaining Melancholic Blood Resonance points.

• Normal difficulty set for quest To Taste a Foreign Body when players select Casual difficulty during the New Game flow.

• A black screen appeared briefly during the new game start cutscene.

• Several issues fixed around enemies nearby prompts incorrectly showing.

• Clan Contacts dialog reset after updating to a new version of the game.

• Enemies detected and became alerted to the character when the player opened the Pause menu while the awareness UI was triggered during combat.

• The hair clips with the Halloween DLC golden mask appear if the player equips the Bun hairstyle in the Appearance tab and in-game.

• The game environment becomes dark if the player disconnects the controller on the Masquerade Breach screen during gameplay.

• Snow flickering observed on the ground during the crawling sequence in the quest "In Fingertips of Rose".

• Enemies spawn above the elevator if using the 'Enter Oblivion' ability while the elevator is moving at the Vat room combat during “A Kiss from Prospero” quest.

• Masquerade Meter incorrectly increases rapidly during combat in Onda's side quest 'Miranda Cashes In'.

• Fabien gets stuck between a parked car and garbage bags in front of Aurora Pawn.

• NPCs clip and pass through the Atrium Club wall when running away from the player.

• The attack prompt fails to appear after using Cloud Memory on Benny during the final combat encounter.

• Codex items "Lou's Grave" and "Discarded Purse" not highlighted or interactable at St. Stephens during "Turning Down the Heat" quest.

• Codex items “Perfumed Sleeping Bag” and “Poetry Notebook” not highlighted or interactable at Atrium rooftop during “A Work of Holy Innocents” quest.

• Randomly, Sharky fails to use her firearm and only kicks during combat in the quest 'Swimming with Sharky'.

• Car alarm sound plays from a nearby vehicle instead of van when van is hit at the Atrium club 1st combat area.

• Randomly, the SFX for breaking the IOA camera is not audible.

• Nix has abrupt animation changes in her final dialogue lines during the final conversation with her.

• The player character becomes stuck and unable to move if the player crouches between the cabinets near the exit door to Glacier Hotel in the Library combat area.

• Lasombra passive VFX does not appear on some equipped Winter Update cosmetics.

• Glowing heart VFX is incorrectly displayed on Safia when the player feeds her during the boss fight after performing Cauldron of Blood and Blood Curse.

Achievement Bugs Fixed

• The Frequent Flyer trophy fails to unlock when the player glides through the air in the Seattle map.

Known issues

• Winter Update Hair 6, the red ribbon over Phyre's forehead animates incorrectly during cutscenes & conversations.

• Boss fight variant of Benny's character model incorrectly appears in the cutscene before his introduction conversation.

• Player camera locks when using the ability targeting button during mid-air glide.

• Scalp is visible for all Shaved hairstyles on Masculine Phyre in the Appearance tab.

• Collectibles reappeared and counter exceeded after collecting with a pre-update save.

• Background music is missing during traversal and rooftop combat during “Keep the Peace” quest.

• Fletcher, Silky and Patience reintroduce themselves when continuing progression from a pre-update save.

• Benny appears in T-pose inside the Dutchman bar during the quest "Blood Sisters.".

• Dale’s Haven items reset and become re-interactable with missing associated Fabien voice-over after loading a save created between the Halloween Update and Winter Update.

Check out our new 2026 roadmap for Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2!

We're excited to share that on February 11th, our Valentine's update will bring new cosmetics, enemy loot, and bug fixes. The excitement continues between Q1 and Q3 as we head into the release of Loose Cannon and The Flower & the Flame DLC. We'll talk more about those at a later date, sharing snippets and screenshots of what you can look forward to.

We'll continue to post updates on Steam, but for more real-time updates, feel free to check out our Discord: https://pdxint.at/49YeACj

Coming in hot is the latest Hotfix 1.0.5.1 for Bloodlines 2. It fixes the following issues:

• Player unable to interact with Ryong at Weaver Tower.

• White screen flashes repeatedly throughout the Intro Cutscene after the Character Selection.

• Player falls out of the world near the right corner of the Ryong office door prevents the player from re-entering the combat area, blocking progression.

Stay tuned for more updates in the future!

Season’s greetings, Kindred, and welcome to the first post-launch Dev Diary for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Today, we will go through what’s included in the Winter Update, including details of the Custom Difficulty setting, the new cosmetic options to get you in a festive mood, and the changelog.

Description: New variations of the Holiday-themed customisation options for Phyre.

The base game came with 4 difficulties (Casual, Easy, Normal, Hard) and even before launch we knew we wanted to add more options for players to make the game harder or easier, as “correct” difficulty is very personal to each player.  As a post launch update, we targeted Custom Difficulty at players that have already completed the game, to provide more difficulty variety or simple mess around in their future playthroughs.  Doing this allowed us to list options that are effectively cheats, or could make a playthrough for a new player impossibly hard.  We look forward to seeing the combinations you will try and what challenges you set yourself.

Description: The menu of selecting difficulty options.

Custom Difficulty is available for all players that have collected “An Elder Unchained” achievement/trophy. This is awarded for completing the game on any difficulty as any clan.  

Once unlocked Custom Difficulty will be available in the difficulty select menu after you select New Game.

Selecting Custom Difficulty presents you with a menu of options that you can tailor to your liking and will apply for the whole playthrough. 

NOTE: Unlike the 4 base game difficulties (Casual, Easy, Normal, Hard) you cannot change custom difficulty once the playthrough is started, so think carefully.
Description: Menu selection showing some of the options you can change.

The Custom Difficulty settings are divided into four groups: HUD, PLAYER, ENEMIES, PROGRESSION.

HUD: Reactive Crosshair - Use this setting to disable the crosshair reacting to nearby secrets or collectables. Applies to both Phyre and Fabien quests. This is for players that want to increase the challenge of exploration and test their memory.

HUD: Character Reaction UI - Use this setting to disable the UI shown during conversations that 

states the impact of your dialogue choices - e.g. “Lou liked that” or “Fabien hit a wall”.  Applies to both Phyre and Fabien quests.  Can make conversations more immersive at the cost of clarity.

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity - Set the maximum number of Elixirs you can carry for each type from 0-10.  0 makes combat significantly harder and 10 much easier.  Applies to both Phyre and Fabien quests. 

PLAYER: Starting Health - Sets the size of Phyre’s health-bar at the start of the game.  The default balance is 2 bars of health.  Can increase up to 4 bars to make the start of the game easier or reduce to a fraction of a single bar to make the early game harder.  The health-bar can still be extended further by collecting the marks drawn with Phyre’s blood.

PLAYER: Phyre’s Damage - Use this setting to increase or decrease the damage inflicted by Phyre’s attacks.  Increase the damage to make combat easier or decrease to make it harder.

PLAYER: Masquerade Sensitivity -  Use this setting to increase or decrease the rate at which the Masquerade meter fills when performing actions that break the Masquerade. Can reduce the rate to make the game easier, or increase the rate to make it harder. Can also set to NONE to disable the Masquerade meter completely and freely act like a vampire across the city.

PLAYER: Ability Recharging - Use this setting to enable Phyre’s and Fabien’s abilities to passively recharge over time, reducing the need to feed.  Enabling ability recharging will make the game easier.

PLAYER: Targeting Time Dilation - Use this setting to disable time being slowed down when you are targeting abilities (holding LT on gamepad or Right Mouse). Disabling time dilation will make combat harder.

ENEMIES: Enemy Damage - Use this setting to increase or decrease the damage inflicted by enemy attacks.  Decrease the damage to make combat easier or increase to make it harder.

ENEMIES: Enemy Awareness - Use this setting to increase or decrease the speed that enemies will notice you.  Lowering the awareness speed will make stealth easier and increasing will make it harder. Can also be set to NONE to disable enemies spotting you at all, though attacking or touching them will make them aware.

PROGRESSION: Quests - The default campaign is a series of Phyre and Fabien quests.  Use this option to play just Phyre’s or just Fabien’s quests back-to-back without featuring the other character’s quests.

PROGRESSION: Iron Vamp - Our take on “Iron Man” modes from other games.  When enabled, quests will not generate their own saves, leaving you only the autosave to record progress.  If you die or break the Masquerade then the autosave is deleted, ending your run.

Description: Screenshot of the Iron Vamp setting.

Here are a few examples of how you can configure Custom Difficulty to get you started.

Dramatic Irony Run - For narrative focussed players that have completed the story and want to play again with the knowledge of “who dunnit” in the game’s various mysteries, to see what clues and foreshadowing are present.

PLAYER: Masquerade Sensitivity = NONE

PLAYER: Ability Recharging = FAST

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 10

Speed Run - Same as Dramatic Irony Run, but excludes playing Fabien’s quests.

PLAYER: Masquerade Sensitivity = NONE 

PLAYER: Ability Recharging = FAST

PROGRESSION: Quests = Phyre Quests Only

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 10

Immersion Run - For players that want to rely purely on their own intuition to play the game.

HUD: Reactive Crosshair = OFF

HUD: Character Reaction UI = OFF

Fabien Tourist Run - For players that want to replay Fabien’s storyline with as little friction as possible.

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 10

PLAYER: Ability Recharging = FAST

PROGRESSION: Quests = Fabien Quests Only

Fabien Challenge Run - For players that want to show off their knowledge of Fabien’s quests.

HUD: Reactive Crosshair = OFF

HUD: Character Reaction UI = OFF

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 0

PROGRESSION: Quests = Fabien Quests Only

Phyre Elder Run - For players that want to feel like an unstoppable elder in combat.

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 10

PLAYER: Starting Health = CASUAL

PLAYER: Phyre’s Damage = CASUAL

PLAYER: Ability Recharging = FAST

ENEMIES: Enemy Damage = CASUAL

PROGRESSION: Quests = Phyre Quests Only

Iron Vamp Run - For players that want a tense, strategic playthrough, demanding mastery of Phyre's combat.

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 3

PLAYER: Starting Health = NORMAL

PLAYER: Phyre’s Damage = NORMAL

ENEMIES: Enemy Damage = HARD

PROGRESSION: Quests = Phyre Quests Only

PROGRESSION: Iron Vamp = ON

Phyre’s Nightmare Run - For players that want a very tough challenge to overcome.

PLAYER: Elixir Capacity = 0

PLAYER: Starting Health = NIGHTMARE

PLAYER: Phyre’s Damage = NIGHTMARE

PLAYER: Targeting Time Dilation = OFF

ENEMIES: Enemy Damage = NIGHTMARE

PROGRESSION: Quests = Phyre Quests Only

We’re also delighted to include some new customisation options just in time for the holiday period. If you’ve ever wanted to play out your fantasy as Santa Claws, now is your chance.

Description: Phyre in a fake Santa beard and Santa hat, everything a vampiric Santa needs.

This is also a sneak peek at the fact that we’re implementing beards in a later update, something we know the community has been requesting. We’ve also included a little nod to the original Bloodlines, as well as a few other looks that we hope you’ll enjoy playing around with

Description: Lean into your necromantic side with this bloodied look.

Description: Or opt for a sweeter side of Phyre with a touch of glitter and glamour.

Overall, there are 8 new hair colours, 8 new make-up looks, 8 new eye colours, and 4 new accessories (formerly called piercings), making up a total of 28 new customisation options for you to explore and unleash your creativity. Please feel free to share these creations with us on social media for a chance to get featured in our “Phyre Friday” social posts. 

We’ve also added an FOV Slider and a Motion Blur Toggle, as well as some other gameplay improvements that can be found in detail in the changelog below. We are still working on the “Improved Progress Saving” feature; it has been improved since its release, but it’s not quite ready for release, so unfortunately we will have to delay it until early next year. 

Major things to look forward to for next year are the Valentine’s update, which will include more juicy cosmetics, the first DLC called “Loose Cannon” that lets you step into the shoes of Benny, the Brujah Sheriff, and, of course, the second DLC called “The Flower & The Flame” where you will play as Ysabella, the Toreador Primogen and owner of The Atrium nightclub. 

On a final note, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the fans for enjoying the game, and staying with us on this journey as we continue to improve and update the game.

Description: Become a winter-themed Phyre with these customisation options.

Cosmetics Update

• 8 hairs

• 8 faces

• 4 Accessories (rename of piercings)

• 8 eyes.

Custom Difficulty

• Player customization of various aspects of the game has been added to enable players to have a bespoke experience that suits their player preferences.

  • Reactive Crosshair

  • Character Reaction UI

  • Elixir Capacity

  • Phyre Starting Health

  • Phyre’s Damage

  • Masquerade Sensitivity

  • Ability Recharging

  • Targeting Time Dilation

  • Enemy Damage

  • Enemy Awareness

  • Quests (playing as single or both protagonists)

  • Iron Vamp

Accessibility Improvements

• Improvements to the accessibility options within the game.

  • Field of View

  • Combat FOV boost

  • Lensing

  • Motion Blur

  • Gamepad Aim Assist – Auto Tracking

  • Gamepad Aim Assist – Aim Slowdown

Gameplay Improvements

• Padlocks will no longer stay locked if enemies have fallen through the floor or walls.

• Padlocks will state the number of enemies nearby and have been balanced to detect enemies over a smaller distance.

• Fixed several abilities incorrectly cancelling ongoing abilities, such as split second and enter oblivion.

• Fixed Taunt working incorrectly on unaware opponents.

• Fixed an issue with Enemies not hunting the player after losing track of them.

  • IAO are now more effective at warning allies of danger.

• Adjusted the player's climbing behaviour to make it easier to climb onto thin platforms without falling off.

• Fixed an issue where the achievement "Catch!" would not be triggered.

• Fixed an issue where enemies staggered by an attack were still able to evade.

• Fixed certain enemies being able to use recall while incapacitated by player abilities.

• Fixed some player attacks not buffering inputs for a follow-up attack.

• You are no longer able to use blurred momentum to "dodge" your own boiling blood.

• Players can no longer repeatedly complete the "Executive Delivery" side quest to farm unlimited ability points.

• The interruptible casting period of blood curse has been made resistant to light damage.

Bug fixes

• Various optimisations to improve performance and memory usage.

• Fixes to various lines overlapping.

• The DLC Jukebox briefly disappeared once after interacting with it during the quest "In Chains of Lead and Gold".

• For some quests after Hub Break1 the 'Auto Repair Shop' is inaccessible during hub traversal.

• The Unbirthed fails to spawn if the player navigates along the edges of the room during the Unbirthed intro sequence in the 'As Above, So Below' quest.

• Progression blocker occurs when player recalls to ward location after placing it before pulling wooden planks in 'As Above, So Below' quest.

• Player can teleport to previous quest stage location by using Recall ability after killing the Gardener, blocking progression.

• Incorrect quest name displayed on the map after completing "The Coursing of the Rats" quest.

• If you complete Onda's mission (or Mrs Thorn where it ends outside) then die in any way, you can exploit the experience system to give you 1000 exp every time you reload after death.

• Player can kill Izzy again and again to farm ability points.

• NPCs are not holding the items they are meant to be using e.g. cigarettes, phones etc.

• Melancholic NPCs react incorrectly to the aggressive dialog "I can destroy you" during Blood Resonance conversations.

• Steamdeck - NPC heart effects appears to be misaligned while viewed in Heightened Senses during open-world gameplay.

• Back face culling is visible for the white fur of "The General" outfit during conversation with Safia and Lou in Tome Alone quest.

Achievement

• Achievement Unoriginal Sin does not unlock after feeding on five Sanguine NPCs while wearing Priest outfit as Lasombra "A Full-Blooded Elder" achievement fails to unlock despite unlocking 77/78 achievements.

• “What Sup?” achievement count does not update after feeding on Choleric NPC.

• ‘Breach Contained’ achievement fails to unlock after recovering from a Masquerade breach on Casual difficulty.

• The crosshair remains visible during the Safia boss fight intro cutscene in the ‘The Streets Incarnadine’ quest.

Save and Load

• Death Letter conversation auto-skips with no dialogue prompts after autosave reload in Fabien’s office.

• Marla’s conversation auto-skips with no dialogue prompts after autosave reload in 1920s Makom Bar sequence.

• Spirit Touch conversation with Filing Cabinet fails to display dialogue prompt when reloading from autosave.

• Fabien is unable to interact with Mr.Lemon upon checkpoint reload after enquiring about Memory loss.

Coming in hot is the latest Hotfix 1.0.4.1 for Bloodlines 2. It fixes the following issues:

• Save on exit dialogue issue

• Steam deck video player

Stay tuned for more updates in the future!

The teams over at TCR and Paradox have been hard at work ironing out bugs and creating more content, and while we continue to work on that, we’re happy to share today’s patch that fixes the “Save on Exit to Main Menu or Quit Game” issue! 

We’re also thrilled to announce the upcoming Roadmap of what we’ve got planned for the game. As you can see, there’s no slowing us down; we have listened to the feedback you’ve been kind enough to share with us and are building many of those improvements into the following patch updates.

Soon we’ll update the game with Patch 1.0.5, which will include the requested FOV slider and Motion Blur Toggle, as well as Improved Progress Saving. 

Then, around the holiday, we’ll give you another Update, this one Christmas-themed! Make Phyre your own little Santa’s helper, or perhaps not so helpful helper. This update will also include the “Custom Difficulty” mode, which will consist of settings like “Starting Health,” “Masquerade Sensitivity,” “Enemy Awareness,” and an option to choose between playing only the Phyre quests or only the Fabien quests. The “Custom Difficulty” mode will be unlocked when you have completed the game, so think of it as our version of New Game+. 

We’ll share more details and specifics about these features as we approach their release.

Until next time, fellow Kindred!

Fixed Crashes

• The title freezes after selecting a character and shows an "Out of Memory" error when run as Administrator under a Windows username with a space 

Fixed Bugs

• Game does not save progress on Exit to Main Menu or Quit Game, potentially losing hours of progress in the hub - Upon exiting the game from the main menu, or selecting Quit Game, the Autosave will be updated with progress for collectables, blood resonance and ability points.

• The character gets stuck inside the elevator with Mystic mark during "Meet with Prince Ryong on the 21st floor"

• Hub NPCs missing after triggering the objective "Identify wealthy Melancholic Victims for Nix", blocking further progression 

• Savegames incorrectly redirect to game directory when running with admin privileges, bypassing Steam Cloud Sync 

• The Door of the toilet couldn't be pulled by using Telekinesis, in which Verona was hiding 

• Conversation fails to start when spamming spirits touch on letter during Blood Sisters quest, blocking progression 

• Enemies appear stuck in various environment objects during combat outside the plastic factory 

• Interaction prompt to Lou's penthouse door fails to trigger when returning to her after marking Sanguine NPCs, blocking progression 

• The character falls OOW if the player jumps and crouches on the wall above the green door in the second Unbirth combat area 

• The character falls OOW if the player walks towards the wall before the second Unbirth combat area

• The character falls out of the world if the player walks on the wall to the left of the green door in the second Unbirth combat area 

• The character falls out of the world if the player walks on the wall to the right of the green door in the second Unbirth combat area 

• The character falls OOW if the player jumps onto the Gold Medal Flour logo wall in the second Unbirth combat area 

• Missing collision behind Olympic Tattoo building wall allows player to go OOW 

• The character falls out of the world if the player tries to climb the wall on the left side near the entrance of the second Unbirth combat area 

• NPCs are not holding the items they are meant to be using eg cigarettes, phones etc 

• Missing floor collision near 1st pillar on left side of door causes player to fall out of world underground area 

• LOD issues with buildings appearing partially rendered while Heightened Sense is active throughout the Hub area 

• For some quest after Hub Break1 'Auto Repair Shop' is inaccessible to player during hub traversal 

• Overhead symbols on phlegmatic NPCs appear pixelated across all video quality presets in Malkavian quest 

• Floor appears to flicker inside Underground Tour before the fourth audio exhibit during the quest "As Above, So Below" 

• Bald patches and scalp is visible on the side of the head with the 1st Halloween hairstyle 

• Major texture flickering is present in the elevator of the Glacier Hotel while returning to Lou after completing the temple sequence 

Fixed Achievements

• "A Full-Blooded Elder" achievement fails to unlock despite unlocking 77/78 achievements 

Fixed Bugs (SPOILERS)

• Enemy clipped out of bounds, preventing the player from killing it and causing an ‘Enemies Nearby’ prompt during theTree Room combat in A KISS FROM PROSPERO 

• Missing wall collision in the left corner near the stairs causes the player to fall out of the world in the THE PATHWAYS OF HESPERIDES underground area 

If you’re still experiencing bugs, please complete the bug report form[www.paradoxinteractive.com].

We apologize to our players that the new cosmetics in our Halloween Update only applied to new save files. We have now fixed this, and you're free to see and apply all the new cosmetics in your current playthrough. This hotfix is now live for PC players. We will update our console version as soon as it passes all checks. Thank you.

We were also able to fix the following bugs:

• Hub NPCs missing after triggering the objective "Identify wealthy Melancholic Victims for Nix", blocking further progression.

• Savegames incorrectly redirect to game directory when running with admin privileges, bypassing Steam Cloud Sync.

• The conversation prematurely ends upon selecting the dialogue prompt "There was no other way" in "IC to CH_Ryong_500_BakerKindred".

• Missing floor collision near pillar on right side of door causes player to fall out of world underground area.

• Missing floor collision near 1st pillar on left side of door causes player to fall out of world underground area.

• Cosmetics are not unlocked on persistent saves, only available on new game

If you’re still experiencing bugs, please complete the bug report form[www.paradoxinteractive.com].