Press Y to draw or sheathe your weapon on PC by default. With the weapon drawn, press middle mouse to lock a target. Hold W, A, S, or D with left mouse for a directional attack, or with right mouse for a directional block. To inspect clues, sheathe first and then hold right mouse for Focus; right mouse does not use Focus while a weapon is drawn.

Draw sword not working? Start with the symptom

  • The weapon changes instead of drawing: check Draw/Sheathe Weapon in Controls. The default draw input is Y; F is the combat weapon-swap action.
  • Right mouse guards instead of investigating: put the weapon away, then hold right mouse again for Focus. Check the weapon state before changing your mouse binding.
  • You need to inspect a quest clue: finish the combat exchange, sheathe, and look for the investigation prompt. Drawing, locking a target, and using Focus are separate actions.

Use the short input list below for the action you need. The combat drill is optional once drawing and sheathing work; it is not a prerequisite for investigating clues.

Confirm the live binding first

Press Esc for the pause menu, open Settings, then select Controls. PC keyboard and mouse actions can be rebound one at a time: left-click the action, then press the new input. The Y and mouse bindings below are defaults only; use the binding shown in your current settings if it differs.

Find Draw/Sheathe Weapon in Controls before you begin. It is the correct action for drawing and putting away a weapon. Do not confuse it with F, which swaps to another equipped weapon; Y draws or sheathes the current one.

Enter the first combat exchange

  1. Press Y once before approaching an enemy and confirm the weapon is drawn. Press Y again to sheathe after the encounter and return to exploration.
  2. Face the enemy and press middle mouse to lock it. Target selection is easier to maintain once locked; with more than one enemy, use the mouse wheel to cycle targets.
  3. Do not attack continuously as soon as you lock on. Read the incoming direction indicator before deciding to attack, block, or dodge.
  4. To leave combat, inspect tracks, or examine the environment, press Y to sheathe and hold right mouse for Focus. If right mouse blocks instead of using Focus, the weapon is usually still drawn.

Default PC keyboard and mouse inputs

  • Draw / sheathe: Y. Use it when entering combat or returning to exploration.
  • Swap weapon: F. Use it only when you need another equipped weapon.
  • Lock target: Middle mouse. Use it to keep one enemy in view.
  • Directional attack: Hold W/A/S/D plus left mouse. Attack against an enemy direction.
  • Directional block: Hold W/A/S/D plus right mouse. Match the incoming direction and practice Perfect Block.
  • Omni Block: Right mouse alone. Use it for temporary guard, not a Perfect Block drill.
  • Dodge: Hold a movement direction plus Space. Use it for an unblockable attack or to leave its line.
  • Focus: Hold right mouse while sheathed. Use it for tracking, inspecting clues, or abilities.

Directional attack and block both require a direction plus mouse input; clicking a mouse button alone uses an omni action. Omni Block cannot trigger Perfect Block and costs stamina, so use directional block when practicing counters.

Controller sprint stops while turning

Check the installed version before changing your stick profile. The official 1.0.4 notes list controller dead-zone and sprint-input adjustments, plus a separate Steam-only fix for FPS drops when connecting controllers with outdated GameInput software. Interrupted movement and frame-rate drops are different symptoms; neither proves a universal dead-zone cause.

After updating, test walking, turning and sprint-turning on the same clear stretch. This is a diagnostic suggestion, not a guaranteed fix. Record your platform, controller and whether the entire picture stutters or only movement stops. Custom dead-zone values remain unverified here; preserve the original layout before experimenting.

PC camera stutters or frame time spikes

Start with the one workaround also acknowledged in the official issue notes: open Settings, switch Display Mode from Windowed or Borderless to Fullscreen, apply it, then retest the same busy village or forest while rotating the camera. ATH's focused stutter guide uses the same first check. A smoother repeated route is the confirmation; a higher peak FPS alone is not.

If the hitch remains, let the first shader-compilation pass finish, update the GPU driver, verify game files and close unused overlays one at a time. Keep the game on an SSD when possible. ATH's broader settings comparison recommends lowering shadows, reflections, effects, foliage and volumetrics before sacrificing texture clarity, but those values are hardware-dependent. Change one option, repeat the same route and keep only changes that improve stable frame pacing.

Console mode for readable combat

ATH's console comparison distinguishes Quality, Balanced and Performance modes on supported systems. Use Performance when your display and current build hold it reliably; use Balanced only when the console exposes it and the display supports its required refresh mode. Turn off Motion Blur if it makes directional attack cues hard to read. Series S and different display capabilities can expose fewer choices, so follow the modes actually shown in your graphics settings rather than copying another console's list.

Dawnwalker Together: experimental local controls

The mod author's instructions describe Windows local split-screen, not online co-op. Player 1 uses keyboard/mouse; Player 2 needs an XInput controller. Quests and progress belong to Player 1.

Back up your save. With compatible UE4SS installed, extract the mod into Dawnwalker\Binaries\Win64\ue4ss\Mods; check for DawnwalkerTogether\Scripts\main.lua inside it. Connect the controller before launching, load normal gameplay, then press Ctrl+Y to create Player 2. RB performs the experimental attack; Ctrl+U removes Player 2.

ATH's split-screen walkthrough adds three recovery shortcuts: Ctrl+F7 moves Player 2 beside Player 1, Ctrl+F8 retries controller input and Ctrl+F9 retries appearance and equipment setup. A successful start produces two horizontal views and an independently moving second camera.

After reloading, create Player 2 again once gameplay resumes. Dialogue, cutscenes, menus, fast travel, death and save loading still belong to Player 1 and can remove or desynchronise Player 2. The second player has no complete independent inventory or ability progression, and enemy reactions and combat remain experimental. Remove Player 2 with Ctrl+U before a scripted sequence if the session starts behaving incorrectly. This site's installation and combat tests remain pending.

Where is the brightness control?

Open Settings and select DISPLAY, then look for Gamma below VSync. The game-menu reference published by ATH visibly confirms that entry on PC. Use the calibration instructions shown after selecting it; this screenshot does not establish a universal value, HDR behavior or console menu layout. Keep your original setting so you can compare the same dark scene after a change.

The HUD, quest tracker and prompts disappeared

If the pause menu still renders normally, first treat this as the built-in UI visibility toggle rather than a damaged save. Open the pause menu and read the TOGGLE UI VISIBILITY prompt along its bottom edge. On PC, ATH records the default as holding U; on console, hold the button icon displayed beside that prompt.

Resume only after the hold registers, then check that the day counter, tracked objective and world interaction prompts have returned. If tapping does nothing, hold the input longer. If the pause menu itself is missing or corrupted, this toggle diagnosis does not apply; record the platform and build, restart from a preserved save and use the official issue channel rather than changing unrelated graphics settings.

A repeatable basic drill

  1. Draw your weapon, lock one enemy, and spend the first exchange reading direction indicators instead of starting a long attack chain.
  2. For a normal attack, hold the matching direction and right-click to block. When the shield turns orange, practice completing a Perfect Block on that cue.
  3. For an unblockable cue, stop blocking and hold a sideways movement direction plus Space. Face the target again after the dodge and read the next attack.
  4. After a successful block, make one directional attack and return to guard. Add longer chains only after this loop is reliable, so you can identify whether direction, timing, or attacking too early caused the problem.

If drawing, Focus, or target lock fails

If Y does nothing, open Controls and check whether Draw/Sheathe Weapon is still bound to Y or has been changed. If right mouse only blocks, sheathe first; Focus works only while the weapon is not drawn. If middle mouse does not lock, face an available target and press it again; use the wheel to switch when there are several targets.

Once you can reliably draw, lock, complete one directional block, and dodge sideways, move to the blocking, dodge, and counter guide for Perfect Block and counter practice. Do not impose unverified hit counts, frame timings, or enemy values; completing those four actions cleanly is the check.