Do no Harm: When you heal another Survivor, for each hook state they have, heal 30/40/50% faster and gain +3/3/3% progress for succeeding great skill checks.
Duty of Care: When you take a protection hit while healthy, all other Survivors within 12/12/12 meters gain 25/25/25% Haste for 4/5/6 seconds.
Rapid Response: When you Fast Exit a locker, you suffer from the Exhausted status effect for 30/25/20 seconds. When you gain Exhausted, you see the Killer's aura for 2/2/2 seconds. Exhausted prevents one from using perks that cause Exhausted.
KILLERS
The Ghoul
Breaking a pallet puts the Power on a cooldown Timer based on 2 Leap Tokens. (was 1 Token)
Hindering time applied to Survivors when activating a vault using the Kagune Leap while targeting them prior to that instant has been reduced to 0.5 second. (was 1.0 second)
ADDON: Yamori's mask no longer reveal Survivors hiding in lockers.
''Become Enraged'' scoring event received when performing a Grab-attacks now properly activates when the killer is already in Enraged Mode and has been increased to 600 Deviousness BP. (was 250 BP)
The Doctor
Added a cooldown to interrupting Unhooks with Shock Therapy repeatedly
The Houndmaster
Reduced the Dog's vault speed during Chase Command to 0.65 seconds (was 0.45 seconds)
Doubled the Bloodpoint rewards of all her Deviousness Scoring Events
The Oni:
Removed the turn rate limit during the open phase of Demon Strike
The Singularity:
Overclock Mode now provides a 3% base speed increased instead of Haste
PERKS
Survivor Perks
Babysitter: Increased Haste effect granted to the unhooked Survivor to 15% (was 10%).
Boon: Dark Theory: Increased the Haste effect to 3% (was 2%).
Breakout: Increased the Haste effect while near a carried Survivor to 6/8/10% (was 5/6/7%).
No One Left Behind: Now increases the Haste effect for unhooked Survivors by 10% instead of applying a separate Haste effect.
Killer Perks
Batteries Included: Increased Haste effect when near a powered generator to 7% (was 5%).
Furtive Chase: Increased Haste effect after hooking the Obsession to 10% (was 5%).
Game Afoot: Increased Haste effect when breaking an object while chasing the Obsession to 7% (was 5%).
Hex: Pentimento (Rework): You see the aura of cleansed Totems and can Rekindle each Totem once. While a Totem is Rekindled, Survivors Heal and Repair 20% slower +1/2/3% for each additional Rekindled Totem. If all five totems are Rekindled simultaneously, all Totems are permanently blocked by The Entity. Survivors cursed by this perk see Rekindled Totems' auras within 16m.
Unbound: Increased the Haste effect after vaulting a window to 10% (was 5%)
Features
Quest System
Introducing a unified place for all Quests, which will include daily, event, rift quests and much more.
Base Game Adjustments
Added a protection to Survivors when their teammates spam the Unhook interaction without ever Unhooking.
Added a protection for failing Skill Checks that trigger right when the interaction is stopped.
Haste & Hindered
The speed bonus/penalty of Haste and Hindered are now shown on their respective status effect icons.
Perks which affect movement speed now mention Haste or Hindered in their descriptions.
Abandon Option
Added a new Killer scenario: 10 minutes after the last generator is completed, the Killer has the option to Abandon.
Rarity Rework
Rarity levels have been revised to better surface different tier value
Pre-equipped Loadouts
Characters now have a pre equipped perk when first unlocked
Characters now have a set of pre equipped items and add-ons to ease learning about their gameplay.
Perk Previewer
Added a widget highlighting a player’s own Perks in the pre-game Lobby.
Character Visual Fidelity
As part of our ongoing effort to boost character visual fidelity in DBD, we’ve updated our character materials to match the same physically accurate shading models (yes, fancy math!) used everywhere else in the project.
What does this mean?
True‑to‑life skin reflections - Skin will now reflect light just as it does in the real world yielding sharper and more accurate highlights.
Broader range of looks - Artists can dial in everything from oily youth to weathered veterans, with precise control over pores, scars, and surface oils.
Consistent across all lighting - Whether you’re in the swamp, the carnival, or the asylum, characters will look and behave exactly the same under any lighting.
The result? More believable, responsive characters that feel grounded in the world of DBD.
Bug Fixes
Archives
Fixed an issue where some users were getting an error message when selecting "The Tomes" in the main menu.
Audio
Fixed an issue where the wrong audio SFX would play when walking in the Grim Pantry's big Cabin.
Fixed an issue where the wrong audio SFX would play when walking on the balcony of the mine tower in the Ormond Lake Mine map.
Fixed an issue where the wrong audio SFX would play when walking on parts of the ramp inside the mine building in the Ormond Lake Mine map.
Fixed an issue where unwanted SFX would persist in-game with certain Tome 23 survivor outfits equipped.
Bots
Fixed an issue where Survivor bots could reveal The Ghost Face and were able to clear their Weakened status against The Unknown from normally impossible locations.
Character
Fixed an issue where The Knight would be stunned at the Guard's spawn location.
Fixed an issue where The Knight's power could break when being stunned at the start of a summon.
Fixed an issue where The Knight could stay in the Patrol Path creation speed due to latency.
Fixed an issue where Deep Wound would not stop depleting when a Survivor is grabbed by the Houndmaster's Dog.
Fixed an issue where The Houndmaster's head customization, 'Festering Scar,' was missing her grin animation during the Mori
Fixed an issue where The Houndmaster's dog end up standing in unnatural angles and partially clip into the ground.
Fixed an issue where there was no cancel interaction prompt when The Trickster was in Main Event.
Fixed an issue where The Nurse could briefly see Survivors in a locker when blinking through a nearby wall.
Fixed an issue where The Ghoul's hair and mask would briefly appear off his head when reaching the tally screen.
Fixed an issue where The Ghoul's Kagune mark reticle clipped into male Survivors head when aiming at them.
Fixed an issue where The Ghoul's Kagune Leap could activate without playing the animation when canceling the power.
Fixed an issue where The Nemesis stopped playing his menu interrupt animations.
Fixed an issue where The Nemesis' Zombies would be invisible when using the Tyrant Gore and Depleted Ink Ribbon add-ons.
Fixed an issue where The Nemesis could vault at nearly twice the normal speed.
Fixed an issue where Survivors could become stuck inside a dropped pallet after vaulting towards the Hag's Phantasm trap with the Scarred Hand add-on.
Fixed an issue where The Twin's camera could get stuck on the Survivor after Victor pounced on them with some network lag.
Fixed an issue where The Lich's Vorpal Sword add-on did not increase the pallet break time to 4 seconds.
Fixed an issue where Survivors became infected quicker when the Plague aimed Vile Purge at the Survivors held item.
Fixed an issue where Survivors could bleed out during a Mori.
Environment/Maps
Fixed an issue which caused slowdowns on Midwich Elementary School
Fixed an issue on Temple of Purgation that did not allow zombies to reach the arch base
Fixed an issue with collisions on Lerys Memorial Institute
Fixed an issue with collisions on Father Campbell's Chapel
Fixed an issue on Disturbed Ward where zombies that could get stuck on a ramp
Fixed an issue in Dead Dawg Saloon where a character could land on top of Saloon decorations
Fixed multiple issues in Autohaven Wreckers Realm where the characters clipped through the lockers when exiting them
Fixed an issue in Lery's Memorial Institute where the red stain of the killer would appear through a wall
Fixed an issue in Raccoon City Police Department where the characters could get stuck on top of the hooks
Fixed an issue with lighting in Nostromo Wreckage
Fixed an issue where The Mastermind was unable to vault a specific window using Virulent Bound on Mothers Dwelling.
Fixed an issue where The Knights Guards could get stuck after vaulting on Raccoon City Police Department
Perks
Fixed an issue where Teamwork: Collective Stealth would show a second cooldown after exiting the perk's range.
Fixed an issue where the reduced action speed color and icon were missing on the progress bar when co-oping Invocation: Treacherous Crows.
Fixed an issue where The Wraith remained Cloaked after being stunned by a pallet mid uncloak with Enduring.
Fixed an issue where Killers with Stridor equipped could not hear grunts of pain from recently unhooked Survivors equipped with Off The Record.
Fixed an issue where The Ghouls aura would not be shown to the Survivor that had Hardened equipped, if The Ghoul had the Yamori's Mask add-on.
UI
Fixed an issue where the Tally Screen would leave the Bloodpoints earned page before displaying all bonuses.
Fixed an issue where notifications would disappear when transitioning to the main menu.
Fixed a visual glitch with equipped add-ons in the loadout menu.
Added audio feedback when hovering collected nodes in the Bloodweb.
Added audio feedback when hovering items in the offering sequence.
Added audio feedback when hovering items in the Tally Screen Match Consequences page.
Added plus/minus audio feedback on Rift Tier update button.
Fixed an issue where the external skills icon of any team skills would only appear in a brown color.
Fixed a potential crash issue when selecting a player card in the player profile.
Fixed a crash issue when cancelling an infinite tier purchase.
Misc
Fixed an issue where the What Lurks Beneath Achievement/Trophy would gain progress when the damage source was caused by a Survivor perk.
Fixed an issue where items retrieved during the match are listed as gained when reaching the Tally Screen when the Abandon Feature is used
Public Test Build (PTB) Adjustments
Haste & Hindered
Reverted the changes to Haste and Hindered stacking. Multiple sources of Haste and Hindered can stack once again.
Perks
Babysitter: Increased Haste effect granted to the unhooked Survivor to 15% (was 10%).
Batteries Included: Increased Haste effect when near a powered generator to 7% (was 5%).
Champion of Light: Reverted Haste effect to 50% (was 70%).
Game Afoot: Increased Haste effect when breaking an object while chasing the Obsession to 7% (was 5%).
Hex: Pentimento: Increased Repair and Healing speed penalty to 20% (was 15%), +1/2/3% (was 3/4/5%) per additional totem
Duty of Care: Lowered range of effect from 16/16/16 to 12/12/12 meters
Rapid Response Exhaustion changes from 30/30/30 to 30/25/20 seconds Aura reveal now constant at 2/2/2 seconds
Killers
The Singularity: Overclock Mode now provides a 3% base speed increased instead of Haste.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where Orela Rose's idle animation was missing in lobbies.
Fixed an issue in Badham Preschool where three generators would spawn in the same house.
Fixed an issue where the Spirit's Husk was missing the Terror Radius if a Survivor entered the Terror Radius while the Spirit used her ability.
Fixed an issue where Survivors lose the Dredge's Nightfall effect after the Dredge performed a Mori.
Design Preview | The Skull Merchant Part 2
Welcome back to another edition of the Skull Merchant Design Preview! As we mentioned in our recent status update, we received a great deal of valuable feedback from you on our initial rework proposal. Today, we’re excited to share an evolution of this rework! This places a considerable focus on Skull Merchant’s role as a high-tech hunter – a modern slasher, if you will – who uses the tools at her disposal to generate a network of information as she keeps tabs on her prey, weakens them, and then goes in for the kill when the time is right. Let’s first dive into the specific changes:
WHAT’S CHANGED?
We’ve removed the Killer aura reveal when hacking a Drone.
The Global Detection Power detects Survivors who are running or walking , keeping this consistent with how Drones detect players.
Stealth Drone scan lines are now visible, but will not extend entirely down to the ground, providing a visual indicator for Survivors to crouch-walk as a counter action.
Skull Merchant has two different types of Drones: - 5 deployable Stealth Drones, as previously mentioned - 1 Drone Buddy (name pending!) that hovers directly over her shoulder. Note: This is not a separate AI-controlled entity.
Stealth Drones function as previously stated, but Drone Propulsion only injures – not downs – Survivors. - Any Survivor hit by Drone Propulsion is tagged and tracked with a Claw Trap. - Claw Traps can be removed by Survivors following a held interaction.
Skull Merchant gains an activatable ability that fires an EMP dart from her Drone Buddy. - This ranged attack has a small AOE and downs Survivors tracked with a Claw Trap. - The EMP dart does not hurt Survivors if they are not tracked with a Claw Trap.
Sound interesting? Let’s break this down by looking at it in the context of an example chase from the perspective of Skull Merchant:
DEPLOY AND DETECT
Your first order of business is to make use of the tools in your arsenal to figure out where Survivors are. You begin by deploying a Stealth Drone and piloting it to a high traffic loop, where you leave it passively scanning. Switching focus back to Skull Merchant, you head towards another loop, activating your Global Detection Power in hopes of catching a Survivor heading to their first gen.
Both the Global Detection Power and your passive Stealth Drone detect separate Survivors, notifying you of their whereabouts on your radar. You’re now perfectly situated for a chase...
TAG AND TRACK
Switching focus back to the idling Stealth Drone, you see the Survivor who was detected running away. Making use of the Stealth Drone’s increased movement speed, you give chase. Mid-chase, you see an opportunity to strike, launching your Stealth Drone forward with Drone Propulsion and hitting the Survivor. Not only does this injure them, but it attaches a Claw Trap to them. This inflicts the Broken status effect and tracks the Survivor on your radar.
While Drone Propulsion can’t be used to down a Survivor, this opens them up to her other ability...
USE EMP DART TO DOWN
At this point, Skull Merchant could take matters into her own hands and hunt down the Claw Trapped Survivor by hand with an M1 attack, but where’s the fun in that? Hovering over her shoulder at all times is her prized Buddy Drone, which hides a secret weapon. By charging up and releasing the activatable ability when in control of Skull Merchant, her Buddy Drone fires a short-to-mid range EMP dart that hits with a small AOE. If a Survivor is being tracked with a Claw Trap, the dart will activate this fearsome contraption, downing them. Good hunting!
A SURVIVOR PERSPECTIVE
All that’s well and good, but if you’re a Survivor, how are you supposed to deal with these high-tech tools?
Stealth Drone passively scanning an area? Either crouch-walk to avoid the scan lines or hack it to send this Drone back to Skull Merchant’s personal stores.
Hear the Global Detection Power notification? Same as above – begin crouch-walking or stop moving altogether to avoid having your location given away.
Notice a Stealth Drone being piloted? Keep to tight loops and be ready to juke to prevent the Stealth Drone from attaching a Claw Trap to you.
Afflicted with a Claw Trap and see Skull Merchant approaching? Be ready to juke her EMP dart. It has a short charge time, so use this time to put an obstruction between you both.
Afflicted with a Claw Trap and feeling hidden? Hold the interact button to remove it.
With that, we’d love to hear what you think of these changes! We’ll be keeping a close eye on all our community channels and relaying any feedback back to the team, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with us (i.e. in the replies right here)! While we won’t be running a survey this time, we are taking note of the feedback you shared from the last iteration to inform future surveys.
See you in The Fog! The Dead by Daylight Team
Stats | January - March 2025
Can you believe how quickly April has been flying by? Not only is the Blood Moon event in full swing, but we also have a new update – Steady Pulse – quickly approaching on the horizon. In the meantime, we wanted to take a look back at the first 3 months of the year and share a look at how things are going for Killers and Survivors.
Kicking things off are Killer pick rates! Looking at both MMR groups, The Mastermind and The Blight were both winners, leveraging their high mobility to land in the top 5. While The Nightmare didn’t quite crack the top 10 for the wider MMR bracket, his recent rework helped drive a higher pick rate among higher MMR players.
Speaking of The Nightmare, fresh off his rework, it sure seems like he was a dream to play, leading kill rates across both MMR brackets, while The Lich continued to leverage his vile darkness across all MMR levels. High MMR mainstays like The Twins, The Blight and The Nurse unsurprisingly made appearances as well.
Looking at the bigger picture, there was an average kill rate of 60% across all MMR, while that average kill rate increased to 63% for high MMR. This largely falls in line with our intended Killer balance.
Of course, there’s more to a Trial than just Killers. Let’s take a look at how Survivors have fared!
Overall escape rates tended to be quite close across MMR brackets, with all MMR seeing a 41% escape rate and high MMR landing at 42%. Digging into specific party sizes is where the results differed.
Unsurprisingly, coordinated groups playing at high MMR performed best, resulting in the highest escape rate. Interestingly, however, solo queue players in the wider MMR bracket proved to be particularly hardy, falling above the overall escape rate.
But with that, we’ll see you again in July to share the next 3 months of Killer and Survivor stats.
Until next time… The Dead by Daylight Team
8.6.2 | Bugfix Patch
Content
THE GHOUL
Reduced Tentacle range from 16 meters to 14 meters.
Reduced Enraged mode time from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
Reduced Enraged bonus time when performing a perfectly timed grab-attack from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.
Reduced Reticle Stickiness Time effect on targeted Survivor from 0.3 seconds to 0.18 seconds.
Reduced Reticle aiming on Survivor detection for grab-attack by 94%.
Reduced Grab-attacks Damage minimum distance requirement to activate over obstacles by -30%.
After breaking a pallet, if the Killer Power is not in cooldown, power goes into a forced cooldown equal to a single Leap usage.
Addon Fresh Coffee: Changed rarity from Common to Very Rare.
Addon Hinami's Umbrella: Reworked Effect - Performing a perfectly timed grab-attack award an extra +10.0 seconds of Enraged bonus time and changed rarity from Very Rare to Uncommon.
Addon Blood stained Handkerchief: Reduced Kagune's reach from 2 meters to 1 meter.
Addon Taiyaki: Reduced the Enraged Mode countdown from 15 seconds to 5 seconds and changed rarity from Uncommon to Common.
Addon Yamori's Mask: Added the activation requirement of "all Survivors further than 40m".
NEW KILLER PERKS CHANGES
None are Free:
When you hook a Survivor for the first time, gain 1 token, up to 4. When all generators are completed, for each token, all windows and upright pallets are blocked for 12/14/16 seconds. Removed the blocked "for everyone" clause.
Bug Fixes
Archives
Fixed an issue where the "Grenade Launcher" Killer master challenge could not be completed.
Fixed an issue where the text reward appeared in Rift 1 instead of Tome 22 preview's page
Blood Moon
The Blood Can no longer clips into the ground when crouching.
Bloodpoints given when filling a Jerry Can no longer exceed the cap.
The SFX of Filling a Blood Can interaction no longer lingers when grabbed by the Killer.
Fixed an issue where players were not receiving objective points when only interacting with Fuel Generators.
Fixed multiple map issues related to the fuel pump.
Characters
The animation of Victor now plays correctly when opening a Locker with a Survivor in it.
The QTE prompt no longer stays indefinitely while spectating the Killer in Custom Games.
Spectators can now see the Fail or Success state of The Ghoul’s Grab attack.
The camera and Killer movement are no longer restricted after dropping a pallet on the Killer when they attempt to perform a grab-attack.
The Kagune Mark Reticle now appears consistently in the Survivor perspective when aiming across a Pallet or Window.
The Ghoul's tentacle leap animation now plays correctly after doing the second leap on a Survivor behind an obstacle.
The Ghoul can no longer basic attack a Survivor in quick succession during the third Kagune Leap cooldown.
Environment/Maps
Fixed an issue in Forgotten Ruins where hooks were spawning close to each other in the Dungeons
Fixed an issue in Lery's Memorial Institute where the Punishment Of The Damned could not travel through walls
Perks
Fixed an issue where Balanced Landing's reduced stagger and grunt effects were still being applied after becoming Exhausted.
UI
Fixed a crash in the Tally Scoreboard when docking or undocking the Switch.
Fixed an issue where shows wrong killer name when switching character during queuing in a killer's lobby.
Fixed an issue where empty offering slots were shown as an hidden offering.
Fixed an issue where the wrong icon was displayed for Zarina's Murder Mill torso cosmetic.
Misc
Fixed an issue where Killer could load into a match with unowned cosmetics when viewing the mori preview with the selected cosmetic.
Fixed an issue where retired Offerings were not showing in player's inventory.
Known Issues
Survivors will still make a grunt when using Balanced Landing and performing a fast falling vault.
8.7.0 | PTB
Important
Progress and save data information has been copied from the Live game to our PTB servers on April 7th, 2025. Please note that players will be able to progress for the duration of the PTB, but none of that progress will make it back to the Live version of the game.
Content
New Survivor: Orela Rose
New Perks
Do no Harm: When you heal another Survivor, for each hook state they have, heal 30/40/50% faster and gain +3/3/3% progress for succeeding great skill checks.
Duty of Care: When you take a protection hit while healthy, all other Survivors within 16/16/16 meters gain 25/25/25% Haste for 4/5/6 seconds.
Rapid Response: When you do a Fast Locker Exit, you suffer from the Exhausted status effect for 30/30/30 seconds. When you gain Exhausted, you see the Killer's aura for 1/1.5/2 seconds. Exhausted prevents one from using perks that cause Exhausted.
KILLERS
The Doctor
Added a cooldown to interrupting Unhooks with Shock Therapy repeatedly
The Houndmaster
Decreased the Dog's vault speed during Chase Command to 0.65 seconds (was 0.45 seconds)
Doubled the Bloodpoint rewards of all her Deviousness Scoring Events
The Oni:
Removed the turn rate limit during the open phase of Demon Strike
PERKS
Survivor Perks
Boon: Dark Theory: Increased the Haste effect to 3% (was 2%).
Breakout: Increased the Haste effect while near a carried Survivor to 6/8/10% (was 5/6/7%).
Champion of Light: Increased the Haste effect while using a Flashlight to 70% (was 50%).
No One Left Behind: Now increases the Haste effect for unhooked Survivors by 10% instead of applying a separate Haste effect.
Killer Perks
Furtive Chase: Increased Haste effect after hooking the Obsession to 10% (was 5%).
Hex: Pentimento (Rework): You see the aura of cleansed totems and can Rekindle each Totem once. While a Totem is Rekindled, Survivors Heal and Repair 15% slower +3/4/5% for each additional Rekindled Totem. If all five totems are Rekindled simultaneously, all Totems are permanently blocked by The Entity. Survivors cursed by this perk see Rekindled Totems' auras within 16m.
Unbound: Increased the Haste effect after vaulting a window to 10% (was 5%)
Features
Quest System
Introducing a unified place for all Quest, which will include daily, event, rift quests and much more.
Base Game Adjustments
Added a protection to Survivors when their teammates spam the Unhook interaction without ever Unhooking.
Added a protection for failing Skill Checks that trigger right when the interaction is stopped.
Haste & Hindered Stacking
The effects of Haste and Hindered no longer stack with themselves.
While multiple Haste or Hindered effects are active, the largest percentage for each is used.
The speed bonus/penalty of Haste and Hindered are now shown on their respective status effect icons.
Perks which affect movement speed now mention Haste or Hindered in their descriptions.
Surrender Option
Added a new Killer scenario: 10 minutes after the last generator is completed, the Killer has the option to Surrender.
Rarity Rework
Rarity levels have been revised to better surface different tier value and adding a new tag-based system that allows to surface extra information to players.
Bot Improvements
Smoothened the camera direction of Bots while they are turning corners.
Survivor Bots are no longer trigger-happy with their Flashlights.
Bug Fixes
Audio
Fixed an issue where the wrong terrain type SFX would play when walking in the Grim Pantry's big Cabin.
Fixed an issue where the wrong terrain type SFX would play when walking on the balcony of the mine tower in the Ormond Lake Mine map.
Fixed an issue where the wrong terrain type SFX would plat when walking on parts of the ramp inside the mine building in the Ormond Lake Mine map
Bots
Fixed an issue where survivor bots revealing The Ghost Face and clearing their Weakened status against The Unknown from normally impossible locations.
Character
Fixed an issue where the Knight would be stunned at the Guard's spawn location.
Fixed an issue where the Knight's power could break when being stunned at the start of a summon.
Fixed an issue where the Knight could stay in the Patrol Path creation speed due to latency.
Fixed an issue where Deep Wound would not stop depleting when a Survivor is grabbed by the Houndmaster's Dog.
Fixed an issue where there was no Cancel interaction prompt when the Trickster was in Main Event.
Fixed an issue where the Nurse could briefly see Survivors in a locker when blinking through a nearby wall.
Fixed an issue where the Ghoul's hair and mask would briefly appear off his head when reaching the tally screen.
Fixed an issue where Survivors could bleed out during a Mori.
Environment/Maps
Fixed an issue Midwich Elementary School error in the script created slowdowns
Fixed an issue on Temple of Purgation adding new collision to let zombies reach the arch base
Fixed an issue on Treatment Theatre by hiding a yellow collision box visible on a chair
Fixed an issue on Father Campbell's Chapel by removing an Invisible Collision present between 2 assets on Carnival section
Fixed an issue on Disturbed Ward by reworking collision to avoid zombies that can get stuck on the ramp leading inside the Asylum
Perks
Fixed an issue where Teamwork: Collective Stealth would show a second cooldown after exiting the perk's range.
Fixed an issue where the reduced action speed color and icon were missing on the progress bar when co-oping Invocation: Treacherous Crows.
UI
Fixed an issue where the Tally Screen would leave the Bloodpoints Earned page before displaying all bonuses.
Fixed an issue where toast notifications would disappear when transitioning to the main menu.
Fixed a visual glitch with equipped add-ons in the loadout menu.
Added audio feedback when hovering collected nodes in the Bloodweb.
Added audio feedback when hovering items in the offering sequence.
Added audio feedback when hovering items in the Tally Screen Match Consequences page.
Misc
Fixed an issue where the What Lurks Beneath achievement/trophy would gain progress when the damage source was caused by a Survivor perk.
Fixed an issue where the Demogorgon could perform actions while inside portals after pressing F11 throughout the Traverse charge.
Developer Update | April 2025
The 8.7.0 Update will be here before you know it, so let’s take a look at the notable gameplay changes you can expect from next week’s Public Test Build, including improvements we recently shared as part of our Quality-of-Life initiative.
You may notice that in this Developer Update, we haven’t included the crunchy numbers associated with certain changes. Without the context of a PTB to dive right into, specific value changes can be difficult to contextualize in the form of a blog. Stay tuned for the PTB Patch Notes, where we’ll share the precise values that are changing!
Read on for all the details:
NEW FEATURES
[NEW] Added a Quests menu to centralize all quest-related content in one place. This replaces the Daily Ritual, Tome Challenge, and Event Tome systems.
[NEW] Quests are organized into distinct groups, including Daily Quests, Rift Pass Quests, and Event Quests.
[NEW] Quests do not need to be selected to be considered active. All available quests are eligible for completion at all times.
[NEW] Upon completion, players receive quest rewards automatically without needing to return to the Quests menu.
[NEW] Added Milestone Quests, which reward players for completing progressively higher amounts of common in-game actions (i.e. hooking Survivors).
[NEW] Added the ability to pin multiple quests for easy reference in the Lobby and Match Details screen in-game.
[NEW] Quest notifications can be toggled on or off via the Graphics options menu.
[CHANGE] Updated verbiage to use the term “Quest” instead of “Ritual” or “Challenge”.
DEV NOTE:If you caught our latest livestream, you know what’s up – if not, check out the recording here for all the details on the new Quests system!
Our intention behind this system is that – win or lose – we want Trials to feel even more rewarding for players, making in-game tasks and rewards easier to engage with. What this means for you is that you can complete multiple quests per Trial, you can pin quests to easily reference them in-game, and rewards are unlocked automatically to minimizing the amount of time you spend in menus, among other things. Checking things off your to-do list should feel snappy and rewarding, and that’s the feeling we’re aiming for here!
[NEW] Extended the number of levels in the Deep Rift and increased the number of available outfit variants within it.
[NEW] Updated the final Rift tier – following the Deep Rift – to act as a repeatable source of Bloodpoints.
[CHANGE] Moved access to the Archives from the Lobby main menu to the bottom-screen menu.
[CHANGE] All Tome lore in the Compendium is now unlocked for all players.
[UNCHANGED] All existing Tome Challenges can still be completed for Bloodpoints and their page completion rewards. Note: They will not use the new Quests system, meaning they must be activated – one at a time – and redeemed once completed.
DEV NOTE:Alongside the new Quests system, we’ve also adjusted some of the game’s other menus and features. With the Rift, we’re really excited about how quests will make progression more streamlined and are happy to share that we’re adding even more content into the Deep Rift to spice up those level-ups.
While the Archives and Compendium will remain accessible in-game, Rift progression moving forward will be handled through the Quests menu, so you’ll likely see less of these legacy spaces. As a fitting way to show our respect for them, previous Tomes and their challenges will remain available for you to work through, and all lore is unlocked to let you walk down memory lane.
[NEW] Added a widget highlighting a player’s own Perks in the pre-game Lobby.
[NEW] Newly unlocked Survivors and Killers come pre-equipped with a Perk in their first slot.
DEV NOTE:There's a lot of info that newer players face when opening the game, so we want to highlight the importance of Perks for them. This widget uses a visual effect to let players know if they have unused Perk slots, making it easy to jump to that menu with a single click.
Pre-equipping a Perk for newly unlocked characters also helps ease players into the game, ensuring they won’t be at a disadvantage in their first Trial if they miss the Perks menu.
[NEW] Newly unlocked Survivors come pre-equipped with a small set of items and add-ons, as well as some extras in their inventory.
[NEW] Newly unlocked Killers come pre-equipped with a small set of add-ons, as well as some extras in their inventory.
DEV NOTE:Similar to the above, as we look to the future of Dead by Daylight, it’s important that we re-evaluate players’ first steps within the game. It’s not always clear that they should check a newly unlocked character’s loadout before entering a Trial.
Giving these items and add-ons to newly unlocked characters allows us to highlight the basics of a character’s kit, giving players something to use in their first few Trials.
[NEW] Each Survivor can attempt to unhook another Survivor 3 times. On the next attempt, they cannot cancel this interaction.
[NEW] Each Survivor's individual unhook attempt count resets when the hooked Survivor exits the hooked state.
DEV NOTE:It's not lost on us that unhooking can be used by Survivors to grief others. While we know there can be strategic reasons to cancel an unhook, this isn’t something that should be occurring over and over.
By setting a limit on this action before it becomes uninterruptable, our goal is to ensure well-meaning players have the flexibility to change their tactics on the fly, while also preventing others from using this action for griefing purposes.
[NEW] Added an additional window of time in which a skill check will be nullified when letting go of an action as the skill check pops up.
DEV NOTE:We’ve all been there. You get off a generator just a fraction too late and BOOM, you trigger a failed skill check. As a result of your feedback, we’ve added a slightly extended grace period for letting go of generators and healing actions. This should help reduce the frustration of a rogue skill check alerting the Killer, without being so generous that you can be careless with your actions.
KILLER UPDATES
[CHANGE] Decreased Dog Chase Command vault speed.
[CHANGE] Increased Bloodpoint rewards for all Deviousness scoring events.
DEV NOTE:When vaulting, Snug feels a little fast given how his animation plays out. This can feel off and leaves Survivors with very little time to react. We’ve decreased Snug’s vault speed slightly to better match his animation, while giving Survivors a little more flexibility while being chased around pallets.
We’ve also seen your feedback that the Houndmaster’s Bloodpoint rewards need a little buff. We’ve doubled the reward values of all her Deviousness scoring events to help bring this in line.
STATUS EFFECT UPDATES
[CHANGE] Haste no longer stacks with other Haste effects.
[CHANGE] Hindered no longer stacks with other Hindered effects.
[CHANGE] Updated status effect widgets to display current Haste and Hindered values (this can be disabled in the game options).
[CHANGE] Updated select Perk descriptions to change base movement speed adjustments to Haste or Hindered effects.
[CHANGE] Introduced small buffs to Perks which previously relied on stacking.
DEV NOTE: Historically, stacking status effects like Haste and Hindered, as well as base movement speed changes, has led to circumstances where certain Perk combos (Made For This + Hope, anyone?) ended up far more powerful than intended.
By streamlining these effects, you’ll only ever move as fast (or as slow) as the highest Haste or Hindered effect currently active (note: the highest value of these two effects will still interact with each other). Our intention is to limit instances of overtuned combos, while making their effects easier to understand, especially as we welcome new players to the Fog.
Stay tuned for the PTB Patch Notes, for an overview of the Perks that will be receiving small buffs to account for the removal of this stacking.
PERK UPDATES
[CHANGE] When a Totem is Rekindled, Survivors’ healing and repair speeds are reduced. This effect is increased for each additional Rekindled Totem. If all five totems are Rekindled simultaneously, all Totems are permanently blocked by The Entity.
[CHANGE] Survivors cursed by this Perk see Rekindled Totems’ auras within a small radius.
[CHANGE] Hex: Pentimento no longer reduces recovery speed from being downed or gate-opening speed.
DEV NOTE:It's no secret that Hex: Pentimento’s repair speed debuff is its strongest effect and main draw. With this change, we’ve moved away from giving the full power of this debuff at 1 Totem. Instead, gradually increasing healing and repair debuffs give this effect a more gradual power curve. This preserves its focus on slowing Survivor progression without being too dominant at 1 Totem.
As for aura reading, our goal is to help support solo players who don’t have the benefit of teammates to help with Totem callouts.
Until next time...
The Dead by Daylight Team
8.6.1 | Bugfix Patch
Features
Loadouts
Equipped elements now show units left counter
Search bar now accepts direct input, removing old pop up
Content
Blood Moon Event
Allow community goal bloodpoint bonus to apply to both event and regular queue
Bug Fixes
Character
Fixed an issue that caused The Good Guy to miss some transition animations.
Fixed an issue that caused the spawning animation for the Blood Can to be skipped.
The Blight no longer recovers fatigue tokens by performing an attack on a pallet.
Hatchets no longer spawn at the 0,0,0 location when playing against The Huntress.
Survivors no longer lack animations and jitter temporarily when hit by a Dream Snare while sleeping against The Nightmare.
Zombies no longer remain stuck after falling from the second floor of the Clock Tower.
Zombies can no longer attack Survivors from the 1st floor after falling from certain holes on the 2nd floor of Crotus Prenn Asylum - Disturbed Ward
Zombies no longer hit Survivors from a lower elevation while in the lab tube in the Hawkins Lab
The Ghoul
The camera no longer zooms on the Survivor's torso at the end of The Ghoul's Mori animation.
Using The Ghoul's Special Ability no longer disables the FOV Slider's functionalities for the remainder of the Trial.
The reticle of the Kagune Leap no longer displays a collision where Survivors are downed for The Ghoul.
The Aura is no longer visible on part of the tentacles when The Ghoul performs the second Kagune Leap while having their aura revealed.
Audio
Fixed an issue where the Uroboros infection SFX would remain after being killed with a Mori by The Mastermind.
Fixed an issue where Portia laughs slightly too often when reaching max speed while following Snug's search path.
Fixed an issue where the audio of The Ghoul's intro from the offline lobby repeats during the Camera Pan.
Perks
The perk Clean Break now works against The Twins.
"Vigil" now affects the Survivor affected by Hindered by the Perk "Hex: Nothing But Misery".
Balanced Landing no longer plays a grunt when falling with the perk active
The second Invocation that is completed now activates correctly during a Trial with both Invocation Perks.
Survivor no longer loses the Status Effect icon after cleansing Hex: Nothing but Misery when Hex: Undying is also equipped
Blood Moon Event
The Unknown can no longer leave Hallucinations near Blood Pumps and Blood Generators during the Blood Event 2025.
An invisible Blood Can no longer appears on the ground in a corner of the map in Léry's Memorial institute during Blood Moon 2025
The Eye of Vecna no longer causes the Survivor to hold an item and a Blood Can in hand at the same time after exiting a Locker during the Blood Moon Event 2025.
The Score Event "Blood Fueled" now grants the correct amount of Bloodpoints when triggered during the Blood Event 2025.
The Bloodhound Perk no longer highlights Blood Stains from Blood Cans during Blood Moon 2025
Maps
Fixed multiple issues related to the spawning elements of the Seasonal Event
Fixed an issue in Dead Dawg Saloon where a Killer could not interact with the hook
Fixed an issue in Dead Dawg Saloon where the Nightmare could not use the snare power through a section of the building
Fixed an issue Ironworks of Misery where the Nightmare could not use the snare power through a section of the building
Fixed an issue in Shattered Square where a placeholder tile would spawn
Fixed an issue in Midwich Elementary School where the Nightmare could not use the snare power through a section of the building
Fixed an issue in Haddonfield where Victor (The Twins) could jump out of the gameplay area
Fixed an issue in Garden Of Joy where the fog is floating off the ground
Fixed an issue in Eyrie Of Crows where a section of a generator is not interactable
Environment
Fixed an issue by adding collision on Eyrie of Crows to avoid survivors and killers climbing the base of the Mausoleum Column
Loadout
Fixed issue where it was possible to visually change killer when queuing
Fixed issue where item counters were not displayed
Fixed issue when interacting with loadout search bar function
Archives
Fixed the alignment of "The Archives" string
Fixed an issue where the rarity of items was displayed in Tome 22 page
Fixed an issue where an incorrect amount of Rift Fragments would be displayed in the bundle description
Fixed an issue where "Visceral" rarity would be mentioned in Archives challenge and Event details
The Tokyo Ghoul Chapter is now available on Steam!
Dead by Daylight: Tokyo Ghoul includes a new Killer, Ken Kaneki. Purchasing this add-on unlocks an exclusive Ken Kaneki badge and the Red Spider Lilies banner.
The new Killer is Ken Kaneki.
Drawn into The Fog, Ken Kaneki’s ghoulish nature ran rampant, fueled by dark urges and insatiable hunger. If you see a black and scarlet eye blazing above a grotesque grin, it’s already too late…
Killer Power: ONE - EYED TERROR SPECIAL ABILITY: Kagune Leap
Use the Power button to charge and launch the Kagune, tentacles that attach to any vertical surface within range and quickly pull The Ghoul forward.
After completing a leap, The Ghoul has a window to perform a second consecutive Kagune Leap or put Kagune Leap into cooldown by using the Active Ability button.
Kagune Leap enters cooldown once The Ghoul has consumed their leaps, if they leap over a vault or downed pallet, or if the Kagune grabs and leaps at a Survivor.
If The Ghoul's second consecutive leap targets a Survivor, they will perform a grab-attack. Grab-attacks damage Survivors if they are healthy; inflict Deep Wounds; and leave a Kagune Mark.
Performing a grab-attack also triggers Enraged Mode.
SPECIAL ABILITY: Enraged Mode
While Enraged, The Ghoul can perform up to three consecutive Kagune Leaps and can leap over vaults more quickly if they launch their Kagune at a Survivor.
Enraged Mode remains active while there are Survivors afflicted with Kagune Mark. Marked Survivors will lose their mark if they are fully mended, or if they are downed.
The Ghoul cannot grab-attack marked Survivors.
Once no marked Survivors remain, a Countdown begins. When the Countdown depletes, Enraged Mode ends. A perfectly timed grab-attack - tapping the attack button when the attack icon is displayed - will add extra time to the Countdown. The Countdown is paused while carrying Survivors.
NEW KILLER PERKS
Hex: Nothing But Misery: After you damage Survivors 8/8/8 times with basic attacks, a dull totem becomes a hex totem, cursing all Survivors. When you damage a Survivor with a basic attack, they gain 5/5/5% Hindered for 10/12.5/15 seconds. The effects last until the hex totem is cleansed.
Forever Entwined: When a Survivor takes damage, gain 1 token, up to 6/7/8. For each token, you pick up, drop and hook Survivors 4% faster.
None Are Free: When you hook a Survivor for the first time, gain 1 token, up to 4. When all generators are completed, for each token, all windows and upright pallets are blocked for everyone for 12/14/16 seconds.
Archives and Events
The Blood Moon event returns and begins April 7th at 11:00 AM Eastern
This event also includes an event tome that opens at the same time
Another Chaos Shuffle event begins April 29th at 1:00 PM Eastern
Features
Scratch Marks Improvements
Made improvements to the Scratch Marks spawn logic. They should spawn on the ground more consistently.
Surrender Option
Under specific scenarios, it will be possible to Surrender during a trial and retain some progress including:
Bloodpoints
Match XP
Challenge progress
Emblem scores
Surrendering in the following conditions does not incur a Disconnection Penalty, but will not count as a completed trial and still causes item/addon loss:
Killer:
When all remaining Survivors are bots
When no generator has been completed within the last 10 minutes
Survivor:
When all other remaining Survivors are bots
When all Survivors are in the Dying State
Survivor Bloodpoint Balancing
Increased Safe Hook Rescue score event to 1250 (was 500)
Increased Heal (no Med-Kit) score event to 750 (was 500)
Increased Heal (Med-Kit) score event to 1000 (was 750)
Increased Heal (self) score event to 750 (was 300)
Increased Dull Totem Cleansing score event to 1500 (was 1000)
Increased chase escape score event to 750 (was 400)
Increased Repairs score event to 2000 (was 1250)
Increased Gate Open score event to 2000 (was 1250)
Increased Chest Unlocked score event to 750 (was 250)
Increased Killer Grasp Escape score event to 1250 (was 500)
Increased Obsession Escape score event to 2000 (was 1500)
Increased Chased score event to 50/s (was 40/s)
Increased Good Wiggle Skill Check score event to 50 each (was 25)
Increased Great Wiggle Skill Check score event to 100 each (was 50)
The following score events have been moved to a different category:
Dropping a pallet now awards Survival points (was Boldness)
Stunning the Killer now awards Boldness points (was Survival)
Cleansing a Dull Totem now awards Survival points (was Boldness)
Cleansing a Hex Totem now awards Survival points (was Boldness)
Loadouts
Equipped elements now show units left counter
Search bar now accepts direct input, removing old pop up
Chat Widget
Chat window updated. - Messages sent at the Tally screen can be read by people that arrive after - A line is added when people have left the tally, so players don't need to check others' pings to know if they are still at the tally - Improved UI to make the chat easier to understand and read.
Killer Updates
The Legion:
Decreased fatigue duration to 2.5 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Increased movement speed during fatigue to 2.3m/s (was 2.07m/s)
Increased duration of Feral Frenzy to 11 seconds (was 10 seconds)
Decreased Feral Frenzy cooldown to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds)
Increased bonus movement speed gained per hit during Feral Frenzy to 0.24m/s (was 0.2m/s)
The Legion Add-Ons:
The Mural Sketch add-on now grants an additional 0.08m/s movement speed per hit (was 0.1m/s)
The Mischief List add-on now increased Feral Frenzy duration by 1 second (was 2 seconds)
The Xenomorph:
Increased the Tail Attack charge time to 0.3 seconds (was 0.2 seconds)
Increased the Tail Attack charge volume for Survivors.
Decreased the successful Tail Attack cooldown to 2.7 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Decreased the missed Tail Attack cooldown to 2.5 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Increased Killer Instinct range when exiting a tunnel to 16 meters (was 12 meters)
Increased the amount of fire required to burn The Xenomorph out of Crawler Mode to 125 (was 100)
The Xenomorph Add-Ons:
The Drinking Bird add-on now increases the duration of Killer Instinct after exiting a tunnel by 3 seconds (was 2 seconds)
The Ash's Innards add-on now increases the respawn time of Remote Flame Turrets by 15 seconds (was 10 seconds)
The Light Wand add-on now increases the downtime of Remote Flame Turrets after exiting a tunnel by 3 seconds (was 1 second)
The Molted Skin add-on now caused Survivors who deploy a Remote Flame Turret to become Exhausted for 30 seconds (was 3 seconds) and no longer inflicts Hindered.
The Harpoon Gun add-on now causes Survivors further than 16 meters (was 24 meters) to be revealed when hitting a Survivor within 30 seconds (was 10 seconds) of exiting a tunnel.
The Emergency Helmet add-on now increases resistance to Remote Flame Turrets by 15% (was 35%)
The Good Guy:
Decreased Hidey-Ho cooldown to 12 seconds (was 14)
Decreased the time it takes to reach max speed at the start of Slice and Dice and after Scampering a window or pallet.
The Oni:
Increased the Demon Strike Attack angle limit to 180 degrees (was 90 degrees) Note: This applies to Keyboard & Mouse and Controllers
Terror Radius
Increased The Hillbilly and The Blight's Terror Radius to 40 meters (was 32 meters)
Decreased The Pig, The Ghost Face, and The Skull Merchant's Terror Radius to 24 meters (was 32 meters)
Deep Wound
Decreased the time it takes to Mend your own Deep Wound to 10 seconds (was 12 seconds)
Decreased the time it takes to Mend another Survivors' Deep Wound to 6 seconds (was 8 seconds)
Killer Perks
Alien Instinct:
Increased aura reveal duration to 8 seconds (was 5 seconds)
Increased Oblivious duration to 40/50/60 seconds (was 16/18/20 seconds)
Deathbound:
Decreased range to 12/8/4 meters (was 16/12/8 meters)
Hysteria:
Increased Oblivious duration to 30/35/40 seconds (was 20/25/30 seconds)
Decreased cooldown to 20 seconds (was 30 seconds)
Knock Out (Rework):
When a Survivor drops a pallet, if they move 6/6/6 meters away from it within 6/6/6 seconds, they gain 5/5/5% Hindered for 3/4/5 seconds.
Nemesis:
Increased aura reveal duration to 8 seconds (was 4 seconds)
Survivor Perks
Quick and Quiet:
Decreased cooldown to 25/20/15 seconds (was 30/25/20 seconds)
Deception:
Increased hidden scratch mark duration to 5 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Decreased cooldown to 25/20/15 seconds (was 30/25/20 seconds)
Dance With Me:
Increased hidden scratch mark duration to 5 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Decreased cooldown to 25/20/15 seconds (was 30/25/20 seconds)
Red Herring:
Decreased repair requirement to 1 second (was 3 seconds)
Decreased cooldown to 25/20/15 seconds (was 30/25/20 seconds)
Map
Forsaken Boneyard
The Eyrie of Crows main building was modified; windows have changed position and drops from the exterior have been added to the balcony
The content of the tiles has been revisited, to reduce the amount of small collisions that were reducing the quality of the navigations.
New tiles have been created: double pallet tiles
An extension of the theme has been added:
Dead Sands is a new map added to the roster under the Forsaken Boneyard theme, it expends the lore and at the same time nerfs the realm offering
The branches with large collisions that would appear between tiles have been removed
Base Game
Exit Gate notifications are visible for 12 seconds when they are powered (was 7 seconds)
Bug Fixes
Archives
The Patch or Dispatch Challenge no longer gives progress to Survivors using the Plot Twist perk.
The Challenge tracker no longer appears completed when totems remain in the trial for the "Thorough Cleansing" challenge.
Audio
Fixed an issue where the effect on the Unknown's Voice was missing in the lobby.
Fixed an issue where Leon Kennedy's DSO Agent outfit would used Carlos Oliveira's voice.
Fixed an issue where the ''Memory 1736'' entry from the ''Talbot Grimes'' journal was missing voice over.
Fixed an issue that caused a dropped Flashbang to have no audio cue.
Fixed an issue where the Frosty The Nightmare outfit for The Dredge would not have its unique audio.
Fixed an issue where the Grab cooldown SFX for The Ghoul would persists after performing a Pallet Vault with the killer power's.
Fixed an issue where Nemesis would fail to emit any SFX when falling from a great height.
Fixed an issue where the Skull Merchant's drone sound effects would remain in the match when it is recalled after a survivor has activated it.
Fixed an issue where the Houndmaster's chase music was incorrect comparing to it's release version.
Fixed an issue where certain VO lines from The Dark Lord would not match with subtitles when hooking Soma and Alucard.
Bots
Fixed an issue where preventing Disconnect bots from properly using their perks.
Fixed multiple navigation issues for all AI entities in Haddonfield.
Character
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to clip into Killers during the pickup animation.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to momentarily freeze when they stopped inputting movement.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivor's camera to stutter and re-align when fast exiting a locker.
Fixed an issue that caused part of the Deathslinger's reload animation to be skipped.
Fixed an issue that caused the animation of missing a Basic Attack to fail to play properly during any trial as The Nemesis.
Fixed an issue that caused the body of a carried Survivor to clip inside The Nightmare's camera during basic attack cooldowns.
Fixed an issue which caused the Nightmare's Black Box Addon to block the exit area indefinitely.
Fixed an issue that allowed the Nightmare to pass through Survivors by holding the Dream Pallet ability.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to become injured by the Nightmare rupturing a Dream Pallet that was above/below the Survivor.
Fixed an issue that caused the Skull Merchant's drone not to rotate when deployed after recalling a disabled drone.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to be scanned by the Skull Merchant's Drones without having a scan line on them when the Drone is rotating in the South-West direction.
Fixed an issue that caused the Cenobite's aim indicator to flicker when aiming at large collision stacks.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Knight from drawing a patrol path under a hook.
Fixed an issue that caused Killers to play the wrong animation when hitting a Nemesis zombie.
Fixed an issue that can cause Nemesis' zombies to get stuck walking next to a hooked Survivor. Zombies will now take a wider route around the hook to avoid becoming stuck.
Fixed an issue that caused The Cannibal's Pretty Woman outfit played the wrong animation in online lobbies.
Fixed an issue that caused the Survivor's animation and interaction progress bar would persist after the interaction ended.
Fixed an issue that caused the handheld camera to be missing when The Ghost Face performed a mori in a trial.
Fixed an issue that caused The Lich would briefly jitter back and forth when picking up a Survivor hiding inside a Locker.
Fixed an issue where The Nurse's hair moved very slowly and floated uncontrollably when rotating quickly in the outfit preview.
Fixed an issue where The Nurse's fatigue animation duration was longer than intended.
The Houndmaster's laughter frequency has been adjusted when reaching Max Speed while following Snug's Search Path.
Camera and Killer movement are no longer restricted after failing to land a grab-attack due to a Flash Grenade while experiencing lag and packet loss.
The Nurse's position no longer changes upon ending a Blink near collisions.
Survivors now correctly play the screaming animation when triggered by any means.
The Nemesis add-on "Depleted Ink Ribbon" no longer makes Zombies reappear for a brief moment after being killed inside the Exit Gate.
Tier 2 is now consistently charged if the Tombstone Piece Mini-Mori is done while Tier 3 is ending for The Shape.
Survivors Unhooked by Bots no longer remain in a floating animation.
Xenomorph's Burn vignette now fades out when exiting Crawler mode by picking up a Survivor.
Survivor's animation and interaction progress bar no longer lingers after unlocking the Mastermind's and Nemesis' Crates.
Teleporting Survivors no longer causes their model to jitter and slide back to their original location when performing interactions.
The active Cruel Limits duration radial timer direction is now consistent and depletes in a clockwise direction.
The Killer Power of The Huntress and The Twins can no longer pass through Survivors on a Hook.
The Deathslinger can no longer perform other actions while reeling Survivors.
The Ghoul
The Ghoul's Kakugan Reticle no longer rotates when pointing at the ground while rotating the camera.
Survivors no longer become immobile after dropping a pallet on The Ghoul when the latter is attempting to perform a grab-attack.
The Ghoul is no longer able to Leap Grab a Survivor during the dying state animation, preventing the associated issues.
The Ghoul's power now reloads properly when used a second time.
The Ghoul's input prompt over the power icon now updates to the current prompt.
The Ghoul's score event Become Enraged is no longer earned when performing a direct grab in enraged mode.
The Kagune Swipe score event is now earned when The Ghoul does not reach the survivor on the first swing.
The prompt no longer remains on screen when a Survivor attempts to blind The Ghoul during a failed grab-attack QTE.
The grab Cooldown SFX no longer persists after performing a Pallet Vault with The Ghoul's power.
Damaging a survivor with a tentacle grab now removes Play with your food tokens for The Ghoul.
Damaging the obsession with a tentacle grab now removes Save the best for last tokens for The Ghoul.
The Ghoul's Tentacles now have aura when Tentacle swinging.
The Ghoul's Kagune Reticle is no longer momentarily visible when arriving at a window/pallet to Tentacle vault.
Enraged Mode Countdown UI now pauses while carrying Survivors for The Ghoul.
The Tentacle Impact Smoke VFX no longer appears offset with the Survivor model for The Ghoul.
The Ghoul is no longer pushed forward after tentacle vaulting a pallet on one side.
Survivors with Kagune Mark KE now receive damage when Direct Grab vaulting to Survivor close to a Window or Pallet for The Ghoul.
The Ghoul's Enraged mode withdrawal vignette VFX now pauses when carrying a Survivor.
The Ghoul can now perform Tentacle Swing vault over the Killer Shack.
The Ghoul's tentacle animation is now present when performing the second Kagune Leap charge at the end of the cooldown.
The Ghoul's camera is now centered on the survivor during a grab-attack.
After a grab-attack, the vault interaction is no longer available and usable to The Ghoul during the grab/bite animation.
The tentacle vault speed bonus no longer occurs when The Ghoul is not in enraged mode.
The killer effect now appears on the survivor HUD when The Ghoul enters withdrawal mode directly.
The Ghoul's Enraged Mode Vignette now resets when having Enraged Mode and getting Enraged Mode again without the QTE by Grab-Attack tentacle vaulting to a Survivor across from a Pallet or Window.
The Ghoul can no longer Kagune Leap twice on Survivors with an obstacle in the way
The Ghoul can no longer use a kagune leap briefly after cancelling the power.
The Ghoul no longer stutters after a Kagune Leap
A placeholder is no longer displayed in the prompt when vaulting a dropped pallet with The Ghoul's power.
The Ghoul's adjustment time end SFX no longer plays after the player cancels adjustment time early if cancelled after an invalid swing.
The Ghoul's Tentacle Vault no longer creates a visual glitch after vaulting.
The Ghoul is now able to perform Basic attacks after pressing the Killer Power input.
With lag, The Ghoul can no longer M1 directly after cancelling the power.
The Ghoul can no longer perform a Basic Attack after falling from a Leap while in Enraged mode.
The Ghoul's power no longer breaks if stunned during a kagune leap slide.
The Ghoul's Cancel Swing icon no longer always displayed when not relevant
The Ghoul's Kagune Mark no longer remains visible on the Survivor portrait after being removed
Environment
Fixed an issue in the Raccoon City Police Station where the Dream Snares failed to pass through walls
Fixed an issue in Forsaken Boneyard where projectiles were blocked by a collision in the maze tiles
Fixed an issue in the Blood Lodge main building where the Dream Snares could not go through the closed doors where the basement could spawn
Fixed an issue in the Thompson House where the Dream Snares were blocked in the structure of the main building
Fixed an issue in Ormond Lake Mine where the Killers could use their power to land in an unintended area while lunging
Fixed an issue on Shelter Woods where Killers could land on top of lockers
Fixed an issue on Forsaken Boneyard where characters would jitter when walking against a collision
Fixed an issue on Forsaken Boneyard where the Trapper could hide traps inside of the ground
Fixed an issue on Forsaken Boneyard where items could disappear in the ground when placed/dropped
Fixed an issue on the Nostromo main building where the zombies got stuck at the top of a ramp
Fixed an issue on the Temple of Purgation Mausoleum structure where zombies would get stuck walking around the structure
On the map Disturbed Ward, fixed fences that would not allow the Nurse to blink through
Some walls that previously prevented the Nurse from blinking through are now fixed in the MacMillan Estate
Fixed an issue of items clipping in the ground failed to be picked back up around the Clock Tower in Midwich Elementary School
Fixed an issue where the fence wall fades out during the Mori animation in the vat room of Gideon Meat Plant
Fixed a collision issue on Grim Pantry where a Survivor can be stopped by a ground rock on the hill
Fixed an issue of the camera clipping into assets during the escape animation before reaching the Tally Screen on Dead Dawg Saloon
Fixed an issue on the Nurse that allowed her to blink in the small prison located behind the Exit Gates on Dead Dawg Saloon
Fixed various issues with level of detail of dirt on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue with flickering textures on the ground near the Escape in Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue which made flickering textures visible on a crate on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of various signs that were clipping through the fence on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue with the level of detail on every Cement Bag pile found throughout the Ormond Lake Mine map
Fixed an issue on a pile of snow that was clipping inside a conveyor belt inside the main building of Ormond Lake Mine map
Fixed an issue of Survivors and Killers that can clip through all the pipes around the Mine Building of Ormond Lake Mine map
Fixed an issue of a superfluous collision on a staircase preventing the Killer from moving freely on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of a seam visible between two Escape tiles on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of textures that were missing on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of textures on a pool of blood that were missing on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue that caused The Nightmare's POV to go out of bounds on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of having the Dark Lord's pillars of Hellfire spawning outside of the Exit Gates with the Add-on "Alucard's Shield" on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of an invisible collision that hinders navigation for Survivors and Killers on the stairs of the Main Building in Toba Landing
Fixed an issue of a gap available at the outer edge of the Escape tile on Borgo map
Fixed an issue in Farm where The Dark Lord can stand on the doorframe of the Farmhouse when using his Bat Form
Fixed an issue where hooks failed to fade out during a Mori animation on Badham Preschool
Fixed an issue with the Nightmare's Dream Snares that fail to go through most the walls of the closed classrooms in the Main Building on Badham Preschool
Fixed an issue for the Shrine landmark ground that fades out during Mori animation on Yamaoka Estate.
Fixed an issue for the Nurse that allowed her to blink behind a wall on tile East Wing of Raccoon City Police Station.
Fixed an issue of collision that allowed players to walk onto a mop trolley on Raccoon City Police Station.
Fixed an issue for the Nurse that allowed her to blink through a wall of the Nostromo Wreckage and become stuck.
Fixed an issue on the basement floors and walls on Badham Preschool that was fading out during the Mori animation allowing to see out of the world.
Fixed an issue in which the walls and roof of the office of the Exit Gates have a one-sided texture on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue of collision that was allowed the player to walk on a sofa on Ormond
Fixed an issue of foliage that fails to fade out during Mori animation throughout the map of Dead Dawg Saloon
Fixed an issue where we could see out of world on the entrance to the Killer Shack during Mori animation on Midwich Elementary School
Fixed an issue with the level of detail visible on Stairs sign in West Wing of Raccoon City Police Station.
Fixed an issue of characters hovering above ground on the garden of Yamaoka Estate.
Fixed an issue of Killer projectiles that can pass through a Vault Location in the Main Building on Ormond Lake Mine
Fixed an issue for a basement rock wall that has a missing texture on Temple of Purgation
Fixed an issue of the level of detail that can be seen from a distance on 2 sets of stairs outside the Temple of Purgation.
Fixed an issue of the level of detail on the Cobwebs and the loculi on the Killer Shack's wall on Forsaken Boneyard
Fixed an issue of superfluous collision prevents smooth navigation along fence walls located on 6 Fence tile of the Forsaken Boneyard
Fixed an issue on Eyrie of Crows that had visible level of detail issues on the floor of the Killer Shack.
Fixed an issue with a sliced stone that was suspended in the air in front of the Clock Tower's main entrance on the Forsaken Boneyard
Fixed an issue of openings that were visible in some parts of the edge assets of multiple fence tiles on Garden of Joy
Fixed an issue of a seam that can be seen between the tiles of a fence on the Decimated Borgo
Fixed an issue with sand and roots' color that appears different around the shack of Forsaken Boneyard
Fixed an issue with multiple levels of detail on the broken brick walls on various tiles of Forsaken Boneyard
Fixed an issue on Forgotten Ruins, a seam could be seen between the two fence tiles.
Fixed an issue on Boneyard Shack where they had two occluded assets dissipated inside a coffin.
Fixed an issue on Eyrie of Crows, Survivors and killers could climb to the base of the mausoleum column.
Fixed an issue on Disturbed Ward, zombies could get stuck on the ramp leading inside the Asylum on the tile Asylum.
Fixed an issue on Ormond Lake Mine, Shadow appears as reflection on some of the snow patches.
Fixed an issue on Ormond Lake Mine, Shadow appears as reflection on some of the snow patches.
Fixed an issue in Pale Rose where a Totem was stuck in a tree
Perks
Fixed an issue that caused a Killer to be blinded while looking away from a Flashbang.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors with Shoulder The Burden not to become infected when unhooking a fully infected Survivor.
Fixed an issue that caused the Struggle skill checks not to reset when a Survivor is unhooked by a Survivor with Shoulder The Burden.
Fixed an issue that caused Eyes of Belmont not to extend the aura reading of 2 seconds to other aura reading perks.
Fixed an issue that caused the aura of broken pallets to be displayed when equipped with Power Struggle.
Fixed an issue that caused Save The Best For Last tokens not to be removed when injuring the Obsession with a throw from Virulent Bound.
Fixed an issue that caused the tokens not to be consumed from several perks when injuring a Survivor with Flight of the Damned.
Fixed an issue that caused the tokens not to be consumed from several perks when injuring a Survivor with a Dream Pallet.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Nightmare from placing Dream Pallets in places where a pallet was destroyed by Spirit Fury
The Fire Up perk effect is no longer applied when The Ghoul's power is used to vault.
Loud noise bubbles now appear when Survivors scream from the "Hex: Face the Darkness" Perk.
In Spectator Mode, the Perk "Hex: Nothing but Misery" is no longer always shown in the active state.
The Eye of Belmont Perk now extends the aura reading of (2+) seconds duration to other perks.
The Perk "Hex: Nothing But Misery" is no longer lit at the beginning of the Trial.
The Hex: Nothing But Misery fails to transfer on the Hex: Undying Totem when cleansed by the Survivors.
Killers are now able to be blinded by the Blast Mine.
The Eye of Belmont's functionality is now consistent with Object of Obsession regarding if the Survivor is the Obsession or not.
Decisive Strike now activates against Fire Up and Forever Entwined.
Vigil now reduces the Oblivious Status from Hysteria.
Platform
Fixed an issue that showed an incorrect message when Steam is down.
Fixed an issue that caused a crash randomly because of RTM on PS.
UI
Fixed an issue where the epilepsy warning warps.
Fixed a potential crash issue in the lobby.
Fixed an issue where arrow buttons in the Tome collection was not working after zooming in on the illustration.
Fixed an issue where the Survivor's mending bar appears where it has previously been mended if gets deep wound status while sprinting.
Fixed to display trial character when the owned filter is applied.
Fixed an issue where the name of the killer fails to update while looking for a match.
Fixed an issue where the wrong perks' reveal animation appears while spectating the player in the custom game.
Fixed an issue where some killer powers were missing input prompts during cooldown.
Misc
Fixed an issue that caused Killer Perk "Shattered Hope" to not appear when searching for "General".
Fixed an issue that caused the "Kill" interaction from the Finisher Mori to be unlocalized in every language except English.
Fixed an issue that caused the Adept Knight achievement/trophy to unlock when the Killer disconnected after completing the unlock requirements.
Fixed an issue that caused the Death of Ignorance achievement/trophy not to progress when using the Artist's Silver Bell add-on.
Fixed an issue that caused a debug blue square to be visible when breaking a wall as a Killer.
The Achievement Unforgettable Getaway can now be obtained in Mount Ormond Resort 3.
Public Test Build (PTB) Adjustments
The Ghoul
Increased the base sliding effect from 0.4 seconds to 0.8 seconds, on par with Anteiku Apron effect.
Decreased the Tentacle Vault time at pallet from 2.0 seconds to 1.5 seconds to be at the same time as Tentacle window vault.
Retuned the Tentacle Swing system to minimize the power interruption during swings or dealing around obstacles.
Decreased Enrage Countdown Timer from 60 seconds to 45 seconds.
Decreased Countdown added Time Bonus when completing a perfectly timed grab-attack from 30 seconds to 15 seconds.
Addon Kaneki's Wallet: Increased the window bonus time from 1.0 second to 3.0 seconds.
Addon Anteiku Apron: Decreased the sliding bonus effect from 100% to -50%.
Addon Broken Chain: Increased the decrease Cooldown bonus from 20% to 35%.
Addon Satchel: Increase the Third Kagune Leap bonus speed from 20% to 30%.
Addon Taiyaki: Increased Enraged Mode Countdown bonus Time from 10 seconds to 15 seconds.
Addon Hinami's Umbrella: Rarity changed from Rare to Very Rare.
Addon Red Spider: Rarity changed from Very Rare to Rare.
Addon Yamori's Mask: Removed the Healthy requirement from the activation.
The Xenomorph
Increased the Tail Attack charge time to 0.3 seconds (was 0.35 seconds)
Decreased the successful Tail Attack cooldown to 2.7 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Increased the amount of fire required to burn The Xenomorph out of Crawler Mode to 125 (was 175)
Reverted changes to tunnel exit time.
Reverted changes to heat dissipation rate.
Reverted changes to heat dissipation delay.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where male survivor failed to scream when interrupted by The Ghoul on dropped pallets or regular vaults.
Capped the "pick-up" speed buff at +42% for Killers. This was done to prevent breaking certain Killer/Survivor interactions.
Fixed an issue that caused player to be unable to gain bloodpoints/challenge progression/xp after a surrender.
Design Preview | The Skull Merchant
Today, we want to dig into a topic that we know many of you have been yearning to know more about: our vision for the future of The Skull Merchant!
REEVALUATING THE SKULL MERCHANT
We know that Skull Merchant is a divisive Killer who, regardless of her performance in a Trial, carries a lot of history and strong feelings among players.
Many players feel she’s not fun to play against and her kit is exceedingly complex. This scares away potential Killers from trying her and makes it difficult for Survivors to consider counterplay without dedicated research.
As we look to reworking Skull Merchant, our aim is to:
Strike a balance between being fun to play as and against
Preserve the intel focus of her kit, while making it intuitive to understand for both sides
Move away from a passive power with limited player interactions and embrace a more active playstyle, while ensuring her power is compensated in interesting ways
Those last two points may be particularly difficult to hear for long-time Skull Merchant mains, but we feel it’s important to be clear about our intentions here. While the future we envision for Skull Merchant is quite different from her previous iterations, we feel this rework brings some exciting new tools of torment to the table!
DRONES 2.0
Skull Merchant can deploy a Stealth Drone (she carries a total of 5), which scans its immediate vicinity and provides intel back to her. After a short activation period, the Drone gives off subtle audio and visual indications of the area being scanned, revealing any Survivors on the Radar who are caught by its two rotating detection zones.
Importantly, we’ve slowed their rotation speed slightly and toned down the visual intensity of these zones, removing the large scan lines to replace them with something more subtle. Namely, you'll see the direction of each detection zone as they rotate, but the detection zone itself is invisible. This gives Survivors an impression of the space that’s being actively scanned but requires them to proceed cautiously.
While we know they had their supporters, the original scan lines were visually loud and often clashed with the rest of the game’s look and feel. The intent here is to strike a balance between giving Survivors just enough info to assess the threat (a subtle, rotating field of detection) without that threat overwhelming the space and feeling incongruous to Dead by Daylight’s visual identity.
DRONE CONTROL
Once a Stealth Drone has been active for a short period, Skull Merchant can choose to take control of Drones from a distance. During this time, she becomes Undetectable, as her controlled Drone becomes the primary threat. These Stealth Drones move slightly faster than her base movement speed and consume a new resource – Power, unique to each Drone – while being controlled.
Power is consumed slowly as the controlled Drone idles and slightly more is consumed while moving. Skull Merchant is also able to use a burst of this Power to activate Drone Propulsion. This charged power sends the Drone flying forward at high speed, relative to how long it was charged.
Put simply: Stealth Drone go brr
Hitting a Survivor with Drone Propulsion causes them to lose a health state. If you hit a Survivor or collide with an object during this action, the Drone will be destroyed and return control to Skull Merchant.
With these new Stealth Drones, we want to give players something that feels familiar (using drones to gather intel) but also opens the door for unique skill expression opportunities (re-positioning Drones and Propulsion skill shots). Using technology to hunt her prey is core to Skull Merchant’s identity and so it’s important that we stay true to that!
We have opted to remove many of the background effects – Hindered, Haste, Lock On, Claw Trap – that were previously tied to these Drones, though. Rather than doing a little bit of everything with her Drones under layers of complexity, we want their use cases to be clear to Killers and Survivors alike, on the fly. Basically, if they’re static, they’re likely scanning for Survivors. If they’re moving, they’re a collision hazard.
DRONE HACKING
Like Drones themselves, Drone Hacking returns with a greater degree of risk and reward. Like before, Drones can be disabled by Survivors by inputting a series of button presses while close. If a Drone is disabled, Skull Merchant’s aura is revealed to that Survivor, providing useful intel. If the Hack is failed, they are revealed by Killer Instinct and are prevented from attempting another hack for a short period.
The intention here is to introduce a greater degree of tension to hacking, while offering a clear way for Survivors to interact with Skull Merchant’s kit in a meaningful way. The intel reward is greater than before, but the risk of being revealed is more impactful. With intel at the center of this tension on both sides, we hope it makes this interaction easily digestible by players.
RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT
In addition to her Drones, Skull Merchant has another power that ties into her Radar. While the name is currently TBD, let’s refer to it as a Global Detection Power. Once this power is charged and activated, a global warning plays for all Survivors. For a short period afterwards, any Survivor who actively sprints is revealed on her Radar. Of course, crouching, standing still, and hiding in lockers all prevent detection. Added to the intel provided by Stealth Drones around the map, this should help ensure Killers are easily able to keep tabs on Survivors’ movements.
In line with our rationale above, we want Survivors to have a clear understanding of what’s happening when they face Skull Merchant. Where the overlapping timers and status effects of Skull Merchant’s previous kit often obscured what the expected result of an encounter might be, structuring this power around a well-known game – red light, green light – provides a clear and readable threat, a clear benefit for the Killer, and a clear path for Survivors to try and overcome it.
TENTATIVE RELEASE
We are currently evaluating a timeline for Skull Merchant’s rework but do envision it being quite far out as our primary focus is on driving quality-of-life updates. Once we have a timeline to share, we will be sure to keep you informed via future Design Preview updates.
Phew – that was a lot! How do you feel about this rework? We want to hear from you! Jump into our survey and share your thoughts right here: Survey
