Aug 1, 2022

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

Earlier this month, we launched our largest balance patch to date, making changes to 40 perks- including the meta- and various base game mechanics. With such a major shake-up, we have been keeping an extra close eye on feedback and performance since the update released to ensure that nothing gets out of hand.

Now that we’ve had a chance to see how things play out, we have prepared our first follow-up round of changes to fine tune the balance. Please note that the tweaks listed here are by no means the only changes we may make: We’ll continue monitoring and adjusting things based on your feedback.

Thanatophobia

Following the Mid-Chapter Update, Thanatophobia quickly rose in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. Between the increased numbers on the perk itself and the longer baseline generator repair times, Thanatophobia now slows down generators pretty significantly. Particularly with Killers who have an easier time keeping multiple Survivors injured (e.g. Legion, Plague, etc.), this could make Thanatophobia feel a little oppressive, especially when paired with other slowdown perks.

To address this, Thanatophobia will be receiving a rework in the 6.1.2 Update: Each injured, dying, or hooked Survivor will now provide a 1/1.5/2% action speed penalty. If all four Survivors are either injured, dying, or hooked, Thanatophobia grants an additional 12% penalty to Survivors’ action speeds.

This change will make Thanatophobia nearly as potent as before if all Survivors are injured but will require more effort on the Killer’s part to get full value.

Mettle of Man

With the Endurance status effect updated, Mettle of Man continues to be an outlier. While it provides a similar effect to Endurance, the perk currently does not deactivate when performing a Conspicuous Action. This is by design, which is reflected in the perk’s description not mentioning Endurance: Since activating Mettle of Man is so difficult, it wouldn’t be fair to lose your hard-earned protection so easily. We wanted to clear up this inconsistency and give Mettle of Man a slight rework while we were at it.

Taking 2 protection hits will now activate Mettle of Man, granting the Endurance status effect. While the Endurance effect is active, your aura will be revealed to the Killer when they are further than 12/14/16m away. Like other Endurance effects, performing a Conspicuous Action will cause it to deactivate prematurely, and it will not protect you from entering the dying state if you already have Deep Wounds.

With this change, Mettle of Man will now work exactly like other Endurance perks, forcing the Survivor to make a choice between saving their Mettle of Man and working on generators. Since this will make it a little weaker, we have reduced the number of protection hits required to compensate. The aura reading effect is also active immediately rather than after you heal allowing the Killer to anticipate Mettle of Man and plan accordingly. We believe these changes will make the perk both easier to use and more interesting to play around.

Pain Resonance, Merciless Storm & Dead Man’s Switch

Pain Resonance was changed such that it no longer forces Survivors to momentarily stop repairing the generator. This effectively prevented the perk from activating Dead Man’s Switch on its own; the Killer would need to chase them off of the generator manually.

However, this change caused an unexpected combination to appear. Since this new version allowed the Survivors to continue working on the generator, Merciless Storm would continue spawning an excessive amount of skill checks (nearly 40!) after the generator regresses.

To remedy this, we are restoring Pain Resonance’s generator interruption, though the Killer will still not receive a notification. This will cause Merciless Storm to no longer combo with Pain Resonance.

That said, this would bring back the combo of Pain Resonance and Dead Man’s Switch. Therefore, we’ll be reducing the duration of Dead Man’s Switch to 20/25/30 seconds in order to make the perk combo less oppressive than it previously was.

The Clown

The Clown is currently affected by a bug which allows him to retain the Haste effect from his Afterpiece Antidote permanently. To prevent this from being exploited, we’ve recently kill switched The Clown, preventing him from being played.

In 6.1.2, this issue is now resolved, and The Clown will be available to play once again.

Orange Glyphs

Tome 12: Discordance includes all-new orange glyph challenges. We’ve seen some reports of motion sickness caused by the swirling VFX after interacting with these glyphs. Alongside the 6.1.2 Update, we will be temporarily swapping out these glyph challenges for a different one while we retool the visuals. If you’ve already completed this challenge, don’t worry; the challenge will remain completed! The orange glyph is expected to return with improved effects in the following update.

Matchmaking Incentives

Matchmaking Incentives reward you with additional Bloodpoints for playing whichever role is in demand at the time. When the Mid-Chapter launched, these incentives were not working as intended, granting 100% bonus Bloodpoints to Survivors at all times, including when there were more Survivors playing than Killers. This had an adverse effect on matchmaking: While Killer queue times were fairly quick, Survivor queue times skyrocketed. The system needed to be disabled after several hours.

We have investigated this issue and found the cause, but unfortunately it won’t make the deadline for the 6.1.2 Update. Matchmaking Incentives will be re-enabled on the 6.2.0 Public Test Build, then on the live version of the game if everything goes smoothly.

The 6.1.2 Update is currently planned to release this week. We’ll continue monitoring feedback on the Mid-Chapter changes and adjusting as necessary in future updates. As always, please be sure to share your thoughts once you’ve had a chance to give them a try. Until next time…

The Dead by Daylight team

Jul 19, 2022

6.1.0 | Mid-Chapter

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

Content

"Tome 12: DISCORDANCE" of The Archives (starts July 20th 11AM ET)
Added 5 maze tiles to the pool in the McMillan Estate map

Gameplay

Generators take 90 seconds for a single survivor to repair (was 80 seconds)
Killers kicking a generator now immediately cause a 2.5% loss of progress in addition to starting regression
Bloodlust trigger times have been reduced to 15 seconds for Tier 1, 25 seconds for Tier 2, and 35 seconds for Tier 3 (was 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and 45 seconds)
The following Killer actions have been sped up by 10%:
- Time to kick a pallet or wall has been reduced to 2.34 seconds (was 2.6 seconds)
- Time to kick a generator has been reduced to 1.8 seconds (was 2 seconds)
- Cooldown time after a successful hit has been reduced to 2.7 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Duration of the Survivor speed boost when hit has been reduced to 1.8 seconds (was 2 seconds)
Survivors now have a modified version of Borrowed Time as a baseline ability, no perk required
- Unhooked Survivors now get a 7% movement speed bonus and Endurance for 5 seconds
- The speed bonus and Endurance effect are removed if the Survivor performs a Conspicuous Action
New Term - Conspicuous Actions
- Includes: Repairing a Generator, healing yourself or others, cleansing or blessing a Totem, sabotaging a hook, unhooking a survivor, and opening an exit gate
- Added a new section and description to the Game Manual
Endurance status effect is now cancelled by Conspicuous Actions
Endurance does not prevent a Survivor from entering the dying state if they are inflicted with Deep Wound

Killer Perks

Barbecue and Chili

Removed Bloodpoint bonus

Corrupt Intervention

Added: Corrupt Intervention deactivates when any Survivor enters the dying state
Note: The perk still deactivates after 2 minutes if no Survivor has entered the dying state

Coulrophobia

Added: Healing Skill Checks move 50% faster for Survivors under the effect of this perk

Dark Devotion

Now triggers when a Survivor loses a health state by any means (was just basic attacks)

Eruption

Increased Generator reduction when a Survivor enters the dying state to 10% (was 6%)
Increased duration of Incapacitated status effect to 15/20/25 seconds (was 12/14/16 seconds)

Hex: No One Escapes Death

Added: Once the Hex's effect is revealed to the Survivors, its Hex Totem's aura is shown to the Survivors at a range of 4 meters. This range increases steadily over the next 30 seconds to 24 meters

Hex: Ruin

Added: Once any Survivor is killed by any means, the Hex: Ruin Totem reverts to a Dull Totem.
While a generator is not being repaired by a Survivor, it will immediately and automatically regress repair progress at 50%/75%/100% of the normal regression speed

Jolt

Removed the cooldown

Knock Out

Added: Recovery speed is reduced by 25% for Survivors under the effect of this perk

Lethal Pursuer

Added: Any time a Survivor's aura is shown for a period of time, its duration is increased by 2 seconds.
Note: The new effect applies to the duration of the normal Lethal Pursuer effect, which means it effectively reveals survivors for 9/10/11 seconds at the start of the match

Monstrous Shrine

Reworked - This perk is now Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine
Scourge Hooks grant 10/15/20% faster Entity progression if the Killer is not within 24 meters. Basement hooks count as Scourge Hooks

Overcharge

Added: After Overcharge is applied to a generator, its regression speed increases from 75% of normal to 200% of normal over the next 30 seconds

Pop Goes the Weasel

Changed regression to be 20% of current progress (was 25% of total)
Note: This is calculated after the new baseline regression when kicking a generator

Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain

Increased Healing and Repairing speed penalty to 10/13/16% (was 7/8/9%)

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

Removed scream effect on Survivors repairing the exploding generator, generator will spark to show regression

Thanatophobia

Increased individual penalties for repairing, sabotaging, and Totem cleansing to 4.5/5/5.5% (was 4/4.5/5%)
Increased maximum penalty to 18/20/22% (was 16/18/20%)

Tinkerer

Added: This effect can only be triggered once on each generator

Survivor Perks

Borrowed Time

Reworked to account for the baseline version of the effect
Survivors you unhook keep their Endurance status effect for an extra 6/8/10 seconds and their movement speed bonus for an extra 10 seconds

Botany Knowledge

Increased healing speed bonus to 30/40/50% (was 11/22/33%)
Changed Medkit efficiency bonus to a -20% efficiency penalty (was +10/20/30%)

Calm Spirit

Increased chance to avoid alerting crows to 100% (was 80/90/100%)
Added: Allows you to open chests and cleanse/bless totems silently, but at 40/35/30% reduced speed

Dark Sense

Reworked: Each time a generator is completed, Dark Sense activates. While Dark Sense is active, the Killer entering a 24-meter radius around you reveals their aura for 5/7/10 seconds. Once the aura's duration expires, Dark Sense deactivates
Note: The effect triggers if the Killer is already within 24 meters when the perk is activated

Dead Hard

Removed the dash / dodge element of the perk.
Activating Dead Hard now grants the Survivor Endurance for 0.5 seconds
An animation plays when activated so Killers can see when the perk is used without the Survivor being hit

Decisive Strike

Added: The perk and its effects are disabled if the exit gates are powered.
The perk is now disabled when the Survivor performs a Conspicuous Action (Defined earlier in the patch notes under the Gameplay section)
Stun duration is now 3s down from 5s

Déjà Vu

Added: Gain a 5% repair speed bonus on the generators revealed by Déjà Vu

Distortion

Reduced the starting tokens to 3 (was 4)
Removed stipulation preventing the perk from activating when in a Killer Trap
Added: Regain a token for each 30 seconds spent inside the Killer's Terror Radius. Distortion may not have more than 3 tokens

Hope

Removed time limit

Inner Focus

Removed the distance restriction on seeing the Scratch Marks of other Survivors (was 32 meters)

Iron Will

Reduced the grunts of pain volume reduction to 25/50/75% (was 50/75/100%)
Added: Does not function while Exhausted. Does not inflict Exhausted

Lightweight

Increased reduction of scratch mark duration to 3/4/5 seconds (was 1/2/3 seconds)
Added: Your scratch marks are spaced inconsistently

Lucky Break

Added: For each 1 second spent healing another Survivor, increase Lucky Break's duration by 1 second. Lucky Break's duration cannot increase beyond its starting value

No One Left Behind

Now triggers when the Exit Gates are powered (was triggered when an Exit Gate was opened)
Added: When unhooking a Survivor, they gain a 7%movement bonus for 10 seconds

Off the Record

Added: Once you are unhooked or escape from the hook, Off the Record activates for 60/70/80 seconds
Added: Gain the Endurance status effect
Added: Off The Record is disabled when the exit gates are powered

Overzealous

Increased repair speed buff to 6/7/8% (was 4/5/6%)
Added: This bonus is doubled if you cleanse an Hex totem

Pharmacy

Now guarantees an Emergency Med-Kit in every chest (was just the first chest opened), when injured

Saboteur

Scourge Hooks now have a yellow aura when a Survivor is being carried

Self-Care

Reduced the self heal speed to 25/30/35% (was 50%)
Removed Med-Kit efficiency bonus

Sole Survivor

Added: When you're the last Survivor alive, gain 75% action speed when repairing generators and 50% action speed while opening an exit gate or the Hatch

Spine Chill

Reworked: Get notified when the Killer within a 36-meter range. If the Killer is within range and is looking at you with a clear line of sight, your speed while repairing, sabotaging, healing, unhooking, cleansing, blessing, opening exit gates and unlocking is increased by 2%/4%/6%. The effects of Spine Chill linger for 0.5 seconds after the Killer looks away or is out of range. Spine Chill's icon indicates the strength of the Killer's Terror Radius

Tenacity

Added: Grunts of pain while in the dying state have their volume reduced by 75%

We're Gonna Live Forever

Reworked: When healing another Survivor in the dying state, your healing speed is increased by 100%. Additionally, performing any of the following actions activates this perk's secondary function: Perform a Safe Hook Rescue, Take a hit to protect a Survivor, Rescue a Survivor by stunning the Killer with a pallet, Rescue a Survivor by blinding the Killer with a Flashlight. When this perk's secondary function is active, healing another Survivor out of the dying state grants them Endurance for 6/8/10 seconds and deactivates the secondary function

Progression

The Progression and Prestige systems have been reworked

IMPORTANT: No existing perks, items, or cosmetics will be lost if they are already unlocked on a character, even if having them would contradict the rules of the new system.
Global Bloodpoint soft-cap has been raised to 2,000,000 (was 1,000,000)
Bloodpoint Categories maximum raised to 10,000 (was 8,000)
Prestiging no longer removes any items, add-ons, offerings, perks, or perk slots
Teachable Perks have been removed from the Bloodweb
Level 51 in the Bloodweb requires the character to Prestige, costing 20,000 Bloodpoints
Characters can now each be prestiged up to 100 times
Prestiging a character has the following rewards:
- Prestige 1: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 1
- Prestige 2: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 2
- Prestige 3: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 3
- Prestige 4-6: Bloodied cosmetic items (when available for the specific character)
- Prestige 7-9: Perk Charms for the character's perks
Existing players will have their characters granted prestige levels in the new system based on the following:
- +2 additional levels per existing Prestige level
  - Example: A Prestige 1 character will receive +2 levels, resulting in being Prestige 3 in the new system
- If the character has 70 or more Perks unlocked (Counting each tier of a perk separately):
  - +1 level for 70-119 Perks
  - +2 levels for 120-169 Perks
  - +3 levels for 170-219 Perks
  - +4 levels for 220-269 Perks
  - +5 levels for 270-319 Perks
  - +6 levels for 320+ Perks
- Prestige 9 is the highest level a character can be when transferring to the new system, even if the above rules say they should be higher
Existing unlocked Teachable Perks will immediately grant access to Tier 1 of that Perk on all characters if no other mechanic has already granted access to the Perk
Added unique Prestige Crest artwork for each prestige level
Characters who are already at Prestige 3 on the old system will unlock a Bloody Prestige Portrait on the character selection screen
- Can be toggled on / off in the Options menu

Shrine of Secrets

Teachable Perks have been removed from the Shrine of Secrets
Purchasing a Perk on the Shrine of Secrets now immediately unlocks that Perk on all Killers / Survivors at the displayed Tier level
- Tier 1 - 2,000 Iridescent Shards
- Tier 2 - 4,000 Iridescent Shards
- Tier 3 - 6,000 Iridescent Shards
You must purchase Tier 1 before you can purchase Tier 2, and Tier 2 before Tier 3, unless you have already unlocked the Perk via the Prestige System
Having the perk already available via the Prestige System discounts the price:
- Tier 1 via Prestige - 2,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 2, 4,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 3
- Tier 2 via Prestige - 2,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 3
The same Perk may be purchased multiple times on a single rotation of Shrine of Secrets
Purchasing a Perk that you already have at Tier 3 will convert the Iridescent Shards to 100,000
Bloodpoints
- This can only be done once Shrine of Secrets rotation per Perk (maximum of 4 times on a single rotation, assuming you have all 4 Perks already at Tier 3)

Matchmaking Incentives

Matchmaking Incentives have been added to the game
- Not available to players who have Cross-Play disabled
When the Survivor:Killer ratio in the active Matchmaking queue drifts too far from optimal (4:1), players will receive BP bonuses to enter the queue as the needed role
- Note: Players can also expect queues with a large Incentive bonus to have faster queue times!
Matchmaking Incentives will appear on the Main menu and in the Lobby next to the Ready button

Made UI layout changes to accommodate the new Prestige Crest on multiple screens
Character Info button has been moved to the side tabs in the Lobby UI
Replaced Character Swap buttons/prompts with a Previous/Next button in the Lobby UI footer

Optimization

Optimized the Doctor's performance

Dev Note: The Doctor currently has one of the largest impacts on performance for Killers. These performance optimizations should help improve that on all platforms.

Changes from PTB

Reduced Prestige node cost from 50,000 to 20,000
Increased Bloodpoint Category caps from 8,000 to 10,000
Increased Global Bloodpoint soft-cap from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000
Rules for converting Prestige levels from the old system to the new system have been made more rewarding, but with a maximum starting point of Prestige 9
Reworked the Prestige Portrait reward for players who had already reached Prestige 3 on a character
Reworked the Prestige Perk Charm visuals
Reworked the Prestige Crest visuals

Dev Note: We received a lot of feedback on the PTB about the grind not being reduced enough when only focusing on a few characters, especially in relation to the cost of the Prestige node on the bloodweb. In response, we have reduced the BP cost of the Prestige node as well as raising various BP caps to allow for more BP to be earned, stocked up, and spent. We've additionally adjusted the transition rules for the Prestige system in such a way that players who reached Prestige 3 in the old system will immediately be Prestige 9 and thus unlock all associated perks, cosmetics, and charms immediately for the character.

Endurance no longer stops a Survivor from going down if they have Deep Wound
Dead Hard's Endurance duration reduced from 1 second to 0.5 seconds
Off The Record is now disabled when the Exit Gates are powered
Overcharge's regression has been reduced from 100%-400% to 75%-200%
Botany Knowledge now has a Medkit efficiency penalty of -20%
Spine Chill now has additional Terror Radius visual feedback
Inner Focus no longer has a distance restriction on viewing scratch marks

Dev Note: On the PTB we saw many instances where Survivors were able to queue up several instances of Endurance one after the other, and being able to tank far too many additional hits. Changing Endurance to not trigger when a player has Deep Wounds will prevent this from being as effective, as Survivors will now need to mend the Deep Wound in order to benefit from Endurance a second time. Off The Record was also proving to be too strong during the end game, since there are no required Conspicuous Actions at that point, and will now disable once the gates have been powered.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue that caused players to experience rubber banding during gameplay
Fixed an issue that caused the Dredge's head to clip through the camera when teleporting to a locker
Fixed an issue that caused the Hillbilly to be able to use his momentum to reach inaccessible areas
Fixed an issue that caused the Artist's Scanning Crows not to reveal Killer Instinct on Survivors in the dying state
Fixed an issue that caused Lucky Break perk to activate during the camera pan at the start of the match when having the No Mither perk equipped
Fixed an issue that caused the extra fatigue duration from chain blinks to be unaffected by the Nurse's Catatonic Boy's Treasure add-on
Fixed an issue that caused the Built To Last perk to continue recharging the item when interrupted going into a locker
Fixed an issue that caused the aura reading effect from the Knock Out perk to apply to Survivors that are downed by other means than the Killers basic attack
Fixed an issue that caused the skill check wiggle UI to briefly appear after succeeding a Decisive Strike skill check
Fixed an issue that caused the Decisive Strike perk to remain active indefinitely if the Killer is stunned when the skill check need is in the success zone
Fixed an issue that caused the Invigorated status effect from the Clown's Afterpiece Antidote to last longer when exiting a gas cloud as it activates
Fixed an issue that caused the Legion's Feral Frenzy combo not to reset when blinding them mid lunge attack
Fixed an issue that caused the Wraith's "Shadow Dance" - White add-on to increase the locker opening speed while cloaked
Fixed an issue that could cause the healing progress bar to remain on screen after the healing action is completed when affected by the Hemorrhage status effect
Fixed an issue that caused only one Survivor to grunt when one or more Survivors stopping the healing action while affected by the Hemorrhage status effect when close by to each other
Fixed an issue that caused cleansing a totem while under the Broken status effect to still activate the Inner Healing perk when the broken status effect ends
Fixed an issue that caused the "Brand New Part" add-on to bypass the Survivors screaming when the Eruption and Scourge hook: Pain Resonance perks are triggered
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to recover indefinitely with Soul Guard once affected by the Hex: Plaything or Hex: Pentimento perks
Fixed an issue that caused the Haste status effect icon to be missing when affected by Hex: Devour Hope
Fixed an issue that caused the Hex: Undying perk to reveal Survivor auras when they are near a Boon Totem
Fixed an issue that caused the Deathbound perk not to give progress to the Punch Drunk achievement (trophy for Sony platforms)
Fixed an issue that caused the Pig's Ambush Dash animation to freeze when hitting an asset
Fixed an issue that caused a missing animation when vaccinating another Survivor
Fixed an issue that caused a missing animation when Survivors open an exit gate while injured and contaminated by the Nemesis' T-Virus
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare's Dream Pallet placing animation to be missing
Fixed an issue that caused the Hag's trigger range add-ons (Bog Water, Bloodied Water, Bloodied Mud) to have no functionality
Fixed an issue that caused the Cannibal's Shop Lubricant add-on not to hide the auras of downed Survivors when using the chainsaw
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare's Pill Bottle add-on not to make him invisible to awake Survivors after dropping and picking up a Survivor
Fixed an issue that caused the Madness Tier II effect of the Doctor's "Calm" add-ons not to match the description
Fixed an issue that caused the Flashbang and Firecracker items to be unusable when running down stairs
Fixed an issue that caused the Streetwise perk to remain active in the area when the Survivor with it was Sacrificed, Killed or disconnected
Fixed an issue that caused the Adrenaline perk to give progress to the Generosity challenges
Fixed an issue that caused the Heroic Virtue challenge to gain progress when the Killer disconnects
Fixed an issue that caused the Kinship perk not to give clear feedback when the perk is activated
Fixed an issue that caused the Nemesis' Prestige outfit to have a hole in the hand
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the Killer to not be able to pick up a Survivor who's downed on the basement stairs after using ''Dead Hard''
Fixed an issue that caused equipped charms to not appear for other survivors in a survivor lobby
Fixed an issue where the Hillbilly's chainsaw revving sound effect does not continue for the entire duration of the charge animation
Fixed an issue that caused the Conscious Concoction charm UI icon to appear different from its actual model
Fixed an issue that caused survivor bots to toggle their flashlights rapidly
Fixed an issue that caused some users to be unable to remove EGS friends from their friends list.
Fixed an issue that could cause the daily rituals screen to soft-lock the application
Fixed an issue that could cause a loss of progress when launching the game on 6.1.0 for the first time
Fixed an issue that caused items, addons and offerings to not be lost after a trial
Fixed an issue that caused legacy character customizations to disappear after rebooting the game on 6.1.0
Fixed an issue that enabled a Killer to body block the access to the basement in the main building in Junkyard
Fixed an issue where the Killer is unable to go through a specific spot on Lerys Memorial Institute.
Fixed an issue where the Killer can't pick up a downed Survivor on top of the logs in Garden of Joy
Fixed an issue where a pile of debris in Lery Memorial blocks the Blight when using Blighted Corruption power
Fixed an issue that caused an invisible collision preventing Killers to access the basement in Coal Tower
Fixed an issue that caused a generator that couldn't be repaired on one side in Dead Dawg Saloon
Fixed an issue that caused a green glyph that can't be interacted with in Midwich Elementary School
Fixed an issue where some rocks can be climbed on by stepping around it in Garden of Joy
Fxed an issue where survivors are able to reach on top of the shelf barrels in Gideon Meat Plant
Fixed an issue that caused the hatch to sometimes spawn inside the basement
Fixed an issue that caused the Jigsaw's Annotated Plan add-on to remove 30 seconds from the reverse bear trap timer instead of 10 when the last generator is completed
Fixed an issue that may cause succeeding a Brand New Part skill check not to give generator repair progress
Fixed an issue that may cause survivors to be unable to exit some lockers when facing the Trickster.
Fixed an issue that caused some green glyphs not to be accessible
Fixed an issue that make Mikaela's hair to not have the white outline aura from the Nightmare's POV in the Dream State
Fixed an issue that caused the smoke cloud to appear as small repeated patterns in the Punishment of the Damned VFX
Fixed an issue that caused the VFX of Ghost Face's Glacial Shroud to be seen through fog

Audio

Characters

Fixed an issue where the Hillbilly's chainsaw revving SFX does not continue for the entire duration of the charge animation
Fixed an issue where the wrong audio cue would be called when selecting a Survivor from the Role Selection menu
Fixed an issue where the female survivors voice over would not follow the character's mouth movement when being hooked
Fixed an issue where only one Survivor would grunt when two Survivors would stop healing closely at the same time while being affected by Hemorrhage
Fixed an issue where, in some rare instances, some Killer's Bloodweb sound would be stuck in an infinite loop
Added Entries for Tome 12 of the Archives

Perks

Fixed an issue where the Tenacity perk would only reduce grunts of pain after Survivors would move from their initial falling point
Added a new audio indicator when losing a token when Distortion hides a player's aura

General

Fixed an issue where multiple instances of the same audio cues would play in menus
Fixed an issue where when a Killer would hit a wooden table, the incorrect surface sound would be played
Fixed an issue where the small pole Generators would fail to throw confetti and would not play the correct SFX once completed in specific maps
Fixed an issue where when changing from the Play As Killer menu to the Store, the Killer's sound effects would be missing
Fixed an issue where there was no audio cue when a Killers would be stunned while under the effect of the Orange Glyph
Audio optimisation pass on Midwich Elementary School to prevent audio cuts

Platform specific

Xbox One

Fixed an issue where the game would crash when muting the game on Xbox One

Nintendo Switch

Fixed an issue where after extended periods of play, the application would run out of memory after quitting the Tally Screen

Fixed from PTB

Fixed an issue that caused the post unhook endurance and speed bonus timers to start during the animation instead of at the end
Fixed an issue that caused the sparks emitted by a generator to be too intense when damaged
Fixed an issue that caused Hex: Ruin to deactivate at the beginning of the hook sacrifice animation instead of the end
Fixed an issue that may cause the application to crash when the Hex: No One Escapes Death perk is used
Fixed an issue that caused killers not to see the Haste status icon when the Hex: No One Escapes Death perk activates
Fixed an issue that caused the Exposed icon to disappear when Hex: No One Escapes Death is transferred to the Hex: Undying totem
Fixed an issue that caused killers not to be able to kill the survivors when having 5 tokens on the Hex: Devour Hope perk
Fixed an issue that caused the Hex: Devour Hope Exposed effect not to be revealed when injuring survivors using certain killer powers
Fixed an issue that caused the Lethal Pursuer perk not to reveal survivors' auras for the correct duration at the start of the trial
Fixed an issue that caused the aura reveal duration from some of The Shape's add-ons not to be increased by the Lethal Pursuer perk
Fixed an issue that caused survivors under the effects of the Prove Thyself perk not to see the perk icon or the yellow progress bar
Fixed an issue that caused the repair speed bonus not to be applied when a survivor is already working on a generator when it becomes revealed by the Déjà Vu perk
Fixed an issue that caused the repair speed bonus to continue to be applied when a survivor is working on a generator that stops being revealed by the Déjà Vu perk
Fixed an issue that caused survivors under the Broken status effect to be healed to full health when removing the Plague's sickness at a fountain
Fixed an issue that caused some HUD elements to become hidden for the remainder of the trial after switching to Victor when playing as the Twins
Fixed an issue that caused several actions not to be blocked during the tutorial
Fixed an issue that caused Bill's cigarette smoke to be misaligned

Known Issues

Warrior Goddess for Feng Min has been disabled to prevent a crash
The Rancor perk activates when the hatch is closed regardless of how many generators were left
The Nightmare is unable to place Dream Snares in the kitchen in Badham Preschool
Bloodweb cap has been increased to 2 million bloodpoint, even though the tooltip still read as 1 million
The matchmaking incentives warning is cutoff in Play as Killer and Survivor
The matchmaking incentives text is present in Play as Killer without having the BloodPoint Bonus
Tome 12 Archive Collection video does not play properly on Stadia
Terror Radius feedback on Spine Chill functions in reverse (ie Drains as the TR gets louder, instead of filling)

Jul 12, 2022

Developer Update | July 2022

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

Late last month, we revealed possibly the largest balance patch in Dead by Daylight’s history along with an overhaul to the progression system. We’ve kept an extra close eye on feedback since these updates hit the Public Test Build (PTB) last week. In this special edition of the Developer Update, we’ll be covering all the changes we’ll be making to the Mid-Chapter following the 6.1.0 PTB.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our June Developer Update for more information on what’s changing in the upcoming Mid-Chapter, or watch our Mid-Chapter Preview Livestream.

Progression

We’d like to start things off by talking about the overhauled progression system, in which perks are unlocked immediately through prestige rather than needing to be found in the bloodweb. While these changes make it far easier to collect the various perks on all your characters, we’ve received some feedback regarding the difficulty of obtaining add-ons. To remedy this, we’ll be making a few changes.

First: We have increased the Bloodpoint caps per category to 10,000 (from 8,000). By increasing these caps, you can potentially earn up to 40,000 Bloodpoints per match instead of 32,000, allowing you to purchase more nodes on the bloodweb. At the same time, this allows you to earn more points in a category before capping out, making matches where you’re pigeonholed into a certain role a little more rewarding.

Second: In a future update, we will revisit the rarity of Bloodweb nodes after prestiging. Currently resetting to level 1 also makes common quality nodes far more- well, common. If your favourite add-ons happen to be rare or very rare, prestiging may have made collecting them difficult. This change will make it easier to find a wider variety of add-ons, of both lower and higher rarities.

Beyond add-ons, we’ve also received some feedback on the cost of prestiging. In the PTB, the prestige node cost 50,000 Bloodpoints. While it may not sound like much, it could take several games to afford. We are reducing the cost of this node to 20,000 Bloodpoints to make progressing a little smoother.

Speaking of Bloodpoints, the 1,000,000 cap has long been a topic for discussion, and we felt this was a fitting time to revisit it. We are raising the cap to 2,000,000 Bloodpoints. As always, bonus Bloodpoints from things like login rewards, promocodes, or player support will exceed this cap.

Finally, we’ve made a tweak to our catch-up mechanic, which awards you bonus prestige levels based on your progress prior to this overhaul going live. This is based on the number of perk tiers you’ve unlocked on a character as well as their prestige.

In the PTB, we awarded one bonus prestige level for each prestige your characters had prior to the PTB. For the full Mid-Chapter release, we have increased this to 2 bonus prestige levels. This means if your character was prestige 3 before the update, they are guaranteed to be prestige 9 after the update, granting all the new rewards immediately. The catch-up mechanic will be limited to prestige 9, however, even if the calculated bonus would exceed this.

Gameplay Changes

When changing base mechanics and close to 40 perks in a single update, some wacky interactions and powerful strategies are bound to appear. We went into the PTB hoping the community would experiment and abuse these changes to their fullest potential- and you did not disappoint! Thanks to your feedback on the PTB, we have a few changes in the works for the Mid-Chapter’s release.

Endurance

The Endurance effect has been a hot topic for discussion since the PTB went live. Historically this status effect has been used very sparingly, but with the advent of new ways to get the effect, some of you made it your personal mission to chain together as many Endurance effects as you could.

While this is technically working as designed, avoiding multiple hits in a row is not something that we want to see. As a result, the Endurance effect will no longer protect you from going down if you already have the Deep Wound status effect. This effectively limits the number of hits you can avoid with Endurance to 1 (until you mend your wounds), keeping it as a powerful effect than can be included on various perks while providing a hard limit to how powerful it can be.

As a note, you may still gain the Endurance status effect while you have Deep Wounds. This is intended: While it won’t prevent you from avoiding a hit, it will take effect if you’re able to mend your wounds while the effect is still active.

Perks

While we’re comfortable sending most of the updated perks to the Live version of the game, there were a few outliers in the PTB that we wanted to take a second look at before release.

As a reminder, the Public Test Builds typically do not have enough players for ranked matchmaking to work effectively. Therefore, everyone is paired together, regardless of their skill level. This can make it a little tricky to fine tune balance during a PTB. The changes below address some glaring issues spotted during the test, but they are by no means the only changes the updated perks may receive.

We’ll be closely monitoring the performance of each of the updated perks once they go live and making tweaks as needed. These tweaks would be made as soon as possible, not necessarily postponed until the next Mid-Chapter.

Spine Chill now activates when the Killer has a clear line of sight to you. After revealing this change, many voiced their concerns about how this would affect hard-of-hearing players who relied on Spine Chill as a replacement for the terror radius. While we don’t want accessibility to fall on perks, we also do not want to remove this aspect of the perk until we’re able to implement a more permanent solution. For release, we have added a visual indicator to Spine Chill’s icon that displays the terror radius’ strength.

In the future, we would like to revisit this and implement a permanent solution that does not require a perk. Only once this happens, the terror radius indicator will be removed from Spine Chill.

Dead Hard now grants the Endurance status effect when activated instead of causing you to dash. In the PTB, the duration of the status effect was set to 1 second. This gave Survivors a long window to dodge a hit when Dead Hard was used. For the Mid-Chapter’s release, we are reducing this to 0.5 seconds, requiring more precise timing to use effectively.

Balance aside, we’ve also seen some feedback on Dead Hard’s animation. The PTB version of Dead Hard uses a modified version of the original animation, but this isn’t ideal. In a future update, we’ll replace Dead Hard’s animation with a refined version designed to better match its new effect.

Off the Record now grants Endurance in addition to its existing effects. Some of you pointed out that like Decisive Strike, Off the Record could give Survivors a guaranteed escape once the gates are powered. As a result, this perk will deactivate and remove its effects once the gates are powered.

As mentioned earlier in this post, the Endurance effect will also no longer protect you from damage if you already have the Deep Wound status effect, making it very impractical to dodge subsequent hits. As with all Endurance effects, the effect is cancelled prematurely if you perform a Conspicuous Action.

Overcharge now causes a generator’s regression to gradually speed up after you damage a generator, in addition to its existing effects. On the PTB, this was set to grow from 100% speed to 400% speed over the course of 30 seconds. We found this to be a little extreme- especially when paired with Call of Brine- causing generators to quickly lose all their progress. This is particularly noticeable with solo Survivors who aren’t able to communicate that their nearly completed generator is regressing.

For the release, this is being toned down: The generator will start regressing at 75% speed and increase to 200% speed over the course of 30 seconds. If you’re curious, Overcharge becomes faster than the default regression after only 12 seconds. Overcharge can still be combined with Call of Brine to offset the reduced speed.

Botany Knowledge increases your healing speed far more than before, but no longer provides Med-Kit efficiency. While this change made the perk more appealing to the healers out there, it could be a little too powerful with Med-Kits. To remedy this, Botany Knowledge will receive a 20% efficiency penalty to Med-Kits. While this may sound minor, even a slight reduction to efficiency can cause Med-Kits to run out of charges before you can finish a heal.

Distortion prevents your aura from being revealed to the Killer and can now be recharged by staying inside their terror radius. As a small quality of life improvement, Distortion will now have an audio cue when a token is used. This will make the effects harder to miss.

Iron Will now reduces your grunts of pain by 75% rather than making you silent, and no longer works while Exhausted. We’ve seen some feedback concerning the volume of certain Survivors compared to others, causing this perk to be less effective on Survivors with louder grunts of pain. In a future update, we’ll be reviewing the volume levels of each Survivor’s grunts to ensure that each of them can make use of this perk.

Inner Focus was unchanged on the PTB, but it will be receiving a small tweak in time for the release. Currently Inner Focus allows you to see the scratch marks of other Survivors within 32m. We’re removing the range requirement entirely, letting those with a keen eye spot distant scratch marks too.

We’ll continue monitoring the updated perks once the Mid-Chapter goes live and readjust as needed.

Visual Changes

The progression overhaul came paired with several new cosmetic details, including new charms and effects. Unfortunately, the feedback to some of these new elements in the PTB was less than stellar. We want these rewards to feel like a satisfying payoff for the effort they take to earn, so we’ve taken your feedback into consideration and iterated on each of them.

Perk Charms

Reaching prestige 7, 8, and 9 will each unlock one of that character’s unique perks as a charm, allowing you to showcase both your favourite perks and your dedication to your favourite characters. On the PTB, these charms had the perk’s icon on a red background. While these certainly stood out in a match, many felt they lacked the flair that such a reward should have.

Going forward, these charms will have a purple background like the actual Tier 3 perk and feature a golden border.

Character Portrait Effect

Those who reach prestige 3 prior to the progression overhaul will receive a special effect on their character’s portrait to commemorate their achievement. On the PTB, this effect appeared as yellow orbs drifting across their portrait. For the full release, this effect has been replaced entirely with animated scratch marks. Additionally, the effect will appear between the character and the background rather than on top of the character. As with on the PTB, you can disable this effect in the options menu if desired.

Prestige Icons

With prestige now extended all the way to 100, we unveiled some new icons to showcase your prestige level. This icon becomes more intricate and lavish the further you raise your prestige level. We’ve made some slight improvements following the PTB and added gold trim to all prestige icons, giving even the lowest prestiges some well-deserved flair.

With that, we’ve reached the end of this special edition of the Developer Update. The Mid-Chapter is expected to release later this month. As always, please be sure to share your feedback with us once you’ve had a chance to give these changes a try!

The Dead by Daylight team

Jun 29, 2022

6.1.0 | Public Test Build

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

Important

Progress & save data information has been copied from the Live game to our PTB servers on June 20, 2022. 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.
To facilitate testing of the new progression system, PTB players will receive a large sum of Bloodpoints when logging in. Please note that these Bloodpoints are only for the test build, and as with all progress on the PTB, do not transfer to the live version of the game

Features

Gameplay

Generators take 90 seconds for a single survivor to repair (was 80 seconds)
Killers kicking a generator now immediately cause a 2.5% loss of progress in addition to starting regression
Bloodlust trigger times have been reduced to 15 seconds for Tier 1, 25 seconds for Tier 2, and 35 seconds for Tier 3 (was 15 seconds, 25 seconds, and 45 seconds)
The following Killer actions have been sped up by 10%:
- Time to kick a pallet or wall has been reduced to 2.34 seconds (was 2.6 seconds)
- Time to kick a generator has been reduced to 1.8 seconds (was 2 seconds)
- Cooldown time after a successful hit has been reduced to 2.7 seconds (was 3 seconds)
Duration of the Survivor speed boost when hit has been reduced to 1.8 seconds (was 2 seconds)
Survivors now have a modified version of Borrowed Time as a baseline ability, no perk required
- Unhooked Survivors now get a 7% movement speed bonus and Endurance for 5 seconds
- The speed bonus and Endurance effect are removed if the Survivor performs a Conspicuous Action
New Term - Conspicuous Actions
- Includes: Repairing a Generator, healing yourself or others, cleansing or blessing a Totem, sabotaging a hook, unhooking a survivor, and opening an exit gate
- Added a new section and description to the Game Manual
Endurance status effect is now cancelled by Conspicuous Actions

Killer Perks

Barbecue and Chili

Removed Bloodpoint bonus

Corrupt Intervention

Added: Corrupt Intervention deactivates when any Survivor enters the dying state
Note: The perk still deactivates after 2 minutes if no Survivor has entered the dying state

Coulrophobia

Added: Healing Skill Checks move 50% faster for Survivors under the effect of this perk

Dark Devotion

Now triggers when a Survivor loses a health state by any means (was just basic attacks)

Eruption

Increased Generator reduction when a Survivor enters the dying state to 10% (was 6%)
Increased duration of Incapacitated status effect to 15/20/25 seconds (was 12/14/16 seconds)

Hex: No One Escapes Death

Added: Once the Hex's effect is revealed to the Survivors, its Hex Totem's aura is shown to the Survivors at a range of 4 meters. This range increases steadily over the next 30 seconds to 24 meters

Hex: Ruin

Added: Once any Survivor is killed by any means, the Hex: Ruin Totem reverts to a Dull Totem

Jolt

Removed the cooldown

Knock Out

Added: Recovery speed is reduced by 25% for Survivors under the effect of this perk

Lethal Pursuer

Added: Any time a Survivor's aura is shown for a period of time, its duration is increased by 2 seconds
Note: The new effect applies to the duration of the normal Lethal Pursuer effect, which means it effectively reveals survivors for 9/10/11 seconds at the start of the match

Monstrous Shrine

Reworked - This perk is now Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine
Scourge Hooks grant 10/15/20% faster Entity progression if the Killer is not within 24 meters. Basement hooks count as Scourge Hooks

Overcharge

Added: After Overcharge is applied to a generator, its regression speed increases from 100% of normal to 400% of normal over the next 30 seconds

Pop Goes the Weasel

Changed regression to be 20% of current progress (was 25% of total)
Note: This is calculated after the new baseline regression when kicking a generator

Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain

Increased Healing and Repairing speed penalty to 10/13/16% (was 7/8/9%)

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

Removed scream effect on Survivors repairing the exploding generator, generator will spark to show regression

Thanatophobia

Increased individual penalties for repairing, sabotaging, and Totem cleansing to 4.5/5/5.5% (was 4/4.5/5%)
Increased maximum penalty to 18/20/22% (was 16/18/20%)

Tinkerer

Added: This effect can only be triggered once on each generator

Survivor Perks

Borrowed Time

Reworked to account for the baseline version of the effect
Survivors you unhook keep their Endurance status effect for an extra 6/8/10 seconds and their movement speed bonus for an extra 10 seconds

Botany Knowledge

Removed Med-Kit efficiency bonus
Increased healing speed bonus to 30/40/50% (was 11/22/33%)

Calm Spirit

Increased change to avoid alerting crows to 100% (was 80/90/100%)
Added: Allows you to open chests and cleanse/bless totems silently, but at 40/35/30% reduced speed

Dark Sense

Reworked: Each time a generator is completed, Dark Sense activates. While Dark Sense is active, the Killer entering a 24-meter radius around you reveals their aura for 5/7/10 seconds. Once the aura's duration expires, Dark Sense deactivates
Note: The effect triggers if the Killer is already within 24 meters when the perk is activated

Dead Hard

Removed the dash / dodge element of the perk
Activating Dead Hard now grants the Survivor Endurance for 1 second
An animation plays when activated so Killers can see when the perk is used without the Survivor being hit

Decisive Strike

Added: The perk and its effects are disabled if the exit gates are powered
The perk is now disabled when the Survivor performs a Conspicuous Action (Defined earlier in the patch notes under the Gameplay section)
Stun duration is now 3s down from 5s

Déjà Vu

Added: Gain a 5% repair speed bonus on the generators revealed by Déjà Vu

Distortion

Reduced the starting tokens to 3 (was 4)
Removed stipulation preventing the perk from activating when in a Killer Trap
Added: Regain a token for each 30 seconds spent inside the Killer's Terror Radius. Distortion may not have more than 3 tokens

Hope

Removed time limit

Iron Will

Reduced the grunts of pain volume reduction to 25/50/75% (was 50/75/100%)
Added: Does not function while Exhausted. Does not inflict Exhausted

Lightweight

Increased reduction of scratch mark duration to 3/4/5 seconds (was 1/2/3 seconds)
Added: Your scratch marks are spaced inconsistently

Lucky Break

Added: For each 1 second spent healing another Survivor, increase Lucky Break's duration by 1 second. Lucky Break's duration cannot increase beyond its starting value

No One Left Behind

Now triggers when the Exit Gates are powered (was triggered when an Exit Gate was opened)
Added: When unhooking a Survivor, they gain a 7%movement bonus for 10 seconds

Off the Record

Added: Gain the Endurance status effect

Overzealous

Increased repair speed buff to 6/7/8% (was 4/5/6%)
Added: This bonus is doubled if you cleanse an Hex totem

Pharmacy

Now guarantees an Emergency Med-Kit in every chest (was just the first chest opened), when injured

Saboteur

Scourge Hooks now have a yellow aura when a Survivor is being carried

Self-Care

Reduced the self heal speed to 25/30/35% (was 50%)
Removed Med-Kit efficiency bonus

Sole Survivor

Added: When you're the last Survivor alive, gain 75% action speed when repairing generators and 50% action speed while opening an exit gate or the Hatch

Spine Chill

Reworked: Get notified when the Killer within a 36-meter range. If the Killer is within range and is looking at you with a clear line of sight, your speed while repairing, sabotaging, healing, unhooking, cleansing, blessing, opening exit gates and unlocking is increased by 2%/4%/6%. The effects of Spine Chill linger for 0.5 seconds after the Killer looks away or is out of range

Tenacity

Added: Grunts of pain while in the dying state have their volume reduced by 75%

We're Gonna Live Forever

Reworked: When healing another Survivor in the dying state, your healing speed is increased by 100%. Additionally, performing any of the following actions activates this perk's secondary function: Perform a Safe Hook Rescue, Take a hit to protect a Survivor, Rescue a Survivor by stunning the Killer with a pallet, Rescue a Survivor by blinding the Killer with a Flashlight. When this perk's secondary function is active, healing another Survivor out of the dying state grants them Endurance for 6/8/10 seconds and deactivates the secondary function

Progression

The Progression and Prestige systems have been reworked

IMPORTANT: No existing perks, items, or cosmetics will be lost if they are already unlocked on a character, even if having them would contradict the rules of the new system
Prestiging no longer removes any items, add-ons, offerings, perks, or perk slots
Teachable Perks have been removed from the Bloodweb
Level 51 in the Bloodweb requires the character to Prestige, costing 50,000 Bloodpoints
Characters can now each be prestiged up to 100 times
Prestiging a character has the following rewards:
- Prestige 1: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 1
- Prestige 2: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 2
- Prestige 3: The character's perks are immediately unlocked for use on all other Killers / Survivors at Tier 3
- Prestige 4-6: Bloodied cosmetic items (when available for the specific character)
- Prestige 7-9: Perk Charms for the character's perks
Existing players will have their characters granted prestige levels in the new system based on the following:
- 1 level per existing Prestige level (maximum of 3)
- If the character has 70 or more Perks unlocked (Counting each tier of a perk separately):
  - 1 level for 70-119 Perks
  - 2 levels for 120-169 Perks
  - 3 levels for 170-219 Perks
  - 4 levels for 220-269 Perks
  - 5 levels for 270-319 Perks
  - 6 levels for 320+ Perks
Existing unlocked Teachable Perks will immediately grant access to Tier 1 of that Perk on all characters if no other mechanic has already granted access to the Perk
Added unique Prestige Crest artwork for each prestige level
Added a Prestige legacy effect to the character portraits that can be toggled in the Settings menu

Shrine of Secrets

Teachable Perks have been removed from the Shrine of Secrets
Purchasing a Perk on the Shrine of Secrets now immediately unlocks that Perk on all Killers / Survivors at the displayed Tier level
- Tier 1 - 2,000 Iridescent Shards
- Tier 2 - 4,000 Iridescent Shards
- Tier 3 - 6,000 Iridescent Shards
You must purchase Tier 1 before you can purchase Tier 2, and Tier 2 before Tier 3, unless you have already unlocked the Perk via the Prestige System
Having the perk already available via the Prestige System discounts the price:
- Tier 1 via Prestige - 2,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 2, 4,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 3
- Tier 2 via Prestige - 2,000 Iridescent Shards for Tier 3
The same Perk may be purchased multiple times on a single rotation of Shrine of Secrets
Purchasing a Perk that you already have at Tier 3 will convert the Iridescent Shards to 100,000 Bloodpoints
- This can only be done once Shrine of Secrets rotation per Perk (maximum of 4 times on a single rotation, assuming you have all 4 Perks already at Tier 3)

Matchmaking Incentives

Matchmaking Incentives have been added to the game
- Not available to players who have Cross-Play disabled
When the Survivor:Killer ratio in the active Matchmaking queue drifts too far from optimal (4:1), players will receive BP bonuses to enter the queue as the needed role
- Note: Players can also expect queues with a large Incentive bonus to have faster queue times!
Matchmaking Incentives will appear on the Main menu and in the Lobby next to the Ready button

Made UI layout changes to accommodate the new Prestige Crest on multiple screens
Character Info button has been moved to the side tabs in the Lobby UI
Replaced Character Swap buttons/prompts with a Previous/Next button in the Lobby UI footer

Optimization

Optimized the Doctor's performance

Dev Note: The Doctor currently has one of the largest impacts on performance for Killers. These performance optimizations should help improve that on all platforms

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue that caused the Dredge's head to clip through the camera when teleporting to a locker
Fixed an issue that caused the Hillbilly to be able to use his momentum to reach inaccessible areas
Fixed an issue that caused the Artist's Scanning Crows not to reveal Killer Instinct on Survivors in the dying state
Fixed an issue that caused Lucky Break perk to activate during the camera pan at the start of the match when having the No Mither perk equipped
Fixed an issue that caused the extra fatigue duration from chain blinks to be unaffected by the Nurse's Catatonic Boy's Treasure add-on
Fixed an issue that caused the Built To Last perk to continue recharging the item when interrupted going into a locker
Fixed an issue that caused the aura reading effect from the Knock Out perk to apply to Survivors that are downed by other means than the Killers basic attack
Fixed an issue that caused the skill check wiggle UI to briefly appear after succeeding a Decisive Strike skill check
Fixed an issue that caused the Decisive Strike perk to remain active indefinitely if the Killer is stunned when the skill check need is in the success zone
Fixed an issue that caused the Invigorated status effect from the Clown's Afterpiece Antidote to last longer when exiting to gas cloud as it activates
Fixed an issue that caused the Legion's Feral Frenzy combo not to reset when blinding them mid lunge attack
Fixed an issue that caused the Wraith's "Shadow Dance" - White add-on to increase the locker opening speed while cloaked
Fixed an issue that could cause the healing progress bar to remain on screen after the healing action is completed when affected by the Hemorrhage status effect
Fixed an issue that caused only one Survivor to grunt when one or more Survivors stopping the healing action while affected by the Hemorrhage status effect when close by to each other
Fixed an issue that caused cleansing a totem while under the Broken status effect to still activate the Inner Healing perk when the broken status effect ends
Fixed an issue that caused the "Brand New Part" add-on to bypass the Survivors screaming when the Eruption and Scourge hook: Pain Resonance perks are triggered
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to recover indefinitely with Soul Guard once affected by the Hex: Plaything or Hex: Pentimento perks
Fixed an issue that caused the Haste status effect icon to be missing when affected by Hex: Devour Hope
Fixed an issue that caused the Hex: Undying perk to reveal Survivor auras when they are near a Boon Totem
Fixed an issue that caused the Deathbound perk not to give progress to the Punch Drunk achievement (trophy for Sony platforms)
Fixed an issue that caused the Pig's Ambush Dash animation to freeze when hitting an asset
Fixed an issue that caused a missing animation when vaccinating another Survivor
Fixed an issue that caused a missing animation when Survivors open an exit gate while injured and contaminated by the Nemesis' T-Virus
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare's Dream Pallet placing animation to be missing
Fixed an issue that caused the Hag's trigger range add-ons (Bog Water, Bloodied Water, Bloodied Mud) to have no functionality
Fixed an issue that caused the Cannibal's Shop Lubricant add-on not to hide the auras of downed Survivors when using the chainsaw
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare's Pill Bottle add-on not to make him invisible to awake Survivors after dropping and picking up a Survivor
Fixed an issue that caused the Madness Tier II effect of the Doctor's "Calm" add-ons not to match the description
Fixed an issue that caused the Flashbang and Firecracker items to be unusable when running down stairs
Fixed an issue that caused the Streetwise perk to remain active in the area when the Survivor with it was Sacrificed, Killed or disconnected
Fixed an issue that caused the Adrenaline perk to give progress to the Generosity challenges
Fixed an issue that caused the Heroic Virtue challenge to gain progress when the Killer disconnects
Fixed an issue that caused the Kinship perk not to give clear feedback when the perk is activated
Fixed an issue that caused the Nemesis' Prestige outfit to have a hole in the hand
Fixed an issue that caused some audio in the Menus to be played twice
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused the Killer to not being able to pick up a Survivor who's downed in the basement stairs after using ''Dead Hard''
Fixed an issue that caused equipped charms to not appear for other survivors in a survivor lobby
Fixed an issue where the Hillbilly's chainsaw revving sound effect does not continue for the entire duration of the charge animation
Fixed an issue where the wrong audio cue would be called when selecting a Survivor from the Role Selection menu
Fixed an issue where the female Survivors voice over would not follow the character's mouth movement when being hooked
Fixed an issue where only one Survivor would grunt when two Survivors would stop healing closely at the same time while being affected by Hemorrhage
Fixed an issue where, in some rare instances, some Killer's Bloodweb generation sound would be stuck in an infinite loop
Fixed an issue where the Tenacity perk would only reduce grunts of pain after Survivors would move from their initial falling point
Fixed an issue where multiple instances of the same audio cues would play in menus
Fixed an issue where when a Killer would hit a wooden table, the incorrect surface sound would be played
Fixed an issue where the small pole Generators would fail to throw confetti and would not play the correct SFX once completed in specific maps
Fixed an issue where when changing from the Play As Killer menu to the Store, the Killer's sound effects would be missing
Audio optimization pass on Midwich Elementary School map to prevent audio cuts

Known Issues

Charms acquired with DLC purchases may not appear in the inventory
Add-ons can appear in the warning state with available base item
The Ghost Face's chase music has erroneously been reverted back to the old one
Hex: Devour Hope does not get revealed to Survivors when they are injured by the Nemesis' zombies
The Game map has been disabled due to a bug in the environment art
The Dredge's Toy Chest and Glittering Mass Outfits have been disabled due to bugs with the bodies

Jun 24, 2022

Developer Update Part 2 | Meta Perk Changes and Non-Meta Perk Changes

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/381210/view/3347878488982136124.

During our 6th Anniversary Broadcast, we announced a new progression system and a meta-shifting perk overhaul. We’re thrilled to say that both initiatives will headline the upcoming Mid-Chapter.

From the onset, it was important for us to release these changes as a package. Our objective is to shake up the current meta, provide alternatives, and make perks easier to earn. We were also careful to consider the reasons why this meta exists and address any base game issues it may have been concealing.

In this post, we’ll be detailing the upcoming perk changes. All these changes will be available for testing in the Public Test Build (PTB) next week.

Meta Perk Changes

For this update, perk changes fall into one of two categories: meta perks that are used too often, and non-meta perks that serve a similar purpose but aren’t used as much.

We understand that many of you have grown attached to your favourite perks and loadouts. Unfortunately, shaking up the meta inevitably leads to a few changes. Rest assured that our goal is to provide alternatives that align with your preferred playstyle while widening the scope to include more viable perk options.

It’s also important to note that not every meta perk is equal, and each was considered on a case-by-case basis. So, what are Dead by Daylight’s meta perks? By referencing both community feedback and internal data, we can see that some perks stand above the rest.

For Killers: Barbecue and Chilli, Hex: Ruin, Pop Goes the Weasel, Corrupt Intervention, Tinkerer, Hex: No One Escapes Death, and Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance.

For Survivors: Dead Hard, Borrowed Time, Decisive Strike, Iron Will, Self-Care, and Spine Chill.

We’d like to share these graphs showcasing the ten most frequently used perks for both roles. These charts alone do not explain why the meta exists – for that, we turn to community feedback – but hopefully they provide context for how heavily these perks are used.

Killer Meta Perks

Barbecue and Chilli

Current effect: Upon hooking a Survivor, see the auras of distant Survivors for a short duration. Gain a stacking Bloodpoint bonus for each unique Survivor hooked.

This perk is incredibly popular not because it’s particularly powerful, but because of the huge amount of Bloodpoints it provides. Choosing to go into a match without it massively slows your progression.

We do not want Bloodpoints to be the driving factor behind perk choices, so we will be removing the Bloodpoint bonus. While we understand this change may seem shocking, please keep in mind that this update reduces the grind by about 75%, with matchmaking incentives providing an additional avenue for Bloodpoints.

We believe this is a necessary step in making other aura reading perks more appealing, as Bloodpoint gain will no longer be the deciding factor.

Hex: Ruin

Current effect: Generators regress automatically at an increased rate whenever a Survivor is not working on them as long as the associated Hex totem is standing.

A massive part of Hex: Ruin’s appeal is not having to stop and kick generators, as well as the ability to passively regress them from a distance. These aspects make Ruin a unique slowdown perk, so we are not looking to change them.

To bring Hex: Ruin in line with other perks, we are reducing the regression speed to 50/75/100% from 100/150/200%. This will reduce its power without destroying its primary appeal. After a Survivor is killed, Hex: Ruin will automatically deactivate.

Pop Goes the Weasel

Current effect: After hooking a Survivor, the next generator you kick within the time limit instantly loses 25% of its total progress.

Pop Goes the Weasel gives Killers a controlled way to remove significant progress from a generator of their choosing. Given that kicking a generator now removes 2.5% of its progress by default, we decided to tone down some numbers to compensate. This perk will now remove 20% of the generator’s current (not total) progress.

This change will make Pop Goes the Weasel very effective against generators that are nearly done, but weaker against those with a small amount of progress.

Corrupt Intervention

Current effect: At the start of the match, the three furthest generators are blocked for a while.
This perk makes the beginning of a match more manageable, forcing Survivors to extend deeper into the map before repairing a generator. We aren’t looking to change this aspect.

Moving forward, the perk will deactivate once a Survivor enters the dying state. We believe this change will keep Corrupt Intervention effective in helping the Killer build early game pressure, while providing a limit to its power.

Tinkerer

Current effect: When a generator reached 70% progress, receive a loud noise notification and become Undetectable for a short duration.

Tinkerer is a popular choice for the information it provides. Being able to prevent a generator from being powered is a game changer, particularly on Killers with high mobility. It can, however, become a little oppressive when paired with certain regression perks. Therefore, Tinkerer can now only activate once per generator – but with the base charges increased to 90, Killers will have extra time to approach.

Hex: No One Escapes Death (Or NOED, for short)

Current effect: When the exit gates are powered, all Survivors become exposed as long as the associated Hex totem is standing.

This perk makes for a very effective comeback tool, though it falls out of favour in high skill games. We like the way NOED encourages Survivors to pre-emptively cleanse Totems, so we are not looking to weaken its direct strength. Instead, Survivors will now see the Hex Totem’s aura within 4 meters upon activation. This range increases to 24m over the course of 30 seconds.

We believe this change will keep NOED a strong choice for endgame builds, while encouraging Survivors to find the Totem and attempt that last second save.

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

Current effect: Upon hooking a Survivor on a Scourge Hook, the generator with the most progress explodes, notifying the Killer and instantly loses a large chunk of progress.

The most recent addition to the meta, Pain Resonance allows the Killer to remove a sizable chunk from the most progressed generator simply by hooking a Survivor. A loud noise notification also allows the Killer to disrupt the Survivors before they can continue repairing. A “jack of all trades” of sorts, granting both a powerful regression effect and crucial information.

With that in mind, we are removing the loud noise notification. Instead of exploding, the affected generator will now spark upon losing progress, and Survivors will no longer scream. We believe this will ensure Pain Resonance remains a strong regression perk while limiting its informational aspect.

Survivor Meta Perks

Dead Hard

Current effect: When activated, become immune to damage and dash a short distance.

Dead Hard is by far the most used perk by Survivors, and it’s easy to see why. In the right hands, it acts like a third health state, allowing a Survivor to escape a situation where they would otherwise go down.

There are two main ways Dead Hard is used: To dodge a hit and for distance (to get to a nearby pallet or window). In the latter case, there’s not much a Killer can do. Therefore, Dead Hard will now provide the Endurance effect for 1 second when activated. If you time it right, you’ll prevent the hit and gain a movement speed boost.

This will remove “Dead Harding for distance” and make it solely used to dodge hits, which Killers can anticipate and even bait accordingly.

Decisive Strike

Current effect: After being unhooked, Decisive Strike activates for a long duration. When picked up, hit a special skill check to instantly wiggle free. Deactivates when used or when performing various actions.

One of Decisive Strike's main appeals is its efficacy at preventing tunneling. In light of the upcoming base game changes, we expect Decisive Strike to drop in usage slightly.

For the most part, we find the perk to be healthy for the game, and easily avoidable for Killers who choose not to tunnel an unhooked Survivor. That said, at the end of the match, there’s often nothing the Killer can do to prevent a Survivor with Decisive Strike from escaping.

Moving forward, Decisive Strike will now deactivate once the Exit Gates are powered. In addition, the stun duration has been reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds. We’ll also be simplifying the description of the perk: Decisive Strike will now be cancelled by Conspicuous Actions.

Borrowed Time

Current effect: Survivors you unhook gain the Endurance effect for a short duration, allowing them to ignore a hit that would otherwise put them in the dying state.

Much like Decisive Strike, this perk gets much of its popularity by granting counterplay against a camping Killer. Considering a lighter version of Borrowed Time’s effect has been added to the Survivor’s base kit, we need to update the perk accordingly.

Borrowed Time will now extend the duration of the Endurance effect of unhooked Survivors by 6/8/10 seconds and increase the movement speed bonus duration by 10 seconds for any Survivor you unhook. These effects will be cancelled if the unhooked Survivor performs a Conspicuous Action.

While the overall duration with Borrowed Time is longer than before, we expect that having a lighter version in the base kit will cause the usage rates to drop.

Iron Will

Current effect: Makes your grunts of pain silent.

This perk allows skilled players to mind-game more effectively in many areas by silencing grunts of pain. To address its high usage rates, we are lowering the grunts of pain reduction to 25/50/75%. Additionally, Iron Will is no longer active when Exhausted – though it will not cause Exhaustion itself.

Self-Care

Current effect: Unlocks the ability to heal yourself without a Med-Kit at 50% speed.

Though Self-Care has a divisive reputation among the community, we were surprised to find that its usage peaks in the highest skill matches. Having a consistent and reliable way to heal at will is a powerful tool in the right hands. On top of that, Self-Care increases the efficiency of Med-Kits, allowing Survivors to squeeze additional heals out of them.

To reduce its strength, Self-Care's heal speed will be lowered to 25/30/35%, and the item efficiency bonus has been removed entirely.

Spine Chill

Current effect: Activates when the Killer is nearby and looking in your direction, increasing action speeds and the chance for skill checks.

This perk excels at alerting Survivors when a Killer is approaching, and in high skill lobbies, the vault speed increase becomes the primary draw. There are a few aspects of this perk we would like to clean up.

Spine Chill will now only activate if the Killer has a clear line of sight to the Survivor. This will remove the awkward counterplay where the Killer must look away to ensure a stealthy approach.

Next, we’ll be adding a short (0.5 seconds) lingering effect to Spine Chill. This will prevent the perk icon from flickering when the Killer looks around and make the action speed boosts more consistent.

Finally, we’ll be removing the vault speed bonus entirely, as it does not suit the perk’s nature.

Non-Meta Perk Changes

Killer Perk Buffs

Overcharge

Along with its current effects, Overcharge will cause a kicked generator’s regression speed to grow from 100% to 400% over the course of 30 seconds. Survivors will want to stop this generator from regressing as soon as possible.

Eruption

Eruption released with fairly safe numbers, but upon reflection, we’re comfortable with increasing them. We have upped the generator regression penalty to 10% and the duration of the incapacitated effect to 15/20/25 seconds.

Knock Out

Those of you who like to leave Survivors on the ground can have a little more peace of mind. In addition to its current effect, Knock Out will cause dying Survivors to crawl 50% slower for 15 seconds and reduce their recovery speed by 25%.

Coulrophobia

To make healing in the Killer’s terror radius even more unappealing, Coulrophobia will now increase the speed of skill checks by 50% on top of its current effect.

Dark Devotion

This perk is great for confusing and sneaking up on Survivors, but the basic attack requirement makes it unappealing for certain Killers. Dark Devotion will now activate whenever the Obsession loses a health state.

Jolt

Jolt allows the Killer to regress generators simply by downing a Survivor. To make it more consistent and punish careless Survivor plays, we have removed the cooldown.

Lethal Pursuer

So, you like aura reading, huh? On top of the existing effect, Lethal Pursuer will now extend the duration of all aura reading effects by 2 seconds.

Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain

This perk also shipped with safer numbers, so we’ll be increasing the action speed penalty to 10/13/16%.

Thanatophobia

Another quick one: we are increasing the action speed penalty to 4.5/5/5.5% per Survivor, for a maximum of 18/20/22%.

Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine

Long have we waited. Monstrous Shrine has received a rework. This perk will now convert all basement hooks to Scourge Hooks. Additionally, Scourge Hooks will now grant 10/15/20% faster Entity progression – but only if the Killer is not within 24 meters.

Survivor Perk Buffs

Calm Spirit

In addition to Calm Spirit’s current effects, you can now open chests and cleanse and bless totems silently, albeit at 40/35/30% reduced speed.

Saboteur

After months of studying, Saboteurs can now identify Scourge Hooks. Their auras are shown in yellow when a Survivor is being carried. Use this information to your advantage to prevent Scourge Hook perks from being activated.

Botany Knowledge

Botany Knowledge now increases healing speed by 30/40/50%, up from 11/22/33%.

Off the Record

Upon being unhooked, gain the Endurance status effect for 60/70/80 seconds. The Endurance effect is lost upon performing a Conspicuous Action. While this is a lengthy Endurance effect, any game-progression action will cancel it prematurely, making it purely for evading the Killer after being unhooked.

Lucky Break

This perk is great for escaping a chase, but the effect quickly runs out. We’re giving Survivors a way to recharge Lucky Break: Each second spent healing another Survivor increases Lucky Break’s duration by 1 second. (The total time cannot exceed the starting duration.)

Pharmacy

Pharmacy used to guarantee an Emergency Med-Kit the first time you searched a chest, which you’d either hope nobody takes before you need it or hide in a far-off corner like a Med-Kit goblin.

Now, Pharmacy will activate whenever you’re injured, guaranteeing an Emergency Med-Kit when you search a chest. This effect can happen multiple times in one trial. Good luck stealing my Med-Kit now, Meg.

Sole Survivor

In addition to hiding your aura, Sole Survivor will now increase your generator repair speed by 75% and your exit gate and hatch action speed by 50%. These effects are only active when you are the last Survivor standing.

Distortion

For those who like to stay hidden, we’ve added a way to regain Distortion tokens. Gain 1 token for every 30 seconds spent within the Killer’s Terror Radius.

Lightweight

In addition to Lightweight’s existing effects, your scratch marks will be more sporadic, making you harder to track. Your scratch marks will also fade 5/4/3 seconds sooner, up from 1/2/3.

Déjà Vu

To help Survivors power the three closest generators, Déjà Vu will now grant a 5% repair speed bonus to the revealed generators.

No One Left Behind

Beyond its current effects, No One Left Behind will grant a 7% movement speed bonus to any Survivors you unhook. Additionally, the perk now activates when the gates are powered rather than opened.

Dark Sense

We’ve changed the way Dark Sense works: When a generator is powered, Dark Sense activates. The next time the Killer comes within 24m of you, their aura is revealed for 5/7/10 seconds. Dark Sense then deactivates.

Tenacity

In addition to the current effects, Tenacity now reduces your grunts of pain by 75% when in the dying state. Combined with the increased crawling speed, this perk will now be much more effective in crawling away from the Killer.

Hope

Hope is great for those who like to make late game saves, but the limited duration can cause it to expire at an inconvenient time. Since this perk is only useful at the end of the match, we’ve removed the duration entirely.

Overzealous

In its current state, cleansing a totem grants you a repair speed bonus of 6%/7%/8%. Now, that bonus doubles if you cleanse a Hex totem.

We’re Gonna Live Forever

Much like Barbecue and Chilli, this perk features a massive Bloodpoint bonus. We do not want Bloodpoints to dictate which perks are used, so we have removed the bonus Bloodpoints from We’re Gonna Live Forever.

This change will release at the same time as the progression overhaul, which is expected to cut the grind by about 75%, with matchmaking incentives providing an additional avenue for Bloodpoints.

Additionally, actions that previously granted a token will now activate the perk's secondary effect. While active, healing a Survivor from the dying state grants them the Endurance effect for 6/8/10 seconds. The secondary effect of We're Gonna Live Forever then deactivates.

We realize that following these changes, a new meta will surely rise. We’ll be closely monitoring the performance of each updated perk to ensure that none fall too far out of line. Moving forward, we hope to make meta-shaking updates like this one a more frequent part of our plans in order to keep gameplay feeling fresh.

With that, we’ve reached the end of this edition of the Developer Update. Kudos to those of you who made it this far -- it was a long one! As always, these changes will be available for testing next week in the PTB. Given the number of changes made, we’ll be keeping an extra close eye out for feedback. We’ll also be holding a livestream in the near future to preview the update and answer any questions you may have.

Until next time…

The Dead by Daylight team

Jun 24, 2022

Developer Update Part 1 | Overhauled Progression System and Gameplay Updates

Dead by Daylight - dance_BHVR

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/381210/view/3347878488982257849.

During our 6th Anniversary Broadcast, we announced a new progression system and a meta-shifting perk overhaul. We’re thrilled to say that both initiatives will headline the upcoming Mid-Chapter.

From the onset, it was important for us to release these changes as a package. Our objective is to shake up the current meta, provide alternatives, and make perks easier to earn. We were also careful to consider the reasons why this meta exists and address any base game issues it may have been concealing.

In this post, we’ll be detailing the upcoming progression system overhaul, matchmaking incentives, and gameplay updates. All these changes will be available for testing in the Public Test Build (PTB) next week.

Overhauled Progression System

Collecting all the perks has been an important goal for many players. However, since both the number of perks and characters are constantly increasing, the grind expands at an exponential rate with every new Chapter. To address this, we’re completely overhauling the way perks are earned, adding new rewards, and making completion easier than ever before.

Comparison

In the current system, you must reach level 40 on a given character to unlock all their teachable perks, then find those perks in the Bloodwebs of every other character.

In order to unlock all the new perks on every character by the time next Chapter releases, you would need to play an estimated average of 4.1 hours every day. With this new system, that estimate decreases to an average of 1.01 hours each day – and that’s not even factoring in Bloodpoint bonuses from events, perks, or offerings.

In other words, this is the single largest reduction to grind we’ve ever made, cutting it by roughly 75%.

Unlocking Perks

The teachable rarity is no more. Now, perks are tied directly to prestige. Prestiging a character for the first time will instantly unlock the Tier 1 versions of their unique perks for all other Killers or Survivors, making them immediately available for use without ever opening the Bloodweb.

Prestiging a character for the second and third time will unlock the Tier 2 & 3 versions of their unique perks. Alternatively, higher tier versions of their perks will appear randomly in Bloodwebs once the first Tier has been unlocked.

Say you prestige The Trapper. This will instantly unlock Tier 1 versions of Agitation, Brutal Strength, and Unnerving Presence on all other Killers. Tier 2 & 3 versions of these perks will now appear randomly in the Bloodweb. Prestiging The Trapper again will make Tier 2 versions of these perks immediately available, and so on.

This way, you’ll only need to earn the perks once to use them on every character. The perks you’ve unlocked will be instantly available on any new characters as well, making them easier to pick up and play without a substantial Bloodpoint investment.

No More Resets

Prestiging has always been a bit of a dilemma. Do you give up everything for bragging rights, or do you keep what you have to minimize the grind? Now that prestiging is the main way to unlock perks, we wanted to make the choice clear. Prestiging a character will no longer remove their perks, items, add-ons, or offerings. Perk slots will also remain unlocked after prestiging.

With no reason not to prestige, prestiging a character is no longer optional. After reaching level 50, you’ll receive a special Bloodweb with only a single node. Purchasing this node will increase your prestige level and reset your character’s level to 1.

Expanded Prestige

With prestige now being the main way to progress, it’ll no longer be as impressive to have your characters maxed out at prestige level 3. It only made sense to have a new way to recognize our most committed players, so we’ve increased the prestige limit to 100. But what would more prestige levels be without rewards?

Reaching prestige levels 4, 5 and 6 will now award that character’s bloody prestige cosmetics, once again signifying those who went above and beyond. Now that prestiging for the first three times awards perks, it only made sense to move these higher. If you’ve already unlocked these cosmetics, don’t worry, we won’t be taking them away from you. You’ve earned it.

For the completionists, prestige levels 7, 8 and 9 will each grant one of that character’s unique perks as a charm. We also wanted to highlight your dedication to your favourite characters no matter how many times you’ve prestiged them. Once a trial is over, your prestige level will now be shown in the space previously occupied by grades. Those who spend millions of Bloodpoints stockpiling add-ons for your favourite characters will now have a way of showcasing your hard work to the world.

Shrine of Secrets

Unlike before, where The Shrine of Secrets would offer teachable perks that then needed to be found in Bloodwebs, the Shrine will now allow you to purchase perks directly. Purchasing a perk through the Shrine of Secrets will make the Tier 1 version of it immediately available on all Killers or Survivors, much like prestige. Subsequent Tiers of that perk will also begin appearing in Bloodwebs.

You may also purchase a perk again to increase its Tier. This works seamlessly with the prestige system, as purchasing a perk you’ve already unlocked through prestige will instead increase its Tier.

Transitioning to The New System

With many spending hundreds if not thousands of hours playing Dead by Daylight over the years, we want to make sure that everyone is rewarded fairly. When the system releases, we’ll be automatically awarding existing players an appropriate number of prestige levels based on how many perk tiers they’ve unlocked. If you’ve left all your characters at level 50 and focused on unlocking perks, your work won’t be for nothing.

It's also important that you don’t lose anything when the system is updated. You will keep any perks and bloody prestige cosmetics that you’ve already unlocked.

Those who reach prestige 3 before the update will receive a special prestige icon to recognize their achievements (and commemorate the perks and add-ons they lost in the process).

We’ll be hosting a livestream soon to show the updated system in action and answer any questions you might have ahead of the PTB.

Matchmaking Incentives

Matchmaking has been a major focus over the past year, and we’re maintaining that throughout Year 7. Though many changes are planned to improve wait times and match quality, there are variables that we can’t control through code. Chief among them is the distribution of people playing each role. If there’s simply not enough people queuing for one role, the matchmaker’s ability to create quality matches suffers.

Being an asymmetrical game, Dead by Daylight works best when there’s roughly four Survivors to each Killer. If this 4:1 ratio deviates too far, matchmaking time and quality will start to degrade. Too many Survivors will cause Survivor queue times to increase, while too few Survivors will cause Killer queue times to increase. To complicate things further, this ratio varies greatly depending on your region, rating, and time of day. In some regions, we’ve observed an excess of Survivors queuing while in others, too few. Oftentimes this will change over the course of the day.

So, how do we go about improving this? Enter matchmaking incentives.

Whenever the number of Killers to Survivors differs too much from the ideal ratio, we’ll offer a Bloodpoint bonus to anyone who opts to play the needed role. This bonus ranges from +25% to +100% depending on demand levels. These bonuses will be shown on the main menu beside each role’s play button, as well as beside the ready button.

These bonuses double as an indicator of which role currently has the fastest queue times. If you want to get into a match as soon as possible, keep an eye out for incentives!

Matchmaking incentives are unique to you and dependent on your matchmaking ratings and region. You may see a bonus for playing Killer while your friend sees one for playing Survivor. This is intended. Bonuses are dependent on which roles are needed to improve matchmaking at the time. For example, Killers may be needed where you are, but there may be an excess of Killers where your friend is playing.

Playing in a group can also net you a bonus if Survivors are needed at the time. However, this will only apply if your group’s average matchmaking rating is currently in demand. We believe these matchmaking incentives will improve both queue times and the matchmaker’s ability to create quality matches.

Heads up: Matchmaking incentives will be disabled if cross-play is turned off. As most players play with crossplay on, the system would be highly susceptible to manipulation, and switching roles would have a negligible effect on matchmaking. If you’d like to take advantage of these incentives, we strongly recommend turning on cross-play through the settings menu.

Gameplay Updates

Some of the most consistent feedback we receive centers around the perk meta. A handful of perks have a dominant usage rate, especially in higher-skill matches. Naturally, the gameplay can feel stale when you see the same perks again and again.

In the past, we’ve addressed individual perks through various updates, but the odd meta change is not enough to shake things up. In this update, we are reworking and rebalancing 39 perks, meta included. We aim to reduce the reliance on the current meta while also providing many new options to experiment with.

Before we can make meaningful changes to the meta, we needed to look at why these perks are so heavily used in the first place. While some perks are popular because of their strength, others are popular because they reduce the likelihood of an “unfun” situation. Therefore, we’ve prepared a few baseline changes to address some of these core gameplay issues.

Generator Speeds

When looking at the perks most used by Killers, there’s a very clear trend: any perk that helps prevent generators from being powered - slowdown perks for short - are favored. Corrupt Intervention, Pop Goes the Weasel, Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance, and Hex: Ruin are a few notable examples, and each are amongst the most popular perks.

Many players feel like generators are powered too quickly without these perks, so we knew we needed to look at generators before making any perk changes. Slowdown perks should be an option, but not the only option to stay competitive.

First: We have increased the time it takes to power a generator to 90 seconds (up from 80 seconds).

The time it takes to complete a generator hasn’t been changed in a long time, but it’s clear that they are being powered quicker than we’d like. By slowing them down slightly, we hope to give Killers a bigger window to interrupt Survivors, particularly at the beginning of a trial.

Second: Kicking a generator will now instantly remove 2.5% of the maximum progress.

This change makes kicking generators more meaningful, even if a Survivor stops it from regressing shortly after. Additionally, Survivors must now decide whether they should tap a generator to prevent regression, as this allows the Killer to kick it again and knock off even more progress.

With these two changes, we hope to reduce the reliance on passive slowdown mechanics and promote increased interaction between Killers and Survivors.

General Killer Improvements

The average kill rates (how many Survivors are killed each trial, on average) are a little lower than we’d like – a sentiment echoed by many community members. To ensure the Killer feels like an unstoppable force to be feared, we’re making slight improvements to many aspects of Killer gameplay.

We’ve reduced the time it takes to break walls and pallets by 10% (now 2.34 seconds, previously 2.6). Generators can also be kicked 10% faster than before (now 1.8 seconds, was 2 seconds). While these changes may seem small, a fraction of second can be the difference between hitting a Survivor and them reaching a pallet.

Next, we’ve reduced the cooldown for successful basic attacks by 10% (now 2.7 seconds, previously 3 seconds) and reduced the duration of the Survivor’s speed boost upon being hit by 10% (now 1.8 seconds, was 2 seconds). Moving forward, Survivors will gain slightly less distance upon being hit, making it more difficult for them to run long distances to a safe area.

Finally, we’ve tweaked Bloodlust to increase in power quicker than before. In most chases, Bloodlust does not activate, though there are rare cases where it can be necessary. The long build up often leaves the Killer in a bad spot even if they eventually get a hit. We are adjusting Bloodlust tiers to activate after 15/25/35 seconds of chasing rather than 15/30/45 seconds

As the first tier of Bloodlust has not changed, it will not be any more prevalent in the average chase. Bearing in mind the general improvements above, we expect Bloodlust will become even more uncommon outside of exceptional circumstances.

Though slight, these changes affect every Killer and can have ramifications on the game. We will be watching closely to ensure that nothing gets out of hand.

Camping & Tunneling

On the Survivor side, there is a clear preference for perks that grant a second chance. Borrowed Time, Decisive Strike, Dead Hard, and perks of that nature help a Survivor avoid certain death, leading to an extreme usage rate.

A benefit of these second chance perks is how that they help prevent unfun situations, namely being camped or tunneled out of the game (repeatedly being targeted after being unhooked). In order to incentivize a meaningful change to the meta, it was clear that we needed to address these controversial tactics. Second chance perks should be nice to have, not essential to ensuring enjoyable gameplay.

Moving forward, Survivors will receive a 5 second Endurance effect after being unhooked. This gives the unhooked Survivor an opportunity to reach a nearby window or pallet, or for another Survivor to position themselves for a Protection Hit.

Additionally, the unhooked Survivor will receive a 7% Haste effect for 5 seconds. This will make them harder to catch and encourage Killers to shift focus to the unhooking Survivor.

Both effects will be cancelled prematurely if the unhooked Survivor performs what we now call a Conspicuous Action. These are interactions – other than being chased – that would improve your chances of survival. This includes:

Repairing a generator
Healing yourself or others
Cleansing or Blessing a Totem
Sabotaging a hook
Unhooking others
Opening an exit gate

With these base changes, we hope Survivors can switch up their perk loadouts without fear that camping and tunneling will cut their next match short.

As always, these changes will be available for testing next week in the PTB. Given the number of changes made, we’ll be keeping an extra close eye out for feedback. We’ll also be holding a livestream in the near future to preview the update and answer any questions you may have.

Learn about the meta-shifting perk overhaul here.

The Dead by Daylight team