The Dead by Daylight developers clearly got some rest on their holiday break, as they’ve hit the ground running in 2024: today’s developer update has a lot of significant changes (and it’s unqestionably the biggest of the year so far). Perhaps the most notable change is to generators and how they can be damaged by the Killer, but there’s a lot more to be excited about — an FOV slider for Killers, updates to Onryo, Hillbilly, and Blight (Add-ons), Perk Updates, and a pass on the Mount Ormond Resort map.
There’s also mention of a new limited time modifier “Lights Out”, which sounds like it changes gameplay in some way. Dead by Daylight has remained essentially unchanged for a long time now, so new game modes, or at least modifications to the base game, are welcome indeed.
Check out our TL;DR below, or read on for the full list of changes!
DBD January 2024 Dev Update TL;DR:
Generator Changes
Gens will only be able to suffer from 8 ‘regression events’ (Killer kick or a Perk removing 2.5% or more progress)
Base damage from Gen kick to 5% (from 2.5%)
Gen tapping removed – At least 5% of the Gen’s total charges must be repaired to halt regression when Survivor stops repairing
FOV Slider for Killer
Slider goes from 87° (default) to 103° (Shadowborn)
Shadowborn and Monitor & Abuse modified
Killer Updates/Changes
Onryo
Changes to make Condemned more threatening, rework of Cursed Tapes
Can now chase will Demanifested
Reiko’s Watch effect (duration of invisibility while Demanifested to 1.2sec from 1) now base kit
Add-on changes
Hillbilly
New Overdrive mechanic replaces Overheat, making overheating good rather than bad
Chainsaw Sprint base speed increased by 10%
Reduced size of Chainsaw collision detection (to avoid hitting rocks and walls so much)
Camera sensitivity during Chainsaw Sprint fixed
Blight
Add-on changes
Perk Updates
Save the Best for Last (nerf/change)
Grim Embrace (buff)
Quick Gambit (change)
Hex: Ruin (buff)
Shadowborn (change)
Monitor & Abuse (change)
Ormond Gameplay Update
Loop adjustments
Changes to the main building (Lodge)
Game Modifiers
The first “limited time modifier” is coming soon. The title of the modifier is “Lights Out”
Developer Update | January 2024
Happy new year! Our team is back in action, and we’ve got a doozie of a Developer Update in store for you today. In this edition, we’ll be covering everything coming to Dead by Daylight in our first major update of the year, from various Killer, Perk, and Map updates and more. We’ve been busy, so buckle up, it’s a long one.
Generators
Kicking things off (no pun intended), we have a few updates to Generators. More specifically, these changes target how Generators are damaged by the Killer and how their regression can be stopped by Survivors. The goal with this update is to bring an end to excessively long matches (3 gen scenarios in particular) and at the same time improve the Killer’s ability to damage Generators. (3 gen scenarios are those where the killer aims to defend 3 generators that are close by in particular, and does not participate in normal gameplay – not chasing survivors etc, in this instance survivors are not able to make any meaningful progress to those generators)
Going forward, each Generator can only suffer from a maximum of 8 ‘regression events’ – where a regression event is any time the Killer or their Perks removes at least 2.5% of the Generator’s progress in an instant. An indicator will show the Killer if a Generator can no longer be damaged. In the overwhelming majority of games, this will not come into play. However, in scenarios where the Killer is defending a set of Generators and refusing to chase Survivors, there will eventually come a point where they can no longer damage the Generator, helping bring an end to excessively long matches.
At the same time, we want to address a point of frustration for Killers as well: Survivors working on a generator briefly to stop it from regressing, or “Gen tapping” for short. Given that the number of regression events is now limited, stopping a Generator from regressing is more meaningful than ever. To prevent Survivors from tapping a Generator to negate one of those regression events, we have made two changes:
The base damage from kicking a Generator has been increased to 5% (was 2.5%).
At least 5% of the Generator’s total charges must be repaired to stop regression, otherwise it will begin regressing again when the Survivor stops repairing.
This will help ensure that the Killer always gets some value from kicking a Generator and encourage Survivors to think twice before attempting to stop the regression.
FOV Slider
Is Shadowborn permanently locked into one of your Perk slots? Well, that’s about to change thanks to the new first-person field of view (FOV) slider. Starting with this update, Killers in first person will be able to adjust their FOV to something they’re more comfortable with, ranging from 87 degrees (the current default) to 103 degrees (the current maximum with Shadowborn).
Perks which alter your FOV (Shadowborn and Monitor & Abuse) will need to be adjusted. We’ll cover exactly how those Perks are changing later in this post.
Bear in mind this option only applies to first person field of view and therefore will not affect Survivors. Since Survivors play the game from the third person perspective, a wider FOV would add to an already advantageous camera view.
Initially this feature will be accessible through the Beta Tab in game.
The Onryo
A few months ago, we released a major update to The Onryo. Though some players were pleased with the changes, many longtime Onryo mains felt that her gameplay had changed too much from the Killer they once loved. In this update, we want to revisit Sadako once more to find a middle ground which better appeals to all her players, old and new.
Condemned
In the last update, Condemned would spread to all Survivors who were not holding a tape whenever Sadako projected to a TV. This allowed her to spread her curse more often, but many felt that this favoured teleporting as soon as possible rather than strategically during a chase. We have a few changes in mind to restore this gameplay while keeping Condemned more prominent:
When The Onryo teleports, Survivors within 16m of a powered TV will receive a stack of Condemned.
The teleport cooldown has been removed, allowing her to teleport more frequently.
When a Survivor is hooked, their current Condemned progress becomes locked in, preventing it from being removed.
This will make it very risky for Survivors to ignore Sadako’s curse. Survivors will want to shut off nearby TVs and deposit their tapes before it’s too late. Speaking of tapes…
Cursed Tapes
We’ve also reviewed the way Cursed Tapes work to bring back some of their fondly remembered behaviour.
Cursed Tapes no longer protect Survivors from gaining Condemned.
Cursed Tapes are no longer destroyed or inflict Condemned when a Survivor is hit.
Cursed Tapes can only be deposited in the further TV from where they were picked up.
This will once again force the Survivors to spend some time crossing the map in order to delay the curse.
Demanifested
The previous update made it so The Onryo couldn’t start a chase while Demanifested. This had a side effect of making it very obvious when she Demanifested in the middle of a chase, allowing Survivors to anticipate and play around it.
The Onryo can now chase Survivors while Demanifested.
Additionally, many pointed out that one of The Onryo’s changed Add-Ons, Reiko’s Watch, was very fun to use. Rather than add the effect back into the Add-On, we instead incorporated it into her base kit to make the Add-On feel less essential.
The duration of invisibility while Demanifested has been increased to 1.2 seconds (was 1 second).
Add-Ons
With all these changes in mind, we’ve reviewed a handful of The Onryo’s Add-Ons which either no longer have a purpose or promoted strongly disliked playstyles.
The Hillbilly
Uh oh, watch out Survivors, it looks like someone unwrapped a brand new chainsaw. It’s The Hillbilly’s turn for an update!
Overdrive
The controversial Overheat mechanic is no more; Overdrive is the new talk of the town. As The Hillbilly uses his chainsaw, it will generate heat just like before. When the heat meter is full, not only will he continue being able to use it, but his chainsaw will kick into Overdrive and gain the following effects for the next 20 seconds:
Chainsaw charge speed is increased by 5%.
His Chainsaw Sprint movement speed increases to 13m/s.
Chainsaw Sprint cooldowns are reduced by 10%.
The short version? Heat is good now.
Cleaning Up
At the same time, we’ve made some general improvements to The Hillbilly’s kit and smoothed out some of the rougher edges.
The base Chainsaw Sprint movement speed has been increased by 10%.
Reduced the size of the Chainsaw’s collision detection to make Chainsaw Sprints more maneuverable in maps with high density tiles
Camera sensitivity is no longer incorrectly tied to the controller sensitivity setting while using a mouse & keyboard. (Chainsaw controls are now equal to 100% sensitivity before.)
Add-Ons
Last but certainly not least, we have done a pass on The Hillbilly’s Add-Ons with these changes in mind. This blogpost is long enough as is, so keep an eye on the patch notes when the Public Test Build (PTB) goes live for more details!
The Blight’s Add-Ons
Next up, we have changes in store for a handful of The Blight’s Add-Ons.
Blighted Rat & Blighted Crow
These Add-Ons are fairly strong, making it far more difficult to get out of the way of his Rush in time. We have reduced the Rush speed bonus of these Add-Ons to 2% and 3% respectively (was 4% and 6%).
Adrenaline Vial
This Add-On has a lot going on, making it jack-of-all-trades. To simply it and bring it closer in line with other options, we are removing the following effects:
No longer decreases time to recharge a Rush token by 1 second.
No longer increases Rush speed by 10%.
The Add-On now does the following (these effects are unchanged):
Increases maximum Rush tokens by 2.
Increases maximum Rush look angle by 20 degrees.
Decreases Rush turn rate by 55%.
Alchemist’s Ring
(The one you probably aren’t surprised to see on this list.) Restoring Rush tokens on hit is incredibly powerful, so we’ve reworked this Add-On entirely.
Increases Rush duration by 20% for each consecutive Rush.
Compound Thirty-Three
Reducing the Survivor’s movement speed acts very similarly to increasing The Blight’s Rush speed. We’ve decided the best course of action is to give this Add-On a new effect:
Each consecutive Rush which is longer than 4 meters increases turn rate by 33%.
Iridescent Blight Tag
This Add-On can also be extremely powerful in the right hands. It also promotes the awkward gameplay of repeatedly slamming into a wall to take advantage of the effects of the last Rush. We’ve given this Add-On a brand-new effect as well:
Enables Rush to be performed without spending tokens.
Rush bonuses are capped after 3 consecutive rushes.
Blighted Corruption goes on cooldown for 20 seconds after a successful Lethal Rush attack.
Perk Updates
Next up, we’ve got a bunch of Perk updates to share!
Save the Best for Last
This Perk indirectly became stronger when the successful basic attack cooldown was reduced some time ago. Certain Killers can also circumvent the downside by using their special attack to injure the Obsession. To tone it down and make it more consistent across all Killers, we have made the following changes:
Each Token grants a stackable 4% decreased successful basic attack cooldown (was 5%).
2 tokens are lost when the Obsession loses a health state by any means (was basic attacks).
Grim Embrace
Grim Embrace blocks Generators for a substantial duration. However, it only activates once and requires the Killer to hook every Survivor once, it can be a little inconsistent and hard to activate. Therefore, we’re adding a secondary effect on top of the existing effect:
The first time a Survivor is hooked, all generators are blocked for 8/10/12 seconds once the Killer moves at least 16 meters from the hook.
This will ensure the Killer is always able to get some value out of their Perk even if the last elusive Survivor manages to evade them and reward Killers who switch targets.
Quick Gambit
This Perk grants other Survivors a repair speed boost when you are being chased nearby. However, its range is fairly low, making it difficult to get close enough for other Survivors to benefit from without also putting them in danger.
We have increased the range to 36 meters (was 24 meters).
We have reduced the repair speed bonus to 3/4/5% (was 6/7/8%).
Hex: Ruin
We toned this Perk down in a previous update. In retrospect, since the Perk could already be disabled by being cleansed, the added activation condition did not feel necessary.
Hex: Ruin is no longer disabled once a Survivor is killed or sacrificed.
Shadowborn
With the new FOV slider being introduced, Shadowborn is now obsolete and needs a new effect.
When blinded by any means, gain a 6/8/10% Haste effect for 10 seconds.
Monitor & Abuse
Likewise, the FOV altering effects of Monitor & Abuse are now unnecessary considering the added FOV slider. Monitor & Abuse allows for some interesting niche playstyles as is, so we have simply removed the FOV adjustments from this Perk and left the Terror Radius effects unchanged.
Ormond Gameplay Update
The newly renovated Mount Ormond Resort is open for the season! This update consists of layout changes to the front & back of the lodge, as well as miscellaneous loop adjustments.
The front of the lodge currently has a long row of rocks stretching across it. This can get in the way and make it difficult to traverse the map. Additionally, there’s no room in this portion of the map for any windows or pallets, essentially making it a big dead zone. We’ve given this portion of the map an overhaul to create more interesting gameplay.
The back of the lodge, meanwhile, is comprised of mostly picnic tables. Great for enjoying a meal in the freezing cold, but not very impactful when it comes to gameplay. Pallet loops around these tables are fairly short, making them incredibly unsafe. We have similarly adjusted this area to improve gameplay.
Game Modifiers
Whilst these will not be in the upcoming PTB, our first limited time modifier Dead by Daylight – Lights Out, will be available to play in the coming months. Stay tuned for more information.
Congratulations, you’ve reached the end of this very long Developer Update! Everything we’ve mentioned here will be available to test on the Public Test Build starting tomorrow.
As always, we’ll take the time to read through your feedback and make further adjustments as needed before this update goes live on all platforms in the weeks following.
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
