Today’s Developer Update from the Dead by Daylight team is a fairly brief one, but does contain a number of changes to The Nightmare, AKA Freddy Kreuger. The Killer from Elm Street’s rework is the focus of this upcoming patch, and he’s seen some significant changes to how his powers work.
Those changes got tweaked in the latest iteration of the Public Test Beta, with a nerf to the cooldown on Dream Snares paired with a compensatory buff to the snares’ Hindered duration. Dream Pallets can be Ruptured from further away, and can no longer be dropped to cancel the Rupture. The popular teleport fake-out has been reintroduced, but using it will now put your teleport on cooldown regardless of whether you complete it or not.
Two perks, Wake Up! and Beast of Prey, also got more tweaks, with the former’s power now hinging on how many of your fellow Survivors are still alive, and the latter getting a serious buff to its duration.
You can read the full patch notes below, or check out the TL;DR for the short version.
DBD January 2025 PTB Dev Update TL;DR:
- The Nightmare
- Dream Snare changes
- Hindered duration to 4.5 sec (from 4)
- Cooldown to 7 sec (from 5)
- Sound Cue when charging “improved”
- Dream Pallet changes
- Rupture range to 3.5m (from 3)
- Rupturing Pallets can no longer be dropped
- Dream Projection changes
- Can cancel again (forces full cooldown)
- Movespeed 3.86 m/s while channeling
- Aura of Killer position post-teleport revealed to Killer
- Add-on changes – Jump Rope and Unicorn Block nerfed by 50%
- For Survivors, Wake Up interaction will now take priority over Healing
- Perk Changes
- Wake Up! now lets you open the Exit Gates 8/10/12.5% faster for each Survivor still alive (was previously 40/45/50% unconditionally)
- Beast of Prey now grants Undetectable for 30/35/40 seconds upon entering Bloodlust (was 15/20/25)
Developer Update | January 2025 PTB
After delivering a major update to The Nightmare’s Power and Perks, we’ve been steadily unpacking all the feedback we’ve received post PTB.
We’re pleased to see that many enjoyed the changes to The Nightmare’s Power, which ensured players could use Dream Snares and Dream Pallets without having to choose one or the other. Changing the former into projectiles was generally well received, with players enjoying the addition of a more active ability.
While it was a solid start, there was still work to be done. We’ve since made a few updates to his Power, Perks, and overall Quality of Life, which should improve the overall experience when these changes hit live.
CHANGES FROM PTB TO LIVE
The Nightmare
Dream Snares
- Increased Hindered duration to 4.5 sec (was 4 sec)
- Increased cooldown to 7 sec (was 5 sec)
- Improved the Sound Cue when charging Dream Snares
Dev Note: Nothing drastic here. Mainly a few tweaks to improve quality of life and reduce the spam potential, particularly at high level play. This subtle tweak to the cooldown should prevent those instances, without sacrificing playability. To compensate, we’ve increased the Hindered status slightly.
Dream Pallets
- Increase Rupture range to 3.5 meters (was 3 meters)
- Rupturing Pallets cannot be dropped
Dev Note: One of the recurring points of feedback centred around the usefulness of Dream Pallets, and their ability to make an immediate impact in a Trial. We’ve increased the Rupture range and made it so a dropped Dream Pallet will not cancel your Rupture charge.
Dream Projection
- Releasing a Dream Projection now cancels a teleport
- Cancelling a Dream Projection incurs the full cooldown
- While charging Dream Projection, movement speed is reduced to 3.86 m/s
- Reveal the Aura of The Nightmare emerging near a teleport location to help with orientation (visible to Killer only)
- Added an SFX/VFX when The Nightmare triggers a Dream Projection on Survivors healing in the Dream World
Dev Note: We heard you loud and clear – the fake-out is back, with a small caveat. You’ll have to use it wisely, as cancelling your teleport will still cause the ability to enter cooldown. We’ve also added an Aura that should help orient players after a teleport, as well as additional effects to clear things up when The Nightmare uses a Dream Projection on healing Survivors.
Wake Up Interaction
- The Wake Up interaction takes priority over Healing. If an injured Survivor is Asleep, an Awake Survivor will be able to Wake Them Up without healing them.
Dev Note: Not much to see here, but this should help alleviate some of the frustration that arose when trying to Wake Up an injured Survivor.
ADD-ON CHANGES
We’ve made a few minor tweaks to some of The Nightmare’s Add-Ons, as a few were noted to be slightly overtuned.
Jump Rope
- Decrease to 0.5 sec (was 1 sec)
Unicorn Block
- Decrease to 0.5 meters (was 1 meter)
PERK CHANGES
Following several initial Perk changes made in the PTB, we’ve since made a few small Tweaks to Wake Up.
Wake Up
[OLD] Once all Generators are powered, Exit Gates are revealed to you. While opening the Exit Gates, reveal your Aura to all other Survivors. While Wake Up! is active, you open the Exit Gates 40/45/50% faster.
[NEW] Once all Generators are powered, Exit Gates are revealed to you. While opening the Exit Gates, reveal your Aura to all other Survivors. For each Survivor still alive, you open the Exit Gates 8/10/12.5% faster.
Dev Note: We wanted to make sure that the Perk had a clearer identity, and in its previous state it rode the line between self-centred and altruistic. The basic idea behind its design is to [EIP editor’s note: the developer update ends here, clearly an intern didn’t copy/paste correctly].
We’ve also tweaked the numbers of Beast of Prey. In its previous state, many players felt the benefits weren’t worth the time commitment, so we felt comfortable increasing the duration. Hopefully this new version can be useful during those longer high-stakes chases.
Beast of Prey
[OLD] Upon gaining the Bloodlust Status Effect, Beast of Prey activates: Gain Undetectable for 15/20/25 seconds.
[NEW] Upon gaining the Bloodlust Status Effect, Beast of Prey activates: Gain Undetectable for 30/35/40 seconds.
That’s it for today’s Dev Update. We hope you enjoy the changes coming to Dead by Daylight and remember that we’re always listening to your feedback. Thank you for spending your time with us in The Fog!
The Dead by Daylight Team
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