Summary
- The Nightmare in Dead by Daylight will receive a rework, allowing for increased flexibility with unique interactions in a future patch.
- Changes include the ability to swap between Dream Snares and Dream Pallets, updated powers, and adjusted Add-Ons for enhanced gameplay.
- Freddy Krueger's rework aims to make him more competitive and true to his character, introducing new mechanics to improve his efficiency in the game.
Dead by Daylight will be introducing changes to how The Nightmare plays. With Dead by Daylight's huge, diverse, and iconic roster, some Killers who debuted during the game's earlier days have gotten lost in the shuffle. One of the characters that hasn't adjusted well to Dead by Daylight's current state is Freddy Krueger, known in-game as The Nightmare.
Many players currently believe that Freddy Krueger is one of the weakest Killers in the game. And while the teleportation mechanic, Dream Pallets, and Dream Snares sound like an interesting selection of powers, it takes special builds for Dead by Daylight's The Nightmare to really stand out. Even then, the fan base still believes that a rework of the Killer is necessary for more competitive gameplay. However, Behaviour Interactive may have listened to the fans, as some adjustments are going to be made to the horror icon.
Dead By Daylight: Every Perk Type Explained
New Dead by Daylight players may be a little confused when it comes to the types of perks in the game. Here's what they need to know.
According to the Dead by Daylight January 2025 Developer Update, The Nightmare will be reworked in an upcoming patch. The most important change will be the ability to swap freely between the Dream Snares and Dream Pallets. This will allow Freddy Krueger to have a more flexible move set when facing Survivors. In addition, Dream Snares will be updated, as they will move at 12 m/s, going freely through walls and up the stairs. The Dream Pallets will also receive changes, allowing them to be triggered to explode and damage the Survivors. Interestingly enough, both powers will have different effects depending on whether a Survivor is awake or not. This will give a more accurate representation of Freddy Krueger's abilities, as he is known to be stronger in the Dream World. It has not been mentioned when the changes will go live, but the current PTB has implemented these mechanics.
What Are the Changes Being Introduced for The Nightmare?
With regard to The Nightmare's traversal skills, he will be able to teleport to any generator in the Dream World after the changes are implemented. However, he may also appear within 12 meters of Survivors who are healing. This will give more reason for players to try to reach the alarm clocks, as staying in the Dream World reveals Survivors via Killer Instinct during the healing process. On paper, these changes already make The Nightmare feel like it can compete with many of the existing Killers in Dead by Daylight.
In addition to the updated skill set of The Nightmare, some of his Add-Ons will be adjusted as well. This should help incentivize creativity during the Killer's loadout preparation. However, it seems none of The Nightmare's perks in Dead by Daylight will be updated, which is a small point of concern. The perks Fire Up, Remember Me, and Blood Warden are not as competitive as some of the other meta choices, although it's possible that these were left untouched to keep Freddy Krueger as close to the original intent as possible.
Upcoming The Nightmare Rework Notes
- [CHANGE] Press Active Ability to swap between Dream Snares and Dream Pallets.
- [NEW] Dream Snares now move at 12 m/s with a cooldown of 5 seconds. They can go through walls and up stairs, but not off ledges.
- [NEW] Dream Snares now have unique interactions with Survivors whether they are Asleep or Awake. Sleeping Survivors will be Hindered for 4 seconds, while Awake Survivors will gain 30 seconds on their Sleep Meter.
- [NEW] Dream Pallets can be triggered to explode in a geyser of blood. The explosion occurs 1.5 seconds after activation with a 3-meter radius. When a sleeping Survivor is hit, they become injured. When an Awake Survivor is hit, they gain 60 seconds on their Sleep Timer.
- [NEW] The Nightmare can now teleport to completed, blocked, and endgame Generators, as well as any Survivor healing in the Dreamworld. Dream Projection on a healing Survivor will teleport The Nightmare within 12 meters of their position. Upon completing a teleport, Survivors within 8 meters will be revealed with Killer Instinct and gain 15 seconds to their Sleep Meter.
- [CHANGE] The Teleport cooldown has been decreased from 45 to 30 seconds, and the Teleport can no longer be cancelled.
- [NEW] In the Dream World, Healing Survivors will be revealed by Killer Instinct for as long as they’re healing (lingering for 3 seconds once they stop), allowing The Nightmare to teleport to them.
- [CHANGE] Sleeping Survivors can use any Alarm Clock to wake up.
- [NEW] After using an Alarm Clock, it goes on cooldown for 45 seconds, during which it cannot be used.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 70 /100 Critics Rec: 47%
- Released
- June 14, 2016
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Behaviour Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Behaviour Interactive
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
Ever wished to play as one of the characters from your favorite horror movies? Dead by Daylight is a 1v4 multiplayer game that draws from all corners of the horror world from a powerful slasher to a terrifying paranormal entity.
Choose between playing an unstoppable Killer and one of 4 Survivors trying to evade a gruesome death. Each character has their own deep progression system and plenty of unlockables that can be customized to fit your personal strategy. Work together to escape, or stalk and sacrifice every Survivor.
This Edition of Dead by Daylight gives you access to a roster of 7 Killers (The Trapper, The Hillbilly, The Wraith, The Nurse, The Hag, The Huntress and The Doctor) and 9 Survivors (Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Dwight Fairfield, Ace Visconti, Nea Karlsson, Bill Overbeck, Feng Min and David King). It also includes two cosmetic add-ons packed with outfits for various characters.
- Cross Save
- yes
- Franchise
- Dead by Daylight
- Number of Players
- 5
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Stadia, Switch, Mobile
- Genre(s)
- Horror, Survival
- How Long To Beat
- N/A
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
- File Size Xbox Series
- 51 GB (October 2022)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
