We’re mere days into 2025, and Behaviour Interactive already has some big changes for Dead by Daylight. Ahead of a full launch, the game’s public test bed has a colossal Freddy Krueger rework, changes to the map rotation system, and a new character trial mechanic. So if you want to give each of these big changes a shot before they come to the full game, you can.
Dead by Daylight’s January 2025 developer update is a big one, but by far the biggest news is around Freddy Krueger – The Nightmare. Krueger is historically one of the multiplayer game’s most hated and underplayed killers, with one of the most divisive kits in the entire game. That could all change with this rework, though.
The Dead by Daylight killer’s Powers are changing drastically. Going forward you can press active ability to swap between Dream Snares and Dream Pallets during a match, which Behaviour acknowledges has been “long requested.” Previously, players had to use an add-on and choose between either Snares or Pallets.
Dream Snares now impact both awake and sleeping survivors, too. Sleeping survivors will be Hindered by the traps for four seconds, while awake survivors will get 30 seconds added to their sleep meter.
Your mind games with The Nightmare’s Dream Pallets are also improving, since they can also now impact both awake and sleeping survivors. A new effect triggers a blood explosion from Dream Pallets with a radius of three meters, injuring sleeping survivors, while adding 60 seconds to an awake survivor’s sleep timer.
Perhaps even bigger than these changes, though, The Nightmare will also be able to teleport much more. Krueger can now “teleport to completed, blocked, and endgame generators, as well as any survivor healing in the Dreamworld.” Survivors healing in the Dreamworld are now revealed to Freddy for as long as they’re healing, allowing you to teleport to them.
Also, using Dream Projection on a survivor puts you within 12 meters of their position, giving you the drop you need. After a completed teleport, survivors within eight meters are revealed with Killer Instinct, and an additional 15 seconds is added to their sleep timer.
The teleport’s cooldown has also been reduced from 45 to 30 seconds, but it can no longer be canceled. “An important part of The Nightmare’s playstyle is creating the illusion of being everywhere at once, and his Dream Projection is a major part of that,” Behaviour writes. “We’ve made a few changes to make this even more effective and removed the pain point of having Survivor progress rendering The Nightmare’s Power obsolete.”
Last up for Krueger, the Dreamworld is undergoing some aesthetic changes to make things that much creepier. To make all this a bit fairer for survivors going against The Nightmare, sleeping survivors can now use any alarm clock to wake up, but it goes on cooldown for 45 seconds after use, during which time it cannot be used.
It’s not just Freddy getting a rework either, as the existing map repeat prevention system is being replaced. The new realm prevention system means there’s even less repetition in map variety than before, so you shouldn’t get bored of the places you play games in. As of right now, Behaviour has a system that means maps don’t repeat, but multiple maps still exist in the same realm meaning you could play visually similar maps back to back. This new realm prevention system should stop this.
Behaviour Interactive is also introducing a brand-new free character trial system, which is perfect for new and old players alike. With an ever-expanding roster of killers and survivors, this system means you can try specific characters out without having to own them.
“We’re excited to be launching a new system that will allow you to use specific characters for free during an event period, while in the event’s queue,” Behaviour writes. “Note that only select characters will be available, chosen at our discretion, but they will be accessible to everyone.”
Keep in mind that these character trials will be for a limited time, with restricted access to the bloodweb, so you’ll want to keep up to date with who’s available and when. You can find the full notes for the January 2025 developer update right here, and the 8.5.0 PTB notes here.
All of these changes come to Dead by Daylight in the public test build right now, with the full update dropping in the main game in a few weeks.
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