Dead by Daylight Mid-Chapter 5.3.0 Patch Review (Game Review, 2021)
Behaviour Interactive put in a lot of work to keep Dead by Daylight feeling interesting and fresh. Aside from four new chapters each year filled with killers, survivors, and perks, they have begun reevaluating the balance of the game after each chapter. You can consistently expect small tuning updates in the mid-chapter patch after new characters are introduced, then larger balance changers three to six months afterwards based on stats pulled from the game. This is a newer approach to the game for them, so many of the older characters got put on the backburner in regards to keeping them competitive in the current meta.
The 5.3.0 mid-chapter patch changes all of that. The Trapper, The Pig, The Spirit, The Plague, and The Deathslinger all received massive updates to their add-ons and playstyles.
Let’s start with The Trapper. I’ve been a Trapper main since the long long ago, when hooks didn’t respawn and you struggled to 4k without letting survivors bleed out on the ground if you didn’t run Agitation and Iron Grasp every match. While his add-ons have been adjusted over time, his core gameplay has always struggled to keep up. He was the only killer with a randomly generated power. Did you know that you weren’t even guaranteed the same number of bear traps to work with on each map? I did. Trapper didn’t become the joke character in parodies for nothing.
Not anymore. Every map will spawn six traps at the start. Trapper will also automatically start with two traps, not one. All of his add-ons have changed, with Strong Coil Spring, Trap Setters, Logwood Dye, Setting Tools, and Stitched Bag removed entirely to match the new powerset.
Trapper isn’t built on random chance anymore. With the choice to give players actual percentage data on items/add-ons/perks that change base values, Behaviour removed most of the “do they or don’t they get out” elements of the build. Players who step in traps will have to spend more time to get out, and have likely wasted their time if they sabotage or escape on their own. The new Trapper is all about map control through traps, with easier access to traps at the start and add-ons that keep that traps running. It’s just a more consistent experience as a killer.
The Pig also got massive changes to her add-ons. The gameplay is now based on increasing speed—faster trap setting speed, faster crouch speed, faster cooldown on missed dash attacks—or punishing survivors for not focuses on traps—decreasing the death timer when generators are complete, injuring healthy survivors if they miss a skill check while searching the box, starting every survivor with a trap on, or adding deep wounds on a missed skill check while searing the box. Pig feels a bit more threatening now. The reverse bear trap is more likely to actually kill a survivor when survivors are punished for missed skill checks and doing gens efficiently.
The Spirit was changed the opposite way. Spirit is a popular killer because she is so strong. There really was no consistent counter-play to her power. Survivors heard a vacuum cleaner sound and were suddenly injured or downed unless they got lucky and dropped a pallet at just the right time.
Now, Spirit has directional audio. That means survivors can hear where she’s coming from. Her speed still makes it hard to consistently dodge an attack, but that additional information gives you a better chance of moving at just the right time.
Add-ons have changed a lot, as well. Bloody Hair Brooch, Dirty Uwabaki, Katsumori Talisman, Prayer Beads Bracelet, and Father’s Glasses are out. In their place are more varied gameplay mechanics for Spirit. Some add-ons recharge her power if you break a pallet or wall or get stunned by a pallet. Others punish survivors for staying by the husk—blocking vaults when it explodes, providing Killer Instinct aura readings, allowing Spirit to teleport back to the husk. The core power is still go invisible and move fast, but now the Spirit mind games are a lot more fun than “stand still and wait.” She’s more fun to play as and against.
The Plague and Deathslinger got opposite versions of the same changes. Plague now moves faster while using her special power. She’s not punished for starting to use her attack and cancelling it anymore and her power has stronger lingering effects. Her infection time on objects lasts longer and is much more effective than it was before. Almost all of her add-ons got buffed to be faster or stronger. Plague feels like she has the level of control she was always meant to have.
Deathslinger is slowed downed. The animation for going in or out of aiming now needs to complete before you can do a basic attack. Cooldowns are the same for successful and unsuccessful chain attacks. Deathslinger does move a little faster while aiming, but you can’t just aim and cancel aim without punishment anymore. His add-ons do balance out these changes and can actually be combined to make him faster than before; you just have to give up other possible playstyle changes to treat DBD like an FPS. It’s a little nicer to go against Deathslinger now, but good Deathslingers should be just fine.
Behaviour also changed how hatches work. This is a great quality of life change that is just going to take time to get used to. Basically, hatch can only spawn when one survivor is left on the match. It’s no longer based on the number of generators complete. If more than one survivor makes it to the end game, the hatch cannot even spawn on the map until one player is left. The hatch can be reopened with a key if the killer kicks it closed, but it takes 2.5 seconds to open a hatch with a key.
This is the biggest core game mechanic change since the introduction of Endgame Collapse in 2019. I like it. I think this is a far more balanced hatch than we’ve ever had. Remember, games used to be able to go on until someone DC’d because killers could block hatch but not be able to stop survivors from escaping when hit. Hatch standoffs got nerfed, but the key mechanic meant survivors could race to get four gens done and all search for the hatch with a key to speedrun matches. Solo survivors would often find the hatch and let their teammates die to ensure their own victory, which could slow down matches for a long time. Now, hatch is that last minute escape is was always meant to be.
The other big change is the introduction of boon totems. Behaviour is playing with activatable map-based mechanics and I enjoy it. I praised The Cenobite’s Scourge Hook for its ability to add a super strong reward for map awareness and planning. I feel the same way about boon totems. Let observant survivors be rewarded with powerful perks that are balanced out by the killer’s ability to break them. I’m hoping both sets of mechanics keep being expanded with new perks in the future that allow you to adjust your gameplay based on map layout and what effects you need at a specific point in a match.
There’s another massive change that makes all the sense in the world. Behaviour added a kills switch to the game. Instead of having to develop a new hotfix patch to disable broken game elements, Behaviour programmed a kill switch on the backend. They can turn off add-ons, perks, maps, or even entire characters that are breaking the game on their end. They’ll turn them back on when they’re fixed with a patch. We’re done with the age of “don’t use that perk/add-on/mechanic or we’ll ban you later” that caused nothing but frustration since they first did it with Legion. Behaviour gets to control what we have access to based on how it impacts the game. It’s the smartest change in the patch.
I actually don’t mind the amount of bugs that came with a mid-chapter patch for once. Behaviour Interactive went all in on making quality of life changes this patch. It’d be great if it didn’t take three patches and counting to fix everything, but they’re clearly trying. The kill switch means being able to shut down things like Boon: Circle of Healing (it was crashing games if you healed using the perk) until they could stop it from breaking the game. In addition, the changes to killers, add-ons, and even some older perks makes a wider variety of gameplay styles relevant to the current meta. This is a big step forward for Dead by Daylight that will hopefully continue in future patches.
Dead by Daylight is available on PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch.