Dead by Daylight's Biggest Update Yet: New 2v8 Mode & Nightmare Reimagining!

Summary

Dead by Daylight’s Feb 2025 update renews The Nightmare, adds Black Box effects, and previews the return of 2v8 mode with new characters and maps.
Many bugs fixed in the patch involving imbalances, unfair advantages, and smoother gameplay transitions, with audio, characters, environment, and perks adjustments.
Specific fixes for The Nightmare’s playstyle, like the VFX when teleporting, blocking exit gates, and other gameplay enhancements to balance the game for all players.

The latest update for the eight-year-old competitive horror game, “Dead by Daylight,” was rolled out in February 2025. Despite its age, this game continues to thrive, releasing updates periodically to ensure the competition remains engaging. With a multitude of new Killers and perks introduced over time, many existing mechanics require significant adjustments for balance.

One popular suggestion for improvements concerns altering The Nightmare’s gameplay style. Numerous fans argue that Freddy Krueger’s power set required significant modification, given the varied lineup of killers in the game. A January 2025 Dead by Daylight Developer Update revealed some upcoming changes for The Nightmare. Although the recent update significantly revamped the character, additional adjustments were necessary to address certain issues that emerged from it.

As a devoted fan, I’m thrilled about the updates coming to Dead by Daylight in February 2025! They’ve fine-tuned several aspects related to The Nightmare, my favorite character. For instance, there’s now some snazzy FX when The Nightmare teleports to a healing Survivor. But that’s not all; the Black Box add-on for The Nightmare has been revamped too, making it so sleeping Survivors can’t use exit gates for 15 seconds after they’re opened! These tweaks really amplify Freddy Krueger’s unique gameplay style. Plus, numerous other bugs affecting various items and characters have been squashed to ensure a more seamless gaming experience overall. Can’t wait to dive back into the foggy realm of Dead by Daylight with these exciting changes!

What’s Been Updated in Dead by Daylight Version 8.5.1?

In the upcoming February 2025 update, it appears that a significant inclusion is the reintroduction of the 2v8 mode in Dead by Daylight. Unlike previous versions that had a limited roster of playable Killers, this fresh take on the mode is a two-week event offering Resident Evil-themed rewards within a special tome. The event kicks off on February 10 and introduces characters like The Legion, The Nemesis, and The Mastermind for selection on the Killer side. Additionally, new maps such as the Raccoon City Police Department will be accessible in the 2v8 mode.

This recent update in February 2025 addressed several imbalances and unfair advantages that favored one group of players over another in the game. For instance, the Tomie Legendary outfit for The Spirit in Dead by Daylight was previously quieter during the Phase Walk, but this has now been rectified. Numerous audio cues and visual problems were also resolved in this patch. Although it’s too soon to determine if new issues might have arisen from this latest release, it is clear that the Behaviour team has been diligently working to ensure the game remains balanced and enjoyable by addressing player concerns.

Dead by Daylight 8.5.1 Patch Notes

Killer Rework – The Nightmare

Base Changes

Added VFX when The Nightmare is teleporting to a Survivor being healed.

Addons

Black Box:
- Exit Gates are blocked for Sleeping Survivors for 15 seconds after they are opened.
- This effect lingers for 3 seconds after they Wake Up. (NEW)

Archives & Events

Game Mode: 2V8 returns February 10th at 11:00am Eastern.
- This two-week event features an event tome with new Resident Evil-themed rewards.

Features

Clairvoyance has been updated to use a progress bar.
Updated the “Memento Mori” entry in the Game Manual / Killers section, renamed to “Kill By Your Hand”, with updated information on different ways to execute the Kill action.
- Included in English and French, with other languages to be updated later.
General Perks can now be searched for using “Generic”, “Universal”, “General”, and “Global”.

Audio

Fixed an issue that caused the Spirit’s “Tomie” Legendary outfit to be quieter than the default outfit when performing Phase Walk.
Fixed an issue that caused the breathing SFX of the Spirit to be heard from the Husk during the Phase Walk.
Fixed an issue that caused the audio of the left and right trigger inputs of a controller to be heard in the Collections tab without having a visible effect.
Fixed an issue that caused the audio of the left and right trigger inputs of a controller to be heard in Lobbies without being useable.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors not to scream when injured or downed by the Knight’s Guards.

Bots

Improved Survivor bot healing and pathing against ranged Killers.

Characters

Fixed an issue that caused Yui “Murder Mill” torso customization to change her idle animations to the “Forest Guide” outfit animations.
Fixed an issue that caused the hair on the Pig’s “Pig Mask” and “Stretched Muzzle” cosmetics to disappear.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to not be able to complete the Snap Out when in Madness Tier 3.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to soft-lock when dropping the First Aid Spray immediately after the Spray Self interaction has been completed with network lag.
Fixed an issue that caused Killers to be able to pick up downed Survivors while searching a locker.
Fixed an issue that enabled the Houndmaster’s Chase Command ability to stop a Survivor from leaving through the Exit Gate by repeatedly starting a grab.
Fixed an issue that caused the Dog to sometimes not fall off ledges when following the Houndmaster.
Fixed multiple instances where the Houndmaster’s Dog could get stuck or not be able to pass through places where the Killer could.
Fixed multiple navigation issues with the Houndmaster’s Dog across multiple maps, elevations and vault areas.

The Nightmare

Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare to jitter when touching a Dream Pallet.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare’s Teleport Channeling audio to keep playing, even if it had been canceled with a basic attack.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare’s Dream Snare to continue moving off the balcony in the Raccoon City Police Station map.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare to teleport beyond the Exit Gate when teleporting with the Class Photo add-on in The Game map.
Fixed an issue that made it possible for the Nightmare to place a total of 9 Dream Pallets instead of 8.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare to not see the aura of completed generators when the End Game Collapse triggered.
Fixed an issue that caused Rupturing a Dream Pallet on the floor directly above or below a Survivor to hit said Survivor.
Fixed an issue that allowed Dream Pallets to be placed out of bounds.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare’s Husk to be briefly visibility at the initial teleport location when finishing a teleport.
Fixed an issue that caused the Nightmare to teleport directly onto healing Survivors instead of at a distance.
Fixed an issue that caused all Survivors in the trial to hear the Nightmare’s laugh when he hit an awake Survivor with his Dream Snare.
Fixed an issue that caused Survivors’ auras to not be revealed when triggering a static Dream Snare with the “Z” Block and Blue Dress add-ons.

Environment/Maps

Fixed an issue in the Forgotten Ruins map, in which Zombies could get stuck in certain areas of the dungeon.
Fixed an issue in the Coal Tower map, in which the intro camera clips into the Houndmaster.
Fixed issues in The Underground Complex map, in which the intro camera clips into the Houndmaster.
Fixed an issue in the Dead Dawg Saloon map, in which the Nurse could Blink into the prison cells behind the Exit Gates.
Fixed an issue in the Raccoon City Police Station map, in which the Nurse could Blink out of bounds.
Fixed an issue in the Raccoon City Police Station map, in which the Survivor’s body could clip through locker doors.
Fixed an issue in the Realm of Coldwind Farm, in which the Nurse could Blink on top of the shack.
Fixed an issue in the Realm of Yamaoka’s Estate, in which the Tanuki’s orientation did not match the Tanuki Statue.
Fixed an issue in the Mother’s Dwelling map to prevent the player getting stuck on the top of the spinning wheel inside the main building.
Fixed an issue in the Torment Creek map to prevent the Nightmare’s Dream Snare from clipping under the floor inside the main building.
Fixed an issue in the Torment Creek map to enable smoother navigation up the slope near the Killer Basement’s entrance.
Fixed an issue in the Badham Preschool map, in which the Nightmare’s Dream Snares would fail to go through the walls of the closed classrooms.
Fixed an issue in the Dead Dawg Saloon map, in which the skybox was missing galaxy star clusters.

Perks

Fixed an issue that caused Vigil’s status effect recovery to display the old values in-game.

UI

Fixed an issue in which the inventory arrow buttons in the bot loadout were non-interactive.
Fixed an issue in which the event popup would sometimes display incorrect info if it was opened through an event item in the Store menu.
Fixed an issue in which The Huntress’ “Ohmwrecker” mask customization item would use the default mask model.

Misc

Fixed an issue that caused some players to be unable to matchmake as Survivors.
Optimized the logic used to handle status effects during gameplay to improve general performance.

2025-02-05 05:24

Dead by Daylight’s Biggest Update Yet: New 2v8 Mode & Nightmare Reimagining!