The Hillbilly and the Cannibal from Dead by Daylight are being adjusted. Camping with the chainsaws will soon be a thing of the past.
Currently, Dead by Daylight is celebrating its 4th birthday, and a new patch is on the way. Update 4.10 will revise two of the older killers. Both the Cannibal and the Hillbilly will receive adjustments to their abilities. There will be little change to the basic intended playstyle, but for passionate campers, this could mean significant drawbacks.
Changes to the Cannibal: The Cannibal’s chainsaw charge now works identically to the Hillbilly’s. It is charged by holding down the ability button and activates once the bar is completely filled. The Cannibal’s attack is now based on three charges. The first charge is consumed as soon as the chainsaw is fully charged. Those who wish to continue attacking can use additional charges until they are all exhausted. However, this increases the duration of the frenzy when colliding with an object or the brief stun if no survivors are hit.
If the chainsaw is charged for too long without being used, the Cannibal will go into a frenzy. The prolonged “close to the limit” charging is no longer possible.
Additionally, the maximum movement speed of the Cannibal during the chainsaw attack is slightly increased.
Changes to the Hillbilly: The Hillbilly receives an “overheating” mechanic. If he charges his chainsaw for too long, it overheats and cannot be used until the overheating has completely subsided. Overheating also builds up during a chainsaw sprint, but much slower. If the overheating reaches its maximum during the sprint, the sprint will not be interrupted.
Less camping thanks to new mechanics?
Why are the developers doing this? Even though this is not explicitly mentioned in the developer update, the reasoning behind these changes is likely obvious. Particularly the Cannibal, but to a lesser extent the Hillbilly, had advantages when camping. They would simply wait with a nearly charged chainsaw in front of the hook and as soon as another survivor attempted to rescue their companion, they would strike. This is no longer possible due to the overheating. Both killers will now have to carefully consider when and how to use their chainsaw. Camping will now be difficult.
What else is changing? Aside from these adjustments, some of the perks of the two killers will also be slightly revised.
- Lightborn: Makes the killer completely immune to blind effects (flashlights and firecrackers). The aura of survivors attempting to blind the killer is revealed for a few seconds.
- Tinkerer: Once a generator is 70% repaired, it triggers a loud noise for the killer. The killer then receives the “Undetectable” status for a few seconds.
- Franklin’s Demise: Survivors hit by standard attacks drop their carried item. If the item is not picked up within a certain time, the entity consumes it. The killer can see the auras of items nearby.
- Knock Out: Survivors who go down from standard attacks are not shown to other survivors as an aura if they are more than a few meters away. The downed survivor crawls for a while at half speed and is affected by blindness.
Lastly, there will be a comprehensive overhaul of all the addons of the two killers. The exact details of all the changes are not yet known, but they should allow for new playstyles. There will be an addon that allows the Hillbilly to break pallets with his chainsaw without interrupting the sprint, allowing him to continue.
There is no release date for the patch yet.
What do you think of these changes to the two chainsaw killers? A good change for more fun for both sides? Or an excessive nerf?
