In Dead by Daylight there is a new killer that you can already play on the PTB. But beware, dog lovers won’t like this …
The next killer in Dead by Daylight is about to be released soon, the last one for the year 2024. This time, a nasty woman is waiting for you, who has brought her dog to take down every single survivor – and she seems to enjoy it quite a bit. In the chapter Doomed Course
, a nasty pirate lady wants you to become acquainted with her beast,
What can the new killer do? The Houndmaster is once again a killer that essentially consists of two characters. Most of the time, you control the killer and give your dog direct commands. With the “Search!” command, you can make the dog sprint over a long distance, for example, towards a generator on the other side of the map. If you directly follow the dog’s trail, there is a drastic bonus to movement speed.
- If the dog gets close to a survivor during the “Search!” command, the survivor will be highlighted with a killer instinct.
- Alternatively, you can use the “Attack!” command to send the dog directly after a survivor. If it hits, it will bite into the survivor for a few seconds, drastically slowing them down and trying to drag them towards the killer.
While the dog is chasing a survivor, you can temporarily take direct control of the dog to correct its running direction.
The new perks of the Houndmaster
The Houndmaster comes with her own perks, which can later be unlocked for other killers as well. Her perks are:
- All-Shaking Thunder: After the killer falls from a great height, the range of their lunge attack (the “long” melee attack) is increased by 75% for 8 / 12 / 16 seconds. The perk has a cooldown of 5 seconds.
- Scourge Hook: Jagged Compass: At the beginning of the trial, 4 hooks are transformed into scourge hooks. The aura of these hooks is shown to the killer in white. If a survivor is rescued from a normal hook, that hook transforms into another scourge hook. Whenever the killer hangs a survivor on a scourge hook, the generator with the most progress is shown to them in yellow for 6 / 8 / 10 seconds.
- No Quarter: If a survivor reaches 75% progress while self-healing, they are confronted with permanent skill checks. If any of these skill checks fail or the healing is interrupted, the survivor is “broken” for 20 / 25 / 30 seconds (cannot be healed).
The YouTuber Otzdarva shows how the killer will currently be played:
The new perks of the survivors
As usual, there is also a new survivor who comes with three independent perks. Initially, the perks can only be used by Taurie Chain, but the abilities can then be unlocked for all other survivors through the blood web. Her perks are:
- Invocation: Treacherous Crows: When you are in the basement near the circle, press the ability button to begin an invocation. Invocations take 60 seconds. Other survivors see your aura during this time and can join the invocation to reduce the time. Once the invocation is complete, this perk is disabled for all survivors. You are now “broken” for the rest of the trial. If a survivor is in the killer’s terror radius and the killer startles a crow, the killer’s aura is shown to all survivors for 1 / 1.5 / 2 seconds.
- Clean Break: After you have healed another survivor and they start healing you, press the “Active Ability” button to become “broken”. After 80 / 70 / 60 seconds, you will be automatically healed. This perk does not activate if you are already broken or become downed.
- Shoulder the Burden: Once per trial, as long as you would not die from the next hanging, you can press the “Active Ability” button when you are by a hooked survivor to free them. Once the other survivor is freed, they lose a hook progress point, and you gain one. Additionally, you scream and are “Exposed” (go down with one hit) for 30 / 25 / 20 seconds.
Note that all the information is still from the testing server. Details may still change until release.
When will the new killer be released? There is no exact release date for the Houndmaster yet, and it also depends on how many bugs and issues are found. In general, a killer appears about 2-3 weeks after the start on the PTB – so roughly at the end of November.
It also seems quite obvious that some animation details are (presumably) not final yet. Because other survivors can free a comrade from the dog’s jaws, but the animation for that still seems underdeveloped and somewhat silly.
If you don’t know which killer to play right now, we have listed all killers here and explain who is the best for you.
