Actually a small patch, the update 5.3.0 brings many changes to Dead by Daylight. A total of 14 killers will be changed – and there is also a new survivor.

The latest patch “Hour of the Witch” for Dead by Daylight is live. Even though the core of the chapter is the new survivor Mikaela Reid with her controversial “Boon perk”, the patch offers much more: a total of 14 killers are at least slightly revised and adjusted.

In addition, one of the most annoying elements of the game is disappearing: descriptions now use fixed numbers as values instead of vague descriptions like “moderate” or “drastic”.

This is what the survivor Mikaela Reid can do

Mikaela Reid is a “modern witch” who enjoys engaging in occult rituals, divination, and other mysterious incidents. Accordingly, her 3 perks reflect this. As with all survivors, the perks are initially only available to Mikaela but can be unlocked for all survivors through the blood web. Her 3 perks are:

Clairvoyance: The perk is activated when you cleanse a totem. If you are not carrying an item, you can use the “Active Ability” button. For up to 8 / 9 / 10 seconds, you can see the aura of all exit gates, generators, hooks, chests, and the hatch within a range of 64 meters.

Boon: Circle of Healing: Press and hold the “Active Ability” button on a dull or cursed totem to convert it into a blessing totem with a 24-meter radius. All survivors within the radius can self-heal without a med-kit and receive a 90% / 95% / 100% bonus to healing speed.
Only one totem can be blessed at a time. All benefits of all boon perks are combined in this totem.

Boon: Shadow Step: Press and hold the “Active Ability” button on a dull or cursed totem to convert it into a blessing totem with a 24-meter radius. All survivors in the range leave no scratch marks, and their aura is not shown to the killer. The effect of the totem lasts for an additional 2 / 3 / 4 seconds after survivors leave the radius.
Only one totem can be blessed at a time. All benefits of all boon perks are combined in this totem.

The developers have also addressed feedback from the PTB. The boon totems are no longer stackable, converting a hex totem into a boon totem now takes a substantial 24 seconds, and the base radius of these perks has been reduced by 4 meters. This should prevent ridiculous situations where survivors were simply immortal.

14 killers are being changed, Trapper and Pig benefit greatly

There are also plenty of adjustments for the killers – too many to cover in this article. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important changes; if you’re interested in all the details, we recommend the official patch notes on the official DbD forum.

This is what’s changing with the Trapper: The Trapper can now carry 2 traps by default, and 6 traps will spawn on each map. Almost all of his add-ons have been revised, allowing traps to reactivate themselves after a survivor has escaped, or the Trapper can even start with all 8 traps in his inventory at the beginning of the match.

This is what’s changing with the Wraith: The Wraith has been nerfed. The duration of his speed boost after appearing has been reduced by 20%, and his aura detection add-on now has a radius of only 8 meters (down from 12 meters).

This is what’s changing with the Hillbilly: The Hillbilly is receiving only a few small add-on adjustments to prevent his weapon overheating too quickly with certain add-ons. The other changes are negligible.

This is what’s changing with the Nurse: The Nurse is receiving a single add-on adjustment. The “Line of Sight” restriction of the “Torn Bookmark” is removed, but her special ability recharge time is increased by 50%.

This is what’s changing with the Shape: The Shape is getting a few add-on improvements. Thus, the Vanity Mirror will no longer impose a movement speed penalty, and Judith’s Tombstone will only slow him down while he is in Tier III of his ability. This officially marks the end of the popular meme of “Burger King Myers”, who moved particularly slowly.

This is what’s changing with the Hag: The Hag receives one change. The add-on Watterlogged Shoe now increases the killer’s movement speed to 4.6 m/s, or 115%. This allows the Hag to move as fast as most other killers.

This is what’s changing with the Pig: The Pig is set to undergo over a dozen add-on adjustments. She can now use add-ons to ensure that all survivors start the match with bear traps on their heads. Other add-ons ensure that survivors injure themselves on the Jigsaw boxes if they fail a skill check, or that the aura of generators is shown when survivors work on them while having a bear trap on their head.

This is what’s changing with the Spirit: The Spirit is getting nerfed. In the future, survivors will be able to hear which direction the killer is coming from during her special ability. As compensation, there are now also some more interesting add-ons that show survivors with a killer instinct effect when the Spirit passes by them. Moreover, this killer now has its own music for the terror radius.

This is what’s changing with the Plague: The Plague has received several improvements. She now moves faster during the cooldown of her ability, the duration of the corruption on items is longer, and survivors take longer to heal from their sickness at the well. Overall, her add-ons now offer more room for cool strategies – she can choose that her corruption no longer directly affects survivors but lasts 100% longer on items.

This is what’s changing with the Deathslinger: The Deathslinger receives adjustments that will likely weaken him somewhat. His terror radius grows from 24 meters to 32 meters, and he now has to wait for his entire “aiming” animation before he can shoot. However, he now moves faster while aiming, and some of his add-ons have been strengthened and no longer impose a slowdown.

This is what’s changing with Ghost Face: Ghost Face also receives a clear improvement. The cooldown of his ability has been reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds. Corresponding add-ons that also reduce cooldown have been slightly nerfed – overall, this is a clear buff that now allows for more varied add-ons.

This is what’s changing with the Blight: The Blight has only received two minor add-on adjustments. Particularly the improvements to the Summoning Stone now ensure that pallets will be blocked for a substantial 15 seconds, thus robbing survivors of more options to evade this killer.

This is what’s changing with the Oni: The Oni is also only receiving a small change, namely a nerf to the add-on Scalped Topknot. The reduction of the activation time of the “Demon Dash” is halved, making the add-on significantly less effective.

This is what’s changing with the Trickster: The Trickster is receiving just a small bug fix, as an add-on provided more benefits than originally intended. Therefore, Ji-Woon’s Autograph is slightly nerfed, now requiring only one less blade instead of 2.

Lastly, most add-ons have had confusing and unclear terms like “moderate” or “drastic” removed. Instead, there are now clear indications in seconds of exactly what an add-on provides and how significant the advantages and disadvantages are. This provides more clarity and resolves the issue where players had to either spend hours experimenting or simply Google what each value meant.

Changes to the Hatch

The most important change for survivors concerns the hatch, also called the fall door or in English “Hatch”. Until now, the hatch appeared once more generators were repaired than survivors still in the game. This has now changed.

The hatch now only appears when one survivor remains and all others have died or escaped.

It is thus no longer possible to “camp” at the hatch and hope that the other survivor dies. The hatch is now truly a last resort for escape and can no longer be “planned” to save the entire team.

Farewell to Stranger Things

The patch also brought a number of small changes – as the Stranger Things characters will soon be disappearing. Until November 17, you can purchase Nancy, Steve, and the Demogorgon; after that, they will no longer be available. However, those who own the characters can continue to use them.

As the license with Netflix expires, the perks of all three characters have also been renamed and converted into general perks. So do not be surprised if “Inner Strength” suddenly becomes “Inner Healing” – this fate has befallen all perks of the three characters.

What do you think of all the changes that were in this patch? Good and sensible adjustments? Or way too much at once?

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