From the moment you set foot onto the Trial grounds, uncertainty and paranoia follow your every move. Was it just your imagination or did something move in the shadows? Turns out it was just a fellow soul lost in these god-forsaken lands. But your relief turns to horror as a tall dark figure emerges behind the unsuspecting stranger. Instinctively, you run.
Sounds like a promising experience, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, Dead by Daylight can be less than ideal at times. Instead of riveting life-and-death situations, you’ll be crouching near a generator most of the time. In this article, I’m going to tell you about 10 reasons why Dead by Daylight can be painfully unbearable at times.
Disclaimer
Before we open the can of worms, I’d like to clarify a few things.
I love Dead by Daylight and think it’s a good game. The purpose of this article is just to summarize the reasons that make this game feel bad at times. After all, every game has its issues.
I’ve experienced every single one of these issues, except for the cheaters (and I hope it stays that way). I have over one thousand hours in this game so I can say with confidence that I know what I talk about. These issues are felt by the community too and I guarantee you that every single streamer has mentioned most if not all of them at some point.
10. Abundance of Cheaters
The Trapper stares frozen, watching a Dwight cosplay as Santa Claus.
Cheaters. This topic has plagued Dead by Daylight for almost a year now. And despite the fan base’s relentless protests, Behaviour declared that they will tackle the issue only about a month ago. But did they really?
First, let’s look at how this issue looks in a real match. Although Killers can cheat too, most of the hackers are Survivors. They can be divided into two camps: obvious and subtle cheaters.
True to their name, obvious cheaters make no effort to hide the fact that they’re hacking. Their program allows them to do things that are paranormal even within the game’s boundaries. So if you see a Dwight flying around the map like a Superman, no it’s not because of a Perk. It’s thanks to cheats.
These hackers have flashlights equivalent to lighthouses too – they blind everyone around even if they’re pointing at your shoes. You can also identify them by their constant healing, recovering, and unhooking. And if they want, they can instantly finish all the generators and even end the game.
However, this issue does have some silver lining – you’re unlikely to encounter these obvious hackers in your matches. They target mostly streamers and even have a program to get into their games. All they have to do is buy a program that forces them into any streamer’s lobby. Then, they can prevent the game from ending until it ends naturally in two hours.
While DCing will forcefully end this game, the hacker can just repeat this. Each time you leave a match, you receive a stackable penalty than can grow up to days.
On the other hand, subtle cheaters are seemingly regular Survivors trying to live to see another day. But behind that innocence hide insidious cheats designed to make them run or perform actions just a little bit faster.
Some players argue that these kinds of cheaters are even worse since you can’t tell them apart from regular players. They will reach the deepest corner of your mind and make you question your own sanity. Sometimes, luck, items, or a niche Perk can be misinterpreted as hacking.
How To Make It Better:
The only way to deal with cheating is to keep pumping out countermeasures regularly. Hackers constantly try to improve their programs and bypass detection and security systems. This kind of dynamic evolution requires just as dynamic countermeasures.
While I understand that allocating resources to an anti-cheat development team might mean more expenses, I am against hacking in every game. Most games are immune to such trivial matters. So I ask, why is Dead by Daylight lagging behind? Especially given how long people have been complaining about it.
The reason why I place this at the bottom of the list is because Behaviour decided to address the problem in September. It took their most prominent streamers to point out these issues before they did this which speaks poorly of Behaviour as a company. Although their plan on how to deal with cheaters was a bit vague, it’s a start.
9. Outdated Interface
At last, you decide to spend your overabundance of bloodpoints. It shall take only 30 minutes of your life…
Unlike the previous topic, this is just a minor quality-of-life issue. Dead by Daylight can force you to spend several minutes just idling between matches because of how silly the leveling system is. If you’re like me and prefer to spend all your bloodpoints at once, you know what I’m talking about.
Once you get two million bloodpoints (or more in special cases), spending them becomes a nightmare. It can even take longer than an actual match! And no, I’m not exaggerating – I once spent over fifteen minutes just trying to spend all my bloodpoints.
The problem is the poor bloodweb progression system. Instead of tapping on the nodes you want, you have to hold it for about two seconds. It might not sound like much, but these seconds ramp up very fast.
Before you know it, ten minutes have passed. And the worst part? I don’t see any reason why it even works this way. Holding the button doesn’t provide you with any advantage. While it might be there to prevent you from choosing the wrong node, the items are extremely easy to get anyway.
The Daily Rituals have been quite stagnant for a long time too. They randomly force you to play any character you own. However, I don’t enjoy playing every single Killer in the game.
And because most of these dailies take multiple matches to complete, I just skip them. I don’t like being forced into playing a character I don’t like. You can’t even choose if you want Survivor or Killer dailies!
How To Make It Better:
The bloodpoint system should be revamped. Many players complain about how long they have to spend on such a trivial aspect of the game. The easiest way to do this would be to just make the nodes clickable.
The Daily Rituals should at least allow you to pick between Survivor- or Killer-oriented quests.
However, Behaviour did make Tome a bit easier to navigate recently. Hopefully, they will continue down this path.
8. Huge performance gaps among Killers
The Nurse stares at the other Killers mockingly, happy to be the strongest Killer in the game.
Dead by Daylights owes its huge player base mainly thanks to its licensed Killers. If you are a fan of games such as Silent Hill or Resident Evil, you can’t help but give in to the temptation. However, many of these frightening Killers just… suck.
Right now, the top three spots on the Killer Tier list belong to the Nurse, Blight, and Spirit. And while a couple of Killers are viable in terms of strength, most of them don’t suit competitive playstyle.
Of course, this issue is noticeable at high MMR. Even the veteran streamers have a tough time getting a single kill with mediocre Killers.
The concept of Killers such as Sadako, Pig, or Ghostface is intriguing and I enjoy playing them. Many people do. But they just don’t hold a candle to the Nurse, who can ignore every wall on the map. Any Killer that isn’t ‘M2’ (has a special attack) is essentially bad.
And this problem doesn’t affect just Killer players who are now forced to stick to just three or four characters if they want to win. It makes the game boring for Survivors too. In every match, you always see the same old Killers. Some are just so unpopular that you’ll see them once every 100 matches.
While repetition might be the mother of wisdom, it’s also the bane of fun.
How To Make It Better:
Certain Killers just need a total rework. I understand that some characters always work better than others in every game but in Dead by Daylight it’s just ridiculous.
The Nurse has become something of a meme at this point and almost everyone hates playing against her. With a little practice, anyone can dominate the match as this Killer. Conversely, winning is painfully sweaty on the Hag or Shape.
7. Too many ragequitters
A dreadful icon that rises the blood pressure of all too many Survivors.
Despite the leaver penalty, the number of quitters has increased over this year. Whether you watch your favorite streamer or play the game yourself, you witness this phenomenon all the time. This kind of behavior ruins your experience in more than just one way.
First of all, let’s address the reason people quit. I understand having to leave the match sometimes. Real life happens. I also understand DCing after being slugged for over three minutes.
Sadly, most DCs happen right in the first minute of a match. The Meg tea-bagged in front of the Killer, went down in 10 seconds, and DCed. Or if she was smarter, she killed herself on the first hook.
Now, it’s just up to you and your two teammates to finish all 5 generators and escape the match. Since the Killer will almost always be chasing one Survivor, that leaves two people on generators.
This makes winning considerably harder, if not impossible. No one wants to play out an unfair match. But given how often this happens, it can discourage people from playing altogether.
Some Killers will farm with the remaining Survivors if this happens. Others will try to wrap up the game as fast as possible. Still, this childish behavior is pathetic and makes the game frustrating to play.
How To Make It Better:
Although the leaver penalty was a good start, it clearly isn’t enough. Additional features are necessary to discourage people from ragequitting.
One way to deal with this would be to replace the DC’ed player with an AI Survivor. This could make the game fairer for the remaining Survivors. Behaviour hinted at adding this feature so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Alternatively, players shouldn’t be allowed to kill themselves on the hook. If they want to leave, let them face the penalty. Even better – end the match immediately if a player DC’s or suicides within the first two minutes.
6. SWF vs Solo Queue experience gap
Adam stands still, admiring the scenery instead of doing gens. Your average Solo Queue Survivor in his natural habitat.
The disparity between Survive-With-Friends and Solo Queue has been subject to much debate. The phrase ‘typical Solo Queue teammate’ has evolved from a meme to a mantra. Add to that cheating and ragequitting, and almost everyone queues up with just their friend.
That’s what Survive-With-Friends (SWF) is – a party of four Survivors who know each other. Typically, these groups are on voice coms which allows them to play the game a hundred times more efficiently. It even renders many Perks completely useless.
Naturally, playing against a good SWF is incredibly frustrating for the Killer. Usually, one player will tell the others that they’re being chased. Knowing the area is safe, the rest of the team can safely repair a generator. Even if you’re great at your chosen Killer, you’re going to have a tough time winning the game.
On the other hand, Solo Queue is a clown fiesta. Dwights hiding in lockers all game long, Megs cleansing every single totem, Neas BMing the Killer only to go down and DC later… I’ve seen it all and so did you.
The only way to play strategically in Solo Queue is to always run aura-reading Perks like Kindred or Bond. Without these Perks, you’ll just have to guess what your team is doing all the time. This forces you to opt for certain builds if you want to stay competitive.
How To Make It Better:
I believe SWF is unhealthy for the game right now. However, I understand why it exists – most people want to play with their friends. Removing it would just cause Dead by Daylight to lose most of its player base.
Thus, buffing Solo Queue is the better option here. Each character should have an action near their name that displays what they’re doing. Making Kindred or Bond base kit would also be a good idea. Essentially, the game needs an information buff that would narrow down the gap between SWF and Solo Queue.
5. Tunneling and camping are often win conditions
Michael decided to show Nea what a fun DbD experience looks like.
While nothing in the game states that tunneling and camping are against the rules, they make the game frustrating for the affected Survivor. The weak-willed ones will even disconnect. But as you climb the treacherous MMR ladder, both of these cheap tactics become mandatory.
Tunneling happens when the Killer focuses on just one Survivor. Until that Survivor dies, he will ignore everyone else. Camping means standing next to the hook until the hooked Survivor dies. Both tactics are legitimate, although frowned upon.
Players refer to Killers who use them as ‘toxic’. Whether it’s toxic or not, it’s certainly not fun to experience either one of these strategies.
Unfortunately, Killers won’t win at high MMR without utilizing them. Since most of the players will be SWFs, camping and tunneling are the only ways the Killer can gain an advantage. Getting a player out of the game early tips the scales in Killer’s favor.
Camping also forces the remaining Survivors to lurk nearby and wait for a moment to save. Thus, they’re not on a generator and the Killer gains more time.
How To Make It Better:
Over the years, Dead by Daylight has been addressing every single issue in the game via new Perks. But while this treats the symptoms, it doesn’t remove the cause. Again, it forces players to lean towards certain builds.
The only way to discourage this behavior is to change the game objective. Instead of getting kills, it’s the number of hooks that should count. If the Killer gets 9 hooks, they win the game. This would need to be tweaked and optimized, of course, but it’s a decent jumping-off point.
4. Tomes forces you to troll
The new Tome brings many new challenges. And with it, an army soft-core troll emerges.
Tomes have some questionable challenges that have been the topic of many discussions. I’d like to point out that I don’t use the word ‘troll’ lightly. It implies going against the objective or even sabotaging your teammates. Sadly, that’s precisely what some challenges ask you to do.
Tomes are a great addition to the game. Not only do they provide you with bloodpoints but they also unlock additional insight into the lore of Dead by Daylight. That said, some of the challenges will make your blood boil.
You could argue that a challenge is supposed to be challenging – it’s in the name. But the only thing they challenge is your patience and sanity. Some ask you to do meaningless things like cleansing 20 totems or sabotaging 20 hooks. While both are a waste of time in the current meta, they’re doable.
The ones that concern me are challenges such as ‘Hide within 10 meters of the Killer for a total of 60 seconds without being caught'. And it has to be done in a single game. Unless the Killer is AFK, you can’t pull this off without being a liability to your team. By following the Killer, you’re doing nothing productive. It’s also frustrating to pull off since Killers can simply turn around to spot you.
Killer challenges aren’t much better. Kill all Survivors in the basement or finishing the game with 5 pentimento totems lit are both great examples. I’m not saying these can’t be done. They can. But only if you’re willing to play over 50 matches. A challenge means a difficult feat, not one dependent on luck.
How To Make It Better:
Each challenge should be double-checked to see if it can even happen in a regular game. Challenges should complement regular gameplay instead of forcing you to troll. The bizarre ones that somehow made it into the game should be revamped.
3. Problematic Gen Speed
Kate just hopped on a generator. In a matter of seconds, she will finish it.
Gen speed has evolved quite a lot over the years. In the days of the old Ruin, completing generators could take ages. After its nerf, the matches became rather short. And a while ago, the generator completion time was increased from 80 to 90 seconds. But did that truly solve the issue?
Right now, two things dictate how fast a match will go: gen-rushing Perks and slow-down Perks.
Gen-rushing Perks include mostly Prove Thyself and Hyperfocus paired with other Perks based on personal preference. Together with a toolbox, they can reduce the time it takes you to finish a generator on your own by 40 seconds. If everyone runs this build, the match will likely be shorter than your queue time.
To counter this, Killers have plenty of slow-down Perks. Corrupt Intervention, Deadlock, and Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance are the most popular ones. However, you can also choose from a lot of regression Perks. But equip them at your own risk – certain entitled Survivors might flame you in the post-game chat.
So why is that a problem? Firstly, it promotes one generic build and in doing so, kills variety. Some players love aura-reading builds while others might like chase-dependent builds. But without these slow-down Perks, the game will fly by so fast you won’t get any use of your build.
From the Survivor’s point of view, gen-rushing is also a very boring playstyle. Many times, the game ends before you even interact with the Killer. I hate staring at a progression bar all game long. But sadly, this is how most of your games will go.
How To Make It Better:
Addressing this issue is no small task. Clearly, increasing the time it takes to finish a generator doesn’t work. It just makes the game more painful for the Survivors.
Perhaps the best thing to do would be to add additional objectives. Apart from doing generators, Survivors would also have to collect parts before they can begin working on them.
2. Maps are inconsistent
The Ghostface dashes across the map, sticking out like a sore thumb.
Players have complained about poor map designs for quite a while too. Although it makes sense for maps to add a bit of RNG to every match, almost all of them favor one side over the other.
In general, large maps with a main building favor Survivors. Main buildings are very safe structures and the Killer will have a hard time chasing you here. And because of the map’s large size, generators spawn far away from one another. This makes patrolling time-consuming. Add to that an overabundance of pallets and you might as well call these maps Survivors’ playgrounds.
On the other hand, small or indoor maps usually lean in the Killer’s favor. Because of the confined space, patrolling generators is really easy. They also have a great three-gen potential (this happens when the last three generators are very close to one another).
Since most of these maps have two levels, your Terror Radius can confuse Survivors and force them off generators. The maze-like layout makes it much harder to navigate for Survivors, too. Unlike the Killer, they can’t see the aura of generators and might have a tough time finding one.
This is problematic because map offerings exist. Usually, Survivors will send themselves to maps where they have the upper hand. To play stealth Killers, you practically have to burn an indoor map offering to stand a chance. On large maps, your stealth is much less effective.
How To Make It Better:
Instead of adding any new maps, the devs should consider a complete overhaul of the maps currently in the game. Getting ousted by a map offering removes both the competitive and fun aspects of the game. Alternatively, the map offerings could be removed altogether.
1. Some Perks are game-breaking
A list f Perks, some of which you see every match. Others, you don’t even know to exist.
Some Perks are game-breaking. That sounds a little dramatic, doesn’t it? But before you accuse me of pompous theatrics, allow me to explain what I mean by this word. By game-breaking I refer to Perks that significantly change your playstyle based on just their existence. You don’t even need to have the Perk equipped. So long as it exists, it changes the way you play.
The first Perk that comes to my mind is Boon: Circle of Healing. Ever since its release, it’s remained of the most broken Perk in the game. Yes, even despite all the nerfs it’s received. Circle of Healing allows you to set up a boon. Within 24 meters of this boon, everyone can heal themselves.
Additionally, every affected receives a 50% bonus to healing speed. This Boon counters the Hit-and-Run and playstyle and thus every Killer who relies on it. Killers such as the Wraith, Onryo, and Hag all struggle against this boon. Thus, most people don’t even play them for fear of running into this boon.
Dead Hard is another ludicrous Perks. It essentially grants you another health state. Whenever you are injured and take a hit, you will be afflicted with Deep Wound. Thus, you won’t go down if you manage to mend.
Now, Killers have to wait at least one second before hitting a Survivor just because of this Perk. Dead Hard can prolong the chase significantly so the extra caution goes a long way. Still, it’s just silly to play in such a paranoid way.
Although Killers have some strong Perks, none are game-changing. The only thing I can compare to these two Perksto was the old Mori. Back then, you could kill every Survivor whom you’d hooked at least once. That too was quite game-breaking.
Because some Perks are just insanely strong, you see the same old names in most builds. If you check any of my Survivor and Killer build lists, you’ll see only a handful of Perks appear there.
While you can equip a niche Perk, its effectiveness depends largely on lucky matchmaking.
How To Make It Better:
Both these Perks need to be either nerfed or removed from the game. In their current state, they make the game painful for the Killer.
Circle of Healing should either enable you to self-care or just boost your general healing speed. It shouldn’t have both effects. As for Dead Hard, it should be limited to once per Trial.
Although the Perk revamp was a great start, it just pushed new Perks to the S tier. Additional changes are necessary to make each Perk at least viable.
