Dead by Daylight update 8.7.0: Everything new added with the latest patch

A comprehensive guide to Dead by Daylight’s 8.7.0 update, featuring new perks, bug fixes, and strategic insights for both survivors and killers.

Update Overview & Platform Availability

Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight’s update 8.7.0 is now live (Image via Behaviour Interactive Inc.)

Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight’s update 8.7.0 is now live (Image via Behaviour Interactive Inc.)

Behaviour Interactive has deployed a substantial new patch for Dead by Daylight, marking update 8.7.0 as one of the most comprehensive balance and quality-of-life patches in recent memory. This release focuses on addressing persistent technical issues while introducing meaningful gameplay adjustments that will reshape strategies on both sides of the fog. Crucially, this update maintains full cross-platform synchronization, ensuring all players receive identical changes simultaneously regardless of their chosen device. You can access these updates on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS mobile platforms.

New Perks & Killer Power Adjustments

Survivor Perk Reworks

Several survivor perks have received numerical tuning and mechanical adjustments. A key change involves perks granting the Haste status effect, which increases movement speed. The bonus now displays directly on the status icon, providing clearer gameplay feedback. For example, the perk that grants haste to the unhooked survivor now provides a 15% speed increase, up from 10%. Similarly, haste near powered generators increases to 7% from 5%. Crucially, the developers have reverted previous restrictions, allowing multiple sources of Haste and Hindered to stack once again, enabling more diverse build synergies.

  • Healing Synergy Perk: When healing another survivor, your speed increases by 30/40/50% based on their hook state. Successfully hitting great skill checks now grants +3% additional progress, rewarding precision.
  • Protection Hit Perk: Taking a protection hit while healthy grants all survivors within 12 meters 25% Haste for 4/5/6 seconds, creating opportunities for team repositioning.
  • Locker Escape Perk: Fast exiting a locker now applies the Exhausted status effect for 30/25/20 seconds (reduced at higher tiers), preventing immediate perk use. However, gaining Exhausted now reveals the Killer’s aura for a flat 2 seconds, providing valuable intelligence.
  • Killer-Specific Tuning

    Multiple killers received targeted adjustments to address balance concerns and buggy interactions:

  • The Ghoul: Breaking a pallet now consumes 2 Leap Tokens instead of 1, increasing the power’s cooldown. The hindering time applied when using Kagune Leap against survivors has been halved to 0.5 seconds. The Yamori’s Mask add-on no longer reveals survivors hiding in lockers.
  • The Unknown: Scoring events for “Become Enraged” during grab attacks now properly activate while already enraged and award 600 Bloodpoints (up from 250).
  • The Skull Merchant: Overclock Mode now provides a permanent 3% base movement speed increase instead of a temporary Haste effect, creating more consistent pressure.
  • The Twins: Bloodpoint rewards for all Deviousness scoring events have been doubled, improving progression.
  • The Trickster: Added a cooldown to repeatedly interrupting unhooks with Shock Therapy to prevent spam.
  • The Dredge: Removed the turn rate limit during Demon Strike’s startup, improving maneuverability.
  • Hex: Pentimento Rework Analysis

    Hex: Pentimento (Rework): This perk has been completely redesigned from a regression-focused ability to a progressive slowdown tool.

  • You can now see the aura of cleansed totems and may Rekindle each one a single time.
  • Each Rekindled totem reduces survivor healing and repair speeds by 20%, with an additional 1/2/3% slowdown per extra totem.
  • The ultimate payoff occurs if all five totems are simultaneously Rekindled, causing The Entity to permanently block all totems on the map.
  • Survivors affected by this hex can see Rekindled totem auras within 16 meters, creating a cat-and-mouse game around totem management.
  • Strategic Insight: This rework transforms Pentimento from a niche pick to a viable slowdown option, especially against teams that aggressively cleanse totems. The progressive penalty encourages survivors to either avoid cleansing altogether or coordinate to cleanse all totems simultaneously to avoid the permanent block.

    Quality of Life & System Improvements

    Quest Hub Introduction

    Update 8.7.0 introduces a unified Quest Hub that consolidates all challenge tracking into a single interface. This new system encompasses daily rituals, seasonal event quests, rift challenges, and archive tasks, eliminating the need to navigate between multiple menus. The centralized design helps players efficiently identify progression opportunities and prioritize objectives based on available rewards.

    New Player Experience

    Behaviour Interactive has implemented several changes to ease onboarding for beginners:

  • Characters now unlock with a pre-equipped perk relevant to their playstyle, providing immediate functionality.
  • New players receive a curated set of items and add-ons designed to demonstrate character mechanics without overwhelming them with choices.
  • A widget in the pre-game lobby highlights your own equipped perks, making build verification quicker.
  • Rarity levels have been revised to better communicate item and add-on tier values.
  • Visual & Audio Feedback

    The update brings significant improvements to game feel and clarity:

  • Haste and Hindered status effects now display their exact speed bonus/penalty directly on their icons.
  • All perk descriptions that affect movement speed explicitly mention Haste or Hindered.
  • Added audio feedback when hovering over collected Bloodweb nodes, offerings in the sequence, and items on the Tally Screen.
  • New audio cues for Rift Tier progression buttons provide satisfying feedback.
  • Graphics Upgrade: Character materials have been updated to use physically accurate shading models. This means skin reflects light more realistically, artists have finer control over surface details like pores and scars, and characters maintain visual consistency across all map lighting conditions.
  • New Gameplay Scenarios

    A novel Killer option has been added: if the exit gates are powered and 10 minutes pass without the match concluding, the Killer may choose to Abandon the trial. This provides an escape from excessively drawn-out endgames where survivors refuse to leave. Additionally, protections have been added against certain toxic behaviors, including spamming unhook interactions without completing them and skill checks that trigger immediately after stopping an action.

    Bug Fixes & Technical Patches

    Killer-Specific Fixes

    This patch addresses numerous long-standing issues affecting killer gameplay:

  • The Knight: Fixed stuns occurring at guard spawn locations, power breaking during summon stuns, and patrol path creation getting stuck due to latency.
  • The Nemesis: Resolved menu animation issues, zombie invisibility with specific add-ons, and a vault speed exploit that allowed nearly double normal speed.
  • The Nurse: Addressed a brief locker vision bug when blinking through walls.
  • The Ghost Face & The Unknown: Fixed survivor bots revealing Ghost Face and clearing Weakened status from impossible locations.
  • The Trickster: Added a cancel interaction prompt during Main Event.
  • Multiple Killers: Fixed issues with The Ghoul’s appearance and animations, The Houndmaster’s dog clipping and Deep Wound interaction, The Twin’s camera lock, The Lich’s add-on functionality, The Plague’s infection rate, The Wraith’s cloaking state, and The Mastermind’s window vault.
  • Map & Collision Corrections

    Significant work has been done to improve map integrity across multiple realms:

  • Performance: Fixed slowdowns on Midwich Elementary School.
  • Pathing: Corrected issues preventing zombies from reaching the arch base on Temple of Purgation and getting stuck on ramps in Disturbed Ward.
  • Collision: Fixed clipping problems in Autohaven Wreckers lockers, collisions on Lery’s Memorial Institute and Father Campbell’s Chapel, and characters getting stuck on hooks in Raccoon City Police Department.
  • Audio: Corrected wrong footstep SFX in Grim Pantry’s cabin, Ormond Lake Mine’s balcony and ramp, and persistent SFX with certain Tome 23 outfits.
  • Visual: Fixed lighting in Nostromo Wreckage and the Killer’s red stain appearing through walls in Lery’s Memorial Institute.
  • UI & Audio Glitches

    The update squashes various interface and stability issues:

  • Fixed error messages when selecting “The Tomes” from the main menu.
  • Resolved visual glitches with equipped add-ons in the loadout menu.
  • Corrected issues where the Tally Screen would skip Bloodpoint bonuses and notifications would disappear when returning to the main menu.
  • Fixed team skill icons appearing only in brown and a crash when canceling infinite tier purchases.
  • Addressed achievement tracking errors and incorrect item gain reporting when using the Abandon feature.
  • Fixed missing idle animations for Orela Rose in lobbies and generator spawning issues in Badham Preschool.
  • Strategic Implications & Player Tips

    Meta Impact Analysis

    The return of Haste and Hindered stacking fundamentally alters the perk economy. Survivors can now combine multiple speed-boosting effects for dramatic escapes, while killers can layer slowdowns for greater area control. This makes perk combinations like Hope + Adrenaline even more potent for survivors, while killers might experiment with multiple Hindering add-ons. The Hex: Pentimento rework introduces a new strategic layer: survivors must decide whether to cleanse totems early (risking the slowdown) or leave them (enabling other hex perks).

    Common Mistakes to Avoid

    1. Overlooking the Quest Hub: Many players will continue using old menus out of habit. Regularly check the new unified hub to maximize bloodpoint and rift fragment gains.
    2. Misjudging Pentimento: Survivors cleansing totems one by time will stack massive repair penalties. Coordinate with your team to cleanse multiple totems simultaneously or avoid cleansing altogether against suspected Pentimento builds.
    3. Wasting New Protections: The new anti-spam protections for unhooks and skill checks don’t excuse poor play. Don’t rely on them; they’re safety nets against toxicity, not replacements for proper timing.
    4. Ignoring Audio Feedback: The new hover sounds in the Bloodweb and Tally Screen provide subtle confirmation of selections. Players who disable sound effects may miss these quality-of-life improvements.

    Optimization for Advanced Play

    1. Killer Power Adjustment Exploitation: The Ghoul’s increased token cost for pallet breaks means you should prioritize using Kagune Leap for distance closes instead. The Skull Merchant’s permanent 3% speed boost in Overclock enables more aggressive zoning.
    2. Map-Specific Strategies: With collision fixes on maps like RPD and Autohaven, previously unreliable loops are now consistent. Relearn these tiles as they may be stronger or weaker than before.
    3. Build Synergy Exploration: Experiment with stacking Haste effects on survivors (e.g., the reworked unhook haste perk + Sprint Burst) and Hindered effects on killers (e.g., Clown’s bottles combined with certain add-ons).
    4. Graphical Advantage: The improved character shading can make survivors slightly more visible in certain lighting conditions. Adjust your monitor settings if characters appear too dark or washed out in specific maps.

    Also Read: Dead by Daylight’s most popular feature has been nerfed again

    Read More: Why Dead By Daylight developers removed certain cosmetics from the game

    Also Read: How to play The Dredge in Dead by Daylight

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