So–I’ve been quiet for quite a while now, and of course in that length of time so much has happened in the world of horror, which I coin the Entity’s Realm. Let’s start with the lightest topics before we get to the heavy-hitters.
COSMETICS
Dead by Daylight has been pumping out cosmetics like crazy. Firstly, let’s talk Passion Project. The collection features casual outfits for Mikaela, Zarina, and Haddie. The great thing is that two of DBD’s most underrepresented survivors have new clothes. The bad news is that you need auric cells to get them.
Auric Cells are a strictly purchasable in-game currency—the only way to buy them is by using real-world money. What irks me about DBD is that many special cosmetics are unobtainable because you need auric cells to purchase them, rather than iridescent shards. Shards are a form of in-game currency that you can get by obtaining experience points through playing. However, only certain cosmetics can be purchased using shards.
Anyway, now that I’ve gotten my currency rant out of the way, let’s talk about the newest pieces from Deadly Games as well as the updated Alpine Frost Collection. Deadly Games is providing some sporty fits for David King and Ace Visconti, while Alpine Frost gives Garbiel Soma, Ace, and the Singularity some wintry ensembles–the first ones after over five years!
Lastly, I mention the DOMREBEL collection, which is my favorite of the new sets. It provides some alternative fashions for Nea Karlsson, Elodie Rakoto, Vittorio Toscano, Trickster, Susie, and–surprise surprise–Feng Min. I’m actually gonna have to say that the killer outfits are much better than the survivor ones–just look at how destructively fashionable Trickster and Susie look!
There are always more cosmetics coming out, but these are just a few of the notable ones I decided to cover today! Remember to check the store for the newest updates on fashion–even though they’re probably all for Feng Min.
CHAPTER 30.5: ALAN WAKE
We’ve got a brand new survivor! And what’s he from? Another franchise crossover!
The 2010 action-adventure game Alan Wake has lent its protagonist to the Fog. The novelist, clad in shades of grey that make him great for blending in with the surroundings, brings with him three new perks. Of all three, Champion of Light deserves the most mention as it impacts your speed with flashlights.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, flashlights are one of the most useful tools in Dead by Daylight, as they can be used to blind the killers that chase you, allowing for a speedy getaway while they can’t see. Blinding a killer who is holding a survivor also causes them to let go, leading to a wonderful save!
Champion of Light is exceptionally useful because while you’re shining a flashlight, you’re grated 50% haste, which bolsters your movement speed. If you successfully blind the killer, they will be hindered for 6 seconds! That means that they’ll move slower, by 20% specifically, allowing for another clean escape.
What worries me about Champion of Light is that its arrival will cause a spike in the number of killers using Lightborn–a perk that renders the killer completely immune to the effect of flashlights. I’ve always thought that Lightborn was a ridiculous perk, as it makes a core survivor defense tactic absolutely useless. Being totally resistant to flashlights is a game breaking thing–personally I think that Lightborn should bolster resistance to blindness instead of making it absolute. Maybe by adding a few seconds to the amount of time it takes to get blinded, the perk could become more balanced.
But realistically no one’s gonna nerf Lightborn, and we’re all totally screwed. But for those lobbies which lack Lighborn–happy flashlighting, survivors!
THE FIRST MODIFIER: LIGHTS OUT
Dead by Daylight has been crazy lately, especially after the first game modifier of its kind, Lights Out, was introduced about a week ago! Shrouding the maps in near-complete darkness, it seems that DBD has returned to its horror roots.
I can testify that this new game mode has both scared the living bejesus out of me in survivor and make me feel like a top-tier murderer in killer. I have been pumping out 4Ks (killing everyone in game) like crazy as Ghostface–however, I have also been yanked off generators in the split second I was not looking behind me, completely unaware of killer presence due to the complete absence of terror radius, which is the music that plays when killers get near. Without a terror radius, there is no way to realize you’re being targeted save for the red stain (the light that emanates from the front of a killer). On the bright side for survivors, all scratch marks are completely concealed, leaving no tracks behind for the killer to use to follow us. However, injured survivors still make noise and leave pools of blood, so one must be extra careful to not get hit.
What’s insane about this mode is that no one is allowed to use perks, the extra equippable abilities that help both hunting and surviving. Relying on pure instinct, killers and survivors must go through the trials. That means no special aura-reading capabilities or extra bursts of speed in chase–just good, old-fashioned slashing.
So–to conclude, being hunted down with special abilities to help you live, nothing to alert you of an approaching killer, and not knowing where the hell you’re going due to the fat shroud of darkness around you is terrifying–and I love it!
