Your world comes crashing around you, smashes down around you. When will you see that you cannot hide from me?
The leak of Ghostface as the new Killer wasn’t the only feature of the most recent patch to Behaviour Interactive’s asymmetrical horror smash Dead by Daylight. The mid-chapter update, which brought the game into version 2.7.0, gave players the new feature known as the End Game Collapse (EGC). This new finale lights a fire under any existing players in the match, as a two-minute timer begins once one of a few trigger events occurs: 1) an Exit Gate is opened by the Survivors, after completing the requisite number of Generators, 2) a Killer opens an Exit Gate, as a sort of concession or surrender, or 3) the Killer closes the Hatch, which now opens when one Survivor remains, without a Generator requirement.
The Collapse, complete with visual and audio effects, will claim the lives of Survivors left once time expires, scoring sacrifices for the Killer. With the EGC, gone are the days of Survivors hijacking a game and drawing it out longer than they have any business doing. This also gives the Killer an out, a sort of white flag if things go pear-shaped for them, without having to disconnect and lose any points they earned in the match, or any items they brought into it.
One Killer who sees their bottom line significantly altered is The Pig. The Pig’s Reverse Bear Traps only activate when a Generator is completed. Once the minimum number of Generators was completed, even inactive RBTs could still turn deadly, if the wearer attempted to escape through the Exit Gates. This is no longer the case under the rules of the EGC, as beginning the Collapse will block Generators as opposed to complete all of them. No more last-minute trap applications will make a difference, so long as they are applied during the Collapse. Game over. As a consolation prize for this fact, the timer pausing rules for the RBTs have been changed. Instead of the timers being halted during Chases, they will stop if the wearer of the trap is within the Terror Radius of The Pig.
As we look towards the three-year anniversary of Dead by Daylight, these changes are sharpening a game that, with its flaws, is still very enjoyable as a competitive horror game. Freddy Krueger has a total rework in the near future, and Ghostface will soon be gracing the realm of The Entity. Beyond that, the future is a bit foggy for Dead by Daylight, but in any case…
See you in the Fog.
