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Dead by Daylight – Core Balance Rework Proposal

serious serious
in Feedback and Suggestions

[Summary of Goals]

A. Survivors

  • Add Self-Care as a basekit perk, allowing survivors more flexibility in perk selection
  • Adjust healing-related perks due to basekit Self-Care
  • Nerf Med-Kits and Toolboxes
  • Improve usability of Keys so they can be held alongside another item

B. Killers

  • Add Pop Goes the Weasel as a basekit perk
  • Adjust generator regression perks accordingly
  • Slightly buff base chase performance
  • Nerf camping and tunneling

Result: As a result, both Survivors and Killers effectively use five perks, expanding the range of perk choices compared to the current system.

[Table of Contents]

  • Chapter 1. Survivor Balance Adjustments
    • A. Base Kit Changes
    • B. Item & Add-on Balance
  • Chapter 2. Killer Balance Adjustments
    • A. Base Kit Changes
    • B. Generator Destruction System

Chapter 1. Survivor Balance Adjustments

1. Base Healing Balance Changes

Category

Before

After

Change

Self-Heal Availability

Not possible

Available

Buff

Heal Others Speed

16s

18s

Nerf

Self-Heal Speed

35% (45.7s)

40% (45s)

Buff

Skill Check Chance (Others)

12.5%/s

20%/s

Buff

Skill Check Chance (Self)

12.5%/s

8%/s

Nerf

Great Skill Check Bonus (Others)

+3%

+5% (~0.9s faster)

Buff

Great Skill Check Bonus (Self)

+3%

+5% (~2.7s faster)

Buff

Deep Wound Heal (Others)

6s

6s

Same

Deep Wound Heal (Self)

10s

40% (15s)

Nerf

Dying State Heal (Others)

16s

18s

Nerf

Dying State Heal (Self)

32s

45s

Nerf

Healing While Crawling

Not possible

Possible

Buff

Cleanse/Bless Totem

14s

15s

Nerf

Bless Hex Totem

24s

30s

Nerf

Chest Unlock

10s

12s

Nerf

2. Self-Heal Related Perk Adjustments

Perk

Change

Self-Care

+50% self-healing speed (Adjusted)

Botany Knowledge

Healing +50% → +25% (Nerf), Hook rescue speed +50% (Buff)

Desperate Measures

+12.5% per stack (Nerf), Hook rescue speed +25% (Buff)

Bite the Bullet

Additionally +25% healing speed (Buff)

Strength in Shadows

+100% healing speed in basement (Buff)

3. Hook Changes

Category

Before

After

Struggle Phase Trigger

70s

75s

Endurance After Unhook

15s

10s

Haste After Unhook

15s

30s

[Anti-Camping Changes]

  • Anti-camping gauge fill speed reduced (Nerf)

At 50% Gauge

  • Killer aura within 20m of hook is revealed to all survivors (Buff)
  • Killer receives a warning notification upon reaching 50% (Nerf)

At 100% Gauge

  • Survivor can self-unhook (Unchanged)

B. Item & Add-on Balance

[Common Changes]

  • All item rarities standardized to 4 tiers
  • All item charges standardized to multiples of 3 (for synergy with perks like Built to Last)
  • Performance ratio by rarity: 3 : 4 : 5 : 6
  • Each item has 4 add-ons (one per rarity tier)
  • Total: 24 items, 24 add-ons

1. Med-Kit (Nerf)

[Base Effects]

  • Heal Others Speed: +50% (18s → 12s)
  • Self-Heal Speed: 40% → 60% (45s → 30s)

[Items]

Rarity

Charges

Value (Other/self)

Green

18

-12s / -15s

Blue

24

-16s / -20s

Purple

30

-20s / -25s

Red

36

-24s / -30s

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+6 charges

Blue

+12 charges

Purple

+5% great skill check bonus

Red

-18 charges, consumed on use → auto-heal after 60s

2. Toolbox (Nerf)

[Base Changes]

Category

Before

After

Repair Speed

+50%~100%

+25% (Unified)

Skill Check Frequency

+32%

0% (Nerf)

[Items]

Rarity

Charges

Value

Green

45

-9s

Blue

60

-12s

Purple

75

-15s

Red

90

-18s

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+15 charges

Blue

+30 charges

Purple

+1% great repair skill check bonus

Red

Consumed on use, reduces total generator repair requirement by -10% (+9s value)

3. Flashlight

[Base Changes]

  • Blind duration: 2.5 seconds
  • After successfully blinding the Killer, the Flashlight cannot be used for 5 seconds (cooldown) (Nerf)

[Items]

Rarity

Charges

Green

6

Blue

8

Purple

10

Red

12

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+2 charges

Blue

+4 charges

Purple

+20% brightness, +0.5s blind duration

Red

+20% brightness and range, +0.5s blind duration

4. Key (Buff)

[Base Changes]

  • All keys have 6 charges (Standardized)
  • Consumes 1 charge to reveal aura of survivors and chests within range (Buff)
  • Consumes 1 charge to instantly unlock a chest
  • Can carry another item while holding a key (Buff)
  • Keys no longer spawn from opened chests

[Items]

Rarity

Detection Range

Green

18m

Blue

24m

Purple

30m

Red

36m

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+6m detection range

Blue

+12m detection range

Purple

Consumed on death → retain items obtained via key

Red

Gain all chest items upon escape

5. Map (Buff)

[Base Changes]

  • Charges standardized to 6
  • Detection duration: 20s (Buff)
  • Reveals pallets and windows

[Items]

Rarity

Detection Range

Green

18m

Blue

24m

Purple

30m

Red

36m

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+6m range

Blue

+12m range

Purple

Also reveals exit gates and totems

Red

Detects killer, but duration -50%

6. Fog Vial

[Base Stats]

  • Opacity: 33%
  • Radius: 8m
  • Cooldown: 60s
  • Charges: 4 → 3 (Nerf)

[Items]

Rarity

Duration

Green

6s

Blue

8s

Purple

10s

Red

12s

[Add-ons]

Rarity

Effect

Green

+2s duration

Blue

+4s duration

Purple

-80% time to reach max spread

Red

+100% opacity, -50% duration

Chapter 2. Killer Balance Adjustments

A. Base Kit Changes (Buff)

1. Chase Changes

Category

Before

After

Pallet Break Speed

2.34s

2.16s (Buff)

Vault Speed

1.7s

1.62s (Buff)

2. Chase Perk Adjustments

Perk

Change

Bamboozle

+15% → +12.5% (Nerf)

Superior Anatomy

+40% → +35% (Nerf)

B. Generator Destruction System

[Destruction Token System]

  • Gain 1 Generator Destruction Token when hooking a survivor
  • Maximum of 3 tokens
  • Displayed in UI

[Effect]

  • Consumes 1 token when kicking a generator
    → Instantly reduces total generator progress by 20%

[Generator Perk Changes]

Perk

Change

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

Automatically consumes token on most progressed generator (4/5/6 times), Scourge Hooks increased 4 → 5

Pop Goes the Weasel

(Reworked)

  • Effect: When a Survivor is hooked, if you are the first to directly kick a generator within 45 seconds, Pop Goes the Weasel activates on that generator.
  • If the Survivor stops the regression on that generator, it will explode an additional 10% and reveal the Survivor’s location to the Killer.
  • Can be used up to 4/5/6 times per match.

Hex: Ruin

Cannot gain regression tokens while active

Surge (Jolt)

8% → 6% / 6.75% / 7.5%

Eruption

Cooldown 30s → 45s

Pop Goes the Weasel

Notes: The perk has been reworked to reduce its raw generator pressure, making it function more like a tracking/harassment perk rather than a direct progression deletion tool.

Category

Change / Feature

Details / Reason

Base Healing Time

16s → 18s

- Minimal practical impact (skill check frequency & Great Skill Check bonus increased)
- Easier calculations for percentage-based perks and self-heal speeds (round numbers)
- Simplifies perk balancing and design

Survivor Perks

Self-Care added as basekit

Gives survivors more freedom in perk selection

Hook Escape Adjustments

Endurance time reduced 15s → 10s

Prevents abnormal behavior where rescued survivors block the killer

Movement speed bonus increased 15s → 30s

Makes it harder for killers to tunnel targets

Killer Perks

Pop Goes the Weasel added as basekit

Expands perk choice and offers the alternative of roaming instead of camping

Item Nerfs: Med-Kits

Durability scaled by rarity

Makes higher-rarity Med-Kits more rewarding to find

Item Nerfs: Toolboxes

Repair speed reduced, durability increased

Prevents generators from being instantly completed; gives killers time to respond

Skill-check bonus removed

Prevents abnormal synergies with other perks

Item Durability Standardization

All items multiples of 3

Ensures Built to Last perk calculations (33%, 66%, 99% recharge) work cleanly

Generator Destruction Tokens

Max tokens set to 3

Allows killers to chase Survivors without being forced to kick generators all the time

Comments

  • Rokku_Rorru Rokku_Rorru

    You put so much effort in part of me wishes I could try this concept on a PTB, coz I feel just reading it wouldn't do it justice.

    A lot of thought went into this, I like how you've focused on the back and forth more, that's neat.

  • serious serious

    @Rokku_Rorru said:

    You put so much effort in part of me wishes I could try this concept on a PTB, coz I feel just reading it wouldn't do it justice.

    A lot of thought went into this, I like how you've focused on the back and forth more, that's neat.

    Thanks for the kind feedback! I was inspired by the “anti-camping/tunneling patch” that the developers had attempted but eventually abandoned. I slightly modified the direction of that patch to weaken camping and tunneling for Killers while providing them with other appealing options. Adding Pop Goes the Weasel as a basekit perk for Killers serves as a reward for not camping or tunneling.

    However, giving Pop Goes the Weasel as a base perk raises concerns that Killers could become too strong in the late game. For Survivors, I included Self-Care as a base perk so they can maintain sustainability in the late game without losing viability, while also enjoying a wider range of perk choices.

    This change would likely be welcomed more by solo-queue Survivors than by party players coordinating heals on Discord.

  • Emeal Emeal

    I think you should explain each point and as to why those changes should be.

  • Rokku_Rorru Rokku_Rorru

    @serious said:

    https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/4068576#Comment_4068576

    Thanks for the kind feedback! I was inspired by the “anti-camping/tunneling patch” that the developers had attempted but eventually abandoned. I slightly modified the direction of that patch to weaken camping and tunneling for Killers while providing them with other appealing options. Adding Pop Goes the Weasel as a basekit perk for Killers serves as a reward for not camping or tunneling.

    However, giving Pop Goes the Weasel as a base perk raises concerns that Killers could become too strong in the late game. For Survivors, I included Self-Care as a base perk so they can maintain sustainability in the late game without losing viability, while also enjoying a wider range of perk choices.

    This change would likely be welcomed more by solo-queue Survivors than by party players coordinating heals on Discord.

    Yeah the self care in 2v8 is great for making the game feel more casual friendly on escapist, so I really like the idea of it, as a solo Q player I use self care botany a lot, so I can heal others and myself to make sure I'm not an easy target to tunnel out.

    Same with killer I've always felt that no baseline regression can make the game feel very punishing if you make mistakes.

    It's like something I feel could go a long way for DBD, if even for like a more casual 1v4 event to test out. I wish they'd experiment with this more

  • serious serious

    @Emeal said:

    I think you should explain each point and as to why those changes should be.

    I thought so too, so I added more details! I used a translator, so some parts might sound a bit awkward, but I hope the meaning comes across clearly.

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