Survivor Idea: Ethan Vance
Ps — Readers
This is a shortened, incomplete version that contains less refined details regarding the survivors perk, lore, and game balancing.
I stumbled upon a shattered soul in this doomed corner of the earth. He does not speak, but the violent trembling of his hands speaks volumes.He seems to see things that are not there, staring into the fog with a wide-eyed, breathless terror. He has not accepted this nightmare; it is actively breaking him, yet he uses his sheer, panicked paranoia to watch the shadows.
~ Benedict Baker
Ethan Vance is one of 53 Survivors currently featured in Dead by Daylight.
He was introduced as the Survivor of CHAPTER 40: Jason, a Chapter DLC that released 16 June 2026.
— He originates from the Friday the 13th universe.
Survivor Profile
Name: Ethan Vance
Gender: Man
Role: Hyper-Vigilant Survivor
Origin: American
DLC : CHAPTER 40: JASON
Overview
The epitome of a broken mind, Ethan Vance exemplifies the lingering trauma of near-death experiences. Even while being utterly consumed by terror, he uses his hyper-vigilance to track the threat and anticipate the Killer's next move.
Ethan Vance is a hyper-vigilant Survivor, prepared to use his fear to read the battlefield.
His personal Perks, Hyper-Vigilance, Paranoia, and Lingering Dread, grant him powerful aura-reading abilities born from sheer panic.
His Perks are tied to tracking the Killer's position and the cost of his own psychological stability.
Lore
You never know true terror until you are forced to watch your friends die, over and over, with no permanent escape. Ethan was just a normal camp counselor, looking forward to a summer of campfires and canoeing. That dream died in a single night of blood and screams. He escaped the physical blade, but the psychological wounds never healed. Plagued by severe PTSD, panic attacks, and a permanent state of fight-or-flight, Ethan was snatched by the Entity when he wandered into the woods, chasing shadows he thought were following him. In the Entity’s realm, his trauma has morphed into a literal sixth sense—he is terrified, he is broken, but his absolute fear makes him hyper-aware of every single danger lurking in the dark.
Load-Out
Unique Perks
Ethan comes with 3 Perks that are unique to him:
Hyper-Vigilance | The violent pounding of your heart opens your eyes to the immediate danger. Whenever you are within the Killer's Terror Radius and not in a Chase, Hyper-Vigilance activates: • You can see the Aura of the Killer for 3/4/5 seconds after they perform a Vault, Break a Pallet, or Break a Breakable Wall. This perk has a cooldown of 45 seconds. "I can hear him... breathing, breaking, moving. He's right through that wall!"* — Ethan Vance |
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Paranoia | Your deep-seated fear of being ambushed makes you acutely aware of your surroundings when vulnerable. While repairing a Generator, cleansing a Totem, or healing another Survivor, Paranoia activates: • You can see the Auras of all Survivors within a 24/28/32 meter radius. • If the Killer enters a 16-meter radius of your position while you are performing these actions, their Aura is revealed to you for 3 seconds. • Paranoia increases your chance of triggering difficult Skill Checks by 10%. "Don't look away. If you look away, they come out of the trees." — Ethan Vance |
Lingering Dread | The trauma of seeing your allies fall leaves a psychic stain of terror on the trial ground. Each time a Survivor is hooked, Lingering Dread activates: • The Aura of the Killer is revealed to you for 4/5/6 seconds. • For the next 20 seconds, the Auras of any Hex or Dull Totems within 12 meters of that Hook are revealed to you. • Lingering Dread inflicts the Blindness Status Effect on you for 30 seconds after its aura-reading effect concludes. "I still hear her screaming. The hook... the blood... it never stops playing in my head." — Ethan Vance |
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