Dead by Daylight Players Worry 2 Perks Are "Dead" Thanks to New Update

Dead by Daylight's next Mid-Chapter Update hasn't released just yet, but players are already declaring two perks to be dead thanks to a preview of that update shared this week. Those two perks are popular Survivor picks: Dead Hard and Circle of Healing. Both have been considered meta options or not far from it in terms of what perks universally perform well on Survivors, and while both of them have been adjusted more than once in the past in response to their popularity, players seem more confident now that this Mid-Chapter Update is what will do them in.

The preview of the Mid-Chapter Update acknowledged the dominance of these perks by first saying that Dead Hard is one of the "most prominent Survivor perks." Right now, it works by allowing injured Survivors to press the active ability button to grant themselves the "Endurance" buff for a brief moment to mitigate damage from a Killer's incoming attack. It rewards players who time the use of the perk appropriately, but soon, you'll have to help a fellow Survivor if you want to activate it.

"Dead Hard will activate after safely unhooking a Survivor," the preview of the update said. "When activated, press the active ability button while injured and running to gain the Endurance Status Effect for 0.5 seconds, then become Exhausted. Dead Hard will deactivate when it successfully protects the user from damage."

Circle of Healing, the ability that's been a point of discussion before, was similarly regarded as the "jack of all trades" when it comes to healing perks. It currently increases healing speeds for those within the Boon Totem's range and also allows players to heal without a Med-Kit. In a big twist, the Self Care-like effect the ability offers will be removed entirely.

"Going forward, Boon: Circle of Healing will no longer allow Survivors to heal without a Med-Kit," Behaviour Interactive said. "Instead, it will provide a 40/45/50% healing speed bonus to healing others. This bonus will not apply to healing done with a Med-Kit. Additionally, the auras of injured Survivors with the Boon's range will be revealed to all other Survivors."

While some will inevitably say the nerfs are deserved, some are already bidding the perks goodbye and saying that they're dead. Dead Hard got the better end of the deal, some suspect, and others are hoping that this shifts the game to a more chase-oriented meta to changes things up a bit.

The Mid-Chapter Update is scheduled does not yet have a set release date.