Freddy Krueger (known in Dead by Daylight as The Nightmare) has historically been underwhelming to play as and suffers from a low killer pick rate. The latest Dead by Daylight update has reworked the killer in an effort to get him back on track. The updates have mostly been in favor of Freddy and will change up how players use the killer, though like any rework, it’s reception has been mixed.
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Freddy is now able to be an aggressive killer with his reworked abilities. Dream snares, dream pallets, dream world and alarm clocks have all been tweaked, providing a new experience for any Killer main wanting a new character to play with. Not every aspect of the rework was positive for Freddy, however, and even Survivors had a perk affected in this rework.
Dream Snares
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Similarly to Pyramid Head’s ability, Dream Snares are now a ground projectile. They have a maximum range of 18 meters with a travel speed of 12 m/s. This massively changes up Freddy’s ability to play more aggressively, as he no longer needs as much time to set up traps.
The Dream Snares travel through walls and some slopes. Landing a hit adds 30 seconds to a Survivor’s sleep meter. If the Survivor is already asleep and hit with a Dream Snare, they suffer a 12% movement penalty for four seconds. The movement debuff is long enough to guarantee a hit in most scenarios.
Freddy players can also fake using his ability to mind-game Survivors to make mistakes, or hold off on vaulting pallets or windows. Dream Snare now also has a second cooldown after any use.
Dream Pallets
Freddy can now place dream pallets up to 24 meters away, for a total of eight in place at any given time. Having the ability to select where to place dream pallets gives Freddy a massive advantage in planning future chases and tricking Survivors.
With dream pallets, Freddy can rupture them, setting them to explode in 1.5 seconds. Any Survivors caught in the vicinity will lose one health state as long as they are in a sleep state. If a Survivor is awake near a ruptured pallet, they will have 60 seconds added to their sleep meter.
Sadly, Survivors can pretty easily identify dream pallets as they have a reddish glow to them. Dropping a dream pallet on Freddy will also stun him to allow for some counterplay while giving Survivors a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
Generator Teleportation
The generator teleportation power can now teleport Freddy to any generator whether it is completed, blocked, or after the exit gates have been powered. Having anchors in every area of the map at any time gives Freddy the ability to apply pressure anywhere quickly.
Having good map knowledge will go a long way into knowing where Survivors may move to, especially when used alongside strong aura-reading perks to assist in tracking them down.
Dream Projection
Projection is now faster and can be used to dupe survivors. Faking a dream projection will incur the 30 second cooldown, so it is best to use it wisely. The power now takes 2.5 seconds to complete, compared to the previous four seconds.
Teleporting to a generator with a Survivor within eight meters from it will add 15 seconds to their sleep meter and reveal them for three seconds with killer instinct. Freddy can teleport to healing Survivors within 12 meters, which will be revealed via killer instinct.
Alarm Clocks
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Players will no longer dart across the map to use their specific alarm clock. All alarm clocks are usable, but will have a cooldown of 45 seconds after waking a Survivor up. Survivors will gain 30 seconds of sleep immunity after waking up.
This change is more a quality-of-life, adjustment rather than a nerf to Freddy as no one really enjoys running across the entire map just to wake up. This may even give Freddy a chance to focus on specific alarm clocks that are in key areas.
Dream World
Survivors will always hear Freddy’s lullaby and will be oblivious. The dream world did receive visual improvements, giving it a trance-like effect, which adds the scare factor back into Dead by Daylight. The improvement will go a long way as Survivors may enter the dream state more often will all the Killer changes.
The only missing factor Freddy needs is his own special chase music that plays off his lullaby. Little else has changed for Survivors in a dream as it still functions the same on the Survivors side.
Add-ons
Twenty of Freddy’s add-ons have been changed. Add-ons now change factors such as dream snare size, faster pallet rupture, more sleep timer penalties inflicted, longer wake up times, increased pallet rupture range, and an add-on that changes the dream snare to be immobile but last eight seconds.
The new add-ons have lots of build potential. Killer mains have lots of space to combine add-ons to create a Freddy that matches their unique playstyle and capitalize off their buffs.
Wake Up Mechanic
The wake up mechanic has changed to no longer progressively increase but will instead remain at a constant five seconds. Waking up other Survivors is something that can be done frequently and will see lots of use from teams with good communication.
This change may only punish Freddy players facing off against coordinated teams, as they no longer need to weigh the pros and cons of waking up and dealing with an increased wake up time. The wake up animation now has priority over healing.
Wake Up! Perk
No perk is ever safe from changes in Dead by Daylight. Another controversial change was the nerf of the Wake Up perk. The perk from Quentin Smith, the Survivor added alongside Freddy, was already a gamble to use, and now been nerfed to the ground.
The perk used to speed up exit gate opening by 50%, but after this update, the perk will speed up exit gate opening by just 12.5% for each survivor still alive. Assuming all four Survivors are still alive, the exit gates will open at the pre-nerf speed. The nerf punishes Survivors for losing teammates and failing to assist them in their time of need.
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