Dead by Daylight Interview: The Skull Merchant, Teamwork Perks, Sibling Survivors, and More from Tools of Torment

Dead by Daylight's new Tools of Torment Chapter is about as full as a Chapter can be. In addition to it boasting a new Killer known as The Skull Merchant who uses an unprecedented techy surveillance power, it's also got several other firsts for the game like sibling Survivors, a new map replacing an old one, and a unique Teamwork Perk that pushes Survivors towards working closer with one another. It's a lot to take in even if you're familiar with Behaviour Interactive's usual DLC releases for Dead by Daylight.

To better make sense of the contents in the Tools of Torment Chapter and how Behaviour went about crafting the DLC's innovations, we spoke to Dead by Daylight gameplay director Matthew Spriggens to learn more. From Killers to Teamwork Perks, you can check out all of Spriggens' answers below and can look forward to the new Chapter when the DLC releases on March 7th.

This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

What inspired Behaviour to take this kind of futuristic, high-tech approach? Why go to the future for this?

Matthew Spriggens: I think it's worth mentioning that the Killer isn't really futuristic. It's more of a modern take, a bit more contemporary. And the tech that she uses isn't really high-tech. Kind of an ad hoc construction that she's made. So, she's basically a tinkerer character and that's the weapons that she has and the technology that she has is more of a modern-day approach and something that she's made. So, it's not really high-tech. But basically, it all started from this idea of the power. So, what we wanted to do with the power and that's involving the drones. And then also having a more realistic, grounded character. So, a human going back to that typical slasher archetype.

Were there any particular properties that inspired you with the creation of this? I know when I saw the teaser come out, I saw "Terminator, Terminator," over and over again, they saw the eye patch. And when I see the claws, I think "Predator."

MS: Yeah, it's an interesting one. I can definitely see where those references and inspirations come from, but that wasn't really what we were thinking about. I

t was more a tinkerer archetype that character came from. But we also were inspired by this boss personality. She is a predator, you could say, but not in the movie property way, but more of just a psychotic boss character. So, a billionaire and a crazy killing playground. So, it wasn't a specific IP or property that we were really inspired by. It was more a tinker archetype. And again, that fact that we wanted to do a more realistic take on a Killer.

You mentioned as well the idea of a surveillance Killer has been an idea that Behaviour has had right for a while now. So, why now for a surveillance Killer? Is it a complex idea that you had to work on?

MS: So, it all stemmed from the concepts of the drones that we knew we wanted to incorporate into this Killer. Again, it's more of a modern tech thing, like drones are a big thing in our day-to-day lives. There's more and more Amazon deliveries being made by drones, that kind of thing. And we thought it would be a neat tech that we could incorporate this macabre side too as well. So, they started off as the initial concept and then from that it just made sense to go into that surveillance thing. It's like the eye in the sky camera approach with the drones being center stage.

Can you speak to some of the iterations they might have gone through in development before you landed at this point?

MS: We definitely did a lot of iterations, but it was more finding the right balance between how they interact. So, the different modes that they have, they've got a Scouting Mode and an Active Mode and then the effects that they apply. We started pretty early with that as the initial concept. So, it was more about refining that, really making it feel more balanced between the gameplay of the Killer and how the Survivors can counter play those aspects. But it didn't really deviate too much from that initial concept of using the drones. There was a little bit of back and forth between how exactly they would work, if they would move, if they're static. But the iterations were more about refining that concept and really doubling down on the aspect of the drones being the main aspect of the power.

You mentioned the idea of wanting to keep the character more of a human-like boss character. Why not go full android or robot? Was that an idea that came up?

MS: Yeah, so it wasn't really a concept. Again, it's not really a high-tech futuristic thing. We really did want it to be more in line with our standard slasher archetype that we tend to fall back on or that we like falling back on very much human and something that people can identify with. And it feels a lot more realistic and grounded in reality. But yeah, I think it's interesting twist to have this boss predator personality that she's associated with as well.

It seems like she would be a more difficult Killer to play. I feel like you have to have map knowledge, you have to have game knowledge to do this. Would you consider her a more difficult character than others?

MS: So, I think that basically having a really good understanding of the maps that you're playing in. So map knowledge definitely helps when you're playing this Killer as I think it does with a lot of trap placement Killers. Because I see her in that same gameplay type or same gameplay archetype. She puts down her drones in the area that you've trapped or that you are surveilling. So having a good map knowledge really helps with knowing where to place those drones. Having said that, her actual basic functionality is pretty straightforward. She is really like an M1-Killer, but there is that added layer of depth if you really want to get more strategic with how she plays. So, I think that advanced players that do have that map knowledge are going to find some really interesting ways that they can use her.

And besides her own perks, are there any other that you've seen in testing that maybe work well for her?

MS: Yeah, so we've found that informational perks can really help compliment her already solid informational and surveillance powers. I don't know if I should say, but she's also quite strong at defending certain areas as well. So, there's some totem builds that work really well when you use the drones to defend totems, that can be pretty strong. But yeah, she's quite versatile when it comes to the perks that you can use with her.

If she's too strong or too weak, do you have valves or levers in mind that you can pull to adjust that? What are you thinking about right now on release?

MS: There's definitely a lot of areas that we could look at to adjust if need be. So, we're going to see how the PTB goes, see the reaction from the fans and then basically go through the due diligence of seeing if we need to adjust anything from there.

Between The Skull Merchant some of the older characters like The Nemesis and The Knight, I've noticed more Killers now AI elements into their kits. You have zombies walking around, you have The Knight's Guards patrolling and now you have these drones. But what is it about AI concepts that make it so appealing in Dead by Daylight?

MS: Well, I think the AI concepts are generally pretty interesting as a Killer. You don't really have that opportunity to play with buddies like you do when you play as a Survivor. However, I'd say this is quite different to an AI. While the drones have their own personality and could be seen as AI bodies, they're not really at all. I would tend to think of them more as traps, as I mentioned before, you place them, they do their own thing, they give you information, they give you status effects, they cause Survivors issues, but they're not really AI based. They're definitely much more like a trap.

You've mentioned traps few times, you mentioned different trappers. If someone were to play The Skull Merchant right now, what Killer would make for an easy transition for them?

MS: That's a good question. I think, what was a good one? I mean, yeah, the obvious comparisons would be The Hag or The Trapper. However, I've also felt she's a little bit like The Pig as well in that she does have that stealth ability when she's within her own drones' active radius makes her undetectable, which cancels the Terror Radius. She doesn't have an aura, she doesn't have a Red Stain. So that can be seen as quite a stealth mechanic that she can use to her advantage, which I think is also a really interesting part of her kit.

Can you tell a little bit more about that? Why was that Terror Radius disappearing part of her kid that you wanted to add?

MS: Yeah, we wanted to find something that I guess encouraged the Killer player to also play within those radiuses, it wasn't just something that is supposed to keep Survivors out, but something that she could actually take advantage of being inside as well. And I think that giving her that stealth aspect when she's in that radius just makes for a bit more of an interesting gameplay. Survivors can still risk being in the active zone, but it becomes a lot more dangerous when you don't know if the Killer is also in that same radius. So, I think it just adds for a bit more interesting interactivity between Survivor and Killer in those areas.

The Claw Trap is an interesting mechanic as well. I don't want to say it punishes the Survivor for disarming drones, but it makes them consider their options. So was that the inspiration behind the Claw Trap? Why not just let the Survivor disable the drone and go repair a generator, be on their way?

MS: Yeah, we always like having this risk reward aspect to the different elements in our design. And by allowing the Survivors to just hack the drone outright, they're effectively shutting down the Killer's power without her being able to do much about it. So, it really introduces this interesting decision space for Survivor players when they have that option to do it, but they know that they're potentially going to either trigger the active zone or they're going to end up with this trap on them. So, it gives it a bit more of an interesting decisions for Survivors to make there.

And I read some of the tips for her that suggested she's sometimes weaker in the early game Looking at the opposite of that, is there a concern that she might be too strong in the late-game scenarios? I can imagine only a few generators being left with so many drones set up that could be quite oppressive for a Survivor player.

MS: I think there's still ways for Survivors to counter play around that. But yeah, again, it's going to be something that we'll keep an eye on when it goes out on PTB and make a call after.

Dead by Daylight's big thing is the Killers but the Survivors, Thalita Lyra and Renato Lyra, are first set of sibling Survivors. What does that add to the game?

MS: Yeah, so we really like in Dead by Daylight when our fans are creating their own stories between the different characters and oftentimes, they're not related at all. So, with this particular set of Survivors, we wanted to do our own original IP take on it. It made sense for them to be twins as well, which I think is a really cool way to introduce both the Survivor characters. And yeah, I'm not sure if you've seen, but they also introduce their own perk type or new perk type, I guess. So that's pretty cool. It's definitely something, it's one of the main reasons that we were leading towards doing two Survivors with this as well, is so we could bring this new perk type which revolved a lot around teamwork.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the Teamwork Perks and how those function?

MS: Yeah, so basically they encourage the Survivors to work together. They work in tandem with each other. They overlap but don't overlap. It's hard to explain. They provide, each perk provides its own specific effect that, but they both help out in the same area. So, in this particular case it's in chases. So, one perk will make you lose your scratch marks and the other perk will make you run faster. However, they can only be triggered once you [have that perk and] heal another Survivor. So yeah, they work in tandem.

Are you concerned about the Teamwork Perks becoming too overpowered for coordinated groups as opposed, but maybe underpowered for people who are playing separately?

MS: I mean, I think you still get the benefit of these perks if you are playing as a solo Survivor. It just might require a bit more coordination because as I mentioned, you have to remain together. So, if the Survivor that you are playing with runs off in one direction, you're encouraged to follow them so that you both have this advantage. If they notice that you've applied this perk, which will appear in the little, you're affected by this perk UI area, then they'll likely recognize that and be able to work together so that then you're not completely separating because that's when you lose the effect. But I think it's actually an interesting aspect of this perk in that it does encourage you to stick with another Survivor, which can indirectly help Killers in a way in that once the Killer comes across you as a Survivor, if you've got a body next to you, they've effectively found two Survivors immediately. So, it's this cluster effect where some Killer powers actually work better when there's a group of Survivors nearby. So yeah, it's an interesting one.

What's the idea for Teamwork Perks moving forward? Does every new Chapter, every new Survivor need a Teamwork Perk built in their kit?

MS: Yeah, that's a really good question. I think it opens up the potential for doing something like that in the future. However, for right now, the plan is just for these two characters, it is like a little special one-off with the Survivors because they are related and it makes sense as part of their kit. However, like I said, it does leave that potential open in the future to maybe look at something that we could do along those lines. So, we're not discounting it yet, but for now these are the only ones that are planned.

And about the new map –  the map is basically a map dropped into another map, is that correct?

MS: Yeah, effectively it's a brand new tile in an existing map, so Shelter Woods. And yeah, we felt like it actually made a really great backdrop for The Skull Merchant's base of operations. So, this tile is her container workspace, I guess you would say, and it's appeared here in this already existing map. And yeah, I think it adds something to it.

Does that make it easier to create this new map, or is it still as lengthy of a process if you're building a brand new map?

MS: So, in one respect is it is a bit easier because we don't have to redo a whole theme and make everything from scratch. However, the way that we approach this is still basically viewing it as its own brand new map development. We still go through the same process, do a paper design, do a blocky prototype it, build it up from there. Basically, we took the existing map and completely adjusted the layout of it to incorporate this new tile. So, it wasn't just a throw one tile in and we're done. It was put the tile in and make sure that the layout we adjusted so it fits the tile but also improves the gameplay. So, we also added a bunch of new assets to reduce some of the dead zones, which was the feedback that we got about the original map. So it's something that we wanted to adjust for the community and hopefully they'll see that on the PTB as well.

But the existing map, the base one will still stay alongside this one, correct?

MS: No, this will replace it outright.

This will replace it? Okay.

MS: Exactly. So effectively The Skull Merchant has made her home in Shelter Woods and that's now her map.

Is that setting a precedent for how you might approach future maps like this? I know the Realms Reborn updates were constant map reworks.

MS: Yeah, so the Realm Beyond was more of a visual update. We wanted to increase the graphical fidelity. This is something completely different, goes into the level design territory. Again, it's not necessarily planned, but it's also not something that we're not going to say no to. We'll take it on a case-by-case basis and see if it makes sense with our chapter, with our character and decide then.

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Dead by Daylight's Tools of Torment Chapter releases on March 7th.