Spirit Nerfed in Upcoming Dead by Daylight Update

Spirit will see some significant changes in an upcoming Dead by Daylight patch as well as Trapper will see some love. In Part 1 of a September Developer Update, Behaviour Interactive focused on two killers specifically, as well as some perk and add-on changes.

Spirit has basically been an S-Tier killer since her launch so Behaviour is attempting to create some counter-play for survivors. Others will complain she already has some counter-play, but it looks like the developer didn't agree.

Spirit Nerfed in Upcoming Dead by Daylight Update

The changes may be subtle, but could affect her gameplay significantly.

"When close to The Spirit’s husk, Survivors will not receive any indication that The Spirit is phase walking. Originally this was intended to be a fun mind game (“Is she using her power, or is she faking it?”), though in practice, it often doesn’t feel that way. This lack of feedback forces you to make a guess and hope it pays off, which can be great when it works out in your favor, but can also feel awful when it doesn’t."

1. Any Survivor within 24m of The Spirit will now hear a directional phase sound. This lets you know whether or not she is phasing and also gives you a rough idea of which direction she’s coming from. 
2. The Spirit’s footsteps will now kick up dust while she is phasing. Keen Survivors may be able to pinpoint where she is, but tall grass and other obstacles may make it difficult. 

So she now gives an indication that she is phasing, while before it was basically a guessing game. And now survivors will have a better idea of where she is currently phasing because of footsteps and directional sound. Players already received a sound when she was phasing, but you didn't know if she was coming close to you or going away.

Specifically, two addons were completely retooled to fit this new playstyle. Wakizashi Saya and Senko Hanabi both do some amazing things. The former allows the Spirit to activate the phase button again after phasing, teleporting her back to her husk. And the latter addon explodes when phasing is finished, blocking any vault areas in a four-meter radius for five seconds.

Besides these two killers, the developers changed and tweaked addons for plenty of other characters.

• The Hillbilly 
• The Nurse 
• The Shape 
• The Hag 
• The Oni 
• The Blight 
• The Wraith 
• The Pig 
• The Ghost Face 

More details will be shared next Monday in Part 2.