Dead by Daylight 2v8 Mode is coming. During the eighth anniversary stream, BHVR announced that a mode players requested for years is coming to the game. Two killers work together to murder eight survivors maliciously. Yesterday, BHVR announced a stream explaining the 2 vs 8 mode more in-depth. It figures to make for an exciting change to the standard gameplay. Here’s what has been revealed to us.

Dead by Daylight 2v8 Mode is Coming

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Besides two killers taking on eight survivors, what separates 2v8 modes from a regular match? During the 8th anniversary stream, BHVR stated that this mode would be more akin to a party mode than a competitive match. Five maps (MacMillan Estate, Crotus Penn Asylum, Autohaven Wreckers, Red Forest, and Coldwind Farm) have been expanded to contain the chaos of 10 characters. Players can queue up with friends whether killer or survivor.

These are not the only changes one can expect in this mode. 13 generators are spread across the larger maps. Survivors must repair eight of these generators to power three exit gates. To keep gameplay on the chaotic side, hooks are not available to be used by killers. Downed survivors are sent to cages, similar to the ability held by Pyramidhead. Survivors can heal each other but cannot heal themselves until after the second cage state.

Survivor Gameplay

The first noticeable change is that Dead by Daylight is doing away with the perks during this modifier. Survivors can choose a specific class to identify the role played during the event. Originally thought to be a certain number of survivors, players may choose from any survivor in the game. Any survivor can be in any class. Long-time players will see various perks melded into these classes. The classes are:

• Medic: This class is focused on keeping fellow survivors healthy. Any survivor near the medic is granted a heal speed boost. This character can see the aura of any injured survivor. While every character can heal one another, the Medic has a faster healing speed than other classes.
• Guide: The Guide is focused on repairing generators. When the Guide is repairing a generator, their aura and the aura of the generator they are working on are revealed to other players. The Guide can see the aura of every generator. When the Guide gets a Great Skill Check, the progress is boosted more than normal.
• Scout: The Scout’s purpose is to be a sneakier when moving around the map. The killer’s aura is revealed to this class when a wall or pallet is broken or a generator is damaged. The aura of the killer is revealed to the entire team when in the Scout’s line of site. When injured, this class makes no sound.
• Escapist: This class is all about speed, looping killers, and the ability to break chase from the killer. The Escapist has a shared Sprint Burst given. This class has the aura of pallets, breakable objects, and windows revealed to them at all times. This class can run faster when injured.

Killer Gameplay

Killers are only able to play as the five original characters: The Trapper, The Wraith, The Hillbilly, The Huntress, and The Nurse. These will not have a specific class but will have team power. Every killer has their base kit slightly changed in this mode to accommodate these changes in gameplay.

The Trapper: The Trapper automatically comes with more traps he can set around the map. When Evan MacMillan sets traps, a speed boost is given to his killer teammate. He has received a buff which allows him to set traps faster than before. This killer’s abilities give him the power of preparation. With the chaos of 8 survivors running around the map, a trap or so will help catch survivors trying to sneak around the map.

The Wraith: When a teammate is in the vicinity of The Wraith, that teammate becomes undetectable. He can cloak and uncloak faster than in normal gameplay. This killer’s speed has increased while in the cloaked state. The Wraith acts somewhat as a killer version of the Scout. If sticking close together, he and his teammates can move around without a terror radius. This makes the two more deadly.

The Huntress: Hatchet hits reveal the auras of survivors. Anna has faster movement speed while not carrying hatchets. She has faster reloading but since The Huntress carries more hatches, she will not need to often. The Huntress is the sniper of the group, so they can be a long-range killer unlike some others. Having the auras of survivors revealed with every hatchet hit will make an already powerful killer more so.

The Hillbilly: The Hillbilly has reduced cooldown if he collides with something that is not a survivor. He can expose survivors while chainsaw sprinting. Billy has more control when in his chainsaw sprint. The only downside is that direct contact with the chainsaw no longer kills survivors. Granted, his ability to expose makes it so that his partner can do the heavy lifting in that regard.

The Nurse: The Nurse now features an extended lunge when attacking. This is helped by an extra blink being added to her ability when near a teammate. The blink ability features a larger window to chain blinks together when chasing survivors and her fatigue time after blinks is reduced, thereby increasing the frequency of it occurring. The Nurse is the only killer who does not buff a teammate.

Why So Few Playable Characters?

A question one may ask is, “Why are only a small number of killers available?” During the anniversary stream, one BHVR member stated they wanted to make the mode as “assessable as possible.” The killers available in 2v8 mode are free for those who do not have the rest of Dead by Daylight’s DLC. Devs went on to say this mode is an “iterative” process with this being the first iteration of 2v8.

This means after the 2v8 mode is complete Dead by Daylight will take feedback from the player base to improve upon the modifier the next time it is seen. This could point to more killers and survivors, more classes and team powers, and more fun next time around.

Other Announcements in the Stream

A new trailer for The Casting of Frank Stone was revealed on stream. The Casting of Frank Stone comes out September 3, 2024, for PC, X-Box Series X/S, and PS5. The developers discussed the purpose of bringing Lara Croft into the world of Dead by Daylight. A brief explanation of her lore and what thought went into bringing Lara Croft to the world of Dead by Daylight. She may not be a horror character but there are horror elements to her games.

The Mythic Tome will feature costumes with character skins melded with creatures from mythology. The Tome will focus on Yui Kimura and The Spirit. Both skins will focus on Japanese folklore. Yui’s outfit will feature the kitsune while the Spirit is fused with Yamata-no-Orochi, an eight-headed Japanese serpent. Lara Croft’s outfit is focused on the Baba Yaga DLC from the Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Survivor skins will get “Guardian Spirit” outfits. Sable Ward will be represented by a gargoyle. Elodie will receive a skin based on the Bengal Tiger. David King receives a lion skin while Vittorio receives a Silver Wolf Skin. Three killers (Trickster, Wraith, and Clown) will have deadly spirit skins available in the tomb. Changes are being made to the rift. Normally, rifts would go all the way to rift 85.

Now, rifts will go all the way to 200. The extra 115 rifts will contain bloodpoints making leveling characters even easier. Iridescent shards (2,500 to be exact) are now available in the free rift as well. Iridescent shards are used to purchase original characters, weekly Shrine offerings, and certain character skins. When asked whether the new Dead by Daylight 2v8 mode would become permanent, developers could not answer yes or no. This iteration is the trial to see what players think of this mode. BHVR indicated they were interested in bringing the mode back with tweaks and balance changes. Dead by Daylight 2v8 mode will run from July 25th until August 8th.