After much speculation since the earlier trailer drop, Dead by Daylight fans now know who the new survivor, and killer, are through the playable test beta.
The Survivor – Zarina Kassir
Zarina is a Lebanese-American, and Brooklyn native. During her teenage years, she gravitated towards film making, and discovering the hidden worlds of the people around her. She soon became an indie documentary maker on YouTube, gaining a small following of loyal fans. After the murder of her father, she became interested in documenting the world of crime; her first crime film revolved around her father’s death, his killer, and the realities of gang violence in New York. This film gained international acclaim.
One day, word reached her of a criminal history that had been thoroughly covered up – that the Hellshire Penitentiary in Bayshore had once had a killer so brutal, he slaughtered most of a prison wing, with the wing itself being sealed over soon after. She went to the prison to investigate, after discovering evidence that the story could have some truth. Having snuck away from the walking tour, she found her way into the wing, and was drawn towards one cell in particular – a cell where she found a wrench, and soon after, a mysterious black fog…
Zarina comes with three unique perks. Off the Record allows her to remain quieter once she escapes the hook; her aura won’t be visible to the killer, and her grunts of pain are muted for up to 80 seconds. Red Herring highlights the latest generator Zarina has worked on for at least three seconds to her, and if she enters a locker, a loud noise echos at said generator as if someone failed a skill check there. Finally, For the People allows her to heal the state of one survivor, with Zarina taking on the Broken status for up to 110 Seconds, and with her becoming the killer’s obsession.
The Killer – Caleb Quinn, The Deathslinger
Born in the Midwest to Irish immigrants, life wasn’t especially easy for Caleb. During the 1800’s, the frontier was tough, and the job prospects for an Irishman tougher – during his childhood, he was bullied for his heritage. But there was one thing on his side: Caleb’s pa was a talented engineer, and taught his son all he knew. Caleb was inventive, bright, and took his pa’s ideas in different directions – some of which were dark indulgences, ‘what ifs’ of getting back at those who tormented him.
As he grew older, Caleb’s talents became more widely known, and doors were opened to him – he showcased new designs for a steam-powered drill, and a gun that shot railroad spikes into the ground. His inventions caught interest, but they were turned down by various companies – only for reverse engineered knock-offs to emerge soon after.
Frustrated, he attacked the owner of the most egregious company, Henry Bayshore of United West Rail, severely injuring the tycoon. Caleb found himself behind bars in Hellshire Penitentiary for the next 15 years.
The warden, having heard of Caleb’s inginuity, made a deal with him – a commuted sentence if he could invent a way to more easily bring in wanted criminals. Caleb presented his old railways gun design, with a few changes – now a harpoon gun, the invention was sturdy enough to pierce at range, and reel a bounty in. The warden, impressed, released Caleb and several other inmates to form a bounty hunter group for the prison.
Life, it seemed, had turned around for Caleb Quinn, or the Deathslinger as he’d come to be known – until one day, six years later, he learned that the warden was to sell the prison to an old friend. Henry Bayshore. Seeing this as a betrayal, Caleb returned to the prison during the signing, and attacked both the warden and Bayshore, before throwing both to the mercy of the prison’s newly released inmates.
Weary, Caleb made his way to his old cell, and looked as his father’s old wrench. As a mysterious fog entered his cell, he dropped it, and was drawn into a new realm, spurred on by promises of endless vengence against those who had done him wrong.
As the backstory implies, the Deathslinger uses a make-shift harpoon gun known as The Redeemer as his weapon – this allows him to attack survivors at a range, and reel them back to him. Survivors can struggle against the reel and can escape with enough effort – if they are drawn back to the Deathslinger, he may use a basic attack to down them. The Redeemer needs to be reloaded after each use.
Gearhead is the first of the new killer’s perks; after sucessfully attacking twice, for the next 45 seconds every time a survivor passes a great skill check on a generator, the generator is highlighted. Dead Man’s Switch marks one survivor as the obsession, and after hooking them, if another survivor stops working on a generator within the next 45 seconds, that generator is blocked off by the entity until the end of the effect. Finally, the killer has Hex: Retribution – any survivor who clenses a dull totem on the map becomes oblivious for the next 45 seconds, and any clensed hex totems reveal all survivor auras for 10 seconds.
New World – The Dead Dawg Saloon
As is tradition, a new chapter also means a new map – the Dead Dawg Saloon is the Entity’s attempt to conjure up one of the Deathslinger’s most bloody battlegrounds. In reality, the saloon played host to a hostage rescue gone wrong – a drawn out shoot out between the Hellshire Gang and kidnappers resulted in numerous deaths. When it was discovered the hostages had been killed long before the Gang arrived, the Deathslinger ordered the surviving kidnappers disemboweled.
The Dead Dawg Saloon is the main landmark of the map, is a large, two story building, with a generator and a possible entrance to the basement. Crates, rockpiles, and other desert-fare make up the rest of the map, which itself takes place during sunset. Unlike other maps, the outer wall and exit gates are uniquely Western themed.
The official release date of the 15th Chapter – Chains of Hate – is in March of this year. The DLC is expected to retail for around $6.99 USD. The Survivor, Killer, and Map are all available to try out right now in Dead by Daylight’s public beta test.