The Dead by Daylight End Transmission chapter has come to the public test build (PTB). It features the all new Science-Fiction killer known as the Singularity, and its survivor counterpart Gabriel Soma. The PTB allows for players to test out all the new features before the official launch of the chapter on the 13th June 2023. And better yet, the PTB is available for download for Steam players now!
The chapter was first announced in last week’s 7th Anniversary livestream, with a bunch of cool updates teased for the future. The highlights include Nicolas Cage entering the fog as a new playable survivor in July, and the new anti-camping mechanics which are sure to make the game more enjoyable for both sides. If you want to check out all the anniversary announcements and what the next year has in store for the game, check out our article here. Alright, enough talk! Let’s go ahead and check out everything in the End Transmission chapter 28.
The Singularity: Chapter 28 New Killer
The Singularity is chapter 28’s brand new killer. However, the fanbase has already decided upon the nickname ‘Meatball’, so I doubt you’ll hear the name Singularity too often. To make a long story short, the Singularity is an artificial intelligence built for the purpose of space exploration and construction. Whilst mining out ancient ruins, it became ‘enlightened’ by advanced technology that it had discovered. The Singularity began to believe that the humans which had created it were inferior, and needed to be eliminated. It began to combine its own mechanical form with the DNA of humans, to create a ‘superior living organism’. Here’s hoping that nothing like this happens soon in the real world with our rapid progress in AI…
Gameplay
Just as cool as the Singularity’s backstory and appearance is its gameplay. The Singularity can shoot biopods onto vertical surfaces, which act as a sort of CCTV camera. The killer can see through this ‘camera’ to tag survivors by shooting out a biopod that attaches to the survivor’s back. It acts similar to the Plague’s illness in that it can spread via proximity to other survivors. The survivors can also be infected if the killer directly shoots them. When the survivor has been infected, the Singularity can teleport right next to the survivor and start chase in what is known as ‘Overclock mode’. This gives the Singularity a speed boost to vaulting and breaking pallets/walls. It also grants the killer immunity from pallet stuns. Thus, making sure survivors are infected will be an important goal for Singularity players, as all of its abilities rely around this infection.
However, the survivors do have some decent counterplay to the Singularity’s infection. Similar to the Resident Evil chapters, special chests will spawn around the map. Inside are electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), which can destroy the infection as well as disabling the biopods. These EMPs will recharge within the chests, meaning that their supply does not run out like the vaccines do against Wesker or Nemesis. However, the charge-up time for these chests to open is quite lengthy, but can be sped up by forcing them open via an interaction.
So far, I really like the direction that the developers have gone with The Singularity, as its design feels much more fleshed out and unique than other recent killers. Its gameplay feels balanced based on the eye test, especially compared with the rough launch of the Skull Merchant. The killer does receive a large buff when survivors are infected, but this infection can be countered by using the EMPs. We will just have to wait and see how balanced it ends up being in the next week or so.
Perks
As always, the Singularity comes with three brand new perks. Once you reach level 50 on the Singularity, you will unlock these perks on all other killers at the yellow tier.
Genetic Limits: This perk makes survivors become exhausted after they finish performing a healing action. Importantly, this effect will last for up to 32 seconds, which is a very long period of time in DBD where every second counts. This means that survivors won’t be able to use Sprint Burst or Lithe during this time, making it much easier to get a hit on a survivor that just healed.
Forced Hesitation: This might be a slugging killer’s new best friend. When the killer downs a survivor, this perk inflicts survivors within 16 meters with the hindered status effect. This reduces their speed by 15%, making it much easier for killers to catch up with them. If you combine it with Infectious Fright which makes survivors nearby scream when you down a survivor, it could be great to chain together multiple downs quickly. Killers such as the Oni are bound to benefit from this perk when they are using their power.
Machine Learning: Ok, this one is a little confusing. Basically, once you kick a generator, the machine learning perk activates. The next generator you kick will have the ‘compromised’ effect and be highlighted in yellow. When it is completed, you get a huge speed boost (7% haste) and no terror radius for up to 30 seconds. By becoming undetectable, this perk allows you to sneak up on survivors or confuse them during chase. The extra speed will also be useful in traversing the map or chasing a survivor. The downside is that you cannot control when survivors complete a generator, and so the timing of the perk’s haste and undetectable status effects is inconsistent.
Gabriel Soma: Chapter 28 New Survivor
Gabriel Soma is the newest Dead by Daylight survivor, and is the counterpart to the Singularity. He was an engineer on the colony that developed the Artificial Intelligence that went out of control, becoming the Singularity.
Perks
Again, Gabriel has his own three unique perks, and spoiler alert, they’re pretty good!
Troubleshooter: This perk has two abilities that activate during chase. Firstly, you see the aura of the highest progress generator. This will make it easy for you to know where not to lead the killer. Secondly, when you drop a pallet, you can see the killer’s aura for up to 6 seconds. It will be extremely useful when the killer is trying to mind-game around a dropped pallet. This perk seems like a pretty solid addition.
Made for This: This is quite a simple perk, increasing your movement speed by 3% when you are injured. However, it does not work when you are exhausted. It is basically a straight-up movement speed buff. Whilst 3% does not seem like too big of an increase, it can make the difference between reaching a pallet or getting downed. You assumedly can also combine this perk with other speed increase perks such as Hope. If this is the case, the survivor will be able to move as fast as certain killers in the end-game.
Scavenger: This is probably the best perk in Gabriel’s arsenal. Scavenger allows you to refill an empty toolbox by hitting 4 great skill checks on a generator. It is a fairly easily requirement, but if you are struggling, you can use the perk Stake Out to convert good skill checks into great ones. Whilst you can only use the perk once, it basically gives you two toolboxes. If you bring in a strong toolbox, that is a lot of extra generator progress from just this one perk. If you want to keep refilling your toolbox’s charges, you can also add on the perk Built to Last. This will continually refill your toolbox when you hop inside a locker (with depleting returns). Scavenger also has the secondary ability of letting you rummage through chests to get a guaranteed basic toolbox.
Chapter 28: Other Features
New Map: Dvarka Deepwood – Toba Landing
This might be my favourite part of Chapter 28. The new map is unlike any other map in Dead by Daylight. One side is a barren wasteland, and the opposite side is an otherworldly jungle rich with beautiful plants and vegetation. In between is the colony’s Toba Landing, an indoor area with multiple floors. The attention-to-detail of this map seems to surpass all of the other maps, so I’d definitely check it out!
Inventory Search Bar
It might seem silly, but the inclusion of an inventory search bar is one of the most hyped features by the Dead by Daylight community. With so many perks, items and cosmetics, it has become a little ridiculous to manually find what you want. Seasoned players will have over 10 pages of perks, so the search bar is a much welcome feature. You can search via name, rarity, description and many other parameters.
Perk Changes
A few perks are getting buffed in this patch, all of which are definitely much appreciated.
Pop Goes The Weasel‘s generator regression has been buffed from 20% to 30%.
Deja Vu has received a slight rework. This perk will now show the auras of three generators in close proximity, for an indefinite period of time. The developers hope that this will counter the much despised killer tactic of controlling a ‘three-gen’. Luckily, the developers have also acknowledged that they are looking into a long-term solution to this problem.
Finally, Flashbang has received a minor change that means you can craft a flashbang whilst holding an item.
Killer Changes
There a quite a few boring changes to various killer add-ons and numbers. However, I do want to pick out this patch note in particular which seems like a very big buff:
- The Executioner: when hitting a survivor with Punishment of the Damned, that survivor is inflicted with Torment
To see all the changes coming to the killers, checkout the PTB patch notes.
That’s a wrap on all of the new features of the Chapter 28 update for Dead by Daylight. Remember that you can play the chapter early on the PTB on Steam. Otherwise, the chapter will release for all platforms on June 13th 2023. If you have been out of the loop for a little while, check out the previous killer, the drone-based The Skull Merchant and all her cool new perks.