Otzdarva's thoughts on recent events

10.2.0 Midchapter Impressions ✅ October 2026

• The midchapter patch has been released but some changes have been cancelled or reversed. The most notable ones are listed below.
• This is Not Happening no longer affects great skillcheck size meaning that this already awful perk is now gonna be WORSE than before. They did this change to avoid dangerous interactions with the perk Hyperfocus but in doing so they literally have made the perk completely unusable. Please rework Hyperfocus already instead of having to continue to warp everything else around it.
• Shoulder the Burden has been partially unnerfed and now can be used multiple times per match again. This is another massive disappointment. Shoulder is an incredibly strong perk and one of its worst features is that Survivors can create lose-lose situations where someone uses shoulder and later that person gets shouldered by someone else, constantly delaying a Killer's ability to have someone dead on hook even if they're not tunneling extremely aggressively. The devs supposedly did this change to "help Solo Queue players" but this perk will still be used by coordinated SWFs only anyway.
• Dark Arrogance buff gets basically cancelled and now affects missed attack cooldown instead of successful attack cooldown. I understand the dev's concerns about M1 recovery perks being too overwhelming but this change is atrocious; with the longer stun penalty still in place, this perk is WORSE than before again. Once again, these last minute changes seem really poorly thought out. Why are we nerfing perks that nobody used anyway?
• Most other perks changes (with a few exceptions like Borrowed Time) have gone through as announced and they're mostly very good changes.
• I'm conflicted about the Windows of Opportunity nerf mostly because recently maps have become a lot more inconsistent. In the past, you had several pallets that would spawn 100% of the time or at least follow some kind of logic. But now? You can have tiles that spawn missing their pallet or previously guaranteed pallets that simply don't spawn at random. If we're gonna nerf info perks, can we at least make an effort to make the game consistent so we don't NEED them??
• Overall, the meta hasn't changed that much for either side. Killer will definitely see an increase of "gen-kick" based builds for sure with perks such as Lay Waste Undone being recently added or reworked.

(Post 3 of 3) 10.2.0 Midchapter Perk Changes PTB ✅ August 2026

How do these perk reworks affect the meta?

• Thrill of the Hunt rework effectively ends the Hex-stalling meta and the whole "Unemployed Build". Thrill, Shattered Hope and especially Dominance can block totems for a while but there's no way to slow down totem cleansing and keep repeatedly interrupting it anymore. In fact, Survivors now have many ways to cleanse totems even faster than before. With Blood Favor also being nerfed, Hex builds will look quite different from now on.
• Nerfed Shoulder the Burden can't be used multiple times anymore. This perk will be even more rare in solo queue but might occasionally still be used by coordinated teams. The two minutes of being broken is now a serious risk.
• Luck-stacking builds are basically dead since you can no longer guarantee near 100% self-unhook chances after the Slippery Meat rework.
• Windows of Opportunity is no longer a "shows-everything" perk and might be commonly run with Five Moves Ahead to combine both side-effects while showing pallets and windows.
• M1 Killers now have several STBFL-like perks that shorten their basic attack cooldown, which can be stacked together or used individually. Survivors will need to be super ready for even regular M1-oriented Killers to be really deadly in certain situations. I expect nerfs in this department as soon as the devs realize how oppressive these perks can be on some Killers, especially things like Doctor being able to consistently deny unhooks.
• Several Killer perks now apply strong Ruin-like regression which punishes Survivors when they leave gens unattended. Help Wanted in particular seems very strong at this and quite easy to trigger consistently.
• Survivors now have multiple vault speed increasing perks which stack similar to old Resilience & Spine Chill. When used together, vault speeds are actually really fast. It requires several perks to work but Killers will need to keep an eye out for it.
• Survivors have more viable healing options than ever and also many sources of increased unhooking speed, making them a lot less predictable and harder to contain, especially in the endgame. They also have some crazy options to open gates and cleanse/bless totems very fast.
• Chest builds are now quite viable considering the Moment of Glory buff from the last patch and all of the changes to other chest perks in this one.
• The last Survivor can open the hatch somewhat reliably without items for the first time with the perk Sole Survivor.

(Post 2 of 3) 10.2.0 Midchapter Perk Changes PTB ✅ August 2026

• Some uninteractive perks get nerfed: Dissolution and Blood Favor only work from M1 hits.
• Shoulder the Burden is now once per trial and has a much harsher penalty.
• Self-presevation nerfed to last half the previous amount, 15s. Seems appropriate.
• Windows of Opportunity is nerfed and doesn't show pallets or breakable walls anymore. However, it gives a 10% faster vault on cooldown.
• 5 Moves Ahead also nerfed and now only works on pallets, making each of these perks specialize on each resources.
• Thrill is nerfed and now blocks totems after hooking someone, making it far less good at passively slowing totems.
• Several perks get buffed in Tier 1 and Tier 2 so they're not as useless before reaching Tier 3; Agitation, Iron Grasp, Kindred, No One Left Behind, Resilience, We'll Make It. These perks are still exactly the same at Tier 3. Nice change although a lot of people are rightfully suggesting that maybe perk tiers should be removed altogether at this point.
• A bunch of perks get buffed numbers or tiny reworks that make them work with less restrictions: Bitter Murmur, Deerstalker, Fire Up, Game Afoot, Spies from the Shadows, Unbound, Better than New, Empathic Connection, Flow State, Friendly Competition, Object of Obsession, Calm Spirit, Do No Harm, Solidarity, Wake up. Overall very welcome buffs. This is not Happening is one of my favorite changes, it now works when healthy!
• Many many Killer perks get buffed and slightly reworked: The two compromised perks (Machine Learning and Help Wanted) are super-buffed and now can be set up on multiple gens at once. Help wanted applies a Ruin-like regression effect to unrepaired gens. Dark Arrogance now also has a massive -25% attack cooldown similar to STBFL. DMS now only triggers if a gen is left for more than 2s which is a very elegant idea. Distressing slows down repairs within TR by -8%. Dominance is now totems-only focused but way better at it. Insidious now lingers for 8s and is quite fun. Knock Out has a massive increase in hinder from -5% to -20% but is slightly harder to trigger. Ravenous now lasts 90s and has a small buff to carry/hook speeds. Shattered Hope is finally useable, becoming a mini-deadlock stall perk for totems. Monstrous Shrine becomes a really nice common perk; it applies a Ruin-like effect on gens when you're far away from a hooked Survivor on a scourge hook. Whispers has its range reduced and gives you haste when nobody is near you, which is great. Unrelenting gets a big buff and now works when hitting obstacles (super nice on Dredge and Alien hitting locks/turrets). Undone becomes a Pop-like regression perk. Superior Anatomy & Hex: Nothing but Misery get tiny reworks to make them a bit better.
• Many Survivor perks also get reworked to be better: Blood Pact becomes more consistent by moving the obsession away from you if hooked. Boon: Illumination makes it SUPER fast to replace your existing boons or bless hexes when a boon is already up. Borrowed Time becomes an automatic Deep Wound removal over 30s if you tank a hit with any form of Endurance (which is niche but very nice). Dark Sense gives a massive burst of info on the Killer, team mates and pallets/windows around you. Reworked Sole Survivor allows you to open the hatch if you activate it now. Premonition becomes a really strong perk to avoid the Killer. Road Life gives you an insane 8s heal if you trigger it. Spine Chill now affects vault speed again. Stake Out no longer works with Hyperfocus and is overall a lot more risky and reward on its own now. Small Game simplified, now shows auras of totems. Slippery Meat reworked, now makes all unhooks on you 100% faster (super strong in endgame). Several chest perks vastly improved; Pharmacy and Plunderers now make you search way faster and more efficiently.

(Post 1 of 3) 10.2.0 Midchapter Perk Changes PTB ✅ August 2026

• Devs have changed a ton of perks with seemingly 3 main objectives; 1) break up meta perks into different effects and prop up previously underused perks, 2) buff perks that are currently underpowered due to diminishing returns and 3) improve the usefulness of common/global perks that are mostly used by beginners. In all of these respects, I think they did a pretty good job (so far) and it was a very ambitious patch overall. Great job BHVR.
• DBD now has a message wheel to convey quick messages to fellow Survivors. It's a great system and another small step to make non-communicated / Solo Q survivor a better experience.
• More options to give up / abandon / end the trial when the match is already virtually over, which I think is a very good thing to keep matches flowing quickly.

Chorus of Sin - Follow up post & recent changes ✅ August 2026

• The Judgment gets an inexplicable buff that makes its regular Divine Light curvable even when non-Zealous and makes the Zealous curve window much bigger. This Killer is already really powerful and needs some adjustments and this seemed a bit unnecessary. Judgment also received some minor nerfs by making Survivors less vulnerable upon returning from Exile (which seems reasonable and healthy). I've heard that Judgment's pillars are currently bugged and stuttery so I'm not sure how easy it'll be to feel the effect of these changes yet.
• MMR is definitely faulty and is resulting in overall less strict matches for high level players. Just this week alone I've seen several World Record / Personal Best streaks set on multiple Killers. Even after winning a bunch you're often going against less experienced players than before. Not sure if this is by design or a flaw until BHVR shares something.