Dead by Daylight's new quest system makes a big stride forward, but also stumbles when it comes to a few key areas. Dead by Daylight just saw one of the biggest overhauls in its existence so far, with many elements getting a fresh coat of paint. The biggest example is the game's longstanding Rift, which has seen almost a complete rework. There are a few definite improvements that should be noted, but at the same time, not all the changes were perfect. In particular, the quest system in Dead by Daylight may take time for some fans to get used to.
In Dead by Daylight's May 2025 update, the new Survivor Orela Rose was added to the game. However, a much bigger change came to the Rift. The equivalent of Fortnite's seasons, Dead by Daylight's Rift comes in the form of a series of challenges that players can complete to earn season-specific rewards. Previously, the challenges were on a map of sorts, with each completed challenge granting access to a new one. With the new update, the challenges are now on a series of lists, with all currently available challenges automatically available. This will have a significant impact on the flow of the Rift.
Dead By Daylight’s Killer Pick Rate Shows One of the Deadliest is Being Slept On
It may have taken three reworks and nearly eight years, but Dead By Daylight's most lethal killer is quietly shaking up the meta.
Dead by Daylight's Quest System Has Gone Through Some Major Changes
Players Can Now Progress Several Dead by Daylight Quests Simultaneously
A major upgrade from Dead by Daylight's last tome is the ease with which players can tackle missions. While players could previously only progress one selected mission for each role at a time, the new quest system tracks the player's progress for all quests and updates them accordingly, letting them potentially finish several at once. In addition, with the exception of milestone levels, players no longer have to complete certain quests to unlock others. Once a quest is available, the player will be able to earn progress on it. This should enable players to finish quests much more quickly in the future.
Dead by Daylight's New Approach to Progression Could Lead to Slower Rift Progress
Unfortunately, there are some issues worth addressing despite Dead by Daylight fulfilling one big wish. The flow that players gain rift fragments from has changed. Now players require 100 fragments rather than 10 to level up, and rather than each challenge giving at least 5, rewards are as follows:
- Daily Quests: 15 Rift Fragments
- Weekly Quests: 75 Rift Fragments
- Milestone Quests: 10 Rift Fragments, raised by 10 each level for 10 levels.
While the weekly quests give huge rewards, there are only 5 of them per week. Eventually, players could end up relying on the 45 daily fragments, slowing their progression to a crawl.
Dead by Daylight Can't Leave its Most Unique Challenges Behind
Ironically, one of the consequences of the new quest system giving Dead by Daylight a slight resemblance to Fortnite is the loss of some of its identity. In the initial wave of quests, there is no sign of the more unique goals such as glyph challenges, collecting memory fragments, or random perk matches. With the way that the quest system is set up, it's not clear how these would work, or if they will return. These tasks added a lot of flavor to the game with the ways they challenge players. If Dead by Daylight loses these unique missions, it will lose some of its soul.
Dead by Daylight's new quest system has its merits, but a few concerns still remain. With Dead by Daylight's Five Nights at Freddy's crossover on the horizon, the game is in a prime position to benefit from the publicity. As the weeks go on, it should become more clear how the new quest setup affects progression. However, the game's more unique challenges shouldn't be forgotten in the process. Dead by Daylight's new mission system is a gamble, and players will likely see the results before long.
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 70 /100 Critics Rec: 47%
- Released
- June 14, 2016
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Behaviour Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Behaviour Interactive
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
WHERE TO PLAY
Ever wished to play as one of the characters from your favorite horror movies? Dead by Daylight is a 1v4 multiplayer game that draws from all corners of the horror world from a powerful slasher to a terrifying paranormal entity.
Choose between playing an unstoppable Killer and one of 4 Survivors trying to evade a gruesome death. Each character has their own deep progression system and plenty of unlockables that can be customized to fit your personal strategy. Work together to escape, or stalk and sacrifice every Survivor.
This Edition of Dead by Daylight gives you access to a roster of 7 Killers (The Trapper, The Hillbilly, The Wraith, The Nurse, The Hag, The Huntress and The Doctor) and 9 Survivors (Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Dwight Fairfield, Ace Visconti, Nea Karlsson, Bill Overbeck, Feng Min and David King). It also includes two cosmetic add-ons packed with outfits for various characters.
- Genre(s)
- Horror, Survival
