The next Dead By Daylight update has been confirmed as Chapter 24, titled Roots of Dread, and Behaviour Interactive has revealed that The Dredge is the new killer fans will be able to get their hands on when the content is released. Even from a glance, it’s clear that this killer is one of the most visually striking additions to Dead By Daylight yet – and one of the most terrifying. In a press conference, creative director David Richard shared an insight into what inspired the Dead By Daylight Chapter 24 killer and why this monstrous figure is, quite literally, the stuff of nightmares.
Discussing the origin of The Dredge, Richard explains that this killer is the “physical representation of the suppressed darkness of [a] whole town.” In this town, which is partially represented by the new map coming to Dead By Daylight in Chapter 24, Garden of Joy, “all the residents hide terrible secrets [and] dark thoughts”. When this all bubbles to the surface, it creates The Dredge – a killer Richard describes as “nightmare fuel”.
The Dead By Daylight team’s goal, according to Richard, was to create “a monster that felt extremely inhuman, chaotic, [and] weird… Something straight out of a nightmare.” Looking at The Dredge, it’s safe to say that the team achieved their goal – this thing is terrifying.
A creature this strange can be hard to explain, but Richard did a fantastic job of articulating the feeling the Dead By Daylight team wants The Dredge to evoke in players.
“When you’re having a nightmare,” Richard began, “and you wake up [knowing] you saw something viscerally scary in there – but you can’t quite put your finger on what it was – that is why [the Dead By Daylight team] created this look.”
Being made up of various broken limbs, heads, and tentacles, it’s clear that The Dredge is going to be Dead By Daylight’s strangest killer to date. However, is the fear it’s appearance evoked going to be replicated in its gameplay? Well, it’s going to do a damn good job of trying.
Alongside this insight into the development of The Dredge, Richard also detailed the killer’s power and what players can expect from gameplay.
The unique power possessed by The Dredge, named Rain of Darkness, actually comes in two parts. The first part, which is the active ability, is called Gloaming. This allows players to teleport between Lockers on the map, which will allow The Dredge to navigate the playing space efficiently, as well as allowing The Dredge to get the jump on unsuspecting Survivors.
The second part of Rain of Darkness power is called Nightfall. This is a metre which builds over time and, when full, will plunge a Survivor into darkness, with The Dredge being the only thing the player can see clearly, when it is in the player’s line of sight. This is going to make navigating the map, and ultimately, escaping The Dredge more of a challenge.
Dead By Daylight’s Roots of Dread update isn’t just introducing The Dredge to the asymmetrical horror game, though. Haddie Kaur, an Indian-Canadian with supernatural abilities, is being introduced as this chapter’s new Survivor. In addition to this, Garden of Joy (which was mentioned earlier) will be made available as the game’s newest map. If you’re wondering when all this will be available, check out our guide to the Dead By Daylight Chapter 24 release date right here.
If you’re more interested in all the work going on behind the scenes, then why not check out our Dead By Daylight David Richard interview from last season – there are some interesting insights into how Behaviour Interactive brought Ringu’s Sadako (and Yochi) to life in-game.