Freddy Krueger — The Nightmare
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"This place plays tricks on your mind…constantly I question whether I dream or if I am awake. This most recent horrid ghoul seems to bridge that gap – between the states of being awake or asleep. I saw him hunting another poor soul, someone who was not as lucky as me. A man with a hat and a claw clad hand, a scarred man of sorts. He spotted me and what actually happened next is still a mystery to me. Dreams took over, and I was sure to die. But I woke up. Not like in the manner where I awake at the campfire, but instead I just woke up…inside this wretched forest, with memories of nightmares within. I am now afraid to sleep, but also to stay awake." | 
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| ~ Unknown (Potentially Benedict Baker) |
| The Nightmare | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Freddy Krueger |
| Game Alias(es) | "The Sandman" |
| Gender | Man |
| Origin | American |
| Realm | Springwood |
| Power | Dream Demon |
| Power Attack Type | Basic Attack |
| Weapon | Clawed Glove |
Movement Speed   |
115 % | 4.6 m/s |
| Alternate Movement speed | 100 % | 4 m/s ( placing Dream Snares) |
Terror Radius  |
32 metres |
| Lullaby Radius | 32 metres (Dream World) |
Height   |
Average |
| DLC | CHAPTER 6: A Nightmare on Elm Street™ |
| Voice Actor | Filip Ivanovic (BHVR) |
| Cost | 500 Auric Cells  
|
| Breathing | |
| Lullaby | |
| CharID | K10 |
Freddy Krueger or "The Nightmare" is one of 39 Killers
currently featured in Dead by Daylight
.
He was introduced as the Killer of CHAPTER 6: A Nightmare on Elm Street™, a Chapter DLC released on 26 October 2017.
He originates from the 2010 remake of the Horror Movie of the same name, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Overview
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Over time, The Nightmare forces Survivors into the Dream World. Once inside, Survivors will quickly realize the absence of a Terror Radius. With the ability to slow Survivors with Dream Snares, deceive with fake Dream Pallets, and pressure the map by teleporting directly to generators, The Nightmare lives up to his name. |
|
The Nightmare is a nightmare Killer, passively pulling Survivors into his Dream World where Survivors are vulnerable to his Dream Abilities. His Dream Projection ability allows him to quickly appear across the map and put pressure onto Survivors.
His personal Perks, Fire Up
, Remember Me
, and Blood Warden
, improve his abilities over time and make him stronger as the trial reaches its climax.
His Perks revolve around stopping Survivors from fleeing. They will make surviving a real pain for all, and managing to escape the Hunting Ground won't be easy.
Difficulty Rating: Moderate
(These Killers require the Player to be comfortable with the basics of the role, though they share common mechanics with easier ones)
Lore
Even while he lived, Freddy Krueger was a creature of nightmares for those who truly knew him. Hiding behind a mask of warmth and friendliness, Freddy's actual temperament was known only to his victims. When those victims were finally heard, the parents of Springwood tracked Freddy down and took the law into their own hands. They thought that fire had rid them of a monster that night, that their children were finally safe, but evil as strong as his has a way of surviving.
Years passed, the horror was buried, the victims mercifully forgot. Then, somehow, Freddy returned, and dreams became nightmares once again.
Freddy focused his anger on those he felt had wronged him, building up to his one true obsession, Nancy Holbrook. But he underestimated her strength and resourcefulness. Together with her friend Quentin Smith, she managed to weaken Freddy, mutilating him and leaving him for dead once more.
Death didn't want Freddy the first time he encountered it, why did they think it would take him now? He emerged once more, consumed with vengeance. Then he turned his sights on the boy who had blocked his path to Nancy, his number one.
Freddy invaded Quentin's dreams, terrorising him night after night, until his strength and defences would be at their lowest. When the time was right, he forced the boy to return to the dark reflection of Badham Preschool. Here he would have his final revenge.
Freddy stalked the boy through the school's halls. He took his time, savouring every moment of the hunt. This was what he enjoyed the most, the smell of their sweat in the air, the ragged gasps of their terrified breath. They were his to toy with.
There was the boy, at the end of a long corridor. Too tired and scared to run anymore? Resigned to his fate? Freddy closed in, arms wide, claws raking the wall. Their tips traced along a pipe, the metallic shrieking only adding to the boy’s apprehension.
A shower of sparks rained on the ground, and into the liquid that covered the tiled floor. A blue flame blossomed and quickly engulfed the room.
The boy took flight as Freddy burst from the flames in a fury. Rooms and walls raced past in a blur until they were in Freddy's basement. There would be no escape from here.
Slowly Freddy closed in on the boy. His fear was so strong now that Freddy could almost taste it, but his eyes burned with a defiant hatred that was almost admirable.
Freddy drew back his claws.
Then Freddy felt another presence with him; something old, powerful and dark. A miasma enveloped him and the only sensation was a sound like wooden beams flexing and creaking in the distance. The echoing groan of metal crushed against metal. Something arcane and unknowable, half-way between language and pure terror.
A moment of falling and spinning and then Freddy was back in the school. But not his school. It looked the same, but it felt different. His powers were tempered in some ways and focused in others. The boy had gone for now, but another prey walked the hallways. Some would be inconsequential; others would become his new favourites. All would fall before his claws.
Load-out
Unique Perks
The Nightmare comes with 3 Perks
that are unique to him:
 |
Blood Warden | As soon as at least one Exit Gate   is opened, Blood Warden activates:
Once per Trial, hooking a Survivor while Blood Warden is active calls upon The Entity
"This is my world. And you can't ever leave." — Freddy Krueger |
|---|---|---|
 |
Fire Up | The increased pressure of losing your preys fills you with anger and gives you unsuspected motivation.
For each completed Generator, Fire Up gains +1 Token, up to a maximum of 5 Tokens:
|
 |
Remember Me | Whenever the Obsession   loses a Health State   by any means, Remember Me gains +1 Token, up to a maximum of 3/4/5 Tokens:
You can only be obsessed with one Survivor at a time. "You don't remember? You must. You're my number one, and you'll never wake up again." — Freddy Krueger |
Prestige
Prestiging The Nightmare will automatically add Tier I of his Unique Perks to the inventories of all other Killers and unlock the ability for their higher-tiered versions to spawn in their Bloodweb
.
Prestige The Nightmare twice more to automatically add Tier II and Tier III respectively into the other Killers' inventories.
Weapon: Clawed Glove
The Clawed Glove is the Primary Weapon of The Nightmare.
A homemade device, crafted to torture and kill.
Power: Dream Demon
"Death won't accept him and thus he remains, a calamity, indisputable master of his victims' nightmares."
SPECIAL ABILITY: DREAM DEMON
The Nightmare is cloaked from awake Survivors.
While they can hear his Terror Radius, he is not always visible to them:
- The Nightmare is invisible to Survivors farther than 32 metres away.
- The Nightmare is intermittently visible to Survivors from 16 to 32 metres away.
- The Nightmare is fully visible to Survivors closer than 16 metres.
SPECIAL STATE: MICROSLEEP
The mere presence of The Nightmare induces Microsleep in awake Survivors, causing them to passively fall asleep over 60 seconds.
Survivors who woke up with an Alarm Clock are protected from Microsleep for 30 seconds.
SPECIAL STATE: ASLEEP
Survivors who fall asleep automatically enter the Dream World and suffer from the following effects while inside it:
- Changes the penalty of interacting with Dream Traps.
- Triggers Killer Instinct while performing a Healing action or while an Awake Survivor is performing one on them.
- Causes them to suffer from the Oblivious
Status Effect.
- Causes them to hear a non-directional Lullaby instead.
Hitting Survivors with a Basic Attack immediately pulls them into the Dream World, unless they are protected by the temporary Sleep Immunity granted by an Alarm Clock.
SPECIAL INTERACTION: WAKING UP
Survivors have several ways to wake up and leave the Dream World:
- Failing a Skill Check.
- Having an Awake Survivor perform the Wake Up interaction on them for 5 seconds.
- Interacting with an Freddy Krueger
for 2 seconds. - Entering the Dying State by any means.
SPECIAL ABILITIES: DREAM TRAPS
The Nightmare has access to 2 types of Dream Traps:Dream Snares and Dream Pallets.
Press the Secondary Power button to switch between the two.
SPECIAL TRAP: DREAM SNARES
Press and hold the Power button to charge a Dream Snare over 0.35 seconds.
While charged, press the Attack button to launch the Dream Snare forwards:
- Reduces his Movement speed to 4.0 m/s.
- Moves at a speed of 12 m/s.
- Has a maximum range of 18 metres.
- Can go through walls and follow slopes, but does not go off ledges.
When a Dream Snare collides with a Survivor, it inflicts either of the following effects, depending on their state:
- Awake: Advances their Microsleep timer by +30 seconds.
- Asleep: Causes them to suffer from a -12 %Hindered
Status Effect for 4.5 seconds.
Dream Snares have a cool-down of 7 seconds.
SPECIAL TRAP: DREAM PALLETS
The Nightmare can create up to 8 Dream Pallets at a time.
Press the Power button to enter Pallet Focus Mode.
While in this mode, press the Attack button to spawn a Dream Pallet at any valid location within 24 metres
Press the Attack button while targetting any Dream Pallet within that same range to Rupture it:
- Has a delay of 1.5 seconds.
- Has an Area of Effect of 3.5 metres.
When a Dream Pallet ruptures while a Survivor is inside its Area of Effect, it inflicts either of the following effects, depending on their state:
- Awake: Advances their Microsleep timer by +60 seconds.
- Asleep: Inflicts damage.
Dream Snares have a cool-down of 1.5 seconds.
Survivors can drop a Dream Pallet and attempt to stun The Nightmare, if it is not in the process of rupturing.
Dropping a Dream Pallet instantly destroys it, causing it to explode in blood.
SPECIAL LOCOMOTION: DREAM PROJECTION
The Nightmare can teleport to any Generator in the environment at any time, regardless of its state, as well as to within 8 to 12 metres of any Asleep Survivors involved in a Healing action.
Once the Power Gauge is full, press and hold the Secondary Power button for at least 0.5 seconds to perform a Dream Projection.
Release it prematurely to cancel the interaction, which incurs the full cool-down:
- Reveals the Aura
of the Husk at the target location. - Reduces his Movement speed to 3.86 m/s.
- Takes 2.5 seconds to complete.
Upon completion, it inflicts either of the following effects on all Survivors within 8 metres:
- Awake: Advances their Microsleep timer by +15 seconds.
- Awake or Asleep: Triggers Killer Instinct for 3 seconds.
Dream Projection has a cool-down of 30 seconds, which is reduced by a stack-able -15 % for each Asleep Survivor, up to a maximum of -60 %.
"You have nothing to worry about. This won't hurt one... little... bit." — Freddy Krueger
Power Trivia
Movement Speeds:
- Walking while charging Dream Projection: 3.86 m/s
- Walking while placing Dream Snares: 4.0 m/s
- Walking while placing Dream Pallets: 4.6 m/s
Dream Snares:
- Charge time: 0.35 seconds
- Ability cooldown: 7 seconds
- Travel speed: 12 m/s
- Range: 18 metres
- Penalties for Asleep Survivors:
- Suffer from a -12 % Hindered Status Effect for 4.5 seconds.
- Penalty for Awake Survivors:
- Have their Microsleep timer advanced by +30 seconds.
Dream Pallets:
- Token count: 8 Tokens
- Aura range: 24 metres
- Indicator and Placement range: 24 metres
- Placement angle: 40 °
- Rupture Detonation delay: 1.5 seconds
- Rupture Detonation radius: 3.5 metres
- Rupture Detonation cooldown: 1.5 seconds
- Dream Pallet Shimmer Maximum Distance: 6 metres
- This applies to Survivors only.
- The Shimmer effect will scale in intensity within this distance.
- Beyond this distance, they will appear as a normal Pallet.
- Penalty for Asleep Survivors:
- Are damaged for 1 Health State.
- Penalty for Awake Survivors:
- Have their Microsleep timer advanced by +60 seconds.
Dream Projection:
- Charge threshold: 0.5 seconds
- This acts as a buffer to avoid inadvertently putting the Ability on cooldown when pressing the button accidentally.
- Charge time: 2.5 seconds
- Ability cooldown: 30 seconds
- Ability Cooldown reduction: -15 % per Asleep Survivor
- This only applies to using the ability on Generators.
- Penalty radius: 8 metres
- Penalties inflicted on Survivors within the Penalty radius:
- Killer Instinct for 3 seconds
- Have their Microsleep timer advanced by +15 seconds.
- Spawn Distance to healing Survivor: 8 to 12 metres
Alarm Clocks:
- Interaction duration: 2 seconds
- Cooldown duration: 45 seconds
- Sleep Immunity duration: 30 seconds
- Reveal duration after using : disabled feature
Microsleep:
- Timer duration: 60 seconds
Wake Up:
- Interaction time: 5 seconds
Glimpses:
Awake Survivors only see glimpses of The Nightmare within a certain range:
- Glimpse duration: 2 seconds
- Glimpse cool-down: 2 seconds
- Glimpse Minimum distance: 16 metres
- Glimpse Maximum distance: 32 metres
Add-ons for Dream Demon
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Garden Rake | A small claw rake, a must have tool for any accomplished gardener.
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Kid's Drawing | An unattributed drawing clearly crafted by a young child.
|
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Sheep Block | A white and blue wooden block depicting two woolly Lambs grazing and the letter "S".
|
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Wool Shirt | A small boy's orange and yellow striped shirt. Identified with a sewn name tag to "Jesse".
|
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Cat Block | A white and purple wooden block depicting a sleeping Cat and the letter "C".
|
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Green Dress | A little girl's green dress with a silky white ribbon.
|
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Nancy's Sketch | A crude and bold sketch made with Fusain, signed by Nancy H.
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Outdoor Rope | Sturdy outdoor rope, handy to tie up anything.
|
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Prototype Claws | A home-made tool to facilitate bush trimming.
|
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Blue Dress | A little girl's pale blue dress with white lace which's front is ruined by large cuts.
|
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Jump Rope | A long Double-Dutch jump rope, stained with many years of use.
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Nancy's Masterpiece | A painting of a character, made by Nancy Holbrook at Badham and kept as a treasure memory.
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Paint Thinner | A tin of a highly volatile and inflammable material.
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Unicorn Block | A white and red wooden block depicting a prancing Unicorn and the letter "U".
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"Z" Block | A deeply scratched and burnt wooden block which's only recognisable feature is the letter "Z".
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Class Photo | A large photograph taken at Badham Preschool showing the cheerful class of '94-95.
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Pill Bottle | An empty pill bottle which once contained a medicine called Zoneral.
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Swing Chains | Rusty, but sturdy chains used to securely attach a swing seat.
|
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Black Box | A black cardboard box filled with photographs.
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Red Paint Brush | A large paint brush, wet with crimson paint.
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Achievements
There are 2 Achievements related to The Nightmare:
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Adept Nightmare | Playing as The Nightmare, achieve a Merciless Victory using only his 3 Unique Perks: Fire Up, Remember Me, and Blood Warden |
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Dream Demon | Playing as The Nightmare   , pull Survivors into the Dream World a total of 200 times.
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Cosmetic Options
Players can choose from a variety of Cosmetic options to customise The Nightmare:
Base Cosmetics
Default
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Freddy Krueger | 
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Common | The mottled and charred face of an odious man, topped with a fedora. |
|
Preschool Gardener | 
|
Common | A striped woolen shirt and sturdy gardener trousers, punctured with burn holes. |
|
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Clawed Glove | 
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Common | A homemade device, crafted to torture and kill. |
Prestige
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Bloody Freddy |
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Rare | The burnt and blood splattered face of an odious man, topped with a fedora. | Prestige Level 6 Reward |
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Bloody Gardener |
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Rare | A striped woollen shirt and sturdy gardner trousers, dripping with his prey's blood. | Prestige Level 5 Reward |
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Bloody Clawed Glove |
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Rare | A bloody device of nightmares, crafted to torture and kill. | Prestige Level 4 Reward |
Perk Charms
| Prestige Level 7 Reward | Prestige Level 8 Reward | Prestige Level 9 Reward |
|---|---|---|
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| A keepsake gained upon mastery of a particular skill. | ||
DLC
The Nightmare is part of 1 DLC:
Change Log
Patch 1.8.1
- Nerf: increased the time Survivors must have left the Terror Radius for to have their Auras revealed from 1 second to 10 seconds.
- Nerf: increased the Terror Radius from 16 metres to 24 metres.
- This change was motivated by a desire to allow Survivors more room to manoeuvre around The Nightmare without having their Auras revealed for being outside his Terror Radius.
- This change brought the Terror Radius to the same range as his Lullaby.
- Nerf: increased the duration of the Movement Speed penalty after tagging a Survivor with Dream Demon from 1 second to 3 seconds.
- This change was motivated by a desire to allow Survivors to put more distance between themselves and The Nightmare before they fall asleep and become vulnerable to his attacks.
- Nerf: dying Survivors who are healed to the Injured State are automatically woken up.
Patch 1.8.2
- Quality of Life: increased the Movement Speed while casting Dream Demon from an unknown value to 95 %.
- This change was motivated by the Developers deeming the old penalty as too intense.
- Quality of Life: reduced the Interaction and Attack cool-down when successfully putting a Survivor into the Dream Transition from an unknown value to 0.5 seconds.
Patch 1.9.2
- Change: removed the unintentional ability to tag Survivors hiding inside Lockers with Dream Demon.
Patch 2.0.0
- Quality of Life: reduced the Vaulting time to match that of other Killers, as it was unintentionally higher.
Patch 2.3.0
- Quality of Life: reduced the volume levels of his footsteps, making him stealthier.
Patch 3.1.0
- Rework:
- Awake Survivors see The Nightmare always within 16 metres, intermittently within 32 metres, and not at all beyond that.
- Survivors experience Micro-Sleep, passively falling asleep within 60 seconds.
- Asleep Survivors now have another way of waking up by interacting with the newly introduced Alarm Clock
. - Switched when the Terror Radius or the Lullaby is heard.
- The Wake Up action now takes longer if it is performed more than once on the same Survivor.
- The Nightmare now places Dream Traps as his main power.
- The Nightmare can now teleport to unrepaired Generators using Dream Projection.
Patch 3.2.0
- Buff: Asleep Survivors now suffer from the Oblivious Status Effects.
Patch 4.7.0
- Quality of Life: increased the brightness of the Dream World indicator on the HUD.
- Nerf: added a Movement Speed penalty while placing Dream Snares, reducing his Movement speed to 4.0 m/s.
- Nerf: reduced the maximum number of Dream Snares from 8 to 5.
- Nerf: reduced the maximum number of Dream Pallets from 10 to 7.
- Nerf: Survivors using Alarm Clocks are granted full immunity from falling asleep for 30 seconds, including when The Nightmare attacks them.
- This is indicated on the HUD by a yellow Sleep timer ticking down.
- Change: revisited some Add-ons.
Unknown Patch
- Change: reassessed the difficulty rating from Hard to Moderate.
Patch 8.5.0
- Rework: extensively reworked The Nightmare's Power.
- Buff: The Nightmare can now swap between Dream Snares and Dream Pallets by pressing the Active Ability Button.
- Buff: Dream Projection can now be performed on completed or blocked Generators.
- Buff: Asleep Survivors involved in a Healing action are revealed to The Nightmare through Killer Instinct, and can be teleported to using Dream Projection.
- Buff: Survivors within 8 metres of a completed Dream Projection are revealed through Killer Instinct for 3 seconds and have their Microsleep timer advanced by 15 seconds.
- Buff: reduced the cool-down of Dream Projection from 45 seconds to 30 seconds.
- Buff: halved the cool-down of a cancelled Dream Projection from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.
- Buff: reduced the charge time of Dream Projection from 4 seconds to 2.5 seconds.
- Buff: Alarm Clocks now have a global cool-down of 45 seconds when used to Wake Up.
- Buff: increased the duration of the Wake Up interaction from 3 seconds to 5 seconds.
- Quality of Life: minor visual improvements to the Dream World.
- One of these improvements is that the film grain effect that could be seen in the sky was removed, in response to the feedback that it was uncomfortable to look at.
- Nerf: cancelling Dream Projection will now incur a full Cool-down.
- Nerf: charging Dream Projection now reduces The Nightmare's Movement Speed to 3.86 m/s.
- Nerf: Survivors can Wake Up using any Alarm Clock within the Trial.
- Nerf (undocumented): The Nightmare can no longer see the remaining Sleep Immunity duration on the Status HUD when survivors use an Alarm Clock.
- Nerf: the Wake Up interaction no longer increases in duration the more it is performed.
- Nerf: Survivors now automatically Wake Up when entering the Dying State
. - Change: injured Survivors can now be Woken Up without being healed first.
- Change: revisited all of The Nightmare's Add-ons.
- Change: Dream Traps can now be seen and interacted with by Awake Survivors.
- Change: significantly overhauled the behaviour of Dream Snares.
- Dream Snares now function as a ground projectile instead of a stationary trap.
- Holding the Power Button charges a Dream Snare over 0.35 seconds, which can then be launched with the Attack Button.
- Dream Snares travel at 12 m/s, with a maximum range of 18 metres.
- Dream Snares can travel through walls and up slopes, but not off of ledges.
- When hit by a Dream Snare, an Asleep Survivor will receive a 12 % Hindered
Status Effect for 4.5 seconds.
- An Awake Survivor will instead have their Microsleep timer advanced by 30 seconds.
- Nerf: Dream Snares now have a cool-down of 7 seconds.
- Change: improved the abilities of Dream Pallets.
- Buff: Dream Pallets now have a total of 8 Tokens.
- Buff: Dream Pallets can now activate the Rupture Ability:
- When activated, the Dream Pallet will explode in a shower of blood after a 1.5 second delay.
- Asleep Survivors within 3.5 metres of an exploding Pallet will be damaged for 1 Health State.
- Awake Survivors will instead have their Microsleep timer advanced by 60 seconds.
- Nerf: The Nightmare can now be stunned by his own Dream Pallets.
- Nerf: Dream Pallets now have a visual effect revealing their illusory nature whenever a Survivor is near them.
Patch 8.5.1
- Quality of Life: added new VFX when teleporting to a healing Survivor.
Trivia
- The full name of Freddy Krueger is "Frederick 'Freddy' Charles Krueger".
- Though the character was popularised by Robert Englund in the original film series, his appearance in Dead by Daylight is based on that of the 2010 film reboot, where he was portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley.
- The Nightmare's corresponding Survivor is Quentin Smith, a Character who was created specifically for the 2010 film.
- The Nightmare's Memento Mori is a reference to the way he killed Jesse in the film.
- The Nightmare's Memento Mori animation is the second one in which the Survivor attempts to get up on their own.
- The Nightmare breathes the quietest out of all the Killers, with his breathing being similar in volume to that of Survivors.
- Unlike other Killers, who simply step over Windows when vaulting, The Nightmare grabs the window ledge with both hands and lifts himself over, this is due to Freddy being much smaller in height than most other Killers in the Game.
- The Pig
and The Ghost Face
also have this same animation, for the same reason.
- The Pig
- The Nightmare is the Killer with the least amount of cosmetics, with only his three Prestige cosmetics.
- The Nightmare was the fifth licensed Character to be introduced to Dead by Daylight.
- The Nightmare was the first Killer to receive a major rework to his Power.
- At the time, The Nightmare was the only Killer who could change one of their abilities completely with the use of an Add-on.
- Both of these abilities were eventually added to his Power simultaneously with his second major rework.
Voice Actor
- The Nightmare is voiced by Filip Ivanovic, who at that time worked as the Art Director on the Game.
- The Nightmare shares his voice-actor with The Trapper
, The Wraith
, The Hillbilly
, The Cannibal
, The Ghost Face, and Jeff Johansen
.
- The Nightmare shares his voice-actor with The Trapper
Gallery
For more go to the Nightmare's Gallery
In-game assets
The Nightmare
The Nightmare (Portrait render)
The Nightmare (Background image)
Old assets
The Nightmare's previous portrait
Added assets
Official art
Sketches of The Nightmare and The Cannibal
Models
Freddy's model
Freddy's Prestige model
Screenshots
Others
The Nightmare placing a Dream Snare
Preview for the Add-ons
