As part of its fifth-anniversary celebrations in 2021, Dead By Daylight introduced the Resident Evil chapter, with Leon Kennedy and Jill Valentine joining the survivor roster, and the iconic Nemesis becoming part of the killer pantheon. For the first time in its six-year history, Dead By Daylight is adding a second part to an already existing chapter, taking more characters from the licensed franchise and introducing them into the game.
This has arrived in the form of Project W, which is bringing with it even more iconic characters from the Resident Evil series and throwing them into the Realm of the Entity. This time, players will be running around as Ada Wong and Rebecca Chambers, who are being pursued by Resident Evil’s most recognisable antagonist: the manipulative Albert Wesker.
Here, we’ll be breaking down everything you need to know about the chapter.
The Killer – The Mastermind
Albert Wesker has become synonymous with being the primary villain of Resident Evil. A turncoat in the original who led his team into the dangerous depths of the Spencer Mansion, Wesker would go on to embody the very virus he sought to obtain. By injecting himself with the wildly unstable Uroboros strain, he was gifted with powers beyond human comprehension, helping him become a near super-human.
Using the power of the Uroboros virus, The Mastermind can infect survivors, hindering their running speed. Moreover, using these super-human abilities, he can lunge at survivors, launch them from great distances, and even vault over pallets and other obstacles at great speed.
The Mastermind’s Perks are:
Superior Anatomy: When a survivor performs a fast vault within the terror radius (heartbeat) of the killer, the killer’s vaulting speed is increased by 40%. After using the enhanced vault, the perk goes into cooldown for 30 seconds.
Awakened Awareness: When carrying a survivor, the killer will see the aura of all other survivors within 20 meters of their terror radius. While initially, these auras would remain visible for 2 seconds after the killer stopped carrying the survivor, this has since been changed following feedback on the Public Test Build.
Terminus: This perk activates once the exit gates have been powered. When activated, all survivors in the injured, hooked or dying stage will be inflicted with the Broken status effect until the gates have been fully opened. Once the gates are opened, the survivors will remain Broken for 30 seconds.
The Survivors – Ada Wong and Rebecca Chambers
As with the previous Resident Evil update, this chapter is introducing two new survivors: Ada Wong and Rebecca Chambers. Ada is a walking mystery, happy to play the field with friend or foe, as long as it furthers her own goals. Her perks reflect her ability to adapt to various situations and utilise her espionage expertise. Rebecca on the other hand is the youngest, and perhaps most dedicated member of S.T.A.R.S. A gifted medic, her perks revolve around altruism and protecting her teammates at all costs.
Ada’s Perks are:
Wiretap: Using her superior intel, Ada can keep track of generators and the killer. After repairing the generator for 3 seconds, the survivor can place a wiretap on it. This will activate when the generator reaches 33% completion. While the wiretap is activated, all survivors can see the aura of the generator and the aura of the killer when they approach it. The wiretap is destroyed if the killer kicks the generator.
Reactive Healing: When another survivor is injured within a 32-meter radius of your location while you are injured, you gain up to 35% of your missing healing progression.
Low Profile: When you are the final survivor in the trial, your scratch marks, pools of blood and cries of pain are suppressed, making it difficult for the killer to track you down.
Rebecca’s Perks are:
Better Than New: After healing another survivor, they will benefit from increased speeds in Healing, Unlocking, Cleansing, and Blessing by up to 16%
Reassurance: When close to a hooked survivor, pressing the ability button will allow you to temporarily pause the timer on the sacrificial process.
Hyperfocus:
After hitting a great skill check while repairing or healing, gain up to a maximum of 6 Tokens
For each Token, the following effects are applied:
- Increases the Skill Check Trigger odds by +2 % per Token.
- Increases the Skill Check Rotation speed by +4 % per Token.
- Increases the Skill Check Bonus progression by up to 30% of its base value per Token.
The Map(s) – Raccoon City Police Department
While most new fully realised chapters will bring a new map to the game, Project W has instead reworked the existing Raccoon City Police Department (R.P.D.) map. When it was introduced during the initial Resident Evil chapter, R.P.D. was praised for its atmosphere and attention to detail in recreating the location from the original game. This worked under the premise that players would instinctively know their way around if they had played Resident Evil 2.
However, despite this meticulous recreation, the sheer size of the map became contentious, as well as certain areas within (the library, for example) that pushed the boundaries of killer/survivor balance.
With Project W, the R.P.D. map has been divided into two sections: the east and west wings. With the locations being significantly smaller than their original, it allows the killer more opportunity to pressure survivors on generators. For the survivor side of things, new routes and wider corridors allow for different chase potentials, allowing them new opportunities to evade the killer.
Dead by Daylight: Resident Evil Project W is out now.
Words by Jack Roberts