Dead by Daylight Bug Grants Survivor Bots Permanent Haste Effect, Disrupting Game Balance
A game-breaking bug in Dead by Daylight grants AI survivors permanent Haste, disrupting the core chase mechanics and creating immense player frustration. This unusual glitch transforms manageable bots into uncatchable opponents, fundamentally altering the game's balance of power.
An unusual and disruptive software glitch has emerged in the popular asymmetrical horror title Dead by Daylight, fundamentally altering the balance of power between killers and artificial intelligence-controlled survivors. This peculiar anomaly permanently afflicts survivor bots with the powerful Haste status effect, a condition normally reserved for temporary boosts from specific character perks. Consequently, these enhanced automatons can effortlessly outpace nearly every pursuer in the game, leading to widespread player frustration and undermining the core chase mechanics that define the Dead by Daylight experience.
The integration of AI-driven bots into Dead by Daylight represents a relatively modern development for the long-running multiplayer game. Initially introduced in a limited capacity for custom matches alongside The Knight chapter in late 2022, these automated entities underwent significant refinement. By 2023, their programming had advanced sufficiently to allow them to seamlessly replace human players who disconnected from public matches—a crucial quality-of-life improvement. Prior to this system, a survivor's abrupt departure would result in their immediate demise, unfairly disadvantaging the remaining team and depriving the killer of valuable scoring events essential for progression. While these bots are not renowned for their strategic genius or looping prowess, they serve a vital function: they remain in the match to repair generators, heal allies, and generally act as an additional obstacle for the killer to manage. However, the recent bug has transformed them from manageable nuisances into nearly uncatchable phantoms, throwing match dynamics into chaos.
Visual evidence of this glitch was prominently showcased by a community member, where a bot controlling the survivor Jeff Johansen demonstrated a sustained, superhuman sprinting speed. The bot moved as if permanently benefiting from high-tier exhaustion perks like Sprint Burst or Lithe, which normally grant a short burst of speed at the cost of a lengthy cooldown period. In the standard game balance, killers possess a base movement speed advantage over survivors; a survivor matching or exceeding that pace is both visually jarring and mechanically oppressive. Although these AI entities typically lack the sophisticated pathfinding and mind-games of human veterans, the sheer velocity granted by this bug compensates for their predictable patterns. A chase that should conclude in mere seconds can balloon into a 30-second ordeal, wasting the killer's precious time and potentially costing them the entire match by allowing other survivors to complete generators unimpeded.
Community investigation has pinpointed a likely trigger for this malfunctional behavior. Analysis suggests the bug activates when a human survivor player disconnects from the game server at the precise moment they activate an exhaustion-based perk. These abilities are among the most powerful tools in a survivor's arsenal, designed to create distance in a chase but balanced by imposing the "Exhausted" status, which prevents their reuse until the survivor recovers by walking or remaining stationary. Crucially, the recovery meter does not replenish while running. In this flawed state, however, the bot inherits a perpetual version of the haste effect without any of the corresponding drawbacks. It does not become exhausted, and the speed boost never decays, creating a scenario where an AI-controlled survivor can kite a killer indefinitely with minimal effort.
| Normal Perk Function | Bugged Bot Behavior |
|---|---|
| 🏃♂️ Temporary Speed Boost (e.g., 3 seconds) | 🏃♂️⚡ Permanent, Unending Haste |
| ⚠️ Applies Exhausted Status (Long Cooldown) | ✅ No Exhaustion Penalty |
| 🔄 Single Use Per Chase | 🔄 Constant Effect, No Cooldown |
| ⚖️ Balanced High-Risk, High-Reward | ⚖️ Game-Breaking Imbalance |
As of 2025, Dead by Daylight continues to evolve with new content, including recent public tests for the iconic survivor Lara Croft. It is important to note that this Haste bug is not contained to these experimental builds but is present in the stable, live version of the game, affecting countless daily matches. Developer Behaviour Interactive has not yet issued an official statement regarding this specific glitch. The studio's attention may be divided by other pressing technical issues currently plaguing the game environment, such as the Trickster's knife throws causing visually disruptive screen flashes or specific map geometry on the Backwater Swamp realm granting survivors unintended invulnerability.
👉 The potential ramifications of this bug are significant. Given its seemingly straightforward replication steps—a player disconnecting mid-perk activation—there is a tangible risk that a segment of the player base could begin to exploit it deliberately. What starts as an occasional, frustrating anomaly could rapidly escalate into a widespread manipulation tactic, forcing killers into unwinnable scenarios and severely degrading the integrity of public matches. The community awaits a patch that addresses not only this speed-related defect but also the broader suite of stability and balance concerns to ensure Dead by Daylight remains a tense and fair battle of wits and reflexes between survivors and their relentless pursuers.