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Though an icon of classic 80s horror, Freddy Krueger is considered to be among the weakest Killers in Dead by Daylight. Known as The Nightmare in-game, Freddy’s power allows him to teleport directly to generators while placing snares or fake pallets at loops to help slow down Survivors while they sleep. This power, while effective for guarding generators, limits The Nightmare while chasing more experienced Survivors in Dead by Daylight.

dbd fog background logo the clown
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While builds cannot expressly strengthen The Nightmare’s lackluster abilities, they can assist in slowing down generator progress, giving the Killer more time to catch Survivors. This guide will cover teachable and non-teachable builds to use on The Nightmare in Dead by Daylight to give the Killer a fighting chance against a coordinated team.

Updated June 7, 2024, by Lewis Smyth: As more DLC chapters come to Dead by Daylight, significant changes are made to the game, shaking up the meta and changing the best builds for each Killer. This updated guide reflects these changes by modernizing the Best Builds and adding a new Best Add-Ons list.

The Nightmare: Best Non-Teachable Build (2024)

For Freddy to be effective, he must regularly attack Survivors to ensure they enter the Dream World, in which they are Oblivious and become susceptible to Freddy’s chase powers. This non-teachable build makes use of perks that slow Survivor healing and exit gate progress, helping The Nightmare kill Survivors in the Endgame.

  • Remember Me (The Nightmare) – Each time the Obsession loses a health state, you gain one of up to four tokens. For each token, exit gate opening speeds are slowed by 6 seconds, up to 24 seconds. The Obsession is not affected by this slowdown.
  • Bitter Murmur (General Perk) – Each time a generator is completed, the auras of Survivors within 16 meters of that generator are revealed for 5 seconds. Once the last generator is complete, all Survivors’ auras are revealed for 10 seconds.
  • Sloppy Butcher (General Killer Perk) – Basic attacks cause the Mangled and Hemorrhage status ailments, slowing down healing by 25% and regressing healing progress when left unfinished.
  • Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk) – After the final generator is completed, all survivors suffer from the Exposed status ailment, and users gain a 4% Haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.

The Nightmare: Best Build (2024)

This build revolves entirely around slowing down generators with the strongest slowdown perks in Dead by Daylight until a lethal endgame collapse.

  • Grim Embrace (The Artist) – Each time The Killer hooks a new Survivor, all generators are blocked for 12 seconds after moving 16 meters away from the hook. Upon hooking each Survivor once, all generators are blocked for 40 seconds and the Obsession's aura is revealed for six seconds.
  • Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist) – The Killer starts with four tokens. For each different Survivor hooked on a white Scourge Hook, lose one token and explode the generator with the most progress, causing it to lose 25% of progress.
  • Corrupt Intervention (The Plague) – At the start of the trial, the 3 generators furthest from the killer's starting location are blocked for 120 seconds or until the first survivor is downed.
  • Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk) – After the final generator is completed, all Survivors suffer from the Exposed status ailment and you gain a 4% Haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.
The Dredge of Dead by Daylight walking, carrying a survivor, and being blinded
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The Nightmare: Best Add-Ons

dead by daylight a nightmare on elm street logo best addons

Freddy Kruger’s Dead by Daylight Add-Ons are a nightmare to work with. While this unpopular character is largely underserved in the strength department, that doesn’t mean all his Add-Ons are completely useless. This section of the guide details the most effective add-ons available to The Nightmare in order of rarity.

Wool Shirt

dead by daylight the nightmare wool shirt addon

The best of a bad bunch of Common Add-Ons, the Wool Shirt, increases the penalties for missed skill checks by 4%. It's better than nothing, though not incredibly impactful in higher levels of play.

Nancy’s Sketch

dead by daylight the nightmare nancy's sketch addon

A large part of the Dream Demon power is the ability to Dream Project to unfinished generators. Nancy’s Sketch reduces the cooldown for Dream Projection by 2% for each Survivor in the Dream World. A minor effect, but one that can help facilitate more map-wide pressure.

Green Dress

dead by daylight the nightmare green dress addon

A buffed version of the Wool Shirt, the Green Dress Add-On has the same effect but also reveals the auras of Survivors who fail skill checks for 3 seconds. When paired with perks like Hex: Huntress Lullaby, this Add-On can get quite a bit of value.

Cat Block

dead by daylight the nightmare cat block addon

Granting Freddy Killer Instinct on Survivors within 16 meters of a generator after using Dream Projection; this acts somewhat like The Knight’s Nowhere to Hide perk.

Unicorn Block

dead by daylight the nightmare unicorn block addon

When spreading pressure across the map, one way in which Freddy can debilitate Survivors is by inflicting the Blindness status with this add-on. This may make them blunder into dead zones without help from their perks or fail to find a hooked or downed Survivor on the map before the effect disappears.

Paint Thinner

dead by daylight the nightmare paint thinner addon

More fun than powerful, the Paint Thinner is the strongest of a series of Freddy Add-Ons that replace his Dream Snares with Dream Pallets. Survivors in solo queue who don’t track destroyed pallets or rely to much on Windows of Opportunity will fall victim to the fake pallets and land themselves in a deadzone. However, this strategy is less effective against more coordinated teams.

Nancy’s Masterpiece

dead by daylight the nightmare nancy's masterpiece addon

An upgraded rarity of Nancy’s Sketch, this Add-On may help save a few seconds here and there when using Dream Projection.

Blue Dress

dead by daylight the nightmare blue dress addon

The strongest skill check add-on for The Nightmare, when stacked with the Green Dress or Wool Shirt, missing skill checks against Freddy can be extremely costly, especially when guarding generators with a skill check-focused build.

“Z” Block

dead by daylight the nightmare z block addon

Almost all The Nightmare’s Very Rare Add-Ons range from niche to utterly ineffectual – the “Z” Block is the sole exception. If you’re struggling to find Survivors when you teleport, use this or the Uncommon Cat Block.

Red Paint Brush

dead by daylight the nightmare red paint brush addon

The Red Paint Brush is probably Freddy’s best add-on, forcing Survivors to begin the trial in the Dream World and preventing them from easily exiting it. This Ultra Rare ability helps speed up early game chases, as Survivors are immediately susceptible to being slowed by Dream Snares or Pallets.

Black Box

dead by daylight the nightmare black box addon

Another contender for his best add-on, especially when paired with The Nightmare’s own endgame-focused perks, the Black Box blocks exit gates for 15 seconds after they are opened, giving ample time to secure a kill in the final moments of a match.

dead by daylight
Dead by Daylight

Released
June 14, 2016
Developer(s)
Behaviour Interactive
Genre(s)
Horror , Survival
Publisher(s)
Behaviour Interactive
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