Dying Light 2 Patch Finally Fixes ‘Deathloop’ Bug, Makes Nights More Challenging

Dying Light 2 has generally been received with favorable praise, with many extolling the improved parkour mechanics, not to mention the overall visuals. As one of the most anticipated open world zombie games of this generation, it's been a long wait for fans of the original. Since being released just over a month ago, there has been some urgency in the community as players encountered a game-breaking issue. Fortunately, Techland has been on the case and a new update seems to fix it, as well as bring with it some additional changes.

According to a post on the official Steam page, the latest patch for Dying Light 2, update 1.2.0, fixes a lengthy list of bugs that have been present since it was launched. Most notably, it seems as though the "deathloop" glitch has finally been sorted, and the developer has also adjusted some of the gameplay mechanics, specifically making nighttimes a lot more challenging. On top of that, there has been a host of other tweaks, such as improving the outro sequences, making amendments to the UI, fixing some of the issues in co-op, and plenty more.

As far as the most infamous glitch goes, the "deathloop" bug in Dying Light 2 made it impossible for players to progress in-game. According to the patch notes, instances of this severe issue, and all known cases of it, have been "eliminated." There was a patch rolled out a couple of weeks after the game came out which was supposed to sort it out, but evidently it seems that more work was needed.

As well as this, the new update also made some improvements to the night sections of the game. The notes say that the Howler's senses has had its range increased, as well as its resistance to range weapons. Level 4 chases are also now more difficult, and Volatiles emerge from hiding spots faster during a chase. While there is a mod that adds a nightmare mode to Dying Light 2, it seems this official update is also working to make the experience more challenging for players.

Techland has also hinted at a New Game Plus mode, but that will be during a later patch, if it becomes a thing at all. As it stands, version 1.2.0 brings with it a series of bug fixes, general tweaks, and some overall improvements to the game, and it will be nice if fans can finally play without encountering the dreaded "deathloop" issue.

The full patch notes are as follows:

Story Progression Fixes

All known cases with “Deathloops” eliminated.
Fixed blocks in multiple quests - Into The Dark, Assassination, Sophie in The Raid Quest, Hubert in The Only Way Out, Veronika, Nightrunners, The Lost Light, Double Time.
Solved problems with safe zones (in-game clock stops, can’t sleep).

Co-op Fixes

Stability issues fixed: crashes or black screens in certain situations
Numerous story progress blocks fixed
Fixed issues with accepting invites
Challenges issues fixed: no weapon when inventory full, difficulty balance improved, tools requirements properly handled
Fixed co-op parties spawning in distant places
Improved/fixed replication of city open world activities: windmills, hanging cages, loot chests, NPC rescue issues
Fixed enemies and players falling through the ground in certain situations
Several performance drops fixed

Nightrunner Tools Fixes

Paraglider and Grappling Hook upgrades can be applied correctly for players that obtained them during cooperative sessions.
PK Crossbow reward is correctly given to players in cooperative mode. This fix will prevent new cases from appearing.

Important Combat Improvements

Improved Biter behavior during the day. The enemy latches onto the players more frequently which diversifies enemy encounters.
Performance of blunt weapons improved to reflect the sense of weight.
Improved enemy reaction depending on the type of weapon - to better reflect the weight of the weapon.
Human opponents can now block players' attacks during light hit reaction time.
Light hit reactions for human enemies have been shortened.

New ragdoll’s behaviors.

Opponents enter ragdolls more often.
Ragdoll works more naturally.
Ragdoll behaves differently depending on the used weapon type.
Appropriate forces are applied when falling from a height and when hitting different parts of the body while maintaining the force given from the direction of the blow.
When a ragdoll collides with its surroundings - the appropriate sound and FXs are played depending on the surface the body falls on.
Improved spikes detection. The enemy is now always stamped on the spikes after a hit. Additionally spikes audio feedback is now improved and new FXs were added (displayed based on the body's physical momentum).

Night Improvements and Balance

Howler’s senses range increased.
Increased the Howler resistance to range weapons.
The chase is triggered when a Howler is hit by a ranged weapon and is still alive.
Volatiles come out of hiding spots faster during the chase.
Level 4 of the chase is now more difficult.

UI/UX Improvements

Survivor Sense now works correctly and can be triggered without any cooldowns after getting hit or performing specific parkour actions.
Improvements to the Options Menu information architecture incl. a dedicated Accessibility Tab.
Added feature to show, hide or dynamically display Player Health Bar, Item Selector, and Time of Day Indicator.
The dynamic setting for Player Health Bar is the new default and hides the bar when the player is at 100% health.
The dynamic setting for Item Selector is the new default. The Item Selector becomes visible when in combat and when performing combat actions or using D-Pad.
The dynamic setting for the Time of Day Indicator is the new default setting. The Time of Day Indicator becomes visible during day-night transitional periods.
All of the widgets that are set Hidden or Dynamic become visible in Extended HUD.
Visual Improvements to Player HP and Stamina bars. These elements are lighter and their colors are more neutral.
Visual Improvements to the enemies' stance meter to more clearly indicate its connection to blunt weapons.

Improvements to the Final Boss Fight

Fixed an issue where the opponent does not react correctly to other players and does not change behavior that might lead to several glitches during CO-OP play.
Alternate opponent behaviors in Phase 2 during CO-OP play.
Opponent performs area attacks more frequently during CO-OP sessions.
Shortening the narrative scenes between the phases in a boss fight.
Boss fight pacing improvements.

Outro Improvements

Improvements of the game endings sequences. Additional end-of-game scenes have been added to better align gameplay and outro scenes.

Balance Tweaks

Higher Rank Bows are now more easily accessible at Merchants and in the world.
Banshees and Chargers are now more easily spotted in the Infected hordes during the night.

Technical Improvements

Introduced high-performance preset that optimizes the displayed graphics which allows you to play Dying Light 2 on older computers and laptops.
PC DX12 cache-related improvements. The game now works smoother upon the first launch.
AVX technology is no longer used in the game, improving issues related to a game crashing on the launch.
Improvements in outdoor lighting.
Improvements to sun shadows.
Improvements to spotlight shadows.
Improvements to Motion Blur - added intensity and distance blur customization.

Brutality Pack

Player hits with sharp weapons are now more precise and allow Players to chop off body parts of opponents and cut them in half more easily (vertically and horizontally).
Reworked audio for enemy hit response - different sounds are played depending on the strength of the hit and the damage the player deals.
Blood splats on the ground appear when Player hits the opponent.
If a player is close to the enemy during the attacks, the opponent's blood will splash on the screen.
Improved blood effects on enemy bodies after hits.
A dead enemy is now interactive and reacts accurately to blows and injuries.
A new effect of bloodstains on the enemies' bodies after hit.
New blood FXs have been added.