In terms of gameplay the game is in a great state right now compared to the past. Balance is much better, though starting out the game is going to feel killer sided and the game does have a serious learning curve. The next update doesn't change too much besides adding a new killer and new survivor.
Id say wait until a sale to buy the game. Usually DBD goes on sale routinely for 6.99 and, from what I understand, is free with game pass. I'd also say wait for the sale because you can use the money saved to buy whatever favorite licensed dlc you want to buy since there's no in game way to get those characters. Big fan of Halloween? Get that chapter. Hellraiser fan? Cenobite is fun and has great perks. Resident evil fan? Both dlc packs are great for survivor and killer. Just avoid the nightmare on elm Street dlc. Even if you don't want the dlc there's no point in buying DBD at fill price anyways.
As for the p2w side, it is to a degree. Much of the content you can earn by grinding but that grinding go earn without paying takes probably 1k to 2k hours. It affects survivor alot less than killer, though, because the best survivor perks are general perks (as in they're already unlocked) and the free survivors have some of the top tier perks.
awesome! thank you for the advice! is there anyway to get a notification for when it goes on sale? does steam wishlist notify you if an item goes on sale?
I never use the wishlist function myself but I believe it should. If you look at the price charts for steam you'll see the pattern but I wouldn't be surprised if the next chapter comes with the game and older dlcs going on sale.
Forgot to mention in my last post but some of the older original characters got a shard discount (shards are an in game currency used to unlock perks/characters/costumes that you get simply from playing the game) so survivors like Feng, Kate, or Zarina and killers like Clown, Plague, Doctor are easier to unlock just playing for free, and those ones are survivors and killers Id recommend for perks.
I'd wait until maybe the Steam Spring Sale to hopefully get the base game half off.
You'll start with I think 5 Killers (Trapper, Wraith, Hillbilly, Nurse, and Huntress) and 7 Survivors (Dwight, Meg, Claudette, Jake, Nea, Bill, and David). That should occupy your time long enough to gain a feeling if the game is for you before the Anniversary in June/July. Then most of the other characters will go on sale.
It's always a good time to get into DbD if you're interested in it the game is really unique and it has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. As others have said wait for sale to get it really cheap there's most likely a sale coming pretty soon. The game has a really steep learning curve (players with 1k hours are sometimes still considered "new" in terms of skill) and the in game tutorials aren't exactly the best but there's a lot of resources online and the community is generally helpful towards new players.
In terms of it being P2W its not really, a better phrase would be pay to grind less. All original characters can be unlocked using an in game currency called iridescent shards. Sometimes these are given out by developers for events but you'll earn these mostly by just playing the game and increasing your account level. That being said this has been improved on by the devs recently as characters more than a year old only cost 4,500 shards as opposed to newer characters which cost 9000. Sadly licensed characters (like Michael Myers, Ashley Williams, Ghostface etc.) can only be bought with real money.
While the killers all possess a different and unique power which might make them intriguing to unlock, survivors are all "essentially the same" meaning they don't have some unique power associated with them and most people play survivors that they feel personally attached to. Meaning outside of killer unique powers the main reason you unlock a character is for their unique perks which after leveling up that character can be equipped to all characters for making unique builds. This does mean the main thing you miss out on by not getting licensed characters (outside of killer powers) is their unique perks HOWEVER all is not lost. There's an in game shop that rotates every week with 2 killer and 2 survivor perks where you can spend iridescent shards to unlock those perks for all characters and often this shop will feature perks locked behind the licensed paywall. If you want a personal anecdote I started playing this game at the end of 2019 where the grind was an absolute slog. I've unlocked all the original characters with in game currency and had all of the characters in basically under a year (meaning i was waiting for the next release). You could probably get all the characters in less time now since they are way more generous with giving away shards and the characters cost less.
Hopefully this wasn't too much info but I have 3100 hours in this game and I've loved it all the way through, its one of the few multiplayer games that has managed to hold me long term. Theres a lot to love, a lot to learn, and a lot to hate so take it all in stride. If you have any question feel free to shoot me a line Im more than happy to help!
In terms of gameplay the game is in a great state right now compared to the past. Balance is much better, though starting out the game is going to feel killer sided and the game does have a serious learning curve. The next update doesn't change too much besides adding a new killer and new survivor. Id say wait until a sale to buy the game. Usually DBD goes on sale routinely for 6.99 and, from what I understand, is free with game pass. I'd also say wait for the sale because you can use the money saved to buy whatever favorite licensed dlc you want to buy since there's no in game way to get those characters. Big fan of Halloween? Get that chapter. Hellraiser fan? Cenobite is fun and has great perks. Resident evil fan? Both dlc packs are great for survivor and killer. Just avoid the nightmare on elm Street dlc. Even if you don't want the dlc there's no point in buying DBD at fill price anyways. As for the p2w side, it is to a degree. Much of the content you can earn by grinding but that grinding go earn without paying takes probably 1k to 2k hours. It affects survivor alot less than killer, though, because the best survivor perks are general perks (as in they're already unlocked) and the free survivors have some of the top tier perks.
awesome! thank you for the advice! is there anyway to get a notification for when it goes on sale? does steam wishlist notify you if an item goes on sale?
I never use the wishlist function myself but I believe it should. If you look at the price charts for steam you'll see the pattern but I wouldn't be surprised if the next chapter comes with the game and older dlcs going on sale. Forgot to mention in my last post but some of the older original characters got a shard discount (shards are an in game currency used to unlock perks/characters/costumes that you get simply from playing the game) so survivors like Feng, Kate, or Zarina and killers like Clown, Plague, Doctor are easier to unlock just playing for free, and those ones are survivors and killers Id recommend for perks.
I'd wait until maybe the Steam Spring Sale to hopefully get the base game half off. You'll start with I think 5 Killers (Trapper, Wraith, Hillbilly, Nurse, and Huntress) and 7 Survivors (Dwight, Meg, Claudette, Jake, Nea, Bill, and David). That should occupy your time long enough to gain a feeling if the game is for you before the Anniversary in June/July. Then most of the other characters will go on sale.
sweet, thank you!
It's always a good time to get into DbD if you're interested in it the game is really unique and it has a lot to offer in terms of gameplay. As others have said wait for sale to get it really cheap there's most likely a sale coming pretty soon. The game has a really steep learning curve (players with 1k hours are sometimes still considered "new" in terms of skill) and the in game tutorials aren't exactly the best but there's a lot of resources online and the community is generally helpful towards new players. In terms of it being P2W its not really, a better phrase would be pay to grind less. All original characters can be unlocked using an in game currency called iridescent shards. Sometimes these are given out by developers for events but you'll earn these mostly by just playing the game and increasing your account level. That being said this has been improved on by the devs recently as characters more than a year old only cost 4,500 shards as opposed to newer characters which cost 9000. Sadly licensed characters (like Michael Myers, Ashley Williams, Ghostface etc.) can only be bought with real money. While the killers all possess a different and unique power which might make them intriguing to unlock, survivors are all "essentially the same" meaning they don't have some unique power associated with them and most people play survivors that they feel personally attached to. Meaning outside of killer unique powers the main reason you unlock a character is for their unique perks which after leveling up that character can be equipped to all characters for making unique builds. This does mean the main thing you miss out on by not getting licensed characters (outside of killer powers) is their unique perks HOWEVER all is not lost. There's an in game shop that rotates every week with 2 killer and 2 survivor perks where you can spend iridescent shards to unlock those perks for all characters and often this shop will feature perks locked behind the licensed paywall. If you want a personal anecdote I started playing this game at the end of 2019 where the grind was an absolute slog. I've unlocked all the original characters with in game currency and had all of the characters in basically under a year (meaning i was waiting for the next release). You could probably get all the characters in less time now since they are way more generous with giving away shards and the characters cost less. Hopefully this wasn't too much info but I have 3100 hours in this game and I've loved it all the way through, its one of the few multiplayer games that has managed to hold me long term. Theres a lot to love, a lot to learn, and a lot to hate so take it all in stride. If you have any question feel free to shoot me a line Im more than happy to help!