| The Blight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Talbot Grimes |
| Gender | Man |
| Origin | Scottish |
| Power | Blighted Corruption |
| Power Attack Type | Special Attack
(Lethal Rush Hits) |
| Weapon | Bonebuster |
Movement Speed   |
115 % | 4.6 m/s |
| Alternate Movement speed | 230 % | 9.2 m/s (Rush) |
Terror Radius  |
32 metres |
Height   |
Average |
| DLC | CHAPTER 17: Descend Beyond |
| Voice Actor | Jean-Baptiste Garnier (BHVR) & Mathieu Favier (BHVR) |
| Cost | 4,500 Iridescent Shards  
250 Auric Cells |
| Breathing | |
| Menu Music | |
| Terror Radius Music | |
| CharID | K21 |
Talbot Grimes or "The Blight" is one of 40 Killers
currently featured in Dead by Daylight
.
He was introduced as the Killer of CHAPTER 17: Descend Beyond, a Chapter DLC released on 8 September 2020 and retired on 8 January 2024.
He is still available in the In-Game Store
and as part of the Macabre Tales Pack Chapter Pack DLC.
Overview
|
Capable of gaining ground on Survivors in mere moments, The Blight’s lethal efficiency must never be underestimated. With the ability to bounce off surfaces and realign his trajectory, his relentless presence forces Survivors into snap decisions. The learning curve may feel steep, but mastering The Blight is a worthwhile pursuit. | 
|
The Blight is an unpredictable Killer, able to rush forward in a burst of speed and carom off obstacles to injure Survivors using his power, Blighted Corruption.
His personal Perks, Dragon's Grip
, Hex: Blood Favour
, and Hex: Undying
, allow him to impose powerful effects on generators, Totems and pallets.
Difficulty Rating: Very Hard
(These Killers require a high amount of practice and understanding, inexperienced Players are likely to find little success when using them)
Lore
To understand the human condition, one must rise above it. This was the credo of Talbot Grimes, a Scottish chemist whose unrestrained ambition took him to towering heights. As a boy, he was a popular child—bright, charismatic, and unafraid to challenge authority—yet despite his social graces he was fiercely independent, spending much of his time exploring the sprawling fields near his town alone. What began as a child's curiosity nearly turned deadly after experimenting with a patch of poisonous foxglove. For days, he laid in bed dripping with sweat, purging any food that touched his stomach. When he recovered, it wasn't fear that gripped him, but fascination. There was something magical in how a single flower could so drastically affect him.
Into his adult years, his ambition developed as quickly as his questionable methods. He attended the London School of Medicine and excelled despite several reprimands. His willingness to push the limits secured him a position with the British East India Company, and within seven years he was made head chemist. In time, he completed one of his greatest achievements: a chemical that could increase a worker's productivity while reducing their need for rest. He was rewarded with a secret laboratory beneath a prison camp on Dyer Island.
There, off the coast of India, prisoners from the Opium War became his unwilling subjects, leading to a drug that allowed soldiers to withstand incredible amounts of pain. Though most side effects were minor, there were rumours that a small number of soldiers went mad. In feral states, they massacred villages, impaling the populace on bayonets, leaving them hanging from trees. There were no official reports on the subject, and Talbot refused to blame himself for what could only be exaggerated war stories.
Though his callous brilliance seemed unflappable, he was ignorant to the enemies his questionable work had amassed. The realisation struck him quite literally—with a steel pipe to the back of his head during a trip to Mangalore. He was bound and loaded into a wagon. When his blindfold was removed, a sickly man showed him a mass grave filled with hundreds of bodies. Unbeknownst to Talbot, his productivity-increasing drug had killed nearly an entire factory's worth of workers. He knew he couldn't defend himself against the anger and accusations of his abductor—all he could do was curl up as the blows from the steel pipe rained down. His body was thrown into the grave and left for dead. Shifting between consciousness and the darkest black, he crawled for an escape, fingers sinking into rotting flesh. Black flies feasted on his uncovered skin, the sensation of a hundred pin pricks stabbing into him. As he collapsed, he came face to face with a dead woman's dazzling hazel eyes. Too weak to pull away, he could do nothing but witness his life's work.
Then, from the edge of death, he was brought back. He found himself on a small bed as a kindly, wrinkled face looked over him. With each pained breath, he was nursed back to health in an ancient mystery school posing as a monastery. In verdant gardens behind tall, unassuming walls, monks studied forbidden texts, striving to expand the human mind in the search for other dimensions — believing one to be connected to the other.
Talbot's knowledge proved indispensable, his mind-altering chemicals integrating seamlessly with theories of neural expansion. He realised then that his salvation was no coincidence—he was plucked from the pit specifically to advance the school's knowledge. He agreed to help until his recovery was complete, being tasked with researching what the monks called the soul chemical, a compound derived from the pineal gland that could open the mind's eye. What began as a favour to his saviours, soon became an obsession. Poring over the school's archives of lost texts, he uncovered scientific formulas that confirmed previously unthinkable ideas. He dreamt of ushering humankind into a new period of enlightenment. Perhaps then, the nightmares of hundreds of dead factory workers — and of those two hazel eyes — would fade from his mind.
As he came closer to a breakthrough, the demeanour of the monks shifted. The gentle smiles they offered were paired with uneasy eyes that quickly darted away when spotted. The polite conversations he was once privy to turned to hushed murmurs. The last thing he would see of the school was the cracked ceiling above his bed, branching like a dendrite through plaster.
His next memories were a shattered mosaic of images and sensations. Smearing lights, horse hoofs on cobblestone, coarse burlap scratching at his cheeks, and sharp bites into his arm. He awoke ragged and unwashed, splayed on the straw mattress of an opium den. Mind in a dense fog, his first thought was of his notes, the only record of his ground-breaking revelations. He searched frantically, scrambling through the dingy basement, pleading aloud for help. The few other denizens looked up from their hammocks, offering nothing but drug-soaked eyes and apathetic gazes that soon fell into half-slumber. Before he noticed the robed figure appear behind him, a needle plunged into his arm and the world disappeared once more.
Awoken. Again. Each time, hazier than the last. He tongued at hollow gaps between his teeth. How long, he wondered. A faint memory returned. The soul chemical. His notes. The verge of a breakthrough. A faraway whisper entered his mind.
He fumbled with a stone, sharpening it with shaking hands. In the dim light of the den, amongst the catatonic occupants, he carved his research from memory into the walls. He wrote for hours until his fingers bled, moving to the floor, taking in everything the voice whispered despite his inability to comprehend it. When there was nowhere left to write, he gripped the stone and carved the message into his chest. Stained with blood, he witnessed a miracle appear before him — a magnificent field of lush, orange flowers. The whispered voice beckoned to him, urging him to enter the field and discover worlds and dimensions beyond human comprehension. For a moment, Talbot felt the sense of wonder he possessed as a child.
The denizens of the opium den awoke to silence, the dry scent of smoke still lingering in the air. Shambling out of their drug-hazed fog, they found the stone floor wet with blood, tiny rivulets coursing through the cracks. As eyes adjusted to the darkened room, the jagged lettering scrawled along its length began to appear. Written over and over without end, there was but one single line: Death is only the beginning.
The Archives
The table below lists additional Lore about The Blight from The Archives, either from Tomes that featured him or from individual Lore entries that mentioned him:
| Tome | Entry | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Tome 1 - Awakening | The Hunger | Featured Character (as The Alchemist) |
| Tome 5 - Unleashed | Doors Unknown | Featured Character (as The Blight) |
| Tome 12 - Discordance | The Human Quotient | Featured Character |
Load-out
Unique Perks
The Blight comes with 3 Perks
that are unique to him:
 |
Dragon's Grip | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 8.1.0 Performing the Damage Generator action on a Generator    activates Dragon's Grip for the next 30 seconds:
Dragon's Grip has a cool-down of 60/50/40 seconds. "Such potential in this compound... even the slightest trace causes unnatural effects." — Journal of Talbot Grimes |
|---|---|---|
 |
Hex: Blood Favour | A Hex that gains the favour of The Entity   when blood is spilt.
All effects of the Hex Perk persist until its Hex Totem "It would be no leap of the imagination to suggest that the Trials are a biological response of sorts." — Journal of Talbot Grimes |
 |
Hex: Undying | A Hex which maintains the vile powers that flow throughout the Trial. The Auras
All effects of the Hex Perk persist until its Hex Totem |
Prestige
Prestiging The Blight will automatically add Tier I of his Unique Perks to the inventories of all other Killers and unlock the ability for their higher-tiered versions to spawn in their Bloodweb
.
Prestige The Blight twice more to automatically add Tier II and Tier III respectively into the other Killers' inventories.
Weapon: Bonebuster
The Bonebuster is the Primary Weapon of The Blight.
An elegant accessory, specially weighted to deliver a deceptively brutal blow.
Power: Blighted Corruption
SPECIAL ABILITY: BLIGHTED CORRUPTION
The Blight starts the Trial with 5 Tokens.
Using Blighted Corruption consumes -1 Token per Rush / Lethal Rush.
SPECIAL LOCOMOTION: RUSH
Press the Power button to initiate a Rush that lasts for up to 3 seconds:
- Increases his Movement speed to 9.2 m/s.
- Reduces his manoeuvrability.
- Suppresses his ability to perform an attack.
SPECIAL INTERACTION: SLAM
Running into obstacles or walls during a Rush causes The Blight to perform a Slam and opens the Chain Rush Window.
SPECIAL LOCOMOTION: LETHAL RUSH
Press the Power button during the Chain Rush Window to chain a Lethal Rush that lasts for up to 3 seconds:
- Increases his Movement speed to 9.2 m/s.
- Reduces his manoeuvrability.
- Grants the ability to perform an attack by pressing the Attack button.
- Attacking Breakable Walls
or dropped Pallets breaks them.
- Attacking Breakable Walls
SPECIAL STATE: FATIGUE
After either the Chain Rush Window closes, the final Lethal Rush elapses, or The Blight fails to perform a Slam, he enters a state of Fatigue for 2.5 seconds.
Power Trivia
Movement Speeds:
- Rush and Rush Attacks: 9.2 m/s
Blighted Corruption:
- Recharge Rate: 2 seconds per Token
- Fatigue duration: 2.5 seconds
Rush & Lethal Rush:
- Rush and Lethal Rush duration: 3 seconds each
- Rush and Lethal Rush Movement speed: 9.2 m/s or 230 %
- Rush and Lethal Rush Turn rate: 0.9 °/s
- Lethal Rush Turn rate during an Attack: 1.6 °/s
- Lethal Rush duration during an Attack: 4 seconds
- Lethal Rush Survivor Dodge parameters: within 1 metre of a missed Lethal Rush.
- This refers to the conditions a Survivor must meet to trigger the Lethal Rush Dodged Score Event.
- Lethal Rush Attack Open time: 0.5 seconds
- Lethal Rush Attack Hitting time: 0.3 seconds
NOTE: based on in-game observations, it appears that in addition to the comparatively low values in degrees per second mentioned above, other unknown variables must also factor into The Blight's final Turn rate during a Rush, as it appears to be greater than just the values mentioned above.
Slam:
- Minimum Angle of Attack: 45 °
- This refers to the minimum Angle at which The Blight must hit an obstacle's hitbox to initiate a Slam, otherwise he will slide past it.
Chain Rush Window:
- Duration: 1.25 seconds
- This refers to the maximum hang-time of The Blight in-between Rushes before he goes into Fatigue.
Cool-downs:
- Successful Lethal Rush Attack cool-down: 3 seconds
- Missed Lethal Rush Attack cool-down: 2.5 seconds
- Obstructed Lethal Rush Attack cool-down: 2.5 seconds
- Destroying Breakables with Lethal Rush Attack cool-down: 2.5 seconds
Add-ons for Blighted Corruption
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Chipped Monocle | A monocle Talbot rarely used despite his eyesight weakening in later years.
|
 |
Compound Seven | This early sample failed to achieve desired results, but demonstrated surprising effects regardless.
|
 |
Foxglove | A poisonous plant that sparked Talbot's interest in chemistry. It rekindles deeply buried memories.
|
 |
Placebo Tablet | A pill that is utterly ineffective... or is it?
|
 |
Blighted Rat | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.5.0 A rat that briefly returned to life when injected with Putrid Serum, becoming aggressive and uncontrollable.
|
 |
Canker Thorn | A sizeable thorn snipped from a Visceral Canker. It secretes a mild toxin.
|
 |
Plague Bile | A sample of bile from The Plague distilled and treated with a mixture of chemicals.
|
 |
Pustula Dust | Dried Pustula Petals ground into a fine dust.
|
 |
Shredded Notes | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.7.0 The remnants of Talbot's notes, they still contain some valuable information within.
|
 |
Adrenaline Vial | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.5.0 A hormone removed from an unwilling subject's adrenal gland. Though it provides a jolt of energy, it can fatigue its user.
|
 |
Blighted Crow | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.5.0 A dead crow that has been grotesquely mutated by Putrid Serum.
|
 |
Compound Twenty-One | A serum that's fatal to humans. It evokes beneficial qualities in those who are... something more.
|
 |
Rose Tonic | A mixture made with dried roses from the exceedingly rare New Moon Bouquet.
|
 |
Umbra Salts | Regular sea salt that has momentarily passed through the Spirit World, altering its properties in the process.
|
 |
Alchemist's Ring | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.5.0 A ring given to chemists graduating from the London School of Medicine. It is a reminder of unrestrained ambition.
|
 |
Soul Chemical | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.7.0 A chemical squeezed from the pineal gland of a recently deceased Survivor.
|
 |
Summoning Stone | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 7.7.0 Talbot used this stone to carve what he believed was his research into the Opium Den's walls.
|
 |
Vigo's Journal | The journal of a man who claimed to have returned from The Void. The knowledge within has practical applications.
"In a wasteland of forgotten dreams and endless routine, the man with a way out is God." — Talbot Grimes |
 |
Compound Thirty-Three | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 8.0.0 Talbot's penultimate attempt at a serum. Though it did not facilitate his escape, it did have powerful side effects.
|
 |
Iridescent Blight Tag | This description is based on the changes announced for or featured in the upcoming Patch 8.0.0 A glass-like laboratory tag, moulded from The Fog itself. Either a gift from The Entity or a cruel jest to tag The Blight as he once did to others.
|
Achievements
- Main article: Achievements
There are 2 Achievements related to The Blight:
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Adept Blight | Playing as The Blight, achieve a Merciless Victory using only his 3 Unique Perks: Dragon's Grip, Hex: Blood Favour, and Hex: Undying |
|
Speed Kills | Playing as The Blight   , hit Survivors with a Lethal Rush Attack a total of 30 times.
|
Cosmetic Options
Players can choose from a variety of Cosmetic options to customise The Blight:
Base Cosmetics
Default
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Blight | 
|
Common | An alchemist whose ambition took him to the precipice of madness and beyond. |
|
Mystery Robes | 
|
Common | The vestments from an ancient mystery school, now a relic from a time past. |
|
|
Bonebuster | 
|
Common | An elegant accessory, specially weighted to deliver a deceptively brutal blow. |
Prestige
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bloody Blight |
|
Rare | An alchemist whose ambition brought about bloody undertakings. | Prestige Level 6 Reward |
|
Dripping Mystery Robes |
|
Rare | The vestments from an ancient mystery school, now stained in blood that will never be cleansed. | Prestige Level 5 Reward |
|
Bloodybuster |
|
Rare | An elegant accessory, its lethality proven by the gobs of blood upon it. | Prestige Level 4 Reward |
Perk Charms
| Prestige Level 7 Reward | Prestige Level 8 Reward | Prestige Level 9 Reward |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
| A keepsake gained upon mastery of a particular skill. | ||
Alternatives
Special
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Frosty Eyes |
|
Uncommon | The cold eyes of a Killer who wants warm blood.
"Have a fantastic holiday season and a bloody good new year!" — The Dead by Daylight Team |
Advent Calendar 2020 |
|
Biting Gaze |
|
Very Rare | Opaline clusters of the everlasting frost pierced his jaw and punctured his eye. | Amazon Prime Gaming January 2022 reward |
|
Arctic Remnants |
|
Very Rare | Remnants of clothing torn apart by sharp, impaling clusters of ice. | Amazon Prime Gaming January 2022 reward |
|
Frosted Cane |
|
Very Rare | A thick layer of ice crystallized and weighted down on his cane. | Amazon Prime Gaming January 2022 reward |
|
Jingle Cane |
|
Very Rare | His cane was wrapped in a festive red ribbon to trick his target during the holiday season. | Buying a Pack of Auric Cells in Bone Chill 2023 |
Event
| Icon | Name | Body | Rarity | Description | Event | Exclusive to Event Participation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Crown of the Entity |
|
Event | A crown emanating a festive and ominous aura created by the Entity's biggest fan. | Fourth Year Anniversary | Yes |
|
5th Anniversary Crown |
|
Event | A crown crafted for a very special anniversary.
"Thank you for supporting & inspiring us along the years!" - The Dead by Daylight Team |
Fifth Year Anniversary | Yes |
|
Golden Tall Hat |
|
Event | A luxurious hat he likes to wear during his New Year's hunt for serum. | Moonlight Burrow | Yes |
|
Blight's Mask |
|
Event | A mask he found himself wearing at the masquerade ball. | Twisted Masquerade 2023 | Yes |
Rift
| Lua error in mw.lua at line 143: bad argument #1 to 'time' (table expected, got boolean). |
In-Game Store
| Lua error in mw.lua at line 143: bad argument #1 to 'time' (table expected, got boolean). |
Alternate Character Models
The Blight has 2 alternate Character models available in the in-game Store:
DLC
The Blight is part of 3 DLCs:
- Chapter DLC:
- CHAPTER 17: Descend Beyond (retired)
- Pack DLCs:
- Macabre Tales Pack (Chapter Pack)
- Terror Expansion Pack (Character Pack)
Change Log
Patch 4.2.2
- Buff: added the ability to destroy Pallets and Breakable Walls to The Blight's base-kit by using Lethal Rush.
Patch 4.4.0
- Change: The Blight now features a change to his Terror Radius Music. This change makes his nearby layer more distinct than the approaching layer as previously, the transitions between the two layers are too subtle.
Patch 4.6.0
- Change: adjusted the first person animations and camera position to be higher up.
- Rework: reworked the collision detection for Blighted Corruption, making it consistent with Basic Attack obstructions and no longer resulting in sliding off of various surfaces.
Patch 4.7.1
- Nerf: added a cap to the maximum turn rate while Rushing.
- QoL: increased the maximum turn rate and sensitivity for controllers while Rushing.
Patch 5.0.0
- Nerf: adjusted the maximum turn rate at large angles while Rushing.
Patch 7.5.0
- Change: received an Add-on Pass, reworking several Add-ons.
Patch 7.7.0
- QoL: improved collision detection to reduce cases of The Blight sliding off of objects instead of performing the intended Slam.
- QoL: added several UX improvements to the Power Gauge:
- Cool-downs are now indicated through changes in icon opacity.
- The Power Gauge being on Cool-down is now displayed in white, matching the behaviour of Power Gauges from other Killers.
- Cool-downs are now displayed per Power Token.
- The Rush duration is now surfaced.
- The time to perform a Rush is now also surfaced.
Patch 8.6.0
- Nerf: Increased The Blight's Terror Radius to 40 meters (was 32 meters)
Trivia
- The Blight has a special vault animation: he leans one hand on the window and jumps over it, an animation very similar to the Survivors' vault animation. However, his animation changes if the vault leads to a drop-down, in which case he puts both feet on the window, then leaps down.
- Talbot Grimes as well as the Descend Beyond DLC, are referenced in the lore of Nicolas Cage in Chapter 28.5
Lore Trivia
- The Blight is heavily intertwined with various Lore from Dead by Daylight:
- He is the first Killer to have had Lore about him in the game prior to his release with the Memories of "The Alchemist" in Tome I - Awakening, a year prior to his release.
- He was also retconned to be the speaker in 2018's Hallowed Blight Journal entries, originally attributed to Benedict Baker.
- His Add-on descriptions feature references to various other Characters, Sub-Realms, and Unlockables.
- New Moon Bouquet Offering
- The Plague
- Pustula Petals Offering
- Putrid Serum
- The Spirit World Sub-Realm
- Vigo
- Visceral Cankers
- The Void Sub-Realm
- New Moon Bouquet
- He himself is a mutation induced by the Putrid Serum harvested from the Pustulas during The Entity's yearly blight.
- The Blight is heavily involved in the annual Halloween Events and the creation of Blighted Cosmetics.
- The Blight may have indirectly brought The Dredge into existence, as the Black Vale could have studied his notes on "Fold Energy".
- He is the first Killer to have had Lore about him in the game prior to his release with the Memories of "The Alchemist" in Tome I - Awakening, a year prior to his release.
- The Blight was the first Character to have storylines in more than one Tome.
- The Blight is the only Killer to date with confirmed, canonical interactions with other Killers.
- Talbot Grimes was originally taken by The Entity as a Survivor. His experiments with the Pustula Petals on other Killers and on himself to finally escape the Trials backfired, which led to his mutation as The Blight.
- According to the Developers, The Blight is very close to The Entity and is one of the only Characters who was outside the Trials and could freely visit The Void and other restricted zones of The Entity's Realm. They also mentioned that he was able to harness and use part of the Entity's own power.
- The Developers mentioned that the inspiration behind Talbot Grimes and The Blight is Dr. Jekyll and his alternative personality Mr. Hyde, the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Voice Actor
- The Blight is partially voiced by Jean-Baptiste Garnier, who at that time worked as the Senior Sound Designer on the Game.
- The Blight shares his voice-actor partially with The Oni, The Executioner, and The Twins (Victor).
- The Blight shares his voice-actor partially with The Oni
Gallery
In-game assets
-
The Blight -
The Blight (Portrait render) -
The Blight (Background image)
Official art
Old assets
-
The Blight (Old Portrait render)
Screenshots
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Memento Mori
Concept arts
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Default Concept Art
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Early Sketch Sheet
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'Park Lane + Westminister Aristocrat' Concept Art
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'Invasive Species' Concept Art
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'Wandering Cat' Concept Art
