Dying Light: The Beast update 1.4 adds New Game+ and more

Dying Light: The Beast’s latest 1.4 update was published on Nov. 27, adding over 400 changes. Included within the patch update was the implementation of New Game+, where players can now replay Kyle’s story while keeping all gear, weapons, and character progression from the first playthrough. Enemy difficulty is increased, but the player will encounter higher-tier weapons and loot to match the challenge

Here are the full Dying Light: The Beast 1.4 update notes, according to the official blog post: 

• NEW CONTENT
  • NEW GAME+
    • You can now replay Kyle’s story in New Game+ while keeping all gear, weapons and character progression from your first playthrough.
    • Enemy difficulty is increased, but you’ll also encounter higher-tier weapons and loot to match the challenge.
    • New Game+ can be repeated multiple times – each completed run further raises the game’s difficulty level and unlocks access to even stronger and rarer weapons, as well as the toughest enemies in Castor Woods.
  • LEGEND LEVELS
    • Legend Levels is the classic Dying Light end-game progression system that extends your character beyond the main skill tree.
    • Once you reach Level 15, all earned XP is converted into Legend XP.
    • Higher difficulty settings and higher New Game+ tiers increase XP gains, so the more you challenge yourself, the faster you progress.
    • Each Legend Level grants Legend Points that you can spend on passive upgrades such as increased health, improved combat stats and stronger Beast Mode performance.
    • Every level also raises your maximum health by a fixed percentage, helping you stay competitive in higher NG+ tiers.
    • Legend Levels also introduce a large set of new rewards to unlock: 22 new weapons (melee and firearms, including vintage guns), 2 complete outfits (12 gear pieces) and new legendary vehicle skins.
  • RAY TRACING
    • Ray tracing is now available, bringing even more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections to the game, allowing you to experience our immersive and visually stunning world with enhanced atmosphere and depth.
    • How to enable ray tracing?
      • The suggested way to activate Ray Tracing is to set the Video Quality Preset in your game settings to Ultra.
      • If you need more tweaking you can also enable or disable individual Ray Tracing options in the Advanced Video Settings menu to balance performance and visual quality.
    • System requirements:
      • A Ray Tracing capable graphics card (NVIDIA RTX, AMD RX 6000/7000 series, or Intel Arc)
      • At least 8 GB of video memory
      • 16 GB recommended for 4k
    • Performance and Visuals
      • The game is designed so that all settings – from Low to Ultra – preserve the same core look and artistic style.
      • Ray Tracing improves reflections, lighting, and shadows, delivering more realistic visuals, though please note this may impact performance
      • If your system has trouble maintaining smooth performance, try selecting a preset below Ultra and tweak individual Ray Tracing settings for optimal results.
      • Please note when Ultra mode is enabled, Frame Generation is automatically turned on to improve frame rate.
    • VRR, V-Sync, and Input Latency
      • For best results, use a VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) display with a refresh rate of 60 Hz or higher. VRR may be labeled as FreeSync, G-Sync, or Adaptive Sync depending on your monitor.
      • If VRR is detected, the game automatically disables V-Sync to ensure the lowest input latency and smooth frame delivery.
      • If VRR is supported by your setup but disabled, please try to enable it in your system, driver settings or display settings. If VRR is not working still, please enable V-Sync manually in the game menu (Intel and AMD cards) or try enforcing it in the driver (Nvidia) to prevent screen tearing (if observed)
      • Note: Using Frame Generation may increase input lag, especially if V-Sync is on.
      • If controls feel delayed:
        • Enable VRR and disable V-Sync
        • Ensure Latency Reduction is enabled
        • If lag persists, disable Frame Generation or switch to a preset below Ultra
  • NEW FINISHERS
    • We’ve added 3 new finishers to give you even more varieties of bloody execution on enemies.
    • 1 for one-handed blunt weapons
    • 1 for two-handed blunt weapons
    • 1 for two-handed slasher weapons
  • CALL OF THE BEAST
    • With Update 1.4 just released, there’s never been a better time to jump into Dying Light: The Beast. New Game+, Legend Levels, a Double XP event, and an exclusive weapon waiting in your stash should already convince you to dive back in.
    • So don’t wait – team up with the Dying Light community to tackle this week’s challenge, focused entirely on executing brutal finishers on enemies.
    • And while you’re at it, make sure to try out the new finishers added to the game!
    • Community Challenge: Executioner
      • Goal #1: Execute 1,000,000 finishers
      • Reward: Gutsbuster Car Skin
      • Goal #2: Execute 2,500,000 finishers
      • Reward: Rascal
    • Call of the Beast Week 9 runs from Thursday, November 27 at 4PM CEST until Thursday, December 4 at 4PM CET.
    • As always, rewards will be distributed to your in-game stash at the end of the challenge.
    • To track the community’s progress and see how close you are to earning them, head to Dying Light Outpost.
• ADDITIONAL FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS
  • Environmental & navigational fixes:
    • Resolved over 200 parkour and environment navigation issues, including climbing and ledge-grab problems, as well as blocked traversal routes.
    • Adjusted multiple environmental elements – such as monkey bars, beams and scaffolding – to improve overall parkour flow.
    • Ziplines: fixed mismatched UI/action prompts for a more consistent gameplay experience, and addressed double-jump behaviour that could cause unfair falls.
    • Vault poles: added an interaction prompt to clearly indicate they can be used (similar to ziplines or ladders), and fixed double-jump behaviour that could lead to unintended falling.
    • Fixed a blocker in the High Noon quest that prevented players from progressing due to a specific rock formation asset.
  • Gameplay:
    • Reduced XP loss in Survival Mode through a global rebalance, with additional tuning focused on early-level XP loss and Night modifiers.
    • Streamlined early-game experience:
      • Reworked stamina curves to give players more stamina at the start of the game (total stamina remains unchanged), improving early combat encounters.
      • Added a rare weapon near the first campsite during the HUB1 quest to better reward exploration.
      • Introduced minor UI updates in the Skill Menu to make basic move sets more visible.
    • Reinforcements: adjusted reinforcement amounts when players chain noise-generating actions, especially when using firearms or explosions.
    • Vehicle challenges: improved obstacle destruction logic to prevent players from being blocked by objects that should be destroyed by the vehicle.
  • COOP fixes:
    • Resolved an issue where the host could get stuck on a black screen if another player cancelled and immediately restarted a COOP challenge.
    • Fixed several cases of Convoy activities spawning in front of players.
    • Fixed instances where AI did not exit the surrender animation.
    • Fixed an issue where the Banshee could float in the air when the biters she was standing on were killed.
  • Performance & Stability:
    • Improved overall game stability by addressing frame rate drops, crashes and asserts across multiple systems, with over 35 issues resolved.
  • Graphical improvements:
    • Addressed over 70 visual issues, including incorrect textures, floating assets, clipping models and misaligned architecture.
    • Improved lighting and shadow rendering across multiple environments, including fixes for improperly lit interiors and exteriors, as well as various graphical artifacts.
  • UI and Audio:
    • Fixed a pop-up screen appearing on game launch when Epic and Steam accounts were connected.
    • Resolved discrepancies between VO and subtitles across multiple languages, with over 12 localization issues fixed.
    • Improved Quest Marker functionality by addressing multiple incorrect or missing markers.
    • Corrected instances of debug strings appearing during gameplay and fixed several UI display errors across menu sections.
    • Audio: resolved over 20 issues involving missing or incorrect sound effects, including weapon collision SFX and ambient audio during various missions.
    • Fixed several co-op audio problems, such as missing VO lines and dialogue synchronization issues.

Dying Light: The Beast was originally planned to be downloadable content for Dying Light 2: Stay Human. The now standalone game is set in the post-apocalyptic Castor Woods, following protagonist Kyle Crane. After enduring 13 years of cruel experimentation, Crane seeks revenge against his wrongdoers.