Bug #1379

Nemesis' Zombie Hit Causes Survivor Hit Recovery Animation

Status:	Open
Priority:	High
Added by:	ks_carburator on February 12, '26
Assigned to:	Unassigned
Due date:
Reported for:	9.4.2
Actual Result:	Hitting a zombie triggers the full successful survivor hit recovery animation and associated slowdown.
Expected Result:	Hitting a zombie should trigger the shorter recovery animation and faster movement regain that existed prior to this patch.
Severity:	Major
Reproducibility:	Always
Platform:	Steam
Additional Notes & Comments:	The patch notes didn't mention this change directly anywhere, so I have every authority to call it a bug.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch a trial as Nemesis.
2. Locate one of Nemesis’ zombies.
3. Perform a basic attack (M1) on the zombie.
4. Observe the recovery animation and movement slowdown.

Explanation

Description of the Issue:
After the latest patch, hitting a zombie as Nemesis triggers the same movement slowdown and recovery animation as a successful basic attack on a survivor.
Previously, hitting a zombie resulted in a noticeably shorter recovery animation and much faster movement regain compared to landing a successful hit on a survivor. This allowed Nemesis to clear zombie bodyblocks without being heavily punished in chase.
Currently, when hitting a zombie:
The killer plays the full “successful survivor hit” recovery animation.
Movement speed is significantly reduced during recovery.
The duration of slowdown appears identical to hitting a survivor.
No survivor is injured or affected.
No pressure or benefit is gained from the action.
This effectively punishes the killer for clearing their own AI entity. This is nonsense, because zombies often get in your way, and the game shouldn't punish you for hitting them to clear a path. I won't even mention that a zombie can stand under your hook while you're carrying a survivor, literally taking a hit for that survivor to wiggle and break out.
Why This Is a Problem:
Zombies frequently path into narrow areas such as: doorways, pallets, hallways, hook approaches, loop structures. When a zombie blocks Nemesis during chase, the killer must either:
Wait for the zombie AI to move (often slow or unpredictable), or hit the zombie to clear the path. Due to the current bug, choosing to hit the zombie causes: significant loss of distance in chase, loss of pressure, free repositioning time for all survivors, no gameplay compensation
The killer receives the same penalty as a successful survivor hit but without injuring or downing anyone. This creates an unfair gameplay disadvantage and feels unintentional compared to prior behavior.

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