1st Time Killer
I've been playing DBD for about 3 months as solo Survivor. Currently Rank 8, but I still have a 50/50 shot of being a pretty decent looper, or potato.
Thanks to daily challenges and getting sacrificed more often the higher I rank up, I've considered trying out Killer. This is because I've seen on the forums (and it makes sense) that to play one side helps when playing the other.
I'd love to improve my Survivor play by being Killer for awhile. But as much as I have played Survivor, being that I'm not a god looper I'm not sure the experience will give me any adavantage from the get go (SWF and new Killer experiences from the forums don't help).
Is there a level of decency you need as Survivor to be a decent Killer? If not, just any tips from these Killers that keep wrecking me as Survivor would be much appreciated.
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Oh boi. There is so much to talk about....
First off yes, it absolutely makes you better at each role if you play both, there´s no question about it. You are making a good decision.
I want to warn you not to take the BM to heart. Of course experiences differ but in my case I encountered BM by Survivors 1.000x more than from Killers.
Both roles are tough at the beginning, I´m sure you´re aware that DBD isn´t exactly noob-friendly, matchmaking and smurfs being only one factor contributing to that.
I don´t wanna write a literal novel here so I´ll link you some really helpful stuff. Grab some popcorn and enjoy:
you may have guessed it, I like otz :P
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Sure, good questions. Playing as a survivor, you have a good idea of survivors goals when looping and their mindset, so you're probably gonna be fine as killer.
Basic tips:
If a chase goes on more than a couple of minutes, drop chase. Don't let a good Looper distract you for too long, go after someone less good and you can try to get the good Looper when they're going for the unhook or when you can catch them off guard.
Try to chase survivors towards other generators if possible so you can contest at the same time if its being worked on. Otherwise, try to push them towards the edge of the map where you have advantage. Of try and get them to go upstairs or on top of a hill, because they get slowed when landing where as the killer doesn't.
When being looped in places with line of sight blockers, try walking around corners or through doors backwards to hide your red stain every now and again.
When picking up survivors from the dying state, get into the habit of looking at the wall while you do to prevent flashlight saves.
When hitting a survivor out in the open, try to aim to their right at first and then sweep the camera to the left as you attack. This seems to increase your attack hitbox, making it harder to juke
Don't feel bad about tunelling if the team is good. Killing people early helps relieve gen pressure.
I'll give more tips if I think of them. Let me know if you have more specific questions
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No, not really. The key thing you learn as a Survivor (which you already know) which helps you become a better Killer is HOW they think. You know where they are likely to go, how they are likely to hide near a Generator when they hear a Killer coming so that when he/she moves on that they will come right back to it. In other words, being a God of looping won't really help you as a Killer because the two Skills, looping and chasing a looper are just different enough. Basically, a Killer just needs to be able to discern when to continue a chase and when to break it off. So you probably already have enough knowledge to know when you will be wasting too much time because the Survivor has all the tools, good pallets, windows, etc. Does that make sense?
If you have been playing as a Survivor you know how they approach a map. That is the big take away. So dive into Killer; my personal suggestion is Michael Myers (I'm biased of course) because there are so many different builds that you can really come up with your own style. Nurse and Blight are wicked powerful, but have a STEEP learning curve. You will suck at them a long time before you get good. Spirit is also very powerful but her learning curve isn't bad.
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The biggest correlation between the two roles is learning how to get around structures and tiles most effectively. Particularly when you're in chase (or being chased). Getting better looping or handling loops as one role can be translated into experience for how to deal with that loop as either role.
Another key correlation point: pallets. Learn which pallets are safe (or decently safe) and which are unsafe. Safe pallets pretty much need to be destroyed by the killer ASAP. They can either be looped infinitely (or close enough) or simply act as a chase-breaker by blocking off a hallway or other bottleneck. Unsafe pallets are pretty much only useful for trying to stun the killer, aren't really worth looping as survivor, and aren't really worth breaking as killer. For examples, most pallets on The Game are safe, most pallets on Underground Complex are unsafe.
Last one I've got, which loosely ties to both of the above points, is learn which windows are very safe. Because windows cannot be destroyed and can only be blocked, you should almost never chase a survivor at a very safe window (and as survivor, you may see killers frequently abandon you near these windows too). Probably the biggest and baddest example still in DbD is the "Fun Bus", where the middle of the bus is an open vault (not one of the raised ends). If you're killer and there's more than one survivor still alive, don't chase people at this bus.
Otherwise check out content creators to learn more. As @Slashstreetboy pointed out, Otzdarva is a great choice for learning killer tips and tricks. Scott Jund also has a lot of videos where he discusses what he does as he plays (plus some older informational videos).
And if you care about this kind of stuff on the survivor end too, you can't go wrong with Ussylis. He's been making survivor content, including several guides, for years now. Plus guys like Zubatlel and Ayrun, while they don't tend to actually explain or instruct a whole lot, are great examples of what very skilled DbD players usually look like.
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Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the tips and feedback to utilize. I've probably watched more Scott Jund, Tru3, Zubatlel, and Otz than I've played, but mostly focused on Survivor side. I'm ready to check out those Otz Killer videos @Slashstreetboy
Everything here makes sense, and will help me infinitely over the next couple of weeks. I'm glad to have a positive experience on these forums despite the negativity I often see.
Thanks again, and wish me luck! I hope to see you guys in the fog.
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Best of luck, see you in the fog ;-)
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Since you are starting now, put a mental note to not tilt when you meet tea baggers and clickers. The best counter is not to give a duck about them and most of the time you end up killing them.
Also learn to recognize when a survivor is good and leave him. There's always an easier target!
And finally, don't be mad at "GG EASY" messages. They just want attention.
Ps: camping doesn't give you Blood points. Hook and leave to patrol gens.
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Just unlock fire up. It’s really the only perk you need for ez wins tbh
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There are videos showing you how to approach all variant loops as an m1 killer.Eg: TL loops.
I think scottjund made one though i'm not sure.
Since it's your first time you should be grey rank so as long as matchmaking is working correctly you shouldn't have to worry about looping that much.
I would focus on learning how to use the killer power and perks first.
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Play how you want
Don't care about what people say in endgame chat
Don't take the game too seriously as it's not balanced at all
Theres alot to learn still as most of the game is about knowledge rather than "skill" unless you play a certain few killers
Good luck
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I'd add in and say to play all the killers you have at least a few times... then pick a few of them and learn them
I do recommend playing the Pig (cause I main her and want more people to play her) cause she's an all around killer
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come join nurse, we have cookies
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Most ussylis guides are outdated. But his content is probably the best out there.
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Playing one side will help you get better at the other, but I'd recommend just playing and learn as you go. Its frustrating but you'll get the hang of it. And also here's some good killers to main-
Pig- she has stealth, slowdown, and anti loop in her power. You have to be strategic but overall shes a good killer.
Nurse- If youre ok with losing games for a long time to be able to 4k easily, play nurse. I'm a nurse main and I am so glad that i spent time learning her. Plus she's free, and is the best killer in the game.
Hag- Powerful and fun to play. Nothing else needs to be said.
Oni- Pretty easy and powerful.
Myers- Simple and fun.
Ghostface- Best stealth in the game.
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Nice to see someone else suggest Pig
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I started playing killer for the same reason, to learn about their limitations. While i am not a good killer, i enjoy playing some of them, and others i don´t (even if they are powerful). Its a nice change of pace. I am still a solo survivor main, but my escape rate is about 70%, -5% after rank reset, +5% when you are back in red ranks and get decent teammates. Play killers you like, but also killers you have problems with, because you learn a lot of their limitations, and will have no trouble against the killers mono survivors claim are "uncounterable". Well, at least less trouble.
You will also learn how powerful survivors really are in the game, giving you more perspective and a little emphasis for both sides.
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When you start playing try to identify what kind of play style you enjoy. I personally really enjoy the chase and I enjoy killers with a chase power. My mains are Spirit, Oni, and Blight. Other killers with impactful chase abilities are Billy, Huntress, Death Slinger, and Nurse. These killers are more complicated and generally have a fairly significant downside to balance their power.
If you prefer stealth than you may like Ghost face, Wraith, or Pig. Stealth killers are survivor favorites as they leave the survivor without a sense of where the killer is, which makes for a fairly thrilling experience. That being said, due to perks like spine chill and object of obsession. Playing stealth killers isn't very effective and unless it's something that you enjoy I would avoid these killers.
If you would prefer not to chase then there's Hag or Trapper. If you like this play style, I'd recommend watching some of Otz's hag or trapper game play. However, these killers spend a lot of the match preparing, these are not good killers if you'd prefer to just get to the action immediately.
If you want killers that have easy to use abilities there's Doctor, Freddy, Michael, or Wraith. These killers are your bread and butter for learning the basics of killer. Their powers are fairly intuitive and easy to use and they all run tiles in nearly an identical fashion. If you learn 1 of these killers you'll have learned most of what there is to learn for all 3.
It is generally recommended to avoid the weaker killers that struggle with downing survivors. These are Clown, Legion, or Demo
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What has helped me the most in my experience of playing killer is going into the match with the mindset of "I wanna have fun" or "I wanna learn somehting" rather than "I want to win". Do not care about your rank, do not care about clicky clickys or tbags, do not care about the last guy getting hatch; just load into the game and try to have some fun chases. Trust me it makes it much more enjoyable.
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Pig is one of my favorites on both sides. Shes viable and fun. Who wouldn't suggest her?
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Join Oni we have big smashy boi
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Nice either way...
You would be surprised
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The only good advice I could give is pay attention and make good use of your senses as playing killer will require that you use all of them. Well maybe not smell or taste.
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I hate to hijack a person's thread, but how does one get better with Spirit and Blight?
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Learning how survivors react to you using your power and timing your power are good to learn on those two
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Well, I'm not the best person to ask about those Killers as I don't play them often. However, one thing remains constant, i.e. time in grade. You have to put in the hours. There isn't really a shortcut. Blight has a very steep learning curve, so I suggest setting up a custom game with someone and then just spend time running around and bouncing off things until you can turn and maneuver properly. Blight is all about his power and until you can use it, you will never get better.
Spirit does not have a steep learning curve. I find she is most effective as an ambush Killer. Like Nurse, you simply have to get good at knowing where the Survivors are and zipping across the map and surprising your targets. I strongly suggest unlocking Perks which reveal when people are at specific Generators. I find this an effective combination:
Hex: Ruin
Hex: Haunted Ground
Hex: Undying
Surveillance
*Ruin and Surveillance work extremely well together as the second you push someone off a Generator or they stop working it for any reason really, it starts regressing and you see it as such by color code. The moment someone jumps back on it is highlighted in yellow and you have a target. You can use Spirit's power to lightning across the map and be guaranteed a victim when you arrive. Likewise, Undying shows you auras of people near Auras giving you an alternative method of identifying targets and thus where you rush to for the ambush. Ruin ensures that people have to try and cleanse Totems (particularly with you constantly flying across the map and hitting them creating tremendous pressure). This increases the odds that Haunted Ground will trigger too. With Undying you have decent odds of keeping Ruin alive and/or triggering Haunted ground more than once.
Spirit is fine 1v1 but that is never going to be as efficient as coming out of high speed at a known, revealed target.
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Guess so...
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I appreciate the additional feedback everybody! Definitely improving already. Just like my survivor games I'm avoiding MOST meta perks to improve my skill (besides BBQ, simply one of the best perks. Got it in the shrine).
But as stated, if I disregard the BM from the escaping Survivors, I've had tons of fun just learning the other side of things.
Have fun everyone, see you on the forums or in-game!
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