New Players, Hidden mechanics and, learning to play

stikyard

DBD has been one of the most frustrating games to learn. Many of the perks, builds and, addon mechanics are completely hidden and a new player has no idea why he is being revealed or exposed.

I enjoy a challenge and the gameplay so I kept logging on to get better and, watching some popular streamers has helped a lot.

I have a hard time selling this game to my friends. Initially they like the idea of a cat and mouse chasing game but, a lot of people don't enjoy feeling robbed by hidden mechanics that they didn't understand.

I've had survivors try to hide while I'm frenzy Legion. I've had survivors bleed out because they didn't realize they needed to mend. Survivors that don't understand when or how they are being revealed, exposed, ect.

The reveal addons for Myers, Oni and, Wraith... you often can't predict until it's too late.

Alice_pbg

the reveal addons for myers are memes. they are not an issue.

and there is a lot of figuring things out in games this big.

do you think people just play league of legends and don't spend time reading what each character does? same applies here.

if you wanna figure things out as you play, go for it. but the game let's you read each character ability and perks if you want to invest that time. it also let's you see everything that went into play during your last match, so you can be prepared for the next one.

Hyd

There is definitely a steep learning curve. I recently passed 120 hours in this game and am still learning what does what. I figure I have about another 100 hours to go before I finally start to memorize perks/debuffs/etc by their icon alone, but I've heard multiple times, in a non-joking way, that you don't really start to know this game until you've got 500+ hours in it, and I believe it lol.

What would be nice is to have is bots in custom games for console, so new players can dabble at their own pace with all the perks, all the powers, learn the general gameplay mechanics, etc. I'm sure it would be hilariously bad vs a bot killer because mindgaming is a big part of the strategy for chasing and downing survivors, but programming that into killer/survivor ai is probably a nearly impossible task. So, facing a bot killer would likely not be all that helpful for learning how to counter that killer, but you could at least still explore the maps, and learn about your own perks a bit and how they work. Alternately, facing survivor bots is probably the same scenario, it won't help you to face s-tier loopers but you can still practice with your powers and perks.

If your friends can stick it out for a good week or two of playing, you'll get passed that initial steep introductory learning curve and things will level out a bit as you can quickly master the basics and not get rocked too hard at the low ranks. Read all the perks as you get them, multiple times, and think about whatever your current weaknesses are, then try and equip perks that bolster those weaknesses. For example, I'm a terrible looper and ontop of that, have yet to memorize where the so-called "god loops" are (maybe in another 200+ hours I will), so I occasionally run Windows of Opportunity (Kate perk) which lights up all the pallets and windows and such within a certain distance from you. Super helpful to me. Run perks that bolster your weaknesses.

Another helpful tip for learning the game and strategies - don't exclusively play survivor or killer, play both, otherwise, you're handicapping your knowledge and skill by only playing one side. The best way to know how to play against a given Killer, is to play that killer yourself. Very quickly you'll figure out what's required to chase well and/or secure kills with that Killer, and you can then take that knowledge with you to be utilized against that killer the next time you face them on survivor. Legion is a great example here because as you mentioned, some people just don't know about the mending or his hit-and-run tactics. They spend the whole game being confused about why they're always being found by Killer Instinct because they simply don't know about it or how it works. So, definitely play a variety of killers over time.

YOURFRIEND

Learning how to play a new game is part of the fun of picking up a new game.

Mr_K

No one is an expert coming in. Games today are too large and complex to put every piece of information into a tutorial or user guide. That is why there are fan made wikis to document everything we know about the game.