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Killers: How they work and how to play against them.
SimpleSage
Member Posts: 96
I don't think anyone needs me to tell them there's a lot of killers in the game, 35 to be exact, and all 35 have unique powers that require unique methods of counter play to do well against them. Some killers have really straight forward powers that are mostly simple and easy to understand, others have powers that require a bachelor's degree to really understand to the fullest extent.
I also don't think anyone needs me to tell them that the tutorial for the game doesn't really prepare you to step into the fog, with most people resorting to watching videos for information, finding someone to teach them, or just figuring it out as you go. So I had the mind to compile as much information about each killer as I could into one place with the help of anyone willing to contribute.
(I'm no content creator but I know about Word and Microsoft Paint, so all things depending, I might even make a very subpar "cheatsheet" for all the killers to share with everyone.) Do we want the theme to be "Pink Sparklies", "Doom and Gloom", "I didn't do any of the work but put my name on the final draft", or something else?
What I'm looking for:
- Niche things someone can do while playing against the killer.
- Things about the killer's power that aren't well known or obvious.
- Important tactics one should adopt when playing against that killer in general or against specific play styles.
- Popular add-ons and what they do, and if they change an important aspect to the killer, how you should play around it.
Also try to keep it in the realm of "anyone can do this regardless of experience." Things you would teach a new survivor.
Here's a list of some of the things I know. feel free to add on, correct, or clarify anything.
Trapper
- If you see a trap disarm it, don't leave it laying around to snap some poor poor Claudette's ankles off.
- When disarming traps, other survivors can run over them safely, you can use this to help a teammate get into/ out of somewhere safely or even start opening a gate or cleansing a totem before alerting Trapper you're there.
- The Honing Stone Add-on: Survivors who free themselves from traps are put into the dying state. If you step into a trap and you know this add-on is in play DON'T FREE YOURSELF! It is much faster for another survivor to free you vs. pick you up from the dying state. At the same time, if another survivor steps in a trap outside of chase with this add-on and they're close by GO GET THEM. Don't give Trapper the free hook if you can help it.
Wraith
- The Wailing Bell's sound is directional and changes with intensity based on how close he is to you, the closer he is, the louder the bell. You can hear the bell when you are within 24m of him. Wraith also has an accompanying "whoosh" sound when cloaking/uncloaking and has a range of 40m. This "whoosh" is a useful tool to identify Wraith at the start of the match so listen carefully.
- My nickname for the Wraith is "The Pug," If you've ever been around a pug you know they sound like they are constantly suffering from allergies and sound snarky/growly, Wraith sounds the same when he breathes. Listening for his breathing is a pretty useful way to know he's coming if you don't have good visibility.
Hillbilly
- Don't run in a straight line unless you can cross the map in 9s because Billy does it in 10.
- If you suspect your playing against a Billy bring an Eyrie of Crows offering, it's their favorite map. They really love the little stick bushes all over the place so make sure to run around them often in chase.
- He has Bamboozle.
Nurse
- Base-kit Nurse has 2 blinks, her first blink has a max range of 20m, her second blink has a max range of 12m.
- You can use lockers against Nurse, as she cannot cancel blinks, if you hop into a locker while she has one charged you can force her to blink and go into fatigue, you can exit the locker and make a little distance before her fatigue wears off and her blinks recharge.
Myers
- Myers has to stare at you to get his power, early game its pretty common that they just follow you around and stare at you and don't actually chase or attack so do everything in your power to block his LOS. In the worst case scenario: you have nowhere to hide from him, be the flame to his moth and show him what the power of the sun looks like, He can't stalk you while blinded or stargazing (results may vary).
- Myers can only stalk one person at a time with priority on the closer survivor, If you know he has gotten a lot of stalk from you and can't stalk you much more, you can "body block" for other survivors so he can't stalk them. Of course you still want to be smart about this, this immunity starts to fade as the match time ticks away.
- (There is debate in the community on this one.) There is an interesting way to identify if Myers has the "Judith's Tombstone" add-on equipped or not and it doesn't involve sacrificing the rando. Myers has 2 distinct walking animations that are tied to his movement speed. While moving at a slow speed his movement is stiff, knife is pointed down at an angle and swings side to side as he walks, as well as his left hand being open. This walk is most commonly seen while Myers is in T1. However while moving at a fast speed his movement is more fluid, his knife points straight and no longer sways, and his left hand is balled up in a fist. While Myers has the "Judith's Tombstone" add-on equipped, this reduces his movement speed to be slow enough that it resembles his T1 walk and can be used to identify the add-on. This does not hold true for the "Tombstone Piece" add-on however as it does not change his movement speed. Further more, any knowledgeable Myers that plays with a controller can actually fake this speed change to give the appearance of the add-on being in play.
Hag
- Hag's traps have a trigger range of 2.7m, Survivors can crouch while approaching her traps to prevent setting them off, and can then wipe them away. Survivors interacting with props while within the trigger range will also not trigger any traps.
Doctor
- Have beef with Doctor? While afflicted with T3 Madness, start charging Potential Energy during the Merciless Storm skill checks while he watches.
- Survivors can boogie if you spam the "Snap Out of it" action.
Huntress
- When going against a Huntress observe the various objects around you. If you see anything with a large hole or gap, particularly in walls and loops, ask yourself "Does this hole/gap look like a hatchet would fit through it in real life?" If you answer yes, duck.
Spirit
- While phasing Spirit cannot see survivors or their pools of blood when injured, She can however see scratch marks and hear the various noises survivors make (breathing, grunting, footsteps, etc.)
- While phasing Spirit can be tracked through grass and other plants moving as she walks through them, this also works the opposite way, Spirit can track survivors who are walking through grass and other plants while phasing.
- Survivors can double back on their footsteps to hide their scratch marks in an attempt to lose Spirit, walking can also be used to achieve this.
Twins
- Running by an idol Victor gives Charlotte killer instinct, survivors can crouch up to victor before kicking him to avoid this.
Trickster
- Sometimes, the safest place to be when trickster is throwing blades at you is in his face. If you have nowhere to go and you think you're guaranteed to go down, try running up close and doing figure 8's and zig zagging all over the place, Trickster has a very methodical throw rate and the hit-boxes for the blades are very precise, this means it can be easy to dodge blades at times by simply moving around, this can actually save your life if you get lucky.
Nemesis
- You can crouch behind most low wall objects when he tries to whip you and it will miss.
- Zombies are simple creatures that like loud noise, you can use loud noise notifications to lure zombies away from a location if necessary.
Pinhead
- If Pinhead teleports to you while you're solving the box near various drop downs and balconies located across some maps, you can cause Pinhead to spawn where he can't get to you.
Artist
- Survivors can jump in a locker to quickly dispel crows in a pinch.
Onryo
- Turn off her TVs. Personally, I will grab the tape from the closest TV before I start working on a gen and work on it until the TV turns back on. When it does I will turn it off again and take the condemned stack, I will then run to put my tape away and turn off TVs as I go (while taking no more than 3 stacks of condemned).
Dredge
- Survivors can run through Dredge's remnant to destroy it and keep him from teleport.
Knight
- Knights guards can look up and see you on different elevations, however just because you are within the patrol path doesn't mean they will start a hunt. Guards still need LOS to start the hunt but be aware they can do so through just about any small hole or crack.
- Guards also investigate loud noise notifications if they are close enough.
Skull Merchant
- If you are not in chase, you NEED to prioritize not getting scanned. SM gets haste when a survivor gets a claw trap and you can get survivors downed if your not careful. On the same note, if you're not in chase disarm the drones, especially those in loops so the chased survivor has more options to run.
- Drones can't scan you if you are crouch walking, standing still, or completing an action like repairing a gen.
Xenomorph
- Pretend you've just invited Xeno to a BBQ and they're the main course. Turrets! Turrets everywhere, use them! Put them in common paths of travel and safe loops. Don't put them close to tunnels as they deactivate when Xeno enters/exits a tunnel and can be destroyed before they get to reactivate.
- The turret beeping acts as a terror radius for the Xeno, this includes while they're in tunnels and even undetectable.
Post edited by EQWashu on
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very good :)
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Against Hillbilly:
- Always assume he has Lethal Pursuer. If he doesn't have it, that's good for you but it never hurts to prepare when you hear the chainsaw.
- Keep track of where you see him go. That way you have a pretty good idea from where he will approach you.
- Against a curving Billy, irregular loop shapes are your best friend. He can curve pretty easy around rectangles but everything else is a lot harder.
- Do not go anywhere near the basement, if you know where it is. He can defend it pretty easy and there is a good chance that someone that comes for a rescue there will go down before you get off the hook.
- When you are unhooked, leave the hook before you heal. If he knows where you are, you are not safe.
- Always look out for the blue glow on the chainsaw because it tells you that he is approaching overcharge.
- If you are in a rectangular loop and the Billy is in overcharge, assume you won't make it around the next corner, if he goes for a curve. Instead try and dodge the chainsaw by stepping further away from the loop (risking a M1 is better than an insta down) or if he can't see you switch loops. His chainsaw is too loud for him to hear you.
- Look out for patterns. Some Billy players I've gone against were more comfortable curving one direction then the other. If you notice something like this, do not overcommit to the side is more likely to curve from.
- Billy is a killer with an insta down. If you're running around in a group, then you allow him to get downs in quick succession. Spread out to avoid this.
- Do not camp pallets when he hits overdrive. He is so fast that he will likely hit you quicker than you can react.
- The extra speed in overdrive is pretty hard to control. So, if you can force him to curve around very tight corners, the chances he will bump are much higher.
- Though his collisions were improved a lot, there are still places he will not be able to hit you around. For example the little forked trees on Badham. If you have nothing else to work with, then at least make it as hard as possible for him to hit a chainsaw.
- Whatever you do, DON'T drop when he charges the chainsaw unless it's from a vault. The staggering makes it incredibly easy to hit a chainsaw.
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Wraith:
- keep vaulting on every dropped pallet until Wraith uncloack, can work for windows too
- heal a lot, don't stay injured
Legion:
- never mend when Legion is still in frenzy
- if you are not death on hook, play injured (if you are confident enough)
Plague:
- if you are not death on hook, play injured
- as soon first person cleanse, everyone should start cleansing
Skull merchant:
- if you are healthy → hold W
- if you are injured → predrop pallets (same as Clown)
- crouch at loops, if possible to deny haste / claw trap
- always try to force her to injure you, never let drone do it (if possible)
- she is stealth killer, so look around you when working on gen
Oni:
- heal whenever you can, don't stay injured unless Oni is in power
- You don't drop blood, when Oni is raging
Nemesis, Oni:
- play as safe as possible early game, don't feed their power. Just predrop every pallet in the universe
Huntress, Deathslinger:
- just never drop those rock pallets (small, tall loops), always fake
Pig:
- Boop the snoot
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In addition to the above:
Trapper:
- Keep an eye on disarmed traps near you, as if they open up as your watching its an obvious tell he has an iridescent add on. If you see this, its best to only disarm traps if he's in chase nearby as you may end up needing to disarm it at a bad time.
- For the love of the entity watch the floor instead of Windows of Opportunity.
Wraith:
- Wraiths yellow add on "Bone Clapper" will cause the bell sound to be un reliable. If you hear any ding dong, book it to somewhere safe unless your sure he's not near you.
- Don't ever hide somewhere where he can trap you. He has a wall hack add on (its surprising how many people forget this).
Billy:
- You can use lockers to "dodge" a saw. This should be used as a desperation measure.
Nurse:
- Pallets can be used against the nurse by throwing off her blink. As she's "traveling" toss down the pallet and pray you sent her to the opposite side (Disclaimer: we 3 still haven't figured out how to perfect this so its likely to do nothing as it is to save you more time). Like the Billy above, this should be a last ditch effort.
- Listen when she starts up a blink. That's when you need to start doing things different. Its a game of "I know you know I know" with her.
Myers:
- Try avoiding grouping up. A T3 Myers with the right build can snowball out of control.
Hag:
- Hag Protocol. Always assume there's traps near a hook or basement. Crouch to the hook. Crouch away from the hook. DON'T heal under the hook unless "we'll make it" is in play.
- Help your teammates. If shes in chase, pop or wipe away traps you know. Probably should be wiping traps whenever possible regardless.
Doctor:
- Even with calm spirit a attentive doc will still know your nearby. To elaborate, he still gets a score event, you still gain madness lvls, and add ons still will reveal you if he has them. He may not know your exact position, but he'll probably look around.
Huntress:
- Always assume "Iron maiden" (not the band skin).
- Count the hatchets she throws. Especially if she only throws 1 and immediately goes to reload. That's a red flag for iridescent hatchets (aka instant down).
Bubba:
- Like Billy above, lockers are your friend. You can use them to dodge saws. If Bubba hits the locker DON'T immediately jump out as he can still down in a tantrum. Wait for the last part. (Hard to describe it since we have it on instinct but its always a downward diagonal slash) Even if he's got "Iron maiden" for this reason it still buys time.
Freddy:
- Figure out if he has snares or pallets asap. He may be an M1 killer, but he's still a killer. Play accordingly to what he brought.
- If he brought fake pallets, try to memorize what's been used. For the newer survivors try and stay awake often as possible while still being productive. Windows of opportunity will still highlight fake pallets so don't rely on it while asleep.
- If snares, play loops like your against a trapper if your asleep.
Pig:
- Boop the snoot if your friendly.
- Keep an eye out. She is a stealth killer. [This is general advice]
- If you have a party hat (reverse bear trap) try and figure out her add ons. (This is more general advice)
Clown:
- Survivors can also use yellow mist {be careful if he has the joke add ons though}
Spirit:
- If you play spirit, you'll have a good feel of when she tries to "fake" a phase chase. In particular look at if she's "passively phasing" or not. (Its hard to describe so apologies if this is unhelpful)
- You probably shouldn't try playing mind games with her. Unless your bored.
Legion:
- If your under a pallet and their in frenzy, play chicken with them and don't be afraid to eat the hit. If you hit them with the pallet while getting hit, it limits the damage they can do to the team. [Try not to waste god pallets like this though].
- Lockers won't save you. They can see in lockers and grab you from a locker while in frenzy.
Plauge:
- If the plague grabs the corruption, try to cleanse yourself asap.
Ghostface:
- If you know he has stalk on you, try to take a hit. Its risky but sometimes removing abit of stalk meter is worth the hit. Don't do this if you think he has you at 99. This leads to free food.
- Don't t-bag him. He does it better.
Demogorgon:
- Only active portals give you away to killer instincts. If you see he placed a portal by a gen and leave, he can not detect you until he uses it.
- You can hear unactive portals if you listen for them. They give off a muffled sound.
Oni:
- If you see blood orbs, it means he has "Renjiro's bloody glove" which gives him aura reading if you walk through them. Depending on what you have and how brave you are, you should try to get as much blood as safely possible.
- Tying into the above, you are NOT revealed while working on generators (bug or glitch or intended we don't know) even if bleeding. You are revealed as soon as you let go though and if anyone nearby walks into the blood and then works they're still revealed. Short version, your not consistently revealed while your working.
Deathslinger:
- Other survivors count as objects to help break the chain faster. Do what you will with this info.
Pyramid Head:
- You can crouch and crawl through Rights of Judgement (the trails) without being tormented.
- Punishment of the Damned is blocked by stairs.
Blight:
- Blight needs all his tokens to start rushing. The longer you can avoid being rushed, the more breathing room you get to get to another safe zone. As far as we are aware this has not changed.
Twins: DISCLAIMER WE KNOW NOTHING IF THE PTB CHANGES AFFECT ANY OF THE BELOW
- If you blind Charlotte while Victor is active, it forces them to switch.
- You can blind Victor.
- Victor's killer instincts will not trigger if you are in a locker. The second you get out or in the locker it'll proc but this is just a fun fact. :}
- You can hear a sleeping Charlotte despite her being undetectable. Be cautious if you hear her as you don't know when they'll switch.
- Victor can leap over pallets and through windows. Don't tbag at them thinking your safe.
Trickster:
- Like Huntress, always assume "Iron Maiden" [again, not the band]
- If he has "Trick Blades" add on, keep moving. Hiding behind a rock won't save you. If he has the "Cut Thru U Single", don't body block blades. Obviously the hard part is figuring if he has either.
Nemisis:
- You can re-kill the zombies with "head on" and pallets. [Though maybe try not to use pallets unless you have "any means necessary"]
- Perks like "Red herring" and "Diversion" can move the zombies as long as they don't see you. Adding on, "Light-footed" lets you run around without attracting them normally [unless you run Infront of them ofcourse]. Aka, zombies like noise.
Pinhead:
- Like Deathslinger, survivors count as objects. Help a teammate out if you can.
- Pay attention to the HUD and what your mates are doing. Someone needs to focus on the box every now and then.
Artist:
- If you see a teammate running nearby, help them out by grabbing idle birds and bolting so they can run back to the loop.
- The killer instinct proc is relatively small, but you'll know if it did due to there being a score event (cant remember what its called). In a similar vein, she can check lockers quickly so hiding in them is ill advised. Use lockers to remove birds but not to hide.
- Chain loops…seems basic but seriously. IDK how many people think they can loop me at a single pallet only to literally eat a crow.
- As soon as she places a crow her timer starts for her to fire. She must do something soon, whether its placing more crows to extend the timer or to fire them. Don't be afraid to take an idle crow (preferably not from the front end) especially if your already swarmed as that can screw with trapping loops and aiming in general and you don't take damage from taking more than 1 idle crow.
- The more crows she fires, the longer the CD. This includes if she has the "Ink egg" add on. Long arse timer.
- A commonly seen add on is "Severed Hands" which can cause multiple survivors to be swarmed if close to each other.
- A personal favored add on "Severed Tongue" makes it so baiting crows is likely a lose lose scenario.
- The crows can be aimed and go down certain stairwells, specifically basement stairs.
- You can almost always hear when she fires crows, you hear the sound, look around.
Sadako:
- DO TAPES. DO TAPES TO CRIPLE THE SPOOKY LITTLE GIRL. This has probably been said, but we really need to stress the importance.
Dredge:
- Always lock a single locker if they're grouped as he always prioritizes the locked one.
- During nightfall, if he teleports to a nearby locker your revealed by killer instincts (16 meters). Keep moving, don't try and hide.
- He can hear noises while teleporting from locker to locker. Last we checked he also sees any revealed auras too.
Wesker:
- His second lunge is usually alot longer. Try to make him miss this one in an open area.
- His power recharges faster the more infected survivors there are.
Knight:
- If chased by a minion, grabbing the banner is always a good option. It even gives endurance and haste.
- He can not effectively use his guards to camp hooks. The minion chasing you will disappear as soon as you grab the survivor. He however will know your going for the hook, so book it afterwards.
Skull Merchant:
- You can run through drone areas if your attentive to where the scan lines are. Crouch when needed while running around the zones. This is admittedly risky though so user milage may vary.
Hux:
- If your tagged for the love of the entity grab an emp before you join up with other survivors unless absolutely necessary.
- If he slipstreams and your in reach he can still hit you even if you smack him with a pallet.
Xenomorph:
- It can hear you while in tunnels. Gens, grunts of pain, chests, all fair game.
- If you know its in a tunnel, crouch if you wana be sneaky. It sees footsteps for walking and running survivors.
- Don't hide next to control stations, it has killer instincts when it emerges from a tunnel for those close by.
Chucky:
- This isn't specifically to the killer but most Chucky players will mind game themselves silly. Sometimes the best play is to leave the area and watch them go "hu?"
- Even while stealthed, Chucky keeps giggling. Ears peeled for his voice.
- He has a surprisingly big hit box for pallet stuns for his small size. We don't know why but its a thing.
Unknown:
- If your dispelling an illusion, it don't need to teleport to inflict weakness, it only needs to interrupt you.
- You don't need to stare it down to remove weakness, consistent glances are enough.
- A popular add on is the "Vanishing box" which applies weakened to those who finish a gen. An admittedly [censored]ish move if you know it has it is to let one person finish the gen so only 1 person gets weakened.
- Dispel illusions when you see them, but not while its close by. Something triggers killer instincts while its close by and your dispelling. (We do not know the specifics nor what exactly triggers it, but have seen it multiple times).
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POTD isn’t blocked by stairs
There’s an elevation logic made around it
You can mostly shoot downwards but never upwards
And that’s why maps like swamp are outright a nightmare for this killer
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Shooting from the side. Say you try and shoot through shack but from the stair side. Depending where you fire from the stairs will block it (or has blocked ours, havent been in that position recently so if it has changed, dont know)
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there’s several elevation elements on the basement shack stairs you can mostly shoot through the upper part of the stairs and the POTD will move through it easily although the rest of the downward part of it will screw it up (I found that out yesterday on accident btw)
And also that’s why I often run the basement in main building offering
But outside of shack basement
stairs are mostly deadzones if a pyramid head is aiming downwards (ex rpd staircase)
If you wanna counter Phead through elevation logic
Always stick to higher/unbalanced elevation like swamp or Lery’s (and yes this map does have unbalanced elevation at the windows)
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We're pretty sure its that downward part we are talking about, but just to be sure:
Black arrow is stairs with the arrowhead being bottom and end being top, Red is Punishment. Your saying we can now shoot through? Cause last time one of us tried (probably yrs ago) it didn't.
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I just discovered that yesterday on accident on a customs match
I have a video
I’ll clip it and send it
Give me a few minutes
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What about the middle/deeper end? From the clip you only tested at the top of the stairs. Does the deeper end still block it like we think?
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sadly yes BUT
the fact that the upper end allows you to do this is infact a game changing feature and it makes shack hits less miserable when playing M2 phead
And this is also the first time I’ve ever seen an elevation where you can go through a lower stair and then continue on normal elevation without it being messed up
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fair enough
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