Killer Anxiety
How do I deal with killer anxiety? It's such a big problem for me, I'll spend minutes staring at the que button, just to switch to survivor… how do I deal with this? And why does it happen?
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This game has so many bugs that is really frusting to play killer sometimes. Survivors also are getting better and better and if they are just too good, I feel bad for myself because I can't really do anything in the match. Some survivors are not nice so they kinda make it worse imo.
This happens to me especially when I try to play my main, Spirit. I'm P52 on her and I only get swfs or really good solo survivors, so I get this feeling that I must do well otherwise they will mock me? (I'll P100 her later).
I know I shouldn't feel like this at all but it just happens. A thing that has helped me particularly is to play killer talking with a friend on discord while sharing my screen and they watch me play. It feels different at the beginning but trust me, they won't judge you and playing a different character with fun builds is indeed fun.
I feel like I'm getting better. I don't play sweaty and still get really nice results and the feeling of playing casual while talking to a friend is so nice. Ofc some updates are terrible because one thing or another is broken but we really can't let these things affect us at all. Play the game, learn new techs, new mechanics, new builds, improve and have fun.
Post edited by theMasafe on2 -
Performative anxiety is very normal. There is a lot of pressure on playing Killer no matter how new or seasoned you are!
I just posted a similar thing on a different thread:
- It's not a competition.
- It's not worth being stressed.
- Enjoy the chase.
- Let go.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that both winning and losing do NOT reflect on your value as a player, a person, your skills, your value, or your potential. Matches can be easy or hard or punitive and it's best not to go in with expectations. If you start cringing and feeling anxious or bad in the game, just disconnect; go do something else, no videogame is worth human suffering or stress. Have fun in your little chases, feel joy when a survivor narrowly evades you or trips you up, enjoy the game of cat and mouse and you will eventually conquer it. Truly, above all else, surrender the illusion of control. This game is not yours to win or lose. You are not responsible for the outcome of a match or how other people feel within it. You are a guest and this match is a GIFT. What other people say about your experience has no bearing. So long as you did your best and had fun, that's all that will really matter. :)
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I decided to play 100 games only with one perk on my favourite killer.
Don’t feel any guilt losing anymore. And improve my skill at the same time. People may consider such move as extremely anxious and hard, but it learns to accept loses, at the same time improving yourself. And u don't feel bad at all about tunneling someone, surprisingly. And u don’t hard tunnel /focus on aggressive gameplay. Trying to more wisely put pressure on the map.
I also can play using DBD Randomizer to makes game funnier, or ask my friend to sit with me in Discord and just yapping about the game
Finally, switching to survivors also a great way to relax. If u feel frustrated, it is fine leaving this game at all until they figure out many bugs
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There's so much expectation for the killer. You're basically the star of the show. For me, something I hate about playing killer is after-game messages from survivors. One of the reasons I've avoided getting my killers too high in prestige is so people can't be like "how did you do so bad as a p-whatever." I've gotten that a few times as survivor even (from other survivors) but no where near as much. The endless taunting, even mid-chase, for no reason at all, also turns me off. The way people act makes me not even want to play killer.
I have some friends who all play different games but are in a voice chat together. I imagine that probably helps. You're pretty much just bsing like you're on a phone call. If you don't have anyone to link up with, you could probably meet some here. Kinda surprised I don't see more of that.
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Being on call with my friends does help… but I'm looking for a solution for when they aren't available..
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I have to make some assumptions here, so I apologize if I'm way off the mark. Skip to the video I linked for more generalized tips which you might find helpful.
If you're getting killer anxiety, can I assume that means you don't have a lot of experience on the role?
I cannot speak to why you might get anxiety, but I will assume that you're afraid of losing and having no one to help cover for any mistakes you might make.
But the thing is, if I am right, you shouldn't be afraid of losing. You should be expecting to lose, because you don't have a lot of experience in the role. You should have no ego to protect because you haven't learned or played enough to attach a sense of pride to how well you play.
Accept that you are not experienced and go into matches with the goal to learn and improve rather than try to kill all the survivors.
The thing I love about killer is that there really isn't a binary win/loss condition. You have 12 hook states to earn and 4 survivors to kill, you have a gradient of success, with the only true total defeat being 0 hooks 0 kills.
When I was learning the role, this was my mindset. If I was winning, then good, I was winning. If I was losing, I would think "ok, these survivors are better than me, let's see what I can learn from this match and let's see how many hooks and kills I can take from them"
You could also watch this video from one of my favorite DBD youtubers. He's known for being an exceptionally relaxed player. He gives his advice on how he remains relaxed. Maybe it will help.
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or you could start out playing a bit against bots to warm up and get comfortable with your ability. Sure, bots aren’t a perfect mirror of real matches, but you can still learn a lot and build confidence with your power. Maybe you’ll even find people who enjoy running custom games here and there, and they can give you direct feedback on specific situations—like what you could’ve done better. :D That kind of stuff helps a ton too. At the end of the day, the best thing is honestly just to hit ready. Worst case, turn off chat, and after a bit of playing you’ll probably realize—it’s really not that bad.
Just do it—I mean… seriously, ask yourself: what are you even afraid of?
I mean, the worst thing that can happen is you run into a stronger survivor group that’s like, “lol, this guy’s new, let’s mess with him”… but that’s where your own logical thinking needs to be the stronger force. Honestly, it’s pretty telling — and kind of embarrassing — when people treat someone like that who’s clearly a new player.
f that actually happens, be the more mature, logical, and intelligent person, and keep a healthy distance from the virtual stuff. It says way more about those people than it does about you.
I mean, imagine you’re not the one it’s happening to, but just watching it happen to someone else.
Wouldn’t you also say: how much weight should we really give to the behavior of people like that?And all the “normal” rounds… just play, try to find the killer you like, and have fun improving :D
Nothing bad will happen to you. Just hit ready.
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i remember when i was relatively new and was terrified of playing killer.
but i was very actively watching lots of videos about the role which made me more knowledgeable on how to play it properly.
and then i just stuck it up and played matches and realized it's not that hard plus with time i felt like chasing was the most fun thing so i stopped caring about results like kills and went into the games with mentality of just chasing and that made the role a lot more fun and less stressful ( i still got lots of 4ks but i also was letting lots of survivors go with everyone 2 hooked cuz i had my fun)
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Play killer for years and you get numb to it eventually. But easiest way probably is not to care about the result just play and see what happens. If you get good loopers and have hard time, next game probably goes better.
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I'm relatively experienced with killer, so it's not that I'm new.
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For me, it helps to come into Killer matches with some kind of personal secondary goal.
Could be I wanna practice learning a new killer, or I wanna try certain perk combinations/synergies or it could simply be "I wanna practice mindgames". Stuff like that goes a long way in not making the outcome of matches too worrysome pre-game wise.
Another point I always tell myself is sometimes things just don't go your way and it's not your fault. RNG be like that. If I'm playing Trapper and I get Eyrie I'm not gonna be too surprised if I lose but it's worth trying and usually you can walk away from those games with a 2k, which most people consider a tie.
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What exactly is it that scares you?
Is it the preassure?
Is it the fact that every mistake you see is your own 100% and only you can feel them really?
Is it survivor-comments in the end?
Is it the thought that people might feel like you ruined the round?
Is it the timeinvest you have on any killer to get good really?
Point 1.
I could tell you to try playing in your tempo, generally people should be nicer to you if you play slower and more chill, so you shouldn't be insulted as much.
Point 2.
Actually the reason I prefer to play killer, I can only destroy rounds for myself and no one else. In your case maybe try not to think about them as mistakes directly but more like what you could do better next time. So instead of "i'm so stupid I shouldn't have thrown this hatchet to the corner" you think "well that didn't work, next time I should probably throw it to the outside so the survivor runs in".
Point 3.
The easiest way would be of course just setting your profile to private or play with funny hiding mode (I'm german and I can't write this word from my head, I'm also to lazy to look it up right now xD) and then close the chat in endgame. You could also be like me and collect comments, I personally collect bad comments for the most part because I find them funny, but you should probably try to collect good ones (you'd probably have to play very nice then).
Point 4.
Well I don't know what to tell you to that logic. In the end you as a killer are playing this role because you have fun playing it, people expect you to play for their fun sometimes but that's simply a dream in their head. Everyone wants to have fun themself and it sometimes colides with the other team, of course you can make it one of your goals to ensure the other teams fun too, but it should never be forced on yourself or anyone else to ensure that.
Point 5.
Well I can't really help you with that, dbd really takes ages to get really good - especially because you can't only do that with one character but with every single one in terms of killers (of course you take basics with you, but not the specific abilities you need for the different killers) xD
Sorry that I wrote so much xD
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Play Wraith.
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But I wanna play Singularity, and Vecna
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It doesnt help that i myself play a killer (xeno) who's power can be removed very easily with very little counterplay if the opposing side knows how to use them properly (hrough windows or on hills as an example). Springtrap gets stealth for moving with his doors xeno doesnt. springtrap gets a good anti loop. I get a botched camera angle with a very mid anti loop (the windup nerf wasnt needed).
they either have to make the turrets unable to shoot through windows or from a higher elevation.
they should remove the beeping sound when xeno is in the tunnel (its supposed to be a stealth thing)
xeno should get undetectable for 15 seconds when coming out of a control station
revert the tail attack nerf.
maybe highten the camera a little bit.I know i might sound like a salty killer main here but why would i play xenomorph when i can just play nemesis and get a better anti loop + infection slowdown + 2 AI buddies that spread passive pressure.
one might say oh you have tunnels. Oh these tunnels that are completely useless on multiple floored maps? Oh these tunnels that on certain maps force me to walk allll the way around a building bc the devs didnt think of making a route through a building? these tunnels?-1
