My suggestions to improve the New Player experience

melissayeti

I'm currently working on teaching my sister in law how to play DBD. She loves horror and I thought she would really enjoy the game. However after 40+ killers, well over 200 perks in the game, there is A LOT to learn. After walking through the tutorial with her, I've made a list of things to help improve the new player experience so people don't feel so overwhelmed and walk away.

My biggest grip about this game is the bare minimum that the tutorial shows you. Also, the manual is absolute pain to actually go through. I am a visual learner, videos and pictures help me best. Reading through text DOES NOT stick in my head. I feel like a revamp of how the information is presented will help so many future players.

First and foremost I feel like the visual heartbeat should be defaulted as on, and show players where to go in the menus to turn off if they want to. The visual heartbeat helps so many players understand the terror radius a lot better and it was the very first thing I told my SIL to do before we even started.

Reworking Survivor Tutorial:
1. The beginning explaining movement, there should be a short tutorial explaining how to look behind while running (turning your mouse and holding S instead of W, or how to do so on controller)
2. Have an actual CHASE with the killer and throw pallet, not just throwing the pallet. Encourage survivor to vault 3 times to show that the window will be blocked.
3. Show a little video of what a skill check is/sounds like and where to hit the skill check, explaining a great skill check gives more progress. Explain missing a skill check stops progress for 3 seconds. Trying to help my SIL when to hit spacebar was making me go crazy. She kept thinking the second she hears the skill check sound she had to hit it.
4. When finding the next gen, show that its regressing and that you have to progress the gen to the mark to stop the regression. Explain about the gen kick limit. Explain why your bar is "red" when repairing with another survivor.
5. When stepping in a trap, allow the survivor to attempt more than once to escape the trap. Have Meg step in a trap and show how to help them from the trap.
6. HEAL AFTER THE UNHOOKING! Show that skill checks do pop up when healing and again explain missing a skill check stops progress
7. Have both survivors can hooked a second time, while also showing the anti-camp meter and how you can unhook yourself. Have the killer bot hit you off of hook to show Endurance and how it works, then showing that you need to mend yourself. (currently this is no where in the tutorial).
7. Have a section to explain status effects. Show commonly used perks that have those status effects. Show having Sprint Burst and how it works, indicating you're exhausted and how to remove exhaustion. Show Exposed and how you go down in one shot.
8. Have a section explaining items/totems/chests and how they work. I'm not saying to include add ons, but add an additional survivor tutorial section specifically for these. How to use a flashlight, how to use medkit on self/teammate, how to use toolbox on gen/hook, how a map works, how a key works/showing a key can open hatch. This can also show tool tips of the item being depleted. Show how to drop said item. Show a chest. Show a dull totem, show a hex totem (use ruin to show the gen regressing, then cleanse said hex), have survivor "equip" COH and boon a totem and explain the radius, have survivor go away from the radius to see the aura of the totem.

Reworking Killer Tutorial:
1. First and foremost, indicate that you ARE faster than survivors, and show a tool tip that in the settings you can increase your FOV
2. Indicate that you can vault like survivors but are slower
3. Explain the gen kick limit when kicking a gen
4. Show Trapper can be stunned when stepping in his own trap
5. Show some type of aura reading to display how lockers remove aura reading
6. Encourage Killer to stand by hook to show the anti-camp from the killer's POV, hitting survivor with Endurance to show they won't go down but people into the mending state.
7. Explain how each survivor needs to be hooked 3 times to be sacrificed. Explain mori's (showing offering) and use a mori at the end.
8. Killer's own section of explaining status effects, including bloodlust and how/why it activates.
9. Killer's defense to items (be weary of flashlights, show a survivor saboing, show survivor booning a totem and how it looks/sounds from their POV (also show that you can interrupt the blessing). Also show survivor using key and that you can pull them off as well.

Survivor Bot Game:
1. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD EQUIP PERKS!! You play as Dwight, AT LEAST use his three teachables. Play a video showcasing what the 3 perks do prior to the match starting
2. Explain there are 7 gens on the map, 5 need done
3. Explain the hud elements with tool tips for each action (survivor in chase, healing, working on gen, recovering). Currently there is no indication during the match, I understand these are explained in the manual but again, NO ONE READS THE MANUAL. Little pop up tool tips goes a long way.
4. When survivor goes down, explain to look for their aura on the ground, show direction of aura on hook. My SIL had no clue about these elements and I had to explain to her. Tool tip explaining HUD and who should go for unhook. (like hey, this survivor is in chase, this survivor has a hook and on a gen, you're healthy with no hooks, you should go for the unhook).
5. After escaping, FORCE survivor to spectate match, explain the end game collapse and the length of time (2 up to 4 mins and why). Have a survivor bot die to the end game collapse

Killer Bot Game:
1. Equip Trapper's 3 teachables and quick video explaining how they work prior to match
2. Encourage to pick up and set traps (explain killer items are in white aura). As my SIL was playing she did not grab a trap once. I feel like I shouldn't have to tell her what to do, you would think the game would encourage you to use your power.
3. Have survivor bots use items (flashlight, use tool box to sabo, boon perk to encourage snuffing) to better showcase items being used in game.
4. Explain tracking with crows and how they work
5. Have a tool tip pop up when in bloodlust (tool tip encouraging they may want to leave chase). Tool tip to encourage breaking a pallet
6. Tool tip pop up about a lunge attack

General improvements:
1. VIDEOS TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING! Video showcasing general survivor and killer perks. A video explaining each character's 3 unique perks and how to determine when they're in play from the opposite role. These could be sections in each character's bio.
2. LET PEOPLE TEST KILLERS IN CUSTOMS PRIOR TO PURCHASE
3. Customs should be able to have a killer as a bot so you can see from the survivor's POV how to counter said killer. I love that bot killers are becoming a thing thanks to 2v8, but each killer should be able to be a "bot" in a custom match.
4. Each killer has a video explaining how their power works and how to play against them as survivor, again this should be in their bio and accessible even if you don't own the character.
5. Each killer has a video explaining their add ons and how they effect the power.
6. Each patch update should have a quick video explaining ANY CHANGES and be able to be VIEWED IN GAME! Stop encouraging people to check the socials!
7. Rework manual to have videos/pictures showcasing all the above including a video explaining offerings
8. When using the bloodweb for the first time, video explaining how the bloodweb works, explain when you reach prestige 1 you unlock that character's perks on everyone.
9. For the sake of the games coding, eliminate perk tiers. This would mean to rework the prestige system a bit but I genuinely believe removing perk tiers would go a long way. It would also improve the bloodweb experience, unlocking perks faster.
10. Increase shards you earn in game
11. Rework Shrine of Secrets: Choose ANY 2 perks you can unlock with your shards each week. Hell you can increase the current price if you want. Im sick of free character perks being available in the shrine.

There are so many of us in the Creator Program, I'm sure many creators would love to help create quick videos that can be accessible in the game rather than needing to encourage new players to search through Youtube channels to find what they're looking for. I know if I was a new player in 2026, I would not stick around to learn this game, you absolutely need a friend to help explain how everything works.