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Why is tunneling so bad?

I'm a killer main, in the most matches I don't tunnel but when there is already 3 gens done and I'm still chasing 1 survivor I try to maximise my awards by killing so many as I can.

I'd don't know why is it so bad, I think its a good tactic to get blood points

Please go easy on me lol. This is my second week playing this game.

Best Answer

Answers

  • Diggly
    Diggly Member Posts: 112

    Tunneling is often seen as being bad because it deprives some players of actually playing the match, it can be a good strategy but it is often better for you as the killer, and the survivors you are fighting if you go for the person who unhooked the other player, instead of the player who just got off the hook. Play the game however you like though.

    Also, if a survivor is dragging you on a loop too long, leave them. Your best bet is to spread damage, often times 3 or more injured players is better pressure than 1 person on a hook. Try and get people into areas where they don't have many defenses, or target the players who are bad at looping/losing the killer

  • EvilJoshy
    EvilJoshy Member Posts: 5,295
    edited June 2020

    Do whatever helps you complete your objective. The survivors justify everything when it comes to their objective and they should learn to accept "I'd do the same thing in their position"

    I had a match on the new map. I couldnt find anyone except an Ace. I downed him and left. I still couldn't find anyone so I went back to his hook after he was saved. I couldnt see the trail of who saved him so I followed his blood. There was no one else to chase. I hooked him again and the same thing happened. In the end game chat I didn't apologize for what I did to him but I did explain I only went after him because I couldn't find anyone else.

  • Orion
    Orion Member Posts: 21,675

    This is exactly why I stopped using MYC. If it showed the the unhooker's aura or something, it might be worth running. As it is, I was running back to the hook, which takes up about a quarter of the timer, and trying to find someone who's healthy and could be hiding anywhere vs. someone bleeding and moaning.

  • EvilJoshy
    EvilJoshy Member Posts: 5,295
    edited June 2020

    That's why I like MYC on fast killers like my Nurse or Hag. It encourages you to go after the person who made the save. This spreads out the dmg and slows the game down. Sadly it doesn't work too well on slower killers. Then there's the chance 2 people went to make the save. They are double healing at the hook and you have to guess who is exposed.

  • Orion
    Orion Member Posts: 21,675

    In my experience, it doesn't matter if the killer is fast or slow unless they can be there instantly, like the Hag, because the unhooker will be gone by the time you get there.

  • Zeidoktor
    Zeidoktor Member Posts: 2,065

    To give an example of the bad kind of tunneling: yesterday I had a game against a Demogorgon. I went down early, that in itself is fine, I'm not great, it happens. Demogorgon went on to camp me and, when teammates finally got me off, focused on me exclusively. Rinse and repeat and I'm dead not long after with less than 5,000 points to show for it and very little I could do about it because the killer is (a) right there when I'm saved and (b) on me again immediately. If you've ever been on the wrong end of a game like this, your can appreciate just how frustrating it is. Especially since, in that kind of situation, there's very little you can do to stop it unless your have truly Got Gud, which I have not.

    For myself, when I'm killer and I can re- down someone fresh off the hook right away, I'll do it, but I won't re-hook them and won't interfere with their being picked up. Basically I'm not so toxic I'll tunnel someone into oblivion, but also not so nice I won't take the additional pressure if I can get it. I'll leave them the chance to stay in the game and get more points.

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    There are two reasons it’s considered bad by some:

    • It’s simply not a very good strategy against really good survivors. Focusing on one person and putting no pressure on the others is a great way to lose every gen. If you’re playing against a smart team with people who know how to loop you’ll have to deal with BT, DS and teammates bodyblocking you which will waste a lot of your time. It’s usually just better to spread the pain a little.
    • If the survivor is not very good then you kill them quickly and they can’t do anything. They get no bloodpoints, they depip and feel frustrated and annoyed. This is the main reason survivors complain about it.

    Sometimes tunnelling is the right move, e.g. if there’s one gen left and you need someone dead. But usually it’s not a great habit to get into since it’s easy for coordinated teams to punish it.

  • tippy2k2
    tippy2k2 Member Posts: 5,199

    You are certainly free to tunnel but I will curse your name :D

    It's basically one of those "unsportsman" ways to play. You're certainly free to do it but you're using cheap tactics that also essentially ruin one individuals game.

    Personally as a killer, I feel it's a terribly boring way to play but I'm also not all that concerned with getting 4Ks so I don't tunnel. I won't ignore someone if they're the only one I see but if I ever have an option to go after someone else instead, I will. I just think it makes the game more fun for all involved since if you tunnel someone out super early, the other survivors have a tendency to turtle up and just hide from you rather than risk being the next tunnel victim. It almost certainly has cost me games not tunneling but I'd rather have a fun game than "win" with a 4k.

  • Gdfighter
    Gdfighter Member Posts: 8

    Omg thank you guys for your support I thought Im gonna be stoned for this

  • NinjaDette1
    NinjaDette1 Member Posts: 1,289

    This I 100% agree on as a survivor and killer main myself.

  • clem1710
    clem1710 Member Posts: 275

    Tunneling is totally fine. It's a legit strat, but survivors always complain about it, even though no one ask them to play in a certain way.

  • Zeidoktor
    Zeidoktor Member Posts: 2,065

    I mainly avoid serious tunneling because it's the one thing that genuinely angers me when I play and, frankly, I do not want to inflict that on others.

  • tippy2k2
    tippy2k2 Member Posts: 5,199

    If I was playing DBD for millions of dollars, I would 1000% agree.

    But we're not playing DBD for millions of dollars (if we were, I'd use every single dirty trick in the book to get my 4K :P).

    We're playing a fun game for the fun of it. Yes, tunneling can be super effective but most survivors (and some killers, including yours truly) find it to be a cheap tactic that sucks the fun out of the game.

    People are 100% allowed to do it. I feel like it sucks the fun out of the game for everyone involved but it's their call to determine if they tunnel.

  • Orion
    Orion Member Posts: 21,675

    Yes, I know it's not fun. I even said so. Losing isn't supposed to be fun.

    I've been tunneled out of trials before. I remember a Hillbilly who would chainsaw away, chase a survivor for a few seconds, then come back just as I was unhooked and chainsaw me again. Was it fun? No. Was it fair? Yes.

    I've also rushed gens when someone else was being camped. It's not fun for anyone involved, but hey, that's how you counter these things.

    If the game had everything that's "not fun" removed from it, we wouldn't have a game at all. We'd have a lobby simulator with reading on the side (lore).

    It's a PvP game. You should expect PvP-style gameplay. And that means people are playing to win, not to amuse you.

  • JordanMalicious
    JordanMalicious Member Posts: 383

    Tunneling isn't bad imo. It just feels bad to get tunneled as a survivor. It isn't as much of a hit if you get tunneled later in the game after you've actually accomplished an objective of something.

  • xXCAM3R0NXx
    xXCAM3R0NXx Member Posts: 387

    If you tunnel players, that's fine, it's toxic, but it's not against any rules :). Just don't get mad when survivors flashlight you at pallets, bodyblock n sabo, and taunt you whilst being chased.

    They're all toxic strats by survivors, just like tunneling is a toxic strat by killers, fair play :).

  • TheClownIsKing
    TheClownIsKing Member Posts: 6,278

    Nobody, other than moderators, are in any position to tell anybody whether they should or shouldn’t be playing the game.

  • Axe
    Axe Member Posts: 1,060

    Its not, just salty people will complain how you ruin their fun experience.

    Kill them all and show no mercy

  • sulaiman
    sulaiman Member Posts: 3,219

    I just would like the same rules would also apply to survivors. Like, if the killer chases you away from a gen, you are not allowed to come back to it, unless you worked on another gen first. I mean, the survivors objective is to do 5 gens, not just one, so they should spread that out, shouldnt they?

    Yet, noone seems to play by such a rule. I wonder why...

  • WretchedElk
    WretchedElk Member Posts: 311

    I played a game last night where the survivors felt they were tunnelled, but it was really just bad strategy on their part.

    They kept looping around one gen and hook. They were also doing that thing where they’re really active and dive bombing, so they were easy to spot.

    After it became obvious what they were doing every time they did the loop I went back to the hook or gen and found one of them.

    I had one survivor on the hook three times in five minutes. They all DC’d in the end. They really needed to leave the area. This strategy was giving me easy hooks.

  • LethalPugy
    LethalPugy Member Posts: 493

    Sure it may not be fun for one party of the game. But being murdered probably isn’t supposed to be fun. At the end of the day, you’re a killer. Your job is to kill.

  • Hex_Llama
    Hex_Llama Member Posts: 1,834

    Wait, why isn't losing supposed to be fun? Is the person who wins the only one who's meant to enjoy the game?

  • ReSpEcTtHe4PeRcEnT
    ReSpEcTtHe4PeRcEnT Member Posts: 67

    I think many people forget that the game is about having fun. It's not like you get payed for getting a 4K or something lol and red rank is nothing to be proud of in this game tbh (shared opinion with my red rank survivor/killer friends) There's also a difference between hardcore tunneling from the start on and just tunneling because you're being 'genrushed'. In the latter it's totally fine by me. I play both roles so I know how it feels to be genrushed and sometimes you don't have another choice.

    Just try to give the other side a chance to play the game. And with this I mean don't genrush like crazy as survivor and don't hardcore tunnel/camp (when it's not necessary) as killer. But you stated you don't tunnel in most matches and do it when necessary so that's totally fine. Nothing to feel bad about.

    The reasons I think can 'justify' tunneling are being genrushed, going against red rank SWF, a toxic survivor taunting you, ...

    Just remember the other side aren't some bot(s) you face. The game must be fun for both sides. At the end of the day no one can force you to play a certain way but it would be fun if survivors wouldn't teabag at every pallet and killers wouldn't hardcore tunnel/camp.

    I bet the hardcore tunnel killers are same who cry about DS (crutch af I know but so is NOED) being unbalanced. DS is the way it is because of those hardcore tunnelers.

    And again: I play both sides, I'm not trying to be entitled, don't stab me. :P

  • AvisDeene
    AvisDeene Member Posts: 2,396

    Actually, I may be the only one that does this, but if a Killer shows me pity early in the match, due to realizing I have potato (or douche bag) teammates, and goes out of the way to avoid me, I will go to the basement at the end of the match and let them kill me.

    I had a Ghostface who was chasing a Cheryl to my hook. She unhooked me in front of him and I just stood there like, okay Mr Ghostface, hook me again so I could leave this crap group behind. He stopped, looked at me, and then turned around and went after the Cheryl. I let him kill me at the end and enjoyed doing so.

    But yea, I agree with your sentiments. Survivors have no right to complain about getting tunneled when they don’t offer the same sportsmanship. They do everything in their power to win, why shouldn’t the Killer?

  • KingFrost
    KingFrost Member Posts: 3,014

    People tend not to like things that aren't fun for them.

    Play however you want. Just remember the other side will do the same against you, and if you don't think they should complain about being tunneled, you shouldn't complain about them using DS and Unbreakable and bringing Keys. After all, they're just countering your play style.

  • Kalinikta
    Kalinikta Member Posts: 709

    Don't worry to much about what the survivors guide to being a killer, it has fairly little to do with making the game fun for you.

    Tunneling, slugging and even camping are tools in your arsenal and if you use them at the correct times they will win you games. Just don't rely to heavy on any one tool, it isn't going to help you get better but by all means use them all when the time calls for it.

    You are not responsible for keeping the survivors alive, their teammates are there for that. Focus on your own gameplan and let them worry about theirs, they use any trick in the book to make it out... so why should you not do the same to kill them?

    Killers always need to get gud and not use all the tools in the book, while survivors need killers to give them some slack and consider their fun... instead of becoming good themselves. Good survivors punish the overuse of any given tool.

  • DBD78
    DBD78 Member Posts: 3,463

    Being tunneled as solo survivor is the worst thing since your team seldom helps you, not enough for it to help anyway. And playing killer I think it's boring to just go for one survivor so I don't do that plus I know how it feels.

    But I also know it's not against any rules so I won't trashtalk anyone who tunnels either. Play how you want to play.

  • UMCorian
    UMCorian Member Posts: 531
    edited October 2020

    It all depends on the reason, IMHO.

    If your slugging to avoid DS, fine. If one is on hook, you just downed another and you see another close, then it's a very good idea to slug. It really shouldn't be considered toxic.

    If your slugging out of the gate as your go-to strategy, it's a bit mean spirited and poor form. While it can be effective, especially against a bunch of disorientated solo queuers, it means more downtime for survivors and in the event of certain strategies/playstyles conflicting, it can basically mean a long circle jerk, as you manage to consistently keep downing folks as fast as they revive while they make no gen progress and you make no sacrifice progression - that just isn't really fun for anyone IMHO.

  • Accullla
    Accullla Member Posts: 984

    Tunnelling, aka having tunnel vision, aka ignoring gens and other survivors in favour of a single survivor for whatever reason is never a good idea. Look at the big picture - sometimes the person who just got unhooked is in a way stronger position (or way better in chases) than the person who unhooked. Obviously this doesn't only apply to people who just got unhooked. So often have I seen people chasing a single survivor for the whole match and then wondering why they lost.

    In short, if you don't think why you're doing what you're doing, tunneling will make you lose pretty much as often as it helps you win.

    That said, if I play survivor I'm happy to get tunnelled all game - this means I got to have all the fun and none of the boring gen work.

  • Thrax
    Thrax Member Posts: 974
    edited October 2020

    late game and early game tunneling/camping/slugging are different.


    give people a chance. i had more for this but i suddenly g2g

  • getting chased to the point you can't do anything is unfun, its just as bad as genrushing

  • Felnex
    Felnex Member Posts: 334
    edited November 2020

    From a strategic standpoint, tunneling makes a lot of sense: 3 hooks you're out, if you spread hooks out across the whole team evenly you will lose. The sooner you can knock a player out of the game, the bigger of an advantage it is. And since Survivors are injured coming off the hook (and the one rescuing them is healthy) you're further incentivized to "tunnel".

    The downside is that it's absolutely miserable from the Survivor's perspective. The hook is like the respawn timer in other games: You got caught, now suffer a timeout. The problem with DBD is that you are not guaranteed a chance to play the game after your timer runs out, in fact you may get stuck with another timer right away. You're not able to enjoy the game because you're constantly staring at your character on a hook, wondering why you bother with a fundamentally unfair game.

    Solution? I don't know! The game is, as I said, fundamentally unfair. Just enjoy the highs and lows and hope next game will be better, and they'll tunnel someone else. The game right now, apart from Borrowed Timer and DS, is designed to encourage tunneling.

  • Moundshroud
    Moundshroud Member Posts: 4,458

    Tunneling is neither bad nor good. It is just a tactic which is applied as dictated by the situation in a given match. The same is true for camping, slugging, and the Mori. They are all valid tactics and are in the toolbox for a reason. Used incorrectly they will hurt you more than help you as a Killer. Used correctly, when a situation actually calls for it, they can save you from the jaws of defeat.

    Tunneling has a lot of risks associated with it:

    1. You can get "tunnel vision" and focus so much on one Survivor that you over commit to chases and give up other opportunities.
    2. There are Perks, like Decisive Strike, which will can punish you for tunneling.
    3. There are tactics the Survivors can use to block tunneling, and or take advantage of your focus on one target.

    For example, if I realize we have a tunneler I will usually take advantage of it to get them to chase/tunnel me and lead them through the best selections of pallets I can and take the Killer as far away on the map from the rest of the Survivors as possible. The more time I buy them the better. People who tunnel, often camp because they want to be in position to tunnel when that Survivor is unhooked. Thus, I can not only waste the Killer's time in the chase, I can also side line them if I picked route to move into a section of the map that is remote and already cleared of Generators that need working. Do you follow? In short, tunneling can be used effectively to remove a Survivor, cutting the head off the snake if you feel a specific person needs to go, but its value beyond that is dubious. You often give up more than you get.

  • Mew
    Mew Member Posts: 1,832

    it takes away any interaction with the killer from the other 3 survivors, which will make the game boring

    also, the game becomes a gen rush fest to get out of the game as soon as possible, so most of the time the game is done in less than 5 minutes

  • gibblywibblywoo
    gibblywibblywoo Member Posts: 3,772

    Pretty much this.

    If you stick with killer you'll improve with time and learn how to spread pressure better. Tunneling is absolutely a last ditch effort if I've fallen behind, but it IS a legit strategy. However if you go into a match with the intent to tunnel you're just kind of an ass.

  • carnage4u
    carnage4u Member Posts: 338

    being tunneled feels like crap.

    I try to ask myself. Why was I tunneled?

    --- It is often because another survivor unhooks at a very unsafe moment and the gives the killer a free down. (or the survivor who does the unhook does something to lose visual with with killer faster, so killer just takes the route they see) -

    ----I seem to be tunneled a lot more when wear bloody claudette skin when when I don't (so some killers are like Screw that impossible to see survivor and if they get lucky early they won't give the invisible clauddette a second chance to get away and then be unseen until the end.

    --- Mid to late game tunneling/slugging just may be the only chance the killer has to do anything.

    The random start near killer and get unlucky to cross path right away thenget hooked, and get tunneled will never feel good, but getting taken out is what happens to survivors time to time. It is one of those things that angers me the most, but I really try hard to get over it. The worst case scenario? I lose a pip. What does that pip do for me in reality? Nothing but effect my ego and why the ######### am I caring that much about a PIP.