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Main killer here, got to R10 and now I keep getting 0 kills! Would like some advice.

Hello there :) I stopped playing DbD back when Huntress released, and I used to play as Survivor. I returned after Executioner debuted, and I've been enjoying killer a lot. I started off with The Trapper, having horrible matches, and being in Rank 20-18 forever, but after playing Hag, Clown (yes...) and Doctor, I managed to climb up the way to 10.

I've been interested in learning more killers, like Nightmare, Deathslinger and Huntress, and since then I started having issues getting any kill at all. At first I figured I was just failing often for trying out new killers as I leveled them up, but then I went back to my mains and... yeah, I can't get a single kill with the characters that carried me to Rank 10.

This lose streak has been going for 10 games in a row, as I'm typing this, I'm waiting for my Match Left Penalty to go 0, as I exited a game as The Doctor when the survivors figured out I was having a bad time.

All my matches seem to have people who body block hooks, body block Deathslinger chains, are full of Keys, Decsisive Strikes, etc. So, I figured I just suck and I have to be better in general, and I came to ask for advice.

I get Gen Rushed HARD; by the time I finish my first chase (which usually doesn't take long), a Gen is fixed, and survivors snowball into victory. I don't like to play dirty (Camping Hooks, etc.), I usually hook and roam towards the other generators; more often than not, there's two generators being repaired at the same time by the time I do my first hook (I know this because of Thrilling Tremors).

I've been watching popular streamers like Otz to learn more, researching builds, etc. But it's my skill that's lacking. I still haven't found a Killer that clicks with me the way Clown did (he's the killer that has given me the most victories), but I know at this point playing him is like stabbing my own leg. I also enjoy Deathslinger but I won't even try to hide the fact that 3 out of 10 shots are actual hits on survivors.

So, I'm here, trapped, regressing in ranks, unable to have a single victory while I get rushed, teabagged, and have to wait forever so Survivors just leave the gate because they're there waiting to mock me...

I know it's a long post and thanks for reading, anything I can learn will be of much use :)

Comments

  • carnage4u
    carnage4u Member Posts: 338

    Just realize you will lose a lot, because this game is designed to make you lose a lot. (it is a feature, not a bug) Some killers do well, but players many have Hundreds if not thousands of hours in this game. realize you will lose against someone with Thousands of hour in one game. how anyone can focus on 1 game that much is beyond me, but anyone that spends that much time in a game, is going to be good.

    if you specific killers like leatherface, your aoe attacks will keep them from trying to bodyblock you as you can just take a lot of them out. realize you are going to still lose to Gen rushers, because for some reason, a game that is over in a bout 5 minutes without any interaction is really fun to a lot of survivors.

    The doctor has a lot of aoe attacks and can really mess with people at those ranks especially. Just farm points. (also leatherface will get you barbecue and chilli, which i honestly love for the bloodpoints that come with it, but play a character that can get you points. Freddy is good, but you still need to level up, and get some perks.

  • bjorksnas
    bjorksnas Member Posts: 5,616

    Create new win conditions for yourself and put your nose to the grindstone to improve

    heres an example

    first game as X new killer

    use their power successfully X times

    and get 1-2 killers or X amount of hooks

    setting close and easy to reach goals will help you track your progress learning as well as keep your expectations in check

    another thing is ask for help from the community so you can practice or get advice, I know almost every killer, killer perk, killer power and addon inside and out and would be willing to help out someone newer to them

  • MadLordJack
    MadLordJack Member Posts: 8,814

    I'm gonna assume you know about mindgaming, looping, leaving good survivors alone, perks, all that stuff.

    Okay, first: totally okay for a couple of generators to pop before you get a down. That's actually what the game is balanced around, if you can believe that (they seriously punish your Gatekeeper emblem for something that's supposed to happen???).

    Second, you've got to snowball and apply pressure and generally do things that violate the Survivors Rulebook for Killers. If you've got someone on a hook and another hooked survivor, a slug or a nearly-finished generator beside them, there's no reason to get too far away. And seriously: Slug. Slug slug slug. It is the only real way to snowball map pressure. If you down someone and have another survivor nearby, don't bother hooking. Chase. Unless they are a full team on comms and can pick themselves up, that's 3 people not working on generators: the slug, the chased person, and the one that has to run over and pick up the slug.

    And a really important part is finding a killer you're good at or just enjoy. Personally, I like Blight and Slinger, who are some of the strongest killers. Unfortunately for me, they are two of the hardest killers in the game. In fact, I'd probably say that Slinger is THE hardest killer to play if you don't have a background in shooters, so you're heavily disadvantaging yourself by maining him. But, he's also super fun, so... Yay Slinger?

  • Zeidoktor
    Zeidoktor Member Posts: 2,065
    edited October 2020

    Before we begin, take anything I say with a grain of salt. I'm a very casual player and enjoy memeing when I play Killer as much as actually playing for real. My favorite build to play is Freddy loaded with Terror Radius perks, for example.

    Regarding what Killer to play, I tend to advocate playing the Killer(s) you most enjoy, reputation or strengths/weaknesses be damned. You like playing Clown, play Clown. Playing the strongest killer in the game feels pointless if you don't actually enjoy and/or aren't good at playing as them. In this case, though, that might not be helpful advice since you're still having trouble and want to try new Killers anyway. I just wanted to put that out there.

    The first thing I'd toss out is for you to consider what your specific weaknesses are, playstyle-wise. That can help you find (a) which Killers most or least complement it, and (b) give you an idea of what builds to consider.

    For example, it sounds like getting gen-rushed is your biggest problem, look closer at Perks like Pop Goes the Weasel, Corrupt Intervention, or Hex: Ruin. Can probably look at Addons that can slow other things down like Sulphuric Acid Vial for healing.

    If Items are a big issue, look at perks like Franklin's Demise, or Lightborn if you see a bunch of keys or flashlights

    Speaking for myself, I consider myself weak at tracking. This is at least one reason I like playing the Doctor. Other killers I try to keep a solid tracking perk ready to go. Spies from the Shadow isn't rated high but it's worked great for me in the past. Similarly Bloodhound is nice once in a while. Predator not so much since scratch marks usually aren't an issue for me.

    The best advice I can think of is build around your personal playstyle.

    Post edited by Zeidoktor on
  • SweetTerror
    SweetTerror Member Posts: 2,695

    Matchmaking is a s*** show. Plus your experience goes to show just why there needs to be a practice mode in DBD. Nothing worse than trying to test out a killer you've never played with before, all-the-while getting stomped over and over because you keep getting matched with or against players you never should be getting matched with.

  • Aldath
    Aldath Member Posts: 30

    Wow, those are some helpful replies, much appreciated!

    Regarding what you guys have told me, I'm quite bad at mind games, it's one of the things I'm trying to improve. I get nervous when chasing a survivor and I think it's noticeable, as they have all the time in the world to taunt me.

    I play in Latin America South servers, and the playstyle here is much more altruistic than I remember; most of the time I'm being swarmed by survivors body blocking and disarming hooks, coordinating to rush gens, and more often than not, they start the match together.

    Since ending chases quick is one of my issues, I found Clown to be a killer that helped me in that regard; however I can totally see how he falls off later. I've been told that The Nightmare is one of the strongest killers and isn't that hard to play, but honestly, I can't seem to grasp how to do with him since putting survivors into the Dream World seems to barely affect them (I know, I know it might just be me).

    I'd say my three biggest failures as a killer are...

    -Not ending chases soon because of lack of mindgames/nervousness/inability to use my powers/etc.

    -Not knowing when to patrol a hooked survivor and when to patrol generators. It usually happens that I hook, I know which gen is being repaired, and by the time I'm on my way, the generator is repaired and the survivor is unhooked. If I patrol the Survivor, usually two gens get fixed and by the time I'm looking for other survivors, the gate is open or at least other gen is repaired.

    -Still not being able to find the killer that completely clicks with me, I often bounce from killer to killer. I own everything but Legion, Pig, Ghostface, Demo, Shape and Spirit. The killers which I haven't unlocked the teachables for are Oni, Nurse, Huntress, Deathslinger, Trapper, Wraith and Nightmare, mostly because they are super low level (below 20)

  • Hex_Llama
    Hex_Llama Member Posts: 1,838

    @TheClownIsKing might want to get in on this.

    FWIW, I think, if you practice enough and raise your skill level, you can play with whatever killer you want. My personal experience with Freddy is that it's useful to fake your teleport as often as possible so that no one can tell where you're going for sure, and they might get spooked off the gens.

    Also, I relate to feeling self-concious and judged by the survivors. That's how I felt when I first started playing -- it goes away with time. If you want to practice mind games, practice mind games. Look foolish for a while. In the long run, you'll have the last laugh because you'll learn how to do it.

  • Emeal
    Emeal Member Posts: 5,167

    Keep on playing, be polite in post game chat (regardless of what turds survivors put there for you) and you will develop skill naturally like us.

    I also recommend playing survivor to learn how to think like a survivor, it helps.

  • Hamburgerlar
    Hamburgerlar Member Posts: 58

    Tunnel and guarantee yourself at least one. Ez fix. Your net gain went up 100% from 0%

  • Orion
    Orion Member Posts: 21,675

    First, learn to relax. I saw in your other comment that you get very nervous when chasing survivors; you have to get rid of that. Relax, you're just playing a game. When you've stopped being so nervous, you can start to look at the map tiles and figure out where survivors are likely to loop you and how you can trick them during chases. Keep in mind that some killers are too tall or have some other indication of where they're going (like the Plague's censer), so you can't always trick survivors.

    You also have to get rid of the notion that there's such a thing as "playing dirty". There is not. There are only plays, and some are more efficient than others. Play how you think you'll be most efficient.

    Finally, you may just need some new perks. If you find yourself getting bodyblocked a lot, I recommend Mad Grit.

  • TheClownIsKing
    TheClownIsKing Member Posts: 6,278
    edited October 2020

    Thanks for the tag.


    @Aldath as Clown it’s important to capitalise on his ability to end chases fast. Clown CAN end chases ridiculously fast, it’s just knowing how to do so and predicting how survivors will behave during a chase.

    First things first, you need to be able to be very good at spotting/finding, and tracking survivors. Without that, Clown is powerless. So learn to be extra attentive to environmental cues, and learn to predict likely hiding spots.

    If you struggle with this run tracking perks until you feel confident without them.

    Once in chases USE BOTTLES SPARINGLY. It should only average 2 bottles per chase to down a survivor. Focus on gassing the survivors pathing around a loop rather than throwing bottles AT the survivor. I.e. you want to force survivors run through a pre established gas cloud ahead of them/in their way.

    Clown STRONGLY benefits from keeping survivors injured/making it difficult to heal. Chases become EXTRAORDINARILY quick when survivors haven’t had a chance to heal before you’re in a chase with them. I tend to almost always do builds centred around Coulrophobia & Mangled.

    Don’t be afraid to slug regularly. I very often slug right out the gate. So after I down the first survivor I don’t waste any time before searching out another survivor. Bonus points if there were already other survivors about, usually hoping for a flashlight save.

    It doesn’t matter if they get revived or have unbreakable.

    • they’ve still spent a significant amount of time not helping the objective.
    • if they can’t revive themselves, then the time of another survivor is also being wasted.
    • Their bleedout timer is being reduced, meaning each subsequent slug makes the remaining survivors more desperate to revive ASAP. Meaning more wasted time.

    I tend to try to go for a one on the ground, one on a hook, one in a chase approach. So I’ll only hook once I’ve got 2 or sometimes 3 Survivors downed. It’s surprisingly effective just how much this stalls the game without using meta perks like Ruin or Corrupt.

    Hope this helps.

    Post edited by TheClownIsKing on
  • musefan
    musefan Member Posts: 345

    If you are just going to DC when you have a bad game, then I would suggest you don't bother trying to get a better rank.

    Perhaps purposefully de-pipping so you get easier games would suit you better.

  • Phaeris
    Phaeris Member Posts: 77

    Know this, don't look at survivors as players, they're just objectives. They won't give a ######### about playing fairly against you.

    No matter how you win, they will accuse you of tunnelling, camping, slugging.

    You can beat 3 of them, let the fourth go, and that one will still t bag at the exit.

    If you want to play huntress or DS be prepared to lose a hell of a lot until you learn how to shoot (as this game is not fps, you can land shots with ds which should hit yet never hit). You alos need to learn all the objects you can shoot over and shoot through, which loops short ends you can drag people around etc.

    If you want to progress ranks faster use doctor with red add ons, or freddy. Doctor is great as it just messes with players playstyles and is great for finding players who ironwill around the map.

  • IMhereRUN
    IMhereRUN Member Posts: 606

    You simply shouldn’t be Rank 10. The rank system is irrelevant, truly. You rank up way too easily as a beginning player, that you quickly find yourself out-matched because you haven’t:

    -learned basic map tiles

    -learned basic/advanced chase techniques

    -acquired perks/add-ons for your loadouts to combat the numerous free crutches survivors are using everygame

    I could go on, but it’s really as simple as I stated. Ranking up as killer as a new player is too easy. On the other end, ranking up as survivor for new players (solo) is too hard (everyone just hides, too many 1 hook deaths, too many people killing themselves and disconnecting leaving their team handicapped.

  • Kalinikta
    Kalinikta Member Posts: 709

    Tips from a fairly new player that struggled their way to the red ranks:

    • Analyze the map and take note of the generator positions. If you are able to lock down a 3 gen (near each other) that can help a lot in the late game - decide which gens are worth defending and which ones are less important.
    • Analyze the opponent you are chasing, if it is taking to long and they can play with you it just sometimes is better to break off and find someone else. Also sometimes just the smart thing to do if you are passing by someone on a gen. Try to find the weaker links in terms of loopers on the survivors end, they all M1 hold at the same speed... but they don't all loop you for the same amount of time. Once they are down the better survivors will need to help and maybe you can find them out of position etc.
    • Try to keep busy and effective with you time. If you hook someone smash the pallet, move to the gen... if they unhook before you found someone double back and hunt them down.
    • Learn when to slug (putting a survivor in a dying state on the floor and not picking them up), it isn't always in your best interest to pick them up directly and if you can have them on the floor while you chase the other a third needs to show up. You can also slug to avoid DS if you happen to down the survivor that was on hook (based on the situation it might be better to risk it etc.)
    • When being piled on with body-blockers just drop the survivor from your shoulder and slug them instead - keep in mind their wiggle state increases when you pick them back up and it isn't lost (so based on how long they wiggled and how far the hook is you might just want to leave them there), if at the hook you can also look downwards and wack them to be able to step into them and still get the hook off.
    • Watch some videos about looping and tiles, it helped me a lot to know the generics.
    • Learn to use your killers powers, when I swap killers I always struggle a little bit more each killer has its own uniqueness to them and the better you learn to use them the better you will be.
    • Don't respect pallets to often (stopping to avoid the stun) unless you notice they are a notorious instant drop pallets, but many try to be greedy and just acting like the pallet isn't there is better. Also the less pallets are up the easier your time in chases will be.
    • Don't be to bothered about the teabagging at the end, just push them out and get a hit or 2 in.. extra blood points are awarded and it ends the game quicker. Also the most satisfying thing is when they mess up and you can pick them up... it is pretty rare, but so funny.
    • If they have a key and go for the hatch, just stand there and bash the button to close it. The one with the key you cannot stop really, but you can avoid others following them. If you swing they just jump in... keys are just 'shrug' just like Mori's it alters the games win conditions and you shouldn't take these escapes to seriously. You can always put on Franklin's if you see it in the lobby and knock that key out of their hands.

    Btw. if you finish your chase and get a first hook by the time the first gen pops you are doing alright and are on track still. Remember at the start of the game you have 0 pressure and the survivors have very little to fear, the longer the game goes and the more progress you made the more difficult the game becomes for them.

  • DBD78
    DBD78 Member Posts: 3,464

    Try to surprise the survivors with your builds and addons. Doctor you mention can stack his two calm addons and with monitor and abuse he has e 10 meter TR when static blast is on cooldown. Clown use his solvent jug to rob survivors of dead hard, lithe etc. And if you need to play "dirty" using "proxy camping" tunneling etc to force survivors to make mistakes. They can make a lot of those if you guard the hook a bit and let them come to you.

    And Hag is an amazing killer just learn from Michi if nothing else. When you get the hang of her survivors are in trouble.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX5AGQiNKg0&t

  • Xbob42
    Xbob42 Member Posts: 1,117

    There's a lot of good advice here, but I bet we could help you much, much better with advice more tailored to your playstyle if you wouldn't mind using something like Shadowplay (if you're on PC) to upload a match or two where you feel things went poorly, and one where you feel like you did well.

    Even you just rewatching the match on your own with the ability to pause and assess what might have happened can offer a ton of insight into how you might have played something wrong, or how a survivor tricked you/snuck out of view. The game desperately needs a proper replay system where you can swap between all 5 viewpoints and even have a freecam/overhead map. People would get SO much better at the game with that kind of ability to assess games. It should be one of their top priorities, behind making sure the game functions, of course. I think it's that important.

  • GoodBoyKaru
    GoodBoyKaru Member Posts: 22,809

    This might sound really weird but if there's a lot of bodyblocking going on, try out a perk like Forced Penance (The Executioner, Level 30; survivors who take protection hits are broken and can't heal) or Mad Grit (The Legion, level 35; you have no cooldown on missing a swing whilst carrying someone, and whenever you land a hit whilst carrying someone (when they bodyblock you), the wiggle timer is paused for a couple seconds (2/3/4 depending on perk rarity I believe)).

  • kaeru
    kaeru Member Posts: 1,568

    Couple of advices I wish to give myself back when I was rank 10.

    • Don't respect pallets. Don't be affraid to be stunned for couple of seconds. Swing through the pallet if you can reach survivor. Make survivor waste pallet even if it cost you a stun, and it will save you much more time than constant respecting of pallet.
    • Don't worry about first gen. Survivors always do first gen in first 30-40 seconds of the match. Gens will slow down naturally after first hook.
    • Survivors often run dead hard. If survivor doesn't show any different exaustion perk, wait out for dead hard before swing.
    • If survivors walking when you aproach him, he probably have sprint burst and baiting you for swing. Don't swing, run further untill sprint burst is wasted.
    • When you chasing someone and see survivor repairing gen, drop your chase and switch target to gen jockey. Yes, killing is important to win, but protecting gens important to not lose. You can catch up to lost survivor eventually, but you can't unrepair gen.
    • Don't waste your time on kicking gens without PGTW if you see survivors nearby. This may seem crazy, but trust me, it's useless. They will undo your regress in no time. But if you don't waste your time on kicking gen, you will reach survivor much faster. (Surge can kick gens for you if you have this perk and you are m1 killer)
  • kaeru
    kaeru Member Posts: 1,568

    I have seen low rank killers that refuse to hit bodyblockers entirely. And it always ends bad. It's a good idea to hit bodyblockers, even if it cause survivor escape from grab. They giving you free pressure when all of them are injured and not doing gens. Sucks if there is all gens done, but hitting bodyblockers is always a good idea.

  • GoodBoyKaru
    GoodBoyKaru Member Posts: 22,809

    This ^^

    If you can hit someone whilst carrying another, do it. Free pressure, it's amazing.

  • Creepa99
    Creepa99 Member Posts: 80

    Same here. I'm rank 10 consistently playing against red ranks and when I don't ay against red ranks I play against rank 15's that I kill in like 5 mins because of how inexperienced they are. The skill gap in this game is non existent either people are extremely good or extremely bad. It's infuriating.

  • spiritnurse
    spiritnurse Member Posts: 8

    Biggest tips is to make sure to be time efficient - Pressure multiple survivors at once, always be doing something valuable, know when to take your ** out of a strong loop, etc etc.

    If you don't want a gen popping too fast early game try my hit-and-run tactic: Find multiple people on the same gen, if the first person you chase brings you REALLY far away, recognise that they are trying to put YOU out of position to pressure their teammates. You turn around, let them escape and go right back and smack their teammates. Who cares if they have medkits, Self-Care or each other to heal. If they use medkits you can make them waste it early game, if they use Self-Care they're wasting time. If they heal each other that's a minimum of two survivors not doing objectives. These are all wins in my book.

  • UnbeatableAsh
    UnbeatableAsh Member Posts: 101

    Practice, try out different killers now while there's less pressure, watch some tofu/otz. But most of all, try n have fun. It might take time, but you'll get there. Killer takes a lot more learning than survivor.

  • Aldath
    Aldath Member Posts: 30

    Hey there again! I've been reading all your comments and I'm very grateful for your advice, and it's nice to see another clown main ;w;

    I'm at work so my reply will be short. I had a match today after reading your advice, never really tried slugging before. I picked Nightmare and went for the "slug, hook, chase" approach and my God, it worked. Survivors repaired 4 gens and I had to learn who to slug and who to hook, but in the end I got the four of them :)

    I'll try to elaborate more on my builds later, but again, thanks for all the advice!

  • TheWarNung
    TheWarNung Member Posts: 794

    So.....

    You know Terror Radius perks don't work on survivors who are asleep, right?

    When a survivor enters the dream world they gain the Oblivious status, which makes them unable to hear your terror radius. Instead they hear a "lullaby" (Freddy's theme song) which is locked at 32m.

    Your perks are only affecting survivors for a small portion of the game.

  • legacyrisky
    legacyrisky Member Posts: 10

    I play nurse I'm definitely not the best with her but in decent I'm stuck around 13 and I really don't care for kills as long as I can down and hook I know I'm at least getting better and better also I consider a win two kills even then if I get everyone down to last hook I still consider it a win

  • Zeidoktor
    Zeidoktor Member Posts: 2,065

    Yes, that's the meme. It's fun when you actually get IF to work. Once had someone get salty at me for using IF and BBQ on Freddy.

  • SMitchell8
    SMitchell8 Member Posts: 3,302

    Similar story for me. Started to play killer 60% and shot through the ranks up until 12. Then, games became noticeably much harder. Found that I won some and lost some, got lucky and got unlucky. At R11 now. Best tip, learn from your mistakes. Let them outplay / outperk you instead of making mistakes and making it easy for them.

  • mydogmax19
    mydogmax19 Member Posts: 266

    I especially liked how you explained the importance of eliminating pallets in a match because itll make loops weaker which makes it a breeze when going into chases. Very important information. Dont be wary of pallets the lesser the better. Overall, excellent advice!

  • mydogmax19
    mydogmax19 Member Posts: 266

    I agree with this. Taking clips of a finished match can really help to see what you did good or wrong and how you can do better in future matches. It helps me all the time.