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I might have figured out how to shut down that build...

https://youtu.be/ZAfre5sc1Ro

So, someone on the forums made a topic about this, screaming to nerf it, etc. And I will admit, this is a strong build. But I think it can be countered. Now, this will be long... but it's important. I am tired so I am sorry if I mess this up.

This post is an attempt to give some counterplay ideas, along with somewhat of a step by step. Some of these are actually common game sense decisions. While this may seem daunting, this plays out FAR faster in-game.

This build revolves around defenses that prevent the other from easily being shutdown. You guard the box as Cenobite, injuring people and applying Face the Darkness when they come for the box. Thrill slows down attempts to cleanse Face the Darkness so that the scream can trigger and reset all progress, and Sloppy prevents people from healing and disabling Face the Darkness so Thrill can be destroyed. And with chain hunt active, this helps disrupt people even more from totems and healing and creates a seemingly "unwinnable" game for Survivors.

However, because of how this build works, if one defense is shutdown... the other defenses become exposed. Take down one, even if temporarily, and you can target another.

The ideal scenario is to target one defense after another: Chain Hunt, then FoD (via healing to disable it temporarily), Thrill, then target FoD itself. Thrill being cleansed is what actually destroys this build. The build completely falls apart with this being destroyed since FoD gains a permanent hole in it's defense. No Thrill means that it can be cleansed before screaming happens, and you can have someone throw themselves at Pinhead to remove the box if Chain Hunt is active.

Dismantling this build can be done easily with even just a 2 man casual SWF if both players know how this build works and are communicating. Solo is much, much harder but I think it can be done. With true idiot teammates, I don't think it's possible, but if at least one or two other solos know what to do OR you point out Hexes to your solo teammates before trying to dismantle this build, you have a chance... but let's get down to what to actually do, now that we've set things up.

Let's go with the build in the video, and assume the worst. You didn't find the Thrill before FtD could be applied, multiple people are injured, and now you're stuck unable to get rid of hexes, and Pinhead is camping the box, most likely with Insidious. What do you do?

So, with Pinhead guarding the box, you know where he is. Yes, chains are being shot at you constantly, and you can't heal... but you know where he's going to be. And THAT means you can run around without risk. Especially if you're the Cursed survivor. If you go down, FoD gets removed, and that's bad for Pinhead.

Find and locate the hexes first (if you are solo, lead teammates to them and specifically point them out, use emotes to tell them to follow you, there is a good chance they will follow you if they are clueless on what to do), then either try to remove Chain Hunt by getting rid of the box, or (optionally) try to disable FoD/Thrill/a Dull Totem via bodyblocking to prevent the chains from interrupting the cleanser. If you are interrupted via a scream, hop back on immediately and try again, you should get it cleansed with one second remaining if other people's math is correct. If this optional tactic fails, then target Chain Hunt itself.

Run at the box, and do your best to pick it up. It does not matter if you go down with it, just grab the box. If you have DH, use to take a hit, then grab the box. If you do not, run at the box and try to make Pinhead miss a swing, then grab the box while he's in hit cooldown. If you go down with the box, Pinhead is forced to solve it, and a opening is created. If you don't go down with the box... then you will need to crawl away and be picked up by someone, then consider rushing the box with another Survivor OR have someone else rush the box while you're downed. Even with Chain Hunt and FoD active, if you are fully recovered you should be easily picked up by another Survivor.

If you can kidnap the box and loop him, do it. That's more time without the hunt ticking down. If you are in a SWF and you have the box, tell your teammates to heal the Cursed survivor, or heal everyone until the Cursed Survivor is healed, then target Thrill. If you do that, you basically beat this build. No FoD active means that Thrill can't be interrupted. Which poses a problem. If Hunt becomes active again, grab the box again.

If you go down immediately, it does not matter if you're in a SWF. If Pinhead is running Chatterer's Tooth, then Pinhead will move to where the next box is. Have your teammates heal the Cursed Survivor (or everyone if they don't know who is Cursed) while Chain Hunt is ticking down, then target Thrill.

If your solo teammates realize that FoD is gone, then they can get the idea to target Thrill, especially if you pointed it out to them earlier. If someone else goes down to get rid of the box, then you need to heal the Cursed Survivor ASAP, then target Thrill.

If you are the Cursed Survivor and you are unable to be healed, consider throwing yourself at Pinhead to force him into a lose-lose scenario where Pinhead loses a defense. This can work because FoD is ALSO disabled if the Cursed Survivor goes down, not just if they're healed. You can force him to lose FoD if this works, and if you can grab the box before that, you've effectively made Thrill defenseless.

If you are unable to locate Thrill before Hunt comes back, consider breaking the nearest totem so you can break Hex totems more easily later on. FoD's defense comes from making Survivors scream. If even a single Dull Totem is cleansed, then removing Chain Hunt leaves both hexes defenseless.

If Pinhead is deviating from the build in the video, try figuring out what he's running and adapting to it.

And finally... Pinhead needs people injured in order for FoD to do it's thing. If your SWF or solos quickly realize what this build does and snipe Thrill before Chain Hunt or FoD can be applied, then this build falls apart. Or, y'know, any Survivor follows "if it glows, it goes" and destroys any Hex they see.

This is the end for now. Despite what I've said, I think that this build could use a nerf or two, simply because a lot of Survivors are bad and this becomes very difficult in solo queue, requiring extra preparation like pointing out Hexes and Dull Totems to Survivors before going down to remove Chain Hunt, then them actually doing the totems. Not to mention that while this build can be very quickly destroyed in a SWF and this build becomes dysfunctional if a solo queue happens upon Thrill early, it's still exhausting to escape once the trap springs and it's a noob stomper.

Other variations on this build exist, and I would like to try and explain how to deal with those as well... tomorrow. I'm tired, good night.

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