How to get over the fear of playing killer?

I used to be pretty anxious on killer when I first started several years ago too, here's what helped me, maybe it will help you:

• Familiarity. The more I got accustomed to the killer role, the easier it got for me. I can still get anxious sometimes but it's not nearly as bad as it was when I started. What really helps is experiencing killer in a stress-free environment - playing against bots might help (those weren't in the game for me), but I utilized KYF games and youtube videos. By playing in a KYF with people I knew, there was no stress in playing the role and I could de-stress by talking to them on call as I played. I also got more accustomed to how killer works by watching others play the role. These helped me get familiar with the killer role and might help you.
• Mindset. This might not be an issue for you, but for me it was something I needed to work on. It's different for everyone, but try to give yourself a reasonable, non-stressful goal starting out that you can accomplish without stressing yourself out. Instead of worrying about winning, or getting X amount of hooks, try going in with the goal of getting better with a certain killer's power, or learning how certain killer interactions work. Maybe you can try getting the hang of Pyramid Head's power, or have a goal to learn the best places to put trails to torment survivors. Something small that doesn't depend on winning the match can reduce your anxiety if you're stressed about performing well. If you're able to, the best goal to have is simply to have fun, but that's not a realistic expectation for everyone - killer can be stressful!

Best of luck learning the killer role. It can be a blast to play sometimes and I hope you enjoy it!

Hello ! I started playing killer a few months ago, and I'm not sure there's an universal way of destressing when playing killer, but I can tell you what worked for me. =)

I'm a very non competitive person at heart, DbD is even the only pvp game I play regularly. Because of that, I have a very casual mindset. I'm playing to have fun, and for me that means that everyone is (hopefully) having fun.

That means I play very fair, maybe a bit too much. (Once again, not telling you how to play, just how it works for me). I might be losing a few more kills than I could get, but it keeps me in a level where people are playing chill and for fun more than anything.

When faced with some BM (which is much rarer for me than apparently is the norm), like a survivor teabagging a little after a pallet stun, I usually headbang or spin in return. It makes it so that it's not them making fun of me anymore, it's us memeing together. It's dumb, but it works to make me feel better. A lot of the time, it makes them realize I'm chill, and they stop being agressive. =)

Hope you get good next games ! Also Ghostface is very fun <3

Don't listen to these guys saying it gets worse as u climb up. You do face better survivors with a lot of different strategies, but those are the matches that are going to teach u how to get better and possibly help u more with survivor since you can recognize these situations. You'll be able to see the mistakes that survivors make that lead you to a fast victory. You'll understand a killers power better and how to play against it.

I'm a pretty experienced killer, and I won't lie sometimes those moments where you're just about to get that one survivor you don't like right before they escape are really thrilling and can bring out a lot of emotion. It can make u salty cus u got so many things running through you. You might want to gloat or tell them how bad they are. Just remind urself its a game. Win or lose there will be a thousand different matches to have. Don't let one squad of shitters ruin your day because they stacked everything they could in their favor. That reaction only fans the flames of their behavior because they'll want to take it out on the next guy or stroke their ego once the game is over. If they're obnoxious just say "gg <3" and leave.

I hope you have fun. It's a long journey but a very valuable one for this game. Experience with both sides will help you see the game differently instead of pigeon holing yourself into the survivor main vs killer main brain disease people have in this community.

To be honest, I've never really felt that "fear" of playing killer.

I guess the secret is understanding that you can't and won't win every single one of your games.

Unlike Survivor, I still ...... I will say that there is a great deal of anxiety and adrenaline in playing killer.

But that is the killer. I keep going because I find enjoyment in the catharsis of a good result, while suffering the frustration of being suppressed forever.

Sometimes you just gotta dive head first into the ######### my man. We've all been there but with time comes experience and experience comes knowledge. That being said if you play killer long enough you just eventually stop really caring about these sorts of things and the stuff other survivors do just become an annoyance at best.

Just keep going, treat all your early games as learning/warm up matches.

Soon enough you'll come across nothing but TTV prestige 50+, comm squads, bully squads, toxic taggers, entitled salt throwers....

And all that adrenaline gets replaced with a feeling of ice cold merciless-ness.

Imo enjoy that adrenaline feeling while it lasts lol, these survivors have a way of turning you cold and unforgiving lol.

I never got the fear part either, I just play and try to have fun. You can be competitive just understand you're not going to 4k every match and be okay with that, sometimes even 4 escape. Just don't become bitter like some killer mains and constantly complain about things out of your control, in the end it's just a game, not a battle for your real life.

Some people never really get over it. I didn't. I still feel nervous queueing up for Killer, even after all this time.

The best thing I'd recommend is to never ever take it serious. Always keep it light and funny. As soon as you make the outcome matter (other than just goofing around and having fun) you add stakes to every match.

For me, all I cared about was getting better and winning. Where has that gotten me? Now I'm good at DBD but I haven't had fun with it in a long time. I'd trade all my skill for the enjoyment I had in my first year in a heartbeat.

You need to understand what exactly makes you fear playing a killer. Play through your fears, don't take the game very serious, and one day your fear will be gone. (It may not tho, but it's a high chance of it).

Realize that in the end, you have nothing to lose and you are quite literally just playing a video game

If it stresses you out and youre just simply not enjoying it, nothing is forcing you to keep playing

That’s the other thing- I used to do the same: try to play for hooks, not to win. That works GREAT in low MMR, but once you get your killer to mid-MMR, ######### starts to get dicey. It’s almost like you’re goated into getting competitive, because the survivors no longer need you to hold their hands. Gens start flying, while you’re wondering why all these pallets that are getting dropped on your head don’t seem to be around when you play as a survivor. 😂

To me if I don’t “dial in/get focused,” then I’ll barely get any hooks let alone kills. And that’s why I said even when I 4K, a lot of times I don’t have fun. I had to work my ass off for that 4K- especially since I try not to tunnel or camp. ONE match feels like I just got out of playing three consecutively. And this is exactly why I felt @Wampirita statement on not playing many matches at once. Take a break after one. This is usually what I do, but yesterday I had a lengthy killer challenge so I did two back to back. Remember what I said to myself when I was starting my second match? I didn’t even really want to play it. I was doing it solely to put a dent in the challenge (hook obsession 8 times).

But this is just my experience. I’m quite content maining survivor. I’m an older gamer who plays videogames to decompress and not stress, and killer kind of contradicts that for me. I get enough stress at my two full time jobs!

You need to figure out what is it about killer that scares you first

Man, you playing unpunishable role, where you can hurt people, but people can't hurt you. How POSSBILY can you be scared? Scared of what, Entity?

The main "assymetry" or this game is that killer can win (kill) or break even (not kill, like at the start of the trial). Survivor on the other hand can lose (die) or break even (escape = save his life, like at the start of the trial).

Or you scared of yourself and bloodlust you gain by bringing pain and killing people? That one you should embrace, my good sir!

But if you are truly a survivor main, the pain, frustration and suffering you can endure is immeasurable. I don't know what possibly you could fear :)

I used to have quite a similar fear / anxiety at first, but it only really goes away by playing the game.

Don't focus on winning and just try to learn the killers the like and the way to play them and how to play most tiles, this help immensly.

Put on a bunch of tracking perks and forget about trying to get kills. Go for chases and learn how to read and mind game survivors. Mess about at loops & learn the maps as killer. Still do objective when you can I.e hook, kick gens etc. But don't focus on winning. Once you decide pre-game that your intention isn't too win but to mesdvabout and have fun and learn the game from a killers point of view it becomes less stressful when you don't put any expectations on yourself to win.