We have temporarily disabled The Houndmaster (Bone Chill Event queue) and Baermar Uraz's Ugly Sweater Cosmetic (all queues) due to issues affecting gameplay.

Visit the Kill Switch Master List for more information on these and other current known issues: https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/kb/articles/299-kill-switch-master-list
The Dead by Daylight team would like your feedback in a Player Satisfaction survey.

We encourage you to be as honest as possible in letting us know how you feel about the game. The information and answers provided are anonymous, not shared with any third-party, and will not be used for purposes other than survey analysis.

Access the survey HERE!

Any tips for dealing with totems builds?

Literally running counterforce/small game to help with all the totems builds I see but it doesn't seem to do anything? Killer managaes to get massive value no matter how fast and efficient i'm cleansing the totems and my teammates just drop like flies and it feels pointless to clenase totems even if you have to with ruin and devour coming into play at times.

ANythign I can do to deal with totems builds more effectively cause i'm tired of the constant loses even if im always getting rid of the totems

Answers

  • Spare_Them_Mori_Me
    Spare_Them_Mori_Me Member Posts: 1,761

    There will be some who will tell you to ignore the totems and rush gens. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

    Honestly, totem builds at the moment are the 'in' thing. I dont feel they are stronger than other builds, but it is what it is.

    I honeslty don't know what to advise if the perks aren't enough. Otherwise, its hope the totem spawns next to you at the start lol.

    Ill keep watching this thread.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,913

    Bring a map instead of small game to help find the totems.

    Part of the problem though is, by design, 1 survivor is not meant to be able to counter the killer on their own. If you're running around the entire map doing totems, that's putting the other survivors in a situation where they need to handle all the other survivor things (gens, unhooks, heals, chases).

    If you're playing to do the totems, and everyone else is playing to ignore the totems, it will be inefficient. Ideally you want each survivor to worry about the totems in their area of the map so no survivor is wasting time just doing map exploration.

    Not to prove @Spare_Them_Mori_Me right immediately, but its part of the reason rushing gens is considered the stronger strategy because without communication its always the safest play.

  • jesterkind
    jesterkind Member Posts: 7,965

    Seconding the above on bringing a map being the better call versus Small Game.

    I'd also recommend doing a more full build if you want to be shouldering the whole burden of cleansing hexes. My usual go-to when I want to cleanse a lot of totems is Overzealous and Inner Strength, because the time investment you put into cleansing totems is refunded partially both in faster gen speeds and a faster self-heal when you need it.

    Pairing those two with Counterforce can be a very "all your eggs in one basket" build but it works, and is quite effective.

    The other thing to mention is to not go and cleanse totems until the killer has established that they're a threat. Just seeing a glowing bone shouldn't drag you off generators or away from altruistic actions inherently, you should wait to see the "Cursed" pop up so you know what perk is making that bone glow - and when you've seen that, you'll already be able to go hunt down the totem again because it'll be on your map.

    TL;DR Maps are better than Small Game, Overzealous and Inner Strength help make cleansing totems more worth your while to begin with, and you should still be prioritising gens where possible like always.

  • Star99er
    Star99er Member Posts: 1,463
    edited December 23

    haddie’s totem perk is very underrated imo. Cleansing hex totems gives you a 20% increase in repair speed until you get injured which stacks with toolbox repair speed. It combos well with inner strength and detective’s hunch

  • JPLongstreet
    JPLongstreet Member Posts: 5,996

    I agree with the map being the better option than Small Game, plus I don't have to listen to Smalls continually going off if I'm hooked near a totem.

    When I'm eyeballing totems I'll run Detective's Hunch and Inner Strength. I'll scan around a gen for the totems and once I pop it go to a further gen knowing if any totems are near. When the last gen pops I'll scan around for any remaining totems in case of NOED , and Inner Strength is nice for dealing with Sloppy/Mangled etc.

  • sizzlingmario4
    sizzlingmario4 Member Posts: 7,012

    Seconding what others have said about not bothering with Small Game, it's really not worth it. Counterforce is better, and bringing a map can help too, you either need a rainbow map, or a green map with Red Twine will work also. You can also use Detective's Hunch, once a gen gets completed you will usually see at least 3 totems if not more, but that won't help you cleanse totems faster, just finding them.

    Counterforce + Inner Strength is also a good combo because it means even if the killer isn't running a hex build you can still quickly cleanse totems and heal later when you need it.

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,844

    If someone has leader it really helps! I believe that perk helps cleanses totems faster?

  • PetTheDoggo
    PetTheDoggo Member Posts: 326

    Well, best is to learn totem spawns, so you don't need to waste a perk slot for searching.

    Also try to cleanse only if needed (ignore plaything) and remember totem spawns, where you cleansed for pentimento.
    Try to use Inner Strength, so basically you are doing something for yourself, not just denying perk for killer. Also it does something even if killer doesn't play totem build.

    I used to play Detective's hunch + Inner Strength a lot when I started.
    Detective's hunch is good to help you learn spawn patterns. When you learn it, as soon you find 1 totem, you can find rest of them on most maps.

  • Equinox_One
    Equinox_One Member Posts: 228

    Depends on the build, but short answer is sort what it always has been. You'll need to learn spawns.

    Small Game is a good choice. As others have said, Detective's Hunch is another fantastic option. I mostly just ignore them unless it's Devour.

  • JPLongstreet
    JPLongstreet Member Posts: 5,996

    I'm actually surprised I haven't seen more use of Soul Guard lately.