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DBD's war on tunneling

DrFrozen
DrFrozen Member Posts: 155

I can definitely say that tunnelling is problematic for survivors that are always crying about it and how unfun it is for them making the game way more miserable.


There's another end of the stick and that's killer's POV. Many weak killers just HAVE TO tunnel in order to win the game. I've collected some ideas why that is the case:
1. Unfair maps - many just have very strong loops that even weak survivors can hold a killer for a while.
2. Weak basekit/add-ons - some killers such as Trapper or Trickster have weak basekit and playing them just feels terrible. Usually they are very slow and cannot build effective pressure.
3. Fast gen progress/nerfed slowdown perks
4. Very strong survivor perks - Shoulder the burden, finesse etc.

Now imagine that devs had to implement limited amount of gen kicks because of Skull Merchant ( they could just rework her ).

And there is the case, if survior can "tunnel" generator with the most progress by just going back and repairing it, why killers are being punished for tunneling survivors with the most "progress" ?

The truth is that there are more and more perks and mechanics that prevent tunneling but it will not solve the problem. Instead of nerfing this strategy, killers should feel that hooking different survivors is worth it and for now it just isn't.

For me, the source of the problem aren't killers themselves but poor game balance.

Comments

  • vol4r
    vol4r Member Posts: 913

    I am pretty sure they will be buffing killer's that will not be able to catch up.

    Behaviour want killrates to be 62-65% or something like that, they will keep it that way.

    It's just the matter of time.

  • SweetbutaPsycho
    SweetbutaPsycho Member Posts: 343
    edited June 2025

    I mean at least as a killer you can still do stuff even if gens are being "tunneled", whatever that means. You can go around and defend the other gens, chase survivors etc. Also as a killer you always have a chance for a comeback. As surv pre anti tunnel, if you didn't have the right perks, your gameplay loop would consist of one chase then hook, unhook, down, unhook, down, dead ⇒ congrats you earned 4k points and zero emblems and zero fun, back to queue you go. It forced many survs to run the same strong anti tunnel perks and this forum was flooded with players complaining that they only play against meta build survs all day.

    Also the devs tried first to fix it by rewarding killers for hooking different people. Multiple perks have their strongest effect when you hooked most of the team/everyone. Yet many killer players decided it's still more valuable in the long run to simply make it a 1vs3 and therefore an almost guaranteed win rather than using strong perks and risking a potential loss.

    ImO it's good that antitunnel exists. Still remember the times where my queue times for surv were sometimes longer than my matches.

  • xGodSendDeath
    xGodSendDeath Member Posts: 716

    None of those perks that reward you for hooking survivors are stronger than making the game a 3v1 as soon as possible

  • DrFrozen
    DrFrozen Member Posts: 155

    I did not say that we don't need anti-tunneling perks or mechanics. I'm just saying that weak killers are in trouble and solution for them is to tunnel. Look at any strong killer - they do not have to tunnel in order to get 3,4k. Now imagine that ghostface don't tunnel - he'll surely struggle to get 1k if survivors are good enough.

  • Langweilig
    Langweilig Member Posts: 3,149

    Isn‘t that a good thing in the long term if some killers struggle for now?

    Behavior will have to buff affected killers and the game will overall become more enjoyable for both sides. Isn‘t that a good thing?

  • jedimaster505
    jedimaster505 Member Posts: 387

    Killers never have to tunnel to win unless they have an inflated MMR due to relying on tunneling instead of learning macro strategy and chase skill. Tunneling is just much easier to do for a beginner killer but will be more heavily punished as MMR increases.

  • jedimaster505
    jedimaster505 Member Posts: 387

    Killers never have to tunnel to win unless they have an inflated MMR due to relying on tunneling instead of learning macro strategy and chase skill. Tunneling is just much easier to do for a beginner killer but will be more heavily punished as MMR increases.

  • Soma_RTA
    Soma_RTA Member Posts: 28

    It says a lot about how many people don't understand this game from how much this got downvoted.

    Killers tunnel for one reason, lack of pressure. That can be for many reasons bad early game playing, a weak killer split spawns survivors brought 4 toolboxes and gen perks etc. BHVR should address why so many people feel the need, real or imaginary, to tunnel instead of nerfing it and obliterating the low-mid tier player base that already struggles with so many other things and, by proxy, pushing more players to the top 5 killers.

    Tunneling is also not some low skill maneuver that people think it is. It's a calculated risk that you will be able to down and rehook the survivor you're tunneling through any possible anti tunnel perks faster than chasing another survivor. If you tunnel at the wrong time, you will lose in macro at the same time. If you leave 4 survivors alive for the majority of the game, and you're not playing top 5, you will still lose in macro. 

    No, not really. BHVR takes so long to do simple NUMBER buffs to low tiers it would take them forever (by my estimate, at least 5 years) to manually balance every low-mid tier to a playable level of strength against opponents with a brain and good builds if they give survivors more basekit tools vs tunneling.

    I would encourage anyone without experience doing so to play a c tier killer or below in the high mmr bracket.

  • Raptorrotas
    Raptorrotas Member Posts: 3,351

    I wonder how killers being able who to chase or killing survivors tactically/ efficiently became such a controversial topic.

    its not even a tool given to them but a strategy...

    In contrast looping became encouraged tho.

  • Abbzy
    Abbzy Member Posts: 2,391

    The are buffing some killers for yeasr and still the buffs are joke.

  • Yggleif
    Yggleif Member Posts: 464

    Maybe hot take but tunneling doesn't help bad killers because bad killers are bad at tunneling. Take Myers, if Myers tunnels just one person they're gonna run out of stalk on that person pretty fast and either be forced to stay in EW2 or actually go after different people. Ghost Face is similar as well or say take Legion who's entire power is spreading pressure, if you're tunneling with legion you might as well play somebody else.

    So I would argue nerfing tunneling doesn't really do anything to bad killers and mostly hurts your nurses and blights who are going to be just fine regardless.

  • Nazzzak
    Nazzzak Member Posts: 7,385

    Spot on. People like to argue this point but even the devs have said this is the case. Tunnelling can push you into an MMR bracket that you aren't ready for, can't compete in, and consequently face stronger opponents in. These players continue tunnelling because it's all they know, despite it now being less effective against their now far more experienced opponents. You can usually pick the players who have done this to themselves, as they're the ones who claim they "need to tunnel" despite countless other players not having that issue.

  • GeneralV
    GeneralV Member Posts: 12,666

    Well, I'm joining the war against tunneling because this strategy needs to go.

    Really, I don't think anyone is going to miss it, per se. Worst that will happen is that those who relied too much on tunneling will eventually have their MMR readjusted, thats it.

    But tunneling itself needs to go. It is clear that, for years on end, this strategy caused far more harm than good for DBD.

  • terumisan
    terumisan Member Posts: 2,243

    no? since killers either get micro buffed to where it doesn't matter or they get buffed and the. the pickrate spikes survivors complain and they get nerfed

  • Abbzy
    Abbzy Member Posts: 2,391

    Well if we consider the fact their buffs/changes for simple things take so long maybe it will be problem.

  • I_Cant_Loop
    I_Cant_Loop Member Posts: 2,276

    Gotta love the anonymous downvoting system. So much easier to just lob a bomb from a secret hiding place than to engage with a well-thought-out counterargument.


  • I_Cant_Loop
    I_Cant_Loop Member Posts: 2,276

    You say this so often, yet I don’t think you’ve ever shown us all how easy it is to do with your own gameplay. Why don’t you help us all learn how to win without ever tunneling? That would be far more helpful than just telling killers that they are bad if they ever tunnel regardless of the situation.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 3,272

    We no longer have infinites, lots of strong loops get weakened.

    Whether something is too strong gets brought up on both sides.

  • DeBecker
    DeBecker Member Posts: 934

    Here we go again pretending killers have to tunnel. This is getting really old.

  • Crythor
    Crythor Member Posts: 302

    While tunneling might be unfun its just not true that it is not needed for high level play. Look at DbD league professional tournaments. In most matches the killers tunnel and camp the first one they down. Its what in most matches gives them the win. Do they sometimes dont do it? Sure but most of the time that is exactly what they do. Get first kill as soon as possible and then go for the rest or 3 gen.

  • Fix_Killers
    Fix_Killers Member Posts: 59
    edited June 2025

    Remember:
    Killers tunneling/camping/'proxy camping' (Not a real thing)/slugging/patrolling nearly-completed gens/using META Killers or Perks is bad and 'unfun' and 'rude' and Killers should 'think of Survivor's fun!'

    This this person said; Killers should think about their opponent's enjoyment! Which means playing sub-optimally!

    But Survivors in a 4-Man SWF with full META perks trying to win in under 60 seconds is perfectly fine!

  • vol4r
    vol4r Member Posts: 913

    None of us forum players ever played or will play tournaments.