http://dbd.game/killswitch
I’m unable to improve as a survivor in Dead by Daylight...
I’m unable to improve as a survivor in Dead by Daylight. I keep watching people on YouTube or Twitch who seem to play effortlessly well, and it frustrates me a lot. I don’t know how to make decisions about when to stay in a structure or when to leave, and I struggle to recognize each map’s structures. I have about 3,000 hours, almost all as a survivor (I started playing killer in November 2024). I never play SWF, always SoloQ (I understand this is important, but it shouldn’t be decisive for improving my individual skill). I know and use the looping techniques we all know: hugging structures, keeping distance from the killer, going full W, tanking for teammates, trying to play each structure well... But NOTHING, I struggle immensely to improve.
As a survivor, I have better and worse days, but I never feel like I’m actually improving. I don’t know what to do to level up. It’s very frustrating...
Comments
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by you struggle to improve, do you mean you struggle to escape?
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I know you said you play solo, but have you considered joining a group and trying out customs to practice? It's a good way to learn without the stress of a real match, and you can tell each other what you're trying to practice. If you've tried and tried for thousands of hours and haven't gotten where you want to be, it's not a bad idea to practice outside of serious matches.
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Like any other competitive thing (sports, gaming, performing arts, etc), everyone has a natural skill cap. Don’t feel bad about it - you have to either accept that this is probably as good as you’ll get at the game, or if you’re not satisfied with that, the only option is to play something else.
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Playing killer is a good way to see how other survivors loop you and what works against you.
I know you said you’ve been doing that, and watching YouTube etc. There are some great guides on there on how to abuse certain loops, and how to chain certain tiles together. Mr Tattorhead has some great stuff even if you can’t do it to the same level it does give you some great strategy to use and makes you think about things differently.0 -
A good way to improve in chases is 1v1s.
Having nothing else to focus on really helps. And if ya dont have anyone I wouldnt mind :)
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yeah, but you need to apply these skills correctly in 1v4.
getting 2 min chase at the cost of running killer through every active gen and dropping half of the map aint going to do that
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Im aware of that, but Im sure many can agree that knowing how to properly run tiles is probably the hardest thing to learn, and being able to simply focus on that and learn 1 thing at a time is better than trying to do everything at once.
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for sure, just want to mention that cuz Im seeing that mistake being made way too often
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It sounds like a lot of what you want to work on is game sense. Things like when to bail vs when to stay, using context info to improve your decisions is generally something that comes with time and experience, but not automatically. If you feel like you're hitting a road block in those regards, expanding your experience is an excellent way to give yourself more info to build off of in those decisions. The best way to do that is to simply play outside your comfort zone more.
Gen Jockey? Get chased more on purpose and/or make higher risk/reward plays, and you'll get better at making those types of judgement calls in the future. Particular killer power always seem to trip you up? Play as that killer, and watch how survivors counter it until you get better at reading their reactions. You'll even get a bit better at that killer for if/when you'd like to play them. You know, as a treat. :)
In fighting games there is a term called labbing, which basically means going into training mode with the express purpose of trying to figure out something that is a roadblock for you, or improving around it in often compensatory ways. If you have trouble with a specific move, you might set up the training dummy to recreate its usage and practice how to deal with it. You might also learn said character and practice using said move while trying out what does and doesn't work afterwards. In a game like DBD, live fire practice is all we really have in a lot of those aspects (in most cases) so the best way to get better about those things is…. probably to lose.
And absolutely nobody ever wants to hear that.
But you learn more from losses than you do from wins, as long as you allow yourself to. Take a week or two and don't care about outcomes of matches, just focus on individual scenarios as they arise. Personally I would always do this in matches that are "already lost," as it makes a much more productive alternative to the go next mentality. Instead of relying on built up muscle memory or default responses to things, work on singling out how you need to adapt each time they arise. And if you don't do very well at said adaptation? Brush yourself off, make a mental note of how and why it didn't work out, and keep that data in mind next time it arises.
That said, that is the best place to insert outside opinions/guides/etc on how to improve. Don't think of them like books you have to speedread from start to finish, but more an almanac you reference as needed to improve. It makes the improvement method less overwhelming, makes losses sting less, and gives a lot of delayed gratification as you start to internalize your improvements subconsciously.
Simply put, keep trying new things, learn your opponent, and don't take failures to heart.3 -
I think having a good connection and nice PC/PS5 makes a huge difference so if yours aren't great don't beat yourself up too much. I used to play DBD on PS4 and I had to rely on stealth builds to survive because looping and losing killers was almost impossible on it, especially since I didn't have fiber. As far as listening to others advice goes? That works for some people but for me the harder I try to play like someone else the worse I do. I play much better when I just trust myself and read the killer I'm against.
If you understand the killers abilities you'll stand a way greater chance. It's super important to know what each killer is capable of. But not only that, it's also good to understand how each individual plays. You'll notice some killers commit to loops while others try to mind game you.
If I get a killer that follows my every move like a shadow I focus on good loops (so pallets and windows that are close together or wide enough that the killer can't sidestep and down me, though I try my best not to use pallets unless I absolutely have to because they're so useful at the end of the match). It's good to use flashlights on those killers or lithe (but don't circle back if you use lithe because that's pretty predictable and experienced killers will just down you).
If I get a killer that tries to predict my moves then I don't try to work the loop and instead hold W after doing a circle around a window or pallet. I've lost so many killers that have tried to predict my movements, and you'll usually be able to tell they are after your first chase/down because they'll almost always cut you off at some point (end up in front of you).
If you find yourself being found a lot and it doesn't seem to make sense use Distortion. Your aura is probably being seen.If you're good at making it to the pallet and window and getting hit there use Lucky Break. It'll hide your blood and scratch marks and if you're in a dense area you should get away before the killer can break the pallet or climb through the window. Pair this with Overcome and you'll run 2 seconds longer after being hit.
If you're escaping chases but being found afterwards then they probably hear you crying, which means you should use Iron Will. Just make sure you're not exhausted or it won't work.
If your'e getting found at generators you're staying too long once you hear the killers heartbeat. Most killers will kick the gen so Blast Mine could be good to use there.
If other survivors are leading the killer to you and that's getting you downed becuase the killer thinks you're an easier target then use Empathy. You'll see them coming and you can hide before they reach you. Just don't leave marks.If you want to monitor the killer to know where he is combine Empathy with Alert and you'll be able to see whenever the killer breaks something or leaves a chase (because the injured survivor will stop running).
There are a lot of perks out there that could probably help you out depending on what exactly is causing you to get caught. Also, one thing I like to remember is that killers are like T-rexes and are drawn to movement. I've crouched in the open once and a killer walked right past me. lol
I also strongly recommend playing killers because survivors become so predictable. It'll help you understand that better, too. More importantly you'll learn the killer abilities and their limitations/flaws.
When it comes to mastering looping, practice with BIG loops. No short ones. Pause at the long ends and the killer will almost always think you're switching direction. Exaggerate movements, such as toward a pallet, to make them think you're going to jump it. I mean, swing out and back in sharply but don't commit. Don't leave the loop if you can help it without making at least one full circle so your scratch marks are everywhere, and only do it when you've lost line of sight. In the end, don't overthink it. Whenever I do that I almost always get downed.I hope this helps, and good luck on your future matches!
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i feel like that is the majority of players, and also you're probably better than you think. even the best players can get downed really fast or predrop pallets because the looping is sometimes just a matter of guessing correctly. the best tip that i can give you is be confident. if you just exude confidence in your survivor movement then the killer will be more cautious of you. i dont mean go run at the killer, i mean be more bold in your looping.
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- If you have these doubts and want to improve, you're definitely not as bad as you say you are. DBD isn't the same as 2018, where you could easily chase a killer for five generators. Killers have changed, and the maps aren't the same either... survivors can't last very long in a chase. For example, doing a 30-second chase with a good Blight or Nurse is a really good result. Doing a long chase on Haddonfield (before the recent map balancing) was really difficult. You can even go up against a "weak" killer, but if you're in a dead zone, you'll still go down. The real goal of the survivor in 2025 isn't to do spectacular chases, but to make the killer waste as much time as possible and still be 100% efficient on the generators. Maybe you're not a bad looper, but you definitely haven't figured out the game 100% yet. I recommend you (for your self-esteem) to watch some "competitive" DBD games: the players do "very normal" chases (pallets predrop is almost a religion), you will almost not see long chases. Above all your standards should not be TikTok/youtube videos
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Dont compare yourself to people who play for a living. They're not the norm.
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Youtubers won't upload their failures, only good games. And they do it for living, knowing every map inside out, doing research and stuff, which normal people don't do.
Also nowdays killer power creep is real. I could loop basic m1 killers for days. Now it's just not possible anymore, I and everyone else go down very fast to any A and S tier killers. Haven't yet played(and don't plan to anytime soon) with new pallet density update, maybe it made life easier for survivors, but newer killers ignore pallets so I doubt it.
The only thing you can do to help team is be smart about chases. Even if you go down fast, try to stay at the same sector for as long as you can to not disturb people working on gens, use up as little pallets as possible. But in general, it really wasn't all that easy to loop before 9.2 update, with new killer being OP at least for a while, it got worse.
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Try to join ranked discord servers, like ladder, if you feel your main issue is looping. For macro, it’s just practice, practice, and some play in sfw, which may help you to learn more efficiency
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You struggle to recognise map structures because BHVR keep changing the tiles every patch so they are infuriating to keep track of. Staying in structures/leaving is on a killer by killer basis. If you're playing VS a M1 killer for example and you break LOS and you know there's other resources near it's better to leave to waste time on the killer mind gaming themselves on the previous tile.
If you're playing against a Ghoul/Blight and they have tokens, if you leave the loop you're likely going to die. Likewise if you play into a ghoul and they don't have tokens and you've thrown the pallet it's a good time to move from the tile. It seems to me your struggles are less about tiles and more about not knowing the best counterplay against different killers. Which to improve on, I recommend you play the killers so you can see first hand their weaknesses.
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Learn about check-spots while in chase.
See the killer double-back? Run to another loop, he doesn't have Line Of Sight he doesn't know you're going somewhere else.
You create distance like that so killer has to run towards you or lose time to find other people.0
