Pyramid Head Builds and tips?

dbd900bach

So I played Pyramid Head after like a really long time and it went pretty well and I had fun. Issue is that I know the moment I start playing another match with him anf climb that mmr, it's going to go very poorly for me.

The primary issue being is that Pyramid Head has very bad add-ons and very poor perk synergy since his cages don't trigger hook related perks. I've taken fancy to I'm All Ears as a perk and Mayne Nowhere to Hide, but in terms of not getting wiped out in gens, I've picked Surge and Deadlock bit I feel like there's more fun and better options but obviously no clue. Especially with add-ons since most sound downright useless or way too situational.

SpitefulHateful

I'm not a PH main by all means, but I like using Oppression on him in addition to Deadlock. It offers a good synergy with Nowhere to Hide and gives away survivors who miss skill checks. Tinkerer is also a fun perk for sneaking up on survivors who believe you're still in a chase on the other side of the map.

D0NN1ED4RK0

if you want a decent beginner build go for lethal I’m all ears deadlock and NWO

For addons you use the range addons which are either black strap (brown addon) which increases POTD range by 0.5 meters

Wax doll (yellow addon) which increases POTD range by 1 meter

Burning man painting (green addon) which increases POTD range by 1.5

There’s also 2 types of his duration addons

There’s duration for rites of judgment and duration for his trails on the ground
and in short summary I recommend you use the duration of rites of judgment and at best use “tablet of the oppressor” which adds an extra 2 seconds into rites of judgement

And regarding other perks to use

Well most hook perks are useless except a few which are NWO and Pain res (I use both myself often)

NWO is rlly good because by the time it’s endgame you would at least have 3 stacks

Pain res is often situational but the flat 20% regression makes it worth it and often makes it sort of stand off from using pop (I rarely use this perk on him)

And there’s also eruption which I still use from time to time and it’s mostly good if you make a build around it.

And like the person above me said tinkerer is a rlly solid choice (this is actually a perk I used to run a lot of phead because it’s rlly fun to run but it loses abit of viability on higher MMRs)

I might give other tips if you want btw :D

GoodBoyKaru

omg hey! i was built for this!

PERKS

so, as an absolute beginner, i'd suggest you use the following perks

Lethal Pursuer

Lethal is an absolute stable of his, it's so good. The first 9 seconds of Aura reading means you can get into your first chase near instantly, and because chases with him are so short you can easily get your first down + hook within a minute at most. Moreover, it buffs the next perk monumentally and helps to eat away at any pesky Distortion stacks that may want to ruin your day.

I'm All Ears

Possibly the best perk in the game on Pyramid Head, I'm All Ears will give you 6 seconds of wallhacks on a 40 second cooldown. With Lethal, that goes up to 8 entire seconds on a 38 second cooldown. His POTD cooldown is 2.25 seconds - provided you use Range add-ons and survivors misplay you can use IAE to get someone from Healthy to Downed before the aura read even fades. I genuinely cannot stress enough just how important this perk is on him - I've used it almost every single match since his release and it's still genuinely irreplaceable.

The more you use IAE too, the more you learn how survivors will path, which in turn makes you less reliant on IAE and more reliable in hitting POTD in general because you'll know exactly how someone plays.

Deadlock\Grim Embrace

Deadlock is being nerfed next patch, but who cares it's still going to be good and better than Grim Embrace will be imo. Pyramid Head has no mobility, so having gens get blocked for free is wonderful, and provides a little bit of tracking too. 25 seconds per gen, activating 4 times per trial, means you'll have an additional 100 seconds of gen time added just for existing. Of course, you could go for Grim Embrace, which provides 70 seconds of blocked gen time but does so across all gens, so that's a guaranteed 70 seconds. I opt for Deadlock due to the extra time and tracking that focused blocking can do, but really you can do either.

Ultimate Weapon\Infectious Fright

Previously, I would have said this slot belongs to Pop, but sadly the upcoming nerf means that it won't be as worth it on Pyramid Head anymore, especially not compared to someone like Wraith. Therefore, I'd say that the final perk you should run is actually Ultimate Weapon, with a special shout out to Infectious.

It may seem like a strange choice, but let me explain my reasoning. Lethal and IAE both get hard countered by Distortion, so while something like Floods of Rage would be better when it works having three of your four perks countered by a (strong and fairly common) survivor perk just isn't something I'm aiming for. Ultimate Weapon fills the niche of being the only good tracking perk in DBD that isn't countered by Distortion, and can help you basically whenever. Headed to someone with Lethal but can't find them? UW. Important gen has progress but can't find someone? UW. Just hooked someone and don't know where to go? Move a bit, and then UW. Downed a survivor and need to know if people are around to cage or hook? UW.

This final bit is where Infectious comes in. It's substantially better than UW at doing so, but doesn't provide any of the other uses of UW. Infectious is less tracking and more snowball imo, and it fills that niche well, letting you know anyone around you and giving you the knowledge you need to know if you should cage, slug, or hook. I prefer UW because of the slightly weaker, more universal aspect of the perk, but Infectious is still a solid choice. In fact, if using Infectious, I'd go so far as to suggest replacing either Lethal or Deadlock with Monitor and Abuse, just because it'll make Infectious that much better.

ADD-ONS

Pyramid Head is in the blessed spot of having a really solid base kit, but the cursed spot of having some awful add-ons because of it. The Range Combo is the only one I'd really suggest, combining Burning Man Painting (Increase POTD Range by 1.5m) and Wax Doll (Increase POTD Range by 1m). Special shout out to Tablet of the Oppressor (Increase ROJ duration by 2m), Crimson Ceremony Book (Successful POTD hits apply Mangled and Haemmorhage for 80 seconds) and Mannequin Foot (Increases time ROJ trails remain in the environment by 20 seconds) for having their own niche uses in different builds, but I'd always reccommend leaning Pyramid Head without any add-ons to begin with. Once you're comfortable with how he works, start using Range, or some combination of the other three while always including at least one range add-on, and you'll be fine.

GAMEPLAY TIPS

I realise that this post is very old, but I… haven't really changed how I play Pyramid Head, I've just gotten better at doing what I say to do here, so for all of my real gameplay tips check out the guide I made nearly 3 years ago (I really need to get around to updating it lol)

@GoodBoyKaru said:

So a few attentive people may recognise this from a comment I made yesterday (technically it was 24 minutes into today but let's not talk semantics). A couple of people suggested I make it a real post because "That's an excellent guide, very well put together." So, here I am. I've added a few more things so it's still worth a read.

This will cover what is, in my opinion, his best build and why, as well as a few tips on playing him & a few videos.

So hey, it's me- GoodBoyKaru, your friendly neighbourhood Pyramid Head main- here to give some swift Tips and Tricks(tm) to help make you a better Pyramid Head player!

For the record, this was made during DBD Patch 4.7.2

Build

PERKS

My personal favourite and imho strongest build is this:

• Corrupt Intervention

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/5A01IV8RME2M/image.png

Crucial early-game slowdown on a killer without mobility, allows him to stall the game massively because survivors know that if they get found they're doomed.

• Pop Goes The Weasel

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/FHA7ZFNAKVZY/image.png

It's the second best gen regression perk in the game, Ruin is too volatile to be anywhere near reliable on him because, again, no movement speed, he needs gen perks because he cannot move around the map quick enough, 11/10. "But you don't hook pe-" WRONG. You should be getting plenty of value out of PGTW and if you're overcaging then you're taking your map pressure and throwing it out the window.

• Barbeque and Chili

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/SC8THLXSY3RP/image.png

Now, you could obviously put other perks here like Infectious Fright (amazing snowball), Tinkerer (Undetectable is nice and it helps tell you where to go but again no movement speed) or Discordance (amazing info, can sometimes do nothing about it). However I say BBQ because I like the perk and also because bloodpoints.

• I'm All Ears

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/V90CSL0I44NO/image.png

Hands down the best perk in the game for Pyramid Head, that's six seconds of wallhacks. I cannot stress how valuable this is with his power- that is a guaranteed free hit in 9/10 situations. To show what I mean, I've linked a timestamped video below of where IAE comes in so clutch- continues to 5:16 in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJs4rvkppqs&t=296s

(you can watch the whole thing if you really want I'm proud of the game).

An honourable mention here goes to Ruin/Undying over Pop/Corrupt. As I've mentioned before, Tinkerer isn't a great perk on him due to his lack of speed, but the same goes for Ruin/Undying. You don't have the map mobility to defend your totems, especially if they spawn further away, and you'll probably end up losing two perks before 2 gens go. Corrupt/Pop is just more consistent in my experience.

ADD-ONS

So, his add-ons aren't great. The best ones, by far, are range add-ons which, when combined, extend his POTD by up to 2.5m (10.5m total). These are Burning Man Painting (Rare), Wax Doll (Uncommon), and Black Strap (Common), which ass +1.5m, +1m, and +0.5m respectively.

tips

Okay so rule number one is to not break pallets. Sounds weird but, just trust me.

His power is incredibly strong in a chase- so much so that if a survivor commits to an animation they die. If you don't break pallets (with some exceptions like God pallets) you can do amazing things. Because who doesn't want more opportunities to win a chase, like, instantly? It turns incredibly safe pallets into death sentences

To show what I mean, here's another timestamped clip. Ends at 10:58

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu3X5o9GpjY&t=646s

Learn the range of the power. 8m is specific and sometimes you think you can hit things and you can't. You need to be very careful, especially when playing with range add-ons for so long, because it can and will screw with your perception.

Adapt to the survivors you're facing. A lot of players will fake taking an animation, go to the side slightly to bait your POTD or your cancel, and then commit to the animation. If you turn to the side and release, you'll catch a lot of these survivors out and get a hit. It's really satisfying to do. Alternatively some survivors will commit to the animations regardless, in which case you'll know to aim in the centre. Other survivors will just hold W and pre-drop pallets, in which case you know to leave them because you'll really struggle catching up, or do not use your power.

I cannot stress that enough. If a survivor is pre-dropping W key gaming, do not use your power. M1 killer them.

Don't overcage and don't stress about torment. If a survivor loops you, they'll get tormented. That's just kinda how it works- you stick your knife in, follow them around a loop, and release your POTD after tracking their movements.

To see what I mean we return to the first video, again timestamped. Clip ends at 1:36.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJs4rvkppqs&t=83s

See how I hug the car, turn the camera and use the power to hit him out of animation lock? Had he kept running, easy torment too.

In my opinion, only cage someone in one of four scenarios:

• You're afraid of a DS (just please don't tunnel I'm begging you)
• You're afraid of an Unbreakable (much more likely)
• You can immidiately get into another chase
• It would place you into a Pressure Point Of No Return (name pending).

What I mean by that last point is that there comes a time in a DBD game where the killer will hit a Pressure Point Of No Return, where the survivors physically cannot come back from the amount of pressure and momentum you're building. The best example of this as Pyramid Head is where you split the map through cages. You have two downed survivors. Cage one, hook the other. Nobody is on a generator, you have a BBQ proc to interrupt the person saving the cage or the hook, and now the last person must save both people. On especially large maps, like Mother's Dwelling, or multi-storied ones, like Midwich, this can force people into second stage and you've won the game at 5 gens. It's more common than you'd think.

If you cage at other times you're probably wasting pressure you could've gotten from a hook.

Learn where you can and can't lay trails. In front of totems and lockers? Amazing. In front of a gen? Not at all, it becomes a Restricted Trail Element and disappears after a few seconds. The DBD Wiki has a section on this which I'll just paste below.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/2808XTGCLSHV/image.png

I'd highly, highly suggest reading the wiki page on his power as it's really useful in understanding the fundamentals and giving actual values to words. Here it is:

https://deadbydaylight.fandom.com/wiki/Pyramid_Head

Finally, learn where you can and can't use POTD. It sounds like a simple thing but learning where you can and can't use it, however there's a lot to it. For example, learning how vertical changes affect it. Did you know if you release his power on a slope going up it'll fail, same with releasing it on a slope going down. However, if you're barely off of the slope it'll travel down it, but only if it isn't too steep.

It's nuts but knowing where you can and can't actually have an ability is, funnily enough, pretty important.

A few more quick-fire tips:

• Don't just go for animation lock shots. People expect these and adapt. Be unpredictable to catch them off guard and get easy hits. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U1k10I-zG4&feature=emb_logo

Bet they didn't expect that one :p

Needless to say that was where I hit a Pressure Point Of No Return and poor Jakey couldn't pick up the scraps.

• Don't spam his power. You waste too much time. Be precise, predict, and adapt to your opponents.
• Don't spam his trails. You move at 110% and you already lack a movement ability, you waste too much time.
• Tunneling isn't the best strategy. I know it seems like it because cages but again, you do not have a movement ability. Survivors can and will facefuck generators and ruin your day substantially.
• Dead Dawg Saloon and Hawkins are both maps you never press M2 on ever. Play like a default M1 killer because the map design prevents you from using your power. They're pretty much auto-loss maps, ngl, unless the survivors really badly mess up.
• Play survivor. Learn where survivors move and how they path, shoot POTD to hit them. That's what I did in that last clip.

And, yeah, that's about it. If people have any questions please let me know and I'll try to answer them as best I can, though I think this is comprehensive enough.

Ignore the perks section, obviously - a lot has changed since then - but the Tips section still holds strong. The only thing I'd add is expanding the focus on learning where you can and can't use POTD.

POTD is funky when it comes to verticality. If it's a slope, it'll travel down, but won't travel up, and will only travel down if you start slightly before the slope. If there's a gap in the floor, it won't travel across it, even if your POTD trail only slightly touches the gap, however if there's a window with a drop-down it'll travel slightly beyond the window to hit people even as they're dropping. Using POTD at the carnival caravan on Father Campbell's Chapel is risky, because if you use it from the ground it won't actually hit inside, but using it from the first step will for some reason give it an extra vertical boost even though it appears on the floor exactly the same so will still hit.

The biggest offender by far is the Basement stairs (nobody expects to be hit coming up the stairs lol) but there's plenty of stairs you can shoot down and basically guarantee hits for. You just need to spend some time learning the ins and outs of maps so you know where you can and can't use your power.

Oh, and don't bother learning him in a Custom Game against bots. The best way to play him is to go for unpredictable through the wall shots, and instead of mindless zoning to try and predict someone will predrop/prevault and aim slightly to the side so you can get the hit anyway. It all comes with time and practice, but make sure you be unpredictable and actually try and get value from your power, because nobody does so nobody expects it. Bots run on 0ms ping and can react to your moves insanely quick, so there's no reason in practicing to be unpredictable against players who can respond with no delay and will never be hit by your shots without zoning. It's an insane way to be humbled real quick.