Calling all killer players, what is your playstyle?
So I'm interested in figuring out what people's playstyles are for killer. Because we see a lot of players complain about how weak the killer roll is and I'm wondering if it might be down to people sticking to a certain playstyles.
There are several things to look at,
game approach: what is your opening strat and the general theme of your play? Do you tunnel? Slug? Chase focused? Stealth? Create 3 gens? Endgame strats?
Perks: that leads into your perk build as it has a big affect on how you play. What are your favoured perk builds? Regression? Information? Chase powers?
Mentality: do you always play for the 4k? Or does winning not matter much to you? How do you react to certain surv playstyles?
Killers: of course, what killers do you favour?
And finally does it work? Given your playstyle how well do your games go?
Comments
Personally myself I consider myself a tactical/stealth ambush kind of killer player. I'm not one for sticking long chases, it's a very sure way to lose pressure and gens, if I can't down a player quickly I'll redirect and apply pressure somewhere else. Stealth and undetectable are excellent ways of doing that. It makes mindgaming easier, and opening a chase with a hit is very strong and give survs little chance to react. Gens I will try and protect my central gens more, if I have a far isolated gen I will basically ignore because it doesn't help me. Hooking near a gen I want to protect is a common move, it kills 2 bird with one stone, i can stop progress on the gen and let it regress while punishing unhook attempts. As a rule I avoid tunneling early, i only tend to do it tactically mid/late game to secure a kill if I'm on the backfoot, as a rule i prefer to spread my hooks. Late game if I'm at no kills and gates are powered I have no issues facecamping an endgame hook to secure a kill.
Mentality wise I'll approach a match with an objective, with my mains I'll play to win, but once i uave control of a game, if it's been a real landslide I'll often let on or two survs go. But I like doing meme games too, running janky builds like my pug scream build where I'll happily throw the game to make a headtrap pop. I like to reward good play too, those survs who bm or won't help their team mates often find themselves on hook and tunnled midgame. But survs who play well and are willing to risk themselves for their team mates get my respect and occasionally a free pass. But I'd definitely say I value fun (both mine and the survs) over winning when I play killer.
My perk builds i usually go for balance with a slight lean towards regression. My general rule is at least one aura read perk and reression perk in any given build. I'm a big fan of gen kick builds, pop gives excellent regression and combos very well with nowhere to hide and trail of torment, very common combo for me. I like synergy builds too, the more perks tht work in tendem, the more effect you get for less effort. But I'm not adverse to running onetrick meme builds if I'm not playing seriously.
Killer wise I favour tactical killers with short/mid range hit powers. Demo is 100% my main and represents everything about how i play killer. Tactical planning with portal placement, stealth and shred is my ideal kind of power. Few things are more satisfying to than jumpscaring a surv off a gen or a heal by pouncing them out of nowhere, then following up with a well judged shred as they go for a vault. Likewise portal placement can really let you control a game if done right, I'll place dummy portals near an important gen and then place a backup, use the dummy and leave it to be removed, once it goes and surv has a false sense of security I'll use the backup portal to surprise them and i tend to slap a couple of early ones near exit gates and keepnthem hidden for endgame.
Nemesis is definitely my backup main, the tentacle whip feels very similar to shred and a miss is less punishing, love the info zombies give me, they are also super useful on messing with looping survivors if I can herd them near the zombie and he really sings with my gen kick build. Trapper, deathslinger, clown and ghostface are regular features in my killer games and I've recently picked up pig too. Trapper in particular I really enjoy, I'll put traps on strong loops and vaults, shack obvsly and i like seeding a few in dodgy spots, concealed by grass and bushes in high traffic areas or near important gens, these catch people off guard a lot.
Performance wise, despite using a lot of mid/low tier killers I tend to do well in the killer matches where I'm playing to win with my mains. I'll get stomped fairly regularly when I'm running meme builds or practicing killers I'm not familiar with.
Your not going to get good info outta me, i dont complain about the roll
No general approach other than look at whats where and find survivors at the start. Theme boils down to "[playfully] attack survivors till annoyed" if im understanding right.
Perks depend on the "character" and whatever theme we Rulebreakers give. Ex: Aritst must run both crow perks (obvious reasons), the jabberwocky must run dragon's grip (also obvious reasons), Trickster the popstar must run starstruck and lightborn (what attention seeker doesn't like the spotlight?), Deathslinger has dead/death perks (cause we find it funny). Personally like "denial" and undetectable perks ex: languid touch, third seal, dark devotion.
Favorite being Artist but generally play the random game bar Nurse and Twins. Dislike looking at the ground and blinks cause my brain to keep "resetting" for lack of better words. Every time I touch the twins something breaks so i kinda just…stopped.
Generally they go well despite the occasional stomp on either end. Everyone bar 2 killers (ironically not the 2 above) is sitting around 60 kill rate at least so thats something.
My main killers are: Xeno, Dracula, Skull Merchant, Chucky, Rize. I do however play the whole roster regularly, on both sides.
I avoid tunneling as much as possible, unless the round starts going south and someone on deathhook shows up as an opportunity. I also do not slug for 4k. I always hook and play the hatch game unless the survivors were particularly toxic.
I tend to favour stealth builds and my most used perks are Unforseen / hex: plaything.
I play chucky and skull merchant with full stealth builds, and it tends to often be my highest kill rates. I primarily love using chucky's iri medallion which favours much longer stealth over using dashes. And skull merchant, i miss having undetetectable on drone placement as im pretty decent at knowing the right distance to turn my terror radius off to pull someone off a generator, or even just turning off red stain midchase for mindgames.
I used to enjoy Sadako for her on/off stealth and the challenge. But since they turned her into spamako I feel obligated to avoid teleporting as much as possible to avoid "spamming" as i never cared about condemned kills, I play for hooks.
Xeno is my heavy hitter for overwhelming people in chase. But most of the xeno's rounds are either the easiest i've ever played, or absolute sweatfests. No inbetween because his counter is 100% benefits to 1 side or the other. And swfs love making multiturret safezones.
Dracula I play with all the forms constantly adapting midchase as he is meant to. I know others prefer going the whole round as wolf and ive got a build for that too that does infact work. But he is at his strongest when using all of his forms. He can however lose to good loopers as hes kind of a jack of all trades master of none, and all of his forms are weaker than the powers they are trying to emulate, which I can clearly feel sometimes.
Rize I barely play due to the communities views on ghoul. I'm just a big fan of Rize from the anime and was suprised she made it into the game. Unfortunately as the easiest killer to play across the board. I don't think i've lost with her yet.
I also play a fair amount of The first as hes pretty comfortable to use seeing as he cuts through any form of bullying. But I refuse to bring aura perks on him to play "honorably"
Lastly i also enjoy krasue's vicious chase mechanics and 3rd person gameplay in head form.
Props for the rize appreciation. On the rare occasions I play ghoul I always use rize instead of keneki, she's so much more of a killer coded character than him.
I play very chill and for "fun" so no tunneling etc and can let people leave just as when I play survivor I can give killer the hatch by alerting the killer then point at it. I play mostly Houndmaster and sometimes Hag, Trapper, Krasue, Plague.
It's stomp newbs until I get matched with players with experience then I get stomped until I encounter the newbs again. Repeat.
Game approach: Chase / Tactical
Perks / Addons: regresion + information (IMHO you'll be gen rushed or you won't have enough info to start the next chase)
Mentality: I don't care about 4k, I love mind games and mastering killers' abilities - like the Hillbilly with his sliding/curving mechanics, or the Nurse, where you should predict survivor movements.
The Singularity it's more about tactics: deciding what to place where, and determining the most effective locations and methods for doing so
Killers: Hillbilly, Nurse, Singularity
My main is Springtrap and only play him, as I was hyped as hell for the guy. For my game approach there really isn't much to it. I just find a survivor and start the chase. I don't tunnel and only slug if it seems like it's the right call, like if I know someone has a flashlight or to go regress a gen. I never slug for the 4k cause I could care less about It and don't wanna waste time looking.
When it comes to perks right now I've been running a hex build, the perks being ruin, pentimento, playing and secret project with the addon Bonnie's guitar strings, the other addon being whatever. The idea is to have the survivors cleanse totems to slow down the game, as doing so will block gens for each one they cleanse. It also helps giving me stealth, as plaything gives me stealth and every time they cleanse it I get 30 seconds of stealth, so it helps negate the downside to guitar strings.
Mentality wise I just go in and see what happens. I don't really care about getting a 4k, mainly just wanting to get cool orbitals or nice hits in general with the axe. I hope to at least get one kill but don't really care if I 0k as long as I had a fun match. I don't really react to how the survivors play much, only really paying attention to if they have flashlights or not to be cautious of saves. I don't really freak out if I see them with all toolboxes and go in with a "gotta get one out fast" or "Dodge the lobby" mentality. I just go in and see how it goes. If I see the survivors are struggling hard and somehow get people dead on hook at 5 gens I normally pull back and even let them all escape.
With all that said my games normally go pretty ok. I get stomped sometimes but it's never back to back. I normally get 3ks to 2ks with some 4ks if I bother to care enough, although I haven't played much so I'm sure it'll go down lol
I play to win, that means missing knives and making every bad play until I get 3 hooks and a 4 man out
Highly depends on the killer I play.
For example, I like hit n' run Sadako without spamming condemned, just use my TVs enough for survivors to choose doing tapes, gens or healing and try to get them to waste strong pallets for later in the match.
Or my Unknown, where I run insidious and try NOT to keep survivors infected unless I know I'm downing them. That way I can stand in the open or inside a clone as a 'fake clone' and get jumpscares or cut off survivors going for saves.
You have played with me enough to know my style (at least as survivor). But since this is about the killer role, I will go more in depth.
Game approach: I start out analyzing the kinds of survivors I am facing. Flashlights, tollboxes, medkits etc. If I see two or more toolboxes, I tend to fish for a more favorable lobby if the queue time is not too long. Once loading into the match, I pay attention to my spawn point, and if I spawn away from the center of the map, I will go towards the opposite side. However, if I spawn near the center, I will circle around near the generators.
I play with a laxed playstyle for the most part, going for chases primarily, unless I lose too much gen pressure. I will then focus primarily on gen defense, and apply as much pressure as possible. I generally avoid tunneling, unless absolutely necessary to regain control. I also avoid slugging, unless it is the end game, and all bets are off, especially if I know there are more survivors nearby, who can potentially end up dropping the ball (if they are being greedy). But you will never see me tunnel someone at 5 gens, or 4-man bleedout slug anyone. Those tactics are scummy.
Perks / Add-ons: I usually run generalist (jack of all trades) kind of builds that help in more than one aspect. I do like stealth builds too, and it is always funny building around Secret Project or something like that.
I also run chase oriented builds at times. And as for add-ons I generally run add ons that enhances the power or alters the power in some way. Examples: Trickster reload speed, Scratched Mirror Myers / Classic Myers, Demo shred cooldown and so on.
Mentality: Relaxed, unless the survivors are being like mosquitoes. For me a 3K is a win, and I don't care if the last survivor gets out via the hatch or if they manage to open a door (I often give them the escape anyways). However, if the survivor team is trying shenanigans against me (sabo, head on, flashlights w/Champion and so on), I don't feel sorry about going for the 4K. Read: being like mosquitoes. Currently, I am going a bit harder, due to having a 30-day challenge going.
Killers: Trickster, Myers, Demo, and for 30 days: Houndmaster
A lot of questions here but I guess I would say I try to flexible in my games. Survivor trying to use unhook protections offensively in an area I know is unsafe I'll tunnel. Are we down to 2-3 gens and they still haven't cracked the 3 gen? Gonna start protecting that. Got a map like Trickster's Delusion? I am never going to those top right alleyways cuz I know the loops are too strong there. I won't chase shack a lot of the time either just cuz it's a bad time investment. I'm super willing to drop chase if I think it's not in my favor. So I guess I'd describe my overall playstyle as opportunist?
I will never slug for the 4k unless I'm doing adept or tunnel at 5 gens unless a survivor is throwing themselves at me because to me there isn't really a difference between 3k and 4k and I'm someone who's competitive and wants to play as well as possible but like it's not that serious I want my games to last longer than 5 minutes and I don't have this vendetta against survivors some killers seem to have where it's like "grrrr all survivors are toxic and have to be taught a lesson no mercy grrrr" like if one gets out I don't really care.
As for builds I find gen regression boring and prefer information builds either giving me information (auras) or denying survivors information (oblivious and undetectable) and it works pretty well for me. If I'm not running that I'm probably running a hex build to give survivors a side objective and waste their time. Sometimes the time it takes for survivors to find and cleanse the totems can be as valuable as the effects of the hexes although that is wildly inconsistent lmao.
Historically my most played killers have been ranged killers like Artist, Slinger, Houndmaster, Dracula just because I find running around in a circle to get a hit mind numbingly boring and would rather be trying to line up a shot. I think it's more skill expressive too so I feel better about it when I do well on those killers.
I'm more chase oriented killer. I prefer having aura reading + gen defense as perks, maybe even some chase perks mixed in there. I never play with 4 of the same type perks.
I don't tunnel or slug unless i have to or survivor gives me reason for it. I prefer killers like spirit, Jason, Ghoul. Dracula, very fast speedy killers with good chase ability. I also like to play Sadako, pig, unknown and nemmy quite a bit. Spirit sadly i had to drop, since the pallet density + sounds being all over the place i haven't been enjoying her at all.
3k for me is a win. I don't slug for 4k unless im doing adept.
I'm not a killer main, just try to play both sides, so im pretty chill and im 100% bribable by being funny.
I play Freddy.
Playstyle: Generally i try to set up couple of fake pallets in places of stronger filler pallets, choke points and loops while seeking survivors immediately. Tunneling is something i try not to do unless I can already tell early into the match that i am playing against a good team. I do slug quite a bit. I think it is a key tactic to make Freddy work against best teams. Using your teleport in the most efficent way possible, travelling across map in seconds while the other survivors have to run to save their slugged teammate is so underused. Same goes for using teleport in chases.
Perks: I do not run information perks for the most part. I find them a bit redundant when you already more or less have developed a game sense on where survivors could be. My favourite perk is Coup. Works great with Freddy snares and makes playing around Vigil a bit easier.
Builds: I usually run Pain Res, Fire up, Coup, Turn back the clock. I find it good enough for the games to last more than 5 min but not good enough to carry you. If i am in a more sweaty mindset i just slap on Hexes: Ruin; Thrill; Face the Darkness. Then i add in Coup or Pain Res depending how confident i feel. If i see a lot of medkits i just choose Hex Undying or BBQ instead of Hex Face the Darkness. My 3rd build that i enjoy is Endgame build. Terminus, No way out, Remember Me and BBQ with the Class photo add-on. I try to locate the obssession with BBQ and try to get them out as soon as possible, of course I don't tunnel immediately I still want some fun in Endgame. I find Endgame builds with Deadlock to just carry you too much. I think Endgame builds should test how quick can you get the necessary downs before all gens pop and Deadlock makes it a bit too easy to achieve this.
Mentality: I always strive to win. I take it less seriously when I go for Endgame builds. I don't slug for 4k. Killer queues are too long to try that and I find it unnecessary. If the survivor finds the hatch, that's ok. I don't particularly care for 3 gens due to the gen kick limit, unless i am playing on Dead Dawg. You are just begging to have a stalemate of a match for 20min that you are going to lose against any decent team. As for survivors. I generally despise people acting cocky while running the most meta perks ever. Like wow you have Plot Twist + DS combo and the other guy just used Shoulder on you, i was totally outskilled and not outperked. I don't like playing with or against survivors with selfish builds with Sole Survivor. Mosty becouse it boils down to "ok my team is struggling, time to hide. I can open the gate in 8s, hehe dumb killer". Team based game btw
I know that the DBD stats tracker isn't the most accurate thing ever but here it is. I think most games go well for me, but let's face it, it's becouse of the wanky MMR system. With this current meta and pallet density, my pants take on a brown colour the moment i think about a more accurate system.
My playstyle evolves from the random killer and build I get to what happens during the match and how the survivors play. I literally change it depending of the situation sometimes I do fakes, moonwalk etc. Then sometimes I just play like a terminator not caring about pallets or anything really. I have no hard time following survivors when blinded so usually blinding me on a pallet break is just waste of flashlight and distance they could have got if they did not do that. Can't count how many times just being ballsy and just going through a pallet when they expect you to try to not get hit by it gives me value. I don't tunnel and I don't slug unless survivors themselves cause the situation where that happens. Like trying to do some stupid flashlight save while hurt as the last survivor etc.
I'm pretty simple. I don't like any kind of build up. I don't like stealth or set up or traps or the long game approach. I like to chase people and down them. The only set up killer I play regularly is Plague. I generally run 2 aura and one or two anti-gen for perks, and often aura add-ons when available. I've never actively tried to create a 3 gen and I've never run an end game perk.
Mostly I play Henry nowadays and Lethal and Nurse's Calling are requirements. I have to have fast momentum with him. With Lethal and Smashed Cassette Deck I aim to have World Breaker up 10s in and a down within 30s.
It would probably surprise a lot of people that I'm a fairly aggressive player. My opponents are often good so I've become less chill. If people give me an opening I'll take it and I do play to win, but I'm very inclined to give hatch to survivors who get screwed over by sandbagging teammates.
I usually average about a 70% KR so i guess it goes fine.
Scratched Mirror Myers.
Play to scare and hear streamers scream, not actually win. I find regular “run around a pallet” gameplay boring and tedious. It’s much more fun trying to cut people off from angles they don’t expect.
Let all non-toxic players escape after 2 hooking them. Keeps me away from dealing with too many Sweaty SWF.
I don’t really play any other killer.
I play while I walk on my treadmill. So I prefer the less complicated killers. I run a pallet eater build (brutal/enduring/hubris/rampage or lightborn).
I will tunnel and proxy camp as needed. I'm running zero slow down, so I will not lose any sleep if I ruin someone's game by removing them from it. Sorry, I want to win sometimes too.
I try to kill as many people as I can, but I only slug for the 4k if I am going for an adept or I see the last two survivors and can slug without farting around the map for four minutes. I never give hatch anymore.
I play both roles about equally currently, but this event made me lose any empathy for survivors. I finally had to turn post game messages off because I was either a scumbag for trying to win at a video game or the worst killer ever because I lost a game (while running zero slowdown/running B-tier killers). I also hump toxic players if I can afford the time to do so.
I will 100 percent tunnel you if you weaponize your BT. So if you do that, make sure you're good at chase.
i like playing slug dredge sense hooking gives me anxiety
The build i run is Ottomarian writing and Lavalier microphone for addons. they let me use my power more and find downed survivors. My perks are Merciless storm, sloppy butcher, thanatophobia, and lethal pursuer.
I usually just wanna say hi to everyone and spread the violence and the BP equally. I build around 1 regression perk tops and usually build the perks around the killer. I don't like being shut out, so I hate the pre running types. I aim to 3k every match, ideally kill them all, but if I'm doing well I spread the hooks.
I get tamed pretty easy I don't sweat the 4k. I can be petty though when it comes to retaliation I forgive but I don't forget. My favourite build on Springtrap is an end game one so with 0 perks I can go all out with my natural skill and I can settle for a hard earned 2k. GG! But if that pre running Lara with 0 hooks gets the wrong idea about the situation, she'll be in for a fun surprise. Suddenly people don't tbag as much when every pallet and window become blocked >:)
When I want a simpler change of pace and not struggle with 0 perks I like to meme with Count Barkula(dog only Drac) or no power Krasue. I swear, Superior Anatomy kills not because of the perk itself, but because of the confidence it gives you.
I've been a lifelong Surge enjoyer but this year I've been using a lot of Oppression. Usually pairing it with Unforeseen. I still can't believe how low the cooldown is these days.
I also love the Franklins+ Weave Attunement combo, especially with Unforeseen. I use that on a variety of killers, from m1s like Myers and Ghoul to m2s like The First. Getting Hawkins or RPD can sometimes give you the most one sided matches. Assaulting people as an invisible Henry on different floors of RPD with perfect knowledge is peak killer fantasy fulfilment if you ask me.