Killers: How they work and how to play against them.
I don't think anyone needs me to tell them there's a lot of killers in the game, 35 to be exact, and all 35 have unique powers that require unique methods of counter play to do well against them. Some killers have really straight forward powers that are mostly simple and easy to understand, others have powers that require a bachelor's degree to really understand to the fullest extent.
I also don't think anyone needs me to tell them that the tutorial for the game doesn't really prepare you to step into the fog, with most people resorting to watching videos for information, finding someone to teach them, or just figuring it out as you go. So I had the mind to compile as much information about each killer as I could into one place with the help of anyone willing to contribute.
(I'm no content creator but I know about Word and Microsoft Paint, so all things depending, I might even make a very subpar "cheatsheet" for all the killers to share with everyone.) Do we want the theme to be "Pink Sparklies", "Doom and Gloom", "I didn't do any of the work but put my name on the final draft", or something else?
What I'm looking for:
- Niche things someone can do while playing against the killer.
- Things about the killer's power that aren't well known or obvious.
- Important tactics one should adopt when playing against that killer in general or against specific play styles.
- Popular add-ons and what they do, and if they change an important aspect to the killer, how you should play around it.
Also try to keep it in the realm of "anyone can do this regardless of experience." Things you would teach a new survivor.
Here's a list of some of the things I know. feel free to add on, correct, or clarify anything.
Trapper
- If you see a trap disarm it, don't leave it laying around to snap some poor poor Claudette's ankles off.
- When disarming traps, other survivors can run over them safely, you can use this to help a teammate get into/ out of somewhere safely or even start opening a gate or cleansing a totem before alerting Trapper you're there.
- The Honing Stone Add-on: Survivors who free themselves from traps are put into the dying state. If you step into a trap and you know this add-on is in play DON'T FREE YOURSELF! It is much faster for another survivor to free you vs. pick you up from the dying state. At the same time, if another survivor steps in a trap outside of chase with this add-on and they're close by GO GET THEM. Don't give Trapper the free hook if you can help it.
Wraith
- The Wailing Bell's sound is directional and changes with intensity based on how close he is to you, the closer he is, the louder the bell. You can hear the bell when you are within 24m of him. Wraith also has an accompanying "whoosh" sound when cloaking/uncloaking and has a range of 40m. This "whoosh" is a useful tool to identify Wraith at the start of the match so listen carefully.
- My nickname for the Wraith is "The Pug," If you've ever been around a pug you know they sound like they are constantly suffering from allergies and sound snarky/growly, Wraith sounds the same when he breathes. Listening for his breathing is a pretty useful way to know he's coming if you don't have good visibility.
Hillbilly
- Don't run in a straight line unless you can cross the map in 9s because Billy does it in 10.
- If you suspect your playing against a Billy bring an Eyrie of Crows offering, it's their favorite map. They really love the little stick bushes all over the place so make sure to run around them often in chase.
- He has Bamboozle.
Nurse
- Base-kit Nurse has 2 blinks, her first blink has a max range of 20m, her second blink has a max range of 12m.
- You can use lockers against Nurse, as she cannot cancel blinks, if you hop into a locker while she has one charged you can force her to blink and go into fatigue, you can exit the locker and make a little distance before her fatigue wears off and her blinks recharge.
Myers
- Myers has to stare at you to get his power, early game its pretty common that they just follow you around and stare at you and don't actually chase or attack so do everything in your power to block his LOS. In the worst case scenario: you have nowhere to hide from him, be the flame to his moth and show him what the power of the sun looks like, He can't stalk you while blinded or stargazing (results may vary).
- Myers can only stalk one person at a time with priority on the closer survivor, If you know he has gotten a lot of stalk from you and can't stalk you much more, you can "body block" for other survivors so he can't stalk them. Of course you still want to be smart about this, this immunity starts to fade as the match time ticks away.
- (There is debate in the community on this one.) There is an interesting way to identify if Myers has the "Judith's Tombstone" add-on equipped or not and it doesn't involve sacrificing the rando. Myers has 2 distinct walking animations that are tied to his movement speed. While moving at a slow speed his movement is stiff, knife is pointed down at an angle and swings side to side as he walks, as well as his left hand being open. This walk is most commonly seen while Myers is in T1. However while moving at a fast speed his movement is more fluid, his knife points straight and no longer sways, and his left hand is balled up in a fist. While Myers has the "Judith's Tombstone" add-on equipped, this reduces his movement speed to be slow enough that it resembles his T1 walk and can be used to identify the add-on. This does not hold true for the "Tombstone Piece" add-on however as it does not change his movement speed. Further more, any knowledgeable Myers that plays with a controller can actually fake this speed change to give the appearance of the add-on being in play.
Hag
- Hag's traps have a trigger range of 2.7m, Survivors can crouch while approaching her traps to prevent setting them off, and can then wipe them away. Survivors interacting with props while within the trigger range will also not trigger any traps.
Doctor
- Have beef with Doctor? While afflicted with T3 Madness, start charging Potential Energy during the Merciless Storm skill checks while he watches.
- Survivors can boogie if you spam the "Snap Out of it" action.
Huntress
- When going against a Huntress observe the various objects around you. If you see anything with a large hole or gap, particularly in walls and loops, ask yourself "Does this hole/gap look like a hatchet would fit through it in real life?" If you answer yes, duck.
Spirit
- While phasing Spirit cannot see survivors or their pools of blood when injured, She can however see scratch marks and hear the various noises survivors make (breathing, grunting, footsteps, etc.)
- While phasing Spirit can be tracked through grass and other plants moving as she walks through them, this also works the opposite way, Spirit can track survivors who are walking through grass and other plants while phasing.
- Survivors can double back on their footsteps to hide their scratch marks in an attempt to lose Spirit, walking can also be used to achieve this.
Twins
- Running by an idol Victor gives Charlotte killer instinct, survivors can crouch up to victor before kicking him to avoid this.
Trickster
- Sometimes, the safest place to be when trickster is throwing blades at you is in his face. If you have nowhere to go and you think you're guaranteed to go down, try running up close and doing figure 8's and zig zagging all over the place, Trickster has a very methodical throw rate and the hit-boxes for the blades are very precise, this means it can be easy to dodge blades at times by simply moving around, this can actually save your life if you get lucky.
Nemesis
- You can crouch behind most low wall objects when he tries to whip you and it will miss.
- Zombies are simple creatures that like loud noise, you can use loud noise notifications to lure zombies away from a location if necessary.
Pinhead
- If Pinhead teleports to you while you're solving the box near various drop downs and balconies located across some maps, you can cause Pinhead to spawn where he can't get to you.
Artist
- Survivors can jump in a locker to quickly dispel crows in a pinch.
Onryo
- Turn off her TVs. Personally, I will grab the tape from the closest TV before I start working on a gen and work on it until the TV turns back on. When it does I will turn it off again and take the condemned stack, I will then run to put my tape away and turn off TVs as I go (while taking no more than 3 stacks of condemned).
Dredge
- Survivors can run through Dredge's remnant to destroy it and keep him from teleport.
Knight
- Knights guards can look up and see you on different elevations, however just because you are within the patrol path doesn't mean they will start a hunt. Guards still need LOS to start the hunt but be aware they can do so through just about any small hole or crack.
- Guards also investigate loud noise notifications if they are close enough.
Skull Merchant
- If you are not in chase, you NEED to prioritize not getting scanned. SM gets haste when a survivor gets a claw trap and you can get survivors downed if your not careful. On the same note, if you're not in chase disarm the drones, especially those in loops so the chased survivor has more options to run.
- Drones can't scan you if you are crouch walking, standing still, or completing an action like repairing a gen.
Xenomorph
- Pretend you've just invited Xeno to a BBQ and they're the main course. Turrets! Turrets everywhere, use them! Put them in common paths of travel and safe loops. Don't put them close to tunnels as they deactivate when Xeno enters/exits a tunnel and can be destroyed before they get to reactivate.
- The turret beeping acts as a terror radius for the Xeno, this includes while they're in tunnels and even undetectable.
Comments
very good :)
Against Hillbilly:
Wraith:
Legion:
Plague:
Skull merchant:
Oni:
Nemesis, Oni:
Huntress, Deathslinger:
Pig:
In addition to the above:
Trapper:
Wraith:
Billy:
Nurse:
Myers:
Hag:
Doctor:
Huntress:
Bubba:
Freddy:
Pig:
Clown:
Spirit:
Legion:
Plauge:
Ghostface:
Demogorgon:
Oni:
Deathslinger:
Pyramid Head:
Blight:
Twins: DISCLAIMER WE KNOW NOTHING IF THE PTB CHANGES AFFECT ANY OF THE BELOW
Trickster:
Nemisis:
Pinhead:
Artist:
Sadako:
Dredge:
Wesker:
Knight:
Skull Merchant:
Hux:
Xenomorph:
Chucky:
Unknown:
POTD isn’t blocked by stairs
There’s an elevation logic made around it
You can mostly shoot downwards but never upwards
And that’s why maps like swamp are outright a nightmare for this killer
Shooting from the side. Say you try and shoot through shack but from the stair side. Depending where you fire from the stairs will block it (or has blocked ours, havent been in that position recently so if it has changed, dont know)
there’s several elevation elements on the basement shack stairs you can mostly shoot through the upper part of the stairs and the POTD will move through it easily although the rest of the downward part of it will screw it up (I found that out yesterday on accident btw)
And also that’s why I often run the basement in main building offering
But outside of shack basement
stairs are mostly deadzones if a pyramid head is aiming downwards (ex rpd staircase)
If you wanna counter Phead through elevation logic
Always stick to higher/unbalanced elevation like swamp or Lery’s (and yes this map does have unbalanced elevation at the windows)
We're pretty sure its that downward part we are talking about, but just to be sure:
Black arrow is stairs with the arrowhead being bottom and end being top, Red is Punishment. Your saying we can now shoot through? Cause last time one of us tried (probably yrs ago) it didn't.
I just discovered that yesterday on accident on a customs match
I have a video
I’ll clip it and send it
Give me a few minutes
https://streamable.com/2ps1uc
What about the middle/deeper end? From the clip you only tested at the top of the stairs. Does the deeper end still block it like we think?
sadly yes BUT
the fact that the upper end allows you to do this is infact a game changing feature and it makes shack hits less miserable when playing M2 phead
And this is also the first time I’ve ever seen an elevation where you can go through a lower stair and then continue on normal elevation without it being messed up
fair enough