FrndlyChnswSalzmn
FrndlyChnswSalzmn
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Not my original thoughts, but a paraphrasing of something from a wise, long-ago DbD player named Dezzmont:
Understanding Camping and why Killers do it
DBD is, at its core, a really simple game, and the killer gameplay loop when it comes to hooked survivors is really easy to model:
-After hooking do you leave or stay to defend the hook?
Here's how a good Killer makes that decision.
-Is there another Survivor nearby or do you suspect a survivor is nearby? If yes, stay and defend. If no, go search for more survivors.
Reasons: if you stay and no survivors come for the save, you have gained nothing and lost gen time. If you stay and someone gets off of a gen to come and save, you have now taken at least two survivors off of their main objective (more if they hook rush) and their objective progress is effectively cut in half. If you leave the hook and get into another chase, you are now delaying two survivors: the hooked and the one being chased. If someone else goes for the save during this case, you have cut Survivor progress by at least 75%, maybe 100% if the 4th survivor is not doing gens.
-If you defend, and survivors go to the hook you are now slowing gen progress by at least 50% and eliminating a survivor from the game. This is a situation you want to be in as a Killer; you will eventually win when the survivors make a mistake and get downed if they can't get the save quickly. This is the best possible situation for a Killer. This is where killers with instadowns, group damage and the ability to quickly kill survivors and prevent hooks have the advantage (Billy, Bubba, Myers, Plague, NOED users, etc.)
- If you defend, and survivors don't go to the hook, you are now not progressing your objectives (Killing Survivors) in a meaningful way as your presence does not help secure the kill on the hooked survivor any more than if you were not present, and now 3 survivors are free to repair as fast as they can for as long as you defend with you gaining no value. If you defend the full hook timer, you probably lose the match.
However, a skilled Killer will be able to split the difference. What Survivors call 'Proxy camping' (proximity camping, a phrase they made up to describe a Killer who patrols while monitoring the hook, i.e. a smart killer) can effectively keep pressure on generators and be prepared to punish unhook attempts. The Killers who master this are the ones who reach high ranks and stay there; this is especially the forte` of high-mobility Killers like Billy, Nurse, Oni, and Spirit but it can be done effectively with any Killer by taking advantage of the map and understanding when, where and how Survivors will approach for the save.
What does this all mean?
Camping is not a playstyle, in the same way that throwing rock every time in Rock, Paper, Scissors isn't a playstyle. Camping is an attempt to counter expected survivor behavior, and it is required to get a good outcome if the survivors hook rush. Good killers think less of if they should camp or roam, and more try to anticipate the survivors.
Examples:
-If they suspect the survivors are extremely altruistic (because they hook rushed earlier or made cocky borrowed time saves), then the ONLY correct choice is to defend the hook, perhaps trying to pretend they aren't to bait a rescue.
-If they suspect the survivors are pragmatic, the ONLY correct choice is to leave the hook to find another survivor as soon as possible.
And, of course, if a killer sees a survivor at the hook not trying to hide their presence, they automatically know that defending will be the highest value action they can take, and leaving is the worst thing they can do in that scenario. Barbeque and Chili and many other tracking perks, powers and addons exist. Killers can see you and you as a Survivor are not as good at stealth as you think; with over 3,200 hours in this game I can say that I nearly always know where survivors generally are and often know exactly where most or all of them are.
Killer choice is irrelevant in which scenario actually plays out. As most intelligent killers will tell you, camping comes about because of survivor behavior. If you always go aggro for the unhook you create a game where it not only is always the best choice for a killer to camp, but its always a game losing state for the killer to not camp. Your skill at chasing is relevant here, but if you risk it - and it is a risk no matter how good you are due to countless second chance Survivor perks - you may gambling your victory.
Listen Carefully, Survivors. This part is super important for you.
Your most important tool to get rescues vs killers who default to camping is subterfuge. Even if you are 100% committed to unhooking what you must do is make it seem like you are not going for the rescue.
This means not being seen near the hook. This means making sure that if you are SWF that allies make it clear gens are being done by either finishing them or intentionally failing gen checks once or twice. This especially means not using really transparent diversions that make it clear someone else is ready for a hook rescue, like jumping over a window repeatedly, because then you are just saying to the killer "if you keep camping you have incapacitated 3 people, not just 2 because you now know 3 people are not on gens - you who is trying to get the killer to chase you, the guy on the hook, and the person hiding going for a rescue.
Thanks for reading, those of you who had the attention span to do so and the IQ to understand it.