After so many years since the game's release, It's 2021, and you finally decide to start playing Dead by Daylight.
10 minutes into the game you find it is very difficult to beat the game.
You need help. No worries!
You are here, we got you covered.
We are going to go over everything you need to know to beat this game without breaking a sweat.
Dead by daylight is an asymmetrical PVP (Player vs Player) game that's played 4 players against one.
Even though 4 vs 1 seems like an unfair advantage to the larger group, In Dead by Daylight the one player character is super strong and has more abilities than the other 4 weaker players.
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Gameplay of Dead by Daylight
The basic plot of the game is that you either become one of the 4 survivors or the one killer.
In the main menu of the game, you will be asked to choose between playing as one of the survivors or playing as the killer.
If you play in the survivor group, your objective is to try and escape before the killer, who is the person playing in the opposite solo team, stops and kills everyone in the survivor group.
While playing as a survivor, you will get a list of characters to choose from.
Additionally, you will be given a list of customization options and various perks that allow you to have a different play style, each having its benefits.
If you choose to play as the killer, there's a long list of killers to choose from as well. The difference here is that every killer has a different power or ability.
Most of these characters are well known from movies and comics.
GhostFace from the Scream movie series
Demogorgon from Stranger Things
The Stranger Things characters: Demogorgon, Nancy Wheeler, and Steve Harrington will only be available till November 17,2021.
More details here:
Dead by Daylight Official Announcement
Pyramid Head from Silent Hill as the Executioner
Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series
Let's now take a deep dive into each of the survivor and the killer roles.
Survivor Gameplay
As a survivor you will appear in the game with three other survivors.
There will be seven broken generators on the map.
As survivors, the 4 of you must find and fix at least 5 of the broken generators.
After fixing the generators, an escape route is opened for you which lets you get away from the killer.
Fix a Generator in Dead by Daylight
To Fix a generator you simply walk to it and press your primary action button and it will automatically start to repair.
While repairing the generator, you will get skill checks in between that you will have to hit to progress repairing the generator.
Skills checks can be seen on the screen, it looks like a ‘circle with a target mark’ on it and if you miss the target mark, it will result as a ‘Bad Skill Check’ and the progress made so far will be lost and the killer will be alerted of your location.
If during a skill check, you can hit the good area, it will result as a ‘Good Skill Check’ and the generator repair progression continues.
There is also a small area on the circle that you can hit, which results in a ‘Great Skill Check’. This is harder to hit but it gives you more progression while fixing the generator.
5 generators need to be fully fixed whilst hitting all the skill checks along the way, and once they are successfully repaired, the last generator will pop and usually some change in the map is seen.
When we see changes on the map after fixing the 5 generators, we would be able to find the exit gates. We need to reach these exit gates before the Killer finds us.
Chased by the killer
As a survivor when we get near the killer, we will enter what’s known in the game as the ‘terror radius’ of the killer. The terror radius is where the killer is stronger and can use special powers on the survivors while they are in the terror radius.
The survivor would know when they are close to the killer by the music and the heartbeats, which gets stronger the closer you get to the killer.
This adds a lot of spooky elements to the game. If you were immersed in the game, you would definitely have the hair on your neck stand up.
Some of the killer characters have special stealth abilities by which even if they stalk you or if you get closer to them, you wouldn’t know!
They'll be able to get near you without you being able to hear the heartbeat.
When the killer finds you, you will enter a ‘chase’. If he strikes you once, you will get injured and you will start to limp as you run.
If the killer strikes you again, you will get more injured and would fall down.
Strategy to escape the Killer
To escape the killer, there are some tricks for the survivor team that they can use to their advantage.
Even though the killer can outrun you and is faster in a straight path, the survivors can swivel and change directions faster.
Also, the survivors are more agile and so they can vault over pallets and jump into windows easily and these manoeuvres can stumble the killer in their path and can break the ‘chase’.
These manoeuvres in the game are called ‘looping’ and this trick of using the surroundings and their properties to your advantage is what decides your life and death in the game.
After you are down after the killer’s second strike, the killer can pick you up and take you to a ‘hook’ and hang you on it.
You can be hooked up to three times in a game and after the third time if the killer catches you again, you lose immediately and your game is over.
Vaulting windows to escape the killer
Windows can be jumped into (Vaulted) at three speeds.
If you are walking, you can jump into it silently.
If you are running, and you jump in at a bad angle, you will do what’s known in the game as a ‘medium vault’ which even though is fast, it would notify the killer of your location.
The best way to jump into a window is known as a ‘fast vault’, which is done by running fast into the window and jumping into it towards the center and not at a bad angle.
Fast vault is harder to hit, but it’s worth it because this way your location won’t be revealed to the killer.
Fast Vaults are the preferred option when you are in a chase with the killer.
Another way to hide from the killer is to hide in a locker. Though these are effective even when the killer is near the locker, If by any chance the killer decides to open the locker you are hiding in, you will immediately be held by the killer and you will be taken to a hook.
Also, if you enter a locker while you are injured, your whimpers of pain can be heard by the killer. Though these sounds are very feeble, if the killer listens keenly, it will be able to find the locker you are hiding in.
Just like you fix a generator, you can similarly heal the other survivors.
You do this by walking to them and holding the action button.
There will be skill checks performed in between, you must try to hit a good or great skill check to keep your location anonymous from the killer.
Other methods of healing include using healing kits and also through special abilities.
Avoid getting Hooked by the Killer
If a survivor is hooked you can see them on the map through the walls highlighted in red colour.
Another survivor will need to come over to pick you up and get you off the hook. you can wiggle and try to escape.
Wiggling slows the killer from reaching a hook and this way you can try to escape before getting hooked. Use Looping while you are on a chase to break the killer in his steps. Use Vaults efficiently back and forth to confuse the killer that he just gives up on the chase.
Use pallets, which are limited, only in a last straw situation ( pun intended ) to break the chase.
Open as many chests in the map to get you that extra item that can be helpful
On the map, you'll find many chests that you can open. They will give you a free item but they take a second to unlock before you can get the item and the killer can hear it being opened.
Find Totems and Cleanse them
Throughout the map, you will find ‘totems’. There are usually 5 totems and when they are not lit up, they are called ‘dull totems’. You can destroy these totems and you should because there are ways these can be lit up later in the game and cause you and the other survivors harm.
When the totems are lit up, they make a fiery sound and it gives the killer an extra perk called a ‘Hex Perk’, and it drains the survivors’ health as long as the totem is lit.
Exit strategy for the survivors
Once the last generator has been fixed you'll see the exit gates flash and then you'll be able open them up.
To open the gates, a survivor needs to hold on to the exit gate handle until the gate opens. The handles can be seen on the wall right next to the gate and once it's fully charged up the gate will open.
After the gates are opened or the hatch is closed by the killer. The end game phase of the game begins. A time bar will appear at the top of the screen that counts down. When the countdown ends, any remaining survivor that hasn't escaped will be killed instantly.
If you're the last survivor in the match, you will see a hatch icon in the bottom left of the screen.
Once the hatch is open, you can simply jump in it to escape.
The killer can also close the hatch and that may hinder you from escaping.
The hatch is usually Plan-B when reaching the gates and opening them is too tough.
Killer Gameplay
The aim of the Killer is to prevent all four survivors from escaping.
Being a Killer, you would want to kill all the survivors and hinder any chance of them working together to plot and escape.
Getting a perfect 4 out of 4 kills is nearly impossible unless you are the perfect predator, but even if you have to settle for less, you must try and kill as many of those 4 survivors to make your gameplay easier.
It takes three hooks to kill a survivor, so if you have already hooked a survivor, your focus should be to hook him 2 more times so that you have one less survivor to worry about in the remainder of the game.
That said, killing survivors is not the only aim you should focus on, hindering their progress and escape plan by disrupting the generators are equally important for you to win as the Killer.
You should strike a perfect balance of chase and kill, along with disrupting generators so that the survivors are stuck longer, injured longer and thereby vulnerable longer.
The killer’s gameplay view is in the first-person angle.
While on a chase with the survivors, it’s important to keep an eye on the footmarks on the ground to understand their looping patterns and their hiding locations.
Keeping the survivors on the edge is a good tactic in Dead by Daylight, they can get scared and take wrong chase decisions which can help tip the balance in your favour.
If a survivor drops a pallet on you, you will be stunned instantly and you will have to break pallets and walls to get through. So be on the lookout, avoiding pallets before they are dropped on you can save you loads of time.
Once you strike down survivors, pick them up by standing over their body and immediately walk over to a hook and place them on the hook.
When you see a generator being repaired, walk to it and kick it to damage it. This way, the survivors’ progression in the game can be slowed down.
If you find out the hatch in the map, keep in mind the location so that you can come back and close it later.
These are gameplay tips that can help the Killer get that easy edge over the survivors.
Let’s now look at the equally important customization options of characters.
Customisation of Characters
Survivor Character Customisation
Killer Character Customisation
Whether you play as the killer or as a survivor, customization of your perks and abilities makes a whole new difference.
In the game, we can choose 4 perks to bring into the match.
Each perk do different things and have very interesting features and synergies that in combination with the other perks you choose can give you interesting, fun builds of character that become good at some characteristics.
There are 2 sets of perks to choose from as you go into the trial.
- General perks - which all characters have access to as a baseline.
- Sharable perks- which come from individual characters that can be shared with or influenced on other characters in the game.
As an example the twins has three three teachable perks here that once unlocked can be taught to other killers and use it in their builds.
Thus collecting all the perks from every survivor and killer will give you more access to more build combinations.
Shareable perks are unlocked at levels 30, 35 and 40 for each character.
To unlock perks and shareable perks you must build up on the blood web which will elevate the level of the character and thus their powers.
You need blood points to progress on your blood web.
Offerings in Dead by Daylight
You can bring offerings into the match which are blessings that affect only that match individually.
Offering as kind of like prayers that you can make to do stuff like protecting the loss of your items, or go to a specific map or increase the number of blood point you will get for a trial.
Items in Dead by Daylight
Survivors get access to items that they can bring into the match.
Items include
- Keys that allows them to unlock the hatch if it's closed.
- Maps that reveal special locations in the game.
- Flashlights that can be used to stun the killer.
- Med-Kits for healing themselves.
- Toolboxes that allow them to progress fixing the generators faster and some more.
Each of the item can be modified further with two add-ons to it, which will enhance its use, like allowing a toolbox to be used for longer before it becomes worn out.
Powers
Instead of items, Killers get Powers to use in the game.
Just like items, these powers can be further enhanced with add-ons that gives each killer unique and powerful effects they can use in the match.
Build the best character
These tips are a good starting point info to give you an edge as you start playing the game.
Keep playing and build your character’s abilities and perks.
New characters and perks are added every 3 months or so, keep on the lookout on these as these get you more build variety as the game progresses.
Try many combinations and build the best character whether you are playing as survivor or the Killer.
Slowly and steadily you would find yourself mastering this game like its a piece of cake.
