5 Dead by Daylight Tips for New Survivors

Dead by Daylight is now free for PlayStation users who have a PlayStation Plus subscription, an offer that means there are plenty of new players taking part in the Entity’s twisted game. That also means that there are all sorts of newcomers playing as a Survivor and trying to figure out what to do and when to do it, all while trying to avoid whatever Killer’s chasing you.

If you’re one of the new Dead by Daylight players who’s joined or you’re just barely into the game and are looking for how-tos behind what the tutorial offers, there are a few guidelines you can follow that’ll take you from being the first Survivor on a hook to being the first escaping out the doors. You’ll learn the ins and outs of Dead by Daylight’s more common strategies like pallet looping as you play, but to avoid some of the easiest pitfalls in the beginning, here are five tips to get you started.

Always Be Doing Something

“Do something” sounds like the most obvious advice in the world, but it’s a tip that players often forget in the heat of a match. If you ever need proof of this, get yourself put on a hook and watch your teammates flail about as you wonder why they’re not fixing generators nor are they trying to save you.

Repairing generators is the only way to make progress as a Survivor in Dead by Daylight, but it’s not at all uncommon to see teammates not doing that whether because of the Killer’s intimidation or uncertainty in their actions. Even if your team is falling apart around you, the best thing that you can do is keep focusing on the generators and, when possible, saving teammates. The Killer’s constantly going to be doing something as the fifth player hunts the Survivors, so the four mortal players should use their numbers to their advantage as they complete objectives around the map as quick as possible while remaining active throughout the entire game.

Know When to Let Teammates Go

Getting tunneled and camped by a Killer in Dead by Daylight, terms that mean they focus you down and stay beside the hook to make sure you die no matter how many generators get fixed, feels awful. What’s almost as frustrating is when you’re being camped on a hook and you see a teammate’s aura as they stick around nearby. There’s no chance that they can save you because of the Killer’s camping, but they stick around regardless, not heeding the first tip of “always be doing something.”

To avoid being that teammate that means well, you have to know when to let your companions go. If the Killer’s going to camp someone, there’s not much you can do about it that won’t put you and them in further danger. Though the game’s easier with all four Survivors present, trading one Survivor for three generators is an excellent deal for the Survivors and not so much for a Killer. Seeing the generators be completed as a Killer is plenty frustrating enough that it might make the Killer leave their tent anyway, so you may get the chance to save that hooked teammate after all.

Have an Exit Strategy

The starting maps in Dead by Daylight aren’t too complex since they mostly consist of wide-open areas. Claustrophobic indoor maps like Lery’s Memorial Institute and Gideon Meat Plant are the tougher ones to learn, but even if you don’t know the map by heart, you should always try to have an exit plan.

Before you start working on any generator, survey your surroundings to see what’s nearby in case of a Killer’s sudden appearance. Are there pallets nearby that you can throw in their path? Tall grass that you can get lost in? Windows that you can vault through slowly or quickly to throw the Killer off your trail? Knowing the map will help you in extended chases, but knowing what your immediate surroundings offer will help you until you get that experience.

Practice Your Evasion Skills

If that exit route you had planned didn’t work out and the Killer is closing in, you’ll need to employ some evasive maneuvers to get away.

The most obvious choice is pallet looping, a frustrating tactic that involves wasting a Killer’s time by running in circles around a piece of terrain that has a pallet nearby. You use the pallet as a threat and only drop it when absolutely necessary, something that’ll buy you some time. Most Killers are going to just eat the pallet drop and keep coming though, and it’s then that you’ll need another strategy.

Juking back and forth can use the Killer’s disadvantages to your benefit – they can only see in a first-person perspective and they have to recuperate after any attack. By bobbing and weaving back and forth, sometimes even running straight back at the Killer, you can cause them to whiff their attack and buy you some time.

It’s also best to know when it’s time to stop running. Sprinting away leaves the red tracks that Killer’s follow you with, and while it’s the quickest way away from them, it’s not always the smartest. If you have some time thanks to a successful pallet drop or another maneuver, try and dip into the shadows instead of running to throw the Killer off your trail.

Know Your Killer

One of the best ways that you can succeed as a Survivor is to actually take a break from that side and play as the aggressor for a while as you try out multiple Killers.

The core gameplay of the Killers is the same regardless of who is picked – they want to down you through attacks and put you on a hook – but the way they accomplish that goal is quite different depending on who you play. Freddy Krueger plays entirely different from The Shape (Michael Myers) who’s nothing like The Trapper, and the best way to get a feel for each Killer is sometimes simply to play as them yourself. If you don’t want to buy the DLC Killers to learn, there are more than enough tutorial videos out there that’ll explain what the premium Killers are doing and how to avoid them.

Dead by Daylight is currently available as a free PlayStation Plus game and is purchasable for the Xbox One and PC.