People say Clown is a boring killer to play as and against, but that's because they consistently lose. The truth is, once you get good with Clown, he's a dangerous killer with a high-skill cap. Why? Because surprisingly, you need to multi-task and have a LOT on your mind. You need to play the Clown like Napoleon; extreme tactfulness with strategy knowing your opponents' every move and play.

Here are some tips with playing Clown:
1. Never touch Clown until you've mastered survivor. Once you've mastered survivor, you can understand what smart and viable survivors do in chases and where they are (i.e. doing gens, healing, cleansing a totem, etc.) You need to have a survivor mindset when playing Clown.

2. Understand how to actually play killer with M1 mind games and make sure to graduate from bloodlusting at pallets and loops.

3. Aim your bottles at high objects and NOT at survivors. If you didn't know, when Clown throws his bottle, his gas is quite small, but the higher the bottle hits, the greater the circumference and area of the gas. Any map with ceilings make Clown S Tier.

4. Do NOT play Clown like Huntress or Freddy with Dream Snares. You should NEVER aim for survivors with the bottle, it's a waste and you'll slow yourself down. Do not play like Freddy and spam bottles at loops. You need to aim for high objects such as trees, walls, etc.

5. Master the killer without addons first (but that's for every killer anyway).

Anyone who has played Clown before will tell you he needs 4 basic perks: Hex: Ruin, Spirit Fury, Enduring, and Brutal Strength. Although, these perks synchronize together, they synchronize too well and there's too much synergy. What I'm essentially saying is that it's overkill and unnecessary.

Pop Goes The Weasel:
This is arguably the best killer perk in the game. This perk rewards you for good gameplay and fast chases since it allows you to apply a -25% regression on the next generator you kick. This slows down the game a lot since many new survivors tend to hide and play immersed rather than doing the objective.

Brutal Strength:
This perk allows you to optimize your bottles well. You throw them over a pallet, the survivor gets slowed down, you use Brutal Strength and catch up (approx.) 10.8 meters away from that pallet. I recommend this perk for newer players since you can level up Trapper since he comes with the base game.

Bamboozle:
This perk allows you to gain momentum and block windows on newer survivors make them take poor pathing. Most lower rank survivors will then run to a pallet and instantly place them down. This is where you break the pallet with Brutal Strength or if you see them continuously running, don't break the pallet and keep going after them. This is not only a Clown Tip, but a Killer Tip as well.

A Nurse's Calling:
Since Clown is quick in chases against lower rank survivors, most survivors will heal and use Self-Care in a corner and waste tremendous time. If you have A Nurse's Calling, you can easily find those survivors wasting time and you can punish them for healing. This perk gives you great situational awareness of where you should rotate to and apply pressure to.

Hex: Ruin:
This perk gives you a guaranteed victory in lower ranks. Most lower rank survivors can't hit Great-Skill Checks. Due to this inability, lower rank survivors will have a difficult time completing generators. Since new players aren't familiar with totem locations until about 500 hours worth of game time, don't be to scared about Hex: Ruin being cleansed within the first minute.

Save the Best For Last:
This perk forces you to rotate and prevents you from committing to every chase with a survivor. You need as many stacks as possible and you want as many people injured as possible. This perk also allows you to tunnel and allows survivors to use Decisive Strike since you need to change obsessions in order to apply more pressure. This is a filthy perk for Clown once you master his power. This actually makes Clown unloopable. It can only reach it's true potential in very powerful survivor loops. (i.e. Infinites, Jungle Gyms, and Killer Shack).

Brutal Strength:
This perk is used for you to gain momentum in a chase rather than lose it. Since low rank survivors waste pallets without looking behind them, they'll easily drop every pallet and you can use Brutal Strength to catch up.

Barbecue & Chili:
Overall this is a strong killer perk and I would recommend this on any killer in these ranks due to extra Bloodpoints. This perk also gives you situational awareness across the entire board for 5 seconds after hooking a survivor as well. Since many low ranks survivors hide a lot, you can easily find them due to this aura-reading perk.

How to Optimize this Build:
If a survivor just placed down a pallet and if you're both vis-a-vis, do not break the pallet, but rather throw a bottle at the wall, over the pallet, and then break the pallet. Not only does the survivor gain distance, but you can get a stack of Save the Best For Last

Thrilling Tremors:
This perk is one of the best killer perks in the game. Due to the provided information, you'll know exactly where to rotate to and apply pressure.

Pop Goes the Weasel:
This perk is needed in order to slow the game down. Once you've used Thrilling Tremors, you'll know exactly where to use your Pop Goes The Weasel stack.

Hex: Ruin:
Unlike other Ranks, you can't use Hex: Ruin for slowing the game down, that's YOUR job. Then why run it? Run Hex: Ruin because it doesn't punish you for long chases. Red Ranks survivors will make any decent player a toy. Even if you're quick at getting people down, generators will still 'fly' and because of this, you can't allow yourself to get punished for long chases or chases in general.

Discordance:
This perk is, in my opinion, one of the best killer perk in the game. Why? At the start of the game, a killer needs to patrol generators in order to find survivors. If two survivors do the same generator at the start of the match, you can go over to the generator and get two free hits and rotate in accordance with their movement, pathing, and rotation. Hopefully, they'll learn you have Discordance, that way they'll split up and prevent generator speed from going to quickly. This will allow you to get usage out of Hex: Ruin since that'll slow the game down for survivors since it'll force them to work alone.

How to Optimize this Build:
You can seal off a generator that you've previously used Pop Goes The Weasel on with Thrilling Tremors. Pop Goes The Weasel regresses a generator by -25% and after an additional 16 seconds of being untouched, it applies a -4% regression which totals up to -29% regression. This means that (approx.) one-third of generator progression has been removed. Hex: Ruin is used for you to commit to 'game-altering' chases - chases that determine whether or not you lose the game. Discordance: shows you where to rotate to if a chase is getting to long or if you are unsure of where to rotate to.

So before I can speak about the best Clown addons, I must tell you about some of the "strongest" ones first:


Readhead's Pinky Finger:
This addon allows survivors to be exposed for the duration of the intoxication. This addon COMPLETELY CHANGES Clown's playstyle and makes him easily loopable since you'll be using your bottles to get direct hits instead of slowing survivors down. When using this addon, you'll be playing a mediocre Iridescent Head Huntress with quicker speed, but a chance of not being hit. This addon is by no means the best addon for Clown.


Tattoo's Middle Finger:
Survivors auras are shown to you for 6 seconds when intoxicated. This addon isn't necessary if you know survivor movement and pathing. It's good yet kind of unreliable.


Cheap Gin Bottle:
This addon gives you 2 extra bottles. You won't need this if you get good with Clown and you shouldn't use this if you want to get good with Clown. It's like getting good with Huntress with Infantry Belt; extra chances giving you less of an incentive to be conservative and efficient with your power.


Cigar Box:
This addon expands the gas area and increases the blurred vision for survivors. This addon is one of the best in my opinion. You need to understand this: Clown does good at big loops and bad at small loops. Since this increases gas area and blurred vision, this should make the small loops harder to loop and jungle gyms and killer shack impossible to loop.


Ether 15 Vol%:
Considerably increases the intoxicated effect duration. This is undoubtedly the best Clown addon. When you increase the intoxication effect, you're essentially making the survivor become slower for an additional 1.5 seconds. When you M1 a survivor, no distance is made when they get their sprint burst since they'll still be intoxicated just enough for you to not lose distance.


Garish Make-up Kit:
Moderately expands the area of the gas and the gas duration is moderately longer. This addon is decent since you need the correct perks in order to make it useful.


Ether 10 Vol%:
This addon is essentially a weaker version of Ether 15 Vol%. This addon still slows down survivors and prevents the survivor from gaining any distance with their sprint burst when you use your M1 attack.


Flask of Bleach:
This addon applies the Hindered effect when intoxicated. This is the second best addon for Clown in my opinion. This stacks meaning: a survivor is already slowed down because of intoxication. Now with the Hindered effect, you're applying an addition 10% of speed reduction. This is what prevents survivors from reaching another loop in time.


Solvent Jug:
This addon applies the Exhausted effect when intoxicated. Decent Clown players say it's one of the best, I say it's not but rather, it's only decent. This addon is completely countered by Sprint Burst rendering it useless. This addon is good for countering Dead Hard, Balanced Landing, Head On, and any other Exhaustion perks. This tears down the walls for the self-defense of good survivors.


Starling Feather:
This addon allows you to throw bottles without getting a penalty by getting slowed down during your throw. This addon is recommended by a lot of Clown mains. However, I would not recommend this addon. Rather than focusing on removing a Killer's weaknesses, focus on what makes them strong. What makes Clown strong? Slowing down survivors mid-chase.

Some of the best addon combinations with Clown are:

1. Ether 15 Vol% & Flask of Bleach:
Mix this with Save the Best For Last and survivors get no where and they're downed in seconds. This also makes Clown unloopable unlike any other M1 killer. No other killer can do this except Spirit or Freddy. With Ether 15 Vol%, the survivors are slowed down to 85% of their movement speed. With an additional Hindered penalty from Flask of Bleach, survivors are slowed down to 75% of their movement speed! 75% moving speed is as slow as a survivor walking with the perk Fixated. No distance is gained from survivors. This combination makes Clown one of the best killers in the game.

2. Ether 10 Vol% & Flask of Bleach:
A weaker version of the combination above; survivor movement speed is decreased to 80% when intoxicated.

3. Ether 15 Vol% & Ether 10 Vol%:
A weaker version than the first one; survivor movement speed is decreased to 85% when intoxicated and the intoxicated effect lasts longer.

4. Ether 15 Vol% & Cigar Box:
Since Clown struggles at smaller loops, this makes the smaller loops unloopable and it prevents any survivors to get anywhere or to any loop when their movement speed is decreased to 90%. This also helps Clown mind game better since the extra blur with the Cigar Box allows you to hide your red stain even better and it slows down the survivor's reaction time in real-life since they can't see the red stain.

5. Ether 15 Vol% & Garish Make-up Kit:
Makes Jungle Gyms and Killer Shack unloopable since the survivor is slowed down to 90% of their movement speed with the gas area being larger and longer.

6. Flask of Bleach & Solvent Jug:
This slows down survivors with the Hindered effect and prevents survivors from using any Exhaustion perk when in a chase. This combination is only strong from Brown-Purple Ranks. This will not help you in Purple-Red Ranks since 95% of those survivors know how to ACTUALLY loop and this combination isn't necessarily anti-loop. Only Flask of Bleach allows it to be somewhat anti-loop. This is the community's "strongest" addon combination for Clown. It's not. It can't help in a high rank chase since not everyone is going to carry Exhaustion perks.

7. Redhead's Pinky Finger & Cheap Gin Bottle:
This completely changes The Clown's play style. I wouldn't recommend this combination in Red Ranks. Although survivors do get Exposed when directly hit with the bottle, it's not easy to hit with the bottle. You need to play like a Huntress when using this and this combination is only good when you're right behind a survivor which by then a survivor should be at a pallet unless if they're at a dead zone. Since it's very hard to hit with the bottles, use Cheap Gin Bottle to have more bottles whilst in a chase.

8. Flask of Bleach & Starling Feather:
Theoretically, you could run Starling Feather with any addons, but this is probably the best combination. When you throw a bottle and successfully hit a survivor with either the gas or bottle, the survivor gets slowed down to 95% movement speed. You don't get slowed down with your bottle after throwing it so you don't get a (approx.) 1.5 second penalty. This removal of this 1.5 second penalty could be the frame that allows you to "hit through a pallet" or prevent Adrenaline.

Every killer has their best map, but the Clown has several. He can do fine on any map so he's not RNG based, but some maps make him considerably stronger. Clown's strongest maps are:

1. Hawkins National Laboratory:
This is easily Clown's best map. This map mostly consists of unsafe pallets so ideally, it's good for any killer except Huntress and Hillbilly. Why? Because the map is indoors with walls and ceilings. Walls and ceilings are what make Clown very powerful and this is why this is Clown's best map. Whenever survivors are looping you (the Clown) at a pallet, all you have to do is throw a bottle directly at the ceiling of where they're looping at and now they're intoxicated and you'll be able to get a hit. If you get stunned, they'll still be slowed down before they can get to another pallet. Even if they do, all the pallets (except two) are unsafe. Even if survivors have Balanced Landing, you can still throw the bottles at the ceiling making their speed boost useless.

2. Treatment Theatre:
This is Clown's second best map. While Nurse struggles on this map, Clown can easily dominate on this map. The reason being is that 95% of the map is inside and there are walls and ceilings. With Clown NEVER aim at survivors with the tonic bottles. Aim for the ceilings and at the walls and the area of the gas is increased making every where a survivor goes unsafe; every loop, every window, every pallet. If you decide to bring a map offering for the Treatment Theatre, I would recommend bringing the perk Bamboozle. This perk will only come in necessary for ONLY this map and nothing else since Clown grunts when he vaults, making Bamboozle for Clown much weaker than any other killer.

3. The Game:
This map is 100% inside. Why isn't it as good as Treatment Theatre then? This is because the ceilings are too high for you to throw a bottle and get an accurate hit on survivors. When you are downstairs however, the ceiling isn't that high, but rather too low for you to get a large area of the tonic gas. Though this map has those negatives for Clown, Clown can still throw bottles and ceilings and slow survivors down a lot.

4. Shelter Woods:
This map is good for every killer, it's small, not many loops, and weak pallets. What makes Clown stronger on this map than any other killer is the trees. With Clown, NEVER aim for survivors, aim for trees, walls, and high objects. Since the area of the tonic will be larger depending on the height of the object, the greater the distance the survivor has to avoid or run through. It's a pick-your-poison scenario; you get hit regardless.

Some others include:
5. Grim Pantry:
This map has a lot of buildings ceilings and walls.

6. Gas Heaven:
This map has an object where you can aim at a sign and some loops become unloopable, but unfortunately this map is redundant once that pallet is used.

7. Father Campbell's Chapel:
This map has an unloopable building for Clown. For the most part, this map is killer orientated.

Clown tends to dominate on small maps, but really, he can dominate on any map with an abundance of trees. His worst maps however are:

1. The Thompson House:
This is every M1 killer's worst nightmare. The only killers that can do good on this map are Spirit and Hillbilly. The reason why this map is bad for Clown is due to the lack of trees and open fields. There are no high objects except at the loops which are still appalling for Clown.

2. Rotten Fields:
This is map is poorly designed due to its absurd size. It's also weak for killers since it's mostly cornfield making tracking difficult This map is bad for Clown since all of the trees are on the outskirts of the map where no survivors would run to. There are no high objects that you can aim at and when you do, the survivors will run into an open field where the only way you can slow them down is by throwing bottles at them which isn't ideal.

3. Blood Lodge:
This map is the worst map for M1 killers. This isn't however Clown's worst map since there are a lot of trees, but the absurd amounts of smaller loops in the middle of the map is what makes Clown weak. Remember what I said? Clown does good at large loops, but bad at smaller ones. Fortunately, if you play like you're running Spirit Fury and Enduring by swinging through every pallet without getting stunned, survivors will think that you're running those perks therefore, you're using two perks that you don't have. The only perk that will save you on this map is Brutal Strength and by using it, you'll remove a lot of pallets from the map. But since this map is "Pallet City", you're not going to win by doing this strategy. You need to play very smart and efficiently. Every second will count on this map.

In these videos, I show you a visual representation of how to put Clown to work with anti-looping. This is also on The Thompson House; arguably the most difficult map for killers.

1. In this video, I show you how to use Clown at a Jungle Gym. The Claudette is forced to get a slow vault, because of this and her blurred vision, I could easily mind game her.

2. In this video, I show you what to do at this Jungle Gym when the pallet was down. The Claudette avoided the gas, but even if she did she would've went down. Make sure to throw the bottles at walls and NOT the floor.

3. In this video, I show you how to stop looping at TL Walls. Throw the bottle on the opposite walls. This forced Claudette to keep vaulting the same window until the entity blocked it. Then she got stuck and then an insta-down.

4. In this video, I show you how to win at this "unmindgamable" loop. You throw the bottle at the Thompson House and the gas spreads. Luckily this is the only map that has this.
5. In this video, I show you how to make one of the strongest survivor loops unloopable, rendering it useless.

6. In this video, I show you how to use the Killer Shack as Clown. As you can see, you aim the bottle at the top of the ceiling rather than the actual survivor. If you want to argue that the final hit was bogus and that it shouldn't of hit, you're wrong. When you get a medium vault or a slow vault, their hitboxes are the same as if they were in the action of vaulting already.

Make sure you understand basic M1 Mind-Games such as moonwalking, hiding your light, etc. The Clown is a good killer, just not like Nurse or Spirit.

Kudos to Michael Myers 2.0 and CrystalizedCrow for helping me with these videos. Greatly appreciated!

This is section is survivor orientated!

If you go against a Clown that throws his bottles like a ditz then these counters should be really easy to follow. When normally looping, you want to "hug" the walls and keep running the loop. However, with Clown, it's much different. You have to waste the pallet and place it down when he gets close (kind of like rank 15s). This is why he has Brutal Strength though so make sure, as survivor, that you know your pathing.

If you go against a Clown like I've explained in this entire guide then you're in for a hell of pain. Basically you have to create as much distance as possible and make your movement too awkward and unpredictable for this Clown.

✘ Normal Pathing Against Clown:


✔ Awkward Pathing Against Clown:



Perks to hard-counter a GOOD Clown would be:
1. Sprint Burst
2. Quick & Quiet
3. Dance With Me
4. Iron Will

The perks listed above hard-counter Nurse and Spirit; the two best killers in the game.

Do keep in mind, if you know how you play, you'll predict like yourself. If you play good, you'll counter good; if you play bad, you'll counter bad.