Dead by daylight is a survival horror game where 1 killer mercilessly hunts down 4 unlucky survivors caught in his domain. As a survivor, your task is to stay hidden and to complete your objectives and flee the level.

Sounds easy? Not when the killer is out there hunting you and your 3 comrades. New players will usually find themselves overwhelmed by the atmosphere and the brutality of the game. This guide is intended to help new players prepare for the horrors ahead (or for players looking to avoid being hung on a meathook).

Note: This guide is intended to help teach the basics and survival tips and tricks to beginner and struggling players; hence this guide will not cover more advanced topics such as helping other survivors, high level playstyles or strategies.

Simple. You and your 3 other friends spawn at random around the map. You must complete your objectives and flee the map before the killer finds you and sacrfices you to a dangerous overlord known in the game only as the 'Entity'.

In a standard match of 4V1 there are 2 main objectives. Either of them must be completed in order to escape. The first is more noticable.
In order:
1. Repair and activate 5 generators (garanteed to have 7> generators per map)
2. Locate and open up one of 2 escape gates
3. Escape!

The second objective is more challenging
1. Locate a key (Spawns at a random location each game)
2. Locate a hatch (Spawns at a random location each game)
3. Use key to unlock hatch
4. Escape!
If you are the last survivor left (either the killer got to your friends or they escaped) the hatch is automatically unlocked; ignore steps 1 and 3

So you've spawned into the map and you're going 'Wtf do i do now?'. My reply is to first get a gauge as to where several things are:

1. Obviously, the killer. He'll spawn some distance from the survivors, but knowing where he is will help you plan your game
2. Generators. You and your friends need to fix these to open up the escape routes
3. Your friends. You may spawn either alone or next to someone else. Meeting up with them can save your life and make tasks go much easier.

Basic controls:
W,A,S,D - Movement Keys
RMB, LMB - Contextual Action
Space - Vault over obstacles/Drop barricade (When near barricade)/Hide (When next to closet)
Shift - Sprint
Control - Crouch (Hold to remain crouched)

Survivors canot jump, but they can vault over window sills/dropped barricades.

Your character will always make some amount of noise (particually louder while injured).

While repairing/healing/sabotaging, a skill check marker may appear at random. Press space while the marker is in the given zone to pass. Failing the skill check will drop some of the progression bar and make a loud noise alerting the killer to your position.

Search chests for useful items to increase your chances of surviving. Hold LMB near a chest to search it.

When the killer is close your heartbeat will start to speed up. The closer he is the faster your heart will beat. Use this as a guide to how close he is to your position

You can either bring items into a game, or scavange items from chests found around the map
All items have limited usage charges, and can be equipped with 2 add-ons

Available items in the game are:
Medkit - Self-explanatory. Heal teammates faster or allows you to heal yourself

Torch - Can be used to either signal other survivors or blind the killer. Hold LMB to use.

Map - Reveals objectives within a particular range of the survivor who uses it. Objectives revealed this way remain as long as the map has charges.

Toolkit - Can either be used to actively sabotage traps/hooks (Basement hooks cannot be sabotaged) or passively increase the repair rate of fixing a generator.

Note: Blinding a killer with the torch will make him drop any survivor he is carrying.

Surviving the killer is a lot easier said than done. He will hunt you down and sacrifice you on meat hooks to the entity that he worships.

The killer needs to hit you twice(once if injured) to put you in a downed state before he can pick you up. Once he picks you up, he'll find the nearest (preferably best defensible) hook to hang you.

While carried, you can try to wriggle your way free by mashing A and D alternatively. (Don't do it as fast as you can - do it only as fast as the game will read it)

Upon being hanged from the hook, you'll be put in a bleedout state before you'll be sacrificed on the hook. The sacrificial ritual runs as a bleedout bar with 2 major checkpoints; 50% and 0%, during which you can:
1. Attempt to free yourself from the hook by holding down LMB. The chances of this is low, however, and the bleedout quickens if you fail. Available until bleedout bar reaches 50%
2. Stay still and try to buy as much time as possible for other survivors to unhook you. Until 50% bleedout bar
3. Resist the sacrifice. Repeatly mash space to delay the sacrifice. Not pressing space will cause you to be instantly sacrifced to the entity. Starts when the bleedout bar reaches 50%

Once your bleedout bar runs out you'll be sacrificed to the entity and you'll lose the match.

Note 1: If you are hanged as the last survivor standing you'll be instantly sacrificed

Note 2: If you are freed and then hanged a second time your bleedout bar will start at 50%. If you are hanged for a third time you will be sacrificed instantly.

The following explanations are guidelines for what to do in situations as well as tips and tricks from me on how to survive (or even help your friends get rescued). As no two situations are the same, I recommend you exercise your own judgement when faced with simillar challenges.

The killer views his world in a first-person perspective - make the most out of his small field of vision

Watch the ground for traps - a good killer will normally leave them either in the tall grass (harder to spot), in tight spots, behind window sills or near objectives.

Do not sprint unnessesarily - you'll leave orange scratches that the killer can follow to find you.

The closer the killer, the faster your heartbeat goes. If your heart starts beating hard, find cover!

If the killer is near move slowly (not sprint), find cover, crouch next to it and look out for the killer. Angle around the cover so that he can't see you.

Hiding in a closet is not foolproof - the killer can hear you making sounds and come and investigate the area

If the killer has spotted you, don't run in a straight line or along easy to predict routes. Find the nearest barricade, drop it between the two of you, and use the resulting time bought to get behind cover. Make sure that you don't move in easy-to-predict directions.

If the killer is close enough to attack (you'll see the red light coming from his mask near your character), switch to turning left and right at random while running. This makes it harder for the killer to hit you.

Don't keep running after you've lost the killer (rookie mistake). Instead, move slowly and in a direction not following the path you would've continued on. Find cover and make sure the killer is not in the area before moving on.

When injured you'll make a lot of loud sounds. Forget about hiding in closets or near the killer in this state - a expert killer knows that listening for these noises is key to finding nearby (injured) players.

Whatever you do (yes this applies to every situation), don't panic. Most players get killed only because they panicked and sprinted away when the killer was approaching their position. Stay calm and keep moving slowly behind cover (I've done this a bunch of times and the killer could never find me).

I hope this guide helps you survive in the dark world as well as i did. These ideas and tips should give you a fighting chance at surviving the killer's lair and escaping it.

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