How to Murder Teenagers: A Guide to the Hillbilly
Dead by Daylight is procedurally-generated horror game starring 4 hapless teenagers and 1 grotesque killer who is hell bent on making them suffer for the amusement of his cosmic diety: The Entity. This guide will help you understand and master playing as the chainsaw wielding maniac known as the Hillbilly. There are many different ways to play this killer, and this guide focuses on the path I took to Rank 1, utilizing a hyper-aggressive terrorizing scheme.

Lore: The unnamed son of Max and Evelyn Thompson, the hillbilly was born with some very striking abnormalities. Ashamed of their offspring, they bricked the young boy into a dark room and only fed him through a hole in the wall. Eventually, the boy went mad and escaped, and once free from his chains, he took revenge on his parents in a most heinous way. He spent the remaining time of his physical existence torturing animals on the Coldwind Farm until, presumably, the Entity found him and brought him to the dark place that is Dead by Daylight.

- Perks: The Killer load outs are a constantly shifting dynamic as the meta changes and new patches are released. What may be good at one point may fall out of common use when a perk is nerf’d or if survivor’s find a hard counter. Always be on the lookout for how the perk landscape is changing and act accordingly. That said, there are a few staple items that hold a lot of benefit for the hillbilly. Here are some of my favorites.

Note: there are a lot of perks and combos that I have not had the pleasure of testing. This will likely be the least comprehensive part of the guide, and my choices reflect the experiences I have had and/or read about on the forums. If you have some comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave them on this guide and I will be happy to take them into consideration

Iron Grasp/Agitation: This is an obvious choice for many killers, as its increases the time it takes for a survivor to wiggle free from your grip, or increases your speed while carrying a survivor. As the game progresses and saboteurs break your hooks, these perks allow you to comfortably carry your prey to the basement. If you are looking to fill a perk slot, one of these are always a good choice.

No One Escapes Death: This perk was practically mandatory before the 1.0.5 patch, but it is now seeing some shift in its use and is more of a niche perk with some situational usefulness (best when paired with Bitter Murmur.)

Whispers: Personally, I find this to be a useful perk on larger maps. As Hillbilly, you should be chainsaw sprinting around the arena at all times, so having an auditory cue to inform you when someone is around is pretty useful. I find that the “whispers” (which sound more like moans) are playing fairly regularly, so its more useful to note their absence. If you charge over to a generator on the far side of the map and you don’t hear the whispers, you can pretty safely turn around and head back toward another generator.
(Many players are reporting that this perk is still bugged. To my knowledge, it was addressed in the recent 1.0.5 patch, but I could be wrong. If it is currently bugged, you will likely want to stay away from it.)

Enduring: This perk can really help you close a chase when the survivor is using pallets. If you find that your prey often outruns you by knocking a pallet in your face, then this perk might be for you. However, you should consider baiting the survivor to drop the pallet early or avoiding the pallet if you want to keep the perk slot open for something else. Eventually, you might need this perk at all unless you want to keep high pressure on your chases when pallets are nearby and go for risky hits.

Spies From The Shadows: If you find that you are having trouble locating your prey, this perk will help. It is a very well liked perk among many killers.

Sloppy Butcher + Bloodhound: A fairly common combo, this helps the killer track any wounded survivor. Grab these perks if you find yourself being out-juked a lot and have gained access to Bloodhound via the Wraith.

Distressing: One of my favorite perks, this is a mind game, ultra-agro perk that increases your terror radius. The idea behind my use of distressing is to keep the survivors in a constant state of fear, which slows down generator progress in the early game. By late game, most survivors have acclimated to the heartbeat being ever present and will grow more bold, which helps you catch them off guard.
(At higher tier play, this perk is less effective, but the bonus bloodpoints are still nice.)

Deer Stalker: Sometimes, you down a survivor but there isn’t a hook nearby or there is still survivors in the vicinity. Often times, we don’t want to leave the survivor crawling around in fear we might lose them in the tall grass, but with Deer Stalker, that fear is no more. You can freely hack away and come back to find your prey using this perk’s aura reading ability. Useful for using downed survivors as bait.

Shadowborn: While it has recently been nerf'd, shadowborn is a valuable asset as it makes your vision wider and clearer. Consider this if you are having difficult locating your prey.

My Typical Loadout
Iron Grasp, Distressing, Deer Stalker, and a floating perk. I will likely evolve this loadout as I gain more perks.

- Add-ons: These consumables will help optimize your murdering spree and provide you with beneficial tools. My choices here reflect an aggressive, terror-themed setup, so any add-on that lessens the noise of the chainsaw should be disregarded and ignored.

Primer Bulb and Spark Plugs: Some of the more useful add-ons, these will help you in almost every situation that uses your chainsaw. If you see this in your web, its a good idea to grab it.

Modified Chain Add-ons: Rusted, Grimy, and so on, the chain add-ons are fantastic. They will help you keep track of your prey (since they will stay injured longer) and will help combat saboteurs who want to take down all of your hooks.

Spiked Boots: These are very helpful in longer sprints and more cluttered maps. While not a “must”, they are fairly useful and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Long Guide Bar: Ostensibly, this sounds like it could be useful, but it has some bugs that make it not work taking. Additionally, its rare that the reason you miss with a chainsaw attack is because they were out of range. Its much more common to miss by running past the survivor.

Vegetable Oil/ Lubricant: Anything that makes you chainsaw faster and more often is good. Use it.

Depth Guage Rake: Very useful for beginners. As you gain control and understanding of the chainsaw sprint, you will need these less and less.

Speed Limiter: Fun to take against rank 20s and low levels, plus it gives extra points. Don’t take this unless you are feeling very confident about the match.



- Offerings: These game-modifiers will give you the extra edge you need to put on the hurt!

- Momento Mori: These offerings are always fun, but should be use sparingly, as they reduce the number of points you can possibly obtain in a match. Personally, I save them for when I see a prestige character join the lobby and I want to make sure they don’t keep me busy for the entire game.

- Map Specific: The Hillbilly flourishes on Coldwind Farms and Macmillan Estate. Try to go there and avoid Autohaven.

Clearing Reagents/Brighter Moonlight: Less mist and brighter moonlight means higher visibility, which is good for you.

XP Offerings: Usually not worth purchasing if you can avoid it, but if you have to take it, might as well use it.

Shroud of Separation: It's always good to separate the survivors as early game, it will dramatically slow down generators and hook savings.

Scratched Coin: Less stuff for the survivors. Not really worth the points, but if you have it, you might as well burn it.

- The Chainsaw: This is your bread and butter. Learning to master the Chainsaw is the most difficult and most rewarding aspect of this killer. Its unwieldy, its loud, and its awesome. Knowing when to go with the hammer for easy hits and when to go for a chainsaw kill is difficult. My rule of thumb is that if the area is very cluttered, stick with the hammer. If you have an opening to chase someone down (an open field or a straight corridor) then use the chainsaw.

Charge Up: You can float the charge up by tapping right click and keeping it near completion. Doing this will let you navigate around a corner just before flying into a chainsaw sprint. It also helps you fake out and react to a survivor during a chase.

The Sprint: Easily the most important part of the Hillbilly, the sprint gives you insane mobility. You can catch a sprinting survivor in no-time-flat, or race to a generator on the far side of the map using this skill, however, it is very tricky to get the hang of. You can only turn in a small cone as you’re moving, and if you run into any objects (that aren’t pallets), you will be stunned for quite some time. Note that you can bounce off of objects by hitting them at the right angle and they won’t end your sprint. Mastering this pin-ball charge will quickly separate you from the other killers and make you into an unstoppable killing machine. Furthermore, map knowledge is paramount to efficiently utilizing the sprint. You need to find all of the open fields and corridors on every map so you know how to quickly traverse the arena and spring upon generators. Look for the paths that are free from clutter and use them. When a generator pops, start sprinting toward it as quickly as possible, and try to guess where the survivors will be running to and cut them off.

The Slash: After your sprint ends (without hitting something), the hillbilly will swing the chainsaw, striking anything before him. When making this slash, you can quickly pivot your character to strike around corners or hit something to your side. You don’t necessarily have to slash in the direction of your charge.

- Patrol: As you probably know, the survivors must complete a number of generators in order to escape from the arena. This means that you’re best bet of finding survivors is to be constantly checking in on these generators to surprise someone mid-repair. My suggestions is the be constantly chainsaw-sprinting from one generator to the next and keeping a mental tally on the progress of the repair (how many pistons are running, how loud is the generator, and so forth.) When you realize a generator has progressed since your last visit, investigate the area by looking in nearby tall grass, behind tress and rocks, and listen to the lockers. Remember that you can use a patrol as generator management to keep certain gens unpowered while the survivors knock out others. Its okay if they repair one or two generators at the far side of the map so long as you can effectively patrol three or four in close proximity. They will eventually have to come to you.

- The Hunt: When you suspect that a survivor is nearby (see scratch marks, noted generator progress, or heard a sound), you’ve got to find your prey. During this stage, the chainsaw tends to be more of a hindrance than a help, since audio is so important to finding a hiding survivor. Listen for breathing, whimpering, or footsteps as you follow the scratch marks or check through the tall grass. Remember that you can hear breathing in a locker by standing near it, so theres no need to waste time opening it unless you are positive someone is in there.

A good survivor will juke you by running in one direction and then quickly sneaking in a different direction. If the trail abruptly ends, that likely means that the survivor is nearby and hiding behind something. Check everywhere. Be thorough, but don’t spend more than fifteen or twenty seconds searching—anymore than that is just wasting your time. If the trail has gone cold, immediately chainsaw sprint to the nearest generator and start patrolling again.

- The Chase: When you see a survivor, its time to close the distance and get in some hits. If you are in an open environment or a corridor, the chainsaw will help you close in and put them on the ground. If you are in an area with clutter, focus on catching them the old fashioned way and hitting them with your hammer. However, if you see a survivor heading for a pallet, rev that chainsaw and charge, since you’ll most likely scare them into dropping it early and you will burn through it with your chainsaw slash. Remember to stay calm behind the keyboard and be methodical. If you see a survivor running through some ruins, try to guess where they are going and cut them off. Predicting survivor movement is an essential skill that comes from lots of experience. It will really help if you play survivor to learn how they think and move.


- The Kill: Okay, so you’ve downed your prey and now you need to deal with them. First off, you shouldn’t be in a rush to kill the survivor (unless its a prestige level 50 that you are worried about griefing you with infinites or something.) If you can get to a hook, throw your prey up and leave. Don’t camp, it only hurts your score. You can get way more points by being active than you can by standing in one spot for half the match. If the survivor gets saved, thats actually good news, because that means you can find them again (200 pts), chase them again (a few hundred more), hit them again (300 or more depending on the type of hit) and then hook them again (for even more points.) You can’t get more points off of a dead player. I assure you that I have gained my pip without a single sacrifice on more than one occasion.

Secondly, you have a choice when you have a downed survivor. You can either hook them and keep going, you can leave them on the ground to bleed out for a while (Deer Stalker perk is helpful in this case) or you can quickly kill them with a Momento Mori offering (again, save for griefers or problem survivors.) This is a case by case scenario that requires some situational awareness and quick, critical thinking to decide. Don’t be afraid to leave someone on the ground if another survivor is nearby and you think you can catch them, just don’t get too caught up in it and lose track of your downed prey.

When you hook and leave to keep patrolling, keep an eye on the hooked survivor and be ready to chainsaw sprint back to the hook as soon as they are saved.

- Early Game: When the round begins, the sprint begins. Start aggressively patrolling as many generators as you can, as quickly as you can. Remember that your chainsaw sprint is so quick, you can often catch a survivor while they are still near the generator. When this happens, punish them. Remember to mentally note the progress of each generator you see and listen for the Whispers if you have the perk loaded. While you should endeavor to see as many generators as possible, you don’t want to go in a linear, clockwise pattern or survivors will catch on and wait until you’ve passed before working on the generators. Be erratic, go in a star pattern and don’t be afraid to double back if you think a survivor might be hiding out nearby. During this stage of the game, there is absolutely no reason to camp or get tunnel vision. You need to be keeping the generator progress slow and painful by patrolling as aggressively as possible. Even if you find a survivor and have landed a hit, you need to constantly be asking yourself if this player is using themselves as a distraction so his or her buddies can pop some generators. Don’t get stuck in a five minute chase. If you can’t catch the player within the first thirty or forty seconds, abandon the chase and start patrolling again.

- Mid Game: Once the survivors have finished 2 generators, you need to start your generator management game. Find three or four generators that are easy and fast to sprint to and start aggressively protecting them. It's okay if the survivors pop a generator on the far side of the map because eventually, they will have to come to you, and when they do, you will be ready. Hopefully by this point, you’ve got a few hits in or hooked a few players, but there is still 3 or 4 survivors on their feet. This is good. This means you still have time to hook a lot of people and earn a lot of points, and to accomplish this, you need to start being more efficient and dedicated to the generators. If you manage to land a hook during the mid-game, stay a little closer to it than you would in the early game, but don’t camp. Alternate between checking on the hook and protecting the two (or three) closest generators. Be ready to rush back and punish any attempts at saving the hooked player. Alternatively, mid-game can start before any generators are popped if A.) Someone disconnects or B.) You got an early sacrifice or two. If this is the case, keep doing what you're doing in the early game and aggressively patrol all generators.

- Late Game: You’re down to 1 or 2 generators and its time to get your kills. Hopefully, your generator management has worked and the last remaining generators are easy to patrol. Keep sprinting, keep hunting. At this stage of the game, you need to taking survivors out of the game. If you see a trail, follow it. If you see a survivor, take them down and either leave them to bleed while you down another close by survivor, or hook them and stay reasonably near (again, without actually camping.) Your attention should be shifting away from protecting generators as closely, and more to getting kills. That said, don’t get so focused that you let the last generator get popped without consequences. Every 30 to 45 seconds, you should be checking in on the generators if you aren’t actively killing someone. The survivors are going to be motivated and excited at this point, so use it to your advantage. They will slip up, and when they do, punish them for it.

- Finale: Once the gates are powered, chainsaw sprint between the exits looking for any hints of a survivor. Try to maximize your sprints to close the distance quickly while staying out of sight until the last second. Hopefully, you can catch someone at the lever and down them. If the exits are far apart, do some sleuthing to figure out which exit they are trying to use and investigate the area. Your mobility is the only thing keeping the survivors from escaping now, so use it to your maximum potential. Any survivor caught during this stage should be quickly killed or use as bait to lure in other foolhardy survivors. Stand off a few dozen meters and float your chainsaw sprint near maximum to charge in and take down any would-be-rescuers.

- Counters: A popular strategy to employ against a hillbilly is to lure him away to a distant generator while another survivor finishes a generator on the opposite side of the map. This tactic uses the Hillbilly’s aggressive patrolling against him, but can be negated by the killer remaining resolute. When you’ve made your decision to investigate a generator blip, commit to it and find the sap who distracted you. Keep calm and don’t get overwhelmed. This counter is so effective because it gives the hillbilly pause and makes him lose focus. Just stick to your guns and remember your generator management. Its better that the survivors get 1 generator on the far side of the map than if they lure you away from the close set you are protecting.

Infinites: If you encounter a survivor using one of the remaining “infinite window jukes” or loops, what do you do? The first thing you have to determine is if this is truly an ‘infinite” spot—that is to say, can this person indefinitely escape from me, or will I catch them eventually. If you its the latter and you think you can catch them in under 30 seconds, go for it. However, if it is an infinite (or will take up a lot of your valuable time trying to catch them) just leave the survivor and go back to patrol. I realize that doesn’t feel fair and it is very frustrating, but remember that a survivor can never win by running in circles unless they waste your time and their buddies finish all the generators while you’re distracted. Don’t play their game. Just leave them and try to catch them later while they are in the open. If you know where the infinite are ahead of time, you can try to cut off the running survivor so they can’t use them.

SWF Hook Rushers: I never recommend camping (except for very special circumstances after the gates are open) but there are times when it just doesn’t make sense to leave the area of a hooked survivor. This is when you are playing against suicidal rescuers who brazen wait near their hooked friends for an opportunity to run in. What should you do when confronted with these shenanigans? You should go after the closest survivor and punish their stupidity. You should aggressively ward off or chase down rescuers. What you shouldn’t do is just stand there staring at the hooked survivor. Thats silly and won’t get you points, and its also just kind of rude. Instead, gain some extra points by hitting the hook rushers.

Mass Sabotage: 4 jakes with toolboxes destroying all of your hooks? There are two really simple solutions to this:

1.) Iron Grasp - Bring them to the basement.

2.) No Iron Grasp - Leave them bleeding on the ground.

You can also work to mitigate this by checking your hooks often during the game. When using your chainsaw sprint, try to run directly under the hook to catch a sneaky saboteur.

Maps

Hillbilly tears it up on Coldwind Farms and Macmillan estate because of the open spaces and numerous corridors that allow for rapid travel and chases. That said, the corn fields in Coldwind Farms can be problematic for an over-zealous hillbilly who tries to chainsaw and misses. When in doubt, stick with the hammer and play it safe.

Auto haven wreckers is notable more difficult for the hillbilly since the amount of clutter and pallets is staggering, however, each map still has lanes that can be utilized for sprinting and the same basic methodology works, but you’ll rely less on getting chainsaw kills.

Victory Laps
Whenever you sprint, you get points, so as soon as the game starts winding down (the last survivor is hooked, etc) start sprinting for extra points

Sportsmanlike conduct

Personally, if I wipe the floor with the survivors, I tend to ease up and start playing “badly.” I will let them escape from my shoulder, or I will purposefully get stunned by a pallet. Why? Because if they don’t DC, I can chase them around and get more points, and if they are really that bad, it won’t be hard to catch them later when I feel like ending the game.

In rare occasions when a survivor has really impressed me and their team either sucked or disconnected, I will down the last survivor and carry them to the hatch to escape. This is by no means going to get you points or make you a “better killer”, but this community has a lot of vitriol and toxicity, so a few acts of kindness will go a long way.

That said, I do not advocate for the “friendly” killer who just points farms and never attacks. That ruins the entire feel of the game and, in my opinion, is an unintended exploit that should be punished.

I advocate for fair sportsmanship, not exploitation.

On the Killer side, don't lobby dodge and don't face-camp. Try to make sure everyone is having fun.

Conclusion

Dead by Daylight is a very fun and unique game and its continued existence and expansion depends on having a community that enjoys playing the game. Don’t be a jerk. Don’t grief. Don’t exploit. Let’s all play this game together and enjoy murdering/being murdered together!

The Killbilly is extremely strong in the right player’s hands and is an absolute terror to be pitted against. Get out there and kill. Good luck and happy hunting.

Playing the Hillbilly is hard. He takes a lot of practice, map knowledge, and skill, but by following a few, simple rules, you can start on your way to Rank 1.
- Chainsaw Sprint everywhere
- Keep moving to slow down generator progress
- Don't camp
- Use your hammer when in cluttered areas
- Learn where the map's open fields and corridors are so you can Sprint more effectively
- Distressing and Iron Grip are awesome
- Leave infinite jukers alone and concentrate on generator management