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Dead by Daylight is a 1v4 trial game: one Killer hunts four Survivors. Survivors work together to repair five Generators, power the Exit Gates and escape; the Killer searches, chases, downs and Hooks Survivors to sacrifice them to the Entity. Start with the official beginner lesson on the game’s ground rules, then learn one role’s basic loop before worrying about elaborate perk builds. This guide explains both roles, what to do in your first trials, how to read the trial state and which advice changes with game updates.
What you are trying to do in a Dead by Daylight trial
Every trial has two opposing objectives. Four Survivors share information and tasks while one Killer controls the hunt. The Survivor team succeeds by completing five Generators, using their power to activate the Exit Gates and getting out. The Killer succeeds by sacrificing the four Survivors, a ritual that involves placing them on Hooks as an offering to the Entity.
The match is not a conventional team deathmatch. Survivors do not win by defeating the Killer, and the Killer does not win by simply finding someone once. The important decisions happen between objectives: whether a Survivor should stay on a Generator, hide, help a teammate, heal, or draw the Killer away; and whether the Killer should continue a chase or leave it to protect Generator progress elsewhere.
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Behaviour Interactive’s official beginner support lesson is the best first stop for the game’s ground rules. Use it before copying advanced builds, because perks, powers and balance rules change over time.
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How the Survivor role works
Survivor is a cooperative information-and-positioning role. You are vulnerable when the Killer finds you, but four Survivors can divide work, warn one another through what happens in the trial, and create time by using the map’s cover, windows and wooden pallets.
1. Make Generator repair your default task
Generators are the shared objective. When you are not being chased and no teammate urgently needs help, look for a Generator and repair it. Repairing in a safe position advances the whole team; wandering without a purpose does not.
Do not treat a Generator as a promise that you must finish at any cost. The Killer can interrupt repairs. If you receive clear signs that the Killer is approaching, leave before being found in a bad position. Move toward cover or toward a route with a window or pallet, then return to an objective when the danger passes. The team loses more time when one player is found, chased and put on a Hook immediately than when that player briefly abandons a Generator.
2. Plan your movement before the chase starts
As you repair, notice the nearest cover, window and pallet. These are not decorations: they are tools that can extend the time before you are downed. Move between solid objects rather than crossing open ground without a reason. A route that gives you two possible directions is usually more useful than a dead end that looks close to the Generator.
When the Killer appears, keep moving with a destination. Use a window to vault or a wooden pallet to block the route when that action buys meaningful distance. A pallet can slow or stun the Killer, but dropping every pallet the moment you see the Killer can leave the team with fewer options later. Use the environment to create time, then break line of sight and reposition when possible.
3. Understand what a successful chase accomplishes
Your goal in a chase is not to prove that you can run forever. It is to consume enough of the Killer’s time that teammates can repair Generators or complete another urgent task. If the route is collapsing, take the safest escape path rather than making a final risky turn for a small amount of extra distance.
When you lose sight of the Killer, do not automatically return to the exact place where you were found. Hide briefly, listen and choose a different approach. Returning predictably can give the Killer an easy second search.
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4. Rescue and heal with a reason
A teammate on a Hook needs attention, but an unsafe rescue can create two downs instead of one. Check the trial state first. If the Killer is still close, wait for a safer opening, approach from cover and leave the area after the rescue rather than lingering in the same spot.
Healing restores your team’s ability to take risks, but it is not always the next best action. If a Generator is nearly complete or the Killer is pressuring another survivor, finishing the objective may be more valuable than stopping for a long heal. Conversely, entering another chase while injured can turn a small mistake into a quick down. Choose between repair, rescue, heal and escape based on what the team needs now.
5. Keep updating your priority
Survivor play is a repeated cycle of checking the trial state:
- No chase and no urgent rescue: repair a Generator.
- Killer approaching your area: leave before you are trapped and move toward cover or a useful route.
- Teammate on a Hook: decide whether you can rescue safely without giving the Killer another down.
- Teammate injured: heal when the time is safe and the team gains more from recovery than from immediate repair.
- Several Generators completed: spread out and search for the remaining objective instead of clustering in one predictable area.
- Exit Gates powered: shift from repair to escape decisions, helping only when doing so does not strand you or another teammate.
How the Killer role works
Killer is a solo information, pursuit and pressure role. You must locate Survivors, choose favorable chases, down them and place them on Hooks while preventing the remaining Survivors from completing Generators. You cannot cover every part of the map at once, so every movement is a trade-off.
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At the beginning of a trial, identify the areas where Generators are likely to be repaired and establish a patrol route between them. Use what you can hear and see, along with completed or recently disturbed objectives, to decide where to search next. A patrol should be purposeful: check likely locations, then move on rather than circling an empty area indefinitely.
2. Choose chases that help your objective
When you find a Survivor, judge the route. A short, favorable chase can produce a quick down and protect nearby Generators. A long chase through strong windows and pallets can cost the time needed to interrupt several other Survivors. If the route is unproductive, leave and return to Generator pressure. Abandoning a chase is not failure; it is a way to make the Survivor team respond to a new threat.
As you learn, pay attention to why a chase is favorable or unfavorable. Open ground, a Survivor who has limited escape options and a route that keeps you near important Generators generally offer better pressure than a loop that repeatedly forces you around safe structures. The exact value changes with the Killer and map, so treat this as a decision skill rather than a fixed rule.
3. Convert a down into pressure
After downing a Survivor, Hook them and use the resulting pressure to shape the next search. Other Survivors may leave repairs to attempt a rescue, heal the rescued player or hide nearby. Patrol the most valuable Generator areas, interrupt repairs and force the team to choose between progress and safety.
Do not spend the entire trial standing beside a Hook when other objectives are available. Protecting the Hook matters, but leaving briefly can create more pressure and make a rescue costly for the Survivors. Return when the trial state gives you a reason, such as evidence that a rescue is being attempted or that repairs are progressing nearby.
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4. Learn your Killer’s power after the basic loop
Each Killer’s power changes how you find, chase or down Survivors. First become comfortable with movement, searching, pursuit and the Hook flow. Then add the power deliberately: identify what information it provides, which parts of a chase it improves and which situations make it unreliable. A complicated power cannot compensate for ignoring Generator progress or taking every available chase.
Survivor and Killer compared
The roles teach complementary skills. Playing both perspectives helps you understand how the opposing side moves, hides and creates pressure.
| Axis | Survivor | Killer |
|---|---|---|
| Primary objective | Repair five Generators, power Exit Gates and escape. | Find, chase, down and Hook Survivors until all four are sacrificed. |
| Information | Shared indirectly through the trial state: completed objectives, Hook status, injuries, chases and teammate actions. | Collected alone through sound, visual clues, patrols and changes in Generator progress. |
| Chase skill | Use cover, windows and pallets to gain time, then break line of sight or relocate. | Read routes, commit when the path is favorable and leave when the chase is wasting pressure. |
| Map pressure | Spread work and make the Killer choose which objective to defend. | Move between likely Generators and Hooks so Survivors cannot progress safely everywhere. |
| Teamwork | Coordinate repairs, rescues, healing and escapes while avoiding multiple downs. | Operate alone; every decision must account for four opponents acting elsewhere. |
Your first Survivor trials: a practical sequence
Use this sequence to turn the general objective into repeatable decisions. It is more useful than trying to memorize every map or perk immediately.
- Begin with the official ground rules. Watch Behaviour Interactive’s beginner lesson so the interface, trial phases and basic interactions are familiar before you enter a match.
- Find a Generator. Start repairing unless you have an immediate reason to search for a Hooked teammate or avoid a dangerous area.
- Scan your exits. While repairing, identify nearby cover, windows and pallets. Decide where you will move if the Killer arrives.
- React to danger early. Leave the Generator when the Killer is close enough to threaten you. Move toward a route, not randomly across the map.
- Use the environment sparingly. Vault windows and drop pallets when they create distance or interrupt the chase. Do not exhaust every resource in one panic.
- Reset after a chase. Once you escape, hide briefly if necessary, then return to an objective in a different or safer location.
- Check Hook status. Rescue when the approach is safe and useful. If the Killer is nearby, wait for an opening rather than donating a second down.
- Heal at the right time. Recover when the team can afford the time and when being injured would make the next objective too risky.
- Track completed Generators. As the number rises, prioritize the remaining areas and avoid leaving the team with one obvious, heavily defended objective.
- Change plans at the Exit Gates. Once the Gates can be powered, stop looking for another Generator. Decide whether to leave, assist a teammate or draw danger away without trapping yourself.
Your first Killer trial: a practical sequence
- Learn the basic controls and power description. Read the in-game explanation, but concentrate on movement, searching, pursuit and Hooking first.
- Patrol likely Generator locations. Move through a route that lets you check several objectives instead of staying in one empty corner.
- Use information deliberately. Listen for activity, look for signs that a Generator is being worked on and revisit areas where progress has changed.
- Start a chase when the route is reasonable. Approach with a plan for how the Survivor might reach cover, a window or a pallet.
- Decide whether to commit. Continue if the path is producing progress toward a down. Leave if the Survivor is consuming too much time while other Generators are vulnerable.
- Hook the Survivor after a down. The Hook creates a team-wide decision: another Survivor may abandon a Generator to attempt a rescue.
- Exploit the response, not just the Hook. Patrol nearby objectives, interrupt repairs and look for the rescuer or another exposed Survivor.
- Repeat the loop. Find, chase, down, Hook and return to pressure. Learn how your power changes each stage only after the basic sequence feels predictable.
How to read the trial state
Good decisions come from combining several signals instead of following one script. Ask these questions whenever you finish an interaction:
- How many Generators remain? Early in the trial, taking a safe repair opportunity is usually valuable. Later, the remaining objectives determine where both roles must concentrate.
- Who is being chased? A Survivor currently buying time may be doing more for the team than someone hiding. A Killer already committed to a long chase may be giving other Survivors a repair window.
- Where is the pressure? For Survivors, pressure means Hooks, injuries and a Killer controlling routes. For the Killer, pressure means multiple Generators at risk, rescues pulling players away and Survivors forced to move.
- What resource or position will be lost by this choice? A rescue may cost a Generator cycle; a chase may cost map coverage; a heal may cost time; a pallet may be unavailable later. Make the trade consciously.
Common beginner mistakes and fixes
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Better response |
|---|---|---|
| Repairing in the open until the Killer arrives. | You are found without a planned route and can be downed quickly. | Notice cover, windows and pallets before danger appears; leave early when the approach is clear. |
| Running toward teammates during a chase. | You can reveal another Survivor or create two simultaneous threats. | Pull the chase away from active objectives and teammates when possible. |
| Dropping every pallet immediately. | The team loses useful chase resources before they are needed. | Use a pallet when it creates distance, blocks a route or prevents a likely down. |
| Rescuing directly beside the Killer. | The rescued player and rescuer can both be downed. | Wait for a safe opening, approach from cover and leave after the rescue. |
| Healing automatically after every encounter. | Time spent healing can surrender a nearly finished Generator or a rescue window. | Compare the value of recovery with the objective that is available now. |
| As Killer, continuing every chase. | A long route can allow several Generators to advance. | Leave an unfavorable chase and patrol the objectives that matter. |
| As Killer, guarding one Hook without checking the map. | Other Survivors can repair freely elsewhere. | Use Hook pressure to force decisions, then return to the most valuable activity. |
| Learning perks before learning the loop. | You may blame a build for mistakes caused by positioning or timing. | Practice finding, chasing, repairing, rescuing and Hooking before optimizing perks. |
Perks, powers and patch-version discipline
Perk effects, Killer powers and balance numbers are not permanent. Behaviour’s patch notes for version 9.5.0, dated March 12, 2026, include changes affecting Generator regression and perk behavior. That means a guide, video or build recommendation can become inaccurate even when its general strategy remains useful.
A separate official gameplay update from 2022 recorded a 90-second historical Generator repair time and a 2.5% loss when a Generator was kicked. Those figures describe that update’s rules; they are not current advice unless a current patch explicitly restores them. Whenever you quote a timing, percentage or perk effect, identify the game version and date.
For a beginner, evaluate a perk or power by the decision it improves:
- Information: Does it help you locate a Survivor or identify a safe objective?
- Time: Does it make a repair, rescue, heal or chase more efficient?
- Position: Does it create a safer route or limit the opponent’s options?
- Consistency: Can you activate it reliably, or does it require a rare situation?
Start with a small set of effects you understand. Change one element at a time so you can tell whether a result came from your decision, the map, the opponent or the update version.
Should a new player start as Survivor or Killer?
Choose Survivor first if you want a cooperative introduction, shared responsibility and more opportunities to observe how a chase develops from the outside. Survivor teaches you to read cover, windows, pallets, Hook status and Generator pressure while teammates continue working when you are not in control.
Choose Killer first if you prefer direct control, one character’s power and immediate feedback from every pursuit. Killer teaches map scanning, route selection and the cost of spending too long on one target. The role is less forgiving of missed information because you must cover the map alone.
The strongest long-term approach is to learn both. A Survivor who has played Killer understands why a chase is abandoned and where a patrol is likely to go. A Killer who has played Survivor better recognizes tempting hiding places, dangerous pallets and the moments when a rescue or repair is likely to take priority. You do not need to master both roles before enjoying the game; alternate when one perspective becomes predictable or frustrating.
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Session one: learn the loop
Play without chasing perfect results. As Survivor, practice locating Generators, identifying a route to cover and deciding when to leave. As Killer, practice finding objectives, starting a chase and Hooking after a down. Your goal is to make the basic interactions automatic.
Session two: make one decision per encounter
After each chase or interruption, state the decision you made: repair, hide, rescue, heal, patrol, commit or leave. Then note the consequence. This turns a confusing trial into a series of learnable choices.
Session three: add the role’s specialized skill
Survivors should work on movement between cover, windows and pallets without exhausting every resource. Killers should test how their power changes searching or pursuit while continuing to protect Generator pressure.
Ongoing: review the current version
When a patch changes Generator regression, perk behavior or a Killer power, reread the current patch notes before relying on an old timing or build. Keep timeless principles—objective focus, safe positioning and purposeful pressure—separate from numbers that may be revised.
Quick Recap
What to remember before you queue
- One Killer faces four Survivors in every trial.
- Survivors share the job of completing five Generators, powering Exit Gates and escaping.
- The Killer’s core loop is find, chase, down, Hook and repeat while protecting Generator pressure.
- Survivors gain time through repairing, rescuing, healing, hiding and using windows or pallets intelligently.
- The right action changes with the trial state; no role should repeat one task while a more urgent objective is unfolding.
- Exact perk effects and timings are version-sensitive, so attach every numerical claim to a dated patch.
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