Dead by Daylight is a complex game with a lot of nuanced terminology experienced players use to reference certain situations in the game. This can be confusing for new players who do not have any experience with how the game works. Here are some of the most common terms in Dead by Daylight explained.
Basement or The Basement – Refers to a basement with four hooks that cannot be sabotaged, and never break. There are also several lockers in the Basement Survivors can hide in, and one chest always spawns here. Is always located in either Killer Shack or the Main Building.
BT – Short for the perk Borrowed Time, one of Bill’s unique perks. This is a commonly used Survivor perk that is used by altruistic Survivors. Here is how it works: “Survivors you unhook gain the Endurance status effect for 8/10/12 seconds.”
Body Block – Whenever one player uses their character to block another. Some examples are Survivors can body block Killers to protect an injured Survivor. Survivors can body block the hook to prevent the Killer from hooking a Survivor. Killers can body block Survivors into corners to get hits.
Crutch Perk – Refers to perks that players think are strong enough to make up for lack of skill. A lot of players try to blame crutch perks for the reason they lost a game. Some examples of crutch perks are Hex: No One Escapes Death, Decisive Strike, and Dead Hard.
Dying State or Slug – Refers to Survivors who are on the ground and bleeding out. They cannot interact with any objects or Survivors, and all they can do is recover. The profile picture of a Survivor in the dying state will change to an icon of a person crawling on the ground to indicate their health state to all other Survivors.
DS – Short for the perk Decisive Strike, one of Laurie Strode’s unique perks. This is a commonly used Survivor perk. Here is how it works: “After being unhooked or unhooking yourself, Decisive Strike activates for 40/50/60 seconds. While active, complete a Skill Check when grabbed by the Killer to escape, stunning them for 5 seconds. Succeeding or failing the Skill Check disables Decisive Strike. You become the Obsession after stunning the Killer. While active, the following interactions deactivates Decisive Strike: repairing a generator, healing yourself or others, cleansing a totem, sabotaging a hook, unhooking others. Increases your chance to be the Obsession. The Killer can only be Obsessed with one Survivor at a time.”
EGC, short for End Game Collapse. This is a 2-minute timer that starts when one Exit Gate is opened. Any Survivors who are still in the game when the timer expires are killed by the Entity. If a Survivor is put into the dying state, or is hooked, the timer is slowed by 50%.
Farming – When players maximize their Bloodpoint gain in a trial. The most common type of farming is when the Killer is friendly and works with Survivors to maximize Bloodpoint gain. Farming also refers to Survivors who try to maximize Bloodpoints and put their team in danger to do so by doing things like unhooking a Survivor with the Killer nearby.
Face Camping – When the Killer stands directly in front of a hooked Survivor so they are face to face, and usually stays there until the Survivor is Sacrificed.
Gen Rush – When Survivors complete generators in a short amount of time – usually in five minutes – due to Killer’s lack of pressure.
Immersed – Refers to Survivors who are scared of the Killer and hide in corners, hide in lockers, or crouch walk across the map instead of doing generators.
Jungle Gym – Refers to various wall structures that usually have one pallet and/or window around them that Survivors can use to kite the Killer.
Kite/Kiting – When a Survivor is getting chased by the Killer and uses jungle gyms, pallets, and windows to make the chase as long as possible.
Killer Shack – This is a square building with one window, two lockers, and one pallet always in the same location. How it looks depends on what realm it is in, and it can be found on nearly every map. Sometimes the Basement can spawn in the Killer Shack.
Looping – When the Survivor is using the same pallet loop or jungle gym repeatedly to kite the Killer. It can also refer to a Survivor using a pallet loop (see below) until the pallet is thrown down, then transitioning to the next spot to loop the Killer.
L–T wall – Refers to a jungle gym with one wall with a window in a L shape, and one wall with a window in a T shape.
Main Building – Refers to the main building of a map, and usually is what the map is named after. The main building is always the most defined and largest building on any map, and the Basement can spawn inside it. For example, the Ironworks in Ironworks of Misery is the main building of that map. The Cowshed is the main building on Fractured Cowshed. The gas station is the main building of Gas Heaven. Be aware that some maps – such as Shelter Woods – don’t have a main building.
M1 or basic attack Killer – A Killer whose primary method of dealing damage to Survivors is with their basic attack, which is the M1 button on PC.
Milly – A nickname for Hillbillys who only use their basic attack on Survivors, and do not use their chainsaw.
Mind Game – When the Killer or Survivor tries to trick the other during a chase, usually by faking going in one direction and then going another. This is commonly used to make chases longer or shorter. Some examples are Survivors making it look like they will vault a window or pallet, and then not taking it, or Killers flipping their camera to make it look like they are changing direction.
NOED – Short for the perk Hex: No One Escapes Death, a perk available to all Killers. It is commonly used in lower MMR where Killers have fewer perk options, and are still learning how to play the game. Here is how it works: “Once the exit gates are powered, if there is a Dull Totem remaining on the map, this Hex is applied to it. While this Hex is active, Survivors suffer from the Exposed status effect. Your movement speed is increased by 2/3/4%. The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.“
Normal Heartbeat – Used to describe the original terror radius music possessed by some Killers, such as the Trapper or Wraith. SWF groups (see below) use it to quickly rule out who the Killer could be playing.
Pallet respect/Respects pallets – Used to describe Killer players who are afraid of getting stunned by pallets, so they try to trick the Survivor into dropping the pallet by standing still, swinging early, or walking backwards.
Pallet Loop – Describes an area that has one pallet next to several objects. These objects prevent the Killer from catching up to the Survivor quickly. Survivors can use pallet loops to force Killers to run loops around these objects, until the Survivor throws the pallet down.
Pressure – A complex term often used to describe how the Killer is doing at stopping Survivors from doing generators. If the Survivors are struggling to do generators, and to save each other from hooks, then the Killer has good pressure. If the Survivors are completing generators quickly, and no Survivors are being hooked the Killer has bad pressure. When a Killer has bad pressure it often leads to them feeling like they are being gen rushed.
Proxy Camping or Camping – A Killer that stays near an objective (such as hooked Survivor, slugged Survivor, or a generator) and does not leave to chase other Survivors.
Realm – Refers to the theme of a map, and where it is located. For example there is a realm called Autohaven Wreckers with a junkyard theme that is linked to the Wraith’s lore. Gas Heaven, Azarov’s Resting Place, Wrecker’s Yard, Blood Lodge, and Wretched Shop are all part of the Autohaven Wreckers realm. When a game starts you will see the realm name below the map name.
Red Stain – The red light that the Killer emits in front of them that only Survivors can see. This red light tells Survivors where the Killer is looking.
SWF, short for Survive with Friends. Refers to Survivors that play in premade groups of 2-4 players.
Slugging – This is when the Killer leaves Survivors in the dying state instead of hooking them.
Sandbagging – When one Survivor does things to get a fellow Survivor caught by the Killer, such as blocking their way, throwing pallets in their face, or unhooking them in front of the Killer in a way that ensures that they instantly go down.
Scratch Marks – These are a bunch of red lines Survivors leave on the ground when running, which disappear after a few seconds. Only the Killer can see them.
Tunneling – When the Killer focuses on chasing one Survivor and does not try to chase other Survivors.
T-bagging – When a player spams their crouch button. Usually Survivors t-bag the Killer to make them angry. But some Killers such as Ghostface and Pig can t-bag as well.
Terror Radius – A heartbeat that plays when Survivors get too close to the Killer, so they can be warned that the Killer is coming. You can see how big each Killer’s terror radius is by looking at their character information.
4k/3k/2k/1k – Refers to how many kills the Killer got. 4k is four kills, 3k is three kills, 2k is two kills, and 1k is one kill.
4% or Kobe – When a Survivor unhooks themself with the attempt-escape action. This is referred to as the 4% because there is a 4% chance for a Survivor to unhook this way.
This wraps up the common terminology you will come across while playing Dead by Daylight. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Dead by Daylight guides!
