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Looping is one of the most essential survival skills inDead By Daylight. If you’re able to loop, you can buy your team precious time to repair generators and escape. But looping isn’t just about running in circles. It requires tactics, map awareness, and smart decision-making.
Knowing when to use pallets, when to vault, and how to manage your movement can mean the difference between survival and being sacrificed. In this guide, you’ll learn what looping is, why you need to do it, and the essential looping tips. You’ll also find some common mistakes beginners make and recommended perks to increase your chance of successful looping.
What Is Loop? Why You Need To Loop
Looping in Dead by Daylight refers to the technique of running around obstacles to prolong a chase and avoid getting caught by the Killer. Skilled loopersbuy valuable time for teammatesto repair generators,frustrate the Killer into mistakes, and boost the team’s overall survival chances.
Successfully looping and confusing the Killer alsoincreases your chance to escapethe chase and survive.
Tips To Loop Killers
Here aresome tips to keep in mindif you find yourself in a situation where you need to loop the Killer.
Learn Map Layouts
Learn the map layouts andremember where the safe loops are. Jungle gyms, T-walls, and the Killer Shack are some of the best spots, offering strong loops with windows and pallets. The more you memorize these, the easier it’ll be to plan your escape routes on the fly. At the same time,keep an eye out for dead zones. Running into areas with no pallets or vaults can be a death sentence.
Look Behind You While Running
Once you choose a running path, periodicallyadjust your camera to keep an eye on the Killer. Watching their movements helps you predict if they’re trying to cut you off or setting up for an attack.The best times to look back are at the start of the vaulting or pallet-dropping animations. Since you’re not actively dodging the Killer, you won’t lose much distance or risk slowing down.
Position Your Camera To Keep The Killer In View
At low obstacles and pallets,position your camera so that the Killer stays in the centerof your screen. At mid-height obstacles,tilt your camera higherto maintain visibility of the Killer’s movements.
Stay Close To The Objects
Alwaysrun as close as possible to the objectsyou’re looping around. This allows you to reach pallets and windows faster, extending the chase for as long as possible. Sticking tightly to loops also increases your chances of escaping safely.
Stay Calm, Don’t Vault Immediately
Having a Killer hot on your heels can be stressful and prompt you to vault and escape as soon as possible. However, panicking and vaulting too soon can give the Killer an easy hit since they can predict your move, circle around, and catch you immediately. Sostay calm, and wait until the Killer is close enough before vaulting.
For example, when looping around the Killer Shack, see whether the Killer enters the shack or circles around. If they enter, then vault the window. If they circle around, stay inside until they enter, then vault.
Don’t Loop Near Generators
Avoid looping near generators, and especially those your teammates are currently working on. Doing so can disrupt their progress and even lead to their deaths.The Killer might switch targets mid-chaseand go after your teammate instead. After all, they’re either staying in one place fixing or just started running, while you’re already on the move.
Avoid Looping Near Hooks
Don’t loop a Killer near hooks, especially not near where a teammate is being hooked. If you loop near hooks and get caught,you’ll be hooked almost instantly, with no chance to escape or for your teammate to stun the Killer and help you. If you’re looping near where your teammate is hooked, the Killer will often stay close by,making it harder for your teammate to be rescued.
Beware Of Killer’s Bloodlust
Bloodlust activates when a chase drags onwithout a hit, stun, or pallet break, giving the Killer significant boosts in speed. Their movement speed increases in three tiers:
Activates after 15 seconds
120% movement speed
Activates after 25 seconds
125% movement speed
Activates after 35 seconds
130% movement speed
To counter Bloodlust, you need to force the Killer to break a pallet or stun them, resetting their speed boost and giving you a brief window to regain the advantage.
Choose Where To Fall
The longer you can keep the Killer’s attention, the more time you have to wiggle free, and your team will have to repair generators. So when you know you’re about to go down,be mindful of where you fall. Here are some of the best places to fall:
Reason
The Edge Of The Map
This forces the Killer to carry you a long distance to a hook,increasing your chances of wiggling free.
Near A Window
The Killers have to play in first-person, sothey have several blind spotsthat can work to your advantage. They might not immediately realize where you’ve fallen and could waste time searching for you. Stick to the wall and play with their blind spot. In some cases,they may even assume you vaulted through the window and chase after an escape that never happened.
Near A Pallet
The Killer may hesitate to pick you up if they suspect a nearby teammate is ready to stun them. And if they don’t check,a teammate can use the opportunity to land a stun and save you.
In Open Spaces
If a teammate has a flashlight, going down in an open area allows them toblind the Killer and rescue you.
How To Loop Long-Range Killers
Some Killers can attack from a distance, requiring different looping strategies. For those with long-range attacks like The Huntress, The Deathslinger, The Plague, and The Trickster, you’ll want tostay out of their line of sight by using tall walls and obstacles.
If they get too close,play around pallets and windowsto increase your chance of survival.
As for The Nurse and her blink, other than breaking her line of sight, you sometimes need torun in the opposite directionas well to trick her.
Best Perks To Loop Killer
The best way to master looping is, of course, to learn the maps and practice your movement. But if you’re still getting the hang of it,certain perks can make your life a bit easier:
Description And Reason
Sprint Burst
Gives you a sudden speed boost,letting you sprint at 150% of your normal running speed for three seconds. However, itapplies the Exhausted status effect, so you’ll need time to recover before using it again.
Fixated (Self-Aware)
Increases your walking speedby 20%,helping you recover from Exhausted fasterwhile still moving at a decent pace to keep your distance from the Killer.
Vigil
Reduces the duration of several negative status effects, including Exhausted, by 30% for both you and nearby teammates. Thisworks great with Sprint Burst, allowing you to quickly regain your speed boost.
For your fourth perk, pick whatever suits your playstyle. These three, however, are key to staying mobile, keeping your distance from the Killer, and improving your success in looping. Here’s a video comparing the Survivor’s walking speed with and without these perks. On the left, without them, and on the right, with them:
Common Mistakes When Looping
To loop effectively and outmaneuver the Killer, you’ll want toavoid these mistakes:
Consequence
Not Watching The Killer
If you’re not keeping an eye on the Killer while running, you won’t know what they’re planning.This makes it harder to predict their movements, avoid attacks and react.
Wasting Pallets
Dropping pallets unnecessarily is a huge mistake. There are only so many pallets in a match, and once the Killer breaks one, it’s gone for good. If too many are used early on,large areas of the map can become dead zones with no safe loops left. This makes it much easier for the Killer to secure downs later in the game since your team won’t be able to stun and escape from the Killer anymore. So use pallets wisely—only when you truly need them.
Run In A Straight Line
When panic sets in, your first instinct might be to just hold down the sprint button and run in a straight line, hoping to outrun the Killer. But this is a big mistake since, most of the time, you can’t outrun the Killer. And if Bloodlust is active, they’ll catch up even faster.Instead of running in a straight line, try zigzagging like a deer. Changing direction unpredictably can make it harder for the Killer to land a hit and give you a better chance to escape.
Standing Too Close To Pallets
Hovering right next to a pallet is risky.The closer you are, the easier it is for the Killer to hit you before you can drop it. They might even go past it and catch you if you wait too long. So, keep some distance and time your pallet drops carefully.
