Clowns, hillbillies, spirits, and other staples of horror fiction fill Dead by Daylight's roster of Killers. Each brings a new mechanic to the game. Some are simple, such as the Huntress's hatchet throwing, while others are complex, such as the Doctor's madness-inducing electric shocks.
With the Roots of Dread chapter, Dead by Daylight introduced the Dredge, the twisted amalgamation of the negative thoughts and feelings of an entire town. This malformed Killer possesses several powers, including the ability the teleport between lockers, leave a Remnant of itself behind, and plunge the map into Nightfall. Surviving against the Dredge can be difficult for the unprepared. Here's how to do it.
Lock Wisely
One of the Dredge's most important powers is the ability to teleport between lockers. This ability grants the Killer considerable mobility, letting it traverse the map with ease. Survivors are not helpless against this power, however. Survivors can put a lock on lockers, which slows the Dredge when exiting it. The mechanic is simple, but knowing when to lock and when not to is more complex.
The Dredge can break locks in one of two ways: by teleporting to and emerging from a locker or by striking the lock with its basic attack. Both of these slow the Dredge down, so some Survivors may think it's a good idea to simply lock every locker as soon as the opportunity arises.
Unfortunately for Survivors, each locker can only be locked once during the Trial. It's a bad idea to simply bar every locker the Survivor can, because there's a high likelihood that the Dredge will have the chance to break the lock early, meaning Survivors won't be able to slow the Killer when it really counts.
A better idea is to only lock certain lockers. In general, it's a good idea to lock lockers near a generator that's being worked on as well as those near the exit gates to make it easier to escape at the end. If there is a group of lockers and only one of them is locked, the Dredge is forced to teleport to the locked one first; therefore, it's a good idea to only bar one of them at a time, returning later to lock another once the Dredge has broken the previous lock.
Don't Overestimate Nightfall
The more that the Dredge teleports and injures and hooks Survivors, the more the Nightfall meter fills. When it is full, Nightfall envelopes the map, plunging Survivors into darkness and greatly reducing their sight lines. Though Nightfall can be eerie and make looping difficult, especially if the Survivor is unfamiliar with the map, it's important not to overestimate the strength of this power.
The Dead by Daylight Killer can still be easily detected once it gets close enough. More importantly, there's something that Survivors can do before Nightfall occurs in order to help them make it safely to the other side. Paying attention to one's surroundings is important. Whether traveling across the map or working on a generator, take some time to note the location of nearby escape routes and resources like pallets and window vaults. When Nightfall comes, the player will have a decent idea of where to run and find safety, even if they can't see it.
Anticipate The Teleport
The Dredge can use its teleportation ability in two primary ways: outside of chase to find Survivors or during chase to cut them off and injure them. Being able to anticipate when the Dead by Daylight Killer will teleport and where it will go is a valuable skill that will help keep Survivors alive.
Whenever Survivors are near important objectives such as generators, the exit gates (once they have been powered), or hex totems, they should be wary of the Dredge's arrival, as the Killer is likely to check those areas for Survivors. During Nightfall the Dredge can teleport far faster, so Survivors should be particularly wary of the Killer's mobility, making sure that the Dredge doesn't use its power to appear ahead of them and cut them off.
Abandon Loops
When the Dredge uses its power, it doesn't teleport immediately. Instead, it leaves a smoky Remnant behind until it decides to teleport to a locker, end its power, or teleport back to the Remnant. The Dredge can use its Remnant to get hits on Survivors by chasing them towards the Remnant and then jumping back to it.
To avoid this, Survivors can either touch the Remnant (which destroys it) or abandon the loop entirely, running away and forcing the Killer to try to catch up. A Survivor that knows when to abandon loops will live much longer against the Dredge.
Dead By Daylight is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.