When other killers in Dead by Daylight can teleport, summon spectral crows, and turn invisible, the ability to throw hatchets might not seem impressive. Yet any survivor that has been struck across the map by an orbital strike hatchet knows just how lethal the Huntress, aka Anna, is in the right hands.
Anna's skill curve is deceptive. As simple as it seems to throw a hatchet and catch a survivor on the run, the reality is less forgiving. Her basic mechanics might be simple, but achieving competency let alone mastery is a true challenge. For Dead by Daylight players who are willing to do the work and learn the way of the Huntress, few killers in the game are more oppressive.
10 Remember Anna's Lullaby And Speed
Like the scariest killers in Dead by Daylight, the Huntress has built-in flaws to compensate for her strengths. The first is a slower movement speed than many other killers. The second is a unique lullaby, a disconcerting song the Huntress hums as she hunts for survivors.
Nothing can silence the lullaby, making close-range stealth an impossibility for the character. Survivors will always know when the Huntress is approaching and will often have time to abandon the generator or totem they are working on to seek shelter. Good Huntress players account for Anna's slow movement and lullaby when on the hunt.
9 Be Patient
The impulse to throw a hatchet as soon as a survivor appears is understandable, but doing so is often a bad idea. Survivors can duck behind cover, weave an unpredictable course in the open, and use Dead Hard to avoid a hatchet throw.
Don't throw rashly. Instead, wait for the survivor to be out of position to increase the odds of hitting. Dead Hard, one of the most common counters to a killer's attacks, can often be baited, leaving the survivor vulnerable and giving the Huntress the opening she needs to injure or down her quarry.
8 Leave Some Pallets Standing
Dropping a pallet to stun a killer or block their path is one of the survivors' primary defenses. Many killers have no choice but to break these pallets once dropped, as otherwise, a good survivor can use them to loop indefinitely, never getting caught.
Like the Tricker and the Twins, the Huntress has the advantage of being able to hit survivors over pallets just like over other kinds of low cover. Though some pallets will need to be broken, a good Huntress is able to threaten survivors on the opposite side of some pallet loops. Knowing when to break a pallet and when to ignore one and go for the hatchet throw is a nuanced but critical lesson.
7 Don't Windup Too Early
The Huntress is slower when holding a hatchet aloft and preparing for a throw than she is when wielding her ax. Winding up for a hatchet throw too early allows survivors to duck behind cover they wouldn't otherwise reach in time.
Trying to maintain chase with a survivor around a loop while holding one's hatchet at the ready is a recipe for disaster, but that's a common mistake among new Huntress players. To maintain speed and apply maximum pressure during a chase, it's better to wait as long as possible before drawing a hatchet.
6 Hit Survivors In Locked Animations
In the open, a survivor's erratic movements make hitting a hatchet shot difficult. Weaving, changing direction at the last second, and doing 360 spins all allow slippery survivors to keep Anna from planting a piece of steel in their back.
Certain actions, however, lock the survivor in one place. When vaulting a window or dropping a pallet, a survivor can't change direction until the first animation is completed. The Huntress can take advantage of this by waiting for survivors to enter such locked animations before throwing a hatchet. Since the survivor has no ability to dodge, the hit is ensured.
5 Lead Survivors
The Huntress attracts fans of first-person shooters since many of the skills acquired wielding a virtual M16 or rocket launcher are transferable to the killer's hatchets. Regardless of her perks, one of the most important skills is the ability to lead survivors: predicting where they will move and throwing where they are going rather than where they are.
The ability to lead survivors well comes with experience. The better a player understands the ins and outs of survivor tactics such as looping, the better they will be able to predict their foes' movements.
4 Time Your Reloads
Anna's hatchets are powerful but not infinite. She can carry only a limited number at a time, and when she runs out, she must reload at one of the red lockers scattered throughout the map. It might be tempting to reload after every shot, a habit ingrained in many FPS players, but doing so is a short road to a four-survivor escape.
Reaching and reloading from a locker takes precious time, and Dead by Daylight is a game in which every second matters. By minimizing the number of times she reloads, the Huntress maximizes the amount of time she can spend in pursuit of survivors, bringing her one strike closer to a 4k victory against even the best survivors.
3 Mind The Hitboxes
Dead by Daylight is a thrilling game, but its hitboxes leave something to be desired. One of the most important things any Huntress player can do to improve their game is to learn the hitboxes of hatchets, survivors, and objects on the map.
Nothing except extensive playtime or internet study can teach a player exactly why Dead by Daylight hitboxes are a challenge for both sides. The brief version is that things aren't exactly where they appear to be or the size they appear to be, often leading to frustration about what hatchets hit (or miss). Have patience.
2 Pressure The Map
Whereas killers like Clown or Legion struggle to pressure survivors across the map due to the nature of their close-range powers, the Huntress is a threat to survivors even on opposite sides of the map. Hitting survivors at a huge distance is a specialty of Anna's, and while cross-map throws and orbital strikes take great skill, the ability to predict certain survivor actions makes things easier.
Generators, exit gates, and hooked survivors draw players to them, and a good Huntress can time hatchet throws at those targets to score hits from a great distance. Keeping pressure on distant survivors in this way always works in the killer's favor.
1 Practice, Practice, Practice
Playing a ranged killer like Huntress, Trickster, or Plague requires considerable practice. No matter how many tips one reads or instructive Youtube videos one watches, there is no substitute for entering the Trials day after day, chasing survivors, and honing one's skill.
Against good survivors, one's first games as the Huntress can be painful: shots don't land, generators fly, and a procession of Megs and Dwights escape unscathed. Remember that losses, even crushing ones, are okay. Dead by Daylight is a complicated game, and it's okay to struggle during the learning process. With diligence, one's Huntress skills will only sharpen. One day survivors won't even hear Anna's lullaby before the rain of hatchets hits them.
Dead by Daylight is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Google Stadia, iOS, and Android.