Dead by Daylight: Best Ways To Use Lockers

Lockers are crucial to survivor players' survival in Dead by Daylight. While some players use lockers to hide throughout the match, experienced survivor players tend to use them for various other purposes, too. Numerous survivor perks work with lockers, providing survivors a boost in one way or another when they enter or exit one of the closets on each map.

When used correctly, lockers aren't just a place for players to hide and avoid interactions with the killer; they can be used to completely change the game, putting the killer in precarious positions that make it challenging to catch survivors. Here are five ways survivors can use lockers to up their game and stay alive longer in Dead by Daylight.

5 Use Inner Healing To Heal

Healing with a med-kit or with another survivor takes time, and it can be risky to heal up in front of the killer. The perk Inner Healing allows a survivor to heal one health state inside a locker after cleansing a totem. This heal only takes nine seconds, and it's inherently out of the killer's view. This makes Inner Healing an excellent choice for anyone planning on staying healthy throughout the match - and nearly everyone should be unless they're using perks that offer benefits for staying injured.

Players should keep in mind, though, that cleansing a totem will destroy it forever, preventing other players from placing a boon on it that could help the team. Additionally, because there are only five totems on the map, players can get a maximum of five heals from Inner Healing.

4 Use Head On To Stun The Killer

While most survivors use lockers defensively (to hide one way or another), they can also be used more offensively. Using Jane Romero's perk Head On, a survivor can hide inside a locker for a while before opening it to stun the killer if they come in front of it. This perk is highly situational since staying in a locker for too long will cause the player to accumulate crows, alerting the killer to their location.

That said, landing a Head On stun mid-chase can grant the survivor plenty of time to escape a chase, so using this perk correctly can be game-changing. Players can also use Head On to stun an unsuspecting killer holding another survivor, causing them to drop that survivor. Head On inflicts exhaustion for 60 seconds after use, though, meaning that the player should not combine it with any other powerful exhaustion perks like David King's Dead Hard or Meg Thomas' Sprint Burst.

3 Deceive The Killer Using Perks

Multiple perks can help survivors deceive the killer using lockers in ways that are far more effective than simply hiding—for example, Zarina Kassir's Red Herring. After a survivor works for three seconds on a generator and then enters a locker, a loud noise notification will trigger at the generator they were working on. This can confuse a killer and completely throw them off the survivors' trail.

The perk Deception serves a similar purpose. Upon interacting with a locker while running, the survivor will not enter the locker but will trigger a loud noise notification at the locker. They will also leave no scratch marks for a few seconds, often causing the killer to think the survivor went in the locker. For those who are interested in a perk with even more applications, Kate Denson's Dance With Me may be a good pick; upon leaving a locker, the player will leave no scratch marks. This perk also activates upon fast vaulting a window or pallet.

2 Craft And Recharge Items Using Perks

Survivors can use lockers to craft a Flashbang and to recharge other items using perks. Using Leon Kennedy's perk Flashbang, survivors can enter a locker for a few seconds to create a Flashbang item which can be thrown to stun and blind the killer (or even other survivors). Experienced survivors can use Flashbangs to make saves, throwing them at just the right time to stun the killer and free the survivor in their arms.

With Felix Richter's perk Built To Last, players can enter a locker to recharge their item's charges fully. This can be incredibly useful when using a toolbox or med-kit, allowing for faster generator repair or another full heal. Each subsequent use of Built To Last in the match reduces the charge percentage by 33%, so players can get about two uses out of this perk per match.

1 Use Lockers To Hide

Of course, there's the most apparent use for lockers: survivors can use lockers to hide from the killer. Some survivors hide in a locker whenever the killers come nearby, but this isn't the best strategy; it wastes time and isn't practical most of the time. What many new players don't realize is that they should usually hide in a locker only if there is no other alternative since looping the killer prevents the enemy from putting pressure on other survivors.

There are some situations where hiding in a locker makes sense, though. For example, suppose a generator is almost done, and a survivor knows the killer is coming in their direction. In that case, they may want to hide in a locker until the killer leaves strategically so that they can return to the generator. Hiding in lockers is more reliable when using perks like Iron Will that silence a survivors' grunts of pain since the killer may otherwise hear them and grab them out.

Dead by Daylight is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Android, and iOS.

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