As of the most recent Portrait of a Murder update, there are now 26 playable killers in Dead by Daylight. New players with access to the multiple DLCs and licensed killers will have no shortage of characters to choose from. One option available to every player is the Nurse, a default killer and one of the first added. While many gamers will have trouble with "hero creep" or balancing with newly added characters, the Nurse remains one of the best, if not the best, killer in the game.
The Nurse is also one of the hardest killers in Dead by Daylight to master. A Nurse's best counter is themself, meaning that the survivors have very little counterplay against a good Nurse. She plays much differently than most of the other killers, but there are some basic tips to help players learn how to play her more effectively.
10 Learn Blink Ranges With The Plaid Flannel Add-on
The core of what makes the Nurse so good is her ability, Spencer's Last Breath, which essentially acts as a blink. The blink itself is pretty standard, operating in a similar fashion to other games with a blink ability. It allows the Nurse to be viable on every map though, even the survivor-sided ones.
The Nurse has a basic add-on called Plaid Flannel, which allows the player to see a visual marker of where their blink is taking them. Think of it like blink training wheels — experienced players will know how far each blink goes based on how much they charge it, but new players could always use some help. The add-on makes learning blink ranges a lot easier, and new players should definitely take advantage of it.
9 ...But Don't Use Add-Ons As Crutches
While many killers have their abilities accentuated by add-ons and strong perks, it's important not to become completely reliant on them. For example, once a player has learned the range of a blink, they shouldn't keep using the Plaid Flannel. Instead, that slot can be used by an even more powerful add-on for the Nurse.
That said, the Nurse has an abundance of powerful add-ons that turn her into one of the most mobile and lethal killers in the game. Players should certainly take advantage of these add-ons but should also try to learn her power on its own first, as this will make learning the rest of her kit easier.
8 Don't Worry About Pallet Drops
The Nurse is one of the few killers that can completely ignore pallets. She can still be stunned by them and pallet saves can still occur when she's carrying survivors, so players should still be mindful of them. Unlike many other killers, though, the Nurse doesn't have to worry so much about dropped pallets, thanks to her ability to teleport right through them.
As the player learns both the Nurse and the maps, they will find pallets that will be worth their time to break.Some maps are less balanced and have very safe pallets that allow survivors to get away with murder when looping a killer, so these will often still need to be smashed. The majority of pallets can be ignored by the Nurse though, as her ability essentially counters looping and pallet tricks.
7 Take Time To Learn Maps & Loops
Though the survivors may seem small and helpless compared to the intimidating cast of killers, they have countless devious tricks up their sleeves for deceiving enemies and running them in circles. Members of the Dead by Daylight community will often refer to parts of the map with high walls, pallets, and vault-able windows as jungle gyms or loops. These are areas to which many survivors will flee in an attempt to waste the killer's time in a chase.
The Nurse can directly counter many of these loops, as she can simply blink through walls and meet a survivor on the other side. However, this is difficult to do without an understanding of the shapes and layouts of these loops. Aspiring Nurse players would benefit greatly from hopping into a custom game with a friend and learning the layouts of the loops.
6 Learn Blink Timing
By default, the Nurse has two blinks. If the Nurse blinks, she has a short period of time where she can blink again. If she doesn't, she will look to the ground and be stunned for a bit. This will also happen after two blinks and an unsuccessful hit. The Nurse will always be stunned after blinks unless she hits a survivor. If she hits a survivor, she will go through the usual animation for dealing damage.
The Nurse doesn't always need to use both blinks, though. Her second blink has less range than the first and the player has less time to pull it off, as she will become stunned after the first blink if the second isn't used fast enough. The second blink will also cancel if held down for too long, resulting in the Nurse becoming stunned. Master this timing in order to keep her from becoming stunned and vulnerable.
5 Move Vertically As Well As Horizontally
An important aspect to the Nurse's blink to remember is that she can use it to cover great distances. It shouldn't be used exclusively during chases. The Nurse can cover a lot of ground with her blink, and shecan even teleport between floors of a map.
Take the Raccoon Police Department as an example of this sort of mobility. The stairways in that map are often on the outer rims, making traversing it as a killer a pain. The Nurse can simply look up or down and go through the floor, appearing in her desired location without the burden of finding a suitable staircase. Just be careful not to accidentally blink into the basement unintentionally.
4 Adjust Sensitivities
Players might feel like they're missing a lot of basic attacks when coming out of blinks. This isn't uncommon, as it can be a bit disorientating when chasing a survivor down. Those wanting to put more time into the Nurse might need to pay a visit to the settings menu and adjust their sensitivities.
As the Nurse will often be swinging at enemies in very close range very suddenly, a simple sensitivity readjustment could be all the player needs to start hitting those lethal blinks.
3 Learn To Lead The Blink
Unlike some games with blink mechanics, the Nurse's blink isn't immediate. She actually has to zoom forward instead of just appearing where she blinks automatically. Though the movement while blinking is very fast, it isn't instant. As such, players will have to learn to lead their blinks. This is challenging to master and may take a while to learn, so don't become discouraged.
The Nurse might need to make slight adjustments with her blinks in order to accurately place herself right on a survivor. If the survivor is running straight ahead, try to blink just in front of them. This is because with the time it takes for the Nurse to actually move, the survivor will be right on the spot the Nurse blinked to, allowing for an attack.
2 Look Down To Cancel Long Blinks
Sometimes, the player will blink by mistake. It's bound to happen, but unfortunately, there's no way to actually cancel a blink. Once charged, the Nurse has to blink somewhere. However, it doesn't have to be a long blink out of position.
Players looking to "cancel" their blinks should look at the ground as far down as possible before releasing the blink. The Nurse will make the sound as if she were blinking and may move forward slightly, but she will essentially not move at all. She will still become stunned and the player will go to the basement if they are near it, so be careful when using this trick.
1 Blink To Where Survivors Will Be
During an active chase, it's best for a Nurse player to try and predict where a survivor is going rather than blinking directly onto them. This is because good survivors will be expecting Nurses to blink onto them and will often have a plan to make the Nurse miss her attack. Don't fall for these fake-outs.
What survivors won't expect is for the Nurse to blink into the part of the loop they were going to, or for the Nurse to appear in the doorway they had been planning on escaping through. This is by far the hardest skill to learn for Nurse, and requires some creative thinking. However, if the Nurse can think one step ahead of the survivors, she can often score plenty of hits and hooks.
