With the power of disease itself at her fingertips, The Plague is one of the most mechanically and strategically difficult killers in Dead by Daylight's roster. She offers a high skill-ceiling for those that wish to learn her techniques.
The Plague can be one of the most rewarding characters in the game, a ranged killer with a nuanced power. Understanding how her infection spreads, how to best capitalize on that spread, and how to deal with the most likely survivor counterplays is essential. With practice and guidance to develop their skill, Plague players can strike fear into the heart of any survivor that sees the smoking Censer of Adiris.
10 Study Vile Purge
The Plague's vomit attack, Vile Purge, is powerful but deceptively complicated. Even without add-ons, it's an excellent ability, allowing the killer to hit survivors at a considerable distance and a variety of angles.
The Plague can strike survivors over many objects by arcing the stream, shutting down loops that would otherwise be safe. It takes considerable practice to learn the ins and outs of her attack, including what gaps can be vomited through and how long infection takes to progress during a chase. The more a player experiments with Vile Purge, the more they will learn. Still, there's no substitute for jumping in some matches to practice.
9 Use Infected Survivors To Infect Others
When a healthy survivor comes into contact with someone fully infected, the infection spreads to the healthy survivor. This simple fact holds incredible power for The Plague. She is unique amongst killers in being able to capitalize on and punish altruistic survivors, as a fully infected survivor cannot be rescued from the hook without infecting their teammate.
Survivors can be infected when they are on the ground in the dying state. Even when they are already on the hook, and a good Plague player will never skip an opportunity to keep the cycle of infection going, capitalizing on the killer's unique strengths.
8 Target Survivors Locked In Animations
Like Trickster and Huntress, The Plague has a ranged attack that can be difficult to use to strike survivors in open spaces with total freedom of movement. An important part of playing Plague is choosing the most opportune moments to infect survivors.
The best time to hit a survivor with Vile Purge is when they are locked in an animation that they either cannot or will not break. Examples include opening the exit gate, repairing a generator, vaulting a window, and blessing or cleansing a totem. Some survivors will stubbornly finish a task such as repairing or blessing rather than lose their progress. In these moments, survivors are sitting ducks for The Plague to infect.
7 Infect Objects
Hitting a survivor with Vile Purge is the most direct way to spread infection, but it isn't the only way. The Plague can infect windows, pallets, generators, totems, and anything else with which survivors can interact.
If a certain loop blocks The Plague from hitting a survivor directly, the killer can infect whatever window or pallet the survivor is using for safety. Doing so forces the survivor to choose between infection and abandoning the loop, risking a basic attack or direct infection if they do the latter. Because the infection lingers for some time, a calculating player can even infect objects in advance and herd unsuspecting survivors toward them, a strategy compatible with a variety of builds.
6 Heed Fountain Position
As strong as it is, Vile Purge is the weaker form of The Plague's power. By drinking from a corrupted fountain, the killer gains Corrupt Purge, an ability that allows her to injure and down survivors with her vomit instead of infecting them. One fountain begins the match corrupted by default, and survivors corrupt another fountain whenever they use it cleanse themselves.
As powerful as Corrupt Purge is, though, running to the far side of the map to gain one's power is a losing proposition, as it wastes valuable time. The less time The Plague wastes getting to and making her way back from a fountain, the more time she has to unleash her new power on survivors.
5 Prepare For Total Corruption
When a survivor cleanses themselves at the last uncorrupted fountain, The Plague immediately receives her Corrupt Purge, no matter where she is on the map. Receiving one's power in the middle of a chase can turn the tide of a losing match in an instant.
Though it is the survivors who decide if and when to cleanse, a diligent Plague player will keep their eye on the number of clean fountains remaining and factor the possibility of total corruption into their strategy. Smart survivors will seek to deny The Plague her Corrupt power by refusing to cleanse until absolutely necessary, but the killer must be ready if and when the dam breaks.
4 Bodyblock
Bodyblocking a survivor is a best-case scenario for The Plague, as it allows her to fully infect and then down a survivor without them escaping. Most experienced survivors will not allow themselves to be caught in this trap, but even the best make mistakes or get greedy while cleansing or blessing totems.
In those moments, The Plague must capitalize.Trapping, infecting, and downing a survivor in this way lets the opposing player go from having a healthy survivor to one that is not only ready to be hooked, but ready to spread the infection upon rescue. Early in a match, this chain reaction can be hard for survivors to come back from.
3 Use Infected Objects For Information
Though its most obvious use is as a weapon, Vile Purge can work wonders as an information ability. By infecting certain objects and then noticing when healthy survivors become sick, The Plague can pinpoint her targets' location, allowing her to defend critical generators or attack vulnerable survivors.
Many players default to vomiting on every surface in sight to maximize the likelihood of infection, but being choosier can be a worthwhile tradeoff. This allows The Plague to track her victims' movements from anywhere on the map. When to employ one technique over the other is a matter of experience, but understanding both is indispensable.
2 Hit Through Survivors
One of the many strengths of Corrupt Purge is its ability to injure multiple survivors at once, even those hidden behind another's body. The Plague can shake her head to do a wild, horizontal spray capable of striking multiple survivors, punishing those who join together to work on generators.
For this reason, The Plague is also a massive threat to survivors attempting to unhook in her presence. They cannot use the hooked survivor for cover as they might against one of The Huntress's hatchets. Unless fully infected survivors are willing to cleanse themselves first, safe rescues in Adiris's presence are impossible.
1 Deny Survivors Speed
Striking a survivor with a basic attack grants them a burst of speed, allowing them to gain distance from the killer, often reaching the safety of a loop or losing their pursuer altogether. Because full infection injures a survivor without granting a burst of speed, The Plague can cut chases short by waiting until after a survivor is fully infected before striking them.
Given that the most efficient counterstrategy against Corrupt Purge is not to cleanse, it is common for experienced survivors to spend almost the entire match injured. This allows the Plague to down them with a single basic attack, accelerating chases all the more.
Dead By Daylight was released in June 2016 and is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and Stadia.
