What's tunneling mean in game for killer?

[[NAMELESS]]

hey I know this may be a newb question but what is tunneling? I'm a killer main and I try to give survivors a fair match even if I hook/sacrifice a few of them if not all regardless. I really want to avoid doing things that would be frowned upon as a player so if anyone can please tell me that would be great. thank you.

[Ruca [PT]]

Tunnelling is the term for a tactic that can be employed by Killers in Dead by Daylight. It refers to the act of singling out one Survivor and focusing your attention on them. An example of tunnelling would be chasing down a Survivor, downing them, putting them on a hook, and then waiting until another Survivor unhooks them. When they are getting away, you keep your focus on the Survivor you had hooked, chasing them again, down them, hook them, rinse and repeat until that Survivor is sacrificed.

Essentially, tunnelling is focusing all your attention on one Survivor and ignoring the others. It isn't far removed from camping, and often requires some degree of camping as well. There are reasons to do this, but for the most part, this is considered to be quite poor sportsmanship.

Allthough, by logics, when the killer is in match facing a strong team of survivors and getting a gen rush tunneling may be a usefull tactic. Myself I have had matches that tunneling allowed me to at least get 1k before everyone got out that was what I aimed for, at least 1 kill.
By emplyong that tactic at the end in those times the survivors were too altruistic I managed to get 2-3 or even all of them but then again I just wanted 1 kill but they came on me being too greedy and ended up staying to the end.
Note that some killers playstile also forces the players to tunnel at some point so it´s somewhat debatable if it´s a viable strategy or not.
Use your own judgement according to how you feel the match in going for you as killer bur also for the survivors aswell. You don´t need to force tunnel the matches to get 4k because you can get a pretty good score wirh just 1 kill.
In the end it´s not a good experience for the player on the other side so avoid it when unnecessary.

[[NAMELESS]]

Originally posted by Ruca PT:

Tunnelling is the term for a tactic that can be employed by Killers in Dead by Daylight. It refers to the act of singling out one Survivor and focusing your attention on them. An example of tunnelling would be chasing down a Survivor, downing them, putting them on a hook, and then waiting until another Survivor unhooks them. When they are getting away, you keep your focus on the Survivor you had hooked, chasing them again, down them, hook them, rinse and repeat until that Survivor is sacrificed.

Essentially, tunnelling is focusing all your attention on one Survivor and ignoring the others. It isn't far removed from camping, and often requires some degree of camping as well. There are reasons to do this, but for the most part, this is considered to be quite poor sportsmanship.

Allthough, by logics, when the killer is in match facing a strong team of survivors and getting a gen rush tunneling may be a usefull tactic. Myself I have had matches that tunneling allowed me to at least get 1k before everyone got out that was what I aimed for, at least 1 kill.
By emplyong that tactic at the end in those times the survivors were too altruistic I managed to get 2-3 or even all of them but then again I just wanted 1 kill but they came on me being too greedy and ended up staying to the end.
Note that some killers playstile also forces the players to tunnel at some point so it´s somewhat debatable if it´s a viable strategy or not.
Use your own judgement according to how you feel the match in going for you as killer bur also for the survivors aswell. You don´t need to force tunnel the matches to get 4k because you can get a pretty good score wirh just 1 kill.
In the end it´s not a good experience for the player on the other side so avoid it when unnecessary.

thank you for sharing this as it helps me a great deal and I appreciate you. thank you again you were a great help.

[Ruca [PT]]

You´re welcome. Glad it helped.

Maybe this discussion could be pinned so others can see?

[Squeaky the Zepa]

Excellent appraisal, Ruca. Couldn't have said it better myself. While there's occasionally valid reasons to single a target out, such as knowing one survivor has been hooked twice by the time gens are done and focusing on them to ensure a kill, "tunneling" explicitly means basically right off the bat picking a Survivor and just saying "No". Focusing them down right from the get-go is effectively slapping the controller out of their hands. A dedicated tunneler can ensure a Survivor is dead before they can do a single gen or perform any actions that provide any substantial point output, ending their part of the match within minutes with a trickle of BP to show for it. Such behavior is heavily frowned upon for what should be very obvious reasons, and yet some people attempt to justify this right out of the gate when the round has just started. I am immensely pleased and grateful to see you both share an investment in the round being fun for all involved. Good on you both!

[MadBovine42]

At the higher end of the MMR you have to tunnel to get a single kill if you aren't running an S tier killer. And they are buffing survivor basekit yet again to make it even more difficult for killers to secure a kill. I already know what will happen after the upcoming patch, survivors are going to take all chases to the hook because why worry about making poor decisions when the game will reward you for it?

[[NAMELESS]]

Originally posted by Ruca plays YT:

You´re welcome. Glad it helped.

Maybe this discussion could be pinned so others can see?

done and done and I truly can not thank you enough for shedding some light on this for me you truly are a help.

[Estellese]

Ruca gave a great explination.

I will just add, that this also must be done intentionally. You will sometimes get yelled at for "Tunneling" when you catch the same survivor twice in a row on accident. You didn't mean to chase them, you just, say, went to a different gen and they were unexpectedly there. That is not tunneling.

You have to be intentionally chasing the same person, right off the hook.

Originally posted by MadBovine42:

At the higher end of the MMR you have to tunnel to get a single kill if you aren't running an S tier killer. And they are buffing survivor basekit yet again to make it even more difficult for killers to secure a kill. I already know what will happen after the upcoming patch, survivors are going to take all chases to the hook because why worry about making poor decisions when the game will reward you for it?

If you have to tunnel to get a single kill, then you do not belong in that MMR. People who belong there do not need to.

[Grug]

Tunneling is when killers dont 4 hook everyone twice before getting a kill

[￭ Yuri ￭]

Tunneling is a strategy and means you are focused on a single objective. Generally in pvp games, obviously on the same real enemy target, whether for any reason behind it (weak opponent, troll, fighting due to equal characters, make the goal easier, etc.).

It is not a problem outside the context of DBD because in these other games that are >symmetrical<, you have the same potential chances of picking or playing as a team, even with different roles inside the teams (supports, tank, etc, but both teams with the same roles)

In DBD, the power role is already defined to be the killer, while the other can only overcome the killer when coordinated in a 4x1 context. That's why tunneling is a design issue here around majority of players (solo survivors), since killer are taking advantage of it.

Taking other games, as I said, everyone has the same potential chances (if it's just a x1 pvp fight) and even built-in tools to warn the team (voip, txt, ping system, comunication wheel) if they are at a disadvantage, be it support against damage, for example.

[Kharn the Betrayer]

Originally posted by Grug:

Tunneling is when killers dont 4 hook everyone twice before getting a kill

[Milenka]

Boring strategy and ez win if poor solo survivor like me plays without exhaustion and second chance perks