What Is Face Camping In Dead By Daylight? Explained

With so many perks and characters to choose from in Dead by Daylight, there are also countless strategies that players on both sides tend to employ. One of the most controversial of those strategies is known as face camping; it's practically synonymous with "bad manners" for killers in DBD, and combatting it is a common topic of discussion.

So what exactly is face camping in Dead by Daylight, and how can you counter it? In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know.

What Is Face Camping In Dead By Daylight?

In Dead by Daylight, face camping is a controversial killer strategy in which the killer stands directly in front of a hooked survivor throughout their hook states.

A killer does this to prevent other survivors from unhooking the hooked survivor, and some may use it as a form of taunting. When used as a way to taunt hooked survivors, face camping is considered Bad Manners (BM) by many members of the DBD fan community.

Face camping is more common among those killers who can down a survivor in one hit, such as Leatherface The Hillbilly or Oni (when using his power), since they can easily down any teammates who may attempt the save.

While face camping a survivor is generally a form of Bad Manners, camping a survivor can sometimes be a strategic play for killers; remaining around the hook can guarantee that the survivor does not escape, as well as puts unhookers in a precarious position. Generally, proxy camping, which means the killer hangs out near the hook but doesn't stand directly in front of it, is more commonly accepted as a viable strategy than face camping. 

How To Counter Face Camping In Dead By Daylight

While face camping and tunneling go hand-in-hand as some of killer players' most frustrating actions according to survivors, there are many ways to counter these strategies.

Complete Generators

One of the best ways to counter face camping in Dead by Daylight as a team, especially against killers who can achieve a one-hit down on hopeful unhookers, is simply to complete generators and ignore the hooked survivor. While this might mean certain death for the survivor on the hook, it can sometimes be the only way to ensure that 3/4 of your team has time to hit those skill checks, finish up the generators, and escape while the killer is wasting his time on one survivor.

Get The Killers' Attention

While most determined face campers won't leave their post no matter what, it may be possible to distract the killer long enough for a teammate to make a save. This could be in the form of running in front of the killer or pretending to make the save. This strategy can prove risky for you if you get too close, so it's crucial to be careful lest the killer just earn another hook; it also doesn't always work and depends on the killer's willingness to leave the area.

Use Survivor Anti-Face Camping Perks

Some survivor perks can help you save a survivor who is getting face camped, or even save yourself from certain death. If you find that face camping is a frequent problem for you or your teammates, you might consider adding some of those perks to your loadout.

Here are a few of our favorite survivor perks to combat face camping:

• Deliverance - Deliverance allows you to unhook yourself once during the first hook state, so long as you've already safely unhooked someone else first. You'll be granted the same 10-second Endurance and Haste as when another survivor unhooks you, allowing you to take a hit if you must, and ultimately make your escape.
• Reassurance - Rebecca Chambers' Reassurance perk is a match made in heaven for survivors who hate face camping; when used, it'll stop the hook progresion meter for the hooked survivor for a while. This should encourage the killer to move away, or give you ample time to complete generators while the killer remains focused on the one survivor.
• Kindred - While Kindred won't prevent you from dying on the hook, it can help your teammates organize a save, or tip them off that it's not safe to do so. Kindred will show your teammates the location of all other survivors while you're on the hook, as well as the killer's location if they're close enough to the hook. However, it's worth noting that killers can combat this aura-reading effect with the Undetectable status effect.

Face camping is a highly controversial strategy in Dead by Daylight, but now you know all about it, so you can counter it if you face it in any of your trials.