Dead by Daylight: Five Nights at Freddy’s is here, inviting you to step into the animatronic suit and inflict terror and panic as Springtrap. If you’ve recently picked up the character and are looking to get started with a few tips, tricks, and build ideas – we've got you covered.
How to Play as Springtrap
When playing as a new character, it’s important to get a feel for their Perks and how they can synergize with others within the general Perk pool. Note that this guide will not be focusing on the nuances of the Killer’s Power, but rather providing a few basic build suggestions to get your creativity flowing.
For more information on how to master a Killer’s Power, we recommend checking out one of our Dead by Daylight content creators, many of whom stream daily and offer detailed gameplay guides. You can also head into a custom game, load in a group of Survivor bots, and spend some time learning your kit.
Help Wanted
When you damage a Generator it becomes Compromised. Only one Generator can be Compromised at a time. When the Compromised Generator is completed, your successful Basic Attack cooldowns are 25/25/25% faster for 40/50/60 seconds.
Synergistic Perks: Tinkerer, Trail of Torment, Batteries Included, Coup De Grace, Cruel Limits, Dragon’s Grip, Eruption, Machine Learning, Mindbreaker, Nowhere To Hide, Oppression, Surveillance, Unforeseen
It’s all in the name, and you can't spell Springtrap without Trap. You should keep this in mind when building around Help Wanted. It’s also important to remember that a Perk based on damaging Generators requires Generators that are being repaired, and in some cases, to completion.
If you can accept that Survivors will repair Generators – it is their main objective, after all – you can build loadouts that capitalize on this inevitability. Get into the habit of thinking multiple steps ahead, identifying opportunities, and setting the stage for an eventual payoff.
A basic starting point is to use Perks that maximize the value of damaging Generators, with options like Nowhere to Hide and Oppression having natural synergy with Help Wanted. Using combos like Dragon’s Grip and Trail of Torment allow you to set a deadly trap, netting a quick down and using your Cooldown reduction to kick off your next chase.
Coup De Grace can also be used to immediately apply pressure after a Generator is repaired, with Machine Learning buffing you with additional benefits during this crucial period. The latter is especially interesting paired with Help Wanted to further power you up. To really drive the point home, Cruel Limits can effectively close off any nearby Vault locations.
Perks like Tinkerer and Surveillance will give you a better idea of how your Compromised Generators are progressing, allowing you to reposition accordingly. If you’re running Batteries Included, you can time it so you’re benefitting from a Haste Boost the moment they finish. If there are multiple Survivors around, you’ll be able to quickly spread pressure and fire off attacks at terrifying speed.
Phantom Fear
When a Survivor within your Terror Radius looks at you, they scream and you see their aura for 2/2/2 seconds.
This perk has a 80/70/60-second cooldown.
Synergistic Perks: Coulrophobia, Dark Devotion, Distressing, Hex: Face The Darkness, Overwhelming Presence, Unnerving Presence, Septic Touch, Whispers
The first thing to look at when examining this Perk is the Terror Radius condition, which can be manipulated in several different ways. On the surface, it generally feels like a straightforward information Perk, albeit information that can be capitalized on quickly. Survivors will often wind up in your Terror Radius at various stages in the Trial, and getting an idea of where they might be hiding can quickly provide you with a new target.
A good starting point is Whispers, which will indicate when you’re nearing a Survivor. If they happen to be Healing, Coulrophobia will slow them down and allow you to close the gap. Septic Touch also saddles them with issues while healing in your Terror Radius, so it could be worth adding something like Sloppy Butcher to your build if you’re going in this direction.
Distressing will also widen the range of your Terror Radius, increasing the chance that Phantom Fear will trigger early. If that’s the direction you’re heading in, consider Perks like Overwhelming Presence and Unnerving Presence, both of which affect Survivors inside your Terror Radius.
Finally, if you’re really looking to turn the Trial into a madhouse, slap on Hex: Face The Darkness to have Survivors screaming at an alarming – and highly comedic – frequency.
Haywire
Exit gates switches with at least 80% progress regress at a rate of 80/90/100% of gate opening speed.
While they are regressing, Survivors see the exit gate lights flicker randomly.
Synergistic Perks: No One Escapes Death, Blood Warden, No Way Out, Rancor, Terminus
You may feel pressure when all the Generators are complete, but sometimes that pressure can be returned to Survivors tenfold. It’s no secret your prey love to progress Exit Gates to around 99 percent complete, to open them at the exact moment they’re ready. In fact, it’s possible you’ve seen this first hand, wondering to yourself it there was anything that could counter such a devious strategy.
Haywire offers a degree of counterplay against the tactic, often referred to within the community as “99’ing the Gates” considerably driving up the power of Endgame builds. There isn’t much in the way of innovation to recommend, but stacking up as many threatening Endgame Perks as possible will go a long way in netting you some crucial kills.
Hex: No One Escapes Death is one that has long instilled fear in the hearts of Survivors, and has become a staple in various Endgame-focused loadouts. If paired with No Way Out, you’ll have significant time to apply serious pressure against a group of Exposed Survivors. By the time they manage to start opening one of the gates, you’ll have swung momentum into your favor with a vengeance.
Rancor is another great Perk for striking fear into the hearts of Survivors, allowing you to steal a crucial Kill in the heat of the Endgame. If you can manage to pull it off, having Blood Warden as an option can create some truly memorable moments in your Dead by Daylight journey.
They may not be for the faint of heart, but a dedicated endgame build is an exciting new way to play Dead by Daylight.
Springtrap’s Perks offer several different ways to inflict horror on Survivors, with numerous ways to hinder their objective. They can also synergize effectively with other Killer Perks, which can be unlocked by levelling up different characters or from the Shrine of Secrets.
If any of Springtrap's Perks slot nicely into one of your favourite builds, consider sharing it with us on one of our social media channels. You might just help someone discover their new favourite loadout.
See you in The Fog,
The jump-scare addicted Dead by Daylight team
