Hooks

In other (unofficial) languages:

*One of the most horrific scenes is not always to be the one on the hook, but rather a witness. To see fear as someone else struggles for freedom is something I wish I could unsee. Limbs moving in unnatural ways and also my own inside struggle. Sometimes I try to help. But many times my fear of the hooks grows too big. What is survival with blood on your hands?''*

*The Entity is pleased! Kill more meat!''*

**Hooks** are one of **27** Props featured in *Dead by Daylight*.

## Overview

The **Hooks** are used by the Killer to progress their main objective of sacrificing Survivors to The Entity.

Each Map spawns several **Hooks** placed randomly throughout the environment, as well as a fixed set of **Basement Hooks**.

## Hook Mechanics

### Carrying

Before hooking a Survivor, Killers must pick up the Survivor and carry them to a hook. During this time, the Killer's speed is reduced to **3.68 m/s** or **92 %** for all Killers by default.

#### Wiggling

*Main Article:* Wiggle
While being carried, the Survivor can wiggle, causing the Killer to randomly strafe side-to-side, and eventually wiggling free from their grasp after **16 seconds**.

### Hooking

When in proximity to a Hook that has not been sabotaged or broken from an earlier sacrifice, the Killer carrying a Survivor is given the opportunity to hook that Survivor, placing them onto the Hook, this action takes **1.5 seconds**.

If a Survivor is killed by the Entity on the Hook, the Killer will be unable to use the same Hook on another Survivor. The **Basement Hooks** are an exception to that.

### Unhooking

Survivors are given the opportunity to unhook their dying teammate, unhooking takes **1 second** to finish.

Hooked Survivors may attempt to unhook themselves from the hook, this action takes **1.5 seconds** per attempt.

Unhooked Survivors are put into Injured State.
Any Healing Progress they might have accumulated in the Dying State is reset.
Additionally, unhooked Survivors are temporarily (for **10 seconds**) protected by the ***Endurance*** **Status Effect** and receive a **10 %** ***Haste*** **Status Effect** for the same duration.

### Unhook Types

There are **2 Unhook Types** in *Dead by Daylight*: safe and unsafe Unhooks.

#### Safe Unhooks

A *Safe Unhook* is first and foremost a *Score Event*, which was added to discourage Survivors from hook-diving (i.e. unhooking right after the Killer hooked someone without waiting for them to leave the area first) and farming points.
Later, it also became an activation or completion condition for certain Perk Effects and Tome Challenges.

In order for the *Score Event* to trigger successfully, the freshly unhooked Survivor ***must not*** go down (i.e. enter the Dying State) for the next **15 seconds**.

#### Unsafe Unhooks

An *Unsafe Unhook* is essentially a failed *Safe Unhook*, meaning the freshly unhooked Survivor went down (i.e. entered the Dying State) within **15 seconds** of having been unhooked.

## Anti-Camping Feature

*This feature was introduced in Patch 7.3.0.*
Survivors on a **Hook** have an internal *Camp Meter*, which tracks the Killer's proximity to the hooked Survivor and fills the meter whenever the Killer is within **16 metres** of it; the closer, the faster.

Once the meter is full, the hooked Survivor is granted the ability to successfully unhook themselves, after which they benefit from the following effects for **15 seconds** (**5 seconds** longer than normal):

* Grants the ***Endurance*** **Status Effect**.
* Grants a **+10 %** ***Haste*** **Status Effect**.

This ability can be granted both during the first and the second *Hook Stage* and is ***deactivated completely*** as soon as the **Exit Gates** are powered.

### Grace Period

After hooking a Survivor, there is a grace period of **7 seconds** before the meter starts filling up, giving the Killer the opportunity to leave the area without being immediately penalised, as well as leaving some wiggle room to damage a nearby **Generator** or reload at a **Locker** if applicable.

### Other Survivors

The *Camp Meter* is not only affected by the Killer's presence, but that of other Survivors as well.

If a healthy, injured, or dying Survivor is also within **16 metres** of a hooked Survivor, the *Camp Meter* will be slowed.

If the Killer carries a Survivor into the camping zone, the *Camp Meter* will be paused completely.
This is so the Killer is not unfairly penalised for hooking multiple Survivors on the **Basement Hooks**.

### Verticality

Currently, the *Camp Meter* treats both horizontal and vertical distance to the hooked Survivor equally, unfairly penalising Killers for passing by a hooked Survivor on a different floor (e.g. The Game, Midwich Elementary School), even though the shortest walkable path to the hooked Survivor is rather long.

In a future update, the *Camp Meter* will be balanced more towards the horizontal distance, allowing it to be more forgiving for Killers on different floors.

### Charge Times

The *Camp Meter* fills at default rate of **1 c/s**, which is modified depending on the Killer's distance to the hooked Survivor.
The ability to self-unhook is granted after reaching a threshold of **100 Charges**:

 15 metres
 14 metres
 13 metres
 12 metres
 11 metres
 10 metres
 9 metres
 8 metres
 7 metres
 6 metres
 5 metres
 0-4 metres

## Hook Stages

For Survivors, **Hooks** have three different stages:

* *Take Chance to Unhook* Action(a.k.a. *Self-Unhook*)

Other Survivors:
* *Unhook* Action
In the first Hook Stage, Survivors have the following options:
* Hang still or use incomplete *Self-Unhook* Attempts to warn other Survivors of a camping Killer (see #Hook Gymnastics).
* Attempt to *Self-Unhook*, which has a default Success Chance of **4 % per attempt**.
	+ Failed attempts penalise the Survivor by reducing the Hook Stage duration by **-20 seconds** each, thus allowing for a maximum of **3 attempts**.

* *Struggle* Skill Checks

Other Survivors:
* *Unhook* Action
* Be hooked for the **second time**, after having been rescued from the first Hook Stage.
* Fail to be rescued by other Survivors during the first Hook Stage, causing the Life Bar to drain to **50 %**.
* Fail too many *Self-Unhook* attempts during the first Hook Stage, causing the Life Bar to drain to **50 %**.

In the second Hook Stage, Survivors have the following options:
* Struggle against The Entity by succeeding the *Struggle* Skill Checks (**11 in total**, which spawn continuously throughout the Hook Stage.
	+ Succeeded Skill Checks continue the *Struggle Phase*, but progressively reduce the Success Zone of subsequent Skill Checks.
	+ Failed Skill Checks penalise the Survivor by reducing the Hook Stage duration by **-20 seconds** each, thus allowing for a maximum of **3 failed Skill Checks**.

The duration of the second Hook Stage can be increased using either Kinship or Reassurance.
* Be hooked for the **third time**, after having been rescued both from the first and the second Hook Stage respectively.
* Be hooked for the **second time**, after having been rescued only from the second Hook Stage, or if you had been rescued from the first Hook Stage, but are the Last Survivor Standing now.
* Be hooked for the **first time**, if you are the Last Survivor Standing, regardless of whether you had been hooked previously or not.
* Fail to be rescued by other Survivors during the second Hook Stage, causing the Life Bar to drain to **0 %**.
* Fail too many *Struggle* Skill Checks during the second Hook Stage, causing the Life Bar to drain to **0 %**.
* Fail to give input on **2 consecutive *Struggle* Skill Checks** during the second Hook Stage, causing the Life Bar to drain to **0 %**.

In the third Hook Stage, Survivors have lost their struggle against The Entity and are sacrificed, completing the process.

## Hook Sabotage

Survivors can sabotage **Hooks**, which temporarily breaks them and thus renders them unusable for the Killer for that time, by using a Toolbox on it.
This can also be done without a **Toolbox** if a Survivor has the Perk Saboteur equipped.

The *Hook Sabotage* action takes a default time of **3 seconds** to complete and will always consume **6 Charges** from the **Toolbox**, as the *Hook Sabotage* action has a higher default Item Consumption rate of **-2 c/s**.

Since Killers are unable to hook Survivors onto sabotaged **Hooks** while they are broken, they will have to walk to a different **Hook** instead, potentially leaving enough time for the carried Survivor to wiggle free in the mean time, making sabotage a strategic gameplay mechanic.

### Auto-Repair Mechanic

**The Entity** auto-repairs all sabotaged **Hooks** after a default time of **30 seconds**.
This timer can be modified using certain Perks or completing the *Hook Sabotage* action with a **Toolbox** that has certain Add-ons equipped.

### Sabotage Notifications

It should be noted that sabotaging a **Hook** always creates a *Loud Noise Notification*, which will inform the Killer of the sabotage.
This notification can be suppressed by completing the *Hook Sabotage* action with a **Toolbox** that has the Protective Gloves Add-on equipped.

### Basement Hooks Sabotage Immunity

The four **Basement Hooks** ***cannot*** be sabotaged under any circumstances and are immune to it.

This immunity also used to apply to special **Event Hooks**, back when *Dead by Daylight's* major Events only featured a limited number of such **Hooks** in a Trial and their numbers could be influenced using the associated **Event Offering**.
Since these Events now convert every single **Hook** on the Map into **Event Hooks**, this immunity was removed and they can be sabotaged like any regular **Hook**.

## Special Hooks

### Basement Hooks

*Related Article: Basement*

The **Basement Hooks** are a unique set of four Hooks attached to a single post located in the Basement.

The **Basement Hooks** are impervious to any form of damage: they ***cannot*** be sabotaged by Survivors and also ***do not*** break when a hooked Survivor is sacrificed or a Survivor using Breakdown is unhooked.
Originally, when sabotaged Hooks were destroyed permanently, they were the last resort for a Killer to still hook and sacrifice Survivors.

### Scourge Hooks

*Related Article: Scourge Hook Perks*
**Scourge Hooks** are no different from regular Hooks in appearance, but in effect.

In a Trial in which The Killer uses a Scourge Hook Perk, a few Hooks are selected at random to become **Scourge Hooks**.
The Killer will see those Hooks highlighted in a **white** Aura.
Hooking a Survivor onto a **Scourge Hook** will apply the effect of the associated **Scourge Hook Perk**.

#### Lunar Hook

*Related Articles: Howling Grounds & Moonrise*
The **Lunar Hook** are a special Hook model that is featured during the recurring Lunar Events Howling Grounds and Moonrise.

For every burnt Red Envelope, a **Lunar Hook** would spawn on the Map.
Its Aura would be displayed to the Killer in a **blue** colour.

During **Howling Grounds**, hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would grant the Killer one **Burnt Coin** , **40** of which would unlock the **The Hound** customisation option for The Huntress.
During **Moonrise**, this was changed to grant points that could then incrementally be turned into a **Gold Coin** , a temporary currency, of which up to **9** could be exchanged for special Event cosmetic pieces.

#### Grill Hook

*Related Article: Scorching Summer BBQ*
The **Grill Hook** was a special Hook model that was featured during the Scorching Summer BBQ Event.

For every burnt BBQ Invitation in addition to **2** default ones, a **Grill Hook** would spawn on the Map.
Its Aura would be displayed to the Killer in a **blue** colour.

Hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would grant the Killer one **Survivor Chop** , **50** of which would unlock the **Pro-Pain Hammer** customisation option for The Hillbilly.

#### Cankerous Hook

The **Cankerous Hook** was a special Hook model that was featured during the past Halloween Events.

They spawned naturally throughout the Trial Grounds during the Event and their number could be increased by burning Pustula Petals Offerings.
A Cankerous Hook's Aura would be displayed to the Killer in an **orange** colour.

During **The Hallowed Blight**, hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would fill the Killer's **Nectar Vial** by one sixth with **Putrid Nectar**, with a filled Vial granting one Putrid Serum, a temporary currency that could be used to buy the Event cosmetics from the In-Game Store.
During the **Withering Blight** Event, this was changed to just award Bonus Bloodpoints.

#### Tangled Hook

The **Tangled Hook** is a special Hook model that is featured during The Midnight Grove Halloween Event.

They spawn naturally throughout the Trial Grounds during the Event and their number could be increased by burning Cursed Seed Offerings.
A Tangled Hook's Aura would be displayed to the Killer in an **orange** colour.

During **The Midnight Grove**, hooking a Survivor on a **Tangled Hook'** award Bonus Bloodpoints.

#### Bone Chill Hook

The **Bone Chill Hook** is a special Hook model featured during the Bone Chill Winter Events.

By default all Hooks on the Map spawn as **Bone Chill Hooks**.

#### Esoteric Hook

The **Esoteric Hook** is a special Hook model featured during the Haunted by Daylight Halloween Event.

By default all Hooks on the Map spawn as **Esoteric Hooks**.

Hooking a Survivor on the **Esoteric Hook** grants Killers *Void Energy* which could be transferred into **Unstable Rifts**.

## Hook Designs

In the early days of the game, each Killer had their own personal Hook Design that was used on every Map they played on.

Survivors quickly learnt that they could identify a Killer by taking a look at the design of the nearest Hook shortly after spawning. Thus Killers relying on the element of surprise were revealed too early to the Survivors and popular tactics, like to hold off on using one's Power if it made distinct noises to disguise one's identity for as long as possible, were nullified.

The Developers realised this and changed Hooks to no longer be tied to a Killer prior to the release of CHAPTER 2: The HALLOWEEN® Chapter.
They were from then on bound to the Realm, with one exception: playing against The Xenomorph (CHAPTER 29: Alien) will always spawn its special **Hook**, regardless of the Realm.

It can still be clearly seen that the three original Hooks were designed to have similar features to their respective Killers. Newer Hooks were designed to fit more into the general theme of their Realm.

## History

### Original Hook Stages

For Survivors, Hooks have three different stages. Stages 1 and 2 each have a duration of **45 seconds**:

A Survivor in *Stage One* can be rescued by another Survivor or attempt to free themselves from the Hook.
* Each attempt has a **4 %** chance to succeed and will cost 16.666% (or 20 seconds) of the remaining Health Bar.
* The chance to escape from the Hook can be increased with Luck Offerings or Up the Ante.
* The number of times a Survivor can attempt to free themselves can be increased by Slippery Meat.

 2
 3
This also happens if all other survivors are hooked (and no one is in stage 1), or dead.
A Survivor in *Stage Three* gets killed by The Entity, completing the sacrifice.

## Change Log

### Patch 1.2.0

* ***Change:*** the specific Hook Model is now dependent on the Realm of the Map, rather than on the Killer.
	+ Before this change, the Hook Models would be chosen based on the Killer, meaning that if the Killer was a Nurse, each Hook would spawn the model currently used in Crotus Prenn Asylum, regardless of whether the Trial played on The MacMillan Estate, Autohaven Wreckers, or Coldwind Farm (the only other available Realms at the time).
	+ This allowed Survivors to identify a Killer immediately based on the Hook Model, removing the element of surprise (Killers did not have a unique Terror Radius at the time).
	+ The change was also motivated by artistic choices, as the newest Hook Model at the time (Haddonfield) would have looked quite misplaced on other Realms.

### Patch 1.5.3

* ***Killer Nerf:*** increased the maximum duration of the *Summoning Phase* and the *Struggle Phase* (Hook Stages 1 & 2) from **45 seconds** each to **60 seconds** each.

### Patch 1.8.0

* ***Survivor Buff:*** increased the Wiggle Progression bonus from being dropped by the Killer (a.k.a. *"dribbling"*) from **+25 %** to **+33 %**.
* ***Survivor QoL:*** added so-called *"Swivel Hook"*, allowing Survivors to unhook other Survivors from any angle instead of straight up front.
	+ This change was added to remove the Killer's ability to completely body-block the Unhook Prompt by standing in front of the hooked Survivor.

### Patch 2.0.0

* The number of **Hooks** spawning in the Trial Grounds is now fixed to the **number of Map Tiles divided by 3**.

### Patch 2.2.0

* Survivors that are being unhooked or unhook themselves no longer take any damage before they regain control of their Character model.
* The **Self-Unhook** animation has been halved from **2.4 seconds** to **1.2 seconds**.

### Patch 2.3.0

* The **Hook** animation has been shortened from **2 seconds** to **1.5 seconds**.

### Patch 2.5.0

* All Maps now feature a minimum and maximum number of **Hooks** able to spawn.
* The minimum spawn distance in-between **Hooks** is now dependent on the Map and can be affected by Offerings.
* Reduced Basement-to-next-Hook minimum distance to **16 metres** and moved the reference point from the middle of the Basement to the top of the stairs.

### Patch 3.6.0

* Reduced wiggle penalty for dropping a survivor from **33 %** back to **25 %**.
* Vastly reduced **Hook** Sabotage time from **16 seconds** to **3 seconds**.
* Vastly reduced Automatic **Hook** Repair time from **180 seconds** to **30 seconds**.
* Removed Skill Checks from the **Hook** Sabotage action.
* Removed the ability for Killers to hook Survivors onto **Hooks** mid-sabotage.

### Patch 3.7.0

* In case of all remaining Survivors reaching the *Struggle Phase*, The Entity will now instantly drain their remaining life bar and sacrifice them.
* Added additional effects for when Survivors attempt to unhook themselves, making it clearer that this is potentially hurtful and will accelerate the sacrifice process.

### Patch 4.7.0

* Reworked the *Struggle Phase* from mashing buttons/keys to now continuously trigger Skill Checks (akin to Cages of Atonement).
	+ Failing to give input for **2 successive Skill Checks** will instantly complete the sacrifice.
	+ Missing a Skill Check will decrease the remaining life bar.

### Patch 6.1.0

* ***Survivor Buff:*** Survivors now receive the ***Endurance*** and ***Haste*** **Status Effects** for **5 seconds** after being unhooked.
	+ The ***Haste*** **Status Effect** has a strength of **+7 %**.
* ***Survivor Nerf:*** extended the timer for unhooks to be considered *"Safe Unhooks"* from **10 seconds** to **15 seconds**.

### Patch 6.2.0

* ***Survivor Buff:*** increased the duration of the ***Endurance*** and ***Haste*** **Status Effects** from **5 seconds** to **10 seconds**.
* ***Survivor Buff:*** increased the strength of the ***Haste*** **Status Effect** from **+7 %** to **+10 %**.

### Patch 7.1.0

* ***Killer Nerf:*** removed the ability for Killers to grab healthy or injured Survivors while they are unhooking the hooked Survivor.

### Patch 7.3.0

* ***Rework:*** introduced an Anti-Camping mechanic to **Hooks**.
	+ This feature allows Survivors to self-unhook and gain an extended ***Endurance*** **Status Effect**, if the Killer camps the **Hook** for too long.
	+ This feature becomes inactive as soon as the **Exit Gates** are powered.

## Trivia

* **Hooks** were also referred to as *"Meathooks"*.
* The **Hooks** mechanic was inspired by a scene in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where Leatherface (or The Cannibal) catches Pam and puts her on a Meathook.
* There's an unreleased Hook model named ***Deer Hanger*** in the Game files. It is stored in a folder titled **Improvised Hooks**. It is possible that Killers might have been able to fashion their own Hook from scrap materials at one point during Development, in cases of Survivors having sabotaged all other Hooks.

### Hook Gymnastics

* Early on in the Game's life, hooked Survivors had established a way to communicate a Killer's proximity to the other Survivors:
	+ Hanging still from the Hook meant something along the lines of: *"The Killer is far enough away from me or preoccupied with something else, you can come and rescue me now!"*
	+ Spamming the self-unhook animation meant something along the lines of: *"The Killer is nearby, patrolling the Hook or camping it. It is not safe to attempt a rescue, stay away and let me hang!"*
* This was jokingly referred to as *"Hook Gymnastics"*.
* Many newer Survivors believed that the Hook Gymnastics worked the other way round and signalled a camping Killer by hanging still and struggled once the Killer was away.
	+ This issue propagates to present-day *Dead by Daylight*, with most Veteran Players sticking to the original *Hook Gymnastics*, leading to miscommunication with newer Players, due to the general consensus having been lost.

### Hook Spawns

Each Map has a minimum and maximum amount of **Hooks** that may spawn on it:

* **Hooks** must have a minimal spawn distance in-between each other unless the minimum amount of spawns is not reached, then they may spawn closer together.
	+ This minimal spawn distance may be affected by Offerings.