Rescuing is one of the most basic survivor skills alongside Kiting and Decoding. All survivors should know how to rescue: Whether you play Mercenary or Faro Lady. Here are some tips and tricks you can use. Keep in mind that everything depends on the situation and good rescues require constant practice and game knowledge to pull off consistently.
First, let’s cover some basic terms that might be confusing for new players:
When someone goes down, immediately ask yourself if they're worth the Rescue. Most times the answer should be yes, even after a short kite. It’s more beneficial to rescue before half and force the hunter to camp afterwards. It’s also extremely important to always rescue characters who still have rebound potential or their abilities and items.
Knowing what Hunter Type you're dealing with can answer this question for you most of the time. So you should pay special attention to the next section.
When you’re selling, you should try to give the Hunter Tinnitus. When a Survivor is within a certain distance from the hunter, this trait will activate. Most of the time when the hunter realizes no one is rescuing they will try to pressure the ciphers to slow down decoding. Giving Tinnitus prevents this. And sometimes, when the hunter decides to leave the chair, you can sneak in a no-hit rescue. It’s especially recommended for basement.
You can give Tinnitus by crouching hiding behind objects or walls not far from the chair. Leave when the timer is close to running out and go to a good kiting area or find a cipher. Either way, it wins a lot of time for your teammates.
You should also take into consideration how far you're away from the chair and whether or not someone else is closer who can also pull off the rescue. This requires precise coordination and communication with your teammates. Make an effort not to get cut off as shown in the example.
When rescuing try to crouch or run in the chair corner. Be mindful that the person you're rescuing doesn't get immediately farmed off the left side of the chair. Ideally, try to bait the hunter into hitting the chair
There are hunters who specialize in camping. They have an easier way of stuffing rescues and can completely turn the game around with one failed rescue. These are:
Rescuing against these hunters might be difficult without proper knowledge or any rescuing abilities. Selling against them, in most cases, guarantees a Tie and should always be done if the kite is too short (>60s).
If you do decide to rescue support can be beneficial and you need to be there very early to make them waste their camping abilities.
There are also hunters who you can't sell against at all. These include:
These hunters have cipher control, meaning you don’t win any time by selling your teammate. They might use the chair timer to their advantage by controlling ciphers, chasing someone else, etc. Rescuing in that case will be more beneficial.
Against most hunters, you should try to take a route at the edge of the map instead of the most obvious path to avoid getting cut off and stuffed. It's sufficient to stall or hide near the chair to give Tinnitus. Against single hit hunters try to be next to the chair around 30-40%.
An exception has to be made for hunters that can stall a lot of time and make the chair go above half:
Make sure to be at the chair much earlier for these hunters if you plan on rescuing before half.
Be aware that while not explicitely having strong camp some hunters have abilities allowing for two successive hits. Most of the time this will be an ability hit without attack recovery followed by a normal hit.
Instead of falling for this depending on the hunter either force a regular hit or be prepared to dodge and avoid their abilities to waste them and make the rescue safer for you.
If you have specific questions or difficulties considering a certain Hunter we recommend that you read up on their respective "Counterplay" section. Their guide will cover specific and detailed instead of general and basic information.
Tide Turner is a trait that all rescuers should carry. It provides a 20 second immunity after being rescued from chair. During this time, no matter how many hits you take, you cannot go down. This trait is essential when rescuing from basement.
If you've got it don’t be afraid of farming your teammates, especially after first rescue. Survivors hit during tide should run as far away from ciphers and chairs as possible, to win more time for decoding.
Tide is also the reason why main rescuers should go for the rescue most of the time. This trait can single handedly turn the whole game around. It allows for farming, stalling and most importantly, basement rescues.
These survivors should always bring Tide:
These survivors can bring Tide depending on the team composition:
It’s important to know when to bodyblock. Don't run together with your teammate and bodyblock after the first rescue, especially if you have Tide Turner. It wastes a lot of decoding time and gives the hunter an upper hand.
The best thing you can do to help your teammates is finish the ciphers as fast as possible. Bodyblock for the teammate dead on chair, when the ciphers are nearly done or to help them rebound, reach a good area or another teammate for assistance. If you mess up the rescue and are going down anyway but you have Tide Turner, try to bodyblock as well. This may give your teammate a chance to rebound.
There are, however, hunters against whom this strategy doesn’t work or is extremely inconsistent. These include:
These hunters have abilities which directly counter bodyblocks, whether by hitting every survivor at once or limiting your movements. You can still try to support this way but be mindful of their abilities.
One last thing that should be mentioned is force healing. You should absolutely force heal someone if the cipher is almost primed to force a better end game scenario.
Basement rescues are the hardest thing that you will have to do when it comes to rescues. Usually, it’s recommended to sell the teammate in basement completely, unless you have tide and the ciphers are enough to be primed or are already primed.
Tide allows both survivors to run as far away from basement as possible, so the next time the hunter will have to use an easier chair. Rescue from basement without tide only when ciphers are primed or the survivor has a way to exit the basement safely (enchantress with 3 stuns, a painting, a gun or an owl, for example).
The most difficult thing about basement is approaching or leaving it. Most hunters will try to drop down and hit you with no attack recovery. Try to go up and down the stairs to bait it. If the hunter is camping upstairs, do not drop down and go down the stairs instead. This way you’re not stuck in an animation and have more control over your movements.
If you were rescued from basement with tide, don’t try to dodge the hits or hunter abilities. Tank everything and run to the corner of the map. The rescuer may stay behind and wait for the hunter to leave and exit safely. Some characters have abilities which help them to go down safely, making rescuing with them easier. When possible, these survivors should rescue from basement instead.
Hunters may also blink through the wall and hit you on the chair without recovery. If the chair is close to a wall, try to wait for a few seconds if possible, even if it means taking a hit. This will make the rescue safer.
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