The Demogorgon from Stranger Things is the first non-human Killer to be added to the roster in Dead By Daylight and they’re a teleporting, Survivor slashing nightmare that can zip around the map and ambush unaware players. Similar to how it is in the show, it crosses into the Upside Down, an alternate plane of reality similar to ours before it re-emerges again, dragging its victims into its gaping toothy maw.
Sadly, due to licensing constraints, the Stranger Things pack has been removed from the various stores for each platform. So, unfortunately, you're no longer able to get their hands on this frightening figure, Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler Survivors, or play on the Hawkins Laboratory map. However, if you purchased the Stranger Things pack before it was removed the Survivors and Demogorgon can still be used, although the Laboratory map is still gone. For those looking to turn this shambling stalker into a murderous monstrosity, then here are a few tips for playing as the Demogorgon in Dead By Daylight.
10 Start Thinking With Portals
The Demogorgon's gimmick is all about using its ability to teleport across the map. To make the most of it you always should be, to quote Portal, “thinking with portals”. But instead of Chell, you're a 10 foot tall monster with claws and a giant gaping mouth for a face.
You can spawn six at a time and this can be bumped up to eight with Perks. Survivors can dismantle them, but it takes 12 seconds, enough time for you to show up and discourage them. There's also a two seconds stealth buff when exiting which also helps with surprise attacks if timed right. Pressing and holding the portal button will also show how many survivors are crowded near them. They also have spacing limits, but there seems to be none when Generators are involved so you can stick them right next to them, which you always should do.
9 Save Shred For Closing The Gap
The Shred attack of the Demogorgon is your main offensive ability aside from its basic melee and mastering this should be your goal. It takes one second to charge and two seconds to cool down without perks, so it can be popped fairly frequently. But on hit it increases the cooldown to three seconds, so try not to go too ape with it.
It’s perfect for short narrow spaces where there isn’t any room to get out of the way and avoid using it in open areas as its long telegraph and inability to guide the lunge make it easy for the Survivors to dodge out of the way.
8 Keep An Eye On Your Portals
Whilst other Killers encourage an aggressive playstyle, the Demogorgon is best used more passively. Scattering portals around in key points in the map then monitoring each one for ambush attacks like a Spider waiting for a fly to land in its web.
Since portals notify you when a Survivor starts to break one apart, you can instantly teleport to where they are and attack them in retaliation. Used right it can be pretty funny to watch other players panic as you suddenly appear in front of them before watching them scatter like mice from a cat.
7 Surge Is Beneficial To The Demogorgon
Mentioning Surge in the Dead By Daylight Community will usually get you in hot water as there are a lot of better Perks out there that do the same kind of job, like Pop Goes The Weasel for example. But in the hands of the Demogorgon, Surge is surprisingly useful.
Surge plays hard into Demogorgon's map-lockdown metagame, and it can be useful for constantly knee-capping any Survivor progress in a hard war of attrition. To lean further into its map lockdown meta, try combining this with Mindbreaker which slows Survivor movement speed on Generators under 50 percent repaired, and Surveillance which highlights them when they're damaged.
6 Experiment With Add-Ons And Perks
The best way to make your favorite Killer stronger is to use Perks and add-ons. Although there are a lot to choose from, there are a few for the Demogorgon that you definitely want to bring to the next round if you want to be unstoppable.
To start off with, Mew’s Guts is a great add-on to bring along as it increases the number of available portals and reduces the cooldown of missed Shred attacks. Combine it with Upside Down Resin to make portals harder to destroy and you've got a core stat bump you don't want to be without. Or if you like using a stealth heavy killer, bring Red Moss as it increases stealth after portal re-emergence. Combine it with Leprose Lichen which reveals injured Survivors when you exit a portal, and Deer Lung for a movement speed boost to make a sneaky, super-fast inter-dimensional Ninja.
5 Focus On Map Traversal And Survivor Slowdown
The Demogorgon's playstyle is all about hit-and-run tactics; its inability to manage extended chases and continued damage whilst harrying someone is its biggest weak point. So if you lose someone, stop and give up.
To counter Survivors sprinting away all the time, you should focus on an even spread of portals around key points in the map players might cluster around such as exit gates, generators, and hooks. Bringing in add-ons that inflict debuffs such as Blindness or Tired is also recommended as anything you can use to make their escape from your grasp more difficult is always beneficial to this monster.
4 Use The Active Portal Glow To Set A Trap
If you want to be really creative and devious as the Demogorgon, you could take advantage of this simple little portal mechanic. Whenever the Demogorgon goes through a rift it will glow and show anyone looking at it that this is the current “active portal", meaning it’s the only one that can be destroyed since inactive ones can't, and the monster could suddenly appear through it again. Where things get clever is, you can use this to set a trap.
The trick is to set down two portals, ideally near a generator or hook that another Survivor is trapped on as extra bait. Place down the first portal on or near something important, then put another one just out of view before traveling through the first one again. What this does is trick Survivors into thinking that the first one is the important one, so they’ll waste time destroying it, and since portals let you know when someone is near them, you can just hang around by the second one that’s nearby and whilst waiting to ambush the dummies that are distracted with breaking apart the fake rift. It’s a simple little move that people regularly fall for, so it’s worth keeping in mind.
3 Don’t Fall For The Loop
Since one of the main defense tactics of Survivors in Dead By Daylight is to try and pull a Killer into a loop in a particular section of the map, Demogorgon players should avoid this at all costs. It’s something that a lot of people keep falling back on and if you want to make the most of this monster, avoid prolonged chases.
This big screeching lummox is incredibly slow, potentially the slowest Killer in Dead By Daylight, and a lot of time can be wasted running around after someone waving its big gangly arms. Wasted time that other Survivors can use to repair generators, destroy totems and escape. So the second you see someone start to loop, do whatever you can to cut them off or steer them away into somewhere you can lock them down.
2 Play Mind Games
As the Demogorgon, it’s worth trying to play into the Survivors' fears as panicky players are more prone to pitfalls and mistakes. One particular method that’s recommended to freak out fleeing fearful victims is to bait a Shred attack.
The telegraph for Shred involves the Demogorgon raising its arms, this signals to anyone on the receiving end that it’s time to get out of the way. But you can cancel it out and then swing a claw attack, letting you get in a cheap hit on a target, causing them to then start to second guess you even more. It’s a devious little move that if combined with the Dead Hard add-on which allows you to get around its movement speed limitations and you’ve got a good weapon for psychological warfare.
1 Use Height To Your Advantage
There are a few maps in Dead By Daylight that offer some nice verticality to them, and as a Demogorgon you definitely want to be up high, surveying the landscape. Sticking a portal up somewhere high means you have a handy platform to teleport back to allowing you to have a better view over the whole map. Like on top of the Saloon in the Dead Dog Saloon map for example.
Using Shred from this height is also fun as it can carry you a lot further than its base 11 meters thanks to the height advantage, so you can launch yourself off into far areas of the map in seconds. Although this doesn’t count as an attack since both the Killer and Survivors are registered on being on two separate planes. But, a giant monster with teeth for its face suddenly plopping down next to someone is still a terrifying tactic to use on someone.