Attacks are a core Killer Game Mechanic in Dead by Daylight.

Overview

Attacks are initiated whenever a Killer presses the Attack button.

There are 2 types of Attacks: Basic Attacks and Special Attacks.

Basic Attacks

Basic Attacks are the standard melee Attack every Killer has at their disposal.

Some Players refer to this as the "M1 Attack" and to Killers who lack a Special Attack as "M1 Killers", as this Attack is initiated by pressing 'M1' (left click) on a mouse.

Basic Attacks come in 2 variations: Quick Attacks and Lunge Attacks.

Quick Attack

The Quick Attack is a short-ranged, but swift Basic Attack.

It is initiated by merely tapping the Attack button and causes the Killer to swiftly swing their Weapon in front of them.

Unlike the Lunge Attack, it does not boost the Killer's Movement speed and has a shorter attack window, which is also the cause of its short range.
Quick Attack generally only hit Survivors that are in very close proximity to the Killer, but do so relatively reliably.

Lunge Attack

The Lunge Attack is a medium-ranged, but slower Basic Attack.

It is initiated by pressing and holding the Attack button and causes the Killer to lunge forward, increasing their range considerably.

The Lunge Attack temporarily boosts the Killer's Movement speed and has a longer attack window, which allows for its longer range.
Killers retain full manoeuvrability during a Lunge Attack, allowing them to lunge around corners and obstacles.

Attack Mechanic

The Lunge Attack is standardised amongst every single Killer, all Killers have the exact same default Lunge range.

While lunging, the Killer's current Movement speed is temporarily boosted by a multiplier of x1.5.
This has the effect that the faster the Killer is moving at the moment of starting a Lunge Attack, the farther their Attack will reach (generally approximately ~6 metres).

Assuming a Killer is walking at their default Movement speed and not currently affected by any Haste Status Effects, this will boost their speed from 4.6 m/s to 6.9 m/s for the duration of the Lunge Attack.
Since Patch 2.2.0, this also applies to every Killer walking slower than 4.6 m/s by default, temporarily resetting their base Movement Speed value to the Killer Standard of 4.6 m/s.

If the Killer's current Movement speed is affected by Haste Status Effects, their Lunge Attack will have a greater reach as the multiplier applies in addition to any existing ones from Haste.

Before Patch 2.2.0, the range of a Killer's Lunge Attack was directly determined by their base Movement speed, making it so that slower moving Killers such as The Hag or the Huntress had a shorter range to their Lunge Attack compared to the other Killers.

Momentum

Due to how the Lunge Attack works from a technical point-of-view, it is absolutely imperative to build up a minimum of momentum before initiating a Lunge Attack to maximise the available range.

As Killers do not accelerate to their top speed instantly, initiating a Lunge Attack early after starting to move will cause it to have less range.

This is a problem almost exclusive to the Nurse and The Hag, as both Killers have zero momentum right after using their Power to teleport.
It is therefore advised to momentarily wait before initiating the Lunge Attack after using the Power of those Killers, allowing them to build up some momentum and reaching top speed first, ensuring that the Lunge Attack will have its full range available.

Special Attacks

Special Attacks are only available on some Killers as an alternative Attack, which uses their Power.

Some Players refer to this as the "M2 Attack", as this Attack is usually initiated by pressing 'M2' (right click) on a mouse.

Unless an Unlockable specifically mentions it does so, Special Attacks generally do not activate any effects related to landing successful hits, and also neither gain nor lose Tokens with Unlockables that use that mechanic.

An example using The Hillbilly with Save the Best for Last:

• Hitting regular Survivors with his Hammer (Basic Attack) will grant Tokens for the Perk and reduce the Cool-down duration and hitting the Obsession will do the opposite.
• Hitting regular Survivors with his Chainsaw (Special Attack) will not grant any Tokens for the Perk.
  • Special Attacks would also not benefit from Save the Best for Last's Cool-down reduction.

Killers with Special Attacks

• The Hillbilly: Chainsaw hits
• The Nurse: Lethal Blink hits
• The Huntress: Hatchet hits
• The Cannibal: Chainsaw hits
• The Pig: Ambush Dash hits
• The Legion: Feral Frenzy hits
• The Plague: Corrupt Purge hits
• The Demogorgon: Shred Attack hits
• The Oni: any attack during Blood Fury (i.e. with either his sword or the Kanabo)
• The Deathslinger: Harpoon hits
• The Executioner: Punishment Trail hits
• The Blight: Lethal Rush hits
• The Twins: Pounce Attack hits with Victor
• The Nemesis: Tentacle hits
• The Cenobite: Chain hits
• The Artist: Crow hits
• The Mastermind: Bound hits
• The Knight: any attacks inflicted by his Guards
• The Xenomorph: Tail hits
• The Good Guy: Slice & Dice hits
• The Unknown: UVX hits
• The Lich: Flight of the Damned hits
• The Dark Lord: Hellfire hits (Vampire Form); Pounce Attack hits (Wolf Form)

Killers with other Attacks

While these Attacks are neither Basic nor Special Attacks, they are coded to behave like the latter.

• The Trapper: catching Survivors in Bear Traps
• The Doctor: hitting Survivors with his Shock Attacks
• The Clown: hitting Survivors directly with his Bottle
• The Trickster: hitting Survivors with his Knives
• The Cenobite: catching Survivors with uncontrolled Chains

Attack Cool-downs

• Successful Attacks: 2.7 seconds
• Missed Attacks: 1.5 seconds
• Obstructed Attacks: 1.5 seconds
  • This refers to the Killer hitting an obstacle with their attack rather than just missing it.
  • Obstructed Attacks do not count as Missed Attacks towards Tome Challenges tracking them.

Dodging Attacks

If a Survivor is within 5 metres of either the Killer or their projectile (if applicable), but are not hit, the Game regards that attack as having been dodged.
This is mostly important for Score Events, Tome Challenges and the Achievement Whiffing to Success.

Unique Attacks

• The Shape in Evil Within I has a reduced Lunge duration, decreasing his range.
• The Shape in Evil Within III is granted an extended Lunge duration, increasing his range.
• The Ambush Attack of The Pig is technically an extensively prolonged Lunge animation, allowing her to cover a vast distance with her Dash.
• Prior to Patch 1.9.0, The Nurse had a special post-blink Lunge with aim-assist, which used to be the longest Lunge range in the Game.
  • She now has the default Killer Lunge, that is not tied to her Movement speed anymore.
    • Her default Lunge Attack reaches 6 metres.
    • Her post-blink Lunge Attack reaches ~5.667 metres.
    • Her post-blink Quick Attack reaches ~3.333 metres.

Change Log

Patch 1.9.0

• Quality of Life: removed the aim-assist feature on The Nurse's post-blink attacks, giving her full rotational control instead of only being able to lunge in straight lines.

Patch 2.2.0

• Quality of Life: standardised all Killer Lunge Attacks to work the same as that of The Trapper (i.e. the default Killer).

Patch 6.1.0

• Buff: reduced the Cool-down time of successful Basic Attacks from 3 seconds to 2.7 seconds.
  • Special Attack Cool-downs can vary, but were usually reduced to match this number as well over subsequent Patches.

Trivia

• From a mechanical point-of-view, the Lunge Mechanic works very similar to the old version of the Survivor Perk Dead Hard, causing the Killer to dash forwards.
• Killers retain full rotational control during their Attacks and are not forced to perform them in a straight line.

Gallery

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  Visualising the Attack Cones and Hitboxes