Her rule is built on a mountain of bones. Dead in daylightThe final killer is the Skull Merchant, a ruthless peak hunter who is forced to pursue prey worthy of her talents.
After years of experimentation, she has finally perfected her deadliest tool: drones designed to monitor and track any Survivor nearby. Carefully crafted by hand from the skulls of her many victims, these grotesque combinations of bone and metal cast an oppressive shadow.
To effectively master this Slayer, you must be prepared to set traps, analyze key points of interest, and use brave Survivors. While The Skull Merchant has three character bonuses – Game Afoot, Thwack!and leverage – this guide focuses on her Power and how to use it.
Drone zone
The power of the skull merchant, Eyes to the sky, allows her to place multiple drones in locations of her choosing. Some potential locations may be around generators, hex totems, or areas where heavy travel may occur. You will also have a radar that will allow you to track the location of the Survivors under certain circumstances.
After placing the drone, it enters Active mode and detects survivors in a radius around. Note that you will be undetectable within this radius and any Survivor who enters it will be detected on your radar. While in the active zone, the drone will gradually attach itself to the survivor, revealing their exact location through Killer Instinct. They will also become exposed.
If a few seconds pass and no Survivor enters the radius while the drone is active, the drone will enter Intelligence mode. In reconnaissance mode, the drone will slowly rotate to catch survivors in its line of sight. It is much safer for a Survivor to approach during this time, provided they can avoid the Drone’s rotating lines of sight. However, if the drone detects them, it will enter immediately Active mode.
Once you’ve deployed your drones, you’ll have the option to recall them or manually put them into active mode, although you can’t force the drone back into reconnaissance mode. Consider using this if you anticipate the Survivor trying to close in and disable the drone, though you’ll have to trust your instincts first. Remember, the more Survivors actively emphasize drones, the better.
Key locations
One of the Skull Merchant’s greatest strengths is her ability to track Survivor locations. When you first appear in a challenge, remember that Survivors usually spawn from a considerable distance away. Since Skull Merchant does not have the mobility between cards to effectively disrupt their plans in the early stages of the game, you should try to anticipate their future actions.
As you approach, you’ll notice several generators that haven’t been touched yet – the closer they are to each other, the better. These are ideal places to place the drone as the survivors will eventually make their way to these generators. From there, they’ll have to choose whether to ignore the Drone and commit to the Generator, progress to become Exposed and exposed with Killer Instinct, or try to disable the Drone and get the Claw Track.
Claw trap: Whenever a Survivor successfully hacks and disables one of your Drones, they gain a Claw Trap. When a Survivor receives a claw trap, its location can be tracked on your radar until the trap’s battery runs out.
Since drones create such a dangerous zone for survivors, it’s effective to extend the boundaries of your network by deploying several. In this way, you maximize the possibility of a favorable outcome. You’ll either end up targeting an Unmasked Survivor, or you’ll be able to radar track a Trapped Survivor. There may be times when a trapped Survivor tries to drag you to an inconvenient location, in which case it’s up to you to decide whether to give chase.
After all, the Skull Merchant is an assassin who specializes in setting traps, so don’t be discouraged if you lose a few generators early in the game.
Drones and radars
Dealing with all these drones can feel overwhelming, especially when your initial deployment proves ineffective and you’re left to improvise on the fly. Drones can be of great value in a chase, especially when you’re chasing a Survivor around a complex loop with limited line of sight.
Killer Instinct will not only pinpoint their location if they remain in the drone’s active zone, but you’ll also immediately benefit from being undetected. This means you won’t have to worry about hiding your red spot, and it will be harder for survivors to pinpoint your location.
Regarding your radar – remember, you don’t have it for nothing, so use it to get important information about the Survivor’s whereabouts. The leftmost indicator informs you where you can place the drone, while the rightmost indicator informs you when a survivor is in the drone’s active area. The radar will not light up when your power recharges. Watch out for these visual cues!
Skull Merchant is all about control, and you’ll soon see that effective setup can lead to truly ruthless results. Skull Merchant is now available at “Instruments of Torment” chapter of Dead by Daylight on Xbox.
Dead in daylight
Behavior Interactive Inc.
$29.99 USD
$14.99 USD
Have you ever wanted to play as one of your favorite horror movie characters? Dead by Daylight is a 1v4 multiplayer game that features every corner of the horror world, from a powerful slasher to a terrifying paranormal entity. Choose between playing an unstoppable killer and one of 4 survivors trying to avoid a gruesome death. Each character has their own deep progression system and tons of unlockables that can be customized to suit your personal strategy. Work together to escape or hunt down and sacrifice each Survivor. This edition of Dead by Daylight gives you access to a roster of 7 killers (Trapper, Hillbilly, Wraith, The Nurse, The Carg, The Huntress and The Doctor) and 9 survivors (Meg Thomas, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, Dwight Fairfield , Ace Visconti, Nea Karlsson, Bill Overbeck, Feng Ming and David King). It also includes two cosmetic packs filled with outfits for different characters.