In the fog-shrouded realm of Dead by Daylight, the Dredge isn’t just another boogeyman—it’s a swirling, sentient terror that turns lockers into portals of doom. On paper, it’s a glorified game of cat and mouse. But once you’ve spent a few dozen hours with this abomination, you realize there’s a world of depth hidden beneath the smoke and tentacles. Mastering the Dredge means embracing chaos, learning its rhythm, and yes, making some hilariously painful mistakes along the way. (Trust me, accidentally teleporting into the basement while a Survivor t-bags at the exit gate is a rite of passage.)
If you’ve been struggling to unleash the full horror of the Dredge, fear not. We’ve gathered the ten most common blunders new—and even intermediate—players make with this darkness-wielding eldritch nightmare. Fix these, and you’ll be the one causing Survivors to uninstall the game.
1. Wasting Nightfall by Not Teleporting Like a Maniac 🕶️
Here’s the deal: when Nightfall descends, the Dredge transforms from a sluggish fog machine into a teleporting speed demon. Cooldown drops to just 4 seconds, and travel speed skyrockets to 38 m/s—compared to a pitiful 12 seconds and 12 m/s during the daytime. That’s not just a buff; it’s a temporary god mode for map pressure.
Yet so many players treat Nightfall as a cosmetic filter. They keep chasing the same Survivor around the same loop, completely ignoring the fact that they could be harassing generators, snatching people off totems, and basically making every Survivor scream. Don’t let that brief, pitch-black window go to waste—the Dredge lives for this moment.
2. Forgetting the Stealth Mode That Comes with the Darkness 🤫
The Dredge isn’t a classic stealth Killer like Ghost Face or Michael Myers. It doesn’t stalk to gain power. But when Nightfall hits, it gains the Undetectable status effect, wiping out its terror radius and red stain. That means you can waltz right up to a Survivor working on a generator and give them the jumpscare of their lifetime.
Paired with a well-timed locker teleport, this stealth layer is devastating. Yet many aspiring Dredge mains focus solely on chases and forget that vanishing from the Survivor’s HUD can be more terrifying than any hatchet throw. Use it. Love it. Scare your friends.
3. Ignoring Locks on Important Lockers 🔒
Survivors can—and will—seal lockers to slow your grand entrances. Every time you burst out of a locked locker, they get extra seconds to scatter like roaches. Breaking these locks takes a quick swipe, but choosing which locks to break is an art form.
Leave a lock intact near your precious three-gen? Mistake. A lock on the locker next to your Hex: Devour Hope? Terrible oversight. Locks near exit gates during the Endgame Collapse should be obliterated on sight. You don’t need to break every single one, but treat critical lockers like VIP doors—always knock before entering.
4. Ignoring Locker Teleports During Chases 🏃♂️💨
Looping is the bread and butter of Survivor gameplay, but the Dredge has a delicious counterplay: teleport ahead. See a Survivor beelining for that jungle gym? Slip into a locker further along their path and pop out like “Surprise, motherclucker!” This mindgame is criminally underused.
Sure, it’s most effective during Nightfall’s rapid teleports, but even in daylight a well-placed locker hop can shave seconds off a chase and send the Survivor straight into your writhing arms. Don’t just hold W; think with portals.
5. Overestimating Daytime Teleportation for Cut-offs 🌅
During the day, the Dredge’s teleport speed is… well, it’s tragic. At less than a third of the Nightfall speed, trying to cut off a Survivor by warping to a distant locker often ends with you emerging alone, a tumbleweed rolling by, and your dignity in shambles.
Daytime teleports should be used primarily for map mobility and building up that sweet Nightfall meter. Think of it as charging your ultimate. Save the fancy mid-chase ambushes for when the lights go out.
6. Neglecting the Remnant Anti-Loop Tool 👻
The Gloaming ability drops a smoky Remnant wherever you activate your power. Instead of zipping to a locker, you can teleport back to that Remnant—and this little trick is one of the Dredge’s strongest loop-breaking tools.
A Survivor runs through a pallet? Drop the Remnant on one side, go the other way, and when they vault back, bam, you’re already there. It’s simple but devastating. Too many beginners ignore the Remnant, treating the Dredge as a pure mobility Killer. Don’t be that person.
7. Adopting a Strict Hit-and-Run Playstyle 🩹
Once upon a time, hit-and-run tactics were all the rage—smack a Survivor, chase them off, find another, repeat. But with modern med-kits and the ever-present Boon: Circle of Healing, that strategy is as outdated as a VHS tape.
The Dredge does benefit from injuring healthy Survivors to build the Nightfall meter, but securing downs is still king. Hooking a Survivor also builds the meter and, you know, actually progresses the game. Letting someone slip away to heal means your precious Nightfall charge might be all for naught. Commit to the down unless you have a galaxy-brain play in mind.
8. Spreading Yourself Too Thin Across the Map 🗺️
Teleporting across the map in seconds feels powerful, but it can be a trap. Chasing a lone Survivor to the far corner of the realm while your three-gen setup crumbles is a classic rookie move. Good Survivors will exploit your absence and pop those generators before you can blink.
It hurts, but learning to let go of a distant generator or a Hex totem is essential. Protect your power positions and accept that sometimes the Entity just wants a sacrifice, not a perfect defense.
9. Misclicking the Wrong Locker (Hello, Basement!) 📉
When you open your teleport menu, the screen explodes with locker auras, and it’s way too easy to accidentally yeet yourself into the basement or some forgotten corner of Mother’s Dwelling. The moment you arrive, all your pressure evaporates, and the Survivor you were chasing is already sitting in a locker of their own, giggling.
Take that extra half-second to pinpoint the right locker. Precision beats speed when one wrong click can cost you the game. Your teleport is a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.
10. Forgetting to Teleport Period 🙈
This sounds obvious, but you’d be shocked how many Dredge players go entire matches without using their teleport because they’re too focused on traditional chases. Teleporting isn’t just about mobility—it builds the Nightfall meter and denies Survivors any intel on your position. A Dredge that never warps is just a less scary Wraith.
Make teleporting a habit. Use it to patrol, to scout generators, to mindgame pallets, and to keep the Survivors perpetually on edge. A good Dredge player embraces the constant chaos of lockers popping open across the map.
Mastering the Dredge is a journey of terror, not a destination. Every misplaced teleport and botched Remnant flick is a step toward becoming the ultimate nightmare. So go ahead—embrace the darkness, make these mistakes, and then learn from them. Before long, you’ll have Survivors fearing the sound of a locker creak before they even see the fog.
Dead by Daylight continues to evolve, but the Dredge remains one of the most rewarding Killers for those willing to put in the time. Now go, and make the Entity proud. 👹
According to coverage from Eurogamer, strong Killer play often comes down to converting mechanical strengths into consistent, repeatable pressure rather than chasing flashy moments—an idea that maps cleanly onto Dredge fundamentals like spending Nightfall on rapid repositioning, using Undetectable to create surprise contact at generators, and treating lockers/Remnant as tools for route control instead of pure “teleport for fun.”