Hooks

"These vicious hooks, strewn about this nightmarish world, represent the true horror of the thing that rules this place - this Entity. Killers bring their prey to the hooks to torture them before that twisted mess of claws comes down for the finishing blow. There is still a chance of escape once hung from a hook. Either by enduring excruciating pain as you twist and turn to attempt to escape with a shoulder in pieces, or sometimes you might even get help from others that also reside within this nightmare.

One of the most horrific scenes is not always to be the one on the hook, but rather a witness. To see fear as someone else struggles for freedom is something I wish I could unsee. Limbs moving in unnatural ways and also my own inside struggle. Sometimes I try to help. But many times my fear of the hooks grows too big. What is survival with blood on your hands?"

- Benedict Baker's Journal

"I attempted this escape many a time, much to my own folly. It was a fool's quest that resulted in more pain than it was often worth."

- Mysterious Note

"Do not waste precious time! Find the otherssss! Quickly!

The Entity is pleased! Kill more meat!"

- The Voices

''' are one of the Props featured in '.

Purpose
The purpose of Hooks is to allow the to sacrifice  to the.

Hooks are procedurally generated in every trial, thus their locations vary.

An exception to that are Hooks inside Landmarks. If they spawn there, they'll always be in the same location.

Hooking
When in proximity to a Hook that has not been sabotaged or broken from an earlier sacrifice, the Killer carrying a Survivor is given the opportunity to hook that Survivor, placing them onto the Hook, this action takes .

If a Survivor is killed by the Entity on the Hook, the Killer will be unable to use the same Hook on another Survivor. The Basement Hooks are an exception to that.

Unhooking
Survivors are given the opportunity to unhook their dying teammate, unhooking takes  to finish.

Hooked Survivors may attempt to unhook themselves from the hook, this action takes  per attempt.

Hook Stages
For Survivors, Hooks have three different stages:

Sabotage
Survivors with a or just the Perk  equipped, have the opportunity to walk up to a Hook and sabotage it, breaking it temporarily in the process. This action takes  with either option.

Killers are unable to hook a Survivor onto a sabotaged Hook, and will have to look elsewhere, potentially losing the Survivor on their shoulder if another Hook is outside of their remaining carrying range before the Survivor wiggles off.

Hook Sabotage grants 500 in the Boldness Category.

The Entity auto-repairs sabotaged Hooks after .
 * That time can be increased by Survivors using the Add-on on a Toolbox.

The Basement Hooks and Event-specific Hooks  be sabotaged.

Basement Hooks
The Basement Hooks are a unique set of four Hooks located in the Basement that are attached to the same Hook post. They are always located in the centre of the Basement. They can't be sabotaged and also don't break upon sacrifice. This is so that in spite of all other Hooks being sabotaged, the Killer will always have an opportunity somewhere on the Map to hook a Survivor.

Lunar Hook
The Lunar Hook are a special Hook model that is featured during the recurring Lunar Events Howling Grounds and Moonrise. For every burnt, a Lunar Hook would spawn on the Map. Its would be displayed to the Killer in a  colour. During Howling Grounds, hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would grant the Killer one Burnt Coin, 40 of which would unlock the The Hound customisation option for The Huntress. During Moonrise, this was changed to grant points that could then incrementally be turned into a Gold Coin, a temporary currency, of which up to 9 could be exchanged for special Event cosmetic pieces.

Grill Hook
The Grill Hook was a special Hook model that was featured during the Scorching Summer BBQ Event. For every burnt in addition to 2 default ones, a Grill Hook would spawn on the Map. Its would be displayed to the Killer in a  colour. Hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would grant the Killer one Survivor Chop, 50 of which would unlock the Pro-Pain Hammer customisation option for The Hillbilly.

Cankerous Hook
The Cankerous Hook are a special Hook model that is featured during the recurring Blight Events. They are spawned naturally throughout the Trial Grounds during the Event and their number can be increased by burning Offerings. A Cankerous Hook's will be displayed to the Killer in an  colour. During The Hallowed Blight, hooking a Survivor for the first time on such a Hook would fill the Killer's Nectar Vial by one sixth with Putrid Nectar, with a filled Vial granting one, a temporary currency that could be used to buy the Event cosmetics from the In-Game Store. During the Withering Blight Event, this was changed to just award Bonus Bloodpoints.

Hook Designs
In the early days of the game, each Killer had their own personal Hook Design that was used on every Map they played on.

Survivors quickly learnt that they could identify a Killer by taking a look at the design of the nearest Hook shortly after spawning. Thus Killers relying on the element of surprise were revealed too early to the Survivors and popular tactics, like to hold off on using one's Power if it made distinct noises to disguise one's identity for as long as possible, were nullified.

The Developers realised this and changed Hooks to no longer be tied to a Killer prior to the release of the Halloween Chapter. They were from then on bound to the Realm.

It can still be clearly seen that the three original Hooks were designed to have similar features to their respective Killers. Newer Hooks were designed to fit more into the general theme of their Realm.

Original Hook Stages
For Survivors, Hooks have three different stages. Stages 1 and 2 each have a duration of :

Patch 1.2.0

 * The selected Hook model is now fixed to the Realm, rather than dependent on the chosen Killer.
 * This change was motivated by Survivors having been able to guess the chosen Killer by looking at the Hook, removing the surprise aspect from stealthy ones.

Patch 1.5.3

 * Increased the Summoning Phase and Struggle Phase duration from ' to '.

Patch 1.8.0

 * Added the ability to unhook a Survivor from all possible angles, also known as "Swivel Hooks".
 * Decreased the Skill Check Trigger odds when sabotaging Hooks with from ' to '.

Patch 2.0.0

 * The number of Hooks spawning in the Trial Grounds is now fixed to the .

Patch 2.2.0

 * Survivors that are being unhooked or unhook themselves no longer take any damage before they regain control of their Character model.
 * The Self-Unhook animation has been halved from ' to '.

Patch 2.3.0

 * The Hook animation has been shortened from ' to '.

Patch 2.5.0

 * All Maps now feature a minimum and maximum number of Hooks able to spawn.
 * The minimum spawn distance in-between Hooks is now dependent on the Map and can be affected by.
 * Reduced Basement-to-next-Hook minimum distance to  and moved the reference point from the middle of the Basement to the top of the stairs.

Patch 3.6.0

 * Vastly reduced Hook Sabotage time from ' to '.
 * Vastly reduced Automatic Hook Repair time from ' to '.
 * Removed Skill Checks from the Hook Sabotage action.
 * Removed the ability for Killers to hook Survivors onto Hooks mid-sabotage.

Patch 3.7.0

 * In case of all remaining Survivors reaching the Struggle Phase, The Entity will now instantly drain their remaining life bar and sacrifice them.
 * Added additional effects for when Survivors attempt to unhook themselves, making it clearer that this is potentially hurtful and will accelerate the sacrifice process.

Patch 4.7.0

 * Reworked the Struggle Phase from mashing buttons/keys to now continuously trigger Skill Checks (akin to ).
 * Failing to give input for  will instantly complete the sacrifice.
 * Missing a Skill Check will decrease the remaining life bar.

Trivia

 *  were also referred to as "Meathooks".
 * The  mechanic was inspired by a scene in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where Leatherface (or The Cannibal) catches Pam and puts her on a Meathook.
 * There's an unreleased Hook model named Deer Hanger in the Game files. It is stored in a folder titled Improvised Hooks. It is possible that Killers might have been able to fashion their own Hook from scrap materials at one point during Development, in cases of Survivors having sabotaged all other Hooks.

Hook Gymnastics

 * Early on in the Game's life, hooked Survivors had established a way to communicate a Killer's proximity to the other Survivors:
 * Hanging still from the Hook meant something along the lines of: "The Killer is far enough away from me or preoccupied with something else, you can come and rescue me now!"
 * Spamming the self-unhook animation meant something along the lines of: "The Killer is nearby, patrolling the Hook or camping it. It is not safe to attempt a rescue, stay away and let me hang!"
 * This was jokingly referred to as "Hook Gymnastics".
 * Many newer Survivors believed that the Hook Gymnastics worked the other way round and signalled a camping Killer by hanging still and struggled once the Killer was away.
 * This issue propagates to present-day Dead by Daylight, with most Veteran Players sticking to the original Hook Gymnastics, leading to miscommunication with newer Players, due to the general consensus having been lost.

Hook Spawns
Each Map has a minimum and maximum amount of Hooks that may spawn on it:
 * Hooks must have a minimal spawn distance in-between each other unless the minimum amount of spawns is not reached, then they may spawn closer together.
 * This minimal spawn distance may be affected by.

Video
Haken Ganchos Ganci Sacrificali Haki Ganchos 钩子