Dead Man's Switch is a Unique Perk belonging to The Deathslinger.
Prestige The Deathslinger to Prestige 1, 2, 3 respectively to unlock Tier I, Tier II, Tier III of Dead Man's Switch for all other Characters.
Description
After hooking a Survivor, Dead Man's Switch activates:
- Blocks the first Generator any Survivor stops repairing for 40/45/50 seconds.
- The Blocked Generator is highlighted to you in white.
Dead Man's Switch cannot activate if its effect is still active from a previous activation.
"I've seen the look on a man's face when he realises he's going to die." — Caleb Quinn
History
Description
After hooking your Obsession, Dead Man's Switch activates for 35/40/45 seconds:
- Blocks any Generator any Survivor stops repairing within the Activation window.
- This effect lasts for the remainder of the Activation window.
- Blocked Generators are highlighted to you in white.
Change Log
Patch 5.5.0
- Buff: now activates on hooking any Survivor, not just the Obsession.
Patch 6.1.2
- Nerf: reduced the duration from 35/40/45 seconds to 20/25/30 seconds.
- This change was due to the former synergy with Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance having been restored in the same Patch.
Patch 8.3.0
- Buff: no longer features a limited Activation window, transforming it into a Block duration instead.
- Buff: increased the Block duration from 20/25/30 seconds to 40/45/50 seconds.
- This change compensates for the nerf to blocking at most one Generator at the same time.
- Nerf: now only activates on the first Generator any Survivor stops repairing after another was hooked.
- This change was motivated by Dead Man's Switch quickly getting out of hand when combined with other Perks, due to its own powerful effect.
- Nerf: cannot activate if it is still blocking a previous Generator.
Trivia
- Before Patch 8.3.0, Dead Man's Switch could block multiple Generators, if Survivors on other Generators also stopped repairing within its Activation window.
- The name references a common safety feature found on heavy machinery, where a switch must be held or pressed continuously in order for a machine to keep operating.