How to Counter Legion
As per usual when a new Killer comes out I see a lot of players making some fairly basic mistakes against them, which leads to a lot of very quick matches that fall in favor of the killer very fast. I’m writing this guide to hopefully help players learn how to play against the new killer, largely hoping that we don’t have another Freddy Kruger experience on our hands.
Disclaimer
I don’t know everything about Legion yet. They’re still as new to me as they are to you. However through some general gameplay knowledge from playing both as the new killer and against the new killer as well as by watching streamers and YouTubers I have gathered various strategies to face the new killer that I believe should help.
The Single, Most Important Rule
Legion is a very interesting Killer in the sense that one health state is a lot harder for them to damage through than the other. It is EXTRODINARILY easily for Legion to injure a Survivor but rather difficult for them to down a Survivor unless the Survivor is foolish. Therefore the single, most important rule to remember against Legion is this:
Why is this the most important rule?
Self Care takes a lot of time, and the one thing the Killer thrives on is time management. Dead by Daylight at its core is a game about time management: you have 5 generators which each take 80 seconds to repair, and every second you’re not on a generator is another second the killer has to find and stab you. Injuring Survivors is very easy for Legion and in that way getting injured v.s. self caring is easily the biggest time spent ratio between this Killer and the Survivors. Spending 32 seconds to undo something that takes the Killer around 5 seconds to do is absolutely not worth it.
If You Hear the Heartbeat, HIDE!
No this doesn’t mean “think about hiding” or “finish the gen then hide” – It means hide. Most Legion players will run the perk Monitor & Abuse in their kit. M&A is the single, most powerful perk for Legion. Even stronger on them than on Myers! Legion already has a smaller (“Myer’s sized”) terror radius, and Monitor and Abuse makes it absolutely microscopic. In addition when they’re in a chase their terror radius becomes larger, which allows them to find more people to hit with Feral Frenzy.
You want to avoid Feral Frenzy at all costs. Legion’s biggest moment of power is surprisingly enough when they use their power. Once they get the initial hit with their power things can quickly spiral out of control. With that and M&A in mind you never want to be the first sucker in the prison to be shanked. If you hear a heartbeat get the buck out of the area as fast as possible. Use perks like Urban Evasion to move faster while remaining stealthy, or bring perks like Spine Chill to get a heads up of the Killer coming your way.
Delta Split
Get as far away from your allies as possible when Legion uses their power. Do not try to bodyblock unless you’ve already been hit by their power. If you didn’t know already Legion can see a sort-of aura of any Survivor who hasn’t received Deep Wounds yet. No Jeff Distortion doesn’t work against Legion. The single biggest strength of Legion is their ability to quickly injure a lot of Survivors. Deep Wound is both a blessing and a curse as it means that Legion can’t use their power for an instadown but also means that you have to “self care” even if you plan on staying injured.
Again: Time management is the most important thing in Dead by Daylight and every Survivor that Legion stabs during Feral Frenzy is a Survivor who has to stop what they’re doing to stick their thumb up their bumb for 15 seconds. Try to keep Feral Frenzy stabs to a minium. If you’re at the very edge of the terror radius you can attempt to bait Feral Frenzy out and make the Killer waste it but at higher ranks when Killers have stronger addons this strategy won’t be as powerful.
Learn how to Pallet Stun
This is both an important tip and a side of salt: Pallet Stuns are the only thing that the Survivors can do to stop Feral Frenzy. Learn how to pallet stun; don’t drop pallets behind you while you run in a panic and scream. It is painful both as a Legion player and as a Survivor to watch some Rank 20 Dwight drop every pallet on the map just for mister 28 stab wounds to yeet over every pallet and stab Dwight anyways. Cherish every pallet for they are your lifeblood.
Quite surprisingly for a Killer who can vault windows and pallets The best place to counter Legion is at a Jungle Gym. Why’s this?
- Legion can only fast vault windows while using their power. This means that (if you already have Deep Wounds) they can only stab you once to further the Deep Wound timer, and will self stun themselves afterwards. Legion has to hit you with their power 4 times, 3 times with Frank’s Mix Tape before they can down you with it.
- The extra distance that Legion gets by vaulting a window / pallet while using Feral Frenzy can be very disorienting in a jungle gym. It’s very easy for Legion to accidentally vault into a wall or fly directly past you with their extra distance, to which you can just go through the window they came in from. If they don’t have Bamboozle.
- If Legion decides not to use their power they’re a 110% MS Killer. You try working a jungle gym at 110% MS?
Perks to Use Against Legion
Self Care
Again refer to “the single, most important rule.” Being injured is bad but Self Care is the biggest time sink for Survivors. Try to find another Survivor to heal you instead.
Urban Evasion
Hiding from the initial stab is god tier, but once someone else gets shanked don’t be the next sucker in the room. Delta split cause Legion knows you’re hiding behind that tree.
Borrowed Time
Borrowed Time saves can be a mixed bag. Since the Survivor already has a Deep Wounds timer additional stabs from Legion’s power will put a lot more of a dent into it.
Adrenaline
God Tier. You’re going to spend a lot of time injured against Legion and having a quick burst of speed that also removes Deep Wounds and heals you back to full is a serious f@#$ you to Legion.
Exhaustion Perks
Do your best to hold it for either when Legion stabs another sucker and you need to Delta Split or when Legion decides that you’re the sucker who deserves extra shanking. Getting away from Deep Wounds and getting away from the stunned 110% MS Killer are the two most important things to do.
Note: Dead Hard is a mixed bag against Legion. Distance is really your biggest strength against them as dodging a Feral Frenzy attack is pretty much useless and dodging a regular attack will save you a few seconds at best. If you’re scared of Legion stick to Sprint Burst.
Iron Will
God tier. You will spend a lot of the match injured so if the Killer can’t locate you while you’re injured that’s incredibly good. Iron Will is easily one of the strongest perks against Legion.
Aura Reading
As mentioned in “the single, most important rule” being healed by someone else is your best option. Bond, Empathy, and Aftercare (as well as Keys with Eroded Token / Gold Token if you’re so inclined) are very good for finding Survivors to help you.
Leader
- Also Prove Thyself technically but who uses that perk
Don’t work on the same generator. Many Legions will use their perk as it’s their only character-specific perk that works well on them. In addition if the Killer finds both of you it’s very easy pickings with Feral Frenzy. All that being said Leader can be good to get other Survivors to heal you faster, and every second spent healing is a second spent not doing generators.
Terror Radius Perks
Most Terror Radius perks only work when you’re not in a chase and if you’re in Legion’s TR chances are they’re looking to chase you. As a result Stakeout and Diversion are not that great against Legion.
Detection Perks
Very strong to counter M&A but that’s about it. Spine Chill is god because of extra vault speed.
Autodidact
Holy bugger boys we actually found a use for Autodidact. If you’re willing to be the dedicated healbot Autodidact can gain charges very fast against Legion as so many people will be injured. Ready to be the unsung hero of the match, Adam?
Botany Knowledge
No it doesn’t affect Deep Wound.
Vigil
No it doesn’t affect Deep Wound.
No Mither
Okay okay this is kinda the big one. No Mither does not counter Legion. It does counter Bloodhound and Stridor, which are two perks that Legion really likes to use. At the end of the day No Mither still forces you to be injured for the whole trial, and being injured is still a bad thing! Less pained grunts is a good and no blood is really good if the Killer is actually running Bloodhound, but a 110% MS Killer can still catch up to you and stab you. And you’re still taking a gamble that you’ll run into Legion and not any other Killer who will sacrifice you in 30 seconds for having No Mither.
Perks Legion Might Use
Legion’s Unique Perks
Discordance
Basically the only perk Legion has that has which actually works well on them. If it’s Legion don’t work on generators together. Period. Risking Discordance is not worth it and it’s faster to do generators seperately anyways.
Mad Grit
If the angry teenager is flailing angrily while carrying your mate don’t bother trying to bodyblock. Simple.
Iron Maiden
Exposed really doesn’t work well on Legion. Any Legion that uses this perk is doing it for the reveal effect, likely in combination with Barbeque and Chili.
Bamboozle
Don’t try to window juke for head.
Sloppy Butcher
It’s just bait. You may be intimidated by Sloppy Butcher due to the increased bleading but the real reason Legion or indeed any Killer runs Sloppy is for the Mangled effect. Mangled wastes a lot of time especially if you’re Self Caring. Don’t stay injured but don’t waste time.
Monitor & Abuse
As I said before M&A is the single most powerful perk on Legion. Automatically assume that a Legion is running it and hide as soon as you hear the Terror Radius against Legion.
Save The Best For Last
Save The Best can be very good on Legion to shave some precious seconds off of Encounters. It’s not the greatest perk however so not everyone will run it. If you suspect Legion is using STBFL and you’re the obsession let them hit you. Any hit on you will reduce their tokens, and Legion will have to hit you a lot to down you.
Franklin’s Demise
Legion is probably the easiest Killer to use Franklin’s on since Hag. If Legion has Franklin’s say goodbye to your items. Lol.
Overcharge
If a generator explodes and Legion is nearby evacuate the area immediately. The angery boii will probably be running straight at you with a knife.
Remember Me
Don’t get stabbed? It’s really hard to tell if the Killer has Remember Me so if you’re being tunneled try to Survive as the Obsession.
Tinkerer
Technically strong on Legion? The problem is that Legion will have trouble getting to a faraway generator in time. That being said if they’re nearby they can easily come up and stab you so stay alert.
Thanatophobia
It’s just bait. You may be intimidated by Thanatophobia due to the Spooky Red Bar but honestly Thana does very little to slow the game down; it exists entirely as bait to make you Self Care instead of do gens. Same rule as always: Don’t Self Care – find someone else to do it.
Terror Radius Perks
Legion’s Terror Radius can become very large (or even Global with Iridescent Button) so Terror Radius perks are not awful on them. If you’ve ever played against Doctor the same rules apply honestly: be careful of skill checks against Unnerving, don’t use items against Overwhelming, and don’t heal against Down2ClownPhobia.
Stridor
A very powerful perk on Legion. Expect them to have this. If you find that your Survivor is breathing more heavily chances are the Killer is using Stridor. Other than that usual rules apply: be careful and stealthy.
Distressing
Congradulations you’re playing against Tru3Ta1ent. Still do your best to hide when the TR is near and seriously: don’t get stabbed by Feral Frenzy.
Bloodhound
Very powerful perk on Legion. Once again being injured is bad but don’t waste too much time healing.
Hex: The Third Seal
Surprisingly powerful on Legion since they can stab everyone very quickly. Directly counters any Aura Reading so if you brought any of those perks to help you find people to heal you have fun crying. It’s a Hex so look for the Hex; simple. No Legion is going to run Haunted Grounds because Legion can’t use Exposed, and if they have Thrill of the Hunt just be careful when you clense.
General Tips
Don’t get cocky
“Smartasses get killed. We always see to that.” – The Legion
I know Reddit told you that Legion is worse than Freddy but they’re still a Killer, and they’re still going to stab you. Nothing makes me roll my eyes harder than a Claudette who stands in front of the Killer and teabags instead of running, letting the Feral Frenzy snowball start.
Every Killer, no matter how weak they are on tier lists, can still stab you. BMing the Killer doesn’t help anything except for your tiny ego. Do your job: get in, do gens, get out. There’s no need to be a cocky boosted animal.
