Dead by Daylight: Sadako & Yoichi Guide

Sadako Yamamura has crawled into the world of The Entity, bringing with her a familiar face. With her telekinetic powers and her never-ending hunger for revenge upon humanity, she has been set free once more. Learn how to play both The Onryō and Yoichi Asakawa in Dead by Daylight with this Sadako Rising guide. As all killers and survivors do, they come with their very own set of perks that nod to the original Japanese film’s lore, as stated when the chapter was first announced.

In this Sadako Rising guide, we’re going to be walking you through both Sadako and Yoichi‘s perks and gameplay guides to help you find success with these newcomers. You’ll also learn how to acquire both of their ‘Adept’ achievements. If you’re already familiar with these two, then feel free to jump to different sections of the guide- there’s quite a lot to go through.

SADAKO GUIDE – PERKS & ABILITIES

Sadako Yamamura comes with her very own set of perks. Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage, Call of Brine and Merciless Storm. Together, these perks make Sadako a menacing foe with alarming awareness and generator control. Using only these three perks and having a merciless victory will give you the ‘Adept Onryō’ achievement.

Sadako Yamamura

Note that all official ability and power descriptions listed below are taken from the in-game descriptions themselves. The tips in this Sadako and Yoichi guide for Dead by Daylight, however, are self-written.

Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage

You form a psychic connection with The Entity and alter the rules of the Trial. At the start of the Trial, 4 random Hooks are changed into Scourge Hooks. Each time a Survivor is unhooked from a Scourge Hook, the Auras of all other Survivors are revealed for a short amount of time.

• The Auras of Scourge Hooks are revealed to you in white.

No one is safe from her wrath…

This perk guides Sadako towards her next route of attack quickly. You’ll suddenly be able to see where all survivors are heading, or if one is concealing their presence nearby. No one can hide from you. This perk also makes it more effective to move and attack tactically rather than camping and tunnelling one survivor at a time.

After hooking a survivor, allow another to unhook them so that you can see what other survivors are currently doing. Whether it’s repairing a generator or hiding in a locker nearby. You never know. Pair Floods of Rage with other perks that affect your bond with hooks, such as Agitation or Make Your Choice.

Call of Brine

Your psychic abilities influence technology in devastating ways. After damaging a Generator, Call of Brine activates for 60 seconds.

• The Generator regresses at 150/175/200% of the normal Regression speed and its Aura is revealed to you.
• Each time a Survivor completes a Good Skill Check on a Generator affected by Call of Brine, you receive a Loud Noise Notification.

Curse generators around the map

Call of Brine is a unique perk in Dead by Daylight that allows Sadako to guide the game (and survivors like Yoichi) to her liking. Applying this perk to a generator will have it rapidly regress, and if any survivors then attempt to get it up and running again, you will know unless they consistently achieve Great Skill Checks. You can apply this effect to multiple generators, simply by damaging them.

Survivors are less likely to return to a generator that you’ve damaged, so you can, for the most part, leave it until you hear a loud noise notification coming from its direction. This will be especially useful late-game when there are only a few generators left. Pair Call of Brine with other perks that affect generators such as Eruption or Dragon’s Grip.

Merciless Storm

Your horrible trauma is felt by everyone. Whenever a Generator is repaired to 90%, Survivors repairing it are faced with continuous Skill Checks.

• If they miss one or stop repairing, the Generator becomes blocked for 16/18/20 seconds.
• Merciless Storm can only trigger once per Generator per Trial.

Unleash the storm…

This perk puts the survivors of Dead by Daylight under a lot of pressure. Just when they begin to cling onto hope, Sadako brings her wrath. Survivors will have to be very on-point with their skill checks and make sure to get them correct. You’ll hear if one of them fails their skill checks. Plus, as the generator will be blocked, survivors can’t suddenly start trying to repair it again before you have time to arrive and chase them down.

If there are multiple survivors on one generator, this will be especially useful as it’s unlikely that all four survivors will hit every skill check during this period of time. Once you hear that explosion, you’ll know just where to go. With any luck, a TV screen will be nearby the survivors for you to project yourself through.

SADAKO BUILD SUGGESTIONS

POWER: Deluge of Fear

Through the medium of a mysterious videotape, Sadako spreads her curse to unwitting viewers and causes their untimely deaths. Before Manifesting, The Onryō gains the Undetectable status effect and is invisible to Survivors. She becomes intermittently visible when within 24 metres of them.

SPECIAL ABILITY: Manifestation

The Onryō must physically manifest to attack Survivors. Press and hold the Power button to Manifest into material form in your current location. For a brief duration after Manifesting, The Onryō will continue to be intermittently visible to Survivors when within 24 metres. Afterwards, she will be fully visible within 24 metres for as long as she remains Manifested. The Onryō can de-manifest by pressing and holding the Power button again.

Did you see that?

De-manifesting during a chase is also a really useful tool for throwing survivors off. They can’t track your movement easily nor see your red stain. Often, during chases, a survivor will stop at a pallet in an attempt to stun you. Try de-manifesting to stop the survivor’s ability to track you properly, and then sneak up behind them and attack them before they can stun you.

SPECIAL ABILITY: Projection

The Onryō can also take material form by Projecting herself through a TV. Press the Ability button while looking at a powered TV to Project into it, shutting off the TV in the process and automatically Manifesting yourself. All Survivors within 16 metres of the TV gain Condemned progress.

Survivors can temporarily turn off TVs with the Retrieve Tape action. This adds Condemned progress to the Survivor. While holding a Tape, the Survivor can continue turning off other TVs, further gaining Condemned for doing so.

Choose the fate of your victims as they spread the curse

One specific TV will have its aura highlighted to the Survivor. This TV allows the Survivor to spread The Onryō’s message by inserting their Tape. Doing so removes some of their Condemned progress.

All of this can be a lot to digest at first. It really is just something that gets easier to understand the more you play as and against the killer. As Sadako, you don’t have to worry too much about a survivor’s Condemned status. All you need to do is see if you can find ways to increase it using Projection and chase those that are holding a tape.

SPECIAL ABILITY: Inexorable Stare

A fully Condemned Survivor is revealed by Killer Instinct for 6 seconds and can be killed with the Inexorable Stare when in the Dying State.

A callback to the original movie. A unique way to instantly kill survivors in Dead by Daylight, you could use Sadako’s power on Yoichi and guide him into death for the full cinematic experience. However, it is quite rare that you’ll get the chance to do it, so seize the moment when you get the notification from Killer Instinct.

SADAKO GUIDE – GAMEPLAY TIPS

EARLY GAME

When first spawning in, if using the perk Scourge Hooks: Floods of Rage, you’ll see exactly where your Scourge Hooks are. These have a white aura and emit fiery particle effects in front of them when you get closer. Take a mental note of where these hooks are, as these will be the ones that you’ll want to focus on to give you an advantage. As with all Killers, you’ll want to make note of where the basement hooks are, too.

Spectate from another dimension then choose your moment to strike

Wander around while de-manifested to look around for any survivors. They will be able to see you intermittently if you get too close, so don’t approach them unless manifested. If you find any survivors working on a generator, see if there’s a TV nearby. Projecting yourself through this will increase their Condemned metre, and overall this is what you want to fill up. You should aim to do this when possible rather than merely de-manifesting and running after them. 

MID-GAME

Once a couple of generators are done, your perks will become increasingly stronger as their map control potential is quite strong. You’ll want to apply Call of Brine to generators that certain survivors are insistent on completing. At this point, you can teleport around the map via the TV screens more as you have a feel for which ones are more useful. It all depends on their proximity to generators, hooks etc.

As the trial goes on, her hunger for revenge only grows…

It can be quite difficult for survivors to complete generators at this stage when there are only a few more left to do as Merciless Storm is quite ruthless. Make sure to take full advantage of this perk as it only works once per generator within that trial. You’ll want to make sure to get at least a few hits or a hook off of this perk.

LATE GAME

This is where The Onryō’s map control feels truly frightening- but only when there are still generators left to complete. With Scourge Hooks revealing survivors’ locations to you and the generators becoming harder to complete, you should be trying to pressure survivors. Around this time, some remaining survivors may be suffering from Condemned, which Killer Instinct will reveal to you, but only for six seconds. This allows you to instantly kill them when they are downed, so pay close attention to the game’s many helpful indicators, else you might just miss some important information.

The end draws near, time is nearly up…

If it comes to the gates being opened in Dead by Daylight, Sadako can feel a little weaker here. Your perks are mostly hook and generator-oriented. So if you do end up at the gate phase, you will have to use the TVs to try and apply Condemned to survivors. Use the TVs nearest to exit gates to teleport to and from both gates in order to moderate them. This is a difficult stage for Sadako indeed. Avoid letting this happen at all costs.

YOICHI GUIDE – PERKS

Yoichi comes with his own set of perks. Parental Guidance, Empathic Connection and Boon: Dark Theory. These perks allow him to effectively hide from killers mid-chase and support other survivors in different ways. Using only these three perks and escaping the trial will award you the “Adept Yoichi” achievement.

Yoichi Asakawa

All ability and power descriptions listed below are taken from the in-game descriptions themselves. The tips, on the other hand, are self-written.

Parental Guidance

You have inherited the ability to hear the dead – and now, the dead warn you of danger. After stunning the Killer by any means, your scratch marks, pools of blood and grunts of pain are hidden for 5/6/7 seconds.

Slip away from the killer at a moment’s notice!

This perk is pretty situational and can feel a little lacklustre at times. Players will need to pay close attention during a chase to get the most out of this perk. After stunning a killer, whether it be via pallet or torch, they will find difficulty tracking you. This is a very good perk when used in tight, indoor maps or in cluttered outdoor areas. After stunning the killer, choose the best route to take that will throw them off such as heading in the opposite direction that you were going before. Even in Dead by Daylight, Yoichi is always guided by the woman who empowered him most, the one Sadako indirectly took from him.

Empathic Connection

Your presence psychically projects itself to those in danger. Whenever another Survivor is injured, they can see your aura within a range of 32/64/96 metres.

• You heal other Survivors 10% faster.

Help those in peril, like a man Yoichi once knew

Empathic Connection makes Yoichi a great support-guided character. You will often find yourself as the first responder when survivors are injured and should make an effort to be so. Use offerings that grant bonus bloodpoints in the Altruism category as well as using a first aid kit item to get the most out of this perk.

In Dead by Daylight, you need to let Sadako and Yoichi guide your gameplay, catering to their perks’ gameplay styles when trying to get their “Adept” achievements. Even though you can’t pair a fourth perk with the build, you can definitely use items and blessings to help you along the way.

Boon: Dark Theory

Your obsessive study of the paranormal has given you unprecedented knowledge of the realms and planes of existence. Press and hold the Ability button near a Dull or Hex totem to bless it and create a Boon Totem. Soft chimes ring out in a 24-metre range.

• Any survivors within the boon Totem’s range gain a 2% Haste status effect. This effect lingers for 2/3/4 seconds after leaving the Boon Totem’s range.
• You can only bless one Totem at a time. All equipped boon perks are active on your Boon Totem.

His connection to Sadako gives him unorthodox powers

Another supportive perk; Yoichi can create an area in which all players gain extra movement speed. This perk feels a little underwhelming at first, but when paired with other speed-based perks, it becomes quite useful. Make sure to find a totem that is nearby many vaults and pallets. I like to place it in the main building or the killer shack to give myself and other survivors who may loop these areas a slight speed buff.

YOICHI BUILD SUGGESTIONS

YOICHI GUIDE – GAMEPLAY TIPS

When playing Yoichi, your role, assuming you’re using his three perks, is to heal your team and outrun the killer. You are able to conceal yourself during chases to throw killers off and heal teammates quickly whenever possible. You’re also responsible for creating a Boon Totem, which you need to make sure is active. There’s no point having the perk if you’re not going to use it. Remember to look out for your allies, though. Yoichi isn’t a solo-oriented survivor like Laurie Strode.

Time to put an end to the curse that haunted his life once and for all…

Don’t spend too long looking for totems, however. If you come across a dull totem that is in a decent position, then, by all means, bless it. Just don’t let this part of his kit hold you back from actually achieving objectives and helping out your fellow survivors. It’s easy to wander around, looking for the perfect dull totem to cleanse. You could, for example, place it in the killer shack as bait so that the killer may waste time during a chase cleansing it, all while giving bonus speed to survivors that may be looping that area. Just… be careful if you’re new to looping.

FINAL NOTES

We’ve been over both Sadako and Yoichi’s perks, abilities and gameplay tips to help you get stuck in. So, what’s next? It’s time to take the characters into your own hands and enjoy what they bring to the game.

With Sadako, she is ranked as a hard killer. She takes a little bit of getting used to, and with all killers, you just need to play her more and more to learn the intricacies of her kit. Yoichi’s perks can feel a little lacklustre at first, but this is because they can be more difficult to get value from, but worth it in the end. Learning how to use Parental Guidance efficiently and finding good placements for Boon: Dark Theory is the key to success with him.

Let us know your thoughts on the latest chapter for Dead by Daylight including Sadako and Yoichi, may luck guide you in the trials to come. If you have any other tips or build suggestions, feel free to leave them down below in the comments.