Quick answer
Beginner killer wants a repeatable way to find survivors and avoid wasting patrol time.
Start with the active map
Good tracking starts before you see a survivor. Check which generators are repaired, which ones have progress, where the last hook happened, and where injured survivors are likely to reset. Walking the full map in a fixed loop gives survivors too much free repair time.
- Patrol generators that matter instead of every generator equally.
- After a hook, check rescue paths and nearby progressed objectives.
- Use completed generators to remove dead areas from your route.
Read several clues together
Scratch marks show movement, blood supports injured tracking, crows suggest recent disturbance, and sound confirms active actions. One clue can lie by being old or incomplete, but several matching clues usually point to the next chase.
- Fresh scratch marks plus generator noise usually means a useful chase.
- Blood and injured sounds help after a survivor breaks line of sight.
- A crow near an untouched corner is weaker than crows near objectives.
Know when to stop tracking
The biggest beginner mistake is following a faint trail forever. If a survivor pulls you to an empty corner, a strong building, or away from the last generators, leaving can be the correct tracking decision. Tracking is about pressure, not only finding one person.
- Leave when the trail no longer protects objectives or hooks.
- Return to generators with progress if the chase takes too long.
- Use tracking perks to shorten decisions, not to chase blindly.
Recommended next pages
These next pages connect survivor clues with patrol routing, generator pressure, and beginner killer builds.
What is the best way for new killers to find survivors?
Start from active generators, recent hooks, scratch marks, blood, crows, and sound. Do not walk the map randomly when objective clues already show where survivors are working.
Should killer always follow scratch marks?
No. Follow fresh marks when they lead toward useful pressure. Leave old or baited trails if they pull you away from important generators or hooks.