I move through the trial grounds like a forgotten memory, a flicker between worlds. My existence is a paradox—both present and absent, a whisper in the static of powered televisions. As the Onryo, I am not merely a hunter; I am the creeping dread that turns every shadow into a potential threat, every distant hum of a generator into a countdown to doom. My power is not in brute force, but in the psychological erosion of hope, a slow, inexorable tide that washes away the survivors' sense of security until they are as fragile as a spider's web in a storm.
The Anatomy of My Terror
My power is a trinity of terror, each facet designed to weave a tapestry of despair.
Manifestation and Demanifestation: I begin each trial as a ghost, a specter with the Undetectable status effect. To survivors within 24 meters, I am a fleeting apparition, like a reflection in a cracked mirror. From afar, I am invisible. In this state, I cannot attack, but I can interact with the world, breaking pallets and generators, setting the stage for their demise. With a thought, I can Manifest, becoming corporeal to strike, my form solidifying from the static with a brief moment of lingering stealth. This transition is my dance between the realms of the seen and the unseen.
Projection: The map is dotted with televisions, silent sentinels that hum to life after the trial's first 30 seconds. When I am Demanifested, these screens are my gateways. I can teleport to any powered television, appearing with a burst of speed that carries me like a sudden gust of wind. Each teleportation darkens the screen for 100 seconds, but survivors, in their desperation, can also turn them off, albeit for a shorter time.
Condemned: This is my masterpiece of psychological pressure. Survivors gain stacks of Condemned in two ways:
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Being within 16 meters of a TV I teleport to.
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Turning off a TV themselves, which also grants them a Videotape.
Carrying a Tape is a curse; it passively builds their Condemned every 25 seconds when they are not in a chase. They can cleanse themselves by depositing the Tape at a specific TV, but this act turns the TV off and removes three stacks. The true horror unfolds at seven stacks. I am alerted to their location, and if I can down them before they deposit their tape, I can execute them with a Mori, a fate as inevitable as the setting sun, regardless of how many times they've been hooked.
The Art of the Hunt: My Strategies
My lack of a direct attack means my mind must be my sharpest weapon. I do not chase; I orchestrate.
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Establish a Three-Generator Stronghold: My goal is to herd the survivors. When only one generator remains, I want the final three generators clustered together, a triumvirate of despair that I can patrol with ease. My teleportation and Condemned pressure make this area a deathtrap, a labyrinth where hope goes to die.
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Condemned is a Tool, Not a Goal: A Condemned kill is a rare and beautiful flower, but it is not the garden itself. The threat of Condemned is what slows survivors, forcing them to make dangerous trips to TVs instead of repairing generators. However, for the daring, a high-risk playstyle exists: forsake hooks to build Condemned on downed survivors, forcing their allies into the open. This strategy blooms with specific add-ons like the Iridescent Videotape and Ring Drawing.
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Predict and Intercept: I am a student of fear. I learn their patterns, their escape routes. I then project myself to a TV along their path, cutting off their retreat like a landslide blocking a mountain pass.
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The Animation Feint: My power to Manifest and my animation for breaking pallets are nearly identical twins. During a chase, I can use this to my advantage. By activating my power near a pallet, I can trick a survivor into fleeing the safety of the loop, delivering them straight into my waiting arms.
My Arsenal of Despair: The Perfect Build
The right perks are the notes to my symphony of fear. Here is the composition I find most effective.
| Perk | Effect & Synergy |
|---|---|
| Call of Brine | This makes generators I damage regress faster and notifies me when a survivor hits a skill check on them. It is my early warning system, allowing me to project to a generator and catch a survivor unaware, their confidence shattering like fine china. |
| Overcharge | This places a trap on generators I break. The next survivor to touch it faces a difficult skill check. Failure causes significant regression. This regression stacks beautifully with Call of Brine, turning an unattended generator into a sinkhole of lost progress. |
| Nowhere to Hide | Activated when I break a generator, this perk reveals all survivors within 24 meters of me for five seconds. I can then Demanifest and move in for a silent strike, or use the information to project to a distant target, my reach extending across the map. |
| Save The Best For Last | This reduces my attack cooldown after a successful hit. The quicker recovery lets me pressure survivors relentlessly. Crucially, it makes Condemned kills more feasible, as a fast attack can prevent a condemned survivor from reaching their salvation. |
Synergistic Harmonies
My power allows for devastating perk combinations.
With Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage
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Lethal Pursuer: Extends the aura reading of Floods of Rage, making survivor reveals last longer.
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Barbecue & Chilli: Combined with Floods of Rage, hooking a survivor paints a perfect picture of where everyone is.
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Make Your Choice: When Floods of Rage reveals the unhooker, I can teleport and strike them down if I'm far enough away, their exposed status making them as vulnerable as a ghost in the daylight.
Amplifying Call of Brine
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Eruption: When I down a survivor, any generator I've damaged explodes for 10% regression and reveals its workers. It is a punishing consequence for their efforts.
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Oppression: Damaging one generator causes three others to regress, spreading my influence like a virus and overwhelming the survivors with difficult skill checks.
Empowering Merciless Storm
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Tinkerer: When a generator reaches 70%, I become Undetectable and receive a notification. I can use this to sneak up and interrupt a survivor struggling with Merciless Storm's rapid skill checks.
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Fearmonger: This prevents survivors from using exhaustion perks like Sprint Burst, ensuring that if I arrive as their generator nears completion, they cannot escape my grasp.
In my hands, the trial is not a game of tag, but a carefully composed poem of fear. Every teleport is a stanza, every stack of Condemned a rhyme. I am the Onryo, and my story is written in the static of your final moments.
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