Dead Signal is the latest horror game from Reflect Studios, the makers of Rides with Strangers and the Welcome to the Game series.
In Dead Signal, the developer expertly blends in the creepy atmosphere and encounters of Welcome to the Game II with ‘I’m On Observation Duty’ mechanics. It creates a very unique and terrifying combination.
Of course, Reflect Studios has kept one signature aspect of their games: the difficulty. To enhance your chances of success in Dead Signal, we’ve made this guide – full of both beginner tips and more advanced gameplay optimizations.
1. Maximize the Early Game
At the start of Dead Signal, it’s pivotal to report as much as possible. Firstly, it doesn’t seem that the enemies begin to hunt you down until you receive the message from Adam. This happens a few minutes in, giving you a small grace period to focus on reports.
By completing a large number of reports early on, you can build momentum and make the final hours easier. This is because extra reports will carry over to the next hour. The final hour requires 10 reports, and so any carry-over is super important!
Since the threats aren’t too serious at the start, it’s much safer to be on the computer for longer periods of time. Similarly, it’s much safer to deliver packages – Mr Delfaco will not be activated yet, and you can save the ‘missing package’ quota for the final hours.
2. Understand the Report Categories
Of course, you need to understand how the reporting system actually works – there’s nothing worse than wasting time making incorrect reports.
Here’s the different types of reports, and what sort of anomalies you should look out for:
- Access Point: Open doors and open windows.
- Hack: Electronics such as laptops, phones and tablets.
- High Value: Items such as packages, wallets, credit cards and keys.
- Defence: Firearms and dogs.
- Peep: People that are sleeping, bathing, etc. (This excludes Mr Delfaco and the hacker).
- Suspicious: sketchy items, new vehicles, sketchy people (such as the hacker), duffel bags, body parts and blood.
Whilst this isn’t an expansive list, it should provide a general idea about what you should keep an eye out for.
There are some other things that you might see too, so try your best to report them accurately. For example, I saw a C4 explosive on the storage locker camera: that is categorized as suspicious. In the car park cameras, I’ve also seen mysterious vans which weren’t there before: again, those should be reported as suspicious.
One thing that you might see on the camera is a creepy-looking man staring straight at you. This is Mr Delfaco, one of the enemies. Once you see him, he is now activated and something to look out for.
3. Learn the Different Enemy Behaviors
Dead Signal is not just a game about playing spot-the-difference on the computer. There are 3 different enemies that will be hunting you down.
They will appear consistently throughout the night, but can be evaded through different techniques. It’s really important to know how to avoid each of them, otherwise you’ll probably end up having a rough time.
Lucas The Hitman
Let’s start with Lucas, the hitman. Lucas should be a familiar figure for those that have played the Welcome to the Game series. However, this time he has a sniper rifle as well. Lucas can kill you both in your apartment complex or shoot you from afar through your window.
Firstly, you want to keep Lucas out of your building. The best way to do so is by keeping your room locked at all times. It’s essential to periodically check that your front door is locked. If it’s unlocked, make sure to quickly input the new password into the keypad.
Furthermore, make sure to close your door whilst travelling throughout the building. I had a case where Lucas ambushed me on the roof as I got off the elevator, and I believe the front door being left open was to blame.
However, Lucas doesn’t just disappear if your door is locked. He will try to shoot you from across the street with his sniper rifle. Make sure to constantly check that there isn’t a red laser coming from your window.
If you do see a red laser, it’s now time to hide. Try to turn off the lights – including the desk light and the living room light. Then, head to the bedroom to hide beneath the left side of the bed. Make sure to also turn off the bedroom lights.
If the lights are off, this will mean that Lucas will go away quicker. I believe that you need to hide under the bed for around 30 seconds with the lights off. If the lights are still on, you have to wait for around a minute.
Once you re-emerge from your hiding place, you will know you are safe if the red laser is gone!
Mostly importantly, don’t turn on your flashlight. Lucas has a thermal scope on his rifle, and will instantly shoot you if you do turn on the flashlight.
From his vantage point, Lucas can also shoot you whilst you are on the roof. It’s important to check for lasers on the roof and save some stamina if you need to run at any point.
So, where are we running to? Well, if you see the laser, there’s three places you can go. You should pick the best one based on your situation:
- If you are collecting the package, there is a hiding space nearby to duck behind.
- If you are moving the antenna, there is also a hiding space nearby.
- If you are closer to the elevator when you see the laser, try to run to safety inside the elevator.
Remember again to not turn your flashlight on at this point. Lucas will likely shoot you, and it’ll be game over.
The Noir
The Noir are another familiar foe from Welcome to the Game II. They are part of Adam’s criminal organisation, but unlike Lucas, they will not instantly kill you if you see them.
If you encounter the Noir, you need to follow the procedures below – but importantly, the steps are different depending on if it’s the Male Noir or the Female Noir.
The Male Noir
The Male Noir usually spawns somewhere in your apartment. Sometimes it’s right behind you, but the developer has also added in spawns in the bedroom. He can also spawn in corridors and on the rooftop. If you see the Male Noir, follow these steps:
- Flash your flashlight at him.
- Turn around to face away from him.
- Wait 10 seconds.
That’s easy enough to get rid of him. Just make sure to constantly check around your room as he can appear whilst you’re doing reports on the computer.
The Female Noir
Usually, I see the female Noir on the rooftop, or creepily waiting at the ends of corridors. I always check to the left when leaving my apartment, as she spawns there quite often!
With the Female Noir, the process is similar but slightly different:
– Approach the Female Noir and stand around 3-5 feet in front of her.
– Turn around to face away from her.
– When she says the phrase “Don’t move”, wait for 10 seconds.
It’s important to wait for this vocal cue, as that is when the 10 second timer starts. Again, once you follow this procedure, you should be good to go!
Mr Delfaco
The third and final enemy is Mr Delfaco, a brand-new addition to the Welcome to the Game universe.
Mr Delfaco only activates once you see him on the cameras. If you switch cameras within 0.75 seconds after seeing him, you can successfully avoid activating him. Whilst it’s not the easiest task, just have faith in your reaction time and hopefully you can avoid him.
Once he is activated, you need to keep your ears out for his signature whistling. If you hear whistling, it means that he’s near your door. At this point, try to hide either under the bed or in the bathtub as quickly as possible. It’s also beneficial to turn off some lights on the way, as he will leave quicker.
I’m not sure of the exact timings, but you probably should wait for up to a minute before leaving your hiding spot.
Unfortunately, Mr Delfaco can also appear in other parts of the apartment building. He can appear on any floor (aside from the 9th floor).
Once you walk around halfway down the corridor, he will emerge from one of the doors. Your only choice is to quickly run back to the safety of the elevator.
Thus, don’t expend your sprint right after you leave the elevator, as you might need it on the way back!
You can encounter Mr Delfaco on the roof as well. If this is the case, run back to the elevator or one of the rooftop hiding spots.
Once you get the hang of how the three enemies work, it should be a little easier to evade their attacks. Of course, this is only half the battle, as you need to keep up with your hourly report quotas!
4. Optimize Package Deliveries
Let’s be honest, one of the biggest timewasters in Dead Signal is the package delivery. You have to take the world’s slowest elevator, and the packages only count for one report!
Nevertheless, it’s necessary to deliver the packages, as missing 3 is a game over. That’s why you should try to optimise the process as much as possible.
The best way is by syncing up the package collection with the computer’s dead signal event. Since both require you to go to the roof, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Of course, you won’t be able to get the package delivery and dead signal to line up all the time. However, if you leave the package delivery as late as possible, then there’s a higher chance that the dead signal event will trigger.
This was certainly much easier before Patch 1.0.2 when the package delivery time limit was reduced, but it’s still a minor optimization you can try to make.
Another useful tip is that you don’t need to remember the exact apartment number to deliver the package. As long as you know the floor number, only the correct apartment will have the ‘place for delivery’ button.
This means that there isn’t the possibility of delivering to the wrong flat. It’s certainly much quicker than returning to your flat to figure out the apartment number.
5. Keep Checking Your Room
This tip should be obvious for veterans of Welcome to the Game fans, but it’s worth reminding everyone. You need to constantly stand up from your desk to check for threats in your room. Usually I check for these three things when I leave the computer:
- Look around for the Noir. He can spawn in your apartment in a variety of locations, including the bedroom. You don’t have to look in the bedroom every time, but it’s worth doing every couple times you stand up.
- Check for Lucas’ laser. If you just sit at your computer without standing up, it’s likely that Lucas is going to shoot you with his rifle. Thus, look for the red laser through the window behind you, and follow the steps mentioned earlier if needed.
- Make sure that the room is still locked. For some reason, you have the absolute worst lock in the world, and so it will unlock at multiple times throughout the night. The red light indicates that your door is unlocked, and this means that Lucas can attack you.
I tend to check these 3 things around every 15-30 seconds of being on the computer. If you don’t check often enough, it’s likely that you will die to one of the different threats.
Conclusion
We hope that this guide has been useful for understanding some of the trickier parts of Dead Signal. Of course, we will update this review as the community figures out more strategies, spawn points and mechanics. Thanks for reading, and keep enjoying Dead Signal!