Let’s take a closer look at what those cunning crows are up to and how you can avoid the more troublesome members of the species.
Different Types of Crows (And What’s Their Purpose?)
1. Startling Crows
From the moment you begin a match, there are crows in the environment. They can be found on the ground, perching on rocks, or on specific landmarks on each map. Getting too close will startle them, whether you’re a survivor or a killer. Nearby players might notice the crows becoming startled, but they won’t create any visuals or sounds that gain the attention of someone farther away most of the time. If a survivor crouches, they can get closer to the crows without startling them. Survivors and the Ghost Face killer can crouch to keep the crows calmer. You can get closer to them while crouching, but there is a limit to how close you can get without them flying away. Killers playing as The Wraith can use the killer’s special ability to become cloaked. While in this state, The Wraith is nearly invisible and crows will not react to him.
2. Stillness Crows
Unlike regular crows, stillness crows exist to cause problems for survivors who are camping. If a survivor remains in the same place for too long without doing anything, stillness crows will show up and begin to fly in a circle above them. Over time, more crows will come to join the party if the survivor doesn’t get moving. Up to three crows can accompany a survivor at any given time. Not only are these crows easy for killers to spot from a distance, they also caw quite loudly. When a third crow joins the group, it will also release a special noise indication that the killer can follow. The idea here is to keep players from being idle through the entire match. As long as you’re moving or are engaged with a task, you won’t need to worry about stillness crows causing you problems. That includes things like opening a chest, cleansing a totem, and working on a generator.
How Do You Get Rid Of Stillness Crows?
Stillness crows are intended to keep players from hiding out for too long, but not everyone who ends up with a crow circling them is actually avoiding playing the game. More often than not, I end up stuck with a stillness crow because I’m hiding from a nearby killer who doesn’t seem to want to go away. The good news is, you don’t have to do anything special to make stillness crows go away. You just have to show the game that you are actually playing. As soon as you can, start moving around or working on something. Once you’ve spent enough time actively playing, the crows will begin to disappear. It can be a little annoying for a while as the noisy crows do their best to make you a walking target, so just take a little extra caution until they leave.
Spawning And Despawning Crows
The spawning and despawning of stillness crows is based on how much time a survivor spends idle or moving. You can refer to these tables to determine how long it takes to gain or lose crows: Stillness crows begin to show up after the survivor spends a full minute sitting still. More crows will join them at the 75 second and 90 second marks. After 100 seconds passes, the third crow will send out a noise indication. To get rid of stillness crows, you need to move for at least 30 seconds. The crows will disappear after 30, 60, and 75 seconds of movement.
Are There Any Perks That Affect Crow Behavior?
While there are no perks that can help you to avoid stillness crows, there are a couple of perks that affect startling crows. For survivors, the Calm Spirit perk reduces the chances that crows will be startled by your presence. Meanwhile, killers can use the Spies From The Shadows perk to receive visual alerts from crows. Those alerts sound off when a survivor is near a crow.
