How to Play Adam Smasher in Survive a Psycho

Your objective as Adam is to eliminate the survivors before time runs out. These controls apply while playing Adam on PC; for role access, see the killer overview.

1. Choose a visible red outline. Survivor outlines can remain visible through walls and other building structures. Use their position to judge the target’s direction and elevation.
2. Find a connected route. Move through rooms, corridors and storage aisles. Follow stairs when the target changes floors instead of running directly toward an outline behind a wall.
3. Use door prompts. At an interactable door, press E when prompted with OPEN or CLOSE. E also binds Missile, so pay attention to the contextual prompt when handling a door.
4. Close in and attack. Keep the target in view as you move around shelves and through doorways, checking which attacks are ready.
5. Confirm the elimination and move on. A crossed-out survivor name and a lower survivor count show your progress. Pick another target rather than continuing to attack the same position.

Treat an outline as a location cue: it helps you find a survivor, but you still need a usable path to reach them.

Check that an attack is ready before using it. After activation, its slot displays a cooldown counter; keep pursuing while it counts down.

Use movement between attacks. Backhand needs you to close in, while Missile gives you a projectile attack to work into the chase. When one attack is cooling down, continue along the target’s route and use another available attack when you have an opportunity.

Launch can produce a pink ground area and a vertical light column. Its activation sequence includes a brief countdown, with readings from 1.1 to 0.1 seconds. After the camera returns indoors, locate the survivor again and resume the chase through the room or storage aisles.

For other keyboard bindings and camera options, see PC controls and camera settings.

Sandy is Adam’s Shift skill; SANDEVISTAN is the status shown when it activates. Use it while pursuing a target so you can keep moving and attacking during the active state.

1. Wait until Sandy is available, without a cooldown or NO SIGNAL covering its slot.
2. Press Shift. The screen turns blue and the SANDEVISTAN meter appears alongside DODGED.
3. Continue following and attacking the survivor. Watch the meter drain while the DODGED counter can increase during combat.
4. Keep an eye on Sandy’s cooldown and the status label. The display can later change to OVERCLOCK, also written OVER CLOCK.

Use the meter to follow the active state rather than treating a particular DODGED count as a target to reach. The counter is combat feedback, not a dependable activation instruction for Overclock. Read QUICKHACK: OVERHEAT separately from the Overclock label.

During BLACKOUT, the scene darkens or becomes nearly monochrome and a JAMMED countdown appears. Check the individual skill slots: Sandy and Missile can show NO SIGNAL, while Backhand, Crush and Launch retain their own attack or cooldown displays.

Keep moving toward visible survivor outlines. Backhand can still be used during this interference, so a nearby target remains worth pursuing. For Crush and Launch, follow their current HUD states rather than assuming every attack is ready or every attack is disabled. When interference ends, affected slots return to their icons or cooldown numbers; check the remaining cooldown before using them. A later Blackout can interrupt you again.

Other warnings require different adjustments:

• SHORT CIRCUIT // SLOWED: Movement is reduced, but pursuit can continue. Crush can also be used while this slowed status is active. Favor a direct, passable route to limit the distance you need to cover.
• QUICKHACK: CRIPPLE MOVEMENT: The panel can display LOCOMOTION -40% with a decreasing status bar. That modifier belongs to Cripple Movement; do not apply it to every slowdown.
• QUICKHACK: OVERHEAT: Look for CORE TEMP, the temperature bar and THERMAL REGULATOR OFFLINE. Orange screen edges, flashes and CRITICAL // IGNITION can accompany the warning. Overheat does not mean all actions stop: Adam can continue pursuing and use Launch during an Overheat sequence.

For the wider set of combat prompts and role differences, see status effects.

Adam’s reliance on close-range pressure makes the tower’s walls and floors a major part of each chase. A nearby outline can still require a long route if the survivor is across a wall or on another floor. Prioritize reaching the target over repeatedly attacking toward an obstructed position.

• Choose reachable targets. When several outlines are visible, favor a survivor connected to your current room or corridor over one requiring a long detour.
• Track elevation as well as direction. If a target moves above or below you, find the connecting stairs. Use the Arasaka Tower floors and routes guide for room landmarks and detailed navigation.
• Watch health and time together. Survivors can fight back, and your health can fall during a chase. If you are taking damage without getting closer, change your approach instead of remaining exposed at the same obstruction.
• Use the remaining survivor count to judge progress. With little time left, avoid spending the rest of the round chasing an inaccessible outline while reachable targets remain elsewhere. Eliminating the remaining survivors can end the round with KILLER WINS.

Survivors can use doors, shelves, floor changes and interference to make you lose ground. For that opposing perspective, see how to survive Adam Smasher.