Stages guides describe
Player guides use "hooks" and "spikes" for the same sacrifice points. A September 2026 beginner guide describes three stages:
- The first spike can be rescued.
- The second spike leaves the survivor one hit from elimination.
- The third spike removes them from the round.
The official description does not print those three stages. Treat the list as the community rule used by current guides, and read the on-screen state in your match if a patch changes it.
The Cure adds another rule on top. Injection guides say a downed survivor can be injected once per spike stage, and that two injection charges on the final stage can remove them without another spike. That lethal step is The Cure's kit, not the normal spike rule. Read The Cure.
When to save
- Do not run in the instant someone is spiked if a generator is nearly done and the killer is still there.
- A safer window is when the killer picks up another survivor or walks away to a generator.
- Healing under the spike, or beside the generator the killer just kicked, is called out as a common down.
- Taking a hit for a teammate who is already on their second spike can matter more than keeping your own health bar full.
Perks that change a save
High Karma requires a successful unhook first. After that, guides say your next first spike can be a self-unhook. It does not work on the second or third spike.
Grab My Hand is documented two ways. The short perk index says a rescue adds progress to the healing bar. The longer perk article says unhooking grants 75% healing speed for up to 75 seconds. Open the in-game tooltip before you build a medic loadout around one of those sentences.
Foundation Staff, a Cure perk, punishes the rescue itself: the rescuer's healing is slowed, and the rescued survivor repairs slower until they are healed.