Brute strength and endurance to go all the way is the name of the game when learning how to play Leland in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Even in his weakened state, Leland is almost able to go toe-to-toe with the family, which can be handy in a pinch, but also leaves him isolated and vulnerable.
Leland is the defender of the group. This makes him an ideal partner when working as a team, as well as a solid solo trundler. His size and power come at a heavy cost, however. Leland has pretty middling toughness and his stealth is practically non-existent. Leland is a double-edged sword who can save the day, or get taken out before he gets the chance to make a difference.
For some more general tips and tricks, check out our how to win more games guide. If you want to know how all the characters rank up, check out our survivor and killer tier lists.
Overview of Leland Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Leland was a wrestler back in his youth, and this has led him down the path of the swole. Leland is the largest of the group and is substantially stronger than the rest of the cast. His endurance is also outstanding, giving him ample stamina to get around the estate. Despite his power, Leland is a bit of a flannel when it comes to defence, so if he is ever backed into a corner, he will go down faster than most.
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Leland isn’t the easiest character to play, as his whole reason for living is to be noisy and clash with the Family. This often puts him in bad situations. A good Leland player will leverage his excellent stats and swing-enabling ability at key moments. Looking for a fight will get you killed, so you have to use your noggin if you want to escape.
The sad truth with Leland, however, is he is often the sacrificial lamb. If your team needs a distraction, Leland is always the best pick for the job.
Leland’s attributes in Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Leland is a specialist, which means he has outstanding stats in some areas, but truly dreadful ones in others. In fact, Leland’s stats are more swingy than any other character in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Where most can easily correct any statistical flaw, Leland either can’t or has to dedicate a ludicrous number of attribute points.
Looking at his stats, Leland rolls in with a below-average toughness of 20. This makes him one of the squishier characters in the game, which might surprise you. Leland can’t take a punch, and he recovers from incapacitation slower to boot. This is a prime stat to increase if you want to make the most of Leland.
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Endurance is up next, and Leland has this in droves thanks to a solid stat of 30. This gives Leland a high stamina pool, and not only that, but his stamina recovers faster. This goes nicely with his outlandish strength of 40, letting Leland do all the physical tasks in the game with ease.
You would think having such high physical stats would leave Leland lacking in more dexterous areas, but you’d be wrong. Leland has a respectable proficiency of 25, making him fairly decent at picking locks and scavenging.
Where Leland truly drops the ball is with stealth, which rocks up with a stat of 10. This is by far the lowest of any character, and makes Leland terrible at being sneaky. He makes more noise than anyone else and he’s easier to spot. Since this stat is so low, it’s even difficult to fix, since you would have to invest a ridiculous number of attribute points to correct it.
Leland’s unique ability in Texas Chain Saw Massacre
A character's ability is the core of their being, and Leland is no different. Leland has access to Lifesaver, which does the following:
Defend yourself or your teammates by knocking down and stunning Family members. Does not affect Leatherface.
With this ability, Leland is allowed to directly interact and engage with the Family. This has several uses, with the most obvious one being to escape. When cornered by a killer, Lifesaver will get you to safety, and then you can use your high Stamina to make a runner.
Other uses are to protect teammates who are in danger. This ability makes Leland a great team player, even if it has some downsides. The biggest one is Leatherface. Every game of Texas Chain Saw Massacre has Leatherface, meaning your direct counter is lying in wait somewhere, at all times. When you consider Leland’s default Toughness, you can find yourself eliminated very quickly if you don’t watch your back and keep your eyes (and ears) open.
Attribute progression for Leland in Texas Chain Saw Massacre
When it comes to Leland, you want to completely ignore strength as your bump stat. This stat is high enough, and you have other areas you can cover to reduce your weaknesses. Firstly, we would recommend bumping toughness. You can go as high as you want, but a bare minimum of 30 is what we would aim for.
Once your toughness is sorted, putting some points into endurance and proficiency will round Leland out wonderfully. If you want to invest in stealth, then 25 is the highest we would go before you are investing too many points away from other areas. We would maybe even suggest sticking to 20.
Once Leland has a few points invested, he becomes far more effective in game. Specifically, once his toughness is sorted, he is good to go. Like all survivors, he won’t be able to stand up to a dedicated stabbing, but he will happily put himself in harm's way for the betterment of the team. What a legend.
Best early game perks for Leland in Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Leland has access to a lot of really solid perks, although they do focus heavily on strength and endurance. This tilts Leland towards more of a bruiser, but with some lucky rolls, you might land yourself some interesting perks that can take him out of that pigeonhole.
With Leland, we recommend going ‘left’ on the skill tree. This leads to some of his better strength perks and allows him to lay the smackdown when the need arises.
Remember, all perks become more powerful as you use them. Stick with the same perks, and you will grow in strength far faster.
Tae Kwon Door
This ability is really simple, when you slam a door and that door hits a killer, they are stunned for a prolonged period. This can shut down a killer for over 10 seconds at base and only gets better over time. This more or less ensures Leland and any nearby survivors can get to safety, and if you have entered the last area of a map, you might even be able to make solid progress on escape.
Choose Fight
Choose Fight lets Leland stun killers for longer after a close encounter or sneak attack. Since Leland is already geared for sneak attacks and close encounters, being able to make the most of them is a solid investment. It’s not flashy, but it does the trick and combos with Empowered.
Empowered
Speaking of which, Empowered grants some powerful buffs to Leland after a close encounter with a killer. Again, nothing fancy, but very solid and plays into all of Leland’s strengths.
Clear Eyes
If you want a bit more utility, then Clear Eyes is the perk for you. This lets you spot poison and traps, with your detection radius increasing with rank. This lets Leland avoid risky areas and helps to prevent killers from getting the first hit.
What Doesn’t Kill You
As far as we are aware, this perk is locked behind a random perk slot. This perk is excellent on Leland as he can guarantee his escape thanks to Lifesaver once every cooldown - more if you have Tae Kwon Door. This perk lets Leland heal up to 100% of damage dealt to him provided he doesn’t take damage for 15 seconds. Easily done as Leland.
That’s all we have for Leland in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. To help you navigate the game, check out our guide covering all maps. You can also have a look at our tips and tricks for surviving as the survivors.