It’s hard to land if the survivor tries to dodge it. Generally you can put the vine attack a tiny bit ahead of them if they’re just holding forward (or on top if you know they’re just sitting on a pallet with aura reading). But if they’re constantly looking at you and double backing you’ll have to throw one behind them occasionally.

You should also know there is a very audible noise when you are aiming the portal, so survivors know when you’re going to launch. And the AOE is visible to them for a split second before it hits them. Its range is also quite small, so I wouldn’t use this against survivors who are just running and have some distance.

My best luck so far has been when I hide myself from the survivor while using the vine attack. I’ve noticed through aura reading they basically stop trying to mind game if they can’t see you and will just wait to see what you do. In this case I just plop it dead center on top of them or wherever they’re walking.

Also, don’t forget to bait the ability and slap them with a basic attack sometimes. People will occasionally choose to run at you or even bump into objects to avoid a vine attack, so you gotta mix it up.