Just as Dead by Daylight has been cranking out new Killers and Survivors with each Chapter, so has it released new Perks. Every new Character, Killer or Survivor, comes with 3 “Teachable” Perks that Players can unlock for use on the rest of the cast. So today, we’re releasing our Dead by Daylight Killer Perk tier list.
Disclaimer: These are our opinions based on how we play the game, combined with the general community consensus. You may disagree with some rankings, but our definitive Dead by Daylight (DbD) tier list is how many players and the Gamer Digest team views the current meta. Sadly, The Knight is not eligible to play. His Perks are still locked to the PTB and may change before his official release. Next time, Tarhos!
Dead by Daylight Killer Perk Tier List
- S-Tier: Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance, Tinkerer, Hex: Devour Hope, No Way Out, Lethal Pursuer
- A-Tier: BBQ and Chili, Call of Brine, Corrupt Intervention, Discordance, Franklin’s Demise, Hex: Haunted Ground, Hex: Plaything, Hex: Undying, Infectious Fright, Monitor & Abuse, Save the Best for Last, Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage, Sloppy Butcher, Starstruck, Superior Anatomy
- B-Tier: A Nurse’s Calling, Awakened Awareness, Bamboozle, Bitter Murmur, Brutal Strength, Coulrophobia, Deadlock, Dissolution, Dragon’s Grip, Enduring, Fearmonger, Forced Penance, Hex: Blood Favor, Hex: Crowd Control, Hex: No One Escapes Death, Hex: Pentimento, Hex: Retribution, Hysteria, I’m All Ears, Jolt, Mad Grit, Make Your Choice, Pop Goes the Weasel, Rancor, Shattered Hope, Spies from the Shadows, Spirit Fury, Stridor, Surveillance, Terminus, Thrilling Tremors, Trail of Torment
- C-Tier: Agitation, Blood Echo, Blood Warden, Bloodhound, Coupe De Grace, Claustrophobia, Dark Devotion, Darkness Revealed, Dead Man’s Switch, Deathbound, Deerstalker, Distressing, Eruption, Fire Up, Gearhead, Grim Embrace, Hangman’s Trick, Hex: Huntress Lullaby, Hex: The Third Seal, Hex: Thrill of the Hunt, Insidious, Iron Grasp, Iron Maiden, Knock Out, Lightborn, Merciless Storm, Nemesis, Overcharge, Overwhelming Presence, Play with Your Food, Predator, Remember Me, Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain, Septic Touch, Shadowborn, Unnerving Presence, Zanshin Tactics
- D-Tier: Beast of Prey, Dying Light, Furtive Chase, Hex: Ruin, Hoarder, Oppression, Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine, Territorial Imperative, Thanatophobia, Unrelenting
Dead by Daylight Killer Perk Tier List Breakdown
Here’s a more in-depth breakdown behind how we broke down this tier list, and why we decided to place certain Perks at different levels.
S-Tier Perks
- Hex: Devour Hope
- Lethal Pursuer
- No Way Out
- Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance
- Tinkerer
Tinkerer grants Undetectable and alerts Killers to Generators that are almost fully repaired. Unlike other Stealth Perks, it activates frequently, provides useful info, and pairs well with other Perks. Pain Resonance is a homing missile, always targeting the Generator with the most Repair Progress.
Devour Hope takes time to set up, but even at 3 of 5 stacks, it creates a threat that Survivors cannot ignore. No Way Out is an End-Game Perk, but it’s the most consistent. Lethal Pursuer helps start Trials off strong and benefits every other Aura Reading effect in the Killer’s arsenal.
A-Tier Perks
- BBQ and Chili
- Call of Brine
- Corrupt Intervention
- Discordance
- Franklin’s Demise
- Hex: Haunted Ground
- Hex: Plaything
- Hex: Undying
- Infectious Fright
- Monitor & Abuse
- Save the Best for Last
- Scourge Hooks: Floods of Rage
- Sloppy Butcher
- Starstruck
- Superior Anatomy
Many of these Perks do 1 thing (Aura Reading, 1-hit Downs, Game Delay) and do it well. Some of them are so strong they only activate or give value once per Trial, but that’s enough.
Franklin’s Demise is a consistent debuff thanks to the Bloodweb discounts making Items very popular. Hex: Plaything is another strong Stealth Perk that combos with other Perks and even some other Hexes. Corrupt Intervention is amazing on set-up Killers while fairly helpful on the rest. Save the Best for Last is good on most Killers and amazing on those with Special Attacks.
B-Tier Perks
- A Nurse’s Calling
- Awakened Awareness
- Bamboozle
- Bitter Murmur
- Brutal Strength
- Coulrophobia
- Deadlock
- Dissolution
- Dragon’s Grip
- Enduring
- Fearmonger
- Forced Penance
- Hex: Blood Favor
- Hex: Crowd Control
- Hex: No One Escapes Death
- Hex: Pentimento
- Hex: Retribution
- Hysteria
- I’m All Ears
- Jolt
- Mad Grit
- Make Your Choice
- Pop Goes the Weasel
- Rancor
- Shattered Hope
- Spies from the Shadows
- Spirit Fury
- Stridor
- Surveillance
- Terminus
- Thrilling Tremors
- Trail of Torment
Regression Perks, Info Perks, Chase Perks, and more are in the B tier. Some of these Perks shine brighter with particular Killers or playstyles, but Players working from this section can’t go wrong.
Thrilling Tremors, A Nurse’s Calling, and Surveillance are all solid info perks. Use these to know where to strike. Jolt, Deadlock, and Pop goes the Weasel all help with Generators.
They give Killers time to wear down the Survivors. Dragon’s Grip, Fearmonger, and Make Your Choice debuff Survivors. These help the Killer snowball through getting Downs quickly.
C-Tier Perks
- Agitation
- Blood Echo
- Blood Warden
- Bloodhound
- Claustrophobia
- Coupe De Grace
- Dark Devotion
- Darkness Revealed
- Dead Man’s Switch
- Deathbound
- Deerstalker
- Distressing
- Eruption
- Fire Up
- Gearhead
- Grim Embrace
- Hangman’s Trick
- Hex: Huntress Lullaby
- Hex: The Third Seal
- Hex: Thrill of the Hunt
- Insidious
- Iron Grasp
- Iron Maiden
- Knock Out
- Lightborn
- Merciless Storm
- Nemesis
- Overcharge
- Overwhelming Presence
- Play with Your Food
- Predator
- Remember Me
- Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain
- Septic Touch
- Shadowborn
- Unnerving Presence
- Zanshin Tactics
Most of the Perks here are situational. They often require 1 or 2 companion Perks for a real impact on the Trial—that or building around a specific Killer’s Power.
Zanshin Tactics is a newbie Killer Perk. It grants basic Map Awareness that helps while learning the role.
Lightborn can be fun when used tactically, but it means Survivors have less reason to interact with the Killer. The different Hex Perks don’t offer enough power to compensate for their vulnerability to being cleansed.
D-Tier Perks
- Beast of Prey
- Dying Light
- Furtive Chase
- Hex: Ruin
- Hoarder
- Oppression
- Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine
- Territorial Imperative
- Thanatophobia
- Unrelenting
These Perks are outright bad. Some of the effects, like Thanatophobia, are still potent. Those that take too much set-up to be worth it. Most are… underwhelming in their effects.
Dying Light, in particular, buffs the Obsession, outweighing the debuffs applied to the rest of the Survivors. Ruin was nerfed into the ground on the last big balance patch and may never recover.
That was our Dead by Daylight Killer Perk tier list. As always, the comments are open for disagreement or discussion.
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