The Cenobite is an interesting addition to the Dead by Daylight roster from a lore perspective. The Entity didn’t invite or draft Pinhead into his realm. He just showed up one day, along with the Lament Configuration. Pinhead is willing to play by the Entity’s rules to bring the Cenobites’ pleasures to a new and captive audience. Read on for the best Dead by Daylight Pinhead “The Cenobite” builds and an in-depth breakdown of all the Perks and Add-ons you should use.
Dead by Daylight Best Pinhead “The Cenobite” Builds
The best Dead by Daylight builds for Pinhead “The Cenobite” work with the Game and Survivor Slowdown his Power grants. Survivors must risk themselves to solve the Lament Configuration, or the whole team suffers.
The best Dead by Daylight Pinhead “The Cenobite” builds include:
Punishing Chains
The Punishing Chains build focuses on using the active part of Pinhead’s Power to contest Generators.
Here are the Perks and Add-ons in the Punishing Chains build:
Add-ons:
- Engineer’s Fang (Ultra Rare)
- Greasy Black Lens (Very Rare)
Perks:
- Tinkerer (From The Hillbilly)
- Pop goes the Weasel (From The Clown)
- Merciless Storm (From The Onryo)
- Enduring (From The Hillbilly)
The Add-ons turn the Possessed Chains into a ranged attack that injures and reveals Survivors. They apply a smaller slowing effect in exchange.
The core of this build is the combo of Tinkerer, and Merciless Storm. Tinkerer alerts Pinhead to almost finished generators, and Merciless Storm forces Survivors to commit to the last 10% or have the Generator blocked. Any interruption on any Survivor repairing triggers the block, including being bound by Pinhead’s chains.
Healthy Survivors aren’t bound thanks to Engineer’s Fang; they get injured instead. Either they leave the Gen, and it gets blocked, or get Downed trying to finish, and it gets blocked. Both choices give Pinhead more time to activate Pop goes the Weasel by Downing and Hooking a Survivor. Pop’s Regression scales off the Generator’s repair progress; it works best on the almost fixed ones. The same Generators we’re using Tinkerer to locate.
See our best builds for “The Shape” Michael Myers here.
We round out the build with Enduring. Our Chase Power is weaker thanks to the Possessed Chain changes; having less to fear from Pallets helps counter this. Tinkerer and Merciless Storm only activate once per Generator, so make the most of the opportunities they give.
Lament Steward
The Lament Steward build focuses on the Lament Configuration puzzle box and debuffing Survivors.
Here are the Perks and Add-ons in the Lament Steward build:
Add-ons:
- Slice of Frank (Rare)
- Iridescent Lament Configuration (Ultra Rare)
Perks:
- Hoarder (From The Twins)
- Lethal Pursuer (From The Nemesis)
- Rancor (From The Spirit)
- Hex: Plaything (Base Cenobite Perk)
The Add-ons debuff Survivors carrying the puzzle box and make it harder to find.
The Chain Hunts caused by the Puzzle Box are crippling. Normally we let Survivors spend their extra manpower preventing them. Not this time. Now we hunt down the Puzzle Box and anyone holding it to keep the pressure on.
Pinhead (with some practice) can locate the Puzzle Box at the start of the game based on his location and those of the Survivors. Lethal Pursuer gives us the latter. It also buffs the Aura Reading from Rancor, which we get with every repaired Generator.
Hoarder tells us when Survivors pick up nearby Items, including the Puzzle Box. Puzzle Box carriers are Exhausted thanks to our Add-ons and Oblivious by default. Pinhead can chase the Box carrier, Down them, and start the Chain Hunts again.
Hex: Plaything gives the Survivors one more thing to juggle. Even Survivors not carrying the Puzzle Box are Oblivious after their first hook unless they hunt down the Totems powering the Hex. With the info from Rancor and Hoarder, Pinhead can easily ambush Survivors this way.
Balanced Cenobite
The Balanced Cenobite build is our Generalist loadout. It grants several smaller bonuses for a more rounded kit.
Here are the Perks and Add-ons in the Balanced Cenobite build:
Add-ons:
- Wriggling Maggots (Uncommon)
- Torture Pillar (Rare)
Perks:
- Save the Best for Last (From The Shape)
- Deadlock (Base Cenobite Perk)
- Bitter Murmur (Base Killer Perk)
- Agitation (From The Trapper)
Our Add-ons grant a small buff to Possessed Chains and start the Chain Hunt more quickly.
Save the Best for Last is back. Like the Demogorgon, Pinhead can use the 1-2 punch of Basic Attack -> Special Attack to end chases faster. This, with Possessed Chains that are easier to land, makes a strong combo.
Deadlock is our game slowdown. Like the Lament Configuration part of Pinhead’s Power, its passive effect grants more time for Chases. It combines with Bitter Murmur to give us useful information for every completed Generator.
As a Utility Perk, we’re running Agitation. We can carry Survivors further with it. This lets us place them on Hooks near Generators we want to protect. This way, we encourage the Survivors to come to us; it’s “fighting dirty” but effective.
Those are the best Dead by Daylight Pinhead “The Cenobite” builds. Feel free to share your own (or anything we got wrong) in the comments.
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