The other side of Dead by Daylight’s roster is the Survivors. Sadly, they have no built-in Powers like their Killer counterparts, but most of them have Perks that can be granted to the others with a little work. We’re working mainly off their default Perks in our Dead by Daylight Survivor 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.
After the Stranger Things license was removed, the perks of Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington were renamed and added to the general pool, along with those of The Demogorgon.
Dead by Daylight Survivor Tier List
- S-Tier: Meg Thomas, Mikaela Reid
- A-Tier: Claudette Morel, Nea Karlsson, Kate Denson, Yui Kimura, Leon S. Kennedy, Yoichi Asakawa
- B-Tier: Dwight Fairfield, William “Bill” Overbeck, David King, Feng Min, David Tapp, Jeff Johansen, Jane Romero, Zarina Kassir, Felix Richter, Elodie Rakoto, Yun-Jin Lee, Jill Valentine, Haddie Kaur, Rebecca Chambers
- C-Tier: Jake Park, Laurie Strode, Ace Visconti, Quentin Smith, Adam Francis, Cheryl Mason, Jonah Vasquez, Ada Wong
- D-Tier: Ashley J. Williams
Dead by Daylight Survivor Tier List Breakdown
Here are all the different tiers in our Dead by Daylight survivor tier list, and reasons behind why we placed them where we did.
S-Tier Survivors
- Meg Thomas
- Mikaela Reid
There are plenty of Survivors with good Perks, but no one beats Meg. Her entire Perk set is built around running from the Killer. They all work together (and with other Perks) while also being strong in their own right. Mikaela Reid lands a spot here because of her Boon Perks. Circle of Healing is a game-changer post-nerf, and Shadow Step is strong.
A-Tier Survivors
- Claudette Morel
- Nea Karlsson
- Kate Denson
- Yui Kimura
- Leon S. Kennedy
- Yoichi Asakawa
Most Survivors here have 1 strong Perk or a well-rounded total kit. Claudette and Nea would rank higher if they didn’t both have newbie traps hiding in those kits. Many a solo Survivor has lost the will to keep playing thanks to overly cautious teammates with Self-Care or Urban Evasion.
B-Tier Survivors
- Dwight Fairfield
- William “Bill” Overbeck
- David King
- Feng Min
- David Tapp
- Jeff Johansen
- Jane Romero
- Zarina Kassir
- Felix Richter
- Elodie Rakoto
- Yun-Jin Lee
- Jill Valentine
- Haddie Kaur
- Rebecca Chambers
Survivors here are solid. Many have 1 or 2 above average perks or fairly versatile kits. They just don’t beat the A-tier Survivors in overall usefulness. Many of the Perks here combo well with others, so don’t discount them.
C-Tier Survivors
- Jake Park
- Laurie Strode
- Ace Visconti
- Quentin Smith
- Adam Francis
- Cheryl Mason
- Jonah Vasquez
- Ada Wong
Poor Jake, every Perk he has was nerfed over the game’s lifetime, and someone who was an S-Tier Survivor is now here. There are still some good Perks, like Ace’s Open-Handed or Jonah’s Overcome. The problem is most of them are so specialized the entire Survivor build has to revolve around them to get any value.
Adam’s the odd one out: His perks are B-Tier on their own. The problem is every Killer expects every Adam to have Diversion or Deliverance and will play accordingly. Ace currently has quieter pain sounds, roughly on par with Iron Will, but Behaviour is planning to address this and the louder-than-average Survivors in the future.
D-Tier Survivors
- Ashley “Ash” J. Williams
Sorry to any Evil Dead fans out there. Ash was actually overpowered on release purely thanks to Mettle of Man, but after its nerf, he’s never been the same. Survivors have thrown Trials trying to get that Perk working in its current form, and the others are nothing to write about.
That was our Dead by Daylight Survivor tier list. Anyone that feels we missed or overlooked something is free to let us know in the comments.
There are other tips in our Guides Section, including more Dead by Daylight entries. Take a look.
