Best Killer Perks in Dead by Daylight

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Aliya Hall is a writer and occasional freelance journalist who lives in Portland, Oregon with her fiancée and their three cats: Jane Austen, Hanni... Read more

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Playing as a Killer in Dead by Daylight grants you horrifically unique powers to use against Survivors. If you’re playing against a solid team, however, you may need a little help tipping the scales back in your favor. Perks add another level to the game, giving both Killers and Survivors an advantage to gameplay. There are over 112 Killer Perks to choose from, ranging from adding generator pressure to hunting and stalking Survivors and more. You can equip up to four at once, giving you room to find what works best for you. To help you get started, here’s our list of the 20 best Killer Perks in DBD!

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20 Best Killer Perks in DBD

In addition to normal Killer Perks, our list also includes Hex Totems. These are incredibly powerful effects that can dramatically change the course of gameplay. Although Survivors can cleanse these Hex Totems and effectively remove them from the game, their benefits are often worth the trouble.

While some of these Perks and Hex Totems shine in conjunction with a particular Killer or play style, there are certain Perks that stand out regardless of who you’re playing as. Let’s get right into our list!

Whispers

If you’re a beginner to the game or want to run a stealth build, this general Killer Perk is a useful addition to spy on Survivors. 

Whenever at least one Survivor is within at most 48 meters of your location, you hear the sporadic whispers of the Entity. Although it doesn’t fully reveal the location of the Survivor, it does help point you in the general direction of where to go. This is particularly helpful if you want to sneak up on Survivors. 

Hubris

There are only a handful of Perks in Dead by Daylight that address pallet stuns. This Knight Perk in particular brings a fun dynamic to any potential pallet strike. 

Whenever you are stunned by a Survivor, that Survivor suffers from the Exposed status effect for at least 10 seconds. This defeats the purpose of stunning as an escape tactic, making it easier for you to catch back up after being stunned. 

Sloppy Butcher

This is a perk available to all Killers and is generally useful and applicable to most builds, but especially ones focused on keeping Survivors injured. 

Any Survivors wounded by basic attacks will suffer from the Hemorrhage and Mangled status effects, increasing bleeding frequency by at least 50% and increases the regression rate by 15%. These effects will be removed once the Survivor is fully healed. This does incentivize Survivors to heal, but if you use this Perk with a perk like A Nurse’s Calling, you can keep the effect active longer. 

Corrupt Intervention

This Plague Perk is a great way to start the game with generator pressure. Whether you’re looking to push Survivors deeper into the center of the map or wanting to slow generator progress, Corrupt Intervention sets the tone for the rest of the round. 

At the start of the trial, the three generators located furthest from you are blocked by the Entity for at least 80 seconds. Although it prematurely deactivates once the first Survivor is put into the Dying state, it gives you plenty of time to find and hunt down Survivors close to you. 

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

If you aren’t planning a build that is generator heavy, but would still like to add a certain level of pressure to the game, this Artist Perk is a handy one to have.

You enter the trial with four white Scourge Hooks and four tokens. Each time a Survivor is hooked on a Scourge Hook for the first time, a token is consumed. The generator with the most progress explodes and instantly regresses at least 15% of its maximum possible regression on top of normal generator regression, and all Survivors repairing that generator will scream. 

When all the tokens are consumed, the Perk is disabled. That said, it will impact the game for a significant amount of time while it’s in place.  

Infectious Fright

If you’re looking for a Perk to help with a slug build or a way to track your next victim, Plague’s Infectious Fright is a wonderful addition. 

Whenever a Survivor is put into the dying state by any means, all other Survivors within the terror radius will scream and reveal their current location for at least four seconds. This Perk can also help dissuade Survivors from bunching together, especially ones with flashlights. 

Jolt

This is another generator Perk available to all Killers, but this one tackles regression a little bit different. It can also be stacked with other generator disruption perks for a dedication generator build or as a little treat on its own. 

Whenever you put a Survivor into the Dying state with your basic attack, all generators within 32 meters of you instantly explode and start regressing, on top of at least a 6% decrease of maximum possible regression. 

Blood Warden

This Perk from The Nightmare comes into play as soon as an exit gate is opened, and can be a devastating blow to Survivors hoping to make a quick escape when done right.

Once per trial, hooking a Survivor while Blood Warden is active calls upon the Entity to block the exits for all Survivors for at least 30 seconds, while also revealing the auras of Survivors standing within the exit gate area. 

While it requires the right circumstances, having the ability to keep Survivors trapped in exit gate while also giving you that insight can be a lucrative Perk to have. 

Barbecue & Chili

This is another staple Perk that is great for monitoring Survivors and helping you track them down. 

After hooking a Survivors, all Survivors at most 60 meters away from the hook will have their aura revealed for five seconds. This useful Perk belongs to the Cannibal and is beneficial to all playing levels, and adds a passive level of detection for Killers.

Hex: Plaything

If you’re looking for a Hex Perk that will keep Survivors occupied, Plaything is a great one to have — especially when paired with something like Hex: Pentimento. 

If there’s at least one totem on the grounds, the Perk will activate on a random totem each time a Survivor is hooked for the first time. The Survivor suffers from cursed and oblivious until the Hex is cleansed, and for the first 90 seconds, it’s the cursed Survivor who has to cleanse the Hex Totem. 

This gives the Survivor one more thing to worry about during the trial, outside of avoiding your power and repairing generators, which will make it easier to slowly pick off Survivors. 

Lethal Pursuer

This Nemesis Perk is incredibly useful for Killers who want a head start in tracking and attacking Survivors, especially if you’re a new Killer who wants a direction to head when the trial begins. 

At the start of the game, the auras of all Survivors are revealed for at least 7 seconds, and the duration of a Survivor’s Aura reveal is extended by two seconds. This Perk works great with other aura revealing Perks for a monitoring and stalking build.

Call of Brine

Although there are multiple Perks that impact generator progress, Onryō’s Call of Brine is particularly useful. 

After damaging a generator, the Perk activates for 60 seconds, regressing the generator at least 115% of the normal regression speed and will give you a loud noise notification each time a Survivor hits a good skill check on the affected generator. 

Not only can you dramatically decrease progress on generators, but the added bonus of a notification for a good skill check forces Survivors to make great skill checks or risk catching your attention. 

THWACK!

Another strong Perk that focuses on pallets, this Skull Merchant Perk de-incentivizes Survivors from relying on pallets while looping. It can also be used as an effective monitoring tool. 

The next time you break a breakable wall or pallet, all Survivors within at least 28 meters of your location will scream and reveal their aura for four seconds. This helps you have an idea as to who is sneaking around as well as helps you get obstacles out of the way.

Hex: Haunted Ground

One of most challenging aspects of Hex Totems is their ability to be cleansed. By adding this Spirit Perk to your build, you can add a penalty to Survivors who choose to cleanse totems.

When the trial begins, two of the Hex Totems that spawn will be trapped. When either of the Hex Totems are blessed or cleansed by a Survivor, all Survivors will suffer from the Exposed status effect for over 30 seconds. 

A Nurse’s Calling

Belonging to none other than The Nurse, this Perk is an excellent addition to any build, but particularly if you want a way to track Survivors or are new to the game. 

Similar to how it sounds, A Nurse’s Calling reveals the auras of Survivors who are healing or being healed within a range of at least 20 meters. This Perk adds pressure to injured Survivors, forcing them to choose between being downed easier or risk revealing their location. 

Hex: Ruin

Like all Hex Perks, this is an extremely lucrative Perk to have in the beginning of the game because of its impact on generators. The only downside is that it only lasts until a Survivor is killed or the Totem is cleansed, but it causes enough damage that when placed in a build, you know where Survivors will be spending most of their time. 

Whenever a generator isn’t being repaired by a Survivor, it will immediately and automatically regress at least 50% of the normal speed. This will give you an immediate advantage as far as keeping Survivors in the trial, as well as giving you insight into where they are.

Hex: No One Escapes Death

This is another extremely effective Hex Totem available to all Killers and becomes crucial in end game. 

When the exit games are powered and there’s still a dull totem left on the map, this Hex activates and increases your speed as well as exposes all Survivors permanently until a Survivor manages to cleanse the totem. This puts them in a race to escape before being caught by you or to cleanse the totem while being exposed — giving you the chance to round them up and sacrifice them.

Hex: Devour Hope

At its strongest, this Perk is one of the most dangerous for Survivors. 

Each time a Survivor is rescued from a hook while you’re at least 24 meters away, the Perk gains 1 token up to a maximum of five. At two tokens you gain a haste effect for 10 seconds, at three tokens all Survivors suffer from a permanent exposed status effect, and at five tokens you can kill Survivors with your own hand. 

This Perk works well in a build that keeps pressure on monitoring Survivors, so you can let the Hex run in the background. 

Rancor

This is a Spirit Perk that works in two phases. At the start of the trial, you becomes obsessed with one Survivor. Each time a generator is completed, it reveals your aura to the obsession and all Survivors’ locations are revealed to you for three seconds. 

When the exit gates are powered, the second part of Rancor activates, permanently exposing the Obsession and granting you the ability to kill them. While this Perk relies on the long game, when you’re up against experienced Survivors, it forces the team to play a little differently. 

Hex: Pentimento

What sets Pentimento apart from other hexes is that this power only grows from being cleansed, which makes it a pain for Survivors to deal with in a Hex specific build. 

When a Hex Totem is cleansed, you can see its aura and have the ability to rekindle it. For each rekindled totem active at the same time, you will also gain additional effects that hinder Survivors, such as reducing repair, recovery, and healing speeds, as well as the speed of opening an exit gate. If that wasn’t advantageous on its own, if all five totems have been rekindled, they are permanently blocked by the Entity, making it impossible for a Survivor to cleanse them again. 

This Perk requires Survivors to dedicate time to finding and cleansing every totem they find, or risk the wrath of some of the other very powerful hexes. 

Join the High Ground!

That’s it for our best Killer Perks in DBD — thanks for reading! Let us know what your top Killer perks are in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more content like this.

Happy gaming!