Dead by Daylight: Best Spirit Builds (2024)

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Human Made

Penned by Aliya Hall

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

Following the horror trope of Japanese ghost girls, Dead by Daylight introduced Rin Yamaoka, “The Spirit,” in Chapter 9: Shattered Bloodline. Spirit is categorized as a “hard” Killer, and she uses her Phase Walking power to traverse the map unseen, stalking and baiting Survivors. Fueled by fury and revenge, the Spirit is an adversary Survivors need to watch their back for. In this guide to the best Spirit builds in DBD, we’ll cover everything you need to know to master Spirit. 

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DBD Spirit Overview

As the only child of the Yamaoka family, Rin took on extra responsibilities to help lighten her family’s financial load after her mom got ill. Rin’s father carried most of the burden, facing an ever-growing debt and working double shifts in the hopes of receiving a promotion. After explaining the family’s situation to his superior, who was looking for scapegoat for the company’s failings, Rin’s father was fired. 

Rin kept working while her father fell further into hopelessness. He started losing sleep and his grip on reality, his only solace a dark whisper that offered only one dastardly solution.  

After work, Rin came home to her mother screaming. As she rushed into the Kagawa estate, she found her mother’s mutilated body and her father holding a katana. She fought off her father the best she could as he hacked at her. Fueled with rage by her father’s cowardly decision to murder both her and her mother, she knew even as she bled out on the floors of her home that she would get her revenge — in this life or the next. 

Spirit Power: Yamaoka’s Haunting

As a transportation Killer, Spirit’s main power is Yamaoka’s Haunting, which initiates Phase Walk. In this mode, Spirit departs from her physical body and enters the Ethereal Plane — leaving behind a stationary Husk that still emits her regular terror radius. 

This power gives Spirit the ability to traverse across the map at an increased speed movement of 7.04 meters per second. You can activate your Phase Walk by pressing and holding the power button.

Yamaoka’s Haunting has five power charges, and using one will deplete the power gauge. The power lasts for 5 seconds and takes 15 seconds to recharge. This gauge must be fully replenished before you can initiate another Phase Walk. When ending Phase Walk, Spirit retains her movement speed boost for 1 second after, and her husk fades. 

While in this mode, Spirit loses sight of all Survivors, but still has means of detecting them. She can see Survivor scratch marks, hear any sounds they make, and see the location of any loud noise notifications. Survivors also hear an audible directional cue from Spirit while she Phase Walks if they are within 24 meters of her ethereal form. 

If Survivors have any perks that track Spirit, they will only be able to track or reveal the Husk while she’s Phase Walking.

Spirit Perks

Spirit also has three unique perks that help her surveil Survivor’s and thwart certain Survivor attacks. Those perks are Spirit Fury, Hex: Haunted Ground, and Rancor. Together, these perks give Spirit an edge over the playing field. 

Spirit Fury

Every time that Spirit breaks a pallet, it magnifies the wrath of the Entity. After breaking a certain number of pallets, Spirit Fury activates. The next time that Spirit is stunned by a pallet from Survivors, the Entity instantly breaks it, but the normal stun effect still applies. Once the effect is applied, Spirit Fury deactivates.

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Spirit Fury activates after breaking four pallets.
• Tier 2 (Green): Spirit Fury activates after breaking three pallets.
• Tier 3 (Purple): Spirit Fury activates after breaking two pallets.

Hex: Haunted Ground

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. This cannot be used multiple times, as the second hex totem will immediately turn into a dull totem. 

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Survivors suffer from the Exposed effect for 40 seconds.
• Tier 2 (Green): Survivors suffer from the Exposed effect for 50 seconds.
• Tier 3 (Purple): Survivors suffer from the Exposed effect for 60 seconds.

Rancor

Fury takes its hold with this perk. At the start of the trial, Spirit becomes Obsessed with one Survivor. Each time a generator is completed, but all Survivors’ locations are revealed to you for 3 seconds. However, it also reveals your aura to the Obsession, 

When the exit gates are powered, the Obsession suffers from a permanent Exposed status effect. Spirit also gains the ability to kill them with her own hand.

Of all Spirit’s perks, Rancor is one of the strongest, giving her multiple powerful advantages at different stages of the game. It also lasts for the entirety of the trial.

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Spirit’s aura is revealed for 5 seconds. 
• Tier 2 (Green): Spirit’s aura is revealed for 4 seconds. 
• Tier 3 (Purple): Spirit’s aura is revealed for 3 seconds. 

Best Add-Ons for Spirit

All of Spirit’s add-ons affect different aspects of Yamaoka’s Haunting. This includes the speed and duration of Phase Walk, as well as shortening cooldown periods. These are generally the best add-ons for Spirit:

Common

• Zōri: Increases Phase Walk movement by 5%.
• Shiawase Amulet: Extends the maximum duration of Phase Walk by 0.5 seconds. Increases the recovery rate of Yamaoka’s Haunting by 10%.

Uncommon

• Muddy Sports Cap: Increases the movement speed during Phase Walk by 10%.
• Kaiun Talisman: Extends the maximum duration of Phase Walk by 1 second. Increases the recovery rate of Yamaoka’s Haunting by 20%.
• Juniper Bonsai: Reduces the passive phasing cooldown by 1 second and increases the passive phasing duration by 50%.

Rare

• Rusty Flute: Increases the power recovery rate by 25%.
• Senko Hanabi: Ending Phase Walk causes the Husk to explode, blocking any vault locations within 4 meters of its location for 5 seconds. 
• Uchiwa: Instantly recharged Yamaoka’s Haunting when stunned by a pallet. Excellent to use in conjunction with the Spirit Fury perk.
• Mother’s Glasses: Survivors coming within 2 meters of the Husk during Phase Walk will trigger Killer Instinct, which reveals Survivor’s locations through an orange web. Unlike an aura reveal, Killer Instinct, also reveals if a Survivor is hiding in a locker. 

Very Rare

• Yakuyoke Amulet: Increases the maximum duration of Phase Walk by 3.5 seconds. Increases the recovery rate of Yamaoka’s Haunting by 70%. It also decreases the movement speed of Phase Walk by 15%.
• Furin: Causes all Survivors to hear the Phase Walk sound cue. 
• Dried cherry Blossom: Coming within 4 meters of a Survivor while Phase Walking will trigger Killer instinct, but scratch marks are not longer visible while the Walk is in effect. 
• Mother Daughter Ring: Increases the movement speed during Phase Walk by 40%, but scratch marks are no longer visible. 

Ultra Rare

• Kintsugi Teacup: Instantly recharges Yamaoka’s Haunting after breaking a pallet or a breakable wall. Another excellent add-on to use in conjunction with the Spirit Fury perk.

Best Builds for Spirit

The best builds for Spirit in DBD are the ones that help her expose Survivors and destroy pallets. 

Beginner Build for Spirit

One of the challenges to Spirit is that she loses sight of Survivors while Phase Walking and has to rely more on their sounds. Perks that amplify Survivor sounds will therefore be your best bet. Sloppy Butcher (general) affects Survivors hit with basic attacks with the Hemorrhage and Mangled status effects, which affects their healing speed and produces more blood pools. This is more likely to keep them injured and making noises that you can follow. 

The next perks help you monitor generators and keep tabs on Survivors. By using Spirit’s Hex: Haunted Ground, you can expose Survivors for 30 seconds, giving you enough time to sneak up on them during Phase Walk. This also works well with Bitter Murmur (general), which reveals Survivor auras within 16 meters of a completed generator for 5 seconds. This effect occurs every time a generator is completed.

To add more generator pressure, include Jolt (general). This perk activates when you put a Survivor into the dying state with a basic attack, making all generators within 32 meters instantly explode and start regressing by 6%. 

Pallet Destroying Spirit Build

Spirit lends herself to a build that is pallet-focused, making it harder for Survivors to stun her and put distance between them. By leaning into this build, Survivors will be quick to lose their advantageous pallets, which will make it harder for them to get away or loop the Killer. 

Spirit Fury is a great perk for this. After Spirit breaks a certain number of pallets, the Entity will immediately break any pallet that is used to stun her. To lessen the effect of any potential stuns, use Enduring (Hillbilly) to reduce the duration of a pallet stun impact by 40%. To help assist the activation of Spirt Fury, add in Brutal Strength (Trapper) to increase the action speed of breaking pallets, walls, and generators by 10%. 

As an added bonus, while you’re working on breaking pallets, Hex: Blood Favour (Blight) will help you in the background. Whenever a Survivor loses a health state by any means and enters the injured or dying states, the Entity will block all pallets within 24 meters of that Survivor’s location for the next 15 seconds. This will make it easier for you to overtake injured Survivors in a chase, and will help you tremendously while you work on breaking pallets.   

Best Spirit Build Overall

For Spirit, the best build is one that focuses on exposing Survivors and making it easier to track them. This is the main reason we recommend Sloppy Butcher. 

To help track Survivors, we recommend using Discordance (Legion) to stalk and add more generator pressure. Any generator within a range of 64 meters of you that is being repaired by two or more Survivors will be marked with a yellow aura, which will trigger a loud noise notification. After the generator is no longer within range, or is being repaired by just one Survivor, the highlighted aura will linger for four seconds. 

Adding Spirit’s other perk, Rancor, is also beneficial. Each time a generator is completed, all Survivors’ locations are revealed to you for 3 seconds. Rancor also helps Spirit in two stages — main trial and when the exit gates are opened. Rancor gives the Obsession a permanent Exposed status effect and the ability to kill them with your own hand. Hex: No One Escapes Death helps by increasing your movement speed by 2% and gives all Survivors an Exposed status effect.

As a hex, this only works if there is one remaining dull totem on the map. Once the status effect is revealed, the hex totem’s aura is revealed to Survivors within 4 meters of it and gradually expands that range to 24 meters over the course of 30 seconds. 

Join the High Ground

That’s it for our guide to the best Spirit builds in DBD — thanks for reading! Let us know which Killer we should cover next in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more content like this.

Happy gaming!