Dead by Daylight: Best Nemesis Builds (2024)

Nemesis T-Type, more commonly known as the Nemesis, is a pursuit killer that made his arrival with the “Resident Evil” chapter, and is the first character from the franchise to debut in Dead by Deadlight.

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Nemesis T-Type, more commonly known as the Nemesis, is the first character from the Resident Evil franchise to debut in Dead by Deadlight. As a pursuit based killer, the Nemesis has a difficult ranking of “hard,” due to his challenging and nuanced powers. When mastered, the Nemesis is a successful ambush Killer whose Zombies contribute added pressure to Survivors. This guide to the best Nemesis builds in Dead by Daylight covers everything you need to know about this infectiously fun Killer.

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DBD Nemesis Guide: Overview

A Model T-103 Tyrant, the Nemesis is a mass-produced, superhuman weapon created by Resident Evil’s notorious Umbrella Corporation. Like all T-103 Tyrants, the Nemesis was infected with the T-Virus during its creation, degrading the host’s brain beyond the point of following complex orders.

To counteract this, T-103s were additionally infected with the NE-α parasite. This parasite controls the host’s body and is capable of spreading the T-Virus itself. The “tentacle” that Nemesis attacks with is not actually a tentacle, but the NE-α parasite emerging from the host body.

With his unique take on gameplay, Nemesis has been rising in popularity. He’s a ruthless pursuer whose destructive powers let him easily track and ambush Survivors. His Zombies also grant him an added advantage, if you know how to use them to your benefit. If you enjoy the thrill of surveilling Survivors and aggressively giving chase, the Nemesis is the Killer for you.

DBD Nemesis Power: T-Virus

The T-Virus special attack works through Tentacle Strike, which reaches 5 meters. You press and hold the power button (L2 on PlayStation, Xbox and PC) to charge the attack, then tap the attack button (R2 on Playstation and RT on Xbox or PC) to unleash the Tentacle Strike. 

The first time you hit a Survivor with Tentacle Strike, you inflict them with Contamination. In addition to all the Contamination effects listed below, they will also suffer from a 20% decrease in strength, and the Hindered status effect for 0.25 seconds.

Tentacle Strike also powers up your Mutation Rate Meter, which expands the Nemesis’s capabilities. Attacking Survivors and destroying Zombies earns you Contamination Points, which go toward filling the gauge. Hitting a Survivor with Tentacle Strike Contaminates them and adds three points to the Mutation Rate Meter. If they’re already Contaminated, it instead adds one point.

• Mutation Rate 1: Available by default. No special benefits occur.
• Mutation Rate 2: Unlocks at 6 Contamination Points. Tentacle Strike gains the ability to instantly destroy breakable walls and pallets, making it easier to pursue Survivors.
• Mutation Rate 3: Unlocks at 15 Contamination Points. Tentacle Strike’s reach increases to 6 meters, and increases movement speed while charging a strike from 3.8 m/s to 4 m/s.

DBD Nemesis Special Affliction: Contamination

Contaminated Survivors are susceptible to attacks from both the Nemesis and Zombies. They’ll also suffer from the Hindered status effect and make occasional coughing noises.

Survivors can cure themselves of Contamination with a vaccine, which they can find in the four supply cases placed throughout the map. They can use the vaccine either on themselves or their teammates. Vaccines take three seconds to administer, and using them reveals the Survivor’s location for three seconds through Killer Instinct.

Zombies

Nemesis also gets the added benefit of two AI-controlled Zombies. These sidekicks can Contaminate Survivors, pressure them off generators, and block key escape routes. Most importantly, if a Zombie attacks a contaminated Survivor, they lose a health state. 

Zombies will attack Survivors if they come too close, but overall follow the same rules as a Tentacle Strike attack. They have an attack open time of 0.2 seconds, a 1.3 second attack hit time, and a 0.5 second cool-down. 

Although the Zombies’ walking speed is only 1 m/s, they have a detection range of 14 meters where they will start chasing a Survivor in their field of view. They are sensitive to Survivors’ noises and react to generator repairs, rushed actions, and chest unlocks. 

Survivors have the ability to destroy Zombies by using the Head On perk or with pallets. Zombies are also vulnerable to blinding by flashlight, firecracker, or flash grenade. Zombies take 45 seconds to respawn after being destroyed by a Survivor, and will always respawn out of the ground beneath a random hook. 

Nemesis can also destroy Zombies to further increase his mutation rate power gauge. When he destroys them using Tentacle Strike, it adds one contamination point to his power gauge. Keep in mind that using a basic attack won’t add any points — you can simply use it to respawn Zombies in a different location on the map.  

DBD Nemesis Perks

Nemesis has three unique perks. These abilities help him to quickly confront injured or preoccupied Survivors.

Lethal Pursuer 

At the start of a trial, this perk reveals the auras of all Survivors to you. Upgrading Lethal Pursuer extends the duration of a Survivor’s aura for an additional two seconds. 

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Reveals Survivor auras for 7 seconds.
• Tier 2 (Green): Reveals Survivor auras for 8 seconds.
• Tier 3 (Purple): Reveals Survivor auras for 9 seconds.

Hysteria

Any time a healthy Survivor is injured, every other injured Survivor becomes Oblivious and can no longer hear the Terror Radius. Hysteria has a 30s cooldown period.

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Oblivious lasts for 20 seconds.
• Tier 2 (Green): Oblivious lasts for 25 seconds.
• Tier 3 (Purple): Oblivious lasts for 30 seconds.

Eruption

Thanks to the NE-α parasite, Nemesis has the intelligence and awareness to set a trap on the generator. After damaging a generator by kicking it, the machine’s aura will highlight level. Whenever a Survivor is downed and/or dying, every affected generator will explode, immediately lose 10% progress, and start regressing. If a Survivor is repairing an affected generator, they will scream and suffer from the Incapacitated status effect. The cooldown period for Eruption is 30s.

• Tier 1 (Yellow): Incapacitated lasts for 15 seconds.
• Tier 2 (Green): Incapacitated lasts for 20 seconds.
• Tier 3 (Purple): Incapacitated lasts for 25 seconds.

Best Add-Ons for DBD Nemesis

The best add-ons for Nemesis focus on enhancing the AI Zombies skills, increasing your Mutation Rate, or making it more difficult for Survivors to recover from the T-Virus.

• Marvin’s Blood: Uncommon. Increases Nemesis’s Mutation Rate by 0.75 points when he hits Survivors with a Tentacle Strike. This helps get Nemesis to his highest Mutation Rate quicker. 
• Mikhail’s Eye: Uncommon. Increases Zombie movement speed by 0.35 m/s, bolstering their walking speed to 1.35 m/s and making it more challenging for Survivors to elude their field of view. 
• Serotonin Injector: Rare. Gives Nemesis an undetectable status effect for 15 seconds when a Zombie is destroyed, making it easy for him to find and stalk Survivors. 
• T-Visus Sample: Rare. Increases Nemesis’s Mutation Rate when he destroys zombies with a Tentacle Strike by one Contamination Point, making it easier for him reach a higher Mutation Rate level and receive those benefits. 
• Plant 43 Vines: Rare. Increases the opening time for Survivor’s supply cases by four seconds, to a total of eight seconds. This added time is a nuisance to Survivors and could be beneficial to the Nemesis if he spots a Survivor trying to open the case. 
• Depleted Ink Ribbon: Very rare. Energizes Zombies and reduces the respawn time by five seconds, making Zombies respawn in 40 seconds if they were destroyed by Survivors and 7 seconds if they were destroyed by Nemesis. Increases the Zombies’ movement speed by 0.5 m/s, upping their walking speed to 1.5 m/s. Additionally, once all five generators are completed, any destroyed Zombies will respawn in the area surrounding the exit gates.
• Broken Recovery Coin: Very rare. Removes one of the four supply cases from the trial, which means only three survivors will have the potential to cure themselves from T-Virus contamination.

Best Builds for DBD Nemesis

With Nemesis being a pursuit and ambush killer, the best builds for him include perks that capitalize on revealing Survivors’ auras and make them easier to track and chase, effect their ability to perform skills, and slow generator progress to keep them in the game longer. Using a mix of the add-ons from above with these different builds will make the Nemesis a difficult Killer to beat.  

Beginner Build

For new players to Nemesis, using perks that advance his tracking ability will make it easier for you to pursue and ambush survivors. Plus, all of these perks are either easy to get or already accessible to you to use. With Lethal Pursuer, all of the Survivor’s auras will briefly be revealed to you, so you have an idea of where to start looking.

Corrupt Intervention (The Plague) is also helpful for early game, as it blocks the three generators furthest away from you for over a minute, which helps push Survivors closer to you. 

With the addition of Infectious Fright, another Plague perk, you can cause Survivors in your Terror Radius to scream whenever you down a Survivor, which gives you the option to leave the Survivor slugged and go after another Survivor in the area.

Another Survivor revealing perk that is beneficial to knowing where to find Survivors is BBQ & Chili (The Cannibal), which reveals the auras of all other Survivors for four seconds after you hook one of them. 

Together, these perks will give Nemesis an edge to locating Survivors early on and add immediate pressure, which you can sustain throughout the game with the other two aura-revealing perks.

Standard Build

After you have the opportunity to unlock more perks, this well-rounded build will give Nemesis more diverse benefits. This is a powerful build that is majority built on Nemesis perks, which makes it easy to unlock, and works together to apply pressure multiple times throughout Dead by Daylight. 

By keeping Lethal Pursuer on, you will start DBD with an advantage and could potentially hook your first survivor before the first generator is even finished. 

Hysteria will also make tracking Survivors easier. Injuring a healthy Survivor causes all other injured Survivors to suffer from the Oblivious status. They’ll be unable to perceive the Killer’s Terror Radius, making it easier for Nemesis to ambush them without being heard.

Adding that with BBQ & Chili will give you an immediate target after you hook a Survivor.

Lastly, including Nemesis’ Eruption with this build will add more pressure to generators. The moment a Survivor is put into the Dying State, every affected generator will explode and immediately begin to lose progress.

Advanced Build

This build focuses on slowing generator progress, keeping Survivors in the match longer. By switching out Eruption with three different generator-based perks, Nemesis just has to circulate around generators in order to attack Survivors. 

Tinkerer (The Hillbilly)  is the first perk that will help you monitor generator progress. It triggers a loud noise notification whenever a generator reaches 70% repaired, and simultaneously grants you the Undetectable status. This means Survivors are unable to hear your Terror Radius as you approach.

Adding that with Pop Goes the Weasel (The Clown) will also keep generators from repairing quickly. After Nemesis hooks a Survivor, he has 35–45 seconds (depending on the perk tier) to damage a generator. By damaging it, the generator loses 20% of its current progression.

Generator disruption is intensified with the Hex — Ruin (The Hag), which effects all Survivor’s generator repair progress. If a generator isn’t being worked on by a Survivor, it will immediately and automatically begin to regress. Though Survivors can cleanse the Ruin Hex, including it with the other generator-focused perks will put Survivors at an immediate disadvantage when they start the game. 

Lastly, to round out the build, we recommend using Thanatophobia (The Nurse) perk because it will inflict a stackable speed penalty to injured Survivors when they’re repairing generators, sabotaging hooks and cleansing totems. This will make it harder for Survivors to get the Ruin Hex out of the game, as well as maintain progress on generators. 

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