Stepping into the role of killer inDead By Daylightcan be overwhelming. After all, on launch (that’s August 07, 2025 -eightyears ago!) there were three killers to choose from and only so many perks between them to build with. Now, you can choose from 37 killers, and between them, a total of 124 perks, with more to come in the future. Trying to come up with a build that will help you stall generators and down survivors can be almost as terrifying as the premise of the game itself. But don’t worry: we’re here to help you break down some of the most versatile perks available in the killer’s arsenal.
Remember, every killer is different, and you might want to mix and match the perks below with your own favorites to play up to each killer’s strengths and weaknesses. With the game regularly seeing updates, the killer meta is constantly changing, but the goal remains the same: stop generators. Keep survivors from escaping. Earn the Entity’s good graces.
9Hex: No One Escapes Death
Unlocks from:
None (General Perk)
Perk description:
Once the Exit Gates are powered, if there is still a Dull Totem remaining on the Map, Hex: No One Escapes Death activates and lights it:
Note: All effects of the Hex Perk persist until its Hex Totem is cleansed or blessed.
While this perk doesn’t activate until the end of the game (after the generators have been completed), it can have a powerful effect as seen above. It’s not just you: we all have those games where the generators are finished before we’ve killed a single survivor. That’s where Hex: No One Escapes Death comes in handy. This perk might just turn a losing game into a brutal victory, giving you the ability to down survivors in a single hit thanks to the Exposed Status Effect.
OK, OK. While this perk might not necessarily be useful ineverysituation (it won’t activate if there are no totems left on the map and once it’s cleansed, it’s gone), it’s earned a spot on this list all the same because it’s easy to get your hands on. Hex: No One Escapes Death is a base perk, meaning you don’t have to level up any particular killer to unlock it.If you’re new to playing killeror just want a basic build to start with, this is a great option.
8Barbecue & Chili
The Cannibal
A deep bond with The Entity unlocks potential in one’s aura-reading ability:
Knowledge is your greatest weapon with any killer you play, and Barbecue & Chili serves a heaping amount of it. After hooking a survivor, you’ll see the auras of other survivors scattered across the map, so you can immediately decide where to go for your next kill. This cuts down on how much time you’ll waste justlookingfor survivors (because sometimes, they can be hard to find) and in a game like this, time is everything.
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Barbecue & Chili is one of The Cannibal’s unique perks, so you’ll have to level him up first to get your hands on it, but the pay-off is well worth it. According toanalytics site NightLight,killers using Barbecue & Chili maintained a massive 58.45% kill rate as of last month.
7Brutal Strength
The Trapper
Your great strength allows you to shred through your prey’s defenses.
Let’s face it: it doesn’t matter how good you are at playing killer, chases are almost always inevitable. They’re a part of the game, and if you don’t come prepared, you’re going to end up in an increasingly frustrating game of cat and mouse. Brutal Strength keeps you competitive in chases, so while Claudette is dropping every pallet on the map, you’re not spending your whole game breaking them.
We’ve said it before: time in this game is everything, and any perk that helps keep chases as short as possible so you can hook the survivor and move onto the next is a good thing, regardless of the killer you’re playing.
6Corrupt Intervention
The Plague
Your prayers invoke a dark power that meddles with the survivors' chances of survival.
Corrupt Intervention deactivates prematurely once the first survivor is put into the Dying State.
The goal of the game for survivors is to complete generators, and as a killer, your goal is to prevent them from doing just that. This perk is a no-brainer for stalling generator repair, because from the start of the game, the three generators furthest from you will be blocked. This gives you much-needed time to scout the map and find survivors without worrying about a generator being completed before you’ve downed anyone.
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Back to statistics:According to NightLight,as of July, 12, killers using Corrupt Intervention saw a 60.10% kill rate.
5Lethal Pursuer
You’ve been designed to track down and eliminate targets.
Having the knowledge of where survivors are at the start of a match is immensely helpful, and with the added bonus of Lethal Pursuer’s duration increasing every time you see a survivor’s aura again, this perk gives you the upper-hand early on in the game.
Pair this perk with Corrupt Intervention for an early-game build that can stop survivors in their tracks before a single generator has even been completed.According to NightLight, killers playing with Lethal Pursuer saw a 58.99% kill rate as of July 12.
4No Way Out
The Trickster
You’re not going to let just anyone into the VIP room.
The final generator has been completed and the alarm for the exit gates has been sounded. You might be tempted to throw in the towel and hope for better luck in your next game, but don’t give up so quickly. This perk – exclusive to The Trickster – gives you the chance to turn the game around, even after the generators are complete.
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One of the best feelings you can have in Dead by Daylight is making a killer build work - especially a meme build.
It’s simple: a survivor interacts with the exit gate and the Entity blocks it for a base time of 12 seconds, with additional time added depending on how many tokens you’ve acquired.According to NightLight,killers playing with No Way Out saw a 62.89% kill rate as of July 12.
3Nowhere to Hide
The Knight
The machinations of the weak and craven draw your ire. Your anger forces survivors to reveal themselves. Performing the Damage Generator action on a generator triggers Nowhere to Hide:
Despite your best efforts, survivors will always find generators to work on at some point in the game. Your job is to slow their progress. This perk is extremely useful because, oftentimes, a generator in progress means that there could be a survivor hiding in the bushes nearby.
By damaging the generator, you’ll reveal any hidden survivors in the immediate area, making it easy to begin your next chase and slow the progress survivors have made.And according to NightLight, killers playing with Nowhere to Hide saw a 60.10% kill rate as of July 12.
2Pop Goes the Weasel
A deep bond with The Entity unlocks great strength.
The best way to stop generators is to stall progress on them. With Pop Goes the Weasel, you’ll be rewarded after hooking a survivor with the ability to damage a generator and have it instantly lose 20% of its progress. For a generator that was near completion, this can throw a wrench in survivors' plans (and not the helpful kind of tool, either).
Pair this perk with Nowhere to Hide for a brutal combination.According to NightLight, killers that played with Pop Goes the Weasel saw a 58.11% kill rate as of July 12.
1Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance
The Artist
Overwhelming pain reverberates outwards into chaos.
Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance is a powerful perk that rewards you for hooking survivors, and best of all, you may pair it with just about every other perk mentioned in this list for a build that will help you earn that “Merciless Killer” title.According to NightLight,killers using Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance saw a 62.24% kill rate as of July 12.
And in a world that’s all about pleasing the Entity, that is the highest compliment you could ask for.
