Dead by Daylight has become a horror buff’s favorite place to be with killers ranging from your generic archetype to famous evil beings from some of the top horror franchises. The Killers are many in DBD, some are great to play with while some are weaker, so here is a Killer tier list for you to choose the best ones in the game.
DBD wants the players to unleash their inner slayer by giving them a Killer of choice. There are 30 in total and all are tempting to play with though there are differences amongst them and some are more accessible than the rest. So let’s find out which ones are perfect for you.
It’s like a killer convention or an office party you would not want to be invited to.
DBD Killer Tier List: All Ranked from Worst to Best
This assembly of Killers is one to behold, The Entity sure knows how to pick them to serve its morbid games. With 30 Killers at its disposal, The Entity wants you to become the apex predator by choosing your ideal one. The lore of the game gives unique explanations of how these killers are part of this universe and their backstory.
This tier list will try to list them according to how easy and convenient each Killer is and more focused towards the beginners of this game as opposed to the top players who know how each killer works. That being said, let’s get down to the brute facts:
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30. The Trapper
The Trapper is the first killer in Dead by Daylight and it suffers from that label as old is not gold in this case. The perk it has is laying Bear Traps with two in hand and an additional four can be obtained while roaming the map. These traps can be laid down in strategic locations where players are most likely to tread. These traps hold the Survivor in place and notify the killer to come for the kill. Trapper also gains speed while carrying a Survivor. These traps take some time to be laid down and you have to visit the place to manually place them making it a somewhat tedious process. There is a lot of randomness with this character as sometimes the traps will hold the Survivor for longer and sometimes they will escape swiftly. Trapper is constantly being updated to make him more approachable.
29. The Shape
One of the OG slasher, Michael Myers, this Killer has to level up to unlock its true potential. On level one his movement is slow and lunges are shorter, he will be undetectable with no terror radius. By stalking Survivors and using his powers he will level up and in the next level, he gets a small terror radius and faster moving speed with a longer lunge. As you work through to level 3 the terror radius is on par with the rest of the Killers and the lunge is the longest and every Survivor becomes exposed meaning they’ll be knocked down in one hit.
The Shape is harder to get into due to this leveling system it takes a lot of time to get the bloody ball rolling. You spend much of the time trying to stalk Survivors, who are very slippery due to your slow speed. And with a convoluted leveling system and limited power usage, reaching and staying at level three is harder as once you have stalked all the players. He does get some advantageous add-ons but they are more beneficial to the late game and the pitfalls of early games are still there.
28. The Clown
The Clown is pretty lackluster, his main power is he has two types of bottles that have various effects, when thrown results in a cloud which when went through will buff or debuff respectively. Pink bottles will slow down Survivors and blind them for 2 seconds and make them scream to locate them easily. The Yellow bottle’s cloud grants the Killer and the Survivor increased movement speed for 5 seconds. The best way to play with the Clown is to debuff the Survivor with the Pink bottle and cover the distance to them with the Yellow bottle. The bottles if used properly can be quite menacing.
The Clown’s basic move set makes him too shallow strategically. The bottle management doesn’t require much effort and the way the map is set up and the Survivor’s skill level can heavily impact his utility. If the bottle-throwing is perfected then he can give a competent chase to single Survivors.
27. The Doctor
The Doctor’s ability is the shock therapy which sends an electric shock over the ground to the Survivor. With a successful hit, the Survivor will be stunned and locked from doing any activity. So a strategic way of using this would be before the Survivor reaches a window or pallet to stun them and get a hit. This ability can level up in Madness with usage.
Level One, the Survivors will randomly scream and get harder skill checks. Level Two, the Survivors will begin to see Doctor’s hallucinations all over, panicking them in the process, and skill check will get harder. Level Three will stop the Survivors from being able to do any action basically and skill checks are harder than before. To get out of this state of Madness the Survivor has to go through a Snap out of it animation opening them to the doctor’s punishment. This Madness can be very beneficial because of its dementing effects. The Doctor also has an Area of Effect attack that shocks every survivor within the terror radius.
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26. The Nightmare
The Nightmare or the famous Freddy Kruger gets this rating because he has been nerfed by the developers. His Snare power places them on the ground like traps and slows Survivors when they walk over them only when they are in the dream world. This power got reduced in number recently and makes him slower when he places them, a huge drawback for this character.
His Dream Projection lets him teleport to any generator on the map maintaining pressure on the Survivors and switching up the chase in your favor. The Dreamworld is another passive ability activated when you hit a Survivor. This makes them hear lullabies when you are near them, which they won’t be able to pinpoint the location of audibly. Survivors have to use skill checks or alarm clocks or help each other to get out of this state.
25. The Ghost Face
The masked murderer from the Scream franchise. The Ghost Face’s strength relies on map awareness and using the layout in tandem with your specific skills. His Night Shroud power makes him undetectable and lets him lean around corners and strategic locations. Like Shape’s power, this character’s power needs to stalk each Survivor individually to build their meter, which gets filled faster using the lean ability. Also, he can crouch which allows for more tactical hunting.
When the meter is full the Survivor becomes exposed for 45 seconds, downing them in one hit. If a Survivor spots you, your Night Shroud ability will be useless, it will take 24 seconds to cool down this ability. Though these spotting mechanics are pretty inconsistent and can sometimes work in your favor.
The Ghost Face is a fast-paced killer and this can be used against him as you can get trigger happy with his speed. It’s very important to know when to sneak about and when to give chase. His crouch ability can put a doozy on Survivors mid chase and his stalk ability marks the Survivor to put them in a state of panic which can be taken advantage of.
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24. The Onryo
Onryo or Sadako Yamamura is a stealth killer who is in a class of her own but that only happens when you have put considerable time into learning and mastering her abilities. Onryo is the shortest killer which makes her hard to track so be sure to use that to your advantage. When the players are fully condemned, she has the ability to kill them in one hit.
She also has the ability to phase through space and appear through televisions spread across the map. This ability is particularly useful for catching the survivors off guard.
The problem with this ability is that she cannot use it if the TV is off or the survivor removes the tapes from the TV. This is also the reason she is so low on the list because her star ability is useless if you turn the TV off.
23. The Pig
The Pig’s main power is her reverse bear traps. With four in hand, they can be placed on Survivors in their dying state. Once a generator is completed, the timer for these begins to countdown giving the Survivor two and a half minutes before it explodes and kills them. This will frighten the Survivors into removing the trap and leaving the generators momentarily. The solution to these traps is in boxes around the map which further helps The Pig in locating the Survivor.
Pig has the same crouch ability as Ghost Face which allows her to sneak around. From this state, you can ambush which lets you run towards your target at great speed. The target will be made aware of this attack as the Pig will growl before she reaches.
The traps in her arsenal are a great addition as they disrupt the loop of the game while her ambush ability is somewhat difficult to pull off effectively.
22. The Wraith
The Wraith is a very powerful character. His power to go near invisible when he rings his bell, and fully invisible 20 meters away, is pretty OP. He gets increased movement speed when invisible but is unable to attack. Once you become visible you get an extra speed boost perfect for closing the distance on a particular Survivor. This power can be used to disrupt the loops and get hits quickly and easier.
He has access to some addons that are very complimentary to his skills quicken his speed, buff his bell and make him more sneaky. In a one-on-one chase, the Wraith is quite worthy though his effectiveness is more or less for this purpose alone and is lacking in putting pressure on all the Survivors. Nothing special about Wraith other than his quick as a fox chase advantages.
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21. The Trickster
The Trickster is very bipolar, he can be the most fast-paced predator or the weakest if the momentum breaks. His signature ability is throwing knives which you have 44 at the start and 6 is needed to land on a Survivor to put them in a critical state. These knives can be thrown quite rapidly and can be reloaded with lockers midway.
He has a “Main Event” ability, that builds up with each knife hit, which lets him throw a bunch of knives at incredible speed without slowing his movement. Using this at an opportune time can result in multiple down Survivors.
The Trickster is all about gaining that momentum and using all the powers at his disposal in a flow. You have to micromanage the knives and the laceration meter on each Survivor to keep the momentum going or else you’ll be back to a turtle’s pace.
20. The Deathslinger
Deathslinger’s trademark is his spear gun which when fired sticks a spear in a Survivor and reels them in like a fish ready to be butchered, it has to be reloaded after every shot. This spear will apply the deep wound status and if stuck again with the spear the Survivor will be downed, the chain can be broken by the survivor mid-reeling. This is a very powerful weapon as it can put pressure at a range and any Survivor busy in an activity will be open for this.
Recently his terror radius has been broadened and a cooldown is applied to the aim down of the rifle. Because of this, you have to be more calculated when taking the shot and stay a bit further away from the target to not terrorize them.
19. The Dredge
If you are holding onto some personal trauma or a bad memory, better let it go because these turmoils have turned into a monster and are out to get you. The Dredge is an incredibly capable killer with an amazing set of abilities.
His power is “Reign of Darkness” which is like a viel of pitch black darkness which lowers as soon as the Reign meter fills up for every survivor. The meter starts filling up as soon as the trial starts. Once the meter is full, there will be complete darkness with almost zero visibility for the survivors, making it hard for them to work for 60 seconds.
During this time, your movment speed and vision will be enhanced giving you the upperhand for a full minute so be sure to use it to your advantage. The special ability allows you to teleport across the map to lockers or remnant, that you can leave behind for later user.
18. The Hillbilly
Now, this character is a bit tricky to play with. Hillbilly’s focal point is his Chainsaw sprint, which you have to rev up to run really fast to your target and hit them instantly downing them, the handling or steering in this sprint is a bit sensitive. His simplicity is his strong point and this Chainsaw ability lets him cover many kinds of strategies. Getting instant downs, quick traversal, chase potential, and pallet drops are just to name a few. The only thing to concern yourself with is the handling of the sprint.
The chainsaw has an overheat mechanic attached to it whereby the more you rev it the easier it is to overheat it and if that happens you’ll jam the chainsaw for some time unable to use it. So knowing when to sprint is key here.
17. The Cannibal
From one chainsaw wielder to the next. The Cannibal’s Chainsaw sweep is a better usage of the chainsaw than the previous entry. The chainsaw has 3 charges with each charge extending your chainsaw sweep for 2 seconds. A single sweep can down a Survivor instantly. His strength is in camping basically, where he can dominate a select area and not let anyone pass through. This Chainsaw is menacing in tight areas
If you hit an object while sweeping you will go into a fit of rage where you will swing it uncontrollably. Though a disadvantage this can be used in your favor if timed it right. His movement speed and pressure potential is low but if you play him right he can be quite a force.
16. The Knight
If you think that you can’t do the hunting alone then go for The Knight because he has the ability to summon friends, each of which specialises in something. TheCarnifex is strong and can break obstacles, Assasin is faster in movements, and the jailer has the ability to track down enemies and patrol the path for longer than the other two.
The companions ability gives him a significant advantage over all of the other killer because the more the merrier but don’t rely on them forever because they will disappear at a point and you will have to work on your own.
15. The Legion
The Legion can perform consistently if used right. Their feral frenzy power lets them move faster, vault through windows quicker, and with a single hit to a Survivor can inflict the deep wound status debuff. On top of that, each hit will reveal all other Survivors within your terror radius, and taking advantage of the speed you can get multiple hits on multiple survivors. This fact can slow down the opposing team as most of them will have to mend their wounds.
The downside is the Legion’s spread which can be countered by a good mix of addons. Also, the stun that comes after using this ability can be jarring. This power is quite potent prompting traversal, pressure, injuries, and Survivor position knowledge.
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14. The Nemesis
Nemesis has his tentacle strike. This strike will infect the Survivor caught in it which will make them cough and give you location information. Each strike after infection will damage the player. With each new infection, the tentacle is upgraded in range and the speed of prepping for the attack. The infection is countered by finding a cure in 4 supply crates on the map.
Additionally, the Nemesis is accompanied by two zombies that roam around the map. They can infect the Survivors on their own and can be destroyed by the Nemesis to upgrade its tentacle. The Nemesis can spot their auras which can aid him with knowledge of nearby Survivors. The Zombies can either be an asset or a dumb addition.
13. The Demogorgon
The Demogorgon is a very balanced Killer in Dead by Daylight. The portals at their disposal are their main power and these can be placed all over the map. With 5 portals in total, these let Demogorgon move from one location to another cut any Survivor activity. And each time you emerge from a portal you get an undetectable buff to sneak up to unsuspecting victims. The portals are destroy-able by the Survivors but takes some time to achieve that.
Demogorgon’s shred ability is for the chases where he stretches the claws leaps forward and does an extended lunge attack. This has the potential to break loops and turn them into chases. Demogorgon’s traversal speed and simple attack pattern put together with formidable addons can make this a solid killer.
12. The Twins
You will see the Twins very rarely in a game and that is their advantage as most people don’t know how they work. Charlotte the big woman is your basic killer with normal movement speed and the ability to pick up Survivors once downed. You can switch between the twins on the fly.
The little guy Victor has more potential from the duo. He moves rapidly and jumps great distances. His weakness is that he cannot carry downed Survivors and can be killed if they miss an attack and a Survivor kicks him. Victor’s attacks will inflict Oblivious, Broken and Incapacitated debuffs and he latches on to the Survivor, whereby they have to remove him, Charlotte will see this latch aura. If Victor remains idle Survivors in the vicinity will be visible to Charlotte with Killer Instinct ability, this can be exploited by placing him in high footfall areas.
As they are two characters to control it can get awkward but if you use this right and create the perfect funnel with their presence you can surely dominate. The only downside is their many cooldowns and stuns which can be easily managed.
11. The Huntress
The Huntress is sweet and simple. Her main power lies in her 5 hatchets, which she can throw great distances if you prep them enough. These can be reloaded once you are out of it through the lockers. She has a large lullaby radius which can disorient the Survivors at twice the distance than the rest of the Killers. All she requires is for you to get good with the throwing timing and placing. Most of her other weaknesses can be countered by addons.
10. The Mastermind
Albert Wesker – The Mastermind possesses superhuman strength after being exposed to a special virus at the Umbrella Corporation. He is the epitome of human evolution and is one of the most wanted criminals in the world.
What puts him so high up in the list is that he has the highest terror radius – 40 meters. His Virulent Bound allows him to do a full dash towards a survivor and if he catches the survivor, he will pick them up and thrown them at a wall inflicting some serious damage.
If the survivors are already in the dying state, then they will just automatically be picked up. Mastermind is a type of character who is so versatile that the choice of killer perks, that you choose for him doesn’t really matter and almost every thing works for him anyways.
9. The Cenobite
The Cenobite is complex. His main power is his ability to open gateways which allows him to shift the view to a new location and fire a chain that holds a Survivor in place while you make your way towards them. This ability, once gotten used to, can make chases trivial.
Cenobite’s passive is the “Chain Hunt”, once activated the survivors will be pounded by chains which you can take advantage of. The Lament Configuration, or the trademark box, is an item that spawns all through the match which if interacted by Survivors will reset the Chain Hunt and if spotted by you can start a Chain Hunt. This box is the cornerstone of Cenobite’s power potential and should be actively sought out by the player.
8. The Plague
The Plague is another complex character. Her main power is her Vile Purge, which is a vomit attack that she charges and fires at Survivors, if you coat them they will get infected and Broken debuff will be applied. This will make the victim louder and unable to heal. The infection if not applied fully grows over time if not treated. This can be used to make interact-able objects a trap whereby she can vomit in them and infect any user. Also the infection can jump from one Survivor to another if they touch.
The other power she has piggybacks on the last one when Survivors clean the vomit from themselves they drop that vomit on the ground which can be consumed by the Plague giving her Red vomit for 60 seconds. This vomit will directly harm the Survivors rather than just infect them. If you focus in on this loop of normal and red vomit you can destroy the opponents quickly.
7. The Executioner
The Executioner has a plethora of abilities. His main power is Rites of Judgement, this lets you use your great knife to create a line on the ground behind him which if stepped upon will torment the victim and reveal their location. If he downs them in a state of torment the Survivor will be placed in a cage that works like a portable hook, reliving you to carry the downed. The cages they are sent to are random and will only be revealed if they are saved, so balancing when to send to a cage and when to hook is key.
The other attack he has is Punishment of the Damned, a ranged attack that can be fired at short distances and through walls, damaging Survivor’s health directly. With a bit of practice, this can be a great asset in your arsenal. Pairing with aura and debuffs you can make the Executioner quite a formidable foe.
6. The Hag
The Hag is one of the original killers which is just underutilized by many. Her power is the Phantasm Traps, 10 in total, she can place them all over the map and are hard to spot. Whence triggered by a Survivor, their camera flips panicking them in the process, a fake terror radius makes things even more frightful. The Hag can teleport to a triggered trap and initiate a chase, if done quick enough can get her some hits. These traps are perfect for controlling the map.
The Hag is one for the long game where she can play to her strength by camping and holding areas the whole time, tiring out the Survivors with the traps. There is no need to chase them even with the teleport as the panic of the traps is enough to shake the Survivors’ strategy.
Her drawbacks are that her trap can be destroyed with the flashlights but it’s not that big a deal. Also, her teleport has a limited range, 40 meters, so you can’t go crazy and place the traps all over the map and become teleport-trigger-happy. Her effectiveness is in holding a certain area and being deadly in that. Her addons are sometimes unfairly favorable.
5. The Artist
The Artist is very strong at this point. Her main power is Birds of Torment, which she can place on the ground, 3 at a time, and shoot in an infinitely straight line across the map without worrying about any walls or obstructions. If these crows hit at close range they will damage the Survivor’s health and at long range, they will encircle. Encircling means they will latch on to them, all the while notifying the artist of the location. Hitting them with crows again while encircled will damage them.
With this crow’s ability, she can keep checking all the important locations on the map from a single point. Just firing at the general location of a generator will either harm a survivor and disrupt them or it will encircle them and create panic. With enough practice, you can down enemies without even being near them. A good choice for newbies when starting their hunting careers.
4. The Oni
The Oni is very easy to learn. His power revolves around him first injuring a target and then, with each action the victim does like pallet drop or vaulting, they will leave behind blood orbs which the Oni has to collect. With enough orbs collected the killer can trigger Blood Fury, lasting for 45 seconds, in this mode you will become a lethal force, you can demon dash which gives you bursts of speed and automatically lets you maneuver all the objects in front of him. And with demon strike you can instantly down enemies.
This ability can be god-sent if you know how to chain everything, learn how to dash effectively cover distances, and injure Survivors to harvest more orbs to unleash Blood Fury again.
3. The Blight
The Blight’s power is his. Activating this makes you sprint even faster than normal. You can extend these rushes with tokens and once you collide with objects you can go into a lethal rush. The Lethal rush not only just gives a speed burst but also hurts anyone in your path, on top of that you can break any breakable walls and pallets too instantly. This when done right can make you a rabid monster zipping around the map killing anyone in sight. The only downside is the cooldown or fatigue after these rushes are long so use these rushes productively.
2. The Spirit
The Spirit’s Yamaoka’ Haunting ability or phase ability makes her very easy to master and control the playing field. When it’s activated she can basically go invisible and gain a speed boost and Survivors get little information of your location. Though you won’t be able to see Survivors you will see their scratch marks and hear their sounds. Also, she passively has an ability that makes her go in and out of invisibility, making it harder for Survivors to keep track of her movement. When you have mastered her invisible mode tracking you will be popping heads left and right.
1. The Nurse
The Nurse’s abilities are borderline game-breaking. Her ability is Blinking, which she charges up and it pushes her through anything in her path. No window, wall, or pallet can stop her. Anywhere you aim you can move without hindrance. As soon as you come out of the blink you have an opportunity to attack. Her ability makes chases trivial. And she can just fly through the map to keep the pressure on multiple locations. Players can take advantage of her skills very easily and with her selected wins are all but guaranteed.
The killers are many and they all play very uniquely. Some are easier to handle while others take time to settle into. Either you will be selecting the killers on skills criteria or, what most people do, on your personal taste and favorite franchise.
Comment below and let us know whether this list has been helpful to you in finding your perfect killer match.
