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Dead by Daylight is an online game where 4 survivors try and escape an overpowered Killer. It’s all about teamwork, being stealthy and outwitting your opponent. To make it through the night, you need to have the right Survivor perks, but with 137 currently in the game it’s hard to know which ones to choose. Also, with countless updates and alterations many of the best have fallen from grace. But these 10 perks have stood the test of time since they’ve entered the fog.
Urban Evasion (Sophie Jones):
Since I started playing Dead by Daylight back in 2018, Urban Evasion has been one of my favourites. This perk allows players to move faster when crouched by 100%. This has proven useful countless times as I can easily hide or create distance without the Killer being able to trace my movements. As a player who isn’t the best at chases, I have to make sure the Killer never sees me. As soon as I’m spotted, I know it won’t be long before I’m hooked and out the game.
This is why Urban Evasion is one of my favourites. I can work on generators, heal teammates and skulk around the map pretty quickly and I don’t leave a single scratch mark. It also comes in handy when you unhook Survivors. Some Killers, like to plant themselves near a Survivor so they can intercept a save. With Urban Evasion, I can get around this annoying habit by sneaking up behind and securing the save before they’ve realised, I’m there.
This perk is especially helpful if you’re the last one standing as you can work on generators and quickly hide when the Killer comes calling.
Sprint Burst (Sophie Jones):
Some perks cause your player to become exhausted and can only be used after a cooldown. One exhaustion perk I absolutely love is Sprint Burst. As you already know, chases aren’t my thing. However, if I do get caught, Sprint Burst is a lifesaver. It grants players a 50% haste effect for 3 seconds which can give you distance, get you to the next pallet, or escape the basement in a pinch.
When fully upgraded Sprint Burst has a cooldown of 40 seconds. However, to trigger the cooldown it does require you to stop running which isn’t always possible once the Killer’s caught your scent. Additionally, Sprint Burst will always activate when you run which can be difficult to manage as you may use it even when not in chase. That’s why I usually pair this perk with Urban Evasion so I can still move quickly when not running.
Sprint Burst is a great exhaustion perk as it doesn’t rely on any situational effects. It also means you can work on a generator until the last second as you know you’ll always have a quick getaway.
Windows of Opportunity (Lauren Skinner):
Are you terrible at remembering where the “good loops” are? Do you play solo regularly? Then Kate Denson’s Windows of Opportunity Perk is perfect for you!
Windows of Opportunity allows you to see the Auras of pallets, breakable walls, and vault locations when within a 24/28/32m range. It’s perfect for when you’re being chased by a Killer, as it takes a lot of the guesswork out of where you can go to give you the best chance of escape. It’s also great at finding pallets to stun a Killer or loop them enough times to make them ragequit… I mean give your fellow Survivors time to finish generators. Additionally, if you’re playing solo and don’t have teammates to tell you where they have already dropped pallets, it helps prevent you running into dead zones.
However, be wary if you’re facing a Doctor or The Nightmare. Windows of Opportunity still shows an Aura for Illusionary and Dream Pallets, limiting the perk’s usefulness if you don’t know where pallets are usually located, or you can’t remember which you’ve already dropped.
Lithe (Lauren Skinner):
My greatest weakness playing as a Survivor is escaping from a Killer once they have me in their sights. Feng Min’s perk, Lithe, has proved itself invaluable in improving my escape game.
When you perform a rushed vault through a window or across a pallet, Lithe allows you to break into a sprint at 150% of your normal running speed for 3 seconds max. Pair with Windows of Opportunity, and you’ll likely see much more success at escaping than ever before—which is sometimes the difference between escaping and becoming food for a hungry and unforgiving Entity.
Bear in mind that there are disadvantages to Lithe. It causes the Exhausted Status Effect for at least 40 seconds, meaning the perk can’t be used again until it’s gone. It’s also situational: if you have no windows or pallets around, you’re out of luck. However, if it means being able to run off and hide until the Killer focusses on someone else, it’s still absolutely worth taking up a perk slot.
Boon Circle of Healing (Sophie Jones):
When I’m not hiding or running away from the Killer, I do like to mess around with Totems. In particular, I love to boon them up. One of my favourite boons is the Circle of Healing which was introduced by Michaela. This boon provides a 24m healing radius which means players gain a 100% boost to healing. Injured Survivor Aura’s are also revealed when they are in range so people know to heal them. This boon is great if you manage to place it away from the generators. Survivors can then use it as a base to heal up when things get crazy.
Sadly, this perk has been amended by developers and isn’t as powerful as it used to be. Previously, this boon let Survivors heal themselves as if they had self-care, which you can imagine was game changing.
Despite its de-buff, Circle of Healing is still a great healing perk to run with as it offers the team a safe sanctuary… well until the Killer snuffs it out.
Unbreakable (Lauren Skinner):
Playing against a Killer who loves downing multiple Survivors before hooking them can be frustrating. Or hilarious, like the one time I was part of a team with my friends where we all kept sacrificing ourselves to Chucky, leaving us all to moan and bleed out on the floor whilst he shook his head at us.
If you’re Bill Overbeck, then maybe you can stop a Killer from incapacitating all your team members at once. Bill’s Unbreakable perk allows you to recover completely from the Dying State once per trial. It also gives a speed boost to your recovery speed up to 35%—and this even remains as a passive effect after Unbreakable is used.
Ultimately, Unbreakable denies Killers the ability to slug en mass. Whilst it’s not the most reliable perk—it relies on the Killer leaving you alone instead of hooking you immediately, which makes a bit too situational—it feels fantastic to recover when all hope would otherwise be lost.
Unbreakable—he’s alive, damn it! It’s a miracle.
Alert (Lauren Skinner):
Alert is another Feng perk that I’ve been using recently, replacing the slot Empathy originally held. Both are useful for knowing where the Killer is, but whilst Empathy shows the Aura of hurt Survivors (so you can infer where a Killer is if you know who is being chased), Alert gives the Aura of the Killer themselves. This gives you a true advantage, as you can regularly keep an eye on where the Killer’s at and make sure you’re nowhere nearby.
Essentially, whenever the Killer destroys a Pallet, Breakable Wall or damages a generator, their Aura is revealed to you for a maximum of 5 seconds. Sure, you can’t see them all the time, but it’s useful for staying out of the Killer’s way and edging around them to work on a different generator. If you’re being chased from gen to gen, it can also help you judge which generators are regressing, hopefully allowing you to circle round to save it before it’s completely gone.
For me, knowing where the Killer is throughout the game is imperative to staying alive. So, perks like Alert give me that crucial information, as well as even let me judge the Killer’s playstyle and how often they’re being evaded in chases. Top tier: Feng, thank you for your service.
Déjà vu (Lauren Skinner):
If you’re anything like me, your mind is like a sieve. I can’t for the life of me remember where the generators are in the Gideon Meat Plant or the Hawkins National Laboratory—and, of course, as these maps are enclosed, you can’t simply look up to see the generator lights shining through the fog. Cue Déjà Vu.
This general perk is a lifesaver for me on any map, allowing Survivors to beeline towards the three closest-together generators to get a head start. Once you have the highest tier of the perk, it also increases your repair speed on the revealed generators by 6%, helping you get out of dodge even quicker. Pair Déjà Vu with the Map, and you’ll soon have the whole area exposed.
For Survivors with no sense of direction or ability to retain information, Déjà Vu is a must-have.
Prove Thyself (Sophie Jones):
Over the years, Dead by Daylight has changed a lot. One big difference is the speed in which Survivors can complete generators. Generators now progress at a snail’s pace which isn’t helped by a Killer kicking it, regressing it, and making the whole affair even slower. Prove Thyself is a perk which has been around for a while but it’s one I find myself using more and more to combat slow generator repairs.
Prove Thyself gives all Survivors within a 4m range of you a boost to their repair speed. Each Survivor can get a maximum of a 10% boost. So, if 3 people all jump on 1 generator, that’s a 30% increase. This perk is one of the best to combat all the things a Killer may do to slow you down.
However, it is a very situational perk and is best when multiple people can work on a generator. If you don’t have a strong chaser in your team, it can be hard to keep the Killer distracted long enough for the rest of you to blitz the repairs.
Although, this ability may not always work how you want and relies on the Killer giving you a bit of breathing space, it works wonders when you get that chance. Whenever I play with friends, I always run this perk as we can easily coordinate on the chat to go round in a pair.
Bond (Sophie Jones):
Finally, I love perks which let you see more of the map. As a player who enjoys repairing generators and healing up injured teammates, Bond is a must have. When maxed out, Bond allows you to see Survivor Aura’s up to 35m.
I find this perk really helpful as I can see when teammates are injured, if they’re working on a generator, or if they’re in chase. This allows me to react. I can move away from a chase, jump on a generator, and boost repair speed or go heal them.
This perk has also been a great help when in chases. When in chases it can be easy to lead the Killer to a group of Survivors working on a generator by accident. This isn’t something you want to happen as it stops progress and lots of people can get injured. With Bond, I can see when I am nearby Survivors so I can try and avoid them and limit the damage.
If you find yourself playing solo, Bond is also a great way to coordinate with strangers as you can keep an eye on what everyone is up to.
And there you have it! Our best survivor perks currently in Dead by Daylight. From our picks you can probably tell that Lauren and I are team players, healers and ultimately want to avoid detection at all costs. Until next time, we’ll see you in the fog.
