Dead By Daylight’s killers each have a unique power to help them hunt down survivors. Some, while strong, are extremely difficult to even grasp the basics of. On top of that, there are three unique perks that are unlocked for every killer at levels 30, 35, and 40. Some killers are worth playing simply to get those perks, if one or two of them are powerful.

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At the end of the day, everyone should play the killer that excites them, whether it’s the description, the design, or the franchise they come from. If you’re having trouble picking though, here are some tips to help.

Updated December 28, 2021 by Noah Smith: As Dead By Daylight continues to be updated and new killers are added to the roster, we thought it would be good to take another look, and make sure to include some of the newer killers that can help new players get to iridescent ranks.

Note: Each killer has a difficulty rating from easy to hard. These ratings are dependent on mastering the power and using it to its fullest extent, which is not the basis of this article. Even killers with the hard rating can be very powerful in the hands of a beginner.

12 The Cannibal – Bubba Sawyer

The infamous Bubba Sawyer is the first DLC pack inexperienced players will want to pick up simply because of his perk, Barbecue & Chilli. Commonly known as “BBQ,” it will reveal the auras of every survivor more than 40 meters away when hooking a survivor and at tier three will double all bloodpoints earned in a trial.

Overall, it's an incredibly good perk that every killer could run. Constantly knowing where survivors are is a huge benefit.

11 The Plague – Adiris

The Plague is one of the killers to really get just for her perks alone. Her power is very strong, but it will be difficult for new players to master the timing of her vomit. Her perks, though, are amazing.

Corrupt Intervention will block three generators for up to two minutes at the beginning of the trial, and Infectious Fright will reveal the locations of anyone close by when you down a survivor. Corrupt will keep survivors from getting generators done too quickly, and Infectious Fright can help snowball pressure; two perks that work well on any killer in the game.

10 The Clown – Kenneth Chase AKA Jeffrey Hawk

Pop Goes the Weasel is extremely powerful. After hooking a survivor, the next generator kicked will immediately lose 25 percent progress. This perk will go in any build centered around generator kicks and makes it very much worth leveling up The Clown.

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The Clown himself is not the strongest, but he can be good for new players for learning how to run chases, how to loop at tiles, and how the game itself works.

9 The Hag – Lisa Sherwood

Both Hex: Ruin and Devour Hope are completely game-breaking for killers. Ruin will make any generator not actively being worked on regress at 200 percent the normal regression, and Devour Hope will grant the killer the ability insta-down survivors after three hooks, and kill the survivors outright after five hooks.

The Hag's power of setting down traps to then teleport to can be tricky to master, but it's likely that new survivors would not know how to counter them effectively, giving her a big leg up.

8 The Cenobite - Pinhead (AKA Elliot Spencer)

The Cenobite rounds out the killers to level up just for their perks alone. Once a generator is completed by survivors, Deadlock will activate, blocking the generator with the next most progression and notify the killer. This is really powerful in conjunction with generator kicking perks like Pop Goes the Weasel or Eruption (from The Nemesis) as the player can more efficiently use those perks on the generator that needs it most. Pinhead's other two perks, Hex: Plaything and Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain, are not the most meta perks right now, but they can be fun and powerful in the right hands.

7 The Wraith – Philip Ojomo

Philip Ojomo, otherwise known as The Wraith, is probably one of the best killers in the game to start out with. While his perks are nothing amazing, his gameplay is straightforward.

Cloak, find, uncloak, hit, repeat. The Wraith can easily surprise survivors not paying attention, especially on indoor maps. Plus, The Wraith is very good at ranking up. Due to the game’s chase mechanics, The Wraith’s chases will usually be extremely short, meaning many pips for the killer.

6 The Nightmare – Freddy Kreuger

Besides using Blood Warden for an endgame scare, Freddy’s perks are not incredible, but his powers are strong, especially on new survivors. The Nightmare can send the survivors into a dream world where they cannot hear his terror radius, and he can teleport to any unfinished generator on the map.

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Freddy's main strength is that his power passively slows down survivors. New players, especially, will want to wake up from the dream world, which takes precious time needed to complete generators and escape.

5 The Doctor – Herman Carter

The Doctor specializes in finding survivors, which can be very difficult for new players. Static Blast can make the survivors scream, revealing their locations, and go mad.

While difficult to master, the Doctor is still a great option for new killers having trouble with the pesky “immersed” survivors. His secondary power, however, will take some time to get comfortable with. Try not to spam it at every survivor seen, and instead time it for when they are going for a pallet or window.

4 The Oni – Kazan Yamaoka

The Oni’s power shines where his perks do not. Besides Blood Echo, which can have some limited use in countering exhaustion perks, The Oni’s perks are, well, meh.

However, his power can snowball trials into an easy four-kill. While in the power, The Oni can one-hit survivors and sprint across the map. Though it may take a few matches to get used to, new players will find The Oni Powerful and enjoyable, even before mastering the mechanics.

3 The Deathslinger – Caleb Quinn

Hex: Retribution can be really powerful in conjunction with The Spirit’s perk, Hex: Haunted Ground, revealing the auras of anyone who cleanses a totem. The Deathslinger’s speargun is really strong as well, being able to harpoon survivors at a distance and reel them in.

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Caleb’s power is, of course, going to be slightly difficult to aim at first (there is no crosshair to help), but once you get the hang of it, the Deathslinger will carry any killer to the higher ranks. Try and use Monitor & Abuse (from The Doctor) to help you get close to survivors for an easy down.

2 The Spirit – Rin Yamaoka

The Spirit is tied for the most powerful killer in the game, along with The Nurse. The Spirit, however, is much easier to play. Phasing into the spirit world, Rin Yamaoka can move extremely quickly and cause many a jump scare for survivors.

The Spirit cannot see survivors while phasing, which forces the killer to use their ears to locate them. Listening is a huge part of Dead By Daylight, and learning to do this early will really help any killer's career.

1 The Artist - Carmina Mora

Carmina Mora enters the Entity's realm as the newest killer, the Artist, with a surprisingly powerful ability. She can lay down turrets in the form of crows and fire them off individually to injure and down survivors. True, it does take two hits from these corvid bullets to take an injured state, with her ability to place the turrets extremely quickly while in chase, The Artists' ability to zone and corner survivors is unmatched. For example, a survivor enters the shack and by the time they are rounding the corner, the killer can already place three turrets at all three entrances, making it impossible to leave the shack without getting hit.

Next:Dead By Daylight: A Complete Guide