Survivors in Dead by Daylight are less unique than killers, each having the same base mechanics. Their perks, though, are what make them all stand out. When first picking up a toolbox and venturing into the Entity’s realm, choosing the right perks can really decide the match.

RELATED: Dead By Daylight: Survivor Tips For Beginners

Each survivor comes with three unique perks, which are unlocked for all survivors the user has at levels 30, 35, and 40. There are many great perks to use, and as players progress through the game they will get more and more unlocked. The question is, where to start? This list may shed some light on that.

Updated December 29, 2021 by Noah Smith: Dead By Daylight is constantly being improved upon, with regular, sizable updates hitting the game. As more survivors are added, new players have more options for choosing one that best suits them. Not every survivor perk is made with beginners in mind, but this collection certainly helps out those new to Dead By Daylight's terrors.

12 Meg Thomas

The first of many powerful exhaustion perks, Spring Burst is great for efficiency, allowing the survivor to get to objectives quickly. Make sure not to get stuck in the trap of saving it for the right moment, as that will slow things down to a crawl.

Adrenaline, as well, will instantly heal one injured state when the last generator is powered. Both perks are top tier, and definitely worth leveling Meg up for.

11 Claudette Morel

While Self-Care can be mistakenly appealing, Claudette is really on this list for Empathy. One of the best aura reading perks in the game, Empathy allows the user to see every injured survivor within 128 meters, which is a huge range.

By being able to see every injured survivor at that range, the user can almost always tell where the killer is. It is easy to determine whether a killer is chasing someone based on their movement patterns. Learn to use this perk well, and your solo-queue games will turn around quickly.

10 William “Bill” Overbeck

Bill Overbeck comes with two perks that are incredible. Borrowed Time will allow a survivor who is just unhooked to take a hit without going down, and Unbreakable will allow the user to pick themselves up from the dying state once per trial.

RELATED: Dead By Daylight: Maps That Are Great For Killers

Borrowed Time is great to counter tunneling killers, making sure the hooked survivor can escape. When trying to get to Iridescent One, these two perks are basically a must-pick they are so good.

9 Laurie Strode

The original scream queen herself, Laurie Strode’s perk Decisive Strike combined with Bill’s Unbreakable is the ultimate second chance combination. Decisive Strike, or D-Strike, allows the user to get a difficult skill check if they are picked up by the killer after just being on a hook.

If successful, the survivor will stun the killer and be able to run away scot-free. While it was recently nerfed, D-Strike remains the best anti-tunneling perk in the game.

8 Dwight Fairfield

Prove Thyself is an excellent perk for beginners as they tend to group up anyway. While not the most effective strategy, the perk will make generators go extremely quickly and give double Bloodpoints for any cooperative actions.

The perk gives everyone within range of the user (including themselves) a 15 percent speed bonus on generator repairs. Bond can also be powerful, allowing the user to see the auras of all survivors within 36 meters of them.

7 David King

Dead Hard is the most difficult exhaustion perk to use well, but it is also the most powerful. Allowing the user to dodge a hit with a small sprint forward, it can be used in a myriad of ways that baffle and annoy the killer. We’re Gonna Live Forever is the survivor’s version of Barbeque & Chilli, giving double Bloodpoints at the end of the trial if the conditions are met.

To gain a token on We're Gonna Live Forever, the user has to either unhook a survivor safely, take a protection hit, or stun/blind a killer carrying a survivor. A fair warning, though: new survivors should never use his perk No Mither. Getting David King’s Adept achievement is one of the hardest in the game.

6 Kate Denson

Windows of Opportunity is an excellent perk for new players to learn how map structures spawn. Windows will show the user all breakable walls, pallets, and windows within 20 meters, meaning new survivors can know where to go much quicker. That split second can make the difference between being caught or not.

RELATED: Dead By Daylight: Maps That Are Great For Survivors

Dance With Me can actually be used well in conjunction, as it hides scratch marks for a few seconds after making a fast vault. Use it to make a sneaky escape on a crowded map.

5 Adam Francis

Adam Francis’ perk Deliverance allows the user to unhook themselves once if they have previously unhooked a survivor in that trial. If they are not the first person hooked, Deliverance can completely change the pace of a game.

Autodidact is a bit more complicated. Every time the user gets a skill check while healing someone, they gain a token. At first, the perk makes healing go slower, but with five tokens the user can heal a full health state in seconds. Keep in mind it does not work while using a medkit.

4 Jake Park

Jake Park's perk Iron Will is going to be invaluable to new players. It will reduce the survivor's grunts of pain up to 100 percent, and with the recent change to make noise perks like this multiplicative, there is nothing a killer can bring to combat this. It will keep the player safer while injured, and possibly allow them to sneak past the killer and escape a chase.

Calm Spirit can also be really useful with it suppressing any time the user shouts. The survivor can be caused to shout out for a number of reasons, including someone missing a skill check while healing them, The Doctor's powers, and a numerous amount of killer perks. This suppression will help keep the Calm Spirit user hidden from the killer and counter a lot of useful perks.

3 Feng Min

All three perks of Feng are good for survivors. Technician will stop generators from blowing up if a skill check is missed (those skill checks can be quite hard when first starting out).

Lithe is another solid exhaustion perk that gives the user a sprint burst after a quick vault, and Alert will show the user the killer’s aura whenever the killer performs a breaking action. Safety, speed, and information are all excellent choices for perks.

2 Mikaela Reid

Mikaela Reid, introduced without a companion killer, also introduced a brand new form of survivor perks: Boon Totems. Now survivors can bless the five random totems placed throughout the map. Like with killer's hex totems though, the killer can easily come by and squash the boon. Unlike hexes, however, the boon totems are not map-wide. Mikaela's boon's Shadowstep and Circle of Healing have rocketed into the meta, especially Circle of Healing.

Related: Best Asymmetrical Multiplayer Games, Ranked

Circle of Healing allows survivors to heal themselves while in the boon's radius and drastically increases the healing speed of mending others. While having been nerfed slightly already, Circle of Healing remains one of the best perks in the game. Get it immediately.

1 Jonah Vasquez

Jonah Vasquez fell into the Entity's realm along with the Artist in chapter 22, and with him comes a few incredible perks for new players. His unique exhaustion perk, Overcome, increases the movement speed burst you get when injured by two seconds, allowing survivors to gain a huge amount of distance on the killer. Corrective Action starts with five tokens, and everytime another survivor fails a skill check on something they are cooperating with you on, it will consume a token and the failed skill check turns into a good skill check.

Finally, his last perk Boon: Exponential (nick-named "Unbreaka-boon") gives any survivor in the radius of Bill's Unbreakable perk affects. Jonah's three perks are suited quite well for new players, so pick him up quickly and watch those bloodpoints pile up.

NEXT: Dead By Daylight: The Best Killers For Beginners