Ranking The Dead By Daylight Killers Part 1

Dead By Daylight fast became one of my favourite games as soon as I started playing it. I'm far from an expert on the game, but I have played a number of games whereby I can rank the Killers in the game from worst to best. 

This is in no way an official ranking list, just my preferences. There are some Killers who may surprise you with their ranking, but this is just my opinion on which ones I prefer to use. 

#11 - The Nurse

- A Nurse’s Calling: Unlocks potential in one's aura reading ability. The auras of survivors who are healing or are being healed are revealed to you. 9
- Stridor: You are acutely sensitive to the breathing of your prey. The breathing of Survivors in pain is louder. 5
- Thanatophobia: All survivors receive penalties to repair, healing and sabotage speeds for each injured, dying or hooked survivor. 7

Power: Spencer’s Last Breath: 5

Why?: For many people, The Nurse is one of the best Killers in the game, but I just struggle to use her. Spencer’s Last Breath can be infuriating, and it takes time to be able to use it effectively, even with recent buffs to this power. She has the slowest movement speed of all Killers, but she doesn’t have to worry about pallet drops and Survivor’s climbing through windows, but the pause after using her power acts like a Decisive Strike against The Nurse. She undoubtedly takes great skill to use effectively, and she comes with a couple of great perks - namely A Nurse’s Calling. I find her lack of speed to be really detrimental, and despite a few good perks, I can’t help but rank her as my least favourite Killer to play as.

#10 - The Trapper

- Agitation: Increases your speed while transporting bodies. While transporting a body, your terror radius is increased. 8
- Brutal Strength: Your great strength allows you to shred through defences. Destroy barricades drops faster. 7
- Unnerving Presence: Your presence alone instills fear. Survivors within your terror radius have a greater chance to trigger Skill Shots when repairing, healing or sabotaging. Success Zones for Skill Shots are reduced. 6

Power: Bear Traps: 6

Why?: Despite boasting the fastest movement speed, and most impressive gait, I just don’t like The Trapper. Laying traps in the hope that Survivor’s run into them is very situational. Agitation is a great perk, and Brutal Strength allows you to recover from those annoying pallet slams. Unnerving Presence is a little bit hit and miss, but I think the time spent laying traps can waste valuable game time early on. From there, you end up playing catch up during the mid-game. In maps where there is thick grass, Bear Traps are really effective, and the same goes for protecting hooked Survivors, but these traps can be sabotaged or avoided with a certain level of ease.

#9 - The Huntress

- Beast of Prey: Your lust for a kill is so intense that your connection with the Entity is momentarily lost, making you totally unpredictable. The red stain disappears for a limited time once Bloodlust kicks in. 2
- Hex: Huntress Lullaby: Your hunt is an irresistible song of dread which muddles your prey's attention. Survivors within your terror radius receive a regression penalty when missing any Skill Check. Each time a Survivor is hooked, Huntress Lullaby grows in power; the time between the Skill Check and its sound warning becomes shorter. 8
- Territorial Imperative: Unlocks potential in one's Aura Reading ability. Survivors' Auras are revealed to you when they enter the basement and you are more than 24 meters away from the basement entrance. 4

Power: Hunting Hatchets: 8

Why?: I’m not keen on The Huntress. The Hunting Hatchets are fantastic, and they nullify Survivors dropping pallets on you, but her perks are largely poor. Territorial Imperative relies on Survivors entering the basement to search a chest, but it’s very situational. Beast of Prey is just pointless for me. The only thing it does it make it hard for Survivors to see how close you are to them, but they can just look behind themselves. Her Hex perk is good for elongating the mid-game, but as with all Hex perks, it all depends on a bit of luck with Totem placement. She can be good with the right perks, but that kind of works for all Killers and Survivors. Despite her Hunting Hatchets being cool to use and incredibly effective, her all-around game leaves me slightly disappointed, and less inclined to use her.

 

#8 - The Pig

- Hangman’s Trick: Your ingenious modifications to Hooks prevent tampering and permanent damage. Hooks destroyed by sabotage or sacrifices repair after a short moment. Gain a notification when someone starts Sabotaging the Hooks. 4
- Surveillance: Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. The last regressing generators' Auras are revealed to you. 3
- Make Your Choice: When a Survivor rescues another from a hook at least 24 meters away from the Killer, Make your Choice triggers and confronts the Survivor with a Skill Check. A failed Skill Check damages the rescuer. 10

Power: Jigsaw’s Baptism: 5

Why?: The Pig isn’t a great Killer. Killing Survivor’s with Reverse Bear Traps is so difficult to do, and the only real purpose they serve is to elongate the game. If you ran Hex: Ruin with The Pig, games would certainly be longer, but I don’t particularly enjoy using this character. The stealth aspect of this character is enjoyable enough to use, and the fact that you can at least get one strike in against the Survivors puts The Pig slightly higher on the list, but not by much. The perks of this Killer are really disappointing, with the exception of Make Your Choice, which is a fantastic perk, and possibly the best in the game. 

 

#7 - The Hillbilly

- Enduring: You are resilient to pain. Recovery from the stun condition caused by physical objects is faster. 6
- Lightborn: Your vision is dimmed, but you can endure strong lights. Resistance to blindness is increased. Recovery from blindness is increased. 4
- Tinkerer: Add-ons that affect the charge time of your Power are more effective. 7

Power: Chainsaw: 7

Why?: His Chainsaw is really good at getting around the map and being able to protect generators, as is his movement speed. Turning while using his Chainsaw can be really difficult, and his perks are quite average. I much prefer to use Leatherface’s chainsaw, as he has the ability to down more than one Survivor at a time, as well as effectively protect hooked Survivors in the basement. I just don’t like his overall game, as he lacks the stealth ability, and the temptation to be erratic is strong, which makes it hard to focus on the objective of taking out all Survivors.

#6 - The Wraith

- Bloodhound: You smell traces of blood at a great distance. Fresh blood marks are considerably more discernible than normal and can be tracked for longer than normal. 7
- Predator: Your acute tracking ability allows you to follow disturbances left by passing prey over a longer period of time. Footstep marks stay visible longer than normal. 5
- Shadowborn: Your vision is brighter and your field of view is wider than normal. Highly sensitive to light, you get blinded faster than normal and it takes more time to recover from this condition. 3

Power: Wailing Bell: 8

Why?: The Wraith was the first, and the only Killer I’ve prestiged so far. His perks are among the worst in the game, although they do marginally help when chasing Survivors. His Wailing Bell does have some good add-ons which allow for speed boosts when uncloaking, but he faces the same issues with pallets and windows like most other Killers. You can get an early strike on a Survivor when uncloaking, and his reach is pretty good also. Used right, The Wraith can be a very good character to use. Body blocking and being stealthy are the two unique points for The Wraith, but knowing when to cloak and uncloak can be frustrating. He makes the top end of the bottom half of this list primarily due to his perks being fairly weak.

 

 

Ranking Dead By Daylight Killers