Dead by Daylight: The 10 best perks for survivors

So that you can survive safely in Dead by Daylight, we present you the best perks for survivors here. With this you are armed against every killer!

If you’re new to Dead by Daylight, you might be overwhelmed by the sheer selection of possible perks. So that you have a good overview of which perks are particularly worthwhile and helpful in many situations, we present you our list of the 10 best perks in Dead by Daylight for survivors.

Update: This article was updated on 02/04/2022 and now corresponds to the status of Dead by Daylight 5.5.1. It takes into account all perks up to and including the “Portrait of a Murder” chapter.

How to unlock perks: In order to unlock perks, you have to invest blood points in the respective blood network of a character and thus always unlock new levels in the network and thus new perks. Remember that each survivor has three “unique” perks. In order for these perks to also appear on other survivors, you must first unlock them in a “teachable” version with the original owner. This is possible at level 30, 35 and 40 respectively.

Check Shrine of Secrets: Alternatively, it is also worth taking a regular look at the “Shrine of Secrets”. There you can buy four randomly selected perks directly for blood shards every week. This will skip unlocking the teachable perk (e.g. not owning a survivor). The perk must still appear in the desired survivor’s blood web.

Top 10 Survivor Perks in Dead by Daylight

We assume that the following perks are at the highest level (3). Below that, many perks drastically lose value and should only be used if there aren’t any alternatives. The list is current as of patch 5.0.0.

Are you more of a killer player? We have the 10 best killer perks for you here!

1. Boon: Circle of Healing

Learnable through: Mikaela at level 35

New to the list is the Circle of Healing. This requires the player to turn a Dull or Curse totem into a Blessing totem. This takes a while, but then provides a special “healing area” in a radius of 24 meters.

Survivors within this radius can heal themselves without a med kit and have a 100% bonus to healing speed. The killer can disable the totem, but you can bless it again infinitely.

2. Borrowed Time

Learnable through: Bill at level 35

Borrowed Time is a nearly unbeatable perk when it comes to rescuing survivors. Borrowed Time causes the person saved by your character to be protected for a few seconds. When struck, she does not go into the “dying” state (ie, falls to the ground), but instead suffers Deep Wounds. The character remains on his feet and can move as long as he doesn’t stop running.

He must then connect or be healed by another player.

The perk allows for rescue operations that even camping killers have a hard time with and is often essential for the survival of the group.

Most importantly, if you were saved by a wounded player and the killer is nearby, absorb the blow with Borrowed Time. In the best case, both players can escape and there is not just an exchange of the survivors who are on the hook.

3. Iron Will

Learnable through: Jake at level 30.

“Iron Will” is self-explanatory. When your character is wounded, they don’t make cries of pain.

As a rule, wounded characters are much easier to track down, as they are constantly groaning in pain, and a killer can even find them “blind” by just listening to their surroundings. Thanks to this perk, this advantage is missing, which is why the escape will often succeed.

In the hands of experienced players, Iron Will can often outsmart killers.

4. Prove Thyself

Learnable through: Dwight Fairfield at level 35

“Prove Yourself” ensures that the survivors’ only actual task is completed more quickly – which is repairing generators. For each survivor within 4 meters, the repair speed is increased by 15% – not only for the player with the perk, but also for everyone else within the radius. There is usually a penalty for having multiple survivors working on a generator, but Prove Yourself almost negates that penalty. This makes it really worthwhile to make generators together that can be completed in no time at all.

However, the perk does not stack with itself – if two survivors have this perk with them, only one effect of it applies. The perk is only useless if you never repair together with other survivors or work on a “single-seater” generator that can only be repaired by one survivor at a time.

5. Spine Chill

Learnable through: Standard

“Cold Shiver” is simple, but fulfills a great benefit. As soon as the killer looks in your direction from a distance of 36 meters or less, the perk lights up and alerts you. This is like an early warning system that shows you when the killer is approaching. Since Cold Shiver is also active when the killer is in stealth, it’s a perfect counter against killers with little or no terror radius.

You can hide early or consider whether you still want to finish your task.

The perk also makes you work a bit faster while the killer is facing you, but skill checks are a bit more difficult. But that hardly matters.

6. Adrenaline (Adrenalin)

Learnable through: Meg at level 40

Adrenaline counts as a perennial favorite among Survivor perks. It is immediately dissipated once the last generator has been activated. The survivor can sprint at 150% speed for 5 seconds and is also healed for 1 level of health. So if he’s down he’ll get up wounded and if he’s wounded he’ll be fully healed.

Adrenaline is delayed if you are prevented (i.e. hooked or carried by the killer) at the time of its activation. In this case, the perk triggers as soon as you can move your character again. If you are rescued from the hook, you will sprint and be fully healed immediately.

Adrenaline causes fatigue for a while, preventing other sprint perks from being used.

7. Kindred (Related)

Learnable through: Standard

Relatives underwent a massive overhaul a few months ago and is now useful in more situations. Therefore, it is one of the top intel gathering perks for survivors.

“Kind” allows all other survivors to see the aura of all survivors when your character is on the hook. In addition, the killer’s aura is revealed to all survivors when within 16 yards of the hook.

As of the rework, “Kind” will work for the user even if another survivor is hung. In this case only you see the aura of all other survivors and the killer (within 16 meters). This allows you to make wise decisions and quickly determine whether you should rescue the other survivor or if someone is already on the way.

8. Unbreakable (Unbeugsam)

Learnable through: Bill at level 40

Unyielding allows the Survivor to help themselves off the ground once per match. He then does not need another survivor to assist him. In addition, regeneration on the ground is increased by 35%.

Especially in the final moments of a match, killers often “slug” – knocking down survivors but not carrying them away. This is to ensure that no survivor can escape through the hatch.

The unique ability to help yourself up and then help other survivors off the hook or open the gate is invaluable – even if it doesn’t play out in every match.

9. Boon: Shadowstep (Boon: Shadowstep)

Learnable through: Mikaela Reid at level 40

Mikaela Reid’s second blessing perk ensures that survivors in the radius of the blessed totem do not leave scratch marks and their aura is never displayed.

The perk is a direct counter to many of the killer’s tracking abilities. Without scratch marks, many killers quickly lose their bearings. It can therefore make sense to run into the totem’s area of ​​influence after being hit, in order to then disappear unnoticed. This is a powerful combo, especially when paired with the Iron Will mentioned above.

The effect lasts for a few more seconds even after you leave the totem’s area of ​​influence.

Remember that blessing perks can be stacked. All of a survivor’s blessing perks are combined into a single effect in a totem.

10. Sprint Burst (Sprintboost)

Learnable through: Meg at level 35

Since the Balanced Landing nerfs, the Sprint Burst has returned as the sprint perk of choice for many. It is particularly suitable in combination with fixed, as you can get across the map quickly and at the same time save the sprint to escape from the killer.

Sprint Boost gives the character a 150% speed bonus for 3 seconds once they start running. This allows you to cover many meters in a short time and moves much faster than the killer.

However, Sprint Boost also inflicts Fatigue for 40 seconds, which only decreases when the Survivor stops running. You cannot sprint again while fatigue is active.

Of course, apart from the perks presented, there are still a lot of perks that are useful in different situations. There is no “one right” playstyle in Dead by Daylight. But at least with the above perks you can hardly go wrong. They’re a solid baseline choice for evading most killers for at least a while.

What perks do you always play with as a survivor? Are you more of an action or stealth player?