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2022 added plenty of new content to Dead by Daylight and brought players patch 1.6, shaking up the survivor meta quite a bit. There are numerous ways to play as a survivor and plenty of niches that can be filled with the right builds. Players looking to spice up their perks or try new builds have plenty of new options when it comes to playing as the survivor.
Updated on November 10, 2022: This Dead by Daylight guide was originally published in 2021, but there have been many updates and meta balances that have come to the game since then. Because of that, we’ve updated our best survivor builds to fit in with the 2022 meta of Dead by Daylight.
10 The General Meta Build
Players looking to maintain a generally good build will find that the core meta perks, while different from those before the 1.6 patch, feature various perks with similar effects. The best all-around survivor perks center around the evasion of the killer and the safe rescue of hooked teammates. This build usually contains the following perks:
Dead Hard (David King) - When injured, press the Active Ability Button 1 while running to gain the Endurance status effect for the next 0. 5 seconds. Off the Record (Zarina Kassir) - After being unhooked, for the next 80 seconds, the survivor’s aura is not revealed to the killer, their grunts of pain are muted, and they gain the Endurance status effect. Deliverance (Adam Francis) - Upon unhooking another survivor, users have a 100% chance of escaping their first hook state, after which the Broken status ailment activates for 60 seconds. Boon: Circle of Healing (Mikaela Reid) - Using the Active Ability button on a Dull or Hex Totem will bless it, creating a 24-meter radius in which survivors receive a 50% healing speed bonus and the ability to self-heal at 50% efficiency.
These perks are very common among survivors and are effective against every killer in the game. Dead Hard, despite having a very high skill ceiling, unlike the other exhaustion perks, gives players who can time it correctly a big burst of speed and an extra health state, while Off the Record helps survivors avoid being tunneled out of the game.
For solo players, Deliverance is exceptionally useful for avoiding camping killers and situations where other survivors fail to unhook; moreover, Boon of Healing helps the entire team to reset their health and prolong the game.
9 The Lone Survivor Build
Sometimes, the only thing a survivor can do in Dead By Daylight is rely on their own abilities to survive the Entity’s trials. The following perks promote a playstyle that can help avoid the killer at all costs:
Unbreakable (William “Bill” Overbeck) - Increases dying recovery speed by 35% and allows users to pick themselves up from the dying state once per trial. Deliverance (Adam Francis) - Upon unhooking another survivor, users have a 100% chance of escaping their first hook state, after which the Broken status ailment activates for 60 seconds. Boon: Circle of Healing (Mikaela Reid) - Using the Active Ability button on a Dull or Hex Totem will bless it, creating a 24-meter radius in which survivors receive a 50% healing speed bonus and the ability to self-heal at 50% efficiency. Dead Hard (David King) - When injured, press the Active Ability Button 1 while running to gain the Endurance status effect for the next 0. 5 seconds.
8 The Team Player Build
Dead By Daylight thrives on teammates who can help one another in sticky situations. Helping to take chase from weaker survivors and working hard with the team to avoid leaving the final three generators close together are all important aspects when approaching Dead By Daylight. The following perks will help tremendously with team play:
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Sprint Burst (Meg Thomas) - Press the run button to sprint at 150% normal running speed for 3 seconds. Adrenaline (Meg Thomas) - Once the final generator is repaired, instantly heal one health state and sprint at 150% normal running speed for 5 seconds. Reassurance (Rebecca Chambers) - When within a 6-meter radius of a hooked survivor, press the Active Ability Button 2 to pause their hook timer for 30 seconds. Prove Thyself (Dwight Fairfield) - For every other survivor working on the same generator as the player, gain a 15% repair speed bonus.
Meg Thomas’ Sprint Burst perk is an amazing exhaustion ability that is much easier to use than Dead Hard, granting players a good distance from the killer. Adrenaline achieves a similar thing and will ensure that players in a chase with killers at the end of a trial have a second chance at survival.
Reassurance is the best anti-camping perk in the game and makes getting safe hook rescues all the more viable in games where killers stay close to hooked survivors. Finally, Prove Thyself ensures that generators get done quickly when the team works together.
7 The Totem Hunter Build
Totems are an interesting feature inside Dead by Daylight. Many of the best killer perks are Hex perks, and hexed totems can be marked by their burning appearance. With access to powerful Boon Totems, which essentially act as survivor-sided Hex perks, Survivors are well-equipped to deal with whatever comes their way.
Boon: Circle of Healing (Mikaela Reid) - Using the Active Ability button on a Dull or Hex Totem will bless it, creating a 24-meter radius in which survivors receive a 50% healing speed bonus and the ability to self-heal at 50% efficiency. Detective’s Hunch (Detective Tapp) - Once a generator is finished, all generators, chests, and totems within 64 meters are revealed to the survivor for 10 seconds. Counterforce (Jill Valentine) - Users cleanse totems 20% faster, and after cleaning one, they see the aura of the furthest totem from them. Lithe (Feng Min) - When performing a rushed vault action, break into a sprint at 150% of normal running speed.
This build allows players to quickly find totems. They will cleanse them faster and will have access to the powerful healing benefits of the Boon perk.
6 The Locker Build
Lockers are usually used for hiding in plain sight from the killer. Opening lockers take precious time away from the killer, so they often won’t check every locker. This build turns lockers from hiding places into weapons to be used by the survivor. Need to stun the killer but don’t have a pallet nearby? No worries – this build has it covered. Need a heal but don’t have a medkit or Self-Care? The locker can do that too.
Head On (Jane Romero) - After hiding in a locker for 3 seconds, sprint out to stun the killer for 3 seconds. Quick and Quiet (Meg Thomas) - Vault and hide action noises are reduced by 100%. Parental Guidance (Yoichi Asakawa) - After stunning the killer, scratch marks, grunts of pain, and pools of blood are hidden for 7 seconds. Inner Healing (General Perk) - After cleaning a totem, hiding inside a locker while injured will heal the user after 8 seconds.
5 The Stealth Build
When it was created, Dead by Daylight was originally supposed to be a scary game of hide-and-seek. There was no such thing as “looping,” and the complex mind games survivors and killers must play during a chase hadn’t even been thought of.
Dead By Daylight has obviously evolved, and simply hiding from the killer won’t always work. Players wanting to maintain the feeling of hiding from the killer can make themselves into a stealth build, though. This build centers around effectively using perks to surprise the killer and leave no traces behind.
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Overcome (Jonah Vasquez) - After being injured, retain the movement speed boost for an extra 2 seconds. Lucky Break (Yui Kimura) - After being injured, users won’t leave trails of blood or scratch marks for 60 seconds. Each second spent healing another survivor recharges this perk’s duration. Self-Care (Claudette Morel) - Survivors can heal themselves without a medkit at 35% efficiency. Bite the Bullet (Leon S. Kennedy) - When healing, grunts of pain are muted, and failed Skill Checks make no noise.
With these perks, the player can effectively hide from the killer when injured and heal themselves without the help of anyone else. Overcome allows players to make full use of Lucky Break’s effects, giving a huge speed burst to make distance from the killer and lose them quickly.
Self-Care and Bite the Bullet also work in unison, allowing players to silence their grunts of pain at will to avoid being caught by nearby killers.
4 The Runner Build
Players adopting the newer meta of Dead by Daylight will probably want to leave stealth behind. Looping killers isn’t an easy skill to learn, but once mastered, a survivor can run a killer around for minutes straight without getting downed once. Runners are often key components to escaping a trial as a team, as they distract the killer long enough for generators to be completed in quick succession. Players looking to attract the killer and run them around should consider using the following perks:
Dead Hard (David King) - When injured, press the Active Ability Button 1 while running to gain the Endurance status effect for the next 0. 5 seconds. For the People (Zarina Kassir) - When healing another survivor, press the Active Ability Button 1 to instantly heal them one health state. In return, the user will become injured and receive the Broken status ailment for 60 seconds. Windows of Opportunity (Kate Denson) - The auras of pallets, breakable walls, and vault locations are revealed when within a 32-meter radius. Alert (Feng Min) - Whenever a killer performs a break action, their aura is revealed to users for 5 seconds.
Effective runners can easily distract a killer and buy their teams plenty of time to complete objectives. They can also get into the heads of some killers and cause their play to weaken as a result. Remember, it can be fun and feel rewarding to loop a killer, but remember to be a good sport and avoid toxicity.
3 The Escapist Build
Not every survivor is going to be great at stealth or looping. Players make mistakes, get scared by the killer, and might end up in the dying state. There is often nothing a survivor can do from the dying state, especially if they are picked up by the killer immediately.
While survivors can try and wriggle free from the killer’s grasp, there are enough hooks around the map to make this a rare occurrence. This build seeks to change all of that. Going down is just the beginning for survivors running these escape-centered perks:
Balanced Landing (Nea Karlsson) - After falling, stagger duration is reduced by 75%, and the volume of grunts is reduced by 100%. Afterwards, break into a sprint at 150% normal running speed. Boil Over (Kate Denson) - Struggling effects against a killer are increased by 80%, and killers cannot see hook auras within 16 meters. Users also gain 33% wiggle progress when the killer drops from a height. Unbreakable (William “Bill” Overbeck) - Increases dying recovery speed by 35% and allows users to pick themselves up from the dying state once per trial. Flip-Flop (Ashley J. Williams) - While in the dying state, 50% of recovery progression is converted into wiggle progression when picked up by the killer.
These perks synergize very well together but still require a little luck to maximize their value. For example, if the killer doesn’t let the survivor sit on the ground for long enough, Unbreakable and Flip-Flop won’t have too much value. It’s quite rare to escape a killer’s grasp, but it can happen, and this build makes it more likely.
2 The Saboteur Build
Sabotaging hooks can be one of the most effective methods of slowing down killers and saving fellow survivors. To do so requires a lot of coordination and teamwork, which the following perks will help assist with:
Sprint Burst (Meg Thomas) - Press the run button to sprint at 150% normal running speed for 3 seconds. Bond (Dwight Fairfield) - Allies’ auras are revealed when within a 36-meter range. Breakout (Yui Kimura) - When within 6 meters of a carried survivor, users move at 7% increased movement speed, and the carried survivor gains a 20% wiggle speed increase. Saboteur (Jake Park) - See hook auras within 56 meters of a carried survivor and gain the ability to sabotage hooks without a toolbox.
Sprint Burst will help to cover vast distances quickly when a survivor is close to getting downed, and Bond will let players know exactly where to find the nearby endangered survivor. Breakout and Saboteur will go a long way to helping carried survivors escape and finding out which hooks they’re being taken to.
1 The Healer Build
The killer needs to strike survivors two times in order to put them in the dying state. As a result, a good healer can go a long way in Dead by Daylight. Fast healing can set back a killer a lot, and it will force them to change how they play in order to secure hooks.
Players that like being healers in other games will find that the healing perks in Dead by Daylight are just as good and just as important as they would be in other games.
Botany Knowlege (Claudette Morel) - Healing speed is increased by 50%, but healing item efficiency is reduced by 20%. Dead Hard (David King) - When injured, press the Active Ability Button 1 while running to gain the Endurance status effect for the next 0. 5 seconds. We’ll Make It (General Perk) - After unhooking a survivor, healing speed is increased by 100% for 90 seconds. We’re Gonna Live Forever (David King) - A survivor in the dying state is healed 100% faster, and they are granted a 10-second Endurance effect provided the user has saved a survivor before.
Dead By Daylight is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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