Dead by Daylight has been thriving for a long time and constantly adds new content. This can be daunting for people just coming to the game as a fresh face, but never fear as we are here to tell you the best killers for beginners in Dead by Daylight!
Best DBD Killers for Beginners
There is a huge roster to choose from, so how do you decide where to start? I'd say that the best DBD Killers for beginners are those that have the simplest mechanics which you can build on when playing more difficult Killers.
The Wraith
The Wraith, or Mister Bing Bong himself, is considered by many as the best Killer to start off with when you are dipping your toes into the pool. You will get him as part of the base game, so you don't have to pay any extra money on a DLC to grab him. His mechanics aren't as hard to master like some of the others in base game (specifically looking at Nurse and her impossible learning curve).
The Wraith's perks are mostly of a very visual nature, but they aren't the best part of him. Quite honestly, they are the worst part of him. All of his perks are very low on the Killer perk tier list. Shadowborn will actually become useless (if it hasn't already) with an FOV rework. Let's hope that a future DBD update to this perk will actually lift it higher on the list.
Predator and Bloodhound are used to see Survivors' Scratch Marks and Pools of Blood. This is useful when you are a complete beginner to the game and you're still getting used to tracking the Survivors. However, these perks will very quickly become obsolete, replaced by better information perks, or a different style of perk altogether. Despite his bad perk kit, the Wraith is definitely at the top of the list of easiest to learn for beginners.
The Wraith is the perfect Killer for generator patrol on a beginner level. His invisibility allows him to move fast and sneak up on Survivors doing gens, making sure that there is no progress. Suddenly hearing a bing bong next to you can still make my heart skip with so many hours in game, let alone beginner Survivors you should be matched with.
The Legion
On the other hand, we have Legion, a DLC Killer that is very different compared to the Wraith. While the Wraith will allow you to get a better feel of the map as well as how stealth Killers work, the Legion will show you how to play aggressively.
Survivors with more hours won't be so affected by them, but the Legion are perfect against beginner Survivors that are still scared of everything and tend to crouch around. I remember when my favorite perk used to be Urban Evasion, I've been there.
From experience, I can also say that new Survivors tend to try and heal immediately, instead of staying hurt and trying to complete a generator. For someone like Legion that can injure more Survivors at once with their power, this is the perfect tactic to slow down the game. Everyone is healing, no one is doing gens, and you can now pick them off one by one.
The Legion also have a good set of perks. Discordance on its own could make this killer worthy of purchase. This perk will reveal when more than one player is working together on a gen. This way you are forcing them to a more solo playstyle. Iron Maiden is also a great perk to have against beginners that tend to hide more in lockers and Mad Grit is very good while you're learning how to use the basic attack.
The Doctor
If you love hearing screams all across the map, then the Doctor is the one for you. In actuality, he is a very good information Killer, easily finding Survivors in the range of his Static blast. This is great for beginners who struggle finding Survivors in a match. Just track the screams and you'll find your prey. Shock Therapy is a little more difficult to learn, as it heads in a straight line, but you can get the hang of it.
The Doctor's perk fall somewhere in the mid range. Knowleadgable Survivors can go against them pretty well, but for beginners these are actually very good. Monitor & Abuse increases your terror radius in a chase, but it also decreases it out of chases. This can cause a lot of confusion for Survivors who are also just getting the hang of the game. You'll force them into hiding even if you aren't near, and leave them feeling safe even if you are very close by.
Overwhelming Presence works with M&A by depleting all item usage in the terror radius. And then the best perk against beginners, and even veterans, is Overcharge. Once you destroy a gen, Overcharge will activate. The next person on that gen will be faced with a difficult skill check and if they miss, they'll get a regression penalty.
The Doctor is well equipped to keep control and keep surveillance over the entire match. He's also a good Killer to get used to sound cues.
The Clown
The Clown has a seemingly simple skillset to use. He makes two types of bottles, one that slows down Survivors and another that speeds him up when inhaled. This combination of bottles makes him a pretty good Killer in a chase, but he isn't all that easy to master.
While it might be difficult to play as the Clown, you can still employ him very effectively even as a beginner. You'll learn how to throw your bottles, the patterns and movements of Survivors and how to stay in a chase, one of the most difficult things to me when I play Killer.
I recommend him as one of your first Killers specifically because of his Perk set. He has Pop Goes the Weasel, arguably one of the best Killer perks in the game that works on just about any Killer, but especially well on fast-moving ones. Once you destroy a generator, you apply a 30% damage regression to a gen with additional regression that applies as time passes. This is one of the best perks for slowing down the game.
Bamboozle is another great perk which blocks a window you have vaulted through. This prevents Survivors from looping you for too long. Coulrophobia might be his weakest perk, but it is certainly not the weakest in game. It reduces the healing speed and increases the Skill check rotation for all Survivors healing in your terror radius.
The Pig
The Pig arrived with one of the most popular chapters in the game, the Saw. She is a very good Killer to slow down the game with her traps. Once the traps are on, the Survivors have a choice. They will either have to stop fixing gens entirely, as popping a gen activates them, or continue repairing them and risk the life of the trapped Survivor. In both cases it's a win-win as you are taking either one Survivor off a gen or the entire team.
She isn't super great at the beginning of a match, but if you are persistent and chase down Survivors, the Pig is pretty powerful. The ticking of the trap also helps increase the unease, leaving Survivors more sloppy and frantic, making them an easy target.
The Pig's perk set consists of a set of information perks that aren't super great but aren't super bad either. You can get better, but as a beginner, these will definitely be more than enough. Surveillance is a perk that tracks the regression of generators. Essentially once you've started a gen regression, you will know once a Survivor is back on it.
Scourge Hook: Hangman's Trick isn't particularly great, as it reveals auras of Survivors that are near a Scourge Hook when you are carrying Survivors. There are just better information perks to use at this stage of the match. Make Your Choice is the best out of the three for me, as it makes the rescuer scream and become Exposed for a certain time so long as you are far away.
The Trapper
You may recognise this guy, yep, he's the one on the cover! The Trapper is a base game killer which means you can get going with him straight off of the hook! He has a pretty simple playstyle. Your goal is to place traps and hit with a basic attack.
Knowing where to place traps is the tricky part and that's why I think he is a good beginner killer. You'll learn the behavior of Survivors and the way they run the map by trial and error. Just keep testing and you'll find some good spots, like underneath windows, in tall grass, around corners that are often looped, etc.
The trapper has a pretty solid perk set, ranging from mid to high tier. Brutal Strength perk allows you to break Pallets and Breakable Walls as well as Damage Generators faster, meaning survivors will have a much harder time repairing generators and looping. Agitation increases your movement speed when carrying a Survivor, a good perk if you don't know the map layout just yet or where the hooks spawn.
I think that Unnerving Presence is the Trapper's best beginner perk, especially in combination with Agitation that increases your terror radius. Survivors that are repairing gens in your terror radius or healing get an increase of chance for a Skill check as well as the zone of success on them. If you're just learning to play and hit Skill checks, this is an absolute nightmare. When I was playing on my lagging laptop way back in the day and the Killer had this perk on, there was no way I was hitting anything.
If you're already been playing the game and want to know who the best Killers are, check out Top 10 Best Killers in Dead by Daylight on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Dec 18, 2023 01:44 pm