Top 20 Dead by Daylight Killers

The big bad of “Dungeons & Dragons” comes with a weapon wheel loaded up with some handy spells that allow him to maintain control of a chase and even find Survivors. Well, to some degree at least. The Dispelling Sphere will give an idea of where Survivors are while temporarily neutralizing whatever magical items they may be wielding. Mage Hand is a great way to deny Survivors of a pallet drop or even vault one if you throw them off guard. Fly can also help Vecna maintain a decent patrol across large distances while potentially giving him some value in distance-based Perks like Make Your Choice. As for his fourth spell, Flight of the Damned… it’s way too slow to start up and easy for Survivors to dodge, which is what gets him slapped onto the bottom of this list.

Kazan Yamaoka imposes an intimidating presence on those who haven’t gone against him enough times. The thing about the Oni is that he greatly benefits from keeping Survivors injured as they can drop blood orbs that can eventually activate his unique Killer power, Yamaoka’s Wrath. When activated, the Oni can temporarily utilize two new abilities to quickly hunt and down Survivors. Demon Dash will help him traverse long distances and possibly ambush unsuspecting Survivors while a charged Demon Strike will down even healthy Survivors in a single hit. Only problem is that both of the Oni’s abilities can be a little tricky to utilize. How many times have we gotten stuck on a small rock or an awkwardly placed pile of garbage? Too many to count, and it can quickly hinder any Oni player.

When trying to escape the Nurse, Survivors may have an incredibly hard time avoiding her attacks. The Nurse can blink across short distances, making her movements seem unpredictable. Your only means of defense is to try and play mind games with her and make her blink in the wrong direction. “Well, for a Killer that sounds this oppressive, why is she only at number eighteen?” Whereas PC players might get a grasp on the Nurse quickly, the same cannot be said for console players or those who prefer using a controller over mouse and keyboard. When used by that half of the playerbase, the Nurse can feel a tad awkward and clunky to control, and her slow movement speed does not help. Fun Killer, but man, she requires a ton of patience to get a hang of.

We’ll admit that at the time of this video, most of Pyramid Head’s add-ons are pretty useless. Even so, his Power gives him some level of control and surveillance of the map. Pyramid Head can leave behind trails that inflict Torment on any Survivors who carelessly pass through them unless they’re crouching. Should a Survivor go down while inflicted with Torment, Pyramid Head gets the opportunity to send them to a Cage of Atonement, which is basically an instant Hook at the expense of not knowing where the Survivor is imprisoned. Now, if said Survivor is at Death Hook and is inflicted with Torment, well, they could be subjected to a quick and unceremonious exit. Yeah, Pyramid Head does have the potential to end games fast, but that’s if everyone is playing too recklessly and if the player is placing trails in good spots. Here’s hoping those add-ons soon buff him just a tad more.

The second you see a Bubba in your game, you know this is going to go one of two ways: either you’re about to be in one of the longest chases you’ve ever been in or you’re about to have one of the shortest games you’ve ever played. Ol’ Leatherface can use his trusty chainsaw to down Survivors regardless of what health state they’re in. This has led many Bubba players to come up with utterly oppressive builds like Basement Bubba that can potentially end games before half of the gens are finished. However, missing a Chainsaw Sweep could cost you time in a chase or straight up lose a Survivor if you wind up in a tantrum. And trust us, that collision can be unforgiving sometimes.

The Unknown is a parasitic being that can leave behind husks and teleport to them to catch Survivors off guard. The only way Survivors are able to limit its mobility is by carefully approaching these husks and interacting with them. This can leave them vulnerable for quite some time while allowing the Unknown to land free hits. There is another attack the Unknown has access to - the UVX Projectile. Though it can potentially damage Survivors already inflicted by its Weakness effect, landing these shots can be somewhat cumbersome as the projectile always bounces off the first surface it makes contact with. Yeah, you can make some incredible plays with it, but in some situations, its collision detection can make it a bit frustrating to use. Still, it does make The Unknown an extremely versatile Killer!

After a few adjustments and some reworking, the Skull Merchant has become one of the most formidable Killers in “Dead By Daylight”. Her unique Power is entirely centered on deploying drones around the map that can notify her of a Survivor’s whereabouts when one is detected. If a Survivor hangs around in a drone’s view for too long, they can become injured and receive a Claw Trap that lets the Skull Merchant find them quickly, even if they are no longer in the drone’s radius. Not only that, but the Skull Merchant can become Undetectable by deploying drones and gets a stackable Haste bonus when a Survivor becomes trackable. In other words, she can easily create great setups for ambushes and receive a constant stream of info on where Survivors are.

Poor Amanda can be an easy Killer to bully when SWFs use certain builds, but in a normal game, she can be just as dirty. The Pig can crouch and become Undetectable on the fly, which can make her tough to spot in grassy or plant-filled realms like Backwater Swamp or Grave of Glenvale. But what can really hamper Survivors from finishing gens and possibly escaping are the Reverse Bear Traps. The Pig can place these on the heads of downed Survivors, and when a gen is completed, the trap’s timer activates. Should a Survivor fail to find the right key in one of the Jigsaw Boxes spawned around the map, well… Suddenly, it’s not so fun wearing a hat the whole game, is it?

Since we did our original list way back in 2021, the Hillbilly has seen a pretty substantial change in how he plays. While he still has access to his Chainsaw Sprint to rush towards unsuspecting Survivors, his reworked Overdrive mechanic now gives him some benefits to overusing the chainsaw. At the expense of a slight increase to charging up for a sprint, the Hillbilly gets a reduced cooldown on sprints and an increase in movement speed during a sprint. Basically, you’ll find some way to down a Survivor from halfway across the map. Just keep in mind any potential small tiles getting in your way because the gods of collision can be ruthless.

“Castlevania” has finally made its way into “Dead by Daylight”, and Dracula has quickly cemented himself as one of the most fun Killers to play in the game. With his pillars of Hellfire, he can injure or down Survivors from across small tiles or even cause pillars to spawn around him or the exit gate (depending on what add-ons are being used). But his most important Powers are his shapeshifting abilities. As a swarm of bats, Dracula can teleport to various windows and dropped pallets to possibly flank Survivors. As for his Wolf form, he can find Survivors more easily as scratch marks form closer together and in a more linear fashion. Honestly, you’ll feel just as unstoppable as he was back in the NES days.

First, a big shout out to Wesker; although his Virulent Bound attacks can be tough to land, they do feel so good, especially if you wind up throwing Survivors into each other. Nemesis, on the other hand, brings a whole other sinister game to “Dead by Daylight”! Nemmy can power up his tentacle strikes by hitting Survivors with them, eventually letting him break pallets and extend his reach. However, the most satisfying aspect of his kit are the zombies. Shortly after the match begins, two zombies will spawn in and begin wandering around looking for Survivors. In some circumstances, this can potentially let you force players between a rock and a hard place, making them choose between taking a hit from you, the zombie, or risking a hit from both of you simultaneously and getting downed instantly. The zombies can lead to some hilarious moments in chases, and it's why Nemesis is our preferred Killer between the two “Resident Evil” reps.

Lockers were once an almost guaranteed safe haven to keep Killers from finding you. But if you notice lockers having locks on them, congratulations - you have found yourself in a game with The Dredge! This blob of flesh and darkness uses lockers to teleport to various areas of the map, and if he teleports to a locker you’re hiding in, you’ll be instantly grabbed and ready to be hooked. What makes him more troublesome is the Nightfall mechanic. Every time the Dredge teleports or injures or hooks Survivors, Nightfall gets closer to activation. Once it reaches full charge, Survivors are suddenly shrouded in almost complete darkness while being much more visually prominent in the Dredge’s vision. Mobility and temporary periods of explicit info are what make the Dredge a real monster in this game.

Leaning a bit more towards body horror in this corner of DBD, The Plague is one of the most difficult Killers to go up against. The big reason for this is her unique Power, Vile Purge. By vomiting onto Survivors (and doing so extensively), the Plague can force players into an injured state while inflicting Broken, preventing them from healing and forcing them to seek out one of her Pools of Devotion. Should a Survivor ignore infection and proceed to interact with gens, pallets, and teammates, the infection can wind up infecting fellow Survivors. This is where Survivors must choose between staying infected and injured or curing themselves. If a Survivor cures themselves at a Pool of Devotion, the Plague can go to the pool, ingest the corruption, and turn her Vile Purge into a projectile that directly injures players like a regular hit instead of passively. The second you hear her mystical chants - RUN!

Sometimes, you may stumble upon a Ghost Face that just wants to be goofy and have fun with Survivors. The serious Ghost Face players… They’re a different beast altogether. Ghost Face is all about hiding from Survivors and stalking them until they are fully marked. Upon fully marking a Survivor, that player is Oblivious to Ghost Face’s whereabouts and is able to be downed in a single strike. In some instances, expert Ghost Face players can mark Survivors while chasing them, but that requires some finesse and looping around a strong tile. Overall, Ghost Face is one of those Killers you can get a grasp on quickly, but will demand some time to truly master and get the jump on Survivors.

If you watch any DBD streamers or YouTubers, you may have come across the occasional Huntress compilation where players are nailing hatchet throws from ridiculously long distances. That’s pretty much why we regard The Huntress so highly when looking at the most fun Killers. Landing hits with a hatchet lob can be satisfying in short-distance chases even when the chase boils down to playing mind games around a tile. But on the off-chance that you try to lob a hatchet from halfway across the map and suddenly hear it hit, holy crap, you’ll wind up laughing your way to the gen. And the hook. Fun for you, not so much for the Survivors. Not with that wonky collision detection.

Are you hearing bwomps? Zaps? A whole lot of screaming? Yep, you’re trapped in a game with The Doctor. Thanks to the powers of his overcooked mind, the Doctor is capable of harnessing concentrated electricity in a small area in front of him. Briefly frying Survivors will cause them to scream and temporarily prevent them from vaulting windows and dropping pallets. Add-ons can make his zaps even more distressing as they may cause Survivors to start hearing the Doc’s Terror Radius music, see visions of him, or even be cast in the light of his Red Stain. Depending on their Madness level, players may even see bizarre Skill Checks that can further hinder their progress in healing or repairing generators. And hey, slap a bunch of Perks on Doctor that cause Survivors to scream, and you’ll have a real party happening.

In all honesty, Michael Myers can be one of the hardest Killers to play as. This is because his Power, Evil Within, requires you to stalk Survivors in order to efficiently down and sacrifice them. This means you may lose out on two or three generators before you can make it to maximum Evil Within. Achieve this, and Michael can down Survivors instantly for a certain period of time. Certain add-ons can even let him grab a Survivor while their back is turned towards him and kill them instantly. But that alone is what makes Michael fun to play with! It’s “Halloween” all over again, and this time, we get to become pure EVIL!

If you want to play a Killer that is truly devious, then the Xenomorph is one of the best to play as! Through the use of crawl spaces and a tunnel system, the Xenomorph can cover a lot of ground and even detect Survivors’ footsteps when they’re running on the surface. Not only that, but you’ll also be notified of a Survivor’s presence if they’re close enough to one of your tunnels’ entry points. But what truly makes the Xenomorph one of DBD’s most satisfying Killers to play with is its long-ranged tail attack! With its tail, the Xenomorph can injure Survivors from the other side of some tiles of objects and even pallets. So long as you watch out for flamethrower turrets that can hinder your speed, no Survivor will ever escape your fury!

Chucky used to be one of DBD’s most oppressive Killers until Behaviour nerfed him and reworked his power a bit. While in Hidey-Ho mode, Chucky becomes Undetectable as Survivors hear footsteps from various directions. Hidey-Ho mode also grants you access to a dash attack that can be tough to land, but nail the hit and you may gain the upper hand in the chase. Of course, the best part of Chucky isn’t the sneaky sucker stabs or the general creative approach in how Behaviour managed to make him playable in the first place. No, it’s the simple fact that Chucky will verbally assault Survivors relentlessly. Start a chase, land a hit, down a Survivor, hook them, off them - Chucky has an insult for everything, and it is hilarious.

In our original list of the best Killers to play as, we put the Spirit at number one. Unsurprisingly, Rin Yamaoka still sits at our top spot, and it’s for the very same reasons we stated in that list. The Spirit leans heavily into DBD’s horror side in terms of gameplay thanks to her unique power. Using Yamaoka’s Haunting lets her turn invisible and jumpscare unsuspecting Survivors. On top of that, she moves at such a quick speed that by the time you hear her sounds, she’s already behind you. The Spirit is, by far, the scariest and toughest Killer to go against. And it is what makes her the most fun to go against. Very rarely do Killers integrate an element of true horror into their mechanics, and Spirit shows that approach and creativity beautifully.

Which Killer do you like to play the most? Survivors, who would you say is the Killer you struggle with the most? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to WatchMojo.