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The Complete Guide to Killer Perks (The Spirit Patch, 18.09.2018, Patch 2.2.0.)
Hello DBD Community, my name is Gravity. I have over 1k hours in this beautiful game, with more emphasis on the killer side.
This is the third iteration of this guide as the Shattered Bloodline Chapter (The Spirit) was released. (Patch: 2.2.0)
As The Spirit's perks are quite new, the ranking might change but should be pretty solid as i have played them in the PTB and since they were released in the game.
There are always a lot of discussions going on about perks and their viability in the current state of the game and i wanted to make a guide for new and old players, that gives a detailed overview over the available killer perks in this game, stating why a perk is considered strong or weak in the current meta.
The perks are listed alphabetically and are rated based on their rank 3 variation.
The ranking tiers are as follows: S > A > B > C > D (>E)
There are only three "S" rank perks, but i felt it was right to give them a "special" rank, because they stand atop all other perks (in my humble opinion of course 
)
Keep in mind, that if you want to play a certain way or use a specific strategy (e.g. Unstoppa-Myers, Stealth-Sniper Doctor, Basement Camp Extravaganza, etc.) some perks will suit your style better than other "higher rank perks". Don't let yourself be discouraged by a low rating... except for maybe the basement camp... c'mon man XD
I also included a synergy section for killers and other perks. These are meant to show that some perks go well with each other or that some killers get more use out of that perk with their powers and add-ons!
Perk Icon Gifs are from the Dead By Daylight Wiki. For some reason, the gifs are not working for the new perks (The Spirit).
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A Nurse's Calling
Nurse Teachable
Rank: S
Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. The Auras of Survivors who are healing or being healed are revealed to you when they are within 20/24/28 meters of range.
Why it is good:
This perk gives you the exact location of any healing survivor or even two survivors if one is healing the other (in a 28m radius). In (most) games, survivors get injured and they don't want to stay that way. So healing will always play a key role in a trial. Many heals will be after a hook rescue, so if you go back to catch them again, you most likely see them healing from afar or detect them healing in a nearby corner. Also many injured survivors feel save healing when you are chasing another survivor and are caught of guard when you suddenly dart in their direction, leaving your previous pray behind, because you saw them healing behind a tree, rock or wall.
This perk also shows the aura of a survivor that is performing the "Snap out of it" action (trying to get back to Madness level 2 from level 3 against the power of The Doctor).
With Self-Care being one of the most used survivor perks and medkits, keep in mind that even survivors healing themselves are detected by this perk!
And an injured survivor is just one hit away from being put on the next hook. Also, if seen by a killer with a lower or no terror radius at all, survivors won't be able to tell that you are in aura reading reach and able to see them healing (standard terror radius is 32m).
Killer synergy: The Shape, The Wraith, The Doctor, The Pig, The Spirit
Perk synergy: Monitor & Abuse
Possible Changes
Developer Stream 21.06.2018
A possible nerf to Self-Care was announced which may result in lowering the usage of Self-Care overall. Still i can't see anything lower than a (high) Rank A rating for A Nurse's Calling. No changes were made up to this point.
Agitation
Trapper Teachable
Rank: A
You get excited in anticipation of hooking your prey. Increases your speed while transporting bodies by 6/12/18 %. While transporting a body, your Terror Radius is increased by 6/8/12 meters.
Why it is good:
The terror radius increase is not really a big deal, as it only is in effect as long as you carry your victim. And you want to hook them as fast as possible. That's why the speed increase is the important part. It not only cuts short the time you spend carrying, but also let's you hit other survivors that try to block you more easily. Against coordinated SWF groups, this is very useful. Not only can you get to the hook faster and prevent a complete hook block (survivor standing in front of the hook preventing the hook animation), you can also hit survivors that try to get your attention by dancing in circles around you to waste time in hope their friend wiggles free.
Bamboozle
Clown Teachable
Rank: A
Your vault speed is 5/10/15 % faster.
Performing a vault action calls upon The Entity to block that vault location for 8/12/16 seconds.
Only 1 vault location may be blocked in this way at any given time. The vault location is blocked only for Survivors.
Why it is good:
Shutting down a window will close many looping possibilities for survivors. One of the best loop-spots is the killer shack, which is present in every map except Lampkin Lane, so this perk will always have an impact on your chases by forcing the survivors away from a window loop, preventing them from wasting your time. The 15% increased vault speed it nice, but not all that noticeable, it is more of an incentive for you to vault.
Killer Synergy: The Shape
Barbecue & Chilli
Cannibal Teachable
Rank: S
A deep bond with The Entity unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. After hooking a Survivor, all other Survivors' Auras are revealed to you for 4 seconds when they are further than 52/46/40 meters from the Hook.
Each time a Survivor is hooked for the first time, gain a 15/20/25 % stackable Bonus to all Bloodpoint gains.
Why it is good:
The information it gives you is incredible. You see where the others survivor are and what they are doing (repairing, healing, cleansing, etc.). And if you don't see all auras of the other survivors light up, you know that they are near you. It was intended to be a pure "anti camper" perk by giving the killer incentive to go after the revealed survivors (as they are revealed and you get an extra 25% bloodpoints for each individual survivor being hooked!), but if none or only one is revealed, you know, that someone is probably ready to make a hook save, creating the opposite effect, which is camping.
Also, if you already killed some survivors, it makes it easier to hunt down the rest, maybe even tipping the hatch duel into your favor. And also potential double Blood Points, hooray!
Beast of Prey
Huntress Teachable
Rank: D
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 15/20/25 seconds when Bloodlust activates.
Why it is bad:
In truth, this perk has potential. There has been talk about making the effect an activated ability (press a key to activate), which would be an incredible change. But as for now, this perk's effect is unreliable, meaning it might activate it in situations where it has no effect (open areas). Also activating Bloodlust in narrow areas can be difficult, because you lose sight of your target more easily.
Bitter Murmur
General Perk
Rank: C
Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. Each time a generator is fully repaired, survivors within 16 meters of the completed generator will be revealed for 5 seconds When the last generator is fully repaired, all the survivors auras are revealed for 5/7/10 seconds..
Why it is mediocre:
Used with certain other perks like Bitter Murmur, Hex: No One Escapes Death and Remember Me, it's usefulness goes up, but it's field of application is very limited.
The changes that made the perk reveal auras of survivors that are within 16m of a generator that just got repaired seems nice, but in reality it is not that much of a big deal. You already know that someone is at that generator, because if got finished. And other than with BBQ and Chili, this perk can trigger while you are in a chase, carrying someone, setting a trap, etc., which greatly diminishes the usefulness of this perk. BBQ shows you the auras of survivors exactly when you need it, namely after you are done hooking a survivor, which means that you finished a chase and are looking for a new target.
Bloodhound
Wraith Teachable
Rank: D
Like a hunting scent hound, you smell traces of blood at a great distance. Fresh Blood Stains are considerably more discernible than normal and can be tracked for 2/3/4 seconds longer than normal.
Why it is bad:
Hurt survivors are mostly running, because you already have found and hit them. It is possible to follow blood stains without this perk if you are observant. So this perk only gives you a small benefit while tracking an injured survivor. And if you want to find a hurt survivor you have lost, A Nurse's Calling is a better alternative.
Blood Warden
Nightmare Teachable
Rank: C
Once per match, once at least one Exit Gate is opened, hooking a Survivor summons The Entity to block the exits for all Survivors for 30/40/60 seconds. While Blood Warden is active, Auras of Survivors located within the Exit Gates are revealed to you.
Why it is mediocre:
In my opinion, this is a fun perk. But it's activation is very wonky. You have to hook someone at the right time. Granted, it is a perk you would use in a "end game build" along with maybe Bitter Murmur, Hex: No One Escapes Death and Remember Me.
The reveal of auras in the exit gate areas is not all that useful and survivors see the blocked gates without approaching them. Also you don't have any indicator of how long the blocked doors will last, which is a major downside.
Brutal Strength
Trapper Teachable
Rank: B
Your great strength allows you to shred through your prey's defenses. Destroy dropped barricades and generators 10/15/20 % faster.
Why it is mediocre:
Because "looping" and the good old "chase from pallet to pallet" still has a strong present in the meta game, destroying pallets faster is never bad, but the time saved is not that big of a deal. Here is an overview:
Destruction Speed
| Default || 1 c/s || 2.6 seconds
| 10% || 1.1 c/s || 2.36 seconds
| 15% || 1.15 c/s || 2.26 seconds
| 20% || 1.2 c/s || 2.17 seconds
That means you are saving a bit under 0.5 seconds on a pallet. If that is good enough for you, take the perk.
The new aspect, destroying generators faster too, is only affecting the time it takes to perform the "kick action", not the speed at which the generator loses progress. It's just a QoL change that doesn't really affect the perk.
Coulrophobia
Clown Teachable
Rank: C
Your presence alone instills great fear. Survivors within your Terror Radius have a 30/40/50 % penalty to the Healing progression speed.
Why it is mediocre:
As i can tell so far, with the perk still being new, it does not have that much of an impact on your gameplay. While it may stall some healing, it only does so within your terror radius. And if you want to prevent healing, i'd rather take A Nurse's Calling which almost goes as far as you normal terror radius (32m) and prevents healing by starting a chase.
Also, you don't see the effect of this perk (you don't know if someone is healing slower because they are in your terror radius), which means you have no feedback on this perk. Although this is purely psychological, this effect is very unsatisfying in my opinion.
Perk synergy: Distressing, Sloppy Butcher
Deerstalker
General Perk
Rank C
Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. Reveals dying Survivors' Auras when standing within 12/24/36 meters.
Why it is mediocre:
Keeping dibs on a downed survivor can be useful in certain situations. Like when there are only two survivors remaining and you want to deny a hatch escape, so you hunt down the second survivor before hooking the first one. You won't have a problem with finding that guy. Or when you wipe the whole team because they go for reckless saves and you pick them up one by one. But that is all it does, helping you find an already incapacitated survivor. Yes, you might find him before he is healed up again and the range is bigger than A Nurse's Calling, but the situations where you don't want to hook a downed survivor as fast as possible are not happening all that often.
Perk synergy: Knock Out
Distressing
General Perk
Rank: D
Your horrifying emanation strikes at a supernaturally long distance. Your Terror Radius is increased by 22/24/26 %. Gain 50/75/100 % more Bloodpoints for actions in the Deviousness category.
Why it is bad:
This is a classic perk you use with certain other perks to enhance their effects. Keep in mind, that you gain the bonus bloodpoints during the trial, not after the game has ended, which means this perk won't get you more than the 8k blood point cap in the Deviousness category!
You want to pick this perk to get more use out of other perks like Unnerving Presence or Overwhelming Presence (and probably Coulrophobia). As a standalone perk, it is not strong, except maybe against newer survivors who are still afraid of the terror radius.
Killer synergy: The Doctor
Perk synergy: Coulrophobia, Unnerving Presence, Overwhelming Presence
Dying Light
Shape Teachable
Rank: C
You become obsessed with one Survivor. Your Obsession's altruistic action speed is increased by 38/44/50 %. Once the Obsession is killed or sacrificed, every other Survivor gets a penalty of 19/22/25 % to repair, healing and sabotage speed.
Only one Obsession per match.
Why it is mediocre:
If you manage to activate it early by some means, it is a very strong perk. 25% action penalty? Don't mind if I do.
The problem is, you have to kill you obsession quickly. And your obsession knows, that you have this perk, as they get the increased altruism speed buff shown as an icon. So most of the times, the obsession will play more stealthy and carefully, while you are more likely to forgo chasing other survivors, because you want to end your obsession. This results in a tunnel heavy game that more often than not won't go into your favor.
Enduring
Hillbilly Teachable
Rank: B (former A)
You are resilient to pain. Your rate of recovery from stuns is increased by 50/60/75 %.
Why it is strong:
You will eat pallets. You will get hit by Decisive Strike. In many games, there are even more than just one Decisive Strikes in play, which can be very annoying. And shortening the stun times is very useful. You can always play aggressive on pallets and try to hit the survivor in hopes he will drop it to late and eat a your weapon with his face, because the stun in shorter than normal. Even if you don't hit him and get stunned, it is but a scratch.
With this perk at rank 3, you can even grab injured survivor that manage to stun you with a pallet but end up on the wrong side (the side where you are XD ). You will get out of the stun while they are still in the vaulting animation trying to get to the other side of the pallet, which means that you can interrupt and catch them.
With the changes to the pallets (no more vacuum), this perk dropped a bit in usefulness, and if they will really nerf Decisive Strike, it will drop even more.
Perk synergy: Spirit Fury
Fire Up
Nightmare Teachable
Rank: D
The increased pressure of losing your preys fills you with anger and gives you unsuspected motivation. Each time the Survivors complete repairs on a Generator, Fire Up grows in power and grants speed bonus to pick up, drop, Pallet break, Generator break and vaults.
2 Tokens: Receive 6/8/10 % action speed bonus.
3 Tokens: Receive 8/10/12 % action speed bonus.
4 Tokens: Receive 10/12/14 % action speed bonus.
Why it is bad:
The numbers are just to low. 14% action speed bonus at the end of the game is just not good enough to justify taking this perk.
Franklin's Demise
Cannibal Teachable
Rank: ??
Your vicious attacks make the Survivors drop their Item on impact. The lost Item is damaged in the fall, losing 0/5/10 % of its base amount of Charges.
Why it is ??:
This perk is interesting. It is completely useless, if the survivors don't hold any items. But with every item that is carried by the survivor team, it's benefit goes up. Not only can you knock their items out of their hand and making it lose charges, most of the time, they will try to circle back and retrieve their item. This wastes time they could spend on repairing a generator, Survivors love their items!
Hangman's Trick
Pig Teachable
Rank: D
Your ingenious modifications to Hooks prevent tampering and permanent damage. Hooks destroyed by sabotage or sacrifices repair automatically after 30/20/10 seconds. Gain a notification when someone starts sabotaging the Hooks. Sabotaged Bear Traps automatic repair timer is reduced by 60 seconds.
Why it is bad:
This perk is super niche, If the Sabotage perk will every make a comeback, this perk will shine bright. But that may never be the case, because of Hangman's Trick itself. This perk ensures, that Sabotage stays down.
It practically has no use in the current meta game. Getting your traps back faster as Trapper is nice, but i would only recommend taking this perk if you are sure that the survivors will go on a sabotage spree.
Hex:Devour Hope
Hag Teachable
Rank: B
A Hex rooting its power on hope. The false hope of Survivors ignites your hunger. When a Survivor is rescued from a hook at least 24 meters away, Devour Hope receives a Token.
2 Tokens: ―/―/Gain a 5% speed burst for 10 seconds after hooking a Survivor. Speed burst triggers 10 seconds after hooking a Survivor.
3 Tokens: ―/Attacks put Survivors into the dying state automatically./Attacks put Survivors into the dying state automatically.
5 Tokens: Grants the ability to kill Survivors by your own hand./Grants the ability to kill Survivors by your own hand./Grants the ability to kill Survivors by your own hand.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is mediocre:
Though it has massive potential as soon as you get 3 tokens, it suffers from the same problem as all Hex perks. If it get's found early, it is useless. The upside is, survivors won't be actively searching for it until you get 3 tokens and instadown a survivor the first time. But until then, the perk won't grant you any real benefit (the movement speed is lackluster) and there is always a chance that a survivor just happens to find your hex totem even before you get 3 tokens.
If it works though, it is a blast. Mori all day long.
Perk Synergy: Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
Hex: Haunted Ground 
Spirit Teachable
Rank: B
Two trapped Hex Totems will spawn in the Trial.
When one of the two trapped Hex Totems is cleansed by a Survivor, all Survivors suffer from the Exposed Status Effect for 40/50/60 seconds.
The remaining trapped Hex Totem immediately becomes a Dull Totem.
Why it is mediocre:
This perk idea has bin haunting (harhar) the Dbd forums/reddit for a long time. "Trapped" Hex Totems. It is wonderful to hide your Hex: Ruin perk from pesky survivors an give them a slap on the wrist if they get the wrong totem. Or you can hide your Hex: Devour Hope totem, most survivors won't go for lit hex totems if there is no Hex: Ruin, as they assume that it is Hex: Haunted Ground. Only when you get your insta down with Hex: Devour Hope they will become aware of their mistake.
It is sad, that the second lit totem goes away once the other is cleansed, if that would not be the case, the ranking would be higher.
Perk Synergy: every other Hex Perk except Hex: No One Escapes Death
Hex: Huntress Lullaby
Huntress Teachable
Rank: C
A Hex rooting its power in despair. Your hunt is an irresistible song of dread which muddles your prey’s attention. Survivors receive a 2/4/6 % regression penalty when missing any Skill Check.
Each time a Survivor is hooked, Huntress Lullaby grows in power:
1 to 4 Tokens: Time between the Skill Check warning sound and the Skill Check becomes shorter.
5 Tokens: No Skill Check warning.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is mediocre:
The problem is, that survivors are aware of the presence of this totem the moment they trigger a skillcheck. Even if you don't have any tokens at all. Not only that, but this perk only really get's useful, once you have 4 or even 5 tokens. And before that, it will most likely be cleansed.
Killer synergy: The Doctor
Perk Synergy: Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
Hex: No One Escapes Death
General Perk
Rank: A
A Hex rooting its power on hope. You are animated by the power of your Hex Totem when the Survivors are on the verge of escaping. Once the Exit Gates are powered, if there is a Dull Totem remaining on the map, this Hex is applied to it. While this Hex is active, ―/―/Successful attacks trigger Dying State automatically, cool-downs on successful and missed attacks are decreased by 4/8/8 % and your movement speed is increased by 3/4/4 %.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is good:
Survivors are not aware of the existence of this perk until the end game (with the exception if a SWF group, where a already dead survivor can see all your perks and tell his team). Survivors have to cleanse all 5 unlit totems to prevent this perk from activating once the last generator is finished. The instadown is huge and can take survivors by surprise, but the higher movement speed is often overlooked. 4% movement speed bonus is huge and let's you hit unsuspecting survivors trying to loop you more often than not.
Perk Synergy: Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
Hex: Ruin
Hag Teachable
Rank: S
A Hex that affects the Survivors' skills at repairing Generators 2/3/4 Survivors are affected by Ruin, which causes Good Skill Checks to result in 5 % regression on the Generator and Great Skill Checks grant 0 % in progression.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is good:
This is the king of Hex perks and considers the most important killer perk by many players, as it slows down generator repair time significantly.
Survivors are aware of it's presence after they trigger the first skillcheck and most of the times, survivors won't work on generators until the totem is cleansed. More experienced survivors are able to work through the effect of Hex: Ruin by either hitting great skillchecks most of the time. There is also the method of "gen tapping", which prevents any skill checks from triggering by tapping M1 to work on the generator for a split of a second. This increases the overall time to repair the generator by approximately 20%, which is still not bad.
Killer Synergy: The Doctor
Perk Synergy: Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
Hex: The Third Seal
Hag Teachable
Rank: D
A Hex that hinders one's Aura reading ability. Hitting a Survivor while the Hex Totem is active reduces the effectiveness of their Aura reading ability by 100 %. This effect applies to the last 2/3/4 Survivors hit.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is bad:
The benfit is really not worth mentioning. You also have to hit a survivor to active the effect. So to fully utilize this perk, you have to hit every survivor once and hope, that they won't find your totem, because cleansing it will remove the whole effect from every survivor. Also, affected survivors are still able to see the jigsaw boxes of The Pig.
Perk Synergy: Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
Hex: Thrill Of The Hunt
General Perk
Rank: D (C if used with one other high rank hex perk)
A Hex rooting its power on hope. The false hope of Survivors fills you with excitement and strengthens your totems. For each Dull Totem and Hex Totem remaining on the Map gain a Token.
Gain 6/8/10 % more Bloodpoints for actions in the Hunter category for each Token.
Survivors' cleansing speed is reduced by 4/5/6 % for each Token.
Gain a notification when someone starts working on a Hex Totem.
The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.
Why it is bad (mediocre with another high rank hex perk):
This perk is only really useful if paired with another hex perk, but it also suffers from the same weakness: it is bound to a totem. You don't know which perk is bound to which totem, so you don't know which totem is more important to protect. I don't know why the devs made this a hex perk to, it would be much better as a non-hex perk. Survivors also know that you use this perk as soon as they start to cleanse any totem.
Yes, you can defend your hex totems far more efficiently, but if they are not close to each other, you will lose them eventually as you can't guard them both.
Perk Synergy: every other Hex Perk except Hex: No One Escapes Death
Insidious
General Perk
Rank: D
Unlocks the stealth ability. By standing still for 4/3/2 seconds, you reduce your Terror Radius to 0 metres and thus become stealthy until you move or act again.
Why it is bad:
This perk is mostly used to camp a hooked survivor. Which is really not good for anyone. Yes, you might surprise another survivor that comes to rescue, but most survivors signal their teammates a camping killer (hook dance), Also Kindred hard counters you if you are unlucky. As camping in general is not a good strategy to gain bloodpoints or rank up, this perk is more for meme builds.
Iron Grasp
General Perk
Rank: C
Your powerful hold onto the Survivors causes escapes to be nearly impossible. Effects of Survivors' wiggling are reduced by 25/50/75 %. Time to wiggle free from your grasp is increased by 4/8/12 %.
Why it is mediocre:
Once a "god-tier" perk in times where every survivor used Sabotage, it has fallen quite far. Today it is outclassed by Agitation which has the same idea: get the survivor to a hook.
Knock Out
Cannibal Teachable
Rank: D
The trauma caused by your brutal attacks makes crying for help painfully difficult. Dying Survivors' Auras are not revealed to other Survivors when they are standing outside of 32/24/16 meters of range.
Why it is bad:
Against a SWF group, this perk is mostly useless, as they can tell each other where they are downed. And then there is the same thing as with Deerstalker. Why not hook the survivor? The other survivors won't see where you down your pray, so they don't know where you are, which is a benefit, but letting a survivor rot on the ground won't do you much in the long run, unless you go for a slugging game.
Perk synergy: Deerstalker
Lightborn
Hillbilly Teachable
Rank: D / A
Unlike other beasts of the fog, you have adapted to light. Resistance to blindness is increased by 20/40/60 %. Recovery from blindness is increased by 50 %.
Why it is bad/good:
This perk is similar to Franklin's Demise regarding it's utility. If you see one or more survivors with a flashlight in the lobby, you could consider taking this perk. If there are no flashlights in a trial, this perk is useless. But there can always happen a last second switch to a P3 Claudette with a flashlight before the game starts.
It won't make you immune to blindness, but it will throw of the timing of survivors that try to save their teammates from your shoulder or try to blind you during a pallet break.
Some killer players still say that it is not worth taking even against flashlights, but i beg to differ. It has worked wonders for me.
Make Your Choice
Pig Teachable
Rank: B
When a Survivor rescues another from a Hook at least 48/40/32 meters away from you, Make Your Choice triggers and applies the Exposed Status Effect on the rescuer for 60 seconds.
Make Your Choice has a cool-down of 60 seconds.
Why it is mediocre:
Getting a possibility to instantly down a survivor with one hit is always tempting. This perk is not only doing that, but also giving incentive to not tunnel down the already injured and freshly unhooked survivor. The problem is, that you have to be far away enough from the hook to activate this perk, which is not that bad. The thing is, that you have to go all the way back, which takes time, and not only find the exposed survivor (who knows that he is exposed due to the debuff icon they get and will probably play much more carefully), but also hit them within the given 60 seconds. Also you don't know, which survivor actually rescued their teammate, so if more are there, it's a guessing game. Don't get me wrong, if it works, it works wonders. This perk is better on killers that can cover distances fast like the Nurse or Hillbilly (although Hillbilly already has a build-in instadown with his ability) and maybe even the Wraith who is faster if cloaked.
The Hag can make very good use of this perk, as she can teleport from afar to hit the rescuing survivor, if her trap gets triggered.
Killersynergy: The Hag
Monitor & Abuse
Doctor Teachable
Rank: B
Meticulous in your approach, terrifying in your application. While in a chase, your Terror Radius is increased by 6/7/8 meters. Otherwise your Terror Radius is decreased by 6/7/8 meters and your field of view is slightly/moderately/considerably increased.
Why it is mediocre:
This perk has very specific uses and is only really picked for the reduction of your terror radius, not the increase. This allows you to get closer to survivors before they hear you or see healing survivors with ** A Nurse's Calling** without them being in your terror radius range. Very useful as the Nurse as you can charge your blink and go straight for them giving them as little time as possible to react.
Also allows an even stealthier gameplay as the Shape with certain add-ons, practically eliminating your terror radius.
Killer synergy: The Shape, The Doctor, The Nightmare, The Hag
Perk synergy: A Nurse's Calling
Monstrous Shrine
General Perk
Rank: D
Your fervent care of the hooks found in the Basement has aroused the Entity's interest. The Basement Hooks are granted the following bonuses:
3/6/9 % faster Entity progression.
5/10/15 % increased difficulty on escape attempts.
3/6/9 % increased penalty to escape fails.
Why it is bad:
This perk only affects the hooks in your basement, which means you have to get a survivor hooked down there to get any benefit at all from this perk, which is not always a possibility. And if you manage to do so, the benefits are pretty bad too.
Most survivors won't try to free themselves from the hook as it only has a base chance of success of 4%. And the 9% faster entity progression isn't worth the trouble either.
Overcharge
Doctor Teachable
Rank: B
You are fueled by your hate for progress. Overcharge a Generator by performing the Break Generator action. The next Survivor interacting with that Generator is faced with a moderately/considerably/tremendously difficult Skill Check.
Failing the Skill Check results in an additional 3/4/5 % Generator regression.
Succeeding the Skill Check grants no progress but prevents the Generator explosion.
Why it is mediocre:
Like the perk Hex: Ruin this is a perk that seeks to prolong the time it takes to finish a generator. The thing here is that the perk is not "global" and only works if you kick a generator. Most of the times you find a generator that has been worked on, you also find a survivor that will run away. And starting a chase trying to hit the survivor yields a greater reward most of the time. After all, downing and hooking survivors is you goal. So spending time kicking the generator should mostly be done if there is no survivor in sight. That said, the difficult skillcheck often takes survivors by surprise and sets back the progression a bit. More experienced survivors won't fall for it more than one time though.
Overwhelming Presence
Doctor Teachable
Rank: D
Your presence alone instills great fear. Survivors within your Terror Radius suffer from inefficiency. Affected Survivors' Item consumption rates are increased by 80/90/100 %.
Why it is bad:
Like Franklin's Demise this perk was made to counter items. It's effect can be enhanced by increasing your terror radius as this mostly prevents survivors from using toolboxes to repair or medkits to heal. Flashlights will always be used in close range, so the terror radius doesn't really matter in this case. Survivors are still able to use their items with 100% efficiency if they are outside your terror radius!
Again, if survivors are not using items, this perk is completely useless. And if you think survivors are carrying high end items, you should take Franklin's Demise instead.
Perk synergy: Distressing
Play With Your Food
Shape Teachable
Rank: D
You become obsessed with one Survivor. Every time you chase your Obsession and let them escape, you receive a Token up to a maximum of 3 Tokens. Each Token increases your movement speed by 3/4/5 %. Each offensive action spends one Token.
Only one Obsession per match.
Why it is bad:
This perk is only good in a few special setups and should not be used in any other case. Why would you lose a chase on purpose, just to be able to be slightly faster in the next one? Why not just try to win the first chase? Also that you lose tokens even if you miss an attack is really bad.
Pop Goes The Weasel
Clown Teachable
Rank: A
A deep bond with The Entity unlocks great strength. After hooking a Survivor, the next Generator you break is instantly regressed by 15/20/25 % of its total progression. Normal Generator regression applies after the damage is done.
Pop Goes The Weasel is active for 30 seconds after the Survivor is hooked.
Why it is good:
This perk could be seen as a weaker, but less risky, alternative to Hex: Ruin, or even be taken alongside it. Killing a quarter of overall progress with one kick is very strong as it gives you more of your most valuable resource: time. And you want to hook survivors anyways, so you don't even have to go out of your way to activate this perk. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that 30 seconds go by faster than you think.
Predator
Wraith Teachable
Rank: D
Your acute tracking ability allows you to hone in on disturbances left by running survivors. Scratch Marks left by survivors will spawn slightly/moderately/considerably closer together
Why it is bad:
After playing and doing some testing with this perk the change to this perk (before it made the scratch marks last longer) didn't really help. Yes the scratch marks are very narrow, but very hard to see on some surfaces. Overall i think that the normal scratch marks are easier to track. The new exception could be The Spirit as she relays on the scratch marks to track survivors while phase walking.
Killer synergy: The Spirit
Rancor 
Spirit Teachable
Rank: B
You become obsessed with one Survivor.
Each time a Generator is completed, the Obsession sees your Aura for 5/4/3 seconds.
Each time a Generator is completed, all Survivors' locations are revealed to you for 3 seconds.
Once all Generators are completed, the Obsession has the Exposed Status Effect and the Killer can kill the Obsession.
Only one Obsession per trial.
Why it is mediocre:
This is the first obsession perk that really punishes the survivor for being the obsession. An anti Decisive Strike perk. Being the obsession didn't really mean anything negative for a survivor, except for maybe Object of Obsession (but that is a choice the survivor makes, or Dying Light (the downside being tunneled but that can happen even without this perk and is not really an "in-game" effect) . The survivor knows that you are using this perk the moment the first generator is finished, as he will see your aura. So it doesn't just come as a surprise, the obsession can prepare for the endgame. You on the other hand can't distinguish who of the shown survivors is your obsession.
I like this perk flavor-wise. The obsession knows what is coming in the end, you can kind of ignore him/her, because in the end one hit will be enough.
Remember Me
Nightmare Teachable
Rank: A
You become obsessed with one Survivor. Each time you hit your Obsession, you increase the opening time of the Exit Gates by 5 seconds up to a maximum of 20 additional/25 additional/30 additional seconds.
The Obsession is not affected by Remember Me.
Only one Obsession per match.
Why it is good:
This perk has a lot of potential. If you get a few hits on your obsession, the time needed to open the exit gates goes up drastically. Always keep in mind, that the obsession is not affected by this! So you should try to kill your obsession after you have scored some hits against them. This is another perk than can be used in a "end game setup" along with Hex: No One Escapes Death or Bloodwarden etc. But it is also strong as a standalone perk, which is why it's rating is high. You want to hit survivors every trial, so getting such a good bonus is a sweet deal.
Save The Best For Last
Shape Teachable
Rank: C
You become obsessed with one Survivor. Earn a token for each successful hit that is not dealt to the obsession. Each token grants a stackable 5% decreased successful attack cooldown, you can earn up to 8 tokens. Attacking your obsession however will make you lose 4/3/2 tokens. You can no longer gain tokens if your obsession is sacrificed or killed. Only one obsession per match
Why it is mediocre:
With the changes this perk is turning back to its roots (it was just a flat CD reduction for attacks at the beginning). It certainly got buffed, but i personally don't really like the idea, that you "can't" hit a certain survivor. You farm up your tokens and then you find your obsession. What are you going to do? Not hit that survivor? Hitting and downing a survivor is a much bigger benefit than a cooldown reduction on successful attacks. That is why i am not sure if this perk will really have any impact. Of course there will be games were you are maxed out and it is amazing, but more often you will have half the tokens and won't really feel any difference.
Shadowborn
Wraith Teachable
Rank: C
You have a keen vision in the darkness of the night. Your field of view is moderately/considerably/tremendously wider than normal.
Why it is mediocre:
It is a nice bonus and the FOV increase is noticable. But that is all it does. It is more usefull on some killers (like the Nurse), but overall won't have any big impact on your gameplay.
Sloppy Butcher
General Perk
Rank: C/B
You know where to hit to make them bleed. Wounds inflicted by successful attacks slightly/moderately/considerably increase the Survivor's Bleeding frequency and cause the Mangled Status effect. Bleeding and Mangled effects caused by Sloppy Butcher return to normal once the Survivor is fully healed.
Why it is mediocre:
You are able to follow bloodstains even without this perk or a perk like Bloodhound. It makes one specific aspect of your gameplay easier, but just doesn't give you an edge a perk should give you.
Now with the Mangled Status effect (it is a 25% penalty on healing speed!), this perk got a major buff. Saved survivors won't be able to be healed as fast after a hook rescue, which gives you more time to get back to the hook and hit either the injured or the rescuing survivor (beware the "tunnel shame").
I am not quite sure of the rating yet, but it sways between C and B.
Perk synergy: Coulrophobia, A Nurse's Calling
Killer synergy: The Spirit (with her ultra rare add-on "Father'S Glasses" only!!)
Spies From The Shadows
General Perk
Rank: C
The Crows found in the world can communicate directly with you. 50/50/75 % of the time, cawing Crows give you a visual clue when you are within a 16/24/36 metres.
Why it is mediocre:
The biggest problem is, that the chance to trigger is only 75%. Not only that, but the crows themselves don't always get triggered by a survivor walking/sprinting by. It is unreliable and therefore not worthy of a better rating.
Spirit Fury
Spirit Teachable
Rank: B
Each Pallet you break magnifies the wrath of The Entity.
After breaking 4/3/2 Pallets, the next time you are stunned by a Pallet, The Entity will instantly break it. You still suffer from the stun effect penalty.
Why it is mediocre:
This is an interesting perk. I will start by saying, that i would only use this perk together with Enduring as you still suffer the stun. The combination of these two perks will make you a beast. Unless you are playing The Nurse or The Spirit herself, (because they should primarily try to blink or mindgame pallets) you will find this duo very useful. There will always be a pallet that needs to be broken so you won't even have to alter your playstyle to activate this perk.
Perk synergy: Enduring
Stridor
Nurse Teachable
Rank: C
Breathing of Survivors in pain is 25/50/50 % louder. Regular Survivor breathing is now also 0/0/25 % louder.
Why it is mediocre:
You can already hear an injured survivor if you listen closely if he is nearby. So this perk just gives you a little bit extra, and we want more from a perk than that. I really like the idea of this perk though.
That said, i think it is useful on the Nurse to keep better taps on an injured survivor after your blink stun hits or with The Spirit as she can still hear injured survivors while phase-walking.
Killer Synergy: The Spirit
Surveillance
Pig Teachable
Rank: E (yes, i made an extra rank for this)
Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. The last 1 regressing Generator's/2 regressing Generators'/3 regressing Generators' Aura(s) are indicated in white to you for 16 seconds.
Why it is so bad:
16 seconds is nothing. You don't even have time to kick 3 generators in 16 seconds. This perk was not really thought through. If you would increase the time to much, it would be a strong perk that invites a stall gameplay, which is hated by most of the community. So i guess that is why the devs made the time so short.
Territorial Imperative
Huntress Teachable
Rank: D
Unlocks potential in one's Aura reading ability. Survivors' Auras are revealed to you for 3 seconds when they enter the Basement and you are more than 32 meters away from the Basement entrance.
Territorial Imperative can only be triggered once every 60/45/30 seconds.
Why it is bad:
Keeping pesky survivors from your precious chest in the basement can be fun, but overall it doesn't really give you any benefit. You must be far away and a survivor has to enter the basement. Also the aura is only shown for 3 seconds, which isn't much. I guess it's a perk for semi-basement camping.
Thanatophobia
Nurse Teachable
Rank: D
All Survivors receive penalties to repair, healing and sabotage speeds for each injured, dying or hooked Survivor.
1 injured, dying or hooked survivor decrease repair, healing and sabotage speed by 4/5/6 %.
2 injured, dying or hooked survivor decrease repair, healing and sabotage speed by 7/8/9 %.
3 injured, dying or hooked survivor decrease repair, healing and sabotage speed by 10/11/12 %.
4 injured, dying or hooked survivor decrease repair, healing and sabotage speed by 13/14/15 %.
Why it is bad:
The decrease of actions is really not worth much. 15% of 80 seconds on a generator is 12 seconds, and that is only if you have all 4 survivors injured. And you almost never have all 4 survivors injured. And if you do, you are already doing extremely good.
The only thing speaking for this perk is that survivors don't like red progression bars. They don't like being slowed down, so ever so often a healthy survivor goes out of his way to find the injured ones and heal them up. But it is negligible.
Tinkerer
Hillbilly Teachable
Rank: C
When a generator is repaired at 85%, you receive a noise notification and your Terror Radius is reduced to 0 meters for 8/10/12 seconds.
Why it is mediocre:
This perk is what Surveillance should have been IMO. Sadly, the notification really late and probably won't help you to stop the completion of the generator, but the 0 meter terror radius can make some interesting plays happen.
It is a strong perk on The Doctor with certain add-ons (High Stimulus Electrode and Interview Tape), as you can just snipe the survivors from far away and stop the repair.
Killer synergy: The Doctor
Unnerving Presence
Trapper Teachable
Rank: D
Your presence alone instils great fear. Survivors within your Terror Radius have a 6/8/10 % greater chance of triggering Skill Checks when repairing, healing or sabotaging. Triggered Skill Checks' success zones are reduced by 40/50/60 %.
Why it is bad:
This perk is really only good against new players. A more seasoned player won't have any big troubles hitting the smaller skillchecks. This perk, like Overwhelming Presence is dependent on your terror radius.
The only time i would use it is on the doctor with perks like Distressing, Hex: Ruin/Hex: Huntress Lullaby and Overcharge, to really ######### with skillchecks.
Killer synergy: The Doctor
Perk synergy: Distressing
Unrelenting
General Perk
Rank: D
You recuperate faster from any attack made with your main weapon. The cooldown of missed attacks is reduced by 20/25/30 %.
Why it is bad:
Bottom line: you don't want to miss with you attacks. If you are a new killer, you can try using it to compensate for your lack of experience, but you should be able to reliably hit survivors after some time. And then this perk is useless.
Whispers
General Perk
Rank: A
You have a rudimentary understanding of the Entity's voice. Sporadically hear the Entity's Whisper when standing within a 48/40/32 metres of a Survivor.
Why it is good:
The most important thing about this perk is, that it also tells you, that there is no survivor present. This aspect is still overlooked by many players. To know that there is no survivor in a certain area, even if the generator there hat been worked on, is a huge deal, because you don't waste any time searching.
Also keep an eye on the perk icon itself, it lights up when the whispering starts too, which is a much better indicator.
Possible Changes
Developer Stream 21.06.2018
The changes would make the range at the start of the game 24m (much better than 32m as you can narrow down the location better) but increase it by 6m for every dead survivor, making it worse the more you have killed. As this perk is mostly used to check if someone is hiding near a generator or for the 1v1 endgame, i would say that this change is a slight nerf.
Killer synergy: The Trapper
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Those were all the perks up to this date (18.09.2018).
I hope i could give you a better understanding of all the killer perks and why they are good, bad or mediocre.
If you have any suggestions, feedback or criticism let me hear it! I want to make this guide as easy to read and understand as possible.
As stated i will keep this up-to-date with new perks or balance changes that come along the way.
Gravity
Edit: As this posts needs to be validated by the mods, edits will take some time
Comments
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Wow, you explained them quite nicely but you did do a lot of typing so uhm you are probably dying right now but either way great job.
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This is so well done, thanks for this!
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Well done sir!
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Amazing thanks for this!!!0
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Excellent work. I found a lot of the information here very useful, thanks!
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Thank you so much for the time and effort that you put into this guide. It really made a difference to me and helped me understand / clarify some confusion on a couple of the perks.
Take this with a grain of salt (no pun intended) since I’m rather new to the game (less than two months) and have just now made it into the purple ranks. While I don’t totally disagree with your write up on the Bitter Murmur perk and I can see how the negatives of using the perk at a higher rank can play against you, I still think that this perk should be rated as a B due to the positives of the perk, the main positives that make this perk so good IMO are:
1) For those times that you are having horrible luck trying to find the survivors and they complete a gen and you notice that 3 of the 4 were working on said generator. You at least now know the general vicinity of where to start heading.
2) When a generator pops, no matter how close or how far away from you it is, the icon is always the same size which makes you think that it is a lot closer to you than it really is, however when you run this perk you can instantly gage the distance by the size of the survivor/survivors auroras that are running away which will help you make your decision of whether to head toward that direction or continue to patrol the generators in the area that you are already in.
3) This one is my absolute favorite and happens often enough to make me want to keep running this perk. After a survivor gets rescued from a hook and they run off to get healed next to a generator that one or two other survivors are working on, once it gets repaired you will get to see all 3 or 4 of the survivors. Generally when this happens, I’m already heading toward that gen just before it pops and I’m generally within range for nurses calling to activate before bitter murmur ends so you have a fairly lengthy time to see the auroras of the one or two that are performing a healing action. When this happens, I’m almost always guaranteed another hook.
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thanks for the feedback! i'll try to respond to your points as precisely as possible:
1.) Yes it helps you to locate the survivors that where near the generator after it got repaired, but so does the default "popping" of the generator. With that you already know that at least one survivor is there. I don't see any real use in picking a perk that only slightly improves that aspect. And in 99% of all cases, you will only be able to chase and down ONE survivor at a time, so getting to notification that one is there, is good enough.
2.) i honestly didn't think of that aspect, nice thinking. I never noticed the distance to be a problem. I think that is a thing that will solve itself with playtime. I personally would't really give any extra points for this effect.
3.) The situation you are describing here is very specific. This kind of thinking would make almost every perk a lot better ("If situation X happens, the Y-Perk is really good"). And again, if the generator pops, you probably are heading there anyways, as you know that someone is there.
In higher ranks, most survivors don't heal near generators, as killers are patrolling them, if they are not already chasing the wounded survivor. The most used healing spots are near pallets/windows/loops or at the edge of the map to avoid Nurse's Calling or at the hook (probably with "We'll Make It").The only really good aspect of this perk is still the end-game aura reveal. You see to which exit gate the (hopefully) last few survivors are heading and can cut them of before they open it.
I looked over the other perks again and would not take Bitter Murmur over any B-Rank perk, which confirmes the C Rank i gave it.
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1st of all, I want to thank you for making this. It really helps me, as I'm starting killer after about 120 hours of survivor.
My 2nd point is a disagreement with Bloodhound. Yes I'm low rank, so that could be the reason, but I feel like this perk is very useful, especially on the huntress, trapper and Nurse (as these can injured survivors and lose them easily) . I feel it can be used to full affect in small maps such as haddonfield.
Anyways thanks again for this
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I’m nowhere near a top level killer, but I can tell you for what little experience that I have, this list is quite accurate. Now with saying that, as a new killer (meaning someone who is just starting out) there are a few lower ranked perks that are really good to use to help you understand what the survivors do under certain circumstances and how to get accustom to tracking them. Bitter Murmur, Tinker, Deerstalker & Bloodhound (just to name a few) are awesome in helping you learn in the beginning. Once you start to level up your killer and start unlocking the better perks you will find yourself slowly replacing these lower tier perks with the much better ones like NOED, HEX, Whisper, Nurse, ect.
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Hey I really like this kind of Thread so I will add my 2 cents here if you dont mind.
[Save The Best For Last]
With this Perk you are extremely more likely to down a Survivor that tries to hook rescue. You recover so fast from the first hit you are very likely to get the second one in to the Survivor before he can finish the rescue.
Also if you can't manage to get him down at least you can chase the unhooked Survivor faster now. Feels really nice when I use it. Also losing 2 Tokens because you accidentally hit the Obsession is not that bad IMO because you will get them back quickly.[Dying Light]
You could add Synergy with the green and purple Mori Offerings for obvious reasons! :P
Or add Synergy with The Shape because he can insta kill the Obsession with the right Addon! :S[Enduring]
In the current Patch 2.2.0 they made the Stun Hitboxes so small it's actually hard to get stunned.
Maybe as a sidenote?One big problem I had with this Thread is that I stumbled upon it!
It's so hard to find good Threads in this Forum because you can't search by Replies, Views or Upvotes.
So I feel really lucky that I found this one!0 -
Post this on the steam forums, more people can see it there
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As Gun_Doc has already pointed out, some perks are good to get you going and learn about the game. And Bloodhound falls of quickly as soon as you get used to track survivors.
Save The Best For Last does have potential, but it takes time to stack up the tokens. And that is the overall problem with it. You practically have an empty perk slot and (partially) lose any progress if you hit 1 out of 3 survivors (the obsession). If it is fully stacked (8 tokens = 40% decreased CD on successful attacks), this perk would be an A-Rank perk. If it has 0 tokens, it is worth nothing (i would even say that 4-5 tokens are not worth that much). And yes, losing 2 tokens is not that bad, but it still means, that you won't chase the obsession down, which is the equivalent of losing a chase. And you really don't want that.
The synergy with Dying Light was a good idea, it will be in the next iteration! Thanks
The pallet stun thing was a bug and already got fixed.
I guess ill try to post it on the steam forums too
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