Best Beginner Doctor Perks (According to a Doctor Main)

TerrorUnleashed

These are what I consider base perks for the Doctor (at least in my builds). Feel free to comment yours, or critique mine. I won't give ample reason as to why I prefer certain perks over others, but I have my reasons...

Perk #1 - Monitor & Abuse

Monitor and Abuse is an irreplaceable perk worthy of slot in my books. Given its general ability to increase your Terror Radius during a chase, this perk is a handy one for any and every Killer requiring that little push to increase their radius to apply pressure or trigger abilities or powers in a significant and easy-to-handle manner. For those who require larger Terror Radiuses for extended chases (although I do not condone longer chases, break off when you feel one is dragging on), this perk is an excellent way to force pressure onto Survivors. Having only used this myself on him, I can say that for the Doctor explicitly, this perk is an essential way of increasing the range your Static Blast so you can easily inflict a full Madness tier on Survivors with relative ease. Typically, I only Static Blast when I am certain of Survivors lurking within an area, or after putting a Survivor in the Dying state or hooking them. Either is usually effective, but when combined with practice Shock Therapies, Monitor and Abuse + Effective Static Blasts are almost unavoidable. This perk is also great for temporarily increasing your FOV (I say temporarily as you gain a 3/5/10° increase whilst outside a chase) whilst lowering your Terror Radius by 16 metres when not in pursuit of a Survivor.

Personally, I wouldn't run this with Ghost Face :D

Perk #2 - Overcharge

Another one of the Doctor's unique perks, Overcharge is often referred to as a lesser -- or downgraded -- Pop Goes the Weasel. The gist of Overcharge (and frankly just about everything to it) is as follows: you kick a generator, and the next Survivor to use that gen is given a tremendously more difficult Skill Check. Upon failing this Skill Check, a Survivor loses an additional 3/4/5% (respective to perk level) progress on that Generator on top of any regular progress regression, receiving no bonus Progression upon succeeding the Skill Check instead. This makes Overcharge an undoubtedly amazing tool for when you're scouting the whereabouts of Survivors, or even when you know where a few are; just a little kick along the way on every progressing gen can prevent that one generator from popping earlier than anticipated. As aforementioned, many people frequently cite this as a proto or even a pseudo-Pop Goes the Weasel, and for all intents and purposes, this can be wholly interchangeable with that perk.

Perk #3 - Sloppy Butcher

We're now in the 'completely optional' territory. The two previous perks happened to be two of the Doctor's own, but they are two I consider absolutely essentially or wholly beneficial for the type of playstyle you will build over the course of your time playing with the Doctor. That's not to say they are imperative by your standards, but perhaps by mine. In essence, Sloppy Butcher inflicts two statuses upon striking a Survivor with a basic attack: Haemorrhage and Mangled. Haemorrhage effectively increases Survivor's rate of bleeding by 50/75/100% depending on perk level, whereas Mangled slows down the rate at which a Survivor can heal or be healed by 20% (until they are healed). Sloppy Butcher is a great component of numerous Killer builds by the point of this post's publication, and serves as a deterrent for Survivors taking protective hits (in some ways) and adds extensive pressure to your basic attacks.

Perk #4 - Whispers

Whispers is a practice perk, being that it takes time to learn but is extremely effective once you learn it. Whispers allows you to hear the Entity's whispers (noted by a dull tone whenever activated) whenever a Survivor is within 48/40/32 metres of your location, and can be used to gauge the distance of a Survivor from your position or to confirm your suspicions as to the whereabouts of a Survivor in your general radius. Whilst not a direct cue as to where a Survivor is hiding, learning to understand Whispers allows you to make general assumptions as to Survivor habits and gives you a sense of how they react around you, and, after learning it well enough, grants you the vessel to discovering exact Survivor locations within your area of patrol.

Quick note: I DO NOT recommend substituting this for Bitter Murmur... that perk has little practicality, only firing when a gen is popped, whereas Whispers can be used in multiple circumstances where you benefit from knowing Survivors are within your location (you already know the general proximity Survivors can be within after running from a popped gen's aura).

Now... honourable mentions.

HM #1 - Barbecue/Barbeque and Chilli

Without getting into this one -- it's not too hard to get your head around -- BBQ is one of the most easily-implemented Killer perks in DBD to date, so much so that its garnered a sort of 'cult following' 'round these parts full of folk who suggest that this is the single best perk in DBD... as for that, I'm undecided. :)

HM #2 - Thrilling Tremors

This is one is a well-known and effective perk which bars Survivors from accessing gens not being worked on after you pick up a Survivor. Lasting for 16 seconds, Tremors works exceedingly well when going for a 12-hook game or just constantly downing Survivors, and although some beg to differ, it is definitely interchangeable with a few perks on the list here.

And that's my simple guide to a Beginner's Doctor Build. There's a few perks I would loved to have gone into depth on, but I recognise that this is already carrying on a bit and I know that most people will overlook this post entirely. Alas, this remains here solely for the benefit of newcomers to the game or people who just don't know what to run on the Doctor. At the end of the day, whether you agree or disagree, you can't attack me or take a swing at my in-game integrity, given that this is all almost purely opinion and a guide based on my own build/experiences. I run the first 4 perks with no apparent problems, and I am never negatively impacted by their presence. It is how you play that makes most of the difference.

And who knows? If this post gets enough activity, perhaps I'll post an add-ons guide for beginners? I don't know. Perhaps I'm not cut out for this stuff haha