Welcome. In this thread I wanted to submit and create the most accurate list of the killers from the best one to the worst one that are just waiting for some significant buffs. I was about to consider the killer's abilities, regardless of the platform that players play on (I understand that playing the Nurse on consoles might be much more difficult and require much more skill and effort put to play her properly). I will also try to keep this guide up to date and update it only when the new killer is released or some more important tweaks or revamps are introduced to the current ones.

I'm gonna use the most often used letter indicating for the killer's tier, from the highest to the lowest:

S - Great killers, able to face the most annoying and toxic Survivors, also Survive With Friends groups.
A - Very good killers, their assets are definitely over cons.
B - Good killers, sometimes depending on their addons that boost their abilities.
C - Average killers by default, that rather require better addons and a wise strategy.
D - Low tier killers, that demand reworks or buffs asap.

I tried to place all the killers in order from the best (the ones that are the highest on the tier list) to the worst (ones at the bottom), so when you see a few killers in one section, they are placed in that order. Remember that this list is based on my personal experiences and thoughts, as well as the other players of Dead by Daylight that I found out from the forums, game, etc. I would also like to hear opinions in the comments. I want the threads like this to be a clue for developers in balancing the game, basing on the players' opinions.

S Tier

Nurse

Maybe more like SS+?. No need to explain why Nurse is taking the first place and why she is at the moment the strongest killer in the game. her teleporting power and abilities to deny any of Survivors' ways of defences make her the deadliest and most dangerous to face. Nurse doesn't need any addons to frighten Survivors - she is good on her own. She can only become much more stronger with any addon that she uses. A Nurse -is- difficult to master, as the one needs to learn the blink ranges and more or less know when is able to teleport through or not. Anyway, a mastered Nurse can do absolutely everything. Just.. don't be afraid to use blinks and don't walk after Survivor.

A Tier

Hillbilly

Number 2 goes to our chainsaw guy. His high-mobility capabilities and also ability to qucikly insta-down Survivors make him a very powerful killer. Able to get from one place to another even faster than the Nurse (only if it's open area... remember Billy cannot go through walls yet). Able to end up chases within a few seconds, able to break pallets with his Chainsaw (which can bait Survivors while looping and continue the chase without losing some important seconds). Oh and.. isn't that a lot of fun while running Insta-Chainsaw, Drift-King or No-Cooldown addons?

Spirit

As a player, that played a lot of games as the Spirit since her release, I can without any doubts say that she needs to be here. When playing the Spirit, you need to have some base knowledge about tracking Survivors basing on their scratch marks, but very often only on their breaths or groans. The best, and also the worst thing about her is, that you never know what Survivors will do and so don't they. They may either camp a pallet, slow vault a window or just get away from the dangerous area and you'd have to start the chase again. That's why you have to mindgame the mindgame. Anyway, her power is really, really useful and worth using during the chases, as she may end up the pursuit quite quickly. Actually, the Spirit itself is really confusing - just look at her passive-phasing or vaulting a window. Of course - she is slower that the most of the killers (why every female killer is slower btw..?) but her power pays it off.

B Tier

Hag

Overrated? Some people say... I would say - nope! Hag a few months ago would stake out a place much lower, considering looong trap setting times (5 seconds was really too much tbh) and addons that somehow boosted her power, but also weakened it instead. At the moment - she is just brilliant. Her traps can help her quickly overcome any loops and infinites. One trap and a Survivor has to go to the another pallet or is threatened with being hit. As the Hag, you just need to place the traps, that upon activation will give you a possiblity to teleport but also some kind of an angle of where the Survivors might be. Her traps give her a huge support and obscure the Hag's lower movement speed. Sorry Tyde for placing her here.

Huntress

Lord bless devs that they'd reverted the hatchets' hitboxes changed because I don't know on what position she would be if they hadn't. Finishing the shiny top 5 list - Huntress, that is at the moment the only one killer to have a ranged attack. I am not afraid to say that her power rewards the player for being slower than the most of the killers and having a massive terror radius, which equals 45 meters. Using her hatchets, she may injure Survivors that are running around her, or can snipe Survivors that are sitting on the other side of a map, as her hatchets have almost unlimited range. To be a good Huntress, you just have to have a good eye, hit hatchet by hatchet and you won't even notice the Huntress' cons.

Shape

How to play Michael - jump-scaring Survivors that are repairing gens? Running after a Survivor and quickly popping EW3? Or just use his advantage of being a stealth killer with small terror radius? Up to you. I have a feeling that there are many interesting ways of playing Myers and using his power. The amount of pressure that he is able to put on Survivors when reaching Evil Within 3 is tremendous. Faster vaulting speed and longer lunge range - those are the things that are here to help him chasing the Survivors (don't even have to mention that they might are all exposed). Remember that Evil Within 3 itself is not only giving you insta-down abilities, but also some smaller, important gains as well.

C Tier

Plague

Is there anything better than puking on Survivors? Maybe tbagging only. Her power gives her a few possibilities. You can infect Survivors, forcing them to cure themselves sooner or later. This allows the Plague to use her deadly Corrupt Purge, not only allowing her to injure Survivors from afar, but also allows to attack multiple Survivors. Her Corrupt Purge is very, very difficult to counter - only one touch of this red puke and Survivors become injured. The only one problem is, you don't always get to use this power when you need it the most. Some players also prefer being broken for the remainder of the trial to not let Plague gain her secondary power. I think she's good, but needs some minor tweaks.

Clown

I gotta be completely honest - I didn't play the Clown as much as I played the Spirit or Pig. I just see that he.. he is not a popular killer, but also is not a bad killer - actually his power is good, even perfect when it comes to looping. His power is quite simple - you throw a bottle, which breaks and spreads the gas on an certain area, that Survivors .. shouldn't go into. If they do - they are slowed down and their vision is blurred. Tonic can be used not only to slow down a Survivor that is going to another pallet, but also may be used to make Survivors to avoid certain areas by simply throwing a gas bomb there. It's difficult to mention any of his cons as he is really... ordinary?

Doctor

When you play the Doctor, finding Survivors is the cake - they scream when they are inflicted with Madness I, they scream if their Madness increases, their see Doctor's hallucinations, revealing their position and scream in Madness III - None of the other killers is able to find Survivors as quickly as that guy is able to. And, anything besides...? Of course - Doctor is one of the most annoying killers in the game, but does his power really help him during the chase? Sometimes yes - sometimes... not really... If you are close enough and know how and where to perform a Shock Attack, then you are able to stop Survivors from vaulting or dropping a pallet - otherwise they will keep running away or find an alternate route. This is the biggest flaw of the Doctor, not always being able to shock properly and stun the Survivors.

Pig

So we can say it aloud - no one is better than her if talking about slowing the game down (just a lil bit). Using her Reverse Bear Traps, she is already able to eliminate one player from repairing, unhooking, healing etc. as their priority is to disassemble the trap. The sure thing is, that it won't last forever, and sooner or later they'll back to the standard actions. Those beautiful helmets might be also used as an super effective end game extender. When it comes to her crouching abilities and ambush - ambush is something really useful when you see that Survivor is looping a pallet and is not about to leave. Then you crouch, bait the Survivor and land a hit (maybe it doesn't always look exaclty like this... but nvm). But when sneaking to the Survivors while crouching it's much better to stand up than dashing (who knows, maybe the Lady Luck will smile to you and somehow they won't notice you sneaking). Her cons? Really often, she bases on the luck - hoping that Survivor will not take off their trap on the first try, hoping that Survivor won't be looking direction you're coming from... and so on.
  
 
 

D Tier

Trapper

Now.. why Trapper will never be a top killer? 1. He has to pick up his traps that are scattered throughout the map, hoping that the next trap he's gonna pick up will be close to him. 2. Traps set on an open area can be easily disarmed (also well hidden traps near the obvious spots like Shack, some certain windows etc.). It's also not possible to trap the entire map, as you won't have enough traps and possibility of having them all set is rather low... The buffs that Trapper's received were the ones that he needed and made him much stronger. Now.. is the Trapper addon dependant killer? For exmaple it's difficult to me to play without a Sack or Bag - lack of the traps and a need to collect them from different parts of the map are the Trapper's cons. That's something I'd change.

Legion

After the rework, Legion has become more fun to play. He doesn't have to rely on moonwalk exploits anymore. He is still able to injure multiple Survivors quickly to later on exit Frenzy and down them with an M1 attack. I just do have a feeling that the recent update featured way to many unnecessary nerfs to him e.g. not being able to see the blood pools while using Frenzy or that if they miss an attack the power ends immediately. Legion is also way less annoying to play against - you won't encounter the situations in which you cannot stop mending but the Legion is right behind not in a chase.

Wraith

I think everyone loved the new Wraith's addons (whoever invented the clappers' revamp - I love that person). Finally we can have some other combos than Swift Hunt + Windstorm. But yeah... In my opinion, Wraith is still addon dependant killer. In order to succeed with the Wraith - you need addons, even any addons. I deplore on the removal of ability to see the blood trails highlighted while cloaked without addons. Anyway, I have a feeling that Wraith is a bit stronger now, but still not strong enough to reach higher tier than C. He still needs to eat pallets, but he might be really confusing and surprising at once.
 
 
 

E Tier

Cannibal

Leatherface... Another Chainsaw guy, but one is S tier and he is.. D tier? Exactly. Well, the Leatherface is also a bit of a ordinary killer, with the normal terror radius, normal movement speed, but with special power - Bubba's Chainsaw. His Chainsaw allows him to in a short amount of time insta-down everyone in his path. He is also able to down multiple Survivors at once! But now... using his Chainsaw is not as easy as it seems to be - why? First, your movement speed drops to 85% for those few seconds while charging your weapon. Then, we know the situations in which you thought that you almost charged a Chainsaw but you didn't... And finally, his Chainsaw is not difficult to overcome. You can run around a tree or other object, and the Cannibal without risking being stunned, doesn't get too closed to the obstacle and doesn't have a chance of hitting you. During the charging time you are easily able to run away to the nearest pallet, window... or anything else like I mentioned. I hope that he'll receive some love from the devs.

Nightmare

Why is he hated? Well, one... you have to use your power to harm Survivors, to hook them, to do anything with them. Even if you manage to transmit the Survivors into the Dream World, you don't really have abilities of countering loops... you just don't... It's too easy to exit the Dream World... you wake up upon being healed from agony, upon being hooked, upon failed skill-check and after being woken up by the others. In order to be able to do something, he has to have a good build - we know some Ninja Freddy with the Red Paint Brush and Moniotr & Abuse, some Anti-Heal builds but the Nightmare itself is... nothing more than a Killer that can only attack. He can see the auras of Survivors in a dream, he also decreases their action speed by a half - but that doesn't really matter since they exit the Dream World immediately and that's the first thing they you after being moved into it.