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How do unlocking Killers/Perks work?

Scooter08
Scooter08 Member Posts: 12

Um… Hi. I'm new to the DBD community and have a question.

HOW DO UNLOCKING THINGS WORK?

Like, how exactly DO you unlock killers and perks? Can someone explain in detail, please?

Best Answer

  • Laluzi
    Laluzi Member Posts: 6,226
    edited July 18 Answer ✓

    Welcome to DBD!

    So when you start out, you have characters with bloodwebs. This will gradually see you unlock and level up general perks and that character's individual perks (alongside gathering items and addons to use in trial.) Perks have 3 tiers - yellow, green, and purple, as the perk's effects improve. Bloodwebs and levels are individual to each character - if you pour all your bloodpoints into Meg, you won't have any of Meg's stuff on David.

    But there's one exception to this. When a character you own hits level 50, you can prestige them. This unlocks their 3 perks on every other character at level 1, and they can now appear in everyone's bloodwebs to be levelled up further.

    So let's say you have Jake and Claudette at prestige 0. Jake has Calm Spirit, Iron Will, and Saboteur at the base level and can learn all the general perks. Claudette has Botany Knowledge, Self-Care, and Empathy at the base level and can learn all the general perks.

    Now say you bring Claudette to P1. Now Jake has Calm Spirit, Iron Will, Saboteur, Botany Knowledge, Self-Care, and Empathy at the base level, as well as any general perks he's learned in the bloodweb. He can level up any of these perks to tier 3 by buying them in the bloodweb.

    If Claudette is prestige 3, then her perks are unlocked at maximum level across all other survivors and you no longer need to purchase them in the bloodweb. If you prestige 3 every survivor, then every survivor has every survivor perk unlocked automatically and only needs to unlock the general perk pool (which happens pretty quickly, there's not many of them.) Same goes for killers and their own general perk pool.

    As you play, you slowly but gradually get Iridescent Shards. This is a special currency that's unrelated to bloodpoints. It lets you buy non-licensed cosmetic options and characters, though they do cost a lot. Newer characters are more expensive than ones that have been around a while. When you unlock a new character, you can then put bloodpoints into them to unlock their perks the same way you'd do so for the starting characters.

    However, licensed characters, like Steve Harrington and Freddy Krueger, can't be bought with iridescent shards and actual money has to be paid for them (either by buying the DLC or by buying Auric Cells, the paid currency.)

    I don't recommend buying cosmetics early on - a single outfit piece will usually cost you 7200 shards and a full outfit is over 20,000 shards, while a character will cost you 9000 shards (or potentially a fraction of that if you buy older characters.) When you get enough, use your shards to buy the characters who look the most interesting to play or have the best perks!

Answers

  • Sandt1985
    Sandt1985 Member Posts: 387

    Step one: Own the character in question

    Step two: Raise their level. Level one of a killer/survivor unlocks their teachables at tier 1 for all other killers/survivors you own, level two unlocks the three perks for all your killers/survivors at tier 2, and level 3 unlocks the three perks for all your killers/survivors at tier 3

    Alternate step one: Buy the perks you want in the shrine of secrets.

    Welcome to Dead By Daylight, btw! Despite its flaws here and there, it really is a great game

  • SweetbutaPsycho
    SweetbutaPsycho Member Posts: 286

    As a little clarification: you raise a survivors or killers level by getting their bloodweb to level 50 and then paying an additional 20k bloodpoints in the bloodweb.

    To unlock new killers and survivors you can either buy them in the ingame Shop with auric cells ( bought with real money) or shards (unlocked by playing but takes very long).

    Alternatively you can buy killers and survivor packs in the eshop of the console you play on or steam if you play on PC. There are also starter bundles which have multiple survivors or killers in them

  • Scooter08
    Scooter08 Member Posts: 12

    Ah…

    So, let's say I want Xeno to have Blight's Dragon Grip or Pig's "Make your Choice". I would have to play them and level them up? Or would I just have to have them unlocked and then pour bloodpoints into them from playing Xeno or other killers?

  • bjorksnas
    bjorksnas Member Posts: 5,697

    When you prestige a character you unlock their perks on other characters and gain them at T1, those perks also appear in bloodwebs so you can then get the tier 2 and 3 versions of those unlocked perks

    Consecutive prestiges also increase the levels of those perks on all other so if you have a character at p3 all other characters will have their perks at level 3 as well so you don't even have to upgrade them in the bloodweb

    Basically unlock a character to use their perks on themselves, prestige to use them on others, prestige more to max them out on others without requiring bloodwebs

    Shrine perks when bought give the level 1 version of a perk to all characters you own, you can also buy it twice more to gain the level 2 and 3 version, this isn't recommended for characters that you own since that unlock will go to waste when you presige them and is best used for dlc characters perks that you don't plan on buying for the forseeable future

  • Scooter08
    Scooter08 Member Posts: 12

    So, does that mean I get all of Xeno's level 3 perks for themself immediately after unlocking them and need to prestige them to unlock the perks for all other killers?

  • fussy
    fussy Member Posts: 1,717

    Look, it's easy. You need to own Killer to get access to his perk. Let's say you want to use Make Your Choice on other killers:
    1. Buy Pig
    2. Level her up to 1st prestige and all her perks will be available to other killers in bloodweb, but only at level/tier 1. You can level these perks on every killer to level/tier 3.
    3. Or you can level up Pig to P3 to have all her perks Tier 3 on every killer. (Same as P2 and Tier 2).

  • Scooter08
    Scooter08 Member Posts: 12

    BUT
    If I buy Pig, do I immediately get lv3 Make Your Choice for herself to use?

    So like, I could use Make Your Choice on Pig as soon as I buy her but not on anyone else until I prestige Pig?

  • bjorksnas
    bjorksnas Member Posts: 5,697

    All characters start with their own perks at level 1, and you need to prestige them to unlock them for all other killers, prestige 1 = level 1 on all other killers, prestige 2 = level 2 on all other characters. You can also just prestige 1 and level up the perk through the bloodweb on other characters as well

  • fussy
    fussy Member Posts: 1,717

    You can use her perks immediately, but they will be at lvl1. You can level them up in bloodweb to lvl3.
    But to use them on different killers you need to prestige her, yes.

  • crogers271
    crogers271 Member Posts: 1,907

    You just have to put the blood points in, you never have to actually play the character. I think it costs around a million blood points to go from 0 to to 50 and the prestige.

    -

    Two things I didn't see mentioned:

    1: You can also unlock perks from the Shrine of Secrets. This is a list of 4 perks that changes every week. If you don't want to buy the licesnsed characters, this is how you get their perks. Never waste shards though buying a perk you already have unlocked or for a character you plan to unlock.

    2: Characters go on deep discount around the anniversary (just happened) and Halloween, around 50% off (less for newer characters). If you are in the game for the long run and don't want to just buy the character packs, its worth it to wait for these .

    This presumes BHVR doesn't change how they function in the future, no guarantee this will happen, just how things have worked in the past.

  • drsoontm
    drsoontm Member Posts: 4,903

    I've seen many accurate answers so all I have to say is:

    Welcome to DbD.

    You can checkout anytime you like.

    But you can never leave.