Survivor Year 8-9 perks tierlist (SoloQ)

I think that Dramaturgy and Champion of Light are probably better than Finesse. Both Dramaturgy and Finesse are perks that are meant to just barely get you out of a hit, but Dramaturgy is much more consistent since you have control over when it activates (with the exception of rolling exposed, which even then you still get the distance). Champion of Light slowing down a killer is quite good and the fact that it effects killer powers (ie Blight and Wesker) make it a very solid perk to me.

My issue with Finesse is that it doesn't consistently save you. You don't always get the fast vault, you don't always have good connection, among other things. Super fun perk though.

Wicked's aura reading works on every hook, not just the basement. It's only the self-unhook that has the basement requirement.

No Way Scene Partner could be rated that far down

That perk ends chases on its own

Wicked is often misinterpreted as a niche perk, but it's one of the best perks if you know how to zone a killer in the chase and force basement hook. It's typically best to use in anti-tunneling builds to unhook yourself in basement, track down the killer with aura reading from the perk, take aggro and waste stupid amounts of killer's time.

Chile. Nobody’s doing all that. There are better perks available and no one should be trying to goad the killer into chasing them from, to, or around the basement.

As an avid mirror illusion user I had to chuckle at it being placed at the bottom lol

it is of course a purely meme perk for me but I think it can be strengthened (not needed of course but I mean IF it is to be taken a bit more seriously) - maybe have it so it actually stays solid and static as opposed to the very obvious giveaway at present and/or have it so it doesn’t disappear if interacted with by the killer.

That would probably actually make it VERY useful beyond purely meme purposes but hey, I’ll still use it as is anyway

☺️🪞☺️✨

I think we've reached the point where we need new gameplay mechanics. There's only so many interesting perks you can create around a limited list of actions.

I get the feeling that with a big roster of perks and killers (and I say killers because they have unique powers) every new perk that is introduced runs the risk and potential to become overpowered when combined with something.

Like you said, there is only so much that can be done, so I think it’s time to make DBD a bit more granular.

X perk cannot be combined with Y.
Category A (killer/swf) cannot use/repeat certain perks.
New side objectives (meaningful ones that progress the game)

Maybe this can be a refreshing evolution for the game and can make balances for perks easier without affecting everyone.

sounds really interesting! I’d like some of these kind of ideas implemented - maybe as a side mode like chaos etc as a kind of testing ground and slowly see what can/can't be implemented.

At the very least it can throw up a fun side mode and at best, may make the main mode better if things can shift over!

I Haven't once considered using adren since it's rework. I'll never use lightfooted as it's only slightly helpful for fl saves, iron will is a better in every regard.

Adrenaline? That perk's still incredible, it still does the main thing you need.

On the topic of Light-Footed, it's not just for flashlight saves, it's also for being able to leave tall loops without the killer knowing and for being able to run around on multiple-story maps completely silently. It's slept on, I think it has some legit application but most players aren't really interested in it.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, it just doesn't make it a bad perk.

nobody is doing allat because average survivor is so afraid to take aggro due to not being able to hold M1 chase for longer than 20s ofc. Some of the best survivor perks in game are considered bad by average players because they can't get value out of them due to those actually having a skill floor

I would add Strength in Shadows to the list, even if you have to trek your way to basement. As long as you're not overly using the perk, it's good value to have a fast heal in basement. I like to pair it with Botany Knowledge to get a faster heal.

Even Background Player is a great perk, even with its recent speed boost nerf.

@Ayodam

Yes, going to basement is a risk that I would not advise survivors to do. Wicked is an extremely niche perk, even if I like to run it with Babysitter and We'll Make It for more aura reading. Regardless, being hooked in basement and unhooking yourself isn't that powerful and is just flat out a weaker Deliverance. Even if you unhook yourself, which many people often do right when they get hooked, the killer is going to come back and hook you (rightfully so) back into basement.

What does any of that have to do with the perks I mentioned? Half of them are detection perks for finding survivors who “don’t take aggro” and hide. The other half are for catching those survivors who do take aggro. Are you awake?

thrill is a lot worse then before but because killer perk are so bad currently, i'd consider thrill to be better then 80% of killer perks and totem perk in general are among the better perks for killer again, just because all killer perk just don't do anything.

They have virtually no impact on whether you win or lose. that's how bad for most of killer perk are. survivor perks in comparison are not game-changing however they do work to some degree at fulfilling the perk role. A lot of killer perk don't even fulfill their role. that is how bad they are.

Leave it to DbD netizens to instantly make it about sides and who's got it worse. How about we advocate for good perks period, regardless of which "side" they're for. There's tons of, frankly, trash released for both killers and survivors, that's been the same story throughout all these years, legitimately 80-90% of perks are objectively subpar and not being regularly used by anyone seriously trying to win, most of the most popular perks being 6+ years old. BHVR buffing perks is rare enough, buffing perks even just to semi-serious viability is a once-in-a-blue-moon event, most perks are tragically lackluster even if they receive buffs. And yes not every perk needs to be S-tier (although personally I would like if most perks could be serious contenders for serious builds), but most of the subpar perks are underwhelming even at doing the "fun" or gimmicky or niche things they're supposed to. BHVR has no issue with perks being useless and having usage rates in the 0.XX range - as long as the DLCs sell that just means less work for them to come up with and code more ambitious perks and less potential balancing and bug fixing upkeep associated with them. It's on us to keep complaining about bad perks, rate and buy releases accordingly.

But that's for another topic (literally: https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/405984/various-perk-buffs - I will at some point add the perks released since creation of that post to the list). For this topic, I will say that Dramaturgy, Plot Twist and Champion Of Light also deserve to be in the 4* category. Dramaturgy is a good perk in and of itself, the issue it has is that as an Exhaustion perk it of course directly competes with other Exhaustion perks as they can't be used alongside one another well or at all, and since it can only be used while healthy and has random risks attached to it, it is simply not as good as some of the others, therefore not being worth the slot over those others if you're being really serious about optimizing your build to win. I do however think it's in a pretty decent spot, where it is viable enough and a fun and interesting alternative to the available options. It wouldn't really need buffs, apart perhaps from minor things such as making it so the silly animation doesn't lock your movement into one direction. That said, I don't see why the perk could not also be usable when injured. I mean, I know one or ridiculously enough maybe even the primary reason for that is the fact that it would clash with Dead Hard as they use the same input, but there's really no compelling reason why this Exhaustion perk needs that stipulation that none of the others do (well, Overcome does, which it also should not, i. e. it should work on any hit sprint, even if you had already been injured). The "Exposed" risk could turn into a Hindered effect if injured, or even putting you into the dying state, which would be fairly hilarious and maintain the status of the perk as a decidedly less "serious" choice, while still being a buff.

Plot Twist has a lot of interesting use cases, is noteworthy as an anti-tunnelling tool of sorts, and even just the ability to heal on your own up to two times per match can be impactful. And Champion Of Light is not to be underestimated because not only does the Hindered effect give you so much distance that killers will not seldom give up on the chase, but the faster walking speed while using the flashlight can make saves easier and even enable you to break chase state more easily, to prevent or drain bloodlust or the entity window blocker.

Chemical Trap similarly is a bit of a chase ender, and even does the job against killers such as Billy and Blight. You obviously need an at least semi-safe pallet to use it at, but if you do and know your checkspots and play it well, you either get the killer to break it giving you half a map's distance, likely leading to them simply giving up on the chase, or you get them to refuse to break it and waste a lot more time on that pallet than they otherwise likely would have. It doesn't quite make the 4* cut, for that it is simply not reliable enough, doesn't consistently give value. But if you are already using a perk that mostly only helps in chases such as Finesse, maybe try ChemTrap in its place sometime, you might be surprised what it can do for you and the round. 3*.

Made For This is obviously a mere remnant of its former self, but I would still put it somewhere between 3 and 4*, or just 4* outright. Picking people up off the ground isn't rare, and with MFT you can do so aggressively, starting to heal, taking a hit, finishing the heal, then being able to take another hit. Particularly good if you have something like We're Gonna Live Forever alongside it of course. It also procs on healing someone from injured to healthy, something people tend to neglect. And in those instances if you tank a hit (and most killers won't even try to play around this because MFT is a rare perk to be seen these days) you get the Haste. And then there's Endurance from unhooks, Off The Record, Dead Hard, Styptics and various killers/their add-ons that also put you into Deep Wound. I will say that MFT could now be 4 or even 5% Haste - still considerably less than Hope, but since its activation condition is rather situational and since the killer can simply leave you forcing you to mend, I don't see why it shouldn't be stronger. In fact, since the killer is more likely to notice the 4 or 5% of Haste, it could even be argued to be a bit of a nerf, in the respect that the killer instead of overcommitting to a potentially bad chase for them with the more sneaky 3% will simply leave to do other things due to noticing the 4/5%, again, forcing you to mend and lose the speed boost.

Worth mentioning: Moment Of Glory should be 3*. It isn't a good perk, for that its activation condition/accommodating perk investment is too steep and its activation time too long, but it is definitely better than the others on that 2* list. Weaving Spiders is 1* material, or in fact material for a killer perk tier list. Lucky Star and Hardened are 2* at best.