March 2022 of last year saw Sadako Yamamura (The Onryō) emerge from the fog. Sadako is one of the most known and iconic faces in horror, even though you hardly ever get to see her face. Sadako is the antagonist from the Japanese novel and film series Ring, which is commonly referred to in the West as Ringu.
This year, Sadako saw a few changes that significantly improved her strength and gameplay in general. Sadako used to be considered one of the game's weakest killers. Playing as her at times felt as awful as stepping on Legos. She started out as a D Tier killer, but BHVR gave her some strong buffs that allow her to be sitting at a respectable B Tier. Sadako has been my main killer since her release and I think she is in a pretty comfortable spot right now.
This list of 5 strong Sadako builds can help both experienced players and beginners. Even against an excellent team of survivors, these builds should be quite helpful to you and are completely viable in the current meta.
5. Free to Play Build
BEST SADAKO "THE ONRYO" BUILD FOR BEGINNERS IN 2023 | Dead By Daylight
This build will be the easiest to acquire since it only uses the game's base perks and Sadako’s perks. You do not have to spend a single extra dollar, as all of these perks come with Sadako and the base game.
This build will not be as strong as some of the other builds on this list, but it is still a very viable option for players who are not looking to spend money on DLC to unlock perks. You could always wait for perks to show up in the Shrine of Secrets to unlock the other perks on this list for free.
Nevertheless, this build will still be decent enough to aid you in your trials. This build has a good amount of generator slowdown, healing slowdown, and information gathering.
What the Free to Play Build Excels in:
Free to Use: This build is completely free to acquire as long as you own Sadako. The only thing you have to do is level up Sadako with bloodpoints, and you are good to go.
Simplicity: This is a very simple build. Everything in this build is just a bonus to basic actions you do in the game.
Viability: Everything in this build is viable. Sadako’s perks are strong enough on their own to provide decent value.
Build details:
Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage: At the start of each trial, 4 hooks are randomly selected and changed into scourge hooks. The auras of these hooks are revealed to you in white. Each time a survivor gets unhooked from a scourge hook, the aura of all other survivors gets revealed to you for 5/6/7 seconds. This is a solid information perk that allows you to see where survivors are headed after an unhooking.
Call of Brine: After damaging a generator, this perk activates for 60 seconds. The generator regresses at 115/120/125% of the normal regression speed. You see the generator highlighted in yellow. Whenever a survivor hits a good skill check, you receive a notification. This perk used to be much better before it received a nerf, but the slowdown and information are still solid.
Jolt: Whenever you down a survivor with a basic attack, all generators within 32 meters of you explode and start regressing. The explosion instantly causes generators to lose 6/7/8%. This is considered a meta perk and is a very consistent form of slowdown for killers like Sadako.
Sloppy Butcher: When injuring a survivor with a basic attack, this perk causes survivors to suffer from the status effects of Hemorrhage and Mangled. Their bleeding frequency increases by 50/75/100%. This perk also increases the rate at which survivors lose unfinished healing progress by 15/20/25%. When a survivor is fully healed, these effects are removed. This is also a meta perk, and Sadako makes great use of Sloppy Butcher. The healing slowdown is fantastic, and this is one of the best free perks in the game.
4. Fully Exposed Build
EXPOSED SADAKO BUILD / Onryo Build - Dead By Daylight Ringu PS4
Even though Sadako’s stealth is lackluster due to her lullaby, she still has an element of stealth in her power. When demanifested, survivors do not hear your terror radius. Some players play a bit greedy and will get punished by this build.
The Fully Exposed Build uses exposed perks to make Sadako far deadlier. Being able to end chases with one hit on Sadako saves you so much time and makes you very scary to play against. This build actually uses a lot of technique, and you can bring some of her stealthy add-ons if you would like to.
Since Sadako can hide her terror radius, you want to sneak up on survivors without showing yourself. Try to hide behind walls and objects when approaching a survivor to catch them off guard. The only downside to this build is the fact that there is no slowdown. This build is a little older, but it is still good and viable in the current meta.
What the Fully Exposed Build Excels in:
Lethality: The exposed perks allow you to potentially injure and down survivors very quickly. Using proper stealth in combination with these perks, survivors can be caught off guard and downed with no warning other than your lullaby.
Fun Factor: This build is arguably the most fun on the list, in my opinion. The feeling of jump-scaring a survivor and instantly downing them is extremely satisfying. I have had survivors tell me that they had a blast playing against this build after the game. This build is fun for both the killer and the survivors.
Information Gathering: The perks in this build provide information that synergizes well with the exposed perks. This allows you to find the survivors who are exposed and track them down.
Build details:
Dragon’s Grip: After damaging a generator, Dragon’s Grip activates for 30 seconds. The first survivor to touch the generator will scream, reveal their location for 4 seconds, and become exposed for 60 seconds. This perk has a cooldown of 120/100/80 seconds. This perk is fantastic for exposing survivors and downing them. A strategy I like to use is damaging generators that are being worked on and cloaking behind walls near them. Survivors will touch the generator to stop its regression, and then you can jump-scare them and get a free down.
Barbecue & Chili: After hooking a survivor, all survivors who are 60/50/40 meters away from the hook have their aura revealed for 5 seconds. This is a great perk because it gives you solid information on where to look for players. You can see what generators are being worked on far away from you. If you wanted to, you could substitute this out with the newer perk Nowhere to Hide, which is another great option.
Make Your Choice: When a survivor gets unhooked at least 32 meters away from you, the rescuer screams and becomes exposed for the next 40/50/60 seconds. This perk works wonders for Sadako because you can teleport over to the area where you hooked the survivor. A good strategy would be to hook players close to TVs so you can instantly get over there to make a play.
Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage: At the start of each trial, 4 hooks are randomly selected and changed into scourge hooks. The auras of these hooks are revealed to you in white. Each time a survivor gets unhooked from a scourge hook, the aura of all other survivors gets revealed to you for 5/6/7 seconds. What makes this perk so great with this build is its synergy with Make Your Choice. Being able to see where survivors go after an unhook lets you track down the exposed target.
3. Basic M1 Meta Build
The NEW Best Onryo Build In Dead by Daylight!
Sadako is commonly referred to as an “M1" killer, meaning mouse one killer. M1 killers are killers who rely on using their basic attack to injure and down survivors. M1 killers typically lack a power to help them win chases. Sadako has a ton of pressure with her tapes and a lot of mobility with her teleport, but no real chase power. This build uses commonly strong meta perks that many M1 killers can make good use of. This build is not limited to Sadako and can be applied to essentially any M1 killer in the game.
The Basic M1 Meta Build contains a healthy balance of strong perks that cover many different areas of need. It features perks that help the early game, generator slowdown, catching up in chases, and slowing down healing. It is a very well-rounded build that covers many general areas of need, and you will almost never be disappointed by one of these perks.
This is a reliable build that is straightforward and effective at giving you a consistent chance to win. This build isn’t flashy, but it gets the job done. This build is rather easy to use, and the only thing you need to get used to is playing around the obsession.
What the Basic M1 Meta Build Excels In:
Versatility: Since this build covers general areas of need, you have something for almost every scenario. This build checks off most of the things you would need to aid you in your trials. The only thing you don’t have is a niche end-game perk, which is not essential to a build like this anyway.
Ease of Use: This build is not difficult to use whatsoever. It features a lot of passive slowdown that works by itself. The only thing you must watch out for is your stacks and playing around the obsession.
Consistency: This is a build with four strong and reliable perks that will almost never let you down or fail to provide you with value. All of these perks provide a significant amount of value to most builds they are taken in.
Build details:
Corrupt Intervention: At the beginning of each trial, 3 generators farthest away from you are blocked for 80/100/120 seconds. Often, survivors will split up at the start of a trial and progress the game extremely fast. Being able to stop generators from being worked on during the early game is one of the most beneficial things you can do.
Deadlock: When a generator is completed, this perk blocks the generator with the most progress for 20/25/30 seconds. Deadlock is one of the best generator slowdown perks in the game. You get information on what generators are being worked on the most, and the perk completely blocks the generator from being touched by survivors. This buys you a good amount of time throughout the trial.
Save the Best for Last: When you hit a survivor other than your obsession with a basic attack, this perk earns 1 token; you can earn up to 8 tokens. Each token gets a stackable 5% cooldown reduction on hitting a basic attack, up to a maximum of 40%. When you hit your obsession with a basic attack, this perk loses 4/3/2 tokens. If the obsession dies, this perk stops and stays at its token count at the time of their death. This perk allows you to stick to players and catch up to them in chase much more efficiently. Since Sadako is weak in chase, this perk helps make up for her biggest downside.
Sloppy Butcher: When injuring a survivor with a basic attack, this perk causes survivors to suffer from the status effects of Hemorrhage and Mangled. Their bleeding frequency increases by 50/75/100%. This perk also increases the rate at which survivors lose unfinished healing progress by 15/20/25%. When a survivor is fully healed, these effects are removed. What makes this so good for Sadako is the healing slowdown. Sometimes it is best to not commit to a chase, and this can make getting an injure more valuable. The healing slowdown from this perk is amazing and is the main reason why it is considered so meta.
2. Hex Heavy Build
Is new Sadako an S-tier Killer? (No, but...) | Dead by Daylight
Hex perks are sometimes hit or miss, but when using multiple strong hex perks that have good synergy together, they can be very strong. Sadako in particular can make good use of hex perks that passively impact the game.
The Hex Heavy build consists of perks that slow the game down and give you valuable information. This build somewhat allows you to play a bit sloppy and not have to be as proactive during the trial. Your perks are actively doing everything for you, and this makes it so you can just focus on spreading condemn and applying pressure.
This is the easiest build on this list to use. Popular Dead by Daylight creator “Otzdarva” played a game with this build using one hand. If you are new to playing Sadako and have the perks to make this build, I could not recommend it enough.
What the Hex Heavy Build Excels in:
Slowdown: This build has a ton of strong perks that passively slow the game down. Naturally, the game will be harder for the survivors to progress. These perks pair great with Sadako’s power.
Ease of Use: Since everything in this build is done passively, there is not much you need to do. This build is extremely easy to use and can be used by even the newest Sadako players. The only thing you have to be aware of is your totems.
Information Gathering: The hex perks in this build don’t just provide slowdown; they also give you valuable information that helps you track survivors.
Build details:
Hex: Thrill of the Hunt: For every totem remaining, this perk gets 1 token. For every token, the survivors suffer from a stackable 8/9/10% penalty to the speed of cleansing and blessing totems, up to a maximum of 40/45/50%. This perk also grants 10% extra bloodpoints in the Hunter Category per token, up to a maximum of 50%. All effects of this perk remain until the hex totem is destroyed. This perk is great for making it harder for survivors to cleanse hex totems. This allows you to force them to choose between dealing with the condemn meter and the hex totems. So not only is this perk great for this build, but you get some extra bloodpoints as well.
Hex: Ruin: When a generator is not being worked on by a survivor, it will automatically start to regress progress at 50/75/100% of the default regression speed. If any survivor is killed while this perk is active, the perk deactivates and the hex totem turns into a dull totem. The effects of this perk remain until a survivor cleanses the hex totem. While Hex: Ruin is not as strong as it once was, this perk is still very viable and works well in this build. Not only is the slowdown decent, but you are giving survivors the incentive to go and waste valuable time trying to find the hex totems. This has great synergy with Hex: Thrill of the Hunt, and the survivors will waste so much time while you build up condemn.
Hex: Face the Darkness: When you injure a survivor, if there is a dull totem on the map, this perk activates and curses the survivor and creates a hex totem. All other survivors scream every 35/30/25 seconds if they are not in your terror radius, revealing their auras for 2 seconds. This perk deactivates when a cursed survivor is fully healed or gets downed, removing their hex totem. This perk is disabled for the whole trial if the survivors cleanse its initial hex totem. Stacking this perk with the other hex perks is really mean, and much like Hex: Ruin, this forces the survivors to have to go deal with it. This synergizes so well with the perks in this build. The constant information is amazing since Sadako can remove her terror radius by demanifesting.
Sloppy Butcher: When injuring a survivor with a basic attack, this perk causes survivors to suffer from the status effects of Hemorrhage and Mangled. Their bleeding frequency increases by 50/75/100%. This perk also increases the rate at which survivors lose unfinished healing progress by 15/20/25%. Sloppy Butcher works great in this build because it’s simply just more slowdown. With this perk added to the mix, every progress-based action will be slower. Generator speeds, healing speeds, and cleansing speeds can all be significantly slower, potentially at once. You can opt for a hit-and-run playstyle using this perk if you choose to.
1. High MMR Build
The Sadako Meta
This build is perfectly tailored to Sadako. Against the best survivors, you are going to want perks that help make up for the lack of a chase power. The goal of this build is to improve the areas where Sadako is most lacking. Using this build, you can apply the most amount of pressure with the force-condemn playstyle.
The High MMR build was created by arguably the best Sadako player in the world “One Pump Willie”. He heavily prioritizes forcing condemned kills rather than traditionally hooking survivors. This build features 3 perks that greatly help you in chases but also include an early game slowdown.
This is not the most beginner-friendly build. Since these perks are rather niche, this build may be a little tricky to use. Nevertheless, these perks work wonders for Sadako, bringing out the best in her. This build gives you the best chance to compete and win, even against the survivors at the top MMR.
What the Basic High MMR Sadako Build Excels In:
Chases: Your chases will be significantly better with this build. Perks providing a haste status effect are extremely beneficial to killers who struggle to keep up with survivors in chases or are easily looped.
Pressure: This build allows Sadako to constantly apply pressure to survivors who are holding tapes. You have to play around your obsession and your time spent chasing, but the pressure that you can apply to survivors is absolutely worth the extra effort.
Consistency: Since this build is perfectly tailored to Sadako, when used properly, it gives you the absolute best chance to consistently win your games.
Build details:
Play with Your Food: When you chase your obsession and they escape, this perk gains 1 token that stacks up to a maximum of 3. Each token grants a stackable haste status effect of 3/4/5%, up to a maximum of 9/12/15%. This perk allows you to better pursue ideal survivors and win more chases. You just have to manage your tokens well.
Game Afoot: When you hit a survivor with the highest chase time with a basic attack, they become the obsession. When you are chasing your obsession, this perk provides a 5% haste status effect for 8/9/10 seconds after damaging a generator, pallet, or breakable wall. This synergizes well with Play with Your Food and allows you to stick to survivors much better. You have to play around the obsession and keep your time spent chasing in mind. When used properly, you can create new obsessions and reliably farm Play with Your Food.
Brutal Strength: The animation of breaking pallets, breakable walls, and damaging generators is sped up by 10/15/20%. This perk is a nice quality of life buff, but it synergizes greatly with Game Afoot and allows you to save a ton of time in chases.
Corrupt Intervention: At the beginning of each trial, 3 generators farthest away from you are blocked for 80/100/120 seconds. Having early game slowdown is so reliable and provides value to essentially any build. It is the only slowdown perk in this build and is great for the early game, which is the most important part of every trial. Sadako needs to wait for her TVs to turn on at the start of each trial in the first place, and this perk can buy you a great deal of time. You can potentially swap this perk out for something else, but I love this perk in high MMR matches.
