Dead by daylight is an asymmetrical horror game that requires four survivors to complete five generators and escape against one killer.
This game has changed much over its seven years with newer players thinking they don't have a chance of getting in on the action.
Fear not, today I will give you my expert opinion on the strongest to weakest base survivors that come with the game based on their perks and how likely you can win each game. These will be grouped from S tier to F tier and at the end I will also recommend one S tier survivor for those who are looking to buy a new character. So let's get into it!
S-Tier
These are the characters that focus on objectives like completing generators and healing as most new survivors like to avoid interactions with the killer as much as possible.
Dwight Fairfield (95/100)
The geeky and scrawny Dwight isn't the typical guy you think of when you say “survivor”
however, with new players of this character affinity towards spending most of the trail hiding in a locker only coming out when the coast is clear to utilize his three perks, bond, prove thyself and leader to genrush the game and then escape, you can be sure this character will do just that, survive.
What makes dwight an excellent character is most new survivors are just wanting to complete objectives and leave.
Dwight is the only base survivor that allows you to do that faster. Bond is an ability he has to see all other survivors within a 32 meter range.
Paired with his other two perks Prove thyself, which increases your gen repair speed and the repair speed of other survivors by max 10% each within 8 meters of your location, and leader which gives max 25% to action speed of other survivors within 8 meters of you location, they synergise fantastic with each other which allows the game to be completed faster.
Dwight by Daylight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwFde6jhgW4
Claudette Morel (95/100)
Claudette is a Botanist, able to heal herself and teammates after sustaining injuries faster.
Her perk, self care, which grants the ability to heal yourself, was one of the strongest in the game before it was nerfed to 33% efficiency.
This perk still works well enough especially for new players when paired with her other perk, Botany Knowledge, which allows for her to heal herself and others 50% faster.
These two perks including her third, empathy, allowing her to see the auras of injured survivors within 128 meters, make claudette the ultimate medic.
What makes Claudette an excellent survivor for new players is her ability to heal. The 50% bonus speed in healing yourself and team plus the information form aura reading perk, empathy, will allow them to stay alive longer while also contributing to the survivability of their team.
Dead by Daylight / Let's play - Claudette Morel - Using only her 3 unique perks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGx4E4CNg4M
Feng Min (90/100)
Feng is a longtime e-sport gamer with her eye on the objective.
Feng Min’s three perks are Technician, which reduces the sounds generators make while repairing by 8 meters, Alert provides a visual cue of where the killer is after they commence a break action and Lithe is an exhaustion perk that gives you a speed boost after performing a rush vault action (exhaustion is a status effect that requires you not to run and recover over a set time in order to utilize the perk again).
What makes Feng Min such an excellent choice for a new survivor is her ability to complete objectives , sometimes right under the killer's noise, while being able to adapt to a chase situation if required.
Again most new survivors don't like being chased so the ability to see the killer with her perk Alert, and then breakout into a sprint after a rushed vault with lithe allowing you to go back to completing generators more silently with technician is a great rinse and repeat tactic every new survivor will enjoy.
Pro feng min video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGx4E4CNg4M
A Tier
These survivors have some of the strongest perks in the game used regularly by pro players. However, New players might find their abilities a bit too nuanced to utilize their full value.
Meg (88/100)
Meg Thomas was an athlete before she came to the fog and is able to get herself out of sticky situations with her perks, sprint burst, adrenaline, and quick & quiet.
Meg has two of the strongest exhaustion perks in the game. Sprint Burst allows you to run at a higher speed for a short duration.
Adrenaline activates once all the generators are complete or once the exit gates are powered allowing you to run faster for a slighter longer duration than sprint burst with the added benefit of healing you one health state.
Adrenaline is also the only exhaustion perk in the game that activates even if you're under its status effect. Lastly her perk quick & quiet allows you to sprint vault silently.
Meg is very powerful and her perks are used immensely in competitive play or for players that use builds to run the killer ragged.
However, for new players they may find Meg to be a bit difficult as she takes skill and timing to get the full value out of her perks, but once you get the hang of it after some trial and error you'll find her extremely fun.
Meg's Survival Guide | Dead By Daylight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhIZ4jvAVJw
Nea Karlsson (85/100)
Nea is a street youth artist with years of evading authorities under her belt.
Her three perks are Balance Landing, an exhaustion perk which reduces stagger when falling from heights and gives you a speed boost, Streetwise gives you at max an additional 20% usage out of items you and your teammates have, and Urban Evasion allowing you to move faster while crouched.
Nea is billed as a stealth character and after explaining how most new players play you'd think she'd be S tier. However, just like Meg most new players may not be able to get the full value of her powerful perks, especially with Balance Landing since although it's one of the best exhaustion perks in the game, not all maps have vantage points to get this perk to activate.
Nea is also a character you'll go through some trials and errors in order to get the hang of her.
Nea's Survival Guide | Dead By Daylight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olULbgu-1ws
C tier
Jake park (75/100)
His perks, iron will and calm spirit makes you quieter when injured or when your character would scream which may help you evade the killer as they might lose track of you, but offers no help in completing the objectives.
D tier
Bill Overbeck (70/100)
If you somehow manage to be the last survivor or your going up against a killer who's slugging (a phrase used in the community that signifies a killer trying to get everyone down at once) then this character is solid as his perk unbreakable allows you to pick yourself up from the ground once per game and left behind shows you the aura of the hatch if your the last one standing. Otherwise you'll find yourself with perks that you can't use.
Ace Visconti (50/100)
Ace arguably has one of the worst perks if not the most useless perk in the whole game, up the ante, which per token gives you up to a 9% boost in luck, which applies only to the increase in chance of rescuing yourself from the hook.
His other perks open hand increases the range of all aura reading perks and lucky lady allows you a 100% to get a higher grade item when searching a chest. This character's perks contribute very little to winning the game.
F tier
David King (45/100)
Now last and surely the least, David would be the absolute worst character for new players of Dead by Daylight. After the complete nerf of the strongest exhaustion perk in the game Dead Hard, David's perks have been reduced to that of a goof character, someone you play just to mess around offering absolutely no value to the team whatsoever.
New players should avoid playing this character at all costs unless you are looking to troll your team and don't care about the outcome of the game.
Character Recommendation
Now before we end, if you have the money and are looking for a character I would recommend you get Felix Ricther. Felix is a strong objective based survivor with perks that allow him to see generators, perform hook rescues and heal faster, and can recharge items once depleted making him highly reliable and versatile in a way that can dramatically contribute to the success of the game.
