With 31 killers in Dead by Daylight, only a select few stand out as the biggest threat to survivors. From great swords to long claws, let's take a look at the 10 best killers in Dead by Daylight.

10. The Twins 

Charlotte and Victor are twin killers that are able to divide and pursue survivors, each attacking in their own ways. Charlotte acts as a typical M1 killer that can break palettes, damage generators, and hook survivors. Victor’s attack method is to rush at survivors and leap onto their back like a demented demon, injuring them in the process.

The Twins can apply a remarkable amount of pressure with their overwhelming playstyle. Victor can hunt down survivors while Charlotte waits idly by like a snake ready to strike.

When a survivor is hooked, one of The Twins can stand near the hook while the other hunts down another victim. The Twins are truly a dynamic duo that can absolutely destroy teams that underestimate them.

Tips & Tricks for The Twins:  

• When switching to Victor, hide Charlotte behind a wall or in a bush so that when you switch back to her, you could get a sneaky hit on any survivors nearby. 
• When the exit gates are open, focus on using Victor to latch onto a survivor. Survivors cannot leave the game with Victor and must fight to pull him off before leaving, giving Charlotte the opportunity to attack while they are hindered. 

The Twins Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-twins/

9. The Demogorgon

The Demogorgon is a monstrous killer with the ability to open portals and traverse between them to cover large distances. It also has the ability to charge its claws and perform a shred attack that lunges it forward several meters.

Unfortunately, due to licensing constraints, the Stranger Things DLC is no longer available in the game store. However, players that purchased the DLC before it went away can still play it in game. 

The Dead by Daylight community widely considers the Demogorgon to be the most balanced killer in the game. With excellent mobility and chase potential, the Demogoron’s lethality all depends on the experience of the player controlling it. Utilize mind games at loops to take survivors by surprise and guarantee an injury. 

Tips & Tricks for The Demogorgon: 

• The longer you charge your shred, the further you will lunge. Charging your shred for one full second allows you to lunge the furthest, while charging for half a second will allow you to lunge a short distance. 
• At the beginning of a game, place one portal by each exit gate. Any survivors that makes it to the end of the game will be forced to close your portal or risk you crawling out of it to stop them from opening the gate. 
• When lunging with your shred, you will always travel in a straight line. Use this knowledge to your advantage and only lunge when the survivor is in a tight space or vaulting through a window so they cannot move to the side and dodge your attack. 

The Demogorgon Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.fandom.com/wiki/The_Demogorgon

8. The Artist

The Artist is a ranged killer that exerts pressure across the map by sending a murder of crows to swarm survivors. When survivors become swarmed, the aura of the swarm is revealed to the Artist and will not go away unless the survivor repels them.

The Artist can also set up a Dire Crow for a short period of time during chase to act as a trap, injuring any survivor that crosses its path. With such a strong power, The Artist is a force to be reckoned with.

She dominates in hunting survivors and ending chases fast with her Dire Crow. While mastering her power takes dedication, newer players are still able to get value from her immense amount of map pressure. 

Tips & Tricks for The Artist: 

• Aura reading perks work best on The Artist by giving you information on where to send your crows to swarm survivors. If a swarm comes near a survivor but does not make contact with them, their heartbeat will be visible to you for a moment, letting you know they are in the area.
• Throughout the match and even during chases, set up crows toward different generators around the map to swarm anyone who may be working on them. It will take survivors that are repairing by surprise and force them to stop and repel the crows.

The Artist Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-artist/

7. The Mastermind

Albert Wesker is a ruthless killer infused with the Power of Uroboros. With his power, he can perform two quick dashes that allow him to vault over obstacles and thrust survivors into walls while infecting them with Uroboros. Upon reaching critical infection, survivors suffer -8% movement speed until they remove the infection with first aid spray.

The Mastermind excels in chasing survivors with his high mobility and ability to vault palettes. His power is easy for intermediate killers to learn and all of his add-ons make his power even more deadly. He is a better choice over typical M1 killers and in the right hands can become an unstoppable force. 

Tips & Tricks for The Mastermind:

• Wesker has a large terror radius that can be heard within 40 meters. Stealth perks synergize well on him and allow him to get closer to survivors before they can run. It will also take careless survivors by surprise because they never expect The Mastermind to be silent.
• Utilizing the ability to infect survivors adds passive slow down to the game by forcing survivors to seek out chests to unlock for first aid spray. Even if survivors do not reach maximum infection, spreading it will still be useful. 

The Mastermind Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-mastermind/

6. The Cenobite

The Cenobite is a terrifying killer that is able to use chain projectiles that pull on survivors to keep them from running. Along with his presence, a Lament Configuration will spawn on the map that causes chains to attack all of the survivors at once if they do not find it and solve it in time. If Pinhead finds the box before the survivors, they will all scream and reveal their locations. 

With the ability to punish multiple survivors at once, Pinhead is a strong killer that slows the game down with his chains. Chains prevent survivors from repairing and healing as well, putting more pressure on teams to find the Lament Configuration before a chain hunt activates. The Cenobite is an all-in-one killer that can dominate in chase and teleport to survivors who are attempting to solve the puzzle box. 

Tips & Tricks for The Cenobite: 

• It’s important to decide when to teleport to survivors who pick up the Lament Configuration. Never leave a chase with an injured survivor to stop another from solving the puzzle, it’s more valuable to hook someone. 
• When summoning chains during chase, most survivors will attempt to dodge them by turning. If you can predict which way they will turn, begin to swerve your chain in that direction so they run directly into it.

The Cenobite Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-cenobite/

5. The Spirit

The Spirit is a tormented killer that has the power to teleport from one place to another without being seen. While she is in her phase walk, survivors hear a directional sound cue that gives them an idea of her location. The Spirit is unable to see survivors during her phase walk, but she can see scratch marks, pools of blood, and she can hear footsteps.

The unpredictability of The Spirit’s power makes it extremely difficult for survivors to make the right decisions in chase. She can easily outsmart survivors, making her the best choice for players that enjoy strategy. It takes a bit of learning to use her phase walk to its full potential, but even in the hands of new players, The Spirit can shine. 

Tips & Tricks for The Spirit: 

• You can fake a phase walk by circling around an area and returning to your previous location. This comes in handy when a survivor is on the hook and you know teammates are nearby waiting for you to leave.
• Since survivors can hear a directional sound when you are phasing, at loops you can use this to your advantage. Walking one way and switching at the last moment will throw off the survivor you're chasing and land you a surprise hit.

The Spirit Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-spirit/

4. The Oni

The Oni is an ancient, monstrous killer that is able to absorb the blood energy of his injured foes and use that energy to transform into a brutal demon. His power allows him to perform a Demon Dash and charge at survivors at a fast speed for a limited time. In his demon form, he can use his deadly baton to down healthy survivors in one hit. 

The Oni has the best snowball potential of any killer with his ability to down survivors and continue pursuing others. However, he must be played efficiently until his power is ready to be used. The only way that his power can activate is by collecting blood orbs from injured survivors.

So while he is the strongest killer in the game, players need to have enough experience as a killer to know how to attack survivors. In the right hands, he is a brutal force and can easily end games at a moments notice. 

Tips & Tricks for The Oni:

• The best perks to use on The Oni are centered around slowing down generators or healing speeds, allowing him more time to build up his power for a devastating attack. 
• Utilize a hit and run playstyle with Oni. The more injured survivors, the more blood orbs there are around the map to collect.

The Oni Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-oni/

3. The Executioner

With the power to completely bypass hooking survivors, Pyramid Head breaks all of the rules by inflicting his own justice onto survivors. He carries a great sword that can carve into the ground and leave trails of torment that act as traps for survivors.

Upon stepping onto these trails, survivors are tormented and can be sent to a Cage of Atonement instead of a hook. His secondary ability is to flick his sword forward and create a path of destruction that goes through walls to injure survivors.

Pyramid Head is a difficult killer to master due to his complex power and skill needed to correctly use his punishments. That being said, he is one of the best killers to play and he brings unique gameplay that other killers do not have.

Being able to avoid hooking survivors saves a lot of time and puts pressure on survivors to save their teammates as quickly as possible. His potential to shut down loops with his Punishment of the Damned is valuable in game and cuts down on chase time. 

Tips & Tricks for The Executioner:

• Aura reading perks greatly benefit Pyramid Head in chases, allowing him to load up his punishment and direct it in the right path to injure a survivor.
• Trails of torment cannot be placed directly by hooks, exit gate switches, or on stairs. Instead, focus on placing them around corners or in grassy areas that will hide them and take survivors by surprise. 
• When a survivor is sent to the Cage of Atonement, they will always appear across the map. If you have no target nearby, immediately make your way over to the other side of the map and wait for them to be rescued to continue chase. If you find the caged survivor, stand next to the cage and it will vanish and appear elsewhere on the map, forcing anyone trying to rescue them to waste time traveling to a new spot.

The Executioner Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-executioner/

2. The Blight

Capable of gaining ground on survivors in mere moments, The Blight is an incredibly fast killer with the ability to bounce off surfaces and realign his trajectory to rush at survivors. He begins each game with five tokens that he can consume to slam into objects and rush forward in the direction he chooses before going into a fatigue to recharge. While rushing, he is able to break palettes and breakable walls.

The Blight’s mobility makes it almost impossible for survivors to outrun him. This gives him great map pressure because he is able to quickly traverse the map to interfere with survivor objectives and get into chases quickly.

Players that crave a playstyle that is fast-paced will find The Blight to be the perfect killer to learn. He is very unpredictable and difficult to master, but in the right hands he becomes a killing machine. 

Tips & Tricks for The Blight: 

• The Blight shines on wide-open maps where you can rush without worrying about accidentally colliding into the wrong surface. Practice with him using map offerings that take you to outdoor maps such as Coldwind Farm or Macmillan Estate.
• The Blight’s movement speed is 115% faster than survivors, use this to your advantage when you’re not in chase. Check on hooked survivors, generators, or any hex totems you bring. His greatest strength is acting like a deranged pinball, bouncing from place to place.

The Blight Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-blight/

1. The Nurse

The Nurse is a killer that won’t bring you comfort. She has the unique power to blink and teleport a great distance and warp through walls. Chaining blinks together allows her to close distance on nearby survivors and get a hit before succumbing to fatigue. 

With the ability to ignore walls and obstacles, the Nurse is the only killer in Dead by Daylight that ignores basic game mechanics. This forces survivors to adjust their gameplay to counter her strong powers.

Although mastering the Nurse takes skill, simply practicing with her is enough for beginner killers to learn her power. She is deadly in chases and has the ability to stop survivors from using palettes by blinking through them. With amazing mobility and lethality, the Nurse is a deadly threat to all survivors.

Tips & Tricks for The Nurse: 

• Looking down while charging a blink will shorten the distance you travel. This is good to use during loops so that you do not accidentally blink too far and allow the survivor to get away. Keep in mind that if you are on the top floor of a building looking down will allow you to travel downstairs.
• Aura reading perks are incredibly powerful on the Nurse. Knowing where survivors are located can tell you were to blink next to continue chases.

The Nurse Character Guide: https://deadbydaylight.com/game/characters/the-nurse/

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