New to Dead by Daylight? Well, we have the list of the top 10 beginner-friendly killers just for you.
The award-winning asymmetrical multiplayer horror game Dead by Daylight has been getting a steady growth of newcomers in 2022. Developed by Behaviour Interactive in 2016, this game still has an ever thriving player base thanks to the constant updates provided by the dev team.
Dead by Daylight has 26 playable killers as of the latest patch 5.4.1. As such, it may seem a bit confusing for beginners on which killers to choose. There are also killer perk builds that will not be focused on in this guide since we already covered it here. This guide is only dedicated to those who are just starting on their first gory adventure in the Trial Grounds.
Read More: Dead by Daylight Codes February 2022: How to Get Free Bloodpoints and Charms
Top 10 Beginner-Friendly Killers in DBD in 2022
10. The Pig
If you ever watched any of the movies from the Saw franchise, then Amanda Young aka “The Pig” should be a recognizable character. She was added in Dead by Daylight with the addition of the seventh chapter DLC back on 23 January 2018. As her name suggests, this killer has been cursed with a Pig’s head and her weapon of choice is a hidden blade.
The Pig’s primary power ability is Jigsaw’s Baptism. This allows you to put on an Inactive Reverse Bear Trap on the head of downed survivors. The best part of this ability is after any Generator is fixed all the Reverse Bear traps will get the activation trigger. As a result, it will put on a death timer for the survivors, and they will need to remove it before the time runs out.
Crouching into stealth mode is a part of her kit, and it is unique to only a few killers in the game. So, her playstyle is suitable for those who enjoy stealth-like gameplay. As the Pig, you would go around ambushing survivors in close corners. It’s best to go for the dash attack when the gap closes between you and the survivor.
9. The Oni
Behaviour Interactive decided to add a demonic samurai to their list of killers with their fourteenth DLC, the Cursed Legacy. At first glance, anyone will assume the Oni to have slow movement and attack speed based on his huge stature. But his abilities prove otherwise. He can absorb the blood energy of all the injured survivors and use it to activate his signature skills.
Playing as the Oni, your focus should be on collecting the blood orbs. So it’s ideal to go after hitting the survivors from the start of the trial. His primary ability is the Yamaoka’s Wrath, and it lets you fill-up the blood gauge with blood orbs. When the gauge gets full, you can trigger the Blood Fury state by holding the active ability button. In this state, The Oni unlocks two of his additional abilities, Demon Dash and Demon Strike.
The first one allows him to dash towards any direction and close the distance gap of chasing survivors. The second one alters your primary attack into a lunging strike. So, a successful hit can put a healthy survivor into a dying state. One thing to note is to never pick up survivors, or it will cancel the state of Blood Fury.
8. The Demogorgon
Outside Dead by Daylight, this killer has been well known to everyone, mainly from the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things”. The developer added this alien monstrosity to their killer lineup with the thirteenth DLC for Dead by Daylight. His kit is similar to the ones demonstrated on the show.
The Demogorgon has a unique active ability that lets it open up portals anywhere on the map. You can easily travel through them and cover large distances. Using the portals marks them as active and visible to survivors, which the survivors can seal. But the ones that you just place on the ground and never use will stay invisible to all the survivors.
This killer also has a Special Attack called Shread that allows performing a leap strike. The main ability of the Demogorgon is Of the Abyss. Holding the power button will charge it up. Upon releasing it, the Demogorgon lets out a scream revealing all the survivor’s proximity to all activated portals. So, it is better to place the portals close to generators.
7. The Deathslinger
The Deathslinger is a killer in Dead by Daylight who you can resemble a vengeful bounty hunter. He wields a hybrid rifle called Death to Bayshore that uses a chain-attached sharp spear instead of ammunition. The developer added this killer with their fifteenth DLC, Chains of Hate.
The Deathslinger’s main power ability is the Redeemer, which you can use by holding the power button. This will allow you to go into aim down sight mode and target the survivors you want to hit. If you can successfully hit a survivor and spear them, you have two options. One is to pull them towards you for a guaranteed hit.
The other is to break off the chain by using the attack button. The reason for the second option is that the survivors can use the environment against you to break the chain off that will stun you for a short time. Therefore, it is better not to use The Deathslinger’s ability when you are near any pallet location. Also, his ability needs to be reloaded using the active ability button before it can be fired again.
6. The Nightmare
The horror icon Freddy Krueger is the Nightmare in Dead by Daylight. The sixth DLC added him to the game. He is a dream demon in the realm of the entity and wields a clawed glove to hunt down the survivors.
Dream World is the passive ability of The Nightmare. It makes all the survivors fall into the dream state. All the survivors are vulnerable to the Nightmare’s abilities in that state. His abilities are of three types, and they all act like traps.
Dream snare can be placed around the map using the power button and survivors that come in contact with it get marked. The Nightmare can see marked survivors for a short duration around the snare. Therefore, it’s better to place it in narrow areas around the map so that survivors cannot avoid it. He also can replace broken pallets with Dream Pallets. That can easily trick survivors into interacting with them. Dream Projection is his active ability that lets the Nightmare teleport from one place to another.
Read More: Dead By Daylight Best Killer Builds in 2022
5. The Legion
The Legion was added with the introduction of the tenth DLC Darkness Among Us. The concept of this killer is rather unique as the Legion stands for a group. Skins of this killer vary among group members Frank, Julie, Susie, Joey.
The power of this killer is Feral Frenzy. It lets the Legion go berserk for a brief time. During this feral state, the Legion can vault through walls and pallets like survivors. Activating this killer’s power changes their primary attack.
Triggering Feral Frenzy makes the Legion run at an extreme speed. It also makes this killer perform chain attacks on multiple survivors. Every successful hit on a survivor inflicts them with an injured state and deep wound. If the inflicted survivors don’t heal their deep wound effect, they will end up in a dying state. Also, the Legion can hear heartbeats whenever they activate Feral Frenzy.
4. The Wraith
The Wraith is one of the original killers that came alongside the base game. This killer’s overall kit is recommended for stealth gameplay. Unsurprisingly, this killer was inspired by Slender man in many ways.
The Wraith’s power is called Wailing Bell, and using it makes him invisible until he reactivates it. He turns invisible by banging the mace with the bell. Survivors who are not close by cannot hear the sound—becoming uncloaked grants him a speed boost for a short time.
On top of that, this killer starts in an invisible cloaked state from the start of the match. While in the cloaked mode, the Wraith cannot attack any survivors. So, it’s better to look for the one who is alone. Make sure there are no pallets nearby when you get uncloaked. Otherwise, it is easy for survivors to stun the Wraith whenever he leaves his cloaked state. You can also trick survivors by canceling the power ability and then go for a direct hit.
3. The Trapper
The Trapper was available from the beta stage of Dead by Daylight. He has been a mascot of the game for a long time. You will mostly enjoy his playstyle if you enjoy ensnaring people on bear traps.
As the name suggests, the main ability of the Trapper is Bear Trap. He can collect all the traps spread throughout the map. You can also set the traps at their found locations. But make sure not to step on them, or else you’re gonna end up getting stunned for some time.
The Trapper can put pressure across the whole map if you know where to set the traps. So it is suggested to target narrow areas where there is no means of avoiding it. While playing as the Trapper, your primary focus is to find the choke loop points on the map. You can set up the traps so that they are most likely to go through that path when you start chasing the survivors.
2. The Doctor
The fourth DLC Spark of Madness added the Doctor into Dead by Daylight, a killer who uses shock therapy to cause hallucinations in survivors and wields a baton as his primary weapon of choice.
The Doctor’s power is Carter’s Spark. With this ability, he can spam cones of shock waves everywhere on the map. Any survivor coming in contact within the wave zone will get induced with madness. The Doctor is ideal for most players as his abilities are simple to understand.
Focus on chasing the survivors and keep spamming his active ability. It will increase their madness level. It’s better to let go of survivors who have level 3 madness or hook them.
1.The Cannibal
The Cannibal, better known to everyone as Leatherface, is one of the 26 killers in Dead by Daylight. The DLC CHAPTER 5.5: LEATHERFACE introduced him into the Killers lineup. He is pretty much self-explanatory and one of two killers who use a chainsaw as their main power ability.
The Cannibal’s main power derives from his trusty chainsaw. Holding the power button makes him charge his chainsaw. Releasing it makes him execute a Chainsaw Dash for 2 seconds. It can even hit multiple survivors on his path.
The playstyle to follow The Cannibal is very straightforward. You can down any healthy survivor by hitting them with his power ability. There’s just one weakness for this killer. If you accidentally hit environmental objects with his chainsaw, the Cannibal will stay stunned for a few seconds. Other than that, all of you have to remember is to use his ability when you almost close the gap between you and the survivors. Timing the move perfectly will ensure you a direct chainsaw hit.
Difficulty Based on Abilities
- Easy (S-tier) : The Cannibal, The Doctor, The Trapper
- Average (A-tier) : The Wraith, The Legion, The Nightmare, The Deathslinger
- Hard (B-tier) : The Demogorgon, The Oni, The Pig
The Cannibal’s playstyle is suitable for both veterans and newcomers alike since his power ability doesn’t take any mechanical skill to perform. The charging of the chainsaw doesn’t slow you down, unlike The Hillbilly. The Doctor’s kit is pretty easy for any newbie player to understand, and he has a very strong presence in the game even though you just started playing him. The Trapper is everyone’s first killer since he is the one you play as in the tutorial. His abilities are self-explanatory, and you can move around with his traps and set them wherever you like.
Knowing the Wraith’s abilities take a bit of practice at first as he doesn’t have that much map control. But you can easily dominate every match when you get the mastery over canceling his ability.
The Legion’s ability has a bit of a learning curve to it. Learning the Legion’s playstyle is not that difficult but will require a bit of practice.
The Nightmare’s playstyle is well suited for players with good map awareness. You have to remember where you set up most of his abilities. It’s fun to hook survivors with the Deathslinger’s spear chain. But in most cases, new players will get bullied into getting stunned if they are not aware of their surroundings.
The Demogorgon will be hard for new players, and even veteran killers have trouble using him. Unfortunately, he has way too many abilities for any newcomers to master.
The Oni might look very cool to new players. But we advise any newcomers to hold on to that thought until you understand how the chasing mechanics work. The Pig’s playstyle has many mechanics that most new players wouldn’t even comprehend. So, it’s better to come back to her when you understand the basic killer mechanics.
Read More: Best ways to get Iridescent Shards in Dead By Daylight 2022
