Best Maps for The Dark Lord Killer

Key Takeaways

• The Dark Lord in Dead by Daylight has unique powers, transforming into a wolf or bat, and excels in areas like Lampkin Lane.
• Haddonfield is another great map for The Dark Lord, with optimal strategies using bat form and wolf form for efficient chases.
• The Red Forest and Raccoon City Police Station provide advantages for The Dark Lord, utilizing bat form teleportation and Pillars of Flame effectively.

Since his arrival in August 2024, the Dark Lord has been a popular choice of Killer in Dead By Daylight. Straight from Castlevania, the Dark Lord brings a fascinating backstory and amazing powers that really come to life in certain realms and maps to get easy Killer wins in Dead by Daylight.

The Dark Lord is a multi-powered Killer who can transform into a wolf or a bat and throw pillars of flames as a ranged attack. With these powers, Dracula performs best on maps where he can catch Survivors off guard as they attempt to vault, or sneak up on them in bat form.

5 Lampkin Lane

Halloween’s Haddonfield is Filled With Open Spaces and Easy-to-Find Hiding Spots

• Pros: Increased audio ability in bat form means there are few safe hiding spots. It is easy to teleport to upstairs vaults in bat form. The large open space in the street is great for pouncing as a wolf.
• Cons: Large buildings can slow chases if Survivors loop them well. Pillar of Flame power doesn’t work through any building’s walls.

Haddonfield, the map that originally arrived with Michael Myers, consists of a wide street littered with cars and houses lining either side. The best-looping spots for Survivors tend to be in and around the large houses. However, The Dark Lord’s bat form could easily track them and teleport to the next vault, if Survivor movement is predicted correctly.

The wolf form comes into play in the wide street area in the center of the map. This is where long pounces and well-timed bites can be useful. This Killer’s power is all about predicting Survivor behavior and using each special ability effectively. At Haddonfield, this means cutting off short vault loops with the Pillar of Flame and performing long pounces in the more open areas. The wolf form’s Killer Instinct helps The Dark Lord keep tabs on any Survivor trying to hide in bushes or lockers mid-chase by highlighting their position with the red heartbeat.

4 The Temple of Purgation

A Red Forest That’s Easy to Disguise Oneself Within

• Pros: Easy to blend into shadowy areas, especially in wolf or bat form. There are few solid walls around the main buildings, so it becomes easy to close Survivor’s loops.
• Cons: Red Forest has quite large maps, so it can take time to find and track Survivors.

The Red Forest maps were originally home to both The Huntress and The Plague. Any Red Forest map is great fun to play as The Dark Lord, as the shadowy, tree-filled area can make it easy to sneak about in both bat and wolf form. Although they are relatively large maps, a smart Dark Lord player will ensure they do not spend too long in a chase once they find a Survivor by using wolf form to close in on their victim.

The maps have one large building surrounded by small stone wall tiles for looping and larger wooden jungle gyms. The Dark Lord’s Pillar of Flame is perfect for surprising the Survivors with a well-timed fiery outburst, cutting off the loop in the smaller areas entirely. In the larger wooden jungle gym loops, the wolf form can be the key to closing the gap between the Killer and Survivor with long pounces. In this form, it becomes easy to see where the target is moving to, thanks to the Killer Instinct. This creates difficulties for any Survivor trying to play mind games with The Dark Lord.

3 Raccoon City Police Station

A Resident Evil Map That Doesn’t Have the Best Looping Structure for Survivors

• Pros: There aren’t too many strong looping areas for Survivors. Teleportation in bat form can be a strong power here.
• Cons: It is difficult to successfully perform a long pounce in wolf form due to the short and narrow walkways.

Raccoon City, from Resident Evil, was added to Dead By Daylight along with The Nemesis, a Killer with a medium-range power much like The Dark Lord’s Pillars of Flame. With this in mind, it is easy to see why Raccoon City maps are well-suited to this Killer. The Pillars of Flame are highly effective in hitting Survivors as they vault or throw pallets.

Although his wolf form doesn’t do so well in tight corners on the upper level, it can be used on the lower level where there is more space to lunge. In bat form, The Dark Lord can traverse the map quickly by teleporting to window vaults and catching the Survivors off-guard. Any strong looping areas where Survivors would usually outplay the Killer are cut short by the pallet-breaking wolf pounce or the Pillars of Flame.

2 Midwich Elementary School

The Silent Hill Map That Allows For Many Survivor Paths to be Shutdown

• Pros: Longer corridors can be great for pouncing in wolf form. Many of the loops are easily shut down with his Pillars of Flame ranged power.
• Cons: Solid walls mean Dracula cannot use Pillars of Flame to surprise Survivors from outside of rooms.

Indoor maps are not every player’s favorite, especially players who enjoy using ranged Killers like Huntress or Hillbilly. For Killers with medium-range powers like Pyramid Head or The Dark Lord, however, these maps can prove to be very strong. The Silent Hill map has a lot of short loops perfect for The Dark Lord to shoot his Pillars of Flame through and cut off unsuspecting Survivors.

In the long corridors, The Dark Lord’s wolf form can close the gap between them and a running Survivor easily, while in each classroom, the Vampiric form is the strongest. He may not be able to throw the fiery pillars through the solid walls from out in the hallway, but inside the rooms, Survivors will find it very hard to avoid being hit. With the Midwich exit gates being so close together on the lower floor, the final Survivor won’t be able to escape unscathed.

1 Treatment Theater

Léry’s Memorial Institute Benefits From Bat Form

• Pros: Lots of vaults to teleport to in bat form. Pillars of flame shut down any looping around pallets.
• Cons: Exit gates are very far apart, so it can be hard to track the final Survivor.

Lery’s Memorial Institute, a maze of hospital rooms on an indoor map, was first introduced with The Doctor. This map has a lot of window vaults, perfect for easy traversal across the map in bat form. Teleportation to vaults allows The Dark Lord to catch Survivors as they work on a generator or are healing together after unhooking.

Pillars of Flame works well inside each hospital room as a way to stop Survivors from looping around a pallet. The pillars don’t go through the regular solid walls, but they can shoot through the low walls, pallets, and window vaults. The only downside here is that the exit gates are far apart, making it hard to gain success at the end game. The only way to combat this is to try and teleport using bat form and quickly change to wolf or vampire form to attack. Most Dark Lord players find high success rates on this map if they master switching between forms quickly and effectively.