Dead by Daylight: Best General Survivor Perks

Key Takeaways

• Small Game perk aids in totem tracking with audio cues and reduced detection angle.
• Dark Sense reveals killer aura post-generator completion, aiding in evasion tactics.
• Use perks like This is Not Happening to increase great skill check success rates while injured.

Dead by Daylight has enjoyed many years of success, constantly updating and adding to the game. Thus far, there are over 40 survivors to choose from, each introducing their own set of perks into the game, resulting in almost too much choice, with even more to come in the future.

Most of the best Dead by Daylight perks require the relevant survivor to unlock them unless they happen to appear in the shrine of secrets. But there are free perks, known as general perks, that appear in the character’s blood web as part of the base game. They vary in usefulness, but there are sure to be several that grab the player’s attention.

8 Small Game

A Necessary Addition to Totem Builds

• Receive an auditory warning upon looking in the direction of Totems in a 45° cone within 8/10/12 meters.
• Small Game has a cool-down of 14/12/10 seconds each time it activates.
• For each Dull or Hex Totem cleansed by any Player, Small Game is automatically granted 1 Token
• Each Token reduces the Detection cone’s angle by 5°, down to a minimum of 20°.

Totem builds are ideal for those wanting to cleanse those a killer has hexed, or if they want to lay down some boons to aid their fellow players. Even experienced players may forget most of the potential totem spawns on the map and may need some help tracking them down.

Crossover character Jill Valentine does have one perk to aid with this, but for those not willing to shell out real money for DLC, they could always use the general perk Small Game. With this equipped, they can follow audio cues to track down the boons for blessing or cleansing.

7 Dark Sense

Track the Killer Even Through Obstacles

Whenever a Generator is completed, Dark Sense activates:

• The Aura of the Killer is revealed to you for 5/7/10 seconds once they come within 24 meters of your location.

Knowing the killer’s exact location can be vital in aiding survivors in evading them, or looping them effectively in chase. There are perks belonging to paid characters such as Ada Wong that can aid with this, but there is also a general perk players can equip to gain aura-reading abilities specifically for the killer.

After completing a generator, should the killer come within 24 meters of the location, the survivor will see their aura for up to a maximum of 10 seconds, which can allow them to run or hide depending on their play style.

6 This is Not Happening

Increase the Odds of Landing a Great Skill Check

• Increases the Success zone of Great Skill Checks while Repairing and Healing by 10/20/30 % when in the Injured State.

Great skill checks are essential for repairing a generator with greater efficiency, but less experienced players might have some trouble reliably hitting them, and even veteran players have their off days. For those not so confident in their skills with landing them, there is a perk to give them a boost.

This is Not Happening makes the zone for greater skill checks larger, making them much easier to hit. The only drawback is that players need to be injured to benefit from this, but it would make it perfect to pair with other perks such as Resilience.

5 Hope

Betters the Chances of Escape

Once the Exit Gates are powered, Hope activates:

• Grants a permanent 5/6/7% Haste Status Effect.

Once the exit gates are ready to be opened, the game really ratchets up. Survivors can almost taste their freedom, and killers can almost taste the blood of their last victim. Both sides will be pushing themselves further and harder for victory.

In an effort to better their chances of escape, survivors could equip one of the most underrated perks in the game, which is Hope. It is simple in what it does, but it makes good on its promise, granting haste to those who have it equipped once all generators are completed, or the survivor is the last man standing and the killer has closed the hatch. This greatly improves their chances of escaping the trail alive.

4 No One Left Behind

One Last Push to Get Everyone Out Alive

Once the Exit Gates are powered, No One Left Behind activates:

• Increases Healing and Unhooking speed by 30/40/50%.
• Increases the Haste Status Effect of unhooked Survivors by 7%.
• The Auras of the other Survivors are revealed.
• Grants 50/75/100% bonus Bloodpoints for actions in the Altruism Category.

Once the endgame collapse comes around, it is one last push for both survivors and killers. The survivors can make their bid to escape with their own lives and that of their teammates intact, and it’s time for the killers to secure whatever last-minute sacrifices they have.

For those feeling particularly brave and altruistic, they can double their efforts with perks such as No One Left Behind, which can help them in last-minute saves. Now they can unhook and heal faster to give them more time to outrun the killer, and they get more bloodpoints for their efforts.

3 Resilience

Now Being Injured Benefits the Survivor

• Increases Action speeds for Repairing, Healing, Sabotaging, Unhooking, Vaulting, Cleansing, Blessing, Opening, and Unlocking by 3/6/9% when in the Injured State.

Normally, being injured benefits the player in no way as it makes them louder, leaves blood pools the Killer can follow, and brings them one step closer to being hooked. Players should normally try to heal up as soon as possible to give them another health state to burn, but Resilience offers another way.

Players benefit from being injured, as now they gain a bonus to everything other than their movement speed, which in turn can up their chances of survival, and make them an all-around more useful teammate.

2 Kindred

An Aura-Reading Perk Perfect for Solo Play

Whenever any Survivor is hooked, Kindred activates and applies the following effects:

• The Aura of the Killer is revealed to all Survivors whenever the Killer comes within 8/12/16 meters of the Hook.
• If you are the Hooked Survivor, the Auras of all Survivors are revealed to each other.
• If you are not the Hooked Survivor, the Auras of all other Survivors are only revealed to you.

Solo play puts survivors at a massive disadvantage, as they can’t use voice chat to coordinate their efforts and share vital information such as the location of the killer. But there are perks that can help to mitigate this, such as kindred.

Kindred opens up aura-reading possibilities for survivors, specifically those who have been hooked. Now survivors can see if a killer is camping, proxy-camping, or has left the area, leaving it safe to go in for the unhook.

1 We’ll Make It

A Clutch Healing Bonus

After unhooking another Survivor, We’ll Make It activates:

• Increases Altruistic Healing speed by 100% for 30/60/90 seconds.

Healing is one of the more useful actions survivors can take in a game. They can heal themselves with certain perks or the use of a med kit or can heal others for free. Without any additions, healing others can be a slow and arduous process, leaving them vulnerable to being interrupted by a killer.

Thankfully, there are ways players can offset the slow healing, through the use of a med kit or perks such as We’ll Make It. The survivor only needs to unhook another to benefit from the increase to their healing speed, which is a significant one indeed, doubling it for up to 90 seconds, so they could potentially use this perk for multiple survivors at once.