All Of The Dead By Daylight Killers, Ranked

Dead By Daylight is an asymmetrical horror game that pits four nimble Survivors against a bloodthirsty Killer who stalks them from the shadows, waiting to sacrifice them to the all-seeing Entity that guards each Trial.

The Killers are often the stars of the show. Some are Behaviour Interactive’s original creations, complete with their own complex backstories, while the rest of the cast features some famous faces from slasher cinema royalty. Keen to pick up a machete and get hacking? Here’s a breakdown of each Killer in order of strength, playability, and aesthetic.

Updated February 21, 2025 By Matthew Mckeown: It might be quiet in the background for now, but Dead By Daylight is still merrily ticking away with updates that bring new things to the game. Whilst there have been a few new maps and the occasional Survivor, it’s the roster of Killers that gets the most attention.

There’s still been the occasional crossover, most recently with Castlevania, but we’ve also seen a new pirate themed psychopath with a pooch prowling around. For first-timers it’s not a little daunting as there’s a lot of Killers to choose and a whole new meta for each one. To help you out, here’s an updated look at all the Dead By Daylight Killers, ranked.

38

The Twins

The Twins are an original Killer created by developers Behaviour Interactive. You play as Charlotte, a young woman who lost her twin brother in the womb. Instead of dying, however, Charlotte’s brother Victor was attached to her physically. As the Killer, you can control both Charlotte and Victor.

Controlling Victor won’t allow you to hook and kill Survivors, but it allows you to locate Survivors and damage them where they stand. While controlling Victor, Charlotte can do nothing but stand paralyzed. While this sounds like an OP mechanic, being able to stop and create pressure elsewhere on the map, it’s actually quite weak. Survivors can just stomp and debilitate Victor – and because Victor is so tiny, he’s no threat to Survivors. Although there is a lot of potential with a Killer that is actually two in one, players will find that whilst you’re trying to use him, the Survivor team will have completed their last generator when you finally get a hang of it.

Think of Victor as a hyper-aggressive sheepdog and corral Survivors closer to Charlotte.

37

The Wraith

The Wraith was one of the earliest Killers in Dead By Daylight. Wraith doesn’t have any traps or special items to place down. Instead, his central mechanic is that he can turn invisible.

However, this is balanced by Wraith not being able to attack survivors while cloaked. He must take time to become visible before he can start chasing survivors. Without the right add-ons, it can be extremely difficult to secure kills with the Wraith. The stealth mode can be useful, but the shimmering effects of his cloak can be a dead giveaway.

Tweak your brightness settings if you’re having a hard time spotting this spooky psychopath.

36

The Nightmare

Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger was added to Dead By Daylight, providing a unique play style that sets him apart from the other murderous monsters on the roster. Dubbed “The Nightmare”, Freddy can’t interact with Survivors like regular killers.

After hitting a Survivor with a basic attack, Freddy lulls Survivors into a dream state. Here, they become affected with the Oblivious status effect and can trigger Dream Snares or Dream Pallets, which slow their movements down and alert The Nightmare of their locations. He can even teleport between generators, allowing him to put hefty amounts of pressure on Survivors from across the map.

35

The Trickster

The Trickster is arguably one of the most eye-catching and unique Killers in terms of character design. K-Pop fans everywhere reached for a copy of Dead By Daylight. While his design is very cool and his voice lines are detail-oriented, he isn’t one of the strongest killers out there.

Trickster isn’t a horrible Killer. He can get the job done. He just isn’t super strong, either. Trickster is equipped with many, many throwing knives as well as a baseball bat. Instead of throwing knives being an OP mechanic that allows you to use ranged attacks to the best of your ability, it’s just obnoxious and annoying for both parties and can cut a game down to mere minutes. His throwing knives only do serious damage once you hit a certain amount of blade throws, so you’ll need to have an eye as sharp as your blades to play him effectively.

34

The Knight

A medieval knight who is back with a bloody vengeance to serve up some brutal justice, The Knight is a great addition to the Killer roster. He also has the most twisted mori kill ever.

Although his power permits him some impressive cross-map pressure, sending two others out to do your dirty work feels a bit like cheating. The Knight can summon guards to help patrol generators and hunt down the Survivors, but it’s a tricky mechanism to work — especially when it just feels like Charlotte’s brother Victor with extra, unnecessary steps. Luckily, his personal perks are extremely useful for other Killers, which is reason enough to use The Knight. Try using Nowhere To Hide with The Executioner’s Trail of Torment for plenty of map info.

33

The Trapper

The Trapper is the staple Killer of Dead By Daylight, appearing on the box art and a lot of promotional materials as the original poster boy of the game. As his name suggests, the Trapper takes on Survivors by placing bear traps around the map.

If a Survivor gets caught in one, they are either stuck there or placed in a downed state, leaving them sitting ducks until they get rescued or the Trapper arrives. Trapper can be difficult to avoid if a player doesn’t know where the common trap spots are. More skilled players are usually prepared for dealing with the bear traps, though.

32

The Cenobite

The Cenobite became a meme around the internet for his unique phrase when using his teleporting ability. Cenobite’s abilities allow you to teleport to another part of the map, attach chains to Survivors to slow them down or bring them to you, and more. His powers themselves are strong and formidable.

This Killer is ranked as a Hard Killer. This means that he does no damage unless you know what you’re doing. It’s all about knowing how to control and use his abilities as they were meant to be used. The Cenobite is not a Killer you can just jump into, start swinging, expect a 4k streak – but he is well worth the benefits at the end of the learning curve.

The Cenobites Chains can have some collision issues on doorways and certain walls, so try to give them a wide berth.

31

The Pig

The Pig is the Killer who represents the Saw franchise. In typical Saw fashion, the Pig has Jigsaw-esque traps placed around every map that she appears in. Whenever she downs a Survivor, she can place a reverse bear trap on their heads, which they have a limited time to remove off, lest they die a horrible death.

The Pig also has a crouching mechanic, which eliminates her terror radius. However, her dash out of this crouching stance is rather noisy and not that fast, often giving Survivors just enough time to get out of the way.

30

The Ghost Face

Let’s be honest: Dead By Daylight stops being scary about 50 hours into playing it. Once you understand the gameplay and what needs to be done to get better, it’s no longer about the scares and more about the wins. The introduction of The Ghost Face, the Scream franchise’s beloved uber-villain, brought the scares back in droves.

Not only is The Ghost Face amusing to be running away from, or to be seen peeking around the corner, but he has no terror radius until he’s actually chasing you. Ghostface provides a challenge and a scare to Survivors and is one of the more fun-loving Killers to play.

Use Ghost Face’s lean mechanic as often as you can, it’s more beneficial than you think.

29

Demogorgon

As of 2021, Stranger Things has had to say goodbye to Dead By Daylight. With a final sale, anyone who wanted Demogorgon, Nancy, and Steve, could get them at a discounted price. You can no longer purchase and use these characters, but you may still see them from time to time from users who’ve already paid for them.

The Demogorgon is able to place down one portal that he can go to and enter at will. Teleporting around the map is always a good way to keep pressure on survivors. He’s also able to lunge forward, breaking pallets and anything in his way. While intimidating enough, lunging and teleporting are all he has. Also, Survivors can close their portals.

Though the Demogorgon was taken out because of licensing issues, it’s back again for the foreseeable future.

28

The Deathslinger

Though The Deathslinger is rated an Intermediate Killer, he can be one of the easier Killers to play for beginners. The reason for this is that his main and only weapon is a gun. Most gamers are used to FPS games, where you shoot things and ask questions later. Being able to control a rifle may feel more comfortable to these Dead By Daylight players, though the lack of a crosshair might make it more complicated!

Not only will shooting be easier, being used to aiming down sights, but one shot attaches a chain to the Survivor. Once you drag them to you, one hit downs them, meaning that one shot is all you need. The issue with this is that it’s easy to dodge these shots or to break off the chain with walls and objects. If you can’t use your gun you’ve got nothing else going for you as Deathslinger.

Long sightlines and short distances are your best friend as the Deathslinger, so try to set up those shots ahead of time if you can.

27

The Hag

The Hag has a similar function to the Trapper. She can place traps all over the map for unsuspecting Survivors to trip – however, the function of her traps is a bit different to Evan MacMillan’s.

On top of giving survivors a major jump scare, the Hag can teleport to the traps that are triggered and start a chase at any time. Focused players are the ones who should play Hag, though, as survivors constantly triggering traps can cause the killer to lose focus.

26

The Clown

One of most innovative, creepy, and powerful additions to the game is the Clown. Having a murderous clown in a game like Dead By Daylight makes perfect sense, but he does a bit more than just trigger players’ greatest fears.

He has a vial of toxin that he can throw to impair Survivors’ vision and movement, making them cough and move slower. Because of this, Clown is best when the person playing him knows how to secure chases well. Some Survivors are skilled enough to ignore the effects of the toxin by simply breaking the loop, so this must always be considered when playing him.

25

Nemesis

Nemesis is by far one of the most intimidating and scary killers in the game. So far, no killer has been able to feel as menacing as Nemesis stomping behind you at great speed. Playing as Nemesis, you have a ranged tentacle attack that allows you to infect Survivors, much like the Plague. Doing so will start to degrade Survivors’ health and abilities, and if they cure themselves, they power you up.

Aside from that ability, you also have up to two zombies on the map doing your bidding. Though they move slowly, Survivors may bump into them or have trouble getting a zombie away from the last generator. Nemesis is definitely a strong disrupter – just not the strongest.

Nemesis is best played like The Oni, just a constantly stomping ball of anger and aggression.

24

The Huntress

There are a few Killers who can throw projectiles at Survivors, and the most notable of them all is the Huntress. Huntress is known for having hatchet projectiles that can be thrown across the map as she hums an unnerving Russian lullaby.

Huntress can also search lockers for hatchets, making hiding in lockers a much less effective strategy for Survivors. Her only downside is that she has low movement speed, making her easier to avoid if she doesn’t have hatchets equipped. Although the timing of hatchet-throwing can be tricky to master, she is a formidable Killer for fans of ranged attacks who don’t mind a challenge.

23

The Plague

The Plague, or Adiris, The High Priestess of Babylon, is a formidable Killer. Her power is a stream of infectious vomit that she spews on Survivors and objects. If Survivors are hit, then they become sick – and if they cleanse their sickness in a Pool of Devotion, Adiris can absorb their sickness and transform her vomit into Corrupt Purge. This red vomit damages Survivors upon impact.

Not only does this make them easier to spot, but it can cause them to be injured or downed. By vomiting on pallets, lockers, and generators, Survivors can become infected by proxy if they want to complete objectives. She truly is a top-tier killer for newbies and veterans alike.

The range of The Plague’s vomit is a lot shorter than you think, you’re going to need to be pretty close for it to be effective.

22

The Shape

Halloween’s Michael Myers made the jump to Dead By Daylight as well, in the form of the Shape. The Shape has a tiny terror radius, making it difficult for survivors to know when he’s near.

His gimmick is that he has to stalk survivors to increase his Evil Within meter. As the meter increases, so does the Shape’s movement speed. One of his Add-Ons, the Tombstone, means that he can even kill Survivors with his bare hands at tier three of his power! Since the Shape can down survivors in a single hit and move very quickly when in this final stage of his power, Myers is a Killer you don’t want to mess with.

21

The Spirit

The Spirit is a vengeful ghost who wields a katana: what more do you need to know?

Her special abilities allow her to mess with Survivors’ heads, meaning she can disappear during chases and leave survivors guessing as to where she is and where she’s going to appear.

With only a small noise as an indication of her presence, she can get the drop on many unsuspecting players. Her katana also has a good reach, allowing her to secure hits easier than most Killers.

20

The Doctor

The Doctor can be a tricky Killer for players who aren’t aware of his unique mechanics. The Doctor tackles Survivors by electrocuting them to increase their levels of insanity. If their insanity level is high enough, they can’t interact with anything until they snap out of it.

The Doctor’s electricity makes it easy for him to find survivors trying to hide. He can also increase insanity just by being close enough. The only way to effectively hide from him is by staying safe in a locker.

The Doctor is a Killer that requires keeping a lot of proverbial plates spinning. But if you maintain those insanity levels you won’t have any problems.

19

The Cannibal

Texas Chainsaw Massacre gets representation in Dead By Daylight as well by throwing in Leatherface – also known as the Cannibal. The Cannibal gets his famous chainsaw, which he can wave in front of him to down Survivors in one hit. Just watch out for the walls, as hitting those can make poor Bubba throw a Tantrum.

With no movement speed penalty for using the chainsaw, he’s the best killer to guard the basement as well as secure kills. One of his perks can even force Survivors to drop the items they bring if they get hit.

Like the Hillbilly, Bubbas Chainsaw can be menacingly revved whenever you like for added Survivor spook factor.