The Best Killers For Beginners (& How To Play Them)

Summary

• Dead by Daylight boasts 26 killers and is consistently popular, with average monthly players in the thousands.
• The Demogorgon, The Clown, and Albert Wesker are key killers in the game, each with unique strategies and perks.
• Beginners should start with easier-to-learn killers like The Trapper, The Nightmare, and The Wraith before diving into more complex options.

When Dead by Daylight was released in 2016, the game had a humble three killers and four survivors. It was intended to be a hide-and-seek style game where the survivors outwitted the killer and escaped the map. Very few could have foreseen how the game would blow up. Dead by Daylight has transformed into what some call the “Super Smash Bros. of horror.”

Sporting 26 killers and an average of 62 thousand players as of July 2021, Dead by Daylight shows no signs of slowing down. The game sports a decent tutorial that explains the basics of gameplay but doesn’t go into the complexities of each killer. Without friends to play with, it’s nearly impossible to test out new killers, as there are no bot matches inside the game. It can be intimidating to choose from a list of 24 characters, but there are a few that are easier to start with.

Updated on January 15, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam: With March and April 2025 being the release months of Dead By Daylight’s new Licensed Killer and Original Survivor, respectively, fans of the acclaimed co-op horror title might be wondering just who would these new characters be. And while many speculations are surrounding the game’s next Killer, newcomers to the game do have more time to test out Killers they can main while hunting Survivors. Among must-tries include an iconic villain from D&D and Stranger Things, the game’s equivalent to a crazed clown, and Resident Evil’s sunglasses-toting mastermind himself.

15

The Beast – The Demogorgon

Cover Distance With Portals

An interdimensional being that entered Hawkins National Laboratory, the Demogorgon from the sci-fi horror series Stranger Things (and Dungeons & Dragons) made its way to Dead By Daylight in Chapter 13: Stranger Things. Alongside the Demogorgon’s blooming mouth full of teeth and its terrifying figure is a Killer capable of outsmarting Survivors who think they can get out of its reach simply by running to further distances. The Demogorgon can vanish in the blink of an eye, only to reappear where Survivors least expect.

How To Play The Demogorgon

The Demogorgon specializes in surprise attacks, courtesy of Portals it can open and use to cover large distances. Thanks to its Of the Abyss Power, the Demogorgon can sense whenever Survivors are close to its Portals, allowing it to jump the gun on them and lash at them with a powerful leaping attack. The Demogorgon can set up six Portals across the map in order to chase Survivors much easier, although Survivors can Seal the Portals they can see.

Not only that, its unique Perks can affect the Demogorgon’s interactions with Portals in different ways such as blocking all Vault locations upon a Generator repair (Cruel Limits), inflicting Blindness and Exhausted on Survivors repairing Generators (Mindbreaker), and auto-regressing all Generators within 32 meters when a Basic Attack sends a Survivor into Dying State (Surge). Demogorgon players are advised to put their Portals in locations close to the vicinity of Generators but not directly close to them so Survivors can’t immediately spot them. They’re also advised to constantly fake Portal-hopping and Lunges, so Survivors drop their guard by leaving too early or slowing down.

14

The Clown – Kenneth Chase, Jeffrey Hawk

A Killer Clown With An Infectious Laugh

Before the Clown found himself in the Fog, he was known as Kenneth Chase – a child whose life of solitude led to fascination with the living. While at first, he had begun collecting “keepsakes” from small animals through anesthetics, the athletic Kenneth – now “Jeffrey” – had spent his adulthood using his ties to a traveling circus as a front to start collecting even more “keepsakes” – this time from humans, through their fingers. After being found out, Kenneth found himself traveling the United States until the Fog found its way to him. Specializing in pursuits, the Clown’s signature anesthetic comes in the form of noxious gas he can throw to Survivors to hinder their progress – making them ripe for the kill.

How To Play The Clown

The Clown specializes in chases, courtesy of the Afterpiece Tonic which can release clouds of noxious gas across large areas that debuffs the Survivors’ vision and movement. The Clown’s Perks also incentivize his chasing capabilities, such as blocking a Window after vaulting over it (Bamboozle), reduce Healing speed and increase Rotations of Healing Skill Checks of Survivors in his Terror Radius (Coulrophobia), and instantly regress a damaged Generator after hooking a Survivor (Pop Goes The Weasel).

It’s precisely because of the Clown’s nature as a chase specialist that Survivors often pre-drop or pre-run to get ahead, which will force players to develop better game sense and map knowledge. Clown mains should identify when chases are worthwhile, and they should instead rely on Generator regression to keep Survivors out. Players are advised to juggle their Tonics properly, with the Purple Gas Cloud better suited for zoning chokepoints, while Yellow Antidote Bottles are better for prepping the Clown pre-chases.

13

The Mastermind – Albert Wesker

Never Get Caught In His Attacks

Introduced in Chapter 25: Resident Evil: PROJECT W, the infamous villain Albert Wesker is designated the Mastermind in Dead By Daylight. The game’s lore skips Wesker’s eventual confrontation with Chris Redfield and instead sends him straight to the Fog – a realm where can use the Uroboros Virus to find weaklings to eliminate. Wesker’s superior genetics and mutated biology will be a nightmare for Survivor, as the Mastermind will find ways to get them in his grasp and eliminate them for good.

How To Play

Albert Wesker possesses the Virulent Bond, allowing him to charge a Bound Attack to perform a lunge that either auto-Vaults on dropped Pallets and Windows or interacts with a Survivor by either lashing out at them or executing a grab-throw. All interactions with Survivors infect them with the Uroboros Virus that over time will culminate into a Hindered Status Effect. Wesker’s Perks also reflect his advanced genetic makeup, allowing him to detect Auras of other nearby Survivors while carrying one (Awakened Awareness), boost his Vaulting speed whenever a nearby Survivor finishes a Rushed Vault (Superior Anatomy), and inflict Broken on all injured, dying, or hooked Survivors until an Exit Gate is opened (Terminus).

Due to the distance covered by his Power and the punishment it inflicts when it connects, Wesker mains are encouraged to finish chases whenever it’s convenient. Alternating to knife plays are best reserved against Survivors who players notice have a knack for getting out of their more vicious attacks. Outplays with Wesker’s control over distance demands map knowledge and control – something that can make him extremely deadly when used properly.

12

The Trapper — Evan MacMillan

The Trapper is one of the original killers introduced into Dead By Daylight since its inception back in 2016 and players have been feeling his presence ever since. Even through all of the patches and new killer releases, The Trapper has remained a solid choice for beginners thanks to his impressive skillset, pursuit, and ability to rely on his traps to lock his victims in place. Those who are just starting their journey through Dead by Daylight can “feel their way around the game” by using the Trapper’s easy-to-understand kit.

How To Play The Trapper

Although the name “The Trapper” can make it sound like this killer has a complicated kit, they’re actually incredibly straightforward. Evan makes use of bear traps as his main skill, setting them around the area in the hopes that a player will accidentally step into one. Once a player is trapped, Evan can easily pick them up and move to a nearby hook. He even gets a movement speed bonus via Agitation when carrying a Survivor.

The Trapper works best as an Area Denial Killer, setting up bear traps all over the arena and pursuing Survivors to lead them away from objectives and into expertly placed traps. Although trap placement is something that players will have to learn, their straightforward and easy-to-set nature makes them great for beginners. The Trapper also has the ability to break through pallets and walls more easily and can do increased damage to generators. His imposing presence is even enough to make it harder on Survivors who need to pass occasional skill checks.

11

The Nightmare — Freddy Krueger

Dead by Daylight has been doing a great job introducing killers to the game that either take influence from some of Hollywood’s most beloved monsters or are actually some of the biggest bads themselves. Freddy Krueger is a fantastic example, introduced in 2017 as a DLC character thanks to his notorious big-screen history and iconic dream-stalking persona. He’s a pretty easy Killer to pick up for beginners thanks to his auto-stealthing ability.

How To Play The Nightmare

The best thing about Freddy is access to Dream Demon, a passive power that allows him to remain invisible visually to Survivors as long as he is a certain distance from them. As he closes the gap he becomes intermittently visible and fully visible when he’s around 16 meters from a Survivor. This makes it easier for beginners to get the jump on their enemies, especially new Survivors who may not be used to keeping their heads on a swivel around Freddy.

Freddy also grows stronger as each generator is fixed thanks to his Fire Up perk and can also become obsessed with one particular Survivor (and only one at a time) which allows him to increase the amount of time it takes to open the Exit Gates each time he strikes them with a basic attack. He’s even capable of shutting the exits entirely for a time should he hook a Survivor (a skill that can only be used once per Trial). His auto-stealth, increased action speed as generators are fixed, and ability to block exits make him a great choice for those just learning the Killer side of the game.

10

The Cannibal — Leatherface

Players who have purchased the “Leatherface” DLC will have access to The Cannibal. One of the easier killers to learn, he also has one of the best perks in the entire game with Barbeque & Chili, which is useful on almost every killer in the entire roster. Against new survivors, Leatherface can feel borderline unfair with his ability but be warned, he doesn’t scale well with more experienced players.

How To Play Leatherface

Leatherface has the ability to use his chainsaw in a sweeping dash attack. He begins with three charges at the start of each match. Spending a charge sends him into a 2-second chainsaw sprint, during which he waves his chainsaw back and forth and gains a significant boost in movement speed. Any survivors hit by the attack are instantly downed.

It should be noted that Leatherface builds up another meter while using his ability, the “tantrum” meter. Once full, Leatherface stops moving and swings his chainsaw wildly, downing any survivors hit in the tantrum but also halting his movement. Balancing Leatherface’s power with his tantrums can be tricky, especially against survivors who know how to properly loop killers.

9

The Deathslinger

Released as part of 2020’s Chains of Hate DLC, The Deathslinger is a distinct killer. Many killers have ranged abilities, but only The Deathslinger can aim down the sights of his weapon in classic FPS style. New players of Dead by Daylight should definitely give Deathslinger a try if they enjoy FPS games. Though he won’t be slide-canceling across the map or shooting from cover, his entire ability is dependent on good aim.

How To Play Deathslinger

Deathslinger’s perks aren’t exactly meta, but they will certainly suffice for new player lobbies. His ability is easy to learn and understand but can be hard to actually use. His weapon has a single shot before needing to be reloaded, so misses can cost the player a lot of time.

Successful hits with his harpoon gun allow the Deathslinger to reel survivors in. They can then be hit, leaving them injured and suffering from Deep Wounds. Unless mended in time, Deep Wounds will down an injured player.

It should be noted that the Deathslinger’s ability may be difficult to use for controller users. Most FPS games on consoles offer in-depth sensitivity and dead zone options for controller users, but Dead By Daylight does not. Dead By Daylight is a third-person horror game first, not an FPS, so controller-users may be frustrated with his controls when playing him.

8

The Trickster

For a long time after the Trickster’s initial release, he was widely considered one of the worst killers in the game. July 27, 2021, brought a big buff to Trickster, making him a much more viable pick. In addition to his bumping menu theme and zany visual design, the Trickster is host to a powerful ranged ability called the Showstopper.

How To Play The Trickster

When activating Showstopper, The Trickster can throw many small blades into survivors, building up their laceration meter. Once full (six successful blade hits), they take damage, which can either injure or down them depending on their initial health state. Trickster can throw one blade at a time or hold down the power button and continuously throw blades, slowing himself down in the process.

Using his ability builds the Trickster’s Main Event special. Activating Main Event allows Trickster to throw an unlimited number of blades quickly, downing survivors within a small space nearby. Keep in mind that his blades aren’t infinite though — he will need to open lockers around the map to restock.

Like the Deathslinger and Huntress, Trickster is reliant on good aim. The basic sensitivity options may make learning him with a controller a little harder. It certainly isn’t impossible, but his entire power is reliant on aim, and aim without strong auto-aim or sensitivity options can be tough to get down on a controller.

7

The Huntress

The Huntress is available to all players who purchase Dead by Daylight. She can be instantly identified by the haunting tune she hums while hunting down the survivors. She’s one of the harder killers to master but is fairly easy to learn as her power is simple and easy to understand.

How To Play The Huntress

Holding down the power button allows the Huntress to prime a throwing hatchet. Releasing the button launches the hatchet forward. Because Dead by Daylight doesn’t have a crosshair and the Huntress can’t exactly aim down any sights, hitting survivors might be a challenge at first, especially for players playing on controllers. There are also many maps that make it challenging for survivors with a hatchet, thanks to all the clutter.

Though the Huntress is difficult to truly master, her intuitive power and decent lunging attack make her a great choice for new players. Her hatchets can catch unsuspecting survivors off-guard, guaranteeing that she is a threat from nearly anywhere. Keep in mind that hatchets must be restocked at lockers.

6

Legion

Legion stands as one of the most mobile killers in the game. Though they can’t teleport like The Hag or blink like The Nurse, their speed on foot is nearly unmatched. Legion’s power is easy to learn but can become frustrating at higher levels.

How To Play Legion

Legion can enter the Feral Frenzy, gaining the ability to sprint and chain attacks together. They lose sight of scratch marks and blood pools left by survivors, but gain the power to slide across pallets and vault windows just like survivors.

To add to the power, survivors hit during Feral Frenzy will get injured and become afflicted by Deep Wounds. Any other survivors in the terror radius of Legion will be temporarily marked, allowing Legion to sprint over to them next. This may sound overpowered at first, but it is balanced by the fact that Legion cannot down survivors while in the Feral Frenzy. Legion players will have to finish survivors off while not using the power. This makes Legion one of the easiest to learn, but also one of the weaker killers in the game.

5

The Doctor

The Doctor is universally considered one of the harder killers for most survivors to face. He can easily wipe new lobbies and his ability is extremely powerful if used correctly. The in-game description classifies the Doctor as “Hard,” but this is mostly because there is a lot to understand about his power’s effects.

How To Play The Doctor

The Doctor can use two powers to induce the Madness effect on survivors. The first is Static Blast, which hits inside The Doctor’s terror radius. Survivors hit will scream, revealing their positions, and take Madness damage. Put simply, Madness has three tiers, and survivors will suffer worse and worse effects based on their level of Madness.

The Doctor can also use Shock Therapy while Static Blast is on cooldown. Shock Therapy also induces Madness, but only does so in a hard-to-see area in front of the Doctor. As Madness builds, survivors will be plagued with negative effects. A few include backward skill checks, hallucinated pallets, and fake terror radius notifications. Madness essentially is a constant passive debuff that the Doctor just has to induce a few times to be effective.

4

The Pig — Amanda Young

Fans of the SAW franchise will recognize Amanda Young as The Pig. This stealthy killer is a bit tricky to play, but rewarding The Pig is one of two killers that can crouch, giving her the Undetectable effect. This removes her terror radius and red killer light and masks her aura to survivors. Though she moves slower while crouched, she can spring surprise attacks on unknowing survivors who walk past.

How To Play The Pig

From the crouched state, The Pig can activate the Ambush Dash, which allows her to sprint forward at a heightened speed and attack a survivor. This either injures or downs them depending on starting health.

Once she has downed a survivor, The Pig can place the iconic reverse bear trap from the movies onto their head. These traps start inactive but go live once survivors complete a generator. Active reverse bear traps will instantly kill the survivor wearing it after 150 seconds unless they find the right key in one of many Jigsaw boxes around the map. There’s more to learn with The Pig than some of the other killers, but her ability is easy to understand and the bear traps do their own job once placed.

3

The Hillbilly

Before the developers of Dead by Daylight gained the licenses to many iconic horror franchises, they worked on killers that mimicked these brutal icons. The Hillbilly was clearly inspired by Leatherface, but his power works a little differently than Leatherface’s within the game.

How To Play The Hillbilly

Hillbilly has a chainsaw rush just like Leatherface, but it works much differently. Instead of dashing forward while waving the chainsaw, Hillbilly zooms forward at twice his regular movement speed in a hard-to-control line.

Running into survivors while in the chainsaw sprint will instantly down them. It will also destroy pallets and breakable doors, and if used correctly, can do so faster than simply kicking them. The Hillbilly’s power is about as easy as it gets: players simply hold the power button and launch forward. That said, it should be noted that he can be easily dodged or baited into running into walls. While the Hillbilly is user-friendly, it can be hard to beat good groups of survivors with him.

The Hillbilly’s power is easy to learn, but hard to control, even for players with a mouse and keyboard. To play the Hillbilly at his best, turning and maneuvering are must-know skills. Controlling the Chainsaw Rush is very hard, especially for controller players. This makes him a little more unapproachable as a beginner killer, but there are plenty of other options for controller-players that aren’t as punishing for the limited sensitivity options!

2

The Shape — Michael Myers

There is perhaps no slasher icon more recognizable than Micheal Myers. As such, it makes sense that he was the first licensed killer in Dead by Daylight. His power is simple to learn, making him a good choice for a new player. He plays differently than many other killers and is commonly considered a late-game killer. Survivors will finish generators against Myers because his power takes time to charge. Once charged, though, Myers is a frightening foe.

How To Play The Shape

Myers is a meter character, meaning that over the course of the game, players build their meter by stalking survivors. Stalking can be activated with the active power button. While stalking, Myers moves slower and survivors are highlighted. White-highlighted survivors build meter faster, while red-highlighted survivors build it slower (usually from already being stalked). Players simply must stalk the survivors to build Myers’ power meter.

At tier three, Myers raises his weapon up and his iconic piano tune plays across the map. All survivors will now be downed in one hit until his meter burns back to tier two. Tier three can be reached multiple times in a match, but it becomes harder to get there as the game goes on. There is very little high-level skill involved in using Myers’s power, as it is simply stalking survivors. The true skill comes with knowing when to activate tier three and how to move as Myers.

1

The Wraith

The Wraith was one of the three original killers in Dead By Daylight. His power is very forgiving, especially against new survivors. He is by far the best option for a new player looking to learn the ins and outs of playing a killer.

How To Play The Wraith

The Wraith can cloak himself after ringing his Wailing Bell. While cloaked, the Wraith is granted the Undetectable status and becomes nearly invisible. Survivors will really need to keep their eyes open when playing against him.

The Wraith cannot attack from the cloaked state and must uncloak to deal damage. Uncloaking gives the Wraith a short-lived but huge speed boost, allowing him to injure or down survivors even if they’ve spotted him uncloaking. The Wraith is a great all-around option for new players learning the game and is available to everyone. His power is easy to learn, and he’s generally a fun killer to play with.