August 25, 2020 Behaviour Interactive just released a brand new killer, The Oni, and survivor, Yui Kimura, and we’ve added them to our Dead by Daylight characters tier list.
What are the best Dead by Daylight Mobile characters? That’s the eternal question. You’ll likely ask yourself this question twice, too, because there are both survivors and killers to consider. You’re probably going to want to play as both, rather than just stick to one, as it’ll both keep the game feeling fresh and provide you with more rewards.
But who are we to tell you what to do? We’re just here to try and help you decide which character is the best no matter how you like to play. We’ve put the two different types of characters into separate lists, ranking them in order of best to worst. That’s right, this list will also help you figure out which characters you should avoid.
We will go into how we came to our decisions too, so you can understand the metrics we take into account when choosing which character is better than another. We’ll also explain how this doesn’t really matter in the long run, and how you can take advantage of that fact.
Here are the best Dead by Daylight characters:
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT SURVIVORS TIER LIST – s
Bill Overbeck
You may recognise Bill Overbeck from Left 4 Dead, Valve’s classic co-op shooter series. Bill is a true survivor, with exclusive perks that help him survive the worst moments.
Exclusive perks:
- Left behind: the hatch’s aura is revealed to you within a range of 24-32 metres when you’re the last survivor remaining
- Borrowed time: For 15 seconds after unhooking a survivor within the killer’s terror radius, any damage taken will apply the deep wound status effect, and will have 10-20 seconds to heal themselves or enter the dying state.
- Unbreakable: You can fully recover from the dying state once per trial.
Pick Bill if: you like living life on the edge.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT SURVIVORS TIER LIST – A
Jake Park
Jake Park’s unique abilities allow him to better survive when injured and to move around the environment with greater ease.
Exclusive perks:
- Iron will: grunts of pain are reduced by 50-100%
- Calm spirit: reduces the chance of alerting a crow by 80-100%
- Saboteur: see hook auras in a radius of 56 metres from the pick-up spot when a survivor is being carried
Pick Jake if: life never gets you down.
Meg Thomas
Meg Thomas is one of the default characters, and is great at evading capture due to her athleticism.
Exclusive perks:
- Quick & quiet: audio range and noise detection when hiding or vaulting is reduced by 100%
- Sprint burst: Sprint 150% faster for up to three seconds
- Adrenaline: When the exit gates are powered, run 150% faster for five seconds and heal one health state
Pick Meg if: you like to run really fast.
Dwight Fairfield
Dwight is one of the default characters, and is a natural leader. His perks allow him to locate fellow survivors with ease and improve their abilities.
Exclusive perks:
- Bond: you can see allies’ auras within a range of 20-36 metres
- Prove thyself: you and all nearby survivors receive a repair speed buff of 15% per survivor that doesn’t include you
- Leader: healing, sabotaging, unhooking, cleansing, exit gate opening, and chest searching is 15-25% faster for survivors within eight metres of you
Pick Dwight if: you’re a natural born leader.
Nancy Wheeler
Nancy Wheeler, of Stranger Things fame, is incredibly observant and able to motivate herself in times of need.
Exclusive perks:
- Better together: while repairing a generator, the aura is revealed to all other survivors for 8-10 seconds
- Fixated: you can permanently see your own scratch marks and move 10-20% faster while uninjured
- Inner strength: while suffering from the injured or deep wound state, hide inside a locker for 8-10 seconds to heal one health state
Pick Nancy if: you never miss a trick.
Adam Francis
Adam is a teacher who can distract the killer and adapt on the fly, making him invaluable at the end of trials.
Exclusive perks:
- Diversion: stand within the killer’s terror radius for 45 seconds without being chased to distract the killer within 10-20 metres
- Deliverance: after rescuing a survivor from the hook, your next attempt to escape it will be 100% successful
- Autodidact: you start the trial with a -25% progression penalty for skill checks while healing survivors. You’ll receive 3-5 tokens and a 15% bonus progression for performing successful skill checks skill checks while healing, and cannot perform great skill checks
Pick Adam if: you work best under pressure.
Nea Karlsson
Nea is a tricksy survivor, who’s capable of escaping the killer using her wits alone.
Exclusive perks:
- Balanced landing: you stagger 75% less and make 100% less noise when falling, and run 150% faster for up to three seconds after landing
- Urban evasion: you move 90-100% faster while crouching
- Streetwise: you and your allies have 15-25% reduced item consumption within eight metres
Pick Nea if: you value street smarts over other types of smarts.
Claudette Morel
Claudette is at her best when healing, whether it’s herself or other survivors. She loves it.
Exclusive perks:
- Empathy: you can see dying or injured allies’ auras within 64-128 metres
- Botany knowledge: healing speed and item efficiency is increased by 11-33%
- Self-care: you can heal yourself without a med-kit at 50% the normal speed, and can self-heal 20% faster with med-kits
Pick Claudette if: you pick the healer class in MMOs.
Detective Tapp
Detective Tapp, originally from the movie Saw, is a focused survivor. If you like just getting on with the task at hand, fixing those generators and getting the heck out of there, you’ll find a kindred spirit in Tapp.
Exclusive perks:
- Tenacity: you crawl 30-50% faster and recover while doing so.
- Detective’s hunch: after repairing a generator, you’ll see the auras of all generators, chests, and totems within 32-64 metres for ten seconds
- Stake out: you’ll receive a token every 15 seconds you spend within the killer’s terror radius
Pick Detective Tapp if: you like to focus on the task at hand.
Jeff Johansen
As an artist, Jeff is pretty observant. He can better avoid the killer as a result.
Exclusive perks:
- Breakdown: when unhooked, whether by a survivor or by yourself, the hook breaks and you’ll see the killer’s aura for 4-6 seconds
- Aftercare: you and fellow survivors can see each other’s auras provided either of you has rescued the other from a hook or healed each other
- Distortion: when a killer sees your aura, for 6-10 seconds it will vanish, along with all scratch marks
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT SURVIVORS TIER LIST – B
David King
David King likes getting stuck in, distracting the killer so that his teammates can escape. He doesn’t really care much for an injury.
Exclusive perks:
- We’re gonna live forever: you receive a 25% boost in bloodpoints earned each time you rescue a survivor from a hook or take a protection hit, up to a 50-100% maximum boost
- Dead hard: while injured, you can tap the ability button to dash forward, avoiding damage temporarily
- No mither: you don’t leave blood, grunts are reduced by 0-50%, and you can fully recover from the dying state
Pick David if: you’re a knucklehead.
Feng Min
Feng Min is a master of stealth, capable of performing tasks as quiet as a church mouse. She’s also pretty fast at getting away and can locate the killer with ease.
Exclusive perks:
- Technician: hearing distance for noises caused by repairs are reduced by eight metres, and you have a 30-50% chance that generator explosions will be prevented when failing a skill check
- Lithe: perform a vault while rushing and you’ll run at 150% your normal speed for up to three seconds
- Alert: you’ll see the killer’s aura whenever they break a pallet or damage a generator for 3-5 seconds
Pick Feng if: you love Assassin’s Creed.
Jane Romero
Jane is quite a unique character with a varied skill set. She’s both adapt at supporting others and taking on the killer directly.
Exclusive perks:
- Solidarity: heal a survivor while injured and you’ll heal yourself at 40-50% of the rate
- Poised: repair a generator and you’ll leave no scratch marks for 6-10 seconds
- Head on: stand in a locker for three seconds and you can stun the killer for three seconds when leaving it, provided the killer is within range
Pick Jane if: you’re a jack-of-all-trades.
Yui Kimura
This survivor is an escape artist, capable of quickly evading the killer and helping her teammates do the same.
Exclusive perks:
- Lucky Break: whenever you’re injured, you won’t leave trails of blood for up to 180 seconds
- Any Means Necessary: you can reset dropped pallets back to their upright positions
- Breakout: while within six metres of a carried survivor, you gain Haste, moving up to 7% faster and the survivor can wiggle 20% faster
Pick Yui if: you like a quick getaway.
Kate Denson
Kate is an expert at escaping the killer when in trouble.
Exclusive perks:
- Dance with me: fast vault or leave a locker while sprinting, and you’ll leave no scratch marks for three seconds
- Windows of opportunity: you can see the auras of all pallets and vaults within a range of 20 metres
- Boil over: your struggle effects are increased by 25-75% and you obscure the killer’s ability to see the aura of hooks within a range of 10-14 metres
Ashley J. Williams
Ashley J. Williams, who you’ll recognise from the TV show Ash vs Evil Dead, loves getting stuck in and helping his teammates escape the killer. He’s a bit of a nuisance really.
Exclusive perks:
- Flip-flop: while in the dying state, 50% of your recovery progression is converted into wiggle progression when picked up. The maximum is 40-50% wiggle progression.
- Buckle up: you can see the recovery progress of survivors by the intensity of their auras up to a distance of 48 metres.
- Mettle of man: After scoring three protection hit events, the next time you would have been put into the dying state from the injured, you’ll ignore it. Once healed, your aura is revealed to the killer when 12-16 metres away and the perk resets.
Pick Ash if: you like rescuing people.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT SURVIVORS TIER LIST – C
Laurie Strode
Laurie, from the original Halloween movie, has the unlucky habit of attracting the wrong sort: mostly killers. Fortunately, she’s now adept at escaping them.
Exclusive perks:
- Sole survivor: the killer can’t see your aura within a maximum range of 20-24 metres for each killed or sacrificed survivor
- Object of obsession: while looking in the killer’s direction, you’ll see each other’s aura up to a maximum range of 44-72 metres
- Decisive strike: after being unhooked, you can perform a skill check next time the killer grabs you to escape the killer’s grasp and stun them for five seconds
Pick Laurie if: you have terrible taste in partners.
Steve Harrington
Steve, of Stranger Things fame, is all about rescuing his friends in times of danger, and is good at getting himself out of trouble too.
Exclusive perks:
- Babysitter: when you unhook a survivor, it will leave no scratch marks or blood trail for 4-8 seconds. You and the killer can see each other’s aura for four seconds
- Camaraderie: while on the hook, the struggle phase timer is paused for 26-34 seconds while within 16 metres of another survivor
- Second wind: heal a survivor for one health state (or the equivalent for a group of survivors) and this perk activates, automatically healing you from the injured state next time you are unhooked after a duration of 34-30 seconds
Pick Steve if: your friends are most important to you.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT SURVIVORS TIER LIST – D
Ace Visconti
Ace, sadly, is our least favourite survivor. He’s just too focussed on being lucky that he misses the important things: like trying to survive.
Exclusive perks:
- Open-handed: you and your teammates have an increased aura range of 4-8 metres
- Up the ante: grant a 1-3% luck boost to all survivors
- Ace in the hole: when retrieving an item from a chest, you have a 100% chance to get an add-on of very rare or lower and a 10-50% chance of a second add-on of uncommon or lower
Pick Ace if: you think yourself lucky.
Dead by Daylight survivors not currently available on mobile
The following survivors aren’t currently available in Dead by Daylight Mobile:
- Zarina Kassir
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT Killers TIER LIST – S
The Cannibal
The Cannibal is the latest killer to arrive in Dead by Daylight Mobile, and it’s jumped right to the top of our list. It’s just so effective at doing what killers do best. Well, aside from the killing that is.
Exclusive perks:
- Knock out: dying survivor’s auras are not revealed to survivors over 32-16 metres away
- Barbecue & chilli: after hooking a survivor, you can see all other survivor’s auras for four seconds, provided they are at least 40 metres from the hook
- Franklin’s demise: basic attacks cause survivors to drop any carried item, losing 0-10% of its charges
Pick The Cannibal if: you’re all about aggression.
The Nurse
The Nurse is our favourite killer, because she’s just so effective at doing what killers do best: track down and hunt people to kill.
Exclusive perks:
- Stridor: survivors’ grunts of pain are 25-50% louder and breathing is 0-25% louder
- Thanatophobia: survivors receive a 3-4% penalty to repairing, healing, and sabotage speed for each injured, dying, or hooked teammate
- A nurse’s calling: you can see the aura of survivors who are being healed or healing within 20-28 metres
Pick The Nurse if: you’re impatient.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT KILLERS TIER LIST – A
The Hillbilly
The Hillbilly is one of the default killers in Dead by Daylight Mobile, and is a speed specialist.
Exclusive perks:
- Enduring: you recover from pallet stuns 40-50% faster
- Lightborn: you’re 60-80% more resistant to blindness and recover 50% faster
- Tinkerer: when a generator is 85% repaired, you’ll receive a loud noise notification and your terror radius is reduced to zero metres for 8-12 seconds
Pick The Hillbilly if: you just want to catch your prey.
The Shape
The Shape, also known as Michael Myers of Halloween fame, is one of the most iconic killers ever. He enjoys stalking and playing with his prey, growing stronger as they grow more afraid.
Exclusive perks:
- Save the best for last: you earn a token for each successful hit on a survivor that isn’t your obsession, with each token providing a 5% cooldown reduction future successful attacks, with the maximum number of tokens at eight. Attack your obsession, and you’ll lose 4-2 tokens
- Play with your food: each time you chase your obsession and let them go, you’ll receive a token, which increases your movement speed by 3-5%. You can hold up to three tokens at once, and attacking a survivor will consume one
- Dying light: your obsession has a 33% speed bonus when unhooking or healing survivors. You’ll receive a token each time you hook a survivor that isn’t your obsession, provided the obsession is still alive. While the obsession is alive, all survivors have a 2-3% speed penalty while repairing, healing, and sabotaging for each token you possess
Pick The Shape if: you like the thrill of the chase.
The Spirit
The Spirit is possibly the scariest killer visually, but can also teleport about, which makes her terrifying mechanically too.
Exclusive perks:
- Spirit fury: after breaking 4-2 pallets, the next time you are stunned by one The Entity will break it instantly
- Hex: haunted ground: when one of two trapped hex totems is cleansed by a survivor, all survivors suffer from exposed for 40-60 seconds
- Rancor: each time a generator is repaired, your obsession will see your aura for three 5-3 seconds and all survivors locations are revealed to you for three seconds. Once all generators are repaired, your obsession has the exposed effect and you can directly kill the obsession
Pick The Spirit if: you’re the type of person that likes to make people jump for no reason.
The Plague
The Plague can harm her opponents from a distance and slow down their ability to complete objectives.
Exclusive perks:
- Corrupt intervention: three generators furthest away from you at the beginning of a trial are blocked by the entity for 80-120 seconds
- Infectious fright: survivors within your terror radius will yell and reveal their location for 4-6 seconds whenever you put a survivor into the dying state with a basic attack
- Dark devotion: hitting your obsession with a basic attack causes them to emit a terror radius of 32 metres for 20-30 seconds and your terror radius is reduced to zero metres
Pick The Plague if: you’re a bit of a control freak.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT KILLERS TIER LIST – B
The Trapper
The Trapper is one of the default killers in Dead by Daylight Mobile, and, as the name suggests, he loves placing traps to frustrate the survivors.
Exclusive perks:
- Unnerving presence: survivors in your terror radius have a 10% greater chance of triggering a skill check while repairing, healing, or sabotaging, and the success zones are reduced by 40-60%
- Brutal strength: you destroy pallets and damage generators 10-20% faster
- Agitation: you move 6-18% faster while transporting bodies and your terror radius is increased by 12 metres
Pick The Trapper if: you like to trap fools.
The Hag
The Hag is a totem specialist, who focuses on cursing hapless opponents who leave them uncleansed
Exclusive perks:
- Hex: the third seal: hit a survivor with a basic attack and you’ll apply the blindness status effect
- Hex: ruin: whenever a generator is not being repaired, its repair progress regresses at 100-200% of the normal speed
- Hex: devour hope: whenever a survivor is rescued from a hook at least 24 metres away, you receive a token. At two tokens you’ll receive a 3-5% haste status effect for ten seconds, at three tokens all survivors suffer from exposed, and at five you can kill survivors
Pick The Hag if: you like creating characters that specialise in dark magic.
The Doctor
The Doctor likes to mess with his opponent’s minds, inflicting them with madness.
Exclusive perks:
- Overwhelming presence: survivors within your terror radius suffer 80-100% decreased item consumption rates
- Monitor & abuse: while in a chase, your terror radius is increased by eight metres. While not in a chase, your terror radius is decreased by eight metres and your field of view is increased by 3-10
- Overcharge: overcharge a generator, forcing the next survivor to undertake a difficult skill check. Failing it will result in a 3-5% penalty to progression
Pick The Doctor if: you like playing mind games.
The Pig
The Pig, a character from the Saw movie series, features in Dead by Daylight Mobile. She likes to torment her prey,with a great focus on stealth.
Exclusive perks:
- Hangman’s trick: you’ll receive a notification when a survivor begins sabotaging a hook and you’ll see the aura of all survivors within 2-6 metres of any hook while carrying a survivor
- Surveillance: all regressing generators are visible with a white aura, and once this ends you’ll see them with a yellow aura for 8-16 seconds. Generator repair noises are audible at an additional eight metres
- Make your choice: when a survivor rescues another from a hook, they’ll get the exposed status effect for 40-60 seconds provided they’re at least 32 metres away from you
Pick The Pig if: you love the Saw movies.
The Clown
The Clown controls the arena with a special gas that impairs the survivors’ vision and movement speed, and forces them to cough, giving their position away.
Exclusive perks:
- Bamboozle: you vault 5-15% faster and performing one triggers the entity to block that location for 8-16 seconds
- Coulrophobia: survivors within your terror radius have a 30-50% penalty to healing speed
- Pop goes the weasel: after hooking a survivor, the next generator you break is regressed by 25% of its total progression
Pick The Clown if: you’re a fan of Batman’s Joker.
The Ghost Face
The Ghost Face is a bit of a nightmare for survivors, able to sneak up on them, defend generators, and is difficult to escape from.
Exclusive perks:
- I’m all ears: whenever a survivor performs a rushed action within 48 metres from your location, you’ll see their aura for six seconds
- Thrilling tremors: when you pick up a survivor, all generators not currently being repaired are blocked for the next 16 seconds
- Furtive chase: when your obsession is hooked, you’ll receive a token, reducing your terror radius by four metres. If a survivor is rescued, the rescuer becomes your obsession
Pick The Ghost Face if: you love the Scream movies.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT KILLERS TIER LIST – C
The Legion
The Legion is a ruthless killer, focusing on butchering its opponents as quickly as possible.
Exclusive perks:
- Discordance: when two or more survivors are repairing the same generator, you’ll see its aura for 8-12 seconds
- Mad grit: when carrying a survivor, you don’ suffer cool-downs on missed attacks and successfully hitting another pauses the carried survivor’s wiggle timer to pause for 2-4 seconds
- Iron maiden: you open lockers 30-50% faster and survivors who exit them suffer from exposed for 15 seconds and you’ll see their location for four seconds
Pick The Legion if: you like to play really aggressively.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT KILLERS TIER LIST – D
The Wraith
The Wraith focuses on tracking and hunting survivors, with stealth as a big focus.
- Predator: scratch marks left by survivors spawn closer together
- Bloodhound: fresh blood stains are easier to spot and can be tracked for 2-4 seconds longer
- Shadowborn: your field of view is increased by 9-15
Pick The Wraith if: you like going hunting.
The Huntress
Much like The Wraith, The Huntress also likes hunting her opponents. However, this killer is effective from a distance and doesn’t really care if she’s spotted.
Exclusive perks:
- Beast of prey: gain 30-50% more bloodpoints for actions in the hunter category and your red stain disappears after gaining bloodlust tier one
- Territorial imperative: you’ll see survivors’ auras for three seconds when they enter the basement and you’re over 32 metres away from the entrance
- Hex: huntress lullaby: survivors receive a 2-6% regression penalty when missing a skill check. Whenever a survivor is hooked, this ability grows in power, reducing the time between the skill check warning sound and skill check until there is no warning at all
Pick The Huntress if: you have a very specific playstyle.
The Demogorgon
The Demogorgon, of Stranger Things fame, is an obtuse enemy that can travel across the map quickly, detect survivors with ease, and inflict damage from a distance.
Exclusive perks:
- Surge: putting a survivor into the dying state causes all generators to explode and regress by 8%
- Mindbreaker: while repairing generators at less than 50% progression, survivors suffer from the exhausted effect
- Cruel limits: when a generator is repaired, all windows and vault locations within 24 metres are blocked for all survivors
Pick The Demogorgon: if you love Stranger Things.
The Oni
This samurai-like killer punishes survivors that dare to try and escape.
Exclusive perks:
- Zanshin Tactics: the auras of all pallets, breakable walls, and baults are revealed to you within 24 metres
- Blood Echo: when hooking a survivor, all other injured survivors suffer from Haemorrhage and Exhausted for 45 seconds
- Nemesis: survivors that blind or stun you become your obsession and are affected by Oblivious for up to 60 seconds
Pick The Oni: if you fancy yourself as a bit of a samurai.
DEAD BY DAYLIGHT killers NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ON MOBILE
The following killers aren’t currently available in Dead by Daylight Mobile:
- The Nightmare
- The Deathslinger
How do we decide the best Dead by Daylight Mobile characters?
That’s a good question. There are only two features of each character that is unique to them: their visual appearance and their exclusive perks. Given that their appearance doesn’t affect how they perform, and is also far too subjective for a guide like this, we’ve opted to make our decisions based on their unique perks.
While it’s true that many perks are shared between characters, there are a large number that are exclusive to individuals (at least at first; we’ll get onto that). What we did was place all of the exclusive perks in order of what we consider to be the best and worst. We then provided each with a score and then tallied up the results to come up with our definitive list.
Funnily enough, our list did actually tally with a lot of our personal preferences. We hadn’t really considered why we favoured certain characters over others, but this list confirmed it: we really like the perks that these guys use. You might feel differently, and that’s okay. Ultimately, we’d recommend that you choose the character that you perform best with. Those struggling might find this a good baseline though.
Can’t all Dead by Daylight characters learn all perks?
That is correct, and once you reach that point you can pretty much choose any character in terms of cosmetics and simply slot in your favourite perks. That does take a considerable amount of time though, as many of the perks don’t become teachable (available to slot on other character’s loadouts) until you’ve attained a pretty high level with the character that owns it. That means you’re going to have to grind to level up a bunch of different characters if you want to slot the best perks on a particular character, but it is an option if you have a strong preference for a particular character’s appearance.