Dead by Daylight currently has 31 playable survivors, each with their own perks and abilities. Of course, some of them are better than others. Here’s our Dead By Daylight Survivor Tier List. We’ll update it as new patches and new characters come out.
Survivor Tier List in Dead by Daylight: Top Survivors in Dead by Daylight
This list will cover S, A, B, C, and D Tier, in alphabetical order. We will start from the bottom.
You can also check out our Killer Tier List here.
D Tier
- Ash J. Williams (We love Ash Versus Evil Dead but Dead by Daylight developers didn’t do him justice here)
- Haddie Kaur
- Jonah Vasquez
- Quentin Smith
- Yoichi Asakawa
C Tier
- Adam Francis
- Detective David Tapp
- Jeffrey “Jeff” Johansen
- Steve Harrington
- Yun-Jin Lee
B Tier
- Ace Visconti
- Cheryl Mason
- Felix Richter
- Jane Romero
- Jill Valentine (apologies to all Resident Evil fans reading this)
- Leon Scott Kennedy (again, apologies)
- Yui Kimura
- Zarina Kassir
A Tier
- Nea Karlsson
- Dwight Fairfield
- David King
- Kate Denson
- Laurie Strode
- Nancy Wheeler
S Tier
Claudette Morel
Healing yourself without a Med-Kit? Sign us up immediately! On top of that, the scouting potential that you get with the Empathy perk is just absolutely insane.
Claudette Morel’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Empathy: The auras of injured or dying survivors within 64, 96, or 128 meters are revealed.
- Botany Knowledge: Healing speed and Med-Kit efficiency are increased by 11, 22, or 33%.
- Self-Care: Players can heal themselves without a Med-Kit at 50% of the normal speed. Med-Kit depletion (while self-healing) is decreased by 10%, 15%, or 20%.
Élodie Rakoto
She is very annoying to the Killer with the Power Struggle perk ability which allows her to free herself of the Killer’s grasp immediately when a pallet is nearby. Deception is great to mislead the Killer. All in all, a very elusive and hard-to-catch Survivor. The random item is just the cherry on top.
Élodie Rakoto’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Appraisal: Players start the game with three tokens. Players can consume a token to rummage through an already opened chest to attempt to find an item. Increases the speed of rummaging by 40%, or 60%, or 80%.
- Deception: Interacting with a Locker while holding the sprint button triggers a Loud Noise Notification for the Killer without actually entering the locker. The player doesn’t leave any scratch marks or pools of blood for three seconds.
- Power Struggle: Players can drop a pallet while being carried by the Killer, stunning the Killer in the process. This is activated by reaching 25%, or 20%, or 15% of Wiggling progression.
Feng Min
A well-rounded Survivor all in all. Alert is a great way for Killers to reveal themselves, allowing you to plan your next actions more efficiently. Lithe gives that little explosive movement speed boost in dire situations and Technician has your back in stressful skill checks should you make a mistake. Feng Min is brilliant for beginners.
Feng Min’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Technician: Failing a skill check while repairing a generator prevents an explosion and applies both the default regression rate and an additional regression rate of 5, 4, or 3%. This perk also reduces the audible generator repairing noise by 8 meters.
- Lithe: Players move at 150% of their normal speed for three seconds after performing a rushed action on a vault. It causes the Exhausted effect for 60, 50, or 40 seconds.
- Alert: The Killer’s aura is revealed to the player after they break a pallet or wall, or damage a generator, for three, four, or five seconds.
Jake Park
Jake Park has one of the best perks in-game: Iron Will (see our Top Survivor Perks here) and it seems that he was designed for stealth gameplay. He doesn’t shriek in pain, he doesn’t wake up the crows, he sabotages hooks without a Toolbox… All in all a great pest for the Killer
Jake Park’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Iron Will: When injured, Grunts of Pain are reduced by 50/75/100 %.
- Calm Spirit: The chances of alerting nearby Crows are reduced by 80/90/100 % and your urge to scream from pain is suppressed at all times.
- Saboteur: While a Survivor is being carried, the Auras of all Hooks within 56 meters of their Pick-up location are revealed to you. Sabotaging a Hook without a Toolbox takes 2.5 seconds, with a cool-down of 90/75/60 seconds.
Meg Thomas
Meg is absolutely built for fast and stealthy gameplay, and both of these playstyles are highly effective in Dead by Daylight. Her “cherry on top” is the Adrenaline perk which helps you close out the game quickly
Meg Thomas’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Quick and Quiet: Loud Noise Notifications from rushing to vault Windows/Pallets or exiting Lockers are completely suppressed. The cooldown of this Perk is 30, or 25, or 20 seconds.
- Sprint Burst: When starting to run, break into a sprint at 150 % of your normal running speed for a maximum of three seconds. Gain Exhausted Status Effect for 60, or 50, or 40 seconds.
- Adrenaline: After the Exit Gates are powered, instantly heal one Health State and sprint at 150 % of your normal Running speed for five seconds. If you are disabled, Adrenaline is put on hold until you are freed. If you are playing against The Nightmare, Adrenaline will wake you up from the Dream World when it activates.
Mikaela Reid
Similar to Claudette, Mikaela (in a way) grants the ability to self-heal without a Med-Kit. Mikaela is an excellent Survivor and she’s adept at supporting her teammates and providing information about key points of interest in the match.
Mikaela Reid’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Clairvoyance: The auras of any generators, hooks, chests, switches, exit gates, or hatches within 64 meters are revealed for eight, nine, or 10 seconds after cleansing a totem. Players must be empty-handed for the perk to activate.
- Boon: Circle of Healing: Hold the Active Ability button near a Dull or Hex Totem to bless it and create a Boon Totem. Soft chimes ring out within a radius of 24 meters. Survivors inside the Boon Totem’s range benefit from the following effects: 40/45/50 % bonus to all Healing Speeds. Unlocks the Self-Care ability, allowing one to self-heal without needing a Med-Kit at 50 % of the normal Healing speed. Also benefits from the Healing Speed bonus.
- Boon: Shadow Step: Hold the Active Ability button near a Dull or Hex Totem to bless it and create a Boon Totem. Soft chimes ring out within a radius of 24 meters. Survivors inside the Boon Totem’s range benefits of their Scratch Marks being suppressed and Auras hidden from The Killer. The effects linger for 2/3/4 seconds after leaving the Boon Totem’s range.
William “Bill” Overbeck
His Unbreakable and Borrowed Time perks have cemented Bill as an S Tier Survivor. We have already covered the Borrowed Time in our Survivor Perk article and the Unbreakable is also an insanely great perk, to give another chance to everyone on the team. If these two haven’t been enough to help your teammates, you’ll just have to run to the Hatch by yourself by using the Left Behind perk.
William “Bill” Overbeck’s Perks (official text from the game)
- Left Behind: The aura of the Hatch is revealed when the player is the last survivor in the game when the Hatch is within 24 or 28 or 32 meters.
- Borrowed Time: After unhooking a survivor, that survivor is protected by Endurance for eight, 10, or 12 seconds. Any damage taken that would put the Survivor into the Dying State will instead trigger the Deep Wound Status Effect, after which the Survivor has 20 seconds to Mend themselves.
- Unbreakable: Once per Trial, you can completely recover from the Dying State. Your recovery speed is increased by 25%, or 30%, or 35%.
