DBD ranks explained - All Dead by Daylight grades

So-called 'ranks' in Dead by Daylight were replaced some time ago by a Grading system. These DBD grades have no bearing on your matchmaking rating (MMR) and are simply a way to keep track of your own progress. Your DBD rank is shown by a colored icon in the top right-hand corner of your in-game screen, but what does each icon mean?

If you're wondering what the point is, well, we can't blame you. There really isn't one. That said, there is a hefty Bloodpoint reward during each Dead by Daylight grade reset, depending on which level you reach. There are often other ways to get extra BP, too, including with DBD codes, so you always have plenty to hand to level up your DBD killers and survivors. If you still want to know more about your DBD rank, the grading reset, and what the rewards are, then read on.

All DBD ranks in order

Starting from Ash and working up to Iridescent, there are five DBD grade qualities, each with four levels, leaving a total of 20 tiers to work through. Your survivor and killer ranks are separate too, so if you play both, you'll work through the ranks twice each month.

• Ash
  • Ash I
  • Ash II
  • Ash III
  • Ash IV
• Bronze
  • Bronze I
  • Bronze II
  • Bronze III
  • Bronze IV
• Silver
  • Silver I
  • Silver II
  • Silver III
  • Silver IV
• Gold
  • Gold I
  • Gold II
  • Gold III
  • Gold IV
• Iridescent
  • Iridescent I
  • Iridescent II
  • Iridescent III
  • Iridescent IV

To level up your rank, you need to earn what the community has named 'Pips'. These are the white, diamond-shaped icons that you can see in every match summary and when you hover over your Grade from the main screen. You need between three and five of these 'pips' to go up a grade, and earning them depends on your performance in a match, specifically, which 'emblems' you earn.

Dead by Daylight Pips

After each match, you earn Emblem points based on your performance in each of the four areas of gameplay: Objective, Survival, Altruism, and Evasiveness. How many Emblem points you earn determines whether you receive one Pip, two Pips, zero Pips, or even have one taken away. While your Pips can go down, your grade cannot, so a series of bad results just leaves you stuck on zero Pips in that grade. Hit the required Pips though, and you are promoted to the next grade.

The number of pips you need to level up are:

• Ash IV - III: Three pips
• Ash III - II: Three Pips
• Ash II - I: Four Pips
• Ash I - Bronze IV: Four Pips
• Bronze IV - III: Four Pips
• Bronze III - II: Four Pips
• Bronze II - I: Four Pips
• Bronze I - Silver IV: Four Pips
• Silver IV - III: Five Pips
• Silver III - II: Five Pips
• Silver II - I: Five Pips
• Silver I - Gold IV: Five Pips
• Gold IV - III: Five Pips
• Gold III - II: Five Pips
• Gold II - I: Five Pips
• Gold I - Iridescent IV: Five Pips
• Iridescent IV - III: Five Pips
• Iridescent III - II: Five Pips
• Iridescent II - I: Five Pips

Generally speaking, you must earn at least one or two Gold emblems to earn a pip and three or four Iridescent emblems to earn two. Earning just four Bronze emblems will most likely lose you a Pip.

DBD rank reset

The Dead by Daylight grading reset takes place every month, so you don't have long to earn that Iridescent V quality grade. To be specific, your rank resets on the 13th of every month, and this is when you receive your Bloodpoint bonus, and are reset back to Ash IV.

Whenever you log in for the first time after the 13th of each month, you see a pop-up with your final rank for both survivor and killer and how many bloodpoints you have received. Those BP are then immediately added to your total. Don't worry if these Bloodpoints put you over your two million cap - as these are automatically added to your total, you'll be allowed to exceed the Bloodpoint cap and won't lose your rewards. But you should spend them before you jump into a new trial.

DBD grading rewards

Depending on which Dead by Daylight grade quality you have reached by the 13th of each month, you are rewarded with the amount of Bloodpoints shown in the image above, and your DBD rank is reset.

DBD Devotion

Devotion, meanwhile, is an entirely different score. This one never resets, and it shows your overall progress since you started playing Dead by Daylight.

By earning XP, you'll progress through levels, increasing your Devotion for every 100 levels. If, for example, your Devotion is 7 and your level is 50, you're essentially at level 750.

Now that you understand DBD ranking a little more, you can stop worrying about what that little icon means and concentrate on playing the best matches you can as you wait for the 13th to roll around in one of the best multiplayer games around. You should also check out what's coming in the next DBD update, as well as when the next DBD 2v8 event might be coming.