Dead by Daylight killer tier list June 2026 - all DBD killers ranked

Ten years in, the Dead by Daylight character roster is bigger than ever, and thanks to that huge list of names and constant changes to perks and add-ons, it's certainly difficult to keep track of who the best Dead By Daylight killers are.

Among the best PC games out there, the joy of asymmetrical horror games has always been the ability to be the bad guy. While there's certainly something thrilling about fighting for your life (there must be a reason we all wonder how we'd do in a zombie apocalypse, right?), nothing gets the heart racing like shirking the lawful-good responsibilities of real life and taking on the role of a bloodthirsty killer. Every one of the following DBD killers has their own terrifying unique power, from ranged axe throws to infectious bile and close-range chainsaw attacks. But which is best? Find out with our tier list of all Dead by Daylight killers.

Our tier list considers Behaviour's difficulty rating for each killer, their unique power, and the strength of that power when played well. For example, The Nurse and The Blight are in S Tier, but these won't be great picks for beginners thanks to their difficult abilities and attacks. In the hands of a DBD veteran, though, they're by far the best characters available. Killers' individual perks have only been taken into account slightly, as they can be unlocked and used interchangeably with any killer build. We haven't considered Add-Ons.

Here is our Dead by Daylight killer tier list:

S-tier

The Nurse (Very Hard)

Like The Hag, The Nurse has the ability to teleport quickly across the map with her Blink ability, Spencer's Last Breath. The Nurse can even chain Blinks together to cover large distances. The downside to this power, though, is the fatigue effect placed on The Nurse after blinking, so you will need to take some time to master the perfect timing of this skill, as a false move will slow your movement speed and allow survivors to escape. Use it correctly, and you could find yourself sacrificing all four survivors in record time.

The Nurse is one of the five killers included with any purchase of the base game.

The Blight (Very Hard)

The Blight is similar to The Nurse in that they're incredibly difficult to master, but almost unstoppable once you do so. The Blight's power, Rush, enables you to move extremely quickly across the map, closing in on survivors with little effort. While you can't attack a survivor on your first Rush, slam into a wall or other obstacle to activate Lethal Rush, during which you can attack, giving valuable chances to close the gap between you and your victim. Careful though, if you miss a wall or obstacle on your first Rush, Blight will be briefly fatigued, and your survivor will have their chance to get away. Expect your early Blight matches to be painful, but sticking through it to get used to his incredibly quick speed will be worth it.

The Blight must be purchased through the in-game store, with Auric Cells or Iridescent Shards, or as part of the Macabre Tales DLC.

The Hillbilly (Medium)

The Hillbilly was Dead by Daylight's answer to Bubba Sawyer before the licensed Leatherface chapter came about. He's been through the wringer a bit, usually only played by a few hardcore Billy fans, and not cared for due to the difficulty to control his movements. However, Billy finally got some much-needed attention in the 7.5.0 update, bringing him back up the rankings again.

The reason Hillbilly can be so good is that his Chainsaw Sprint places even a healthy survivor straight into the dying state on a successful hit, making The Hillbilly an incredibly powerful villain for quick hooks. The trouble is that he is also fairly easy to avoid, though less so after the update. If you're careful with your aim, try to avoid 'bumping' obstacles, and are lucky enough to get a straight line between yourself and your victim, you should have no problem downing victims. While Billy might not be S-tier for nice players, he certainly can be for those willing to insta-down and slug. In fact, you can end a game in a couple of minutes this way if you get lucky.

The Hillbilly is one of the five killers included with any purchase of the base game.

A-tier

The Slasher (Medium)

Seeing the popularity of DBD go wild around the 10th anniversary, The Slasher/Jason Voorhees has proven to be a very popular killer among both new players and experienced ones. Lots of players who've stuck around, not just coming back to the game around the killer's release, think some of The Slasher's abilities are overpowered. Since he's testing, though, that may change over time.

His teleport ability is widely considered the best in the game, with it allowing him to track survivor footsteps via a visible mist trail and teleport to them. Combining that with his throwable spear weapon, which has a smaller hitbox than similar weapons, and he's pretty formidable.

Also, his Rampage perk rewards breaking pallets and walls around the map by granting up to a 13% Haste boost when stunned. That makes him difficult to lose when he's chasing you.

The First (Medium)

We came so close to adding another killer to the S-tier, but, for now, The First just misses out due to him requiring a good map knowledge for true domination, and the ability for survivors to counter him quite easily. Even so, at the time of writing, Henry Creel is one hell of a DBD killer.

It can take a few matches to learn how best to play The First, and a few more to really master it, but in the grand scheme of some of the other killers on this list, it's actually relatively simple to get really good at using this power. The main thing to keep in mind is that (new) Vecna's vine attack can be used to slow survivors, injure survivors, or, crucially, zome them. The latter is important. Survivors will instinctively try to avoid this ground attack, which means you can force them to play right into your hands.

Hitting survivors with this ranged attack injures them if they're under the Worldeater effect, or grants them a token if not. With four tokens, they are then placed under the effect. The hardest thing to master is the other part of Henry's power, Undergate. Use this to travel across the map quickly, and to trigger Worldeater, but beware of its painful cooldown.

If you want to take control of The Abyss, The First can be purchased as part of the Stranger Things Part 2 Chapter, available in the in-game shop or on Steam.

The Krasue (Medium)

The most horrifying killer to date, The Krasue is based on traditional Thai folklore. A beautiful female corrupted by her own desires, a Krasue transforms into a floating head to hunt at night, and that's exactly what the DBD Krasue does in The Entity's Realm.

Starting off as the beautiful Burong Sukapat, The Krasue can only attack with a normal M1. However, her secondary form - a disembodied head, complete with flowing entrails - allows her to Leech survivors with a projectile attack, and then injure and down them in this form, which moves faster and more stealthily.

Survivors can remove Leeching by eating glowing fungi found around the map at locations at which Sukapat has transformed, but, when played well, The Krasue has the ability to be one of the best killers in the game. We would consider her S-tier if it weren't for her learning curve, as her projectile attack is quite tough to master and can be outplayed by good survivors.

If you want to fly around the map as The Krasue, organs and intestines akimbo, you need to purchase the Sinister Grace DLC in-game or on Steam.

The Ghoul (Medium)

The Ghoul is one of the most popular new killers of all time, and it's no surprise given his incredible mobility. Using his Kagune, Kaneki can spring across the map, catching up with survivors in no time. In short range, he can still use this power to overwhelm survivors on loops, given them no real way to avoid injury.

Unlike some of the other top-tier killers in Dead by Daylight, The Ghoul is also relatively easy to learn. In fact, you might be wondering why he isn't in the S-tier. It was a hard choice, and we could certainly justify putting him there given the limited ways to outplay him as a survivor, but his in-built QTE and cooldown times, and necessity to keep his power going, put him as high A. We also expect he could be nerfed any day.

If you want to give Kaneki a try - or even play as his counterpart Kamishiro Rize - you must purchase the DLC from the in-game store on on Steam.

The Spirit (Hard)

The Spirit is often placed in the S-tier or A-tiers in players' tier lists, but we've decided to place her in the top tier based more on her performance once fully mastered. Again, like the killers above, Rin Yamaoka is difficult to get used to, not least since her power blinds her. That said, get to grips with her power (and wear a decent headset) and you'll find that this is what also makes her so powerful.

The Spirit moves across the map in her spirit form, leaving her almost invisible to a survivor's eye. To counter that powerful ability, survivors also become invisible to The Spirit as she moves through an alternate plane. As The Spirit phases through the map, she moves at a faster rate than normal and can still see environmental hints such as spooked wildlife, disturbed grass, and moving generators, clues to where survivors may be lurking. The key is using audio to take survivors by surprise, and, if you come out of power at the right moment, you can really take a survivor by surprise. As teleporting killers go, The Spirit is slightly easier for a beginner to master as the camera moves with her across the map, rather than simply reemerging in a new location - often discombobulated.

On PC, The Spirit is another killer that must be purchased from the in-game shop, with Auric Cells or Iri Shards, or as part of the Maddening Darkness DLC.

The Wraith (Easy)

One of the 'easiest' killers available, and yet still widely used by comp and long-time players, The Wraith really is a jack-of-all-trades killer, and incredibly popular to boot. Using his Wailing Bell power, The Wraith becomes almost completely invisible to survivors. If you're paying close attention to your surroundings, he can be vaguely made out as a blur, but this means he can easily sneak up on players engrossed in repairs or healing. While cloaked, The Wraith has increased movement speed, making it easy to close the gap on wily players. The caveat is that he's unable to injure or down them while cloaked. To do so, you must first uncloak, which slows The Wraith's movement speed back down slightly.

While The Wraith is a superb killer for sacrificing survivors quickly, the trick to mastering the killer comes with knowing exactly when to cloak and uncloak. Also, don't get tripped up by not holding the action button long enough to uncloak, as this will give your location away, but you still won't be able to attack.

The Wraith is one of the five killers included with any purchase of the base game.

The Lich (Medium)

The Lich had some issues during the PTB, so naturally received some buffs before his full release. Now, the Matthew Mercer-voiced character is among the top killers in the game. There is a small learning curve to overcome at first, as Vecna's spell wheel is an entirely new mechanic, putting four icons on your screen as you choose which spell you want to use. However, once familiar with where each spell is and what it does, you can use The Lich to control most of the map at once.

Using his four spells, the Dungeons and Dragons character is able to fly through obstacles (much like The Nurse), move or block pallets (like The Knight), send damaging projectiles through the world (similar to The Unknown or The Artist), or project an aura revealing sphere. That's a lot of powers. Once you know how to use them well, any survivors wills struggle to counter play The Lich.

If you want to cast spells on unsuspecting survivors, you'll need to purchase the Dungeons and Dragons Chapter from the in-game store, or get the character only using Auric Cells.

The Dark Lord (Hard)

Dracula, or The Dark Lord, like The Lich before him, has a combination of powers, some similar to those of other killers. As the first shape-shifting killer, Dracula can take the form of a wolf or a bat, as well as his own original vampire form, in order to track and chase survivors.

The bat form is similar to The Spirit's power in that he cannot see survivors, but moves faster and can track scratch marks more easily. In this form, Dracula can also teleport. As a wolf, meanwhile, Drac can also travel fast and perform a lunge attack akin to The Demogorgon's Shred attack. In his vampire form, The Dark Lord can hurls pillars of fire ahead of him, similar to The Executioner's Punishment of the Damned. While switching between these powers isn't easy at first, once mastered, you can see why having all of these skills at your disposal makes Dracula on of the best DBD killers right now.

The Dark Lord can be purchased as part of the Castlevania chapter DLC or on his own in the in-game store.

The Huntress (Moderate)

Most of our A-tier killers have some form of ranged attack, but our lovely Huntress was the first with a ranged weapon, her Hunting Hatchets. This power makes for a truly top-tier killer, as an eagle eye and a sharp shot can down survivors within seconds of starting a match. You still need to land two hits to down a player, but there is only a slight cooldown between throws and this can be reduced with add-ons. Injuring with the first hatchet will also slow a survivor's movement speed as normal, so you can then go after them with your basic melee attack instead.

The greatest benefit to a ranged attack is the ability to hit a survivor with a pallet or window between you but be careful not to run out of hatchets. The Huntress is limited to five Hatchets in hand at a time (unless you have the Leather Loop add-on), so be sure to regularly restock your hatchets from lockers.

The Huntress is one of the five killers included with any purchase of the base game.

The Xenomorph (Medium)

The Xenomorph hasn't really slipped from the A-tier since its introduction as part of the Alien DLC in August 2023. The only reason we're leaving this killer out of the S-tier rank is because we're trying to base this decision on the base character and not their perks and add-ons, but with those, our Alien friend could be even higher.

As a standalone character, no matter which perks you choose to kit it out with, The Xenomorph is still incredibly strong thanks to its base kit aura-reading abilities. While in underground tunnels, The Xenomorph can see player footsteps if they cross your path above ground. You can also hear generators while underground, too. This gives you the ability to locate players incredibly easily - and within moments of the trial start. Come out of the tunnel, and if you're close enough those survivors might trigger Killer Instinct too, adding to the already OP aura-reading capabilities. The only thing holding this killer back from being too good is its slightly lower base speed and pesky flame turrets, used by survivors to counter this killer. That said, as discussed in our launch day opinion of the alien, those could still be buffed somewhat and The Xenomorph would still be a strong attacker.

If you wish to crawl around underground as the Xenokitty, I mean, Xenomorph, you must buy it on its own or as part of the Alien chapter.

The Executioner (Very Hard)

Fans of the Silent Hill franchise will instantly recognize Pyramid Head - The Executioner - from the official Silent Hill chapter. The Executioner is a complex killer to play, with a range of actions available, but can be an absolute powerhouse when played well.

Without going into too much detail with all of The Executioner's components, the most important things to know about are Torment and Final Judgment. Use Pyramid Head's power, Rites of Judgement, to carve an opening into the ground - particularly useful near hooked survivors or generators, or across doorways. If a survivor walks through this, they will be inflicted with Torment, which means they can be killed immediately (or Mori'd) if they have entered the struggle phase/second phase on the hook or in a cage - this is Final Judgment. Therefore, the best way to play The Executioner is to try and hook all survivors twice, rather than prioritizing that third and final capture. Then you can go and deliver that Final Judgment.

The Executioner is yet another character that must be purchased from the in-game shop on PC, or with the Silent Hill Chapter DLC.

The Mastermind (Medium)

Project W's Wesker, or The Mastermind, might be everyone's favorite DBD Daddy, taking over The Trapper and Trickster with his fan base, but he's also a very strong killer. Combining a ranged attack with the ability to instantly carry a survivor when played well, there is no real downside to The Mastermind - once you've mastered how to play him.

Wesker has a standard melee basic attack, but can also lunge at survivors with his power, Virulent Bound. With a straight run at the Survivor, Wesker slams them against the wall, causing them to lose a health state, but even if you collide with an obstacle, you still injure the survivor. Either way, Virulent Bond causes the survivor to become Infected with the Urobros Virus. The Infection will slowly increase unless the survivor uses a First Aid Spray - a fully-infected Survivor is instantly picked up upon another successful attack, while using the spray reveals their location, so there's a benefit to either outcome.

To infect survivors with the Urobros Virus, you must buy Wesker from the DBD in-game store either on his own or as part of the Project W DLC.

The Good Guy (Medium)

Chucky came straight out the gate as one of the best killers, for both beginners and experts. Even following his minor post-release nerfs, which changed the maneuverability in his Slice and Dice power, Chucky remains one of the most brutal killers. Despite his Slice and Dice action being a little hard to control for those who aren't used to playing killer, Chucky's other power, Hidey-Ho Mode, and his slight size mean he is still a phenomenally strong killer. Hidey-Ho Mode makes Chucky undetectable, and, since he is shorter than most windows, it's incredibly easy to sneak up on unsuspecting victims, even as a new player to the killer side.

If you want to play The Good Guy, or The Good Gal, Chucky and Tiffany can be purchased from the in-game shop, or as a DLC.

The Nightmare (Medium)

Yep, that's right, we've moved the ever-controversial Freddy Krueger right up to the low-A tier. In January 2025, The Nightmare went through some serious changes following years of hate as one of the worst killers to play.

Freddie's power still puts survivors into the Dream World, and all Survivors enter Dream World automatically over time, while hits with a basic attack force them immediately into the dream state. Now, however, he has the power to create Dream Pallets and Dream Snares. When asleep, players cannot hear Freddie's Terror Radius and are more severely affected by Dream Snares and Pallets.

Freddie can make Dream Pallets explode, injuring sleeping survivors within the area of effect, and accelerating the dream timer of awake survivors. This injure effect is one of the two most powerful moves, giving Freddie a remote attack. His Dream Snares speed up awake survivors' sleep timer but Hinder sleeping survivors, significantly slowing them down. Survivors can wake themselves by missing skill checks or interacting with alarm clocks around the map, but while asleep, Freddy now has a strong advantage over them.

You can only become a dream eater if you buy The Nightmare from the in-game shop on PC with Auric Cells, or as part of the Nightmare on Elm Street DLC.

The Animatronic (Hard)

The Animatronic marked an important moment in Dead by Daylight history. The most requested killer of all time, Springtrap finally arrived with Chapter 36, and instantly made his mark as one of the best characters in the game. An easy A-tier killer.

The only things that hold The Animatronic back from being stronger are his slow speed and his fire axe's sharp drop-off. If you've ever played The Huntress, let alone if you've ever mained her, this ranged weapon projectory takes some getting used to. While we don't include add-ons in this list, the Help Wanted Ad common add-on shows the trajectory of the axe, so it's worth using if you struggle, and probably boosts Afton's tier ranking. The strongest part about The Animatronic is his mobility, using security room doors to get across the map fast, but you'll feel his slow speed in chase.

To access the security room and jump scare survivors as the Yellow Rabbit, you must buy the FNAF chapter from the in-game store.

B-tier

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