THE COMPLETE SURVIVOR PERK TIER LIST

A complete list of the survivor perks, divided by tier of usefulness.

Introduction

BEFORE READING:

This guide is made to simply put every survivor perk in a tier that is suited for its usefulness and I will be dividing the perks based on exactly that.

When is a perk useful? When the perk is self-sufficient, doesn't need a specific situation or map for it to work, and helps you (and your fellow teammates) towards survival.

Perks that only work well with another perk are often put lower on the tier scale, simply because I think a perk should be self-sufficient, even with the best combination of perks. Likewise, perks that counter Killer perks can be put higher on the tier list, provided that those perks are often used.

For convenience, I will assume every perk has maxed its rarity (Tier 3). Furthermore, to prevent confusion with rarirty perks which tier from 1 to 3, my guide will tier perks from A to E.

I will NOT explain the perks, only why i think they deserve the tier I put them in.

If you dont agree or have suggestions for the guide, you are welcome to comment down below. But keep in mind that this list is made out of my opinion. I will not change perk tiers just because you aren't satisfied.

Lastly, this guide is ONLY for survivor perks, and will be updated when new survivor perks are introduced.

Now lets get down to business.

TIER A PERKS

Borrowed Time

First in the list and possibly also the best perk in the entire game, we have borrowed time. Most useful against Campers and/or territorial killers. If you're an altruistic player, take this perk. Your teammates will love you.

Decisive Strike

High risk, High reward. Taking this perk is tricky, because the skill check it provides can be often difficult and if you miss it you've wasted a perk. But, if you hit it, its like a ''get out of jail free card'' and thus one of the best perks in the game.

Self-Care

This perk is great for when you're the last survivor. Though its just as useful when you play alone because lack of communication isn't uncommon in DbD. Also helpful when the killer is chasing you, because you can heal yourself while dancing around the pallets.

Sprint Burst

Just overall a great perk to have and use. The relatively small cooldown and huge distance it gives you makes this perk one of the most necessary perks in the game, especially if stealth is not your forte.

Urban Evasion

this perk has become rather necessary for stealth players. crouching doesn't just make you harder to see, but due to recent patches the base movement speed of crouching is now faster than the base walking speed. This perk makes hiding within terror radius so much easier. #RunningIsNotAlwaysTheAnswer

TIER B PERKS

Dead Hard

Good for a little bit of extra distance between you and the killer, good for unsafe unhooking, good for juking and or boldly plays. Difficult to use because you need to be both injured and have decent timing. When debating whether to use Dead Hard or Sprint Burst, i recommend the more experienced players to pick up Dead Hard, and advise the newcomers or less experienced to stick with Sprint Burst.

Deliverance

Feels awesome, the amount of plays you can make with this is awesome, the fact people don't know you have it and instantly save you thus ruining your perk and your plan, not so awesome.

Empathy

If you like map awareness, empathy is your perk. And it doesn't just give you map awareness, it also counters the commonly used killer perk thanathopbia, because if there are wandering injured survivors on the map, you will always be able to patch them up asap and thus rendering thanathopbia nearly useless.

Iron Will

This is a perk that u MUST have if you don't run self care or any perk that will profit you from being injured. Most killers look at scratches first but smart killers will use their hearing just as much. This perk also counters the killer perk Stridor which is commonly used.

Lightweight

Though underrated and not commonly used, this perk is excellent at confusing killers. A true necessity for players who prefer to play stealthy, and also good for combining with any exhaustionbound perk to lose the killer more easily.

Lithe

Another useful Exhaustionbound perk. The nice thing about this perk is that it doesn't just trigger, you have to be in a chase. Which makes it impossible to accidently use it.

Stake Out

This might be an underrated option, but trust me. In high rank games almost all killers will run ruin, and you can't afford to run after the totem with all 4 survivors. Stake out is a very nice perk that will make doing gens so much easier, and allow you to selfcare faster during or after a chase. If skillchecks aren't your forté i highly suggest this.

TIER C PERKS

Adrenaline

Situations where this perk will help you survive are rather uncommon. This perk is kind of a hit and miss, because you will be glad you have it when needed, but most of the time it just kind of sits there in your load order and you wonder why the ♥♥♥♥ you're using it.

Aftercare

''All effects of this Perk are reset when you are hooked by the Killer'' Jikes. This perk couldve actually been better than empathy. Probably still more useful than bond though.

Alert

This Perk gives some map awareness which is always nice, and is also helpful for positioning when juking the killer around jungle gyms. But do you really wanna level Feng to lvl 40 for this?

Balanced Landing

In my opinion, the least exhaustionbound perk there is. Though the stagger reduce is nice, there is just much better out there. There just arent enough situations (hill chases) in which the perk will help significantly.

Boil Over

Ehh... I can see this work nicely on low to mid rank killers, but at the end of the day it wont make you escape faster, and high end killers will know hook locations. Since boil over is shown to the killer, an experienced killer will know that the hooks dissapear when he gets close, rendering a ''maybe the hook was sabo'd'' situation non existent.

Breakdown

I can see this being usefull, since most killers do come back to the hook when someone has been unhooked, and killers will almost always go for the injured survivor. Personally i believe that with a bit of map awareness you can easily predict where the killer is and have a good idea where to go to, without using this perk.

Calm Spirit

A nice small perk that counters Spies From The Shadows and will make you able to juke hide more easily.

Dance With Me

Kinda cool for juking, but most of the time the killer will still be able to see you. Great for a lithe + lightweight kinda combo, just not too efficient on its own.

Distortion

There aren't a lot of aura perks, even less which are commonly used. However: The perk counters bbq&chili, which is a very commonly used killer perk, but at the same time i feel like an experienced survivor can easily notice a killer is using bbq and just counter it by either going in a locker or coming closer to the killer before he hooks the survivor.

Diversion

I really wanted to give this perk a tier B because the possibilites for ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ the killer are huge, but the fact that you need to be within the killer radius and not be in a chase for 45 seconds kinda ruins it.

Kindred

Good for when you play alone and are new at the game. Often new players dont help people on the hooks, getting this perk will remind them someone has to come for you!

Leader

A real nice perk for when you play Survive with friends. Kind of dissapointing when playing alone, as you will often find yourself alone working on a gen and wondering why you even bothered taking this perk.

Prove Thyself

Nice perk, the bonus % is pretty decent, its good for gen rushing combo's and playing with friends. But even after the buff it has received, i don't take this a lot as i often play solo.

Quick and Quiet

This perk is extremely satisfying to use, and makes you feel like a Jukemaster2000 when you pull off a closet juke with this perk. Problem is that high rank killers wont fall for it during chases, which makes this perk rather useless at higher ranks.

Spine Chill

Spine chill is nice to have when you want to avoid confrontation with the killer. It basicly notifies you if he is coming your way and gives you enough time to respond.

Street Wise

Not much to say. A nice perk to get some extra seconds off your flashlight or medkit. It's also nice to use when going for gen rush combo's with a toolbox.

Technician

Nice perk for new players that struggle with the skill checks, and the hearing distance reduce is also handy for those who prefer stealth.

Unbreakable

The good thing about this perk is that the killer doesn't know you have it. The bad part about this perk is that in most cases the killer won't let you stay on the ground long enough for you to fully recover.

TIER D PERKS

Bond

Honestly dissapointing. Only use this if you play alone and run an altruistic team based perk combo. (And I'm not even sure why you would run an team based perk combo when playing alone).

Botany Knowledge

The bonus % healing isnt really worth to take up a perk slot honestly. Just roll Self care, or get a medkit with decent addons.

Dark Sense

When you complete a gen, the killer will almost always be preoccupied. If youre in a situation where the exit gates have opened and you don't know where the killer is, go for the exit that is the farthest from the last completed generator. The killer will most likely go to the exit gate which is closest to the last completed gen. Works 8/10 times and saves you a perk slot.

Left Behind

When you are the last survivor, going for the hatch is just a much better, easier, and less riskier option for you. And if the hatch hasnt spawned, you're probably ♥♥♥♥♥♥ either way.

No Mither

It works well with some combo's, but needs iron will/deadhard. A big downside to this perk is that killers can see you're using it, and therefore will almost always pick you up immediately and thus rendering the fully recover from dying state part useless. Not worth it considering you go down with 1 hit.

Pharmacy

In the case, that you dont run self care, dont bring a medkit, and all of your teammates are dead or banobos that don't help you, this could be useful, i guess. The noice reduction is rather weird because when you already search a chest in 2 seconds it doesn't really matter how much noice it makes.

Premonition

The big problem with this perk is that often the killer isn't even going towards you. This perk will make you unnecessarily scared thinking he is close and coming for you even though he is not. If you want a perk that gives you more time to react to a killer when he is approaching, use Spine Chill.

Resilience

Bonus % Isn't high enough to risk doing objectives while injured. Unless you run No Mither/Dead Hard, dont use this perk.

Saboteur

In the golden days, where hooks stayed disabled after sabotaging, this perk would've been an absolute tier A. but sadly now the only time where this perk is usefull is when you're against a trapper, and who takes a perk that you can only use in 1 out of 10 games?

Sole Survivor

This perk would be so good if it was turned around. Reducing the Killer reading aura range if there are multiple people alive, instead of the way it is now. Lots of the killer perks that affect aura are already useless when only one person is left alive, and thats why i find this perk super strange.

Tenacity

I honestly don't see why you'd want this. At the end of the day, unless you have unbreakable, which in itself is already mostly useless perk, you still need someone to pick you up. If the killer uses deerstalker then this perk is useless, and if the killer doesnt then u don't need the perk either way. I guess you could run this perk with a specific build.

Up The Ante

With only 3% extra luck at the rarest tier, this sad excuse for a perk isn't really worthy of your load order. It's nice that it counts for everyone in the team tho. It's stackable though, so thats something.

Vigil

I really liked vigil when exhaustionbound cds stil depleted when you ran, because it basically meant youd have a sprint burst every 30 seconds. Right now im not sure whether this perk is even worth the perk slot anymore.

Wake Up!

You honestly dont need this. just watch when the exit gates are powered. that should give you enough time to imprint where they are. the 15% is kinda nice, but the smarter tactic is to go to the exit gate which is the farthest from the last completed gen. you'll have enough time to open te exit gate. This perk is also countered by Remember Me, and thus getting rank D.

We'll Make It

The thing about this perk is that, if you unsafe unhook, you wont have enough time to heal someone even with this perk. And if you safe unhook, you have enough time even without the perk. Thats why even though it feels atruistic to have, this perk is kind of useless.

Windows Of Opportunity

All you need is a little bit of game knowledge and map awareness and you wouldnt need this perk. I can see new players choose this, but its not a perk an experienced player should use.

TIER E PERKS

Ace In The Hole

Are you the special snowflake that only plays Ace with his own perks? No? Then dont take this.

Autodidact

Think about it. You start with -25%, you need 2 tokens to even get up to normal speed, and you need 4 tokens to even get above Botany Knowledge (which has 33% and Autodidact will have 35% at 4 tokens). Unless you decide to take on the role of ambulance and all you do is run around and heal people, dont take this perk. And even then id advice Botany over this crap.

Déjà vu

Is it your first time playing this game AND you got spawned in the Léry Memorial Institute? NO? THEN DONT USE THIS PERK

Detective's Hunch

Are you new at the game, don't know spawn locations, and visually impaired? No? Then don't use this perk.

Hope

This is just a really bad version of adrenaline. The worst part about this is, is that the bonus % is so small that you won't even feel it and thus makes it feel even more useless than it is.

No One Left Behind

As a perk that only affects your bloodpoints and not gameplay in any way, it deserves TIER E and should only be used if you want to farm bloodpoints.

Object of Obsession

>Use this perk with the intention of pallet looping the killer.
>Get matched against nurse
>Get found instantly
>Hooked within the first 20 seconds
>Ragequit

Open Handed

*Clears throat and starts singing*
WHAT CAN I SAYYYYY EXCEPT, IT'S USELESS? FOR THE PERKSLOT IT TAKES IN. HEY ITS OKAY, ITS OKAY! IT'S USELESS. IT'S JUST A WASTE OF SPACE DONT TRY BOTHER EVER

Plunder's Instinct

When deciding to make this guide, the first thought I had was: What is, the absolute, most useless, boring, and unwanted perk ever? You guessed it.

Slippery Meat

Even though getting extra excape attempts can be nice, I don't recommend taking this perk. The escape chance is just too low and big chance someone is going to get you anyway. If you want a higher chance to escape hooks, just use deliverance.

Small Game

In another world where people often play Trapper or Hag, provided with that we could see the aura of the traps, this could be useful.

This Is Not Happening

I honestly don't see why you'd need bigger skill success zones when you're injured. What were the devs thinking? If they removed the injured part this could actually be a nice perk for beginning players.

We're Gonna Live Forever

As a perk that only affects your bloodpoints and not gameplay in any way, it deserves TIER E and should only be used if you want to farm bloodpoints.

[Cichy Mlecz]

do you are have stupid?

[Mags]

I have to disagree with some people in this guide, this, I'd say isnt the best well put together perks list. I'd say perks like bond or vigil are atleast b teir. Now I bet you are going to say something like I cant see your hrs or anything on your profile your probably a novice survivor player. You'd be right if you had about 2000 more hrs than you probably have right now. SO, in conclusion there should be some perks that could be switched around and I wouldnt mind talking to anyone about my opinion and why I think that certain perks are better. Hit me up. SEE YOU IN THE FOG

[Mirlorn]

Excellent. Well put together and explained. I'd love to see one on killer perks. I've narrowed it down to six I want to use, but I have to fit into four slots. lol

[kimmy]

One of the best tier lists I've seen for DbD. Most of the time, people screw up the ranks or put perks that they never use on a low rank when in actuality it is pretty underrated, like Lightweight. Upvoted.

[Cadmarcadlith]

I am a Special snowflake Ace with plunder's instinct and I am proud of it :D

[The Savii]

I really like your reasoning. Well done. Thanks.

[Larissa]

@dexuz,

Deadhard is indeed a really good perk, however its also very hard to use and as a high rank nurse i can say that even experienced players mess this skill up quite a bit. So i think we can both imagine how often low ranks fuck up or forget to use the perk

This perk is like Decisive Strike, however, there is no alternative for Decisive strike. Dead hard can be easily replaced by Sprint burst, or most other exhaustionbound perks.

TLDR; due to its difficulty to pull off and easier to use alternatives, this perk gets a tier B.


Hope this clarifies things,

Larissa

[dexuz]

No way is deadhard a tier B perk deadhard for sure one of the best perks in the game.

[Larissa]

Hi @cuckjew,

If you read my introduction. you can see that i rank the perks based on usefulness ingame, and whether it helps you towards survival. As a blood farming perk, We're gonna live forever doesnt do anything for you ingame and thus got a tier E.

Moreover, if I were in game I'd much rather get rescued by someone who has borrowed time ready or We'll make it. Those perks help me (and therefore also him) towards survival.

I'm not saying the perk itself is bad, actually the perk does quite give some bloodpoints and it's surely better than No One Left Behind. But this guide isn't for which perks give the most bloodpoints.

Though you are sure welcome to disagree, I hope this clarifies my decision.

Larissa.

[♥♥♥♥ gaming]

we're gonna live forever is a point farming perk, and isnt that bad.