Before you even begin playing Dead by Daylight, you have to choose a character. The game will start you with Dwight Fairfield, and most people will go with him. But how do you know if he’s the best choice? And how do you find someone different to play? Well, this post is here to give you some pointers.
Keep in mind that I’m going to concentrate on survivors, but the same concepts can be applied to killers.
Start with the Free/Unlocked Characters
The game begins with your character on the right (Dwight Fairfield if you’ve never played) and the options for making changes and adding perks on the left. The first option looks like an outline of a person. Click on the button and a menu with all the available characters appears.
In the list, the top two rows will have the free characters. Below them are the ones with prices in Auric Cells (the yellow symbol) or Iridescent Shards (the symbol with the red center). As you can guess, they’re not free. You pay for them with one of the two currencies. Auric Cells are purchased while Iridescent Shards are earned during game play.
To choose a character, click one, then click on the Perk button (it’s above the list of characters, and to the right of the search bar) and the specific perks for them will pop up. Hover over each perk to find out what it does. You can do the same with the characters.
Character Perks
Every character starts with three perks specific to them. Each perk has three tiers, with each tier being more powerful than the previous one. Since you probably just want to start playing, find a free character with a Perk or two that sounds helpful.
Although any of the free options are a good place to begin, I suggest starting with either Dwight Fairfield or Meg Thomas.
Dwight’s perks are:
- Bond allows you to see the aura of your fellow survivors
- Leader speeds up healing, gate opening, totem cleansing, healing, sabotaging, and unhooking
- Prove Thyself increases generator repair speeds by a stackable percentage per survivor within 4 meters of you
Meg’s perks are:
- Quick and Quiet suppresses any action that will alert the killer, such as vaulting or exiting a locker
- Sprint Burst, increases your running speed for three seconds
- Adrenaline allows you to instantly heal one health state and make haste when the gates are open
The game will start you with one available perk slot, then allow you to fill in more as you play until you reach a total of four. Once you play a few games and earn some Blood Points, start purchasing items from the Bloodweb.
Items, Offerings, and Perks
The next button down is to help you choose the perks and items available to you. You’ll have your character perks and a few others to choose from. You can also pick some items to bring with you to the trials.
To choose a perk or item, click on the slot where you want to add it. A list of items, add-ons, or perks will display on the lower portion of the screen. To find out what each item does, hover over it and a menu will pop up explaining its benefits. Below is a description of each.
- Item: This is a tool to help with game play, like a map, a toolbox, a key ring, etc… You get to use one item.
- Add-on: These enhance the item chosen to bring. You get to use up to two add-ons.
- Offerings: This is offered to the Entity at the beginning of each trial. These will award extra Blood Points, send all the players to a specific map, etc… You get one offering.
- Perk: These enhance a character’s skills with specific abilities. You get to choose up to four perks.
Perks, items, add-ons, and offerings are purchased in the Bloodweb using Blood Points. You get to the Bloodweb by clicking on the bottom button on the left. If you do not survive a trial, any items you bring with you will be lost. All offerings are consumed prior to the start of the trial. Your perks will stay with you.
The Bloodweb
As you play trials, you earn Blood Points, which can be found next to the red triangle on the upper right of the screen. Blood Points are earned by unhooking players, hiding from the killer, escaping from the killer in a chase, working on a generator, etc… Basically, anything you do other than walking around will earn Blood Points.
The Bloodweb has 50 levels, and once they’re all completed, your character advances by one Prestige. When you reach the first Prestige, the perks specific to them can be shared with any character you decide to play at tier one. If you Prestige your character to two, the perks can be shared at tier two. The same goes for Perstige three.
As an example, let’s say you’ve been playing Nea Karlsson because you want the Urban Evasion perk but have also been eyeing Jake Park. You can play Nea until she gets past the first 50 levels in the Bloodweb, then start playing Jake Park with all of Nea Karlsson’s specific perks at tier one.
Since you’re new to Dead by Daylight, I suggest playing a few trials (which is the actual game) and racking up some Blood Points. You can read my post for tips on how to use the Bloodweb here (Dead by Daylight, the Bloodweb for Beginners).
You Don’t Have to Play a Character to Advance Their Perks
That’s right. You don’t have to play a character to get their perks. Simply continue the game with the one you want (i.e. David King) and when you’re between trials, switch to the character whose perks you want (i.e. Jake Park), then go to the Bloodweb and start buying items. When you run out of Blood Points, switch back to David King and resume playing. Keep doing this until you advance Jake Park to level 50. Once there, you’ll have Jake’s perks available for David King.
Hopefully you found this post helpful. As always, feel free to reach out to me on social media with questions, comments, or just to say hello.