When people suggest perks for beginners, they usually recommend things to help with chase, repair generators, vault, etc… I’m not taking that approach. While there’s nothing wrong with that, those perks won’t take away the stress of learning a new game while being hunted by a killer.
The perks in this post will help you feel more at ease with the game by knowing where people are and not having to worry about missing skill checks. Also, since you won’t have to constantly look over your shoulder, they’ll give you time to get familiar with the HUD (Heads Up Display) and overall game play. Think of these perks as training wheels. Once you’re comfortable, you’ll replace them with something more useful.
If you’re not familiar with the HUD, here are a few posts about it:
- Dead by Daylight: Status Effects for Beginners
- Dead by Daylight: Character Icons for Beginners
- Dead by Daylight: Activity Icons for Beginners
A Bit About Perks
There are two types of perks in Dead by Daylight, Unique and General. Unique perks are the three that come with a character (i.e. Dwight’s teachable perks are Bond, Leader, and Prove Thyself). General perks are those that are available to all characters.
Unique perks can be shared once the character who they’re made for reaches Prestige Level One. When that happens, those perks will be available in the Blood Web for all your playable characters as Tier 1 perks. If you Prestige the character to Level Two, they’ll be shared as Tier 2 perks, and the same goes for Level Three.
When a perk mentioned in this post is unique to a character, that character’s name will be in paratheses. If you don’t have a character with a perk mentioned, that does not mean you have purchase them with iridescent shards or auric cells. There are enough general perks to use until you decide if picking up the extra character is worth it. You can also look for it in the Shrine of Secrets.
The Perks
I’m going to break the perks in this post down into two categories, Aura Reading and Generator Repair. Aura Reading perks will allow you to know where your teammates and the killer are. You’ll also know what they’re doing by their stance; if they’re hunched over, they’re injured, crouched, hiding, etc… Generator Repair perks will either removed the alert from a missed skill check or expand the success zone.
So, with that said, let’s get started.
Aura Reading
The aura reading perks are:
- Alert (Feng Min): Whenever the killer breaks or damages something, you can see their aura for 3/4/5 seconds. The duration depends upon the perk tier.
- Bond (Dwight Fairfield): the auras of all survivors are revealed to you when they’re within 20/28/36 meters of you depending on the perk tier.
- Dark Sense (General): when a generator is completed, the aura of the killer is visible for 5/7/10 seconds depending on the perk tier.
- Kindred (General): when a survivor is hooked, you see the killer’s aura if they’re within 8/12/16 meters of you. You will also see your teammates’ auras. If you are the hooked survivor, the auras of the other survivors are seen by your teammates
Seeing the aura of the killer will give you a sense of how safe it is for repairing generators, healing injured teammates, and cleansing totems. That alone will take off some stress. And if you’re being chased, knowing where your teammates are will let you know where not to run. Remember, run away from generators and hooked survivors when being chased by the killer.
Since the aura is the shape of the character, you can usually tell who they are and what they’re doing. The HUD will also tell you if someone is injured or repairing a generator.
Below is a video of Shane working on a generator. Bond shows Kate’s aura as she heals herself in the basement (left) and Kwon’s as he crouches behind something (right).
Generator Perks
The generator perks are:
- Déjà Vu (General): you can see the aura of the three closest generators. You also get a repair speed boost of 4/5/6% depending on the perk tier.
- Teamwork: Full Circuit (Dustin Henderson): for each survivor repairing the generator with you, the size of the skill check zone increases by 15/20/25% depending on the perk tier. Repair speed increases by 5% when working with another teammate.
- Technician (Feng Min): decreases repair noise by 8 meters and suppresses explosions from missed skill checks. There is a 5/4/3% penalty for missed skill checks depending on the perk tier.
- This is not Happening (General): increases the success skill check zone for healing and repairing generators.
Technician and Teamwork: Full Circuit are good for people who have a hard time with skill checks. Technician will remove the generator exploding sound while Teamwork: Full Circuit will make the success zone larger. You can also use This is not Happening instead of Teamwork: Full Circuit if you don’t have Dustin.
Below is a video of me playing Dwight using Alert, Teamwork: Full Circuit, Kindred, and Bond. If you look in the background, my teammate (also Dwight) is being chased by Springtrap in shack. When Springtrap breaks a thrown pallet, Alert shows his aura. You can also tell that the Dwight being chased is injured by his stance and the scratch marks over his face in the HUD. Sorry, but there were four Dwights in this match.
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. If you want to play a few trials with me, feel free to ask.