5 best killer perks in Dead by Daylight 7.1.2a

New players appear to be joining Dead By Daylight every day. The game is free on the Microsoft Game Pass and goes on sale fairly often on the PlayStation and Steam marketplaces, so it is incredibly easy for any thrill-seeking gamer to come into contact with The Entity and enter the world of the popular asymmetric horror title.

Since the killer is arguably the most appealing of the two potential roles for new players, it can be a great help for them to know what perks are the best in the current state of the game. These types of abilities and bonuses may require you to progress on another killer before you can use them. Some may even need to be purchased from the Shrine of Secrets. Here are the perks you should be using as a killer in Dead by Daylight.

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Top 5 essential Dead By Daylight killer perks

1) Jolt

Official artwork for the Stranger Things chapter for Dead By Daylight (Image via Behaviour Interactive)

Jolt is one of the most accessible perks on this list and was originally introduced in the game as Surge. It was a teachable perk that could be unlocked by purchasing it from The Demogorgon's bloodweb. However, after Behaviour Interactive lost the license to Stranger Things, the characters and cosmetics from the series were removed from the game's store. Thankfully, all of the character-exclusive perks were released as base-kit perks.

Jolt is a simple but incredibly effective perk that instantly breaks generators within a given radius of the killer after they knock down a survivor with a basic attack. This perk is very effective on characters that can only down through basic attacks, like The Clown, The Wraith, and The Shape.

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2) Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

Official artwork for Dead By Daylight (Image via Behaviour Interactive)

The best kind of killer perks are those that naturally get value through intended gameplay and not the ones that require a special strategy to play around. Scourge Hook perks have quickly become some of the most beloved in the game since they only require killers to hook survivors on specially marked hooks. Since killers need to hook survivors to win, these perks are very easy to get value from.

Pain Resonance used to be one of the most used perks in the game, and it is still going strong after a major nerf. The effect is rather simple—when a survivor is hooked on a marked hook, the generator with the most progress takes 20% damage, and survivors working on it will scream, revealing their location. This perk can be unlocked by reaching Prestige 1 with The Artist.

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3) Franklin's Demise

Official artwork for Dead By Daylight (Image via Behaviour Interactive)

Franklin's Demise lets killers force survivors to drop their held items after being struck with a basic attack. The perk fails to be very effective if the lobby of survivors does not bring any items with them, but it is very oppressive in higher MMRs where flashlight squads and gen-rushing toolboxes run rampant.

Franklin's Demise is very good on all killers as the initial first hit with it typically keeps survivors from going back to retrieve their lost item since they can just lose it again right away. This perk can be unlocked by reaching Prestige 1 with The Cannibal.

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4) Lethal Pursuer

Official artwork for Dead By Daylight (Image via Behaviour Interactive)

Killers looking to dominate a match must be able to effectively pressure the survivors. While some prefer Corrupt Intervention for this purpose, the introduction of perks like Made for This and Plot Twist (that make it easier for survivors to down themselves) has made Corrupt Intervention much easier to deal with. As such, many have turned to Lethal Pursuer.

Lethal Pursuer grants the killer aura reading abilities that show the location of all survivors for the first few seconds of the match. This perk also increases the time the killer can see auras from add-ons of other perks by two seconds. This perk can be unlocked by reaching Prestige 1 with The Nemesis.

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5) Pop Goes The Weasel

Official artwork for Dead By Daylight (Image via Behaviour Interactive)

Pop Goes The Weasel used to be notoriously run on every killer worth their salt in Dead By Daylight. While it has seen some nerfs that knocked it somewhat out of relevance in recent times, it is still great for slowdown builds and can combo with other potent slowdown perks like Pain Resonance and Call of Brine.

This perk grants the killer an empowered break action against generators after hooking a survivor. Once a survivor has been hooked, Pop Goes The Weasel activates and deals additional damage equal to around 20% of the generator's current progress at the time, leaving it in a damaged state afterward. This perk is unlocked after reaching Prestige 1 with The Clown.