5 Worst Perks in Dead By Daylight

The addition of Springtrap to Dead By Daylight as part of the Five Nights At Freddy’s crossover has successfully brought me back to the game, ending yet another hiatus taken from everyone’s favorite (and longest lasting) asymmetrical horror experience. As a player who takes these long breaks from DBD, it’s always interesting to see how the meta changes during my absence, with balance changes making older builds absolute and elevating new ones to the meta. Even more interesting are the things that stay the same, with some perks in the game remaining universally hated by the community for years.

Skill and experience play a pretty big factor in Dead By Daylight, and some perks that you consider useless may actually be hidden gems. That being said, this list consists of the perks for both Killers and Survivors that the community seems to have formed a majority consensus on, considering them some of the worst perks in Dead By Daylight.

Please note, this list does not cover the current PBE build, which will add new content to the game.

1) Shattered Hope – Killer

This perk for Killers allows you to stomp out a boon totem instead of snuffing them out, destroying the totem in the process and revealing any Survivors nearby in the process.

While the aura reveal can be useful, the niche of this perk makes it a waste of a perk slot in all but the rarest of games, with Survivor boons falling out of the meta after the nerf of Circle of Healing. Furthermore, many players feel like the ability this perk gives you should just be a standard action available to all killers, and wasting a perk slot for what they feel should be there already doesn’t sit well with many Killer players.

2) Slippery Meat – Survivor

This perk allows Survivors to make up to three more self-unhook attempts from the hook, and increases the chance of self-unhooking by 4% at max rank.

In exchange for a perk slot, this perk gives you a total of 8% chance of unhooking yourself, or if you count all three attempts, 24%. Considering you can only self-unhook during your first hook, and the odds are still incredibly low, I don’t think I really need to explain why this perk is considered so bad.

Interestingly enough, this perk used to give you bonuses to escaping from Trapper’s beartraps as well, making it a really fun counter to the Killer should you happen to take it into a match with him.

3) Unrelenting – Killer

At max level, this perk reduces the cooldown for a missed attack by 30%.

It’s not terrible in theory, and there are certainly some cases in which that reduced cooldown can be the difference between catching a Survivor or losing them. However, if you miss an attack on a Survivor, chances are they are going to gain enough ground on you that the reduced cooldown won’t be enough to counter. Plus, you’re sacrificing a perk slot for an ability that only works if you fail your attack, which isn’t a very good trade-off.

4) Premonition – Survivor

This is sure to be the most hotly contested perk on this list. At max level, Premonition reads “Receive an auditory warning upon looking in the Killer’s direction within a 45-degree cone within 36 meters.” After this effect triggers, the perk goes on cooldown.

It’s rare that you’re going to be in a position where this perk triggers before you hear the Killer’s terror radius or actually see the Killer themselves. Premonition’s auditory warning may be ideal for an anti-stealth Killer radar, but you’re trading an entire perk slot for an ability that comes in clutch on very niche occasions, and then doesn’t do too much for you in the process.

5) Hoarder – Killer

Hoarder gives you a loud noise notification when a Survivor opens a chest or picks up an item within a certain radius of you. It also spawns two additional chests for Survivors to find in the trial.

By giving survivors two additional chests and taking up a perk slot, you essentially get a worse version of Dracula’s Human Greed or Dominance perks. While I’m sure some may swear by this perk, personally, it seems like a big waste to me.