As a Killer, your only objective in Dead by Daylight is to kill all the Survivors before they can escape. Naturally, in order to kill them, you’ll have to find them first. The Survivors have to do generators to escape, so you can frequently find them simply by patrolling, but some Survivors can be pretty sneaky. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of all the best perks that can help you find even the most ninja-like Survivors.

You should generally only be taking one or two of these perks in your build (with the exception of Barbecue & Chili, which is worth slotting into any build to increase Bloodpoint gain)

Note that this list only includes viable perks — there are other perks that technically help you find Survivors, but are generally not useful and therefore not listed.

Teachables: Some of the recommended perks here will require you to either purchase/unlock specific Killers, or else find the perk in the Shrine of Secrets. You can go to our guide on Perks and Loadouts for more information on Teachables and the Shrine.

A Nurse’s Calling

The Nurse Teachable

A Nurse’s Calling reveals the aura of any survivor healing or being healed within 20/24/28 meters of you.

28 meters isn’t incredibly far, but it’s far enough, especially for Killers that can move around the map quickly. If you’re going to use A Nurse’s Calling, make sure you actually use it: make a point of hunting down wounded Survivors if you suspect they are trying to heal.

Synergizes well with Sloppy Butcher, Thanatophobia, and Killers with high mobility.

Awakened Awareness

The Mastermind Teachable

While carrying a Survivor, the auras of all other survivors within 16/18/20 meters of you are revealed.

This perk threatens survivors who travel too closely together, especially those who try to follow the Killer for a quick Survivor unhook. For maximum effect, make sure you are looking around at much as possible whenever carrying survivors; if you have time, do a quick glance in any obvious directions right before hooking the Survivor you are carrying.

Pairs well with Thrilling Tremors.

Barbecue & Chili

The Cannibal Teachable

Barbecue & Chili activates each time you hook a Survivor. While this perk is active, the auras of Survivors further than 40 meters from the hook will be revealed to you for 4 seconds. Additionally, you will gain a token the first time you hook each Survivor, and each token grants 25% bonus Bloodpoints up to a maximum of 50/75/100%.

Being able to potentially track the 3 other Survivors right after you hook someone can be very powerful. However, this perk loses effectiveness the more experienced the Survivors are, since it is relatively easy to avoid having one’s aura read by BBQ — if Survivors get into a locker, or position a gen between themselves and you, you won’t be able to see their aura. That being said, the extra Bloodpoints are always great.

Pairs well with a healthy desire to earn extra Bloodpoints.

Bitter Murmer

Available to All Killers

Each time Survivors complete a generator, the auras of all Survivors within 16 meters of the completed gen are revealed to you for 5 seconds. When the last generator is completed, the auras of all Survivors are revealed to you for 5/7/10 seconds.

As with A Nurse’s calling, this is a Perk best utilized by the more mobile Killers. Otherwise, if you’re across the map when a generator is finished, the information Bitter Murmer gives you won’t be particularly useful. The 10-second reveal of all Survivors when the last generator is done can be useful no matter what, however, and is especially strong if you’re running Hex: No One Escapes Death.

Pairs well with Hex: No One Escapes Death.

Call of Brine

The Onryō Teachable

After damaging a Generator, Call of Brine activates for 60 seconds, causing the Generator to regress at 150%/175%/200%, and revealing its aura. Whenever a Survivor completes a Good Skill Check on it, you will receive a Loud Noise notification.

This perk is for those moments when the Survivors seem to always be back repairing your Generators right after you damage them. This can let you know when Survivors have gone back to repair a Generator you just kicked, letting you know to double back.

Pairs well with perks for damaging generators, like Eruption, and with high-mobility Killers.

Darkness Revealed

The Dredge Teachable

When you search a Locker, the auras of all Survivors within 8 meters of any locker are revealed for 3/4/5 seconds. It has a cooldown of 30 seconds.

Many Trials are packed with Lockers, or have Lockers which are very close to objectives like Generators, Crates, or Exits. Darkness revealed allows you to exploit that fact from anywhere on the map, revealing Survivors near any locker. It should be noted that it will not show the auras of Survivors in lockers, though, so it shouldn’t be relied upon to figure out whether Survivors actually using the lockers.

Pairs well with Trials that have many lockers.

Discordance

The Legion Teachable

If 2 or more Survivors are working on the same generator within 64/96/128 meters of you, you receive a Loud Noise Notification and the generator is marked by a yellow aura while 2+ Survivors remain on the generator.

At rank 3, this perk essentially covers the entire map, and will immediately let you know if Survivors are teaming up on a gen. This lets you know where at least 2 survivors are, and gives you a pretty obvious place to go and hunt for your next victim(s).

Pairs well with Hex: Ruin.

Hex: Retribution

The Deathslinger Teachable

Survivors who are cleansing a Dull Totem suffer from the Oblivious status effect (unable to hear Terror Radius) for 35/40/45 seconds. After a Survivor cleanses a Hex Totem, the auras of all Survivors are revealed to you for 10 seconds.

This perk only really works in two specific builds. The first is where you pair Hex: Retribution with Hex: Haunted Ground (and perhaps Hex: Ruin as well). Otherwise, chances are high that someone will cleanse it while you already know where a Survivor is, making it a wasted perk. The other build is where you run Hex: Retribution and Hex: Undying (see below).

Synergizes well with The Nurse, Hex: Haunted Ground and Hex: Ruin, or Hex: Undying.

Hex: Undying

The Blight Teachable

Reveals the aura of any Survivor within 2/3/4 meters of a Dull Totem. When another Hex Totem is cleansed, that Hex is transferred to Hex: Undying (including any tokens), and Hex: Undying is disabled.

Running Hex: Undying makes playing with Hex: Ruin much less of a gamble, since Survivors will have to find 2 hex totems before they can cleanse Ruin. As mentioned above, this can also be used in conjunction with Hex: Retribution to easily catch Survivors who cleanse Dull Totems.

Syngergizes well with Hex: Ruin and Hex: Retribution.

Hoarder

The Twins Teachable

Triggers a Loud Noise Notification for 4 seconds whenever a Survivor unlocks a chest or picks up an item within 32/48/64 meters. It also spawns two additional chests.

While difficult to justify when compared to perks which help you locate Survivors on Generators, since Survivors both must work on Generators, and will work on more of them than they will open chests, this perk can still give you valuable information, both on where Survivors are, and on which ones might have an item to take into account.

Pairs very well with Discordance and Bitter Murmur.

I’m All Ears

The Ghostface Teachable

Any Survivor performing a rushed action within 48 meters of you has their aura revealed for 6 seconds (60/50/40 second cooldown).

Rushed actions usually give a Loud Noise Notification, making this perk pointless in most situations. However, in a chase, I’m All Ears makes it possible to outplay and surprise Survivors after they’ve fast vaulted a window, since you’ll have 6 very long seconds in which you can see exactly where they are.

Pairs well with high walls.

Lethal Pursuer

The Nemesis Teachable

At the start of the trial, the auras of all Survivors are revealed to you for 7/8/9 seconds.

It’s only worth taking this if you truly struggle to find Survivors at the start of the match, or if you’re a Killer with high movement speed. That being said, it’s such a reliable way to start your first chase that it’s worth listing, even if it tends to be outclassed by other choices.

Pairs well with high-mobility Killers.

Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage

The Onryō Teachable

When the Trial begins, 4 random Hooks become Scourge Hooks. If a Survivor is unhooked from one of these, the aura of all other Survivors are revealed for 5/6/7seconds.

This perk is excellent for Killers who expect Survivors to unhook each other, and go on the hunt immediately after hooking someone. It turns the action of unhooking someone into a dangerous one for Survivors, forcing them to deal with giving intel whenever you hook someone. It can also show you where the unhooking Survivor goes immediately after – this can be especially useful if you can see them immediately healing the unhooked Survivor.

Pairs well with killers who have high mobility, and with other Scourge Hook perks.

Spies from the Shadows

Available to All Killers

Crows startled by Survivors within 20/28/36 meters cause a Loud Noise Notification.

Since crows are so littered around many Trials, this perk is useful for pinpointing Survivors if you can first track them down to a specific area. They are almost sure to bump into a crow while sneaking or running away from you.

Pairs well with outdoor Trials.

Surveillance

The Pig Teachable

The aura of any regressing generator is highlighted by a white aura. If regression is halted on a generator, it will be highlighted by a yellow aura for 8/12/16 seconds. Surveillance also increases the range at which you can hear generator repair noises by 8 meters.

This perk helps you find Survivors in a roundabout kind of way: you’ll know if any generators stop regressing, and the only way for that to happen is if a Survivor starts repairing them. It’s advisable to run some kind of perk that helps you regress generators; Hex: Ruin is the obvious choice, but something like Oppression or Surge can work as well. If you aren’t doing so, make extra certain you’re kicking generators whenever possible.

Synergizes well with Hex: Ruin, Oppression, or Surge.

Thrilling Tremors

The Ghost Face Teachable

After you pick up a Survivor, all generators not currently being worked on by Survivors will be blocked for 16 seconds. The auras of blocked generators are highlighted by white auras. 100/80/60 second cooldown.

As you can see, any generator that isn’t blocked when you pick up a Survivor must have someone on it, and so this perk immediately lets you know which gens are currently being worked on when you pick up a Survivor. It’s best to look around as you carry the Survivor to the hook, but 16 seconds is long enough that you should have plenty of time to glance around and figure out which gens are being worked on.

Pairs well with being able to down Survivors.

Tinkerer

The Hillbilly Teachable

Triggers a Loud Noise notification whenever a Generator is repaired to 70%, and grants you Undetectable for 12/14/16 seconds. Can only be triggered once on each generator.

This perk is good for locating which Generators the Survivors are working on, and then having a brief window to get the drop on them. You need to be able to get over to the Generator fast enough to stop the Survivors from finishing it, and preferably while you still have Undetectable.

Pairs well with high-mobility Killers.

Rancor

The Spirit Teachable

You become Obsessed with one Survivor. Each time a generator is completed, your aura is revealed to the Obsession for 5/4/3 seconds, and all survivor’s auras are revealed to you for 3 seconds. Once all 5 generators are completed, the Obsession suffers from the Exposed status effect (downable in one basic attack), and you can kill the Obsession by your own hand (kill them without hooking them).

This is similar to Bitter Murmer (it provides better info but for less time) until the last gen is powered, when it also becomes a discount Hex: No One Escapes Death. It makes getting at least one kill much easier, and the vision you get when a generator is completed is fairly useful as well. Since you can only see the Survivors for 3 seconds, faster Killers will find this more useful than the slower ones.

Pairs well with high-mobility killers.

Whispers

Available to All Killers

You will sometimes hear the whispers of The Entity when a Survivor is within 48/40/32 meters. More importantly, this perk will go from dull to lit when a Survivor is within the perk’s range.

While not as accurate as Spies from the Shadows, it works even if Survivors are hiding in lockers or crouch-walking around the edges of the map. While not my favorite perk, some people swear by it, and it’s extremely helpful if the last few Survivors insist on hiding and attempting to wait for everyone else to die.

Pairs well with immersed Survivors.

We hope this guide was helpful! If you have questions, comments, or feel we missed a great perk, just use the comments section below to let us know.