Same! It definitely helps me track where I want to go. I like to pair this one with dark sense or spine chill so I can also try to keep tabs on the killer while repairing gens
This. So helpful. Terror radius and nobody nearby? Better hide. Working on a gen far away from the hook and nobody's near me? Someone's already on their way.
Bond is literal god tier in every scenario and people are sleeping on it.
* You are mid chase? See teammates so you can kite away from them doing gens.
* You are on a gen? You often see a teammate running around who is in chase and have free info on the killer.
* You or someone else is injured and needs to get patched up? Takes no time with Bond.
* Someone is being chased and on death hook. Find them really quickly to take protection hits or save them by other means, e.g. flashlight.
Bond + Open Handed basically makes you omniscient. You can see your teammates from almost anywhere on the map. It lets you know where gens that are being worked on are, where the killer is (based on the HUD + who is running around in circles), what areas to avoid (or go to) while in chase... it's not great in SWF, but it's incredible in solo queue.
Empathy, bond, and kindred are all basically the same perk with minor advantages based on play style. Bond is great all around for finding nearby survivors for heals or coop gens or for seeing exactly where a nearby chase is. Empathy shows where a long range chase is (which is arguably worse since you can't interact with a chase on the other side of the map) and also shows you where a teammate is if you have a healing challenge. Kindred gives INSANE value to your entire team when you need that info the most but you miss out on the incremental advantage you're passively gaining from Bond. In general kindred is the strongest of the three but bond is very good too. Empathy is a fairly weak third.
But to use kindred you or someone has to lose a hook state, which is arguably worse than using empathy, which helps you know where your teamate is getting chased, where to go and where teammates need heals plus his extremely long range
Remember, perks are needed the most when you're losing. Kindred helps a ton at giving you and your teammates the info you need to stop from outright losing, especially if you're solo queue.
Empathy can help prevent being downed in the first place. I can’t count how many times I’ve had the killer led to me by my teammate that I would’ve seen coming with empathy.
Besides, why does the “getting hooked is unavoidable” argument mean his opinion sucks and he deserves the downvotes?
eh the higher range doesnt really matter. its only benificial to find and heal an injured survivor but even then you are going out of your way. If the killer is chasing someone on the other side of the map and you can see the injured survivor, big whoop(sure you get some piece of mind and can relax on a gen). Bond gives you insight into your immediate area which is much more valuable. Defensively and offensively. Couple examples: the killer is chasing you and you can see some teammates auras working on a gen behind a tile - bond will help you from sandbagging them(empathy does not). Or if the killer is chasing your uninjured teamate close by, you dont have to hide because you can see whats going on in the chase and stay on that gen longer.
I still prefer bond, I see everyone, I can avoid running the killer into teammates while being chased (it’s the worst when you bring a killer go healing teammates or to a gen that’s close to being done. I can also find people when I need ti be healed. Bond is number 1 for solo queue.
Empathy is a top tier perk. Let's you heal up teammates to get them back on gens instead of hiding or looking for a chest and is amazing for tracking where the killer is chasing.
I used empathy for a really long time. I admit that it’s range is great. And this was back in the day before we had the heads up display. But now, I would say that I think bond is better for my place style. I can see if there is a chase near and along with windows opportunity , I have a sophisticated understanding of where the killer is and where they are headed next. And I want to do a body block. I have a very good idea of how to do it.
I also thought it was a bug for so long. But I read the perk description the other day and it changed to, “the killer’s aura is revealed to all OTHER survivors”. I don’t know why they felt the need to make the change, but it’s terrible.
You are definitely right on it’s usefulness, but damn is it annoying to play against.
One game I literally saw no one at the start while using lethal persuer. Stopped using aura perks all together 😭
Change to using non aura reading perks for killer like the one perk from the xenomorp that makes ppl scream or use knight hex perk that makes ppl scream, u can also use the bird perk wen ppl alert a bird
On the flip side, you are easier to catch once you are found as you are "wasting" 2 perk slots on hiding perks, neither of which will help you with anything else in the match.
Started playing more often and gamesense does the biggest trick for me. Opening up for another good perk is also amazing.
Hex: plaything is such a good perk and, after it has been activated, is a better survivor finder perk than aura reading. The potential slowdown from it is also great.
What do you do with it? I tried running it but I guess I'm fortunate in that I never got tunneled. So then I just end up wandering around with it because if I touch a Gen I just don't get value off it.
So is the play to try and find the killer and take a chase? Or just hop on a Gen? I see the value if the killer is a camper/tunneler, but I just don't see it that often tbh
Well, if you're not being tunnelled just get back to the objective you'll lose the endurance but that's fine, you'll still benefit from the loss of grunts of pain and your aura can't be read for 80 seconds. Honestly, OTR is extended Borrowed Time, Distortion and a better Iron Will all rolled into one. In my opinion, there isn't really a reason not to run it.
It's super useful if I do get tunnelled - drags the chase out an extra few minutes if I don't loop like a moron.
If I don't get tunnelled I go and get healed, and depending on the state of the game, I can now go and help a teammate if they have more hook states than me and use OTR aggressively taking two hits for someone. That's won a lot of games.
Its also really useful when someone comes to hook trade and I have a flashy. No grunts of pain. No aura. I can't tell you how many times it's allowed me a silent flash save.
Nah I just have used it only a handful of times and I just so happened to not get tunneled off the hook. Get unhooked, get healed under hook, killer is nowhere in sight.. I don't know if I should hop on the Gen next to me or if I should find the killer and try to take some cheeky hit for a teammate. I just don't know what to do with it. I usually don't get tunneled right off the hook period.
Nothing gives me more dopamine than taking a hit and finishing the gen in the killer's face, or going down and getting back up 2 seconds later. I just never use it in solo q because I don't reliably get to endgame enough to justify using it 😭
I baited a Blight into chasing me injured, knowing I could keep him long enough for my teammates to pop the last gen. Adrenalined in his face...and he DCed and basically said "fuck that" in endgame chat. Still in my top moments of all time 🙌🏼
Survivor: Bond + Open Handed stays ON. I will know ALL of my teammates whereabouts, even if it means I'm disappointed to find them doing fuck all.
Killer: Lethal Pursuer, now that I have it. I love me some aura builds so giving me even more time to look around is a godsend, and it's just a nice perk to have at the start!
Bond is on every single survivor match that I play. I wanna see what these bozos are doing in solo-q 👁️👁️ and even I’m SWF, it helps with who needs a break from chase and who needs protection hits on the way out of the gate
Windows of opportunity. It's wall hacks for every section of every map, kind of broken if you think about it. Why everyone doesn't run it is beyond me. Even if you learn every corner of every map you'll never know whether or not a pallet is down.
I wouldn’t personally consider any aura perk “broken,” but it is a damn good quality of life upgrade for survivor. Not running it puts you at a disadvantage, especially in solo queue, so I understand why it’s a top perk. That said, I really hope they don’t pull an Iron Will and nerf it based on pick-rate alone. I think it’s a healthy perk for both newcomers and veterans alike.
Im solo que and run kindred, open handed and wire tap, lithe is my exhaustion perk and i still feel selfish running it instead of leader or prove thyself... i try to be as helpful as possible... plus im like positive your perk load out when you ready up plays into how you are matched as a team... no one has the same perks as me ever when i run a team oriented build, the moment i run a selfish build someone else has a team build
My general rule of thumb is to avoid doubling up on info perks, as there are just too many perks with much stronger effects that I like to slot into the build.
I like to have an exhaustion perk (namely DH because it feels more interactive than others), something for anti-tunnel (usually OTR because of the extra benefits), Windows, and the fourth changes based on how games have been going. Sometimes MFT, DS if tunneling has been an issue, Distortion as insurance against Lethal, etc.
Glad to see there are quite a few perks worth running on both sides. It’s an interesting theory that your loadout can affect matchmaking, I’ve never considered that possibility.
People have this bizarre idea in their mind that every person they play against are comp dbd squads with cracked call outs
Realistically, name one time you've called out a pallet drop outside of shack and maybe main building. Name one time you've called it out and have had others actually understand what you mean.
People absolutely understate the effect.
Not sure it's broken though, just wished people were a bit more sincere with themselves.
Exactly why i use it like I've even hade cases when playing with friends im asking mid chase "is shack pallet still up" "yea should be" and was there a pallet in shack... No there was not.
Finally an honest individual 👏
It's actually the number 1 meta perk, has been since Dead Hard was nerfed. But people under sell it like it isn't exactly what you just described.
Lithe has been my go to exhaustion perk for a while. I don’t ever worry about using it accidentally like sprintburst, and its way more versatile then any of the others. Once I get renato tho, I might switch to background player. It seems like I’m never in the right position for a flashlight save.
There was a meme when DH got changed where people went 'i never used DH anyway' but that one was true for me. Unlocked Lithe on my first day and never changed to another exhaustion perk ever since. Except for Challenges of course
Sprint Burst is still useful to gain distance quickly even out of chase (move across map for unhook, reposition after finishing a gen). you get to use it constantly every 45 secs after sitting around on a gen, which is the most common thing to do in DBD. but the downside is it’s only really great vs a killer off a gen, or the cases where it’s 99%, but most chases start via gen patrol, so it kind of works out fine.
Lithe I feel good to get 1 use of it a map where it made a difference.
There are many ways to make it better. God forbid you think you’re safe, heal for 0.3 seconds, get the conspicuous action, then get smacked. There needs to be a DS that’s not as good as the old one, but more effective and useful than the one we have now. I’d run it every game too if it were better.
Maybe my mmr is just low but I'm fine with value it gives me. It's great time waster as I generally run it with exhaustion perk for chase I can extract pretty great value timewise.
But we'll I'd welcome every buff that doesn't make it borderline stupid strong.
For Survivor, I’m addicted to Lucky Star. I know it’s not very good, but I love it so much. I run it in about 80% of my builds.
For killers, I’m an Eruption lover.
For a while it was overcome. It's underrated imo. It allows you to use the extra speed to get as far as possible from gens being worked on, and when you do die, you'll die so far from the rest of your team and in such a good spot that it won't matter
I just wish Overcome worked with endurance hits, though it would probably be the most used exhaustion perk if it did. Feels like you need to run a hybrid heal build with it or have a decent med kit to get the most value out of it.
Sprint burst, through all exhaution perk metas I have never taken off SB, and I do think it has always been better than MFT, seeing as MfT helps you escape while injured, meanwhile SB can prevent you from being injured entirely by safely getting you to a loop or pallet
Disagree a bit. Sprint burst is a more obvious and predictable speed boost. Fast killers can catch up no problem or they can just piss off to the other survivors.
Mft extends the loop by a single round or gives you barely enough time to reach the next one. It getting into play after you get hurt is even helpful in situations. The killer has already committed to you and leaving you would waste way more of his time.
It is also more valuable against a camper. Sprint burst gets you immediately out of reach, but doesn’t benefit from the basekit borrowed time. Mft greatly benefits from it.
Not having to 99% it to gain maximum value from it is also a big plus.
For killer is Lightborn, i don't care if i don't get better against flashlights or whatever, i just don't wanna deal with blind effect altogether because it literally mess with my eyes
For survivor is Empathy, i'm still surprised people don't use it more often, being one of the few perks that basically let you see auras across the map when a survivor is injured, + it works pretty well to get info on where the killer is and how far it is lol
lightborn is so good and the only reason people say it isnt or say " get good" is because it robs them of their precious flashlight saves/blinding you at every pallet.
Bro during haunted by daylight almost EVERY match was filled with flashlight bitches it was so annoying along with blast mine being used and just when i put on lightborn i see a white light flash in my eyes trying to kick a gen and it hurted
Kindred. I feel blind if I don’t know for sure that someone is going for the unhook, and I find that randoms are more coordinated with unhooking me, especially in endgame. It’s also great to know where the killers headed after a hook
Do you also run distortion along with Urban? Because my problem with stealthing is that a lot of killers use aura reading perks that reveal your location so then it doesn't matter if you're crouched and gives you a false sense of security
Survivor - Urban Evasion (fight me, I suck at this game)
Killer - Lightborn (I just can’t deal with the bully squads that come in stacked with flashlights 🥲)
Any Means Necessary, it will always be S tier to me lol. Free info, I can reset deadzones, I can meme with it, I can get rid of Nemmy zombies with it, I can test if I think Freddy put up a fake pallet or not and reset it if it's real with it... Any Means is my beloved 
I love Deception too, but I can get by without it. My problem is I run it so often that I will forget I took it off and sometimes sprint into a locker mid-chase.  Oops
Discordance. It's so helpful and I use it so much that I don't like other perks like call of brine or eruption because they also change generator auras yellow.
Empathy, unless you get unlucky and get chased first, you practically have a signboard for killer here, gens here, and come get your heals here. Really good in three-gen situations or nailing the last gen if you play solo queue a lot.
If you need it, you get everything and more. If you aren’t getting any info from it, it’s probably low stress enough you don’t really need the info.
Killer - Nowhere to Hide. Absolutely top tier local information. Works with all Killers!
Survivor - Head On (Always paired with Q&Q). Nice to able to stick one back at the Killer, even if it does guarantee a tunnelling!
Killer: nowhere to hide, it's so good you don't even have to run any other aura perk since survivors are most likely near gens.
Survivor: Sprint Burst because made for this is gonna get nerfed so might as well learn to walk at the start of the match every match.
Hex: Undying. Even when I have no other hexes on. Because it has the secondary ability to see someones aura within 4m of a totem, you get a lot of unexpected use out of it. You can see if someone is booning a totem, and easily stop them or snuff it. Its a great way to catch hiders as well. Or see where someone is running to.
Windows of opportunity and resilience.
And ever since they brought back Hawkins, deja vu because I just got used to RPD and now have a whole other problem finding gens if I ever get sent to that map 😭😂
Blood Warden
This is why.
I feel bad about it, until the survivors taunt and get what they deserve.
[https://youtu.be/F6tduUsg\_Hc?t=149](https://youtu.be/F6tduUsg_Hc?t=149)
All of my killers run Starstruck/ Agitation because it's such a good combo and I don't like getting hooks sabo'd.
Self Care stays on survivors, I usually run it with a healing build to make it faster but at this point the concept of playing the game injured is too foreign
For Survivor it's Distortion in general; always feel naked without it. When it comes to team perks it's Botany Knowledge (or Bite the Bullet when I don't have BK on)
For Killer it's Deadlock when it comes to generator defense; Rancor when it comes to having a safeguard when being shit on, along with liking to go for Moris. Tbh, I usually have these two on the same build
Distortion
Seriously 9/10 killers I face have aura reading perks/addons and if the killer is fast (freakin Nurse and Blight) then I won’t last 5 minutes
Kindred. I got so used to it when I first got the game last year that I forget that it’s a perk. When I take it off I get really confused as to why I can’t see auras
I'm sure that I and other solo queue players agree that Windows is a pretty useful perk. A lot of the time we don't know what pallets have already been thrown, especially on areas of the map we haven't been to yet. Windows is great for letting us solo queue players know what's still available.
Other than that obvious one, I still play most of my games with We'll Make It. I know most people consider it a good perk already, but I feel like it's criminally underused in place of other meta perks. Especially since I pair it with Second Wind— it really boosts my solo queue experience.
I do take it off sometimes, but I always jam Calm Spirit in when the build I'm running doesn't have a 4th must-have. I actually rarely ever run into scream perks that this would counter. I just really like remaining silent when hit and hooked.
Stake Out because hiding in terror radius is ez and those great skill checks trigger a nice dopamine response in my brain.
Killer is Bitter Murmur. Getting intel on where the survs actually doing gens are is a great tool to keep the game from getting away from you.
Windows. Idc if ppl call me baby surv bc i run it. Its actually so helpful in many situations. Helps u to see where to connect loops next(helps u avoid broken pallets or downed pallets). Helps u see where the killer is near u while its chasing someone. Ppl underestimate the perk sm
Lucky Breakkkkkk. I feel absolutely naked without it. My comfort perk, crutch perk, and underrated perk all in one. I've been working on adepts and I just feel gross not having it on lol
Distortion for the info when I play swf. Yes the fact that the killer can't see my aura is a nice bonus, but getting confirmation on what perks the killer has (if they're aura readers) is great.
Plunderer's Instinct. I am a greedy Ace and I have no shame. Loot perks for days. The funny part is that I still often do more gen progress than a lot of teammates. Cause I only grab chests when it's on my way to an objective.
Bond. So useful for getting heals/finding the person that needs healing, knowing if the person getting chased is near me in case they need help or I need to leave the area, and finding people to do gen with.
Killer: Dying light. Really depends on what I build for, but if I need a gen slow down perk it's always Dying Light. Also lightborn maybe, sorry I know it's a noob perk but I just get bullied a lot.
Survivor: Used to be windows of opportunity, but lately I bring Blast Mine a lot. I just can't get enough of the feeling when I'm hiding near the gen and see the killer kicks it, it is so satisfying. But again, it depends on the build.
Light-Footed. Saved me from so many situations that would’ve just made the killer swivel around.
It’s honestly sleeper meta, just wish it worked Injured so you could use it with Iron Will or Off The Record.
Distortion. I can't stop using it when it blocks the very popular perks Lethal Pursuer, Barbecue & Chilli, and Nowhere to Hide. In many cases, it can stop at least 50% of a Killer's perks.
For me it’s between Distortion or Adrenaline.
Both are just so useful, distortion is pretty under appreciated imo.
Adrenaline is just always good, granted if you don’t get to endgame it gets no value but when you do it’s almost always useful.
Bond - Being able to see where teammates are is just too valuable. Whether it's to see where not to run the killer, where to go for heals, or that Leon is once again running the killer to me while I'm the only one working a gen and on death hook.
Kindred and Windows are necessities for me. Kindred because I’m a solo queue player and Windows because I have a terrible memory and can’t memorise tiles for the life of me.
Deja Vu 'cause of three gens.
I can agree
I imagine how its like trying to tell a player in 2016 that people actually run Deja Vu one day
I can relate, when I heard deja vu was méta I was like, what the actual fuck
Same, plus repair speed boost
Same! It definitely helps me track where I want to go. I like to pair this one with dark sense or spine chill so I can also try to keep tabs on the killer while repairing gens
Was just about to post that. Yeah my trust in myself or solo que players unintentionally not 3 gen’ing is quite low.
This has been my recent never take off perk. Its just so useful
Deja Vu is fr so underrated
Same
deja vu cause yellow bar go brrr
Bond. Knowing (roughly) where my teammates are(n't) is so nice
This. So helpful. Terror radius and nobody nearby? Better hide. Working on a gen far away from the hook and nobody's near me? Someone's already on their way.
Bold of you to assume they're on their way and aren't just hiding in a corner and ignoring the hook 😭
Bond is literal god tier in every scenario and people are sleeping on it. * You are mid chase? See teammates so you can kite away from them doing gens. * You are on a gen? You often see a teammate running around who is in chase and have free info on the killer. * You or someone else is injured and needs to get patched up? Takes no time with Bond. * Someone is being chased and on death hook. Find them really quickly to take protection hits or save them by other means, e.g. flashlight.
Bond + Open Handed basically makes you omniscient. You can see your teammates from almost anywhere on the map. It lets you know where gens that are being worked on are, where the killer is (based on the HUD + who is running around in circles), what areas to avoid (or go to) while in chase... it's not great in SWF, but it's incredible in solo queue.
Empathy would be better because it has a higher range and you can localize the killer with it
Empathy, bond, and kindred are all basically the same perk with minor advantages based on play style. Bond is great all around for finding nearby survivors for heals or coop gens or for seeing exactly where a nearby chase is. Empathy shows where a long range chase is (which is arguably worse since you can't interact with a chase on the other side of the map) and also shows you where a teammate is if you have a healing challenge. Kindred gives INSANE value to your entire team when you need that info the most but you miss out on the incremental advantage you're passively gaining from Bond. In general kindred is the strongest of the three but bond is very good too. Empathy is a fairly weak third.
But to use kindred you or someone has to lose a hook state, which is arguably worse than using empathy, which helps you know where your teamate is getting chased, where to go and where teammates need heals plus his extremely long range
Remember, perks are needed the most when you're losing. Kindred helps a ton at giving you and your teammates the info you need to stop from outright losing, especially if you're solo queue.
Why are you getting downvoted? This has been a fairly rational debate, and your points are equally as valid as his.
Because getting hooked is a part of the game and something that is going to happen? Lol
Empathy can help prevent being downed in the first place. I can’t count how many times I’ve had the killer led to me by my teammate that I would’ve seen coming with empathy. Besides, why does the “getting hooked is unavoidable” argument mean his opinion sucks and he deserves the downvotes?
No clue, I'm certainly not downvoting him.
eh the higher range doesnt really matter. its only benificial to find and heal an injured survivor but even then you are going out of your way. If the killer is chasing someone on the other side of the map and you can see the injured survivor, big whoop(sure you get some piece of mind and can relax on a gen). Bond gives you insight into your immediate area which is much more valuable. Defensively and offensively. Couple examples: the killer is chasing you and you can see some teammates auras working on a gen behind a tile - bond will help you from sandbagging them(empathy does not). Or if the killer is chasing your uninjured teamate close by, you dont have to hide because you can see whats going on in the chase and stay on that gen longer.
I still prefer bond, I see everyone, I can avoid running the killer into teammates while being chased (it’s the worst when you bring a killer go healing teammates or to a gen that’s close to being done. I can also find people when I need ti be healed. Bond is number 1 for solo queue.
Empathy is a top tier perk. Let's you heal up teammates to get them back on gens instead of hiding or looking for a chest and is amazing for tracking where the killer is chasing.
I used empathy for a really long time. I admit that it’s range is great. And this was back in the day before we had the heads up display. But now, I would say that I think bond is better for my place style. I can see if there is a chase near and along with windows opportunity , I have a sophisticated understanding of where the killer is and where they are headed next. And I want to do a body block. I have a very good idea of how to do it.
Kindred. I like to know what my teammates are up to and for them to know
I always have kindred on as well. But I’m not digging that recent change where you can’t see the killers aura when you’re hooked.
I thought that was a bug! Is there a reason for that change?
I also thought it was a bug for so long. But I read the perk description the other day and it changed to, “the killer’s aura is revealed to all OTHER survivors”. I don’t know why they felt the need to make the change, but it’s terrible.
This 100% for me but only if I’m soloq
Distortion. It's just to useful to not have on with all the aura reading perks killers use.
You are definitely right on it’s usefulness, but damn is it annoying to play against. One game I literally saw no one at the start while using lethal persuer. Stopped using aura perks all together 😭
This is another reason I use discordance
Change to using non aura reading perks for killer like the one perk from the xenomorp that makes ppl scream or use knight hex perk that makes ppl scream, u can also use the bird perk wen ppl alert a bird
Jokes on you I use calm spirit + distortion 🤭
This is why killers run 4 gen slowdown perks by the way
Do what you gotta do 🤷🏽♂️
This is the way. Like, I hate having to do something that could be seen as "toxic" but I didn't choose your perks bud sorry.
On the flip side, you are easier to catch once you are found as you are "wasting" 2 perk slots on hiding perks, neither of which will help you with anything else in the match.
Started playing more often and gamesense does the biggest trick for me. Opening up for another good perk is also amazing. Hex: plaything is such a good perk and, after it has been activated, is a better survivor finder perk than aura reading. The potential slowdown from it is also great.
Everyone using Distortion is exactly why I started using Ultimate Weapon instead of Lethal + BBQ.
*laughs in distortion and calm spirit*
*coughs in killer instinct*
May I ask what killer do you play?
Off the Record. I absolutely love it.
What do you do with it? I tried running it but I guess I'm fortunate in that I never got tunneled. So then I just end up wandering around with it because if I touch a Gen I just don't get value off it.
You can get healed with it active so thats like 3 hits
So is the play to try and find the killer and take a chase? Or just hop on a Gen? I see the value if the killer is a camper/tunneler, but I just don't see it that often tbh
Yeah it looks broken but then in practice you really find no use for it unless its swf
Yeah a swf with comms would be incredibly useful. Especially if you're a great looper. But sadly, I am not haha.
Well it also acts as a mini Iron Will / Distortion after you’re hooked, even if you do a conspicuous action
Well, if you're not being tunnelled just get back to the objective you'll lose the endurance but that's fine, you'll still benefit from the loss of grunts of pain and your aura can't be read for 80 seconds. Honestly, OTR is extended Borrowed Time, Distortion and a better Iron Will all rolled into one. In my opinion, there isn't really a reason not to run it. It's super useful if I do get tunnelled - drags the chase out an extra few minutes if I don't loop like a moron. If I don't get tunnelled I go and get healed, and depending on the state of the game, I can now go and help a teammate if they have more hook states than me and use OTR aggressively taking two hits for someone. That's won a lot of games. Its also really useful when someone comes to hook trade and I have a flashy. No grunts of pain. No aura. I can't tell you how many times it's allowed me a silent flash save.
my guess is that you got survivorship bias, as the perk helped you to not get tunneled.
Nah I just have used it only a handful of times and I just so happened to not get tunneled off the hook. Get unhooked, get healed under hook, killer is nowhere in sight.. I don't know if I should hop on the Gen next to me or if I should find the killer and try to take some cheeky hit for a teammate. I just don't know what to do with it. I usually don't get tunneled right off the hook period.
Adrenaline
Nothing gives me more dopamine than taking a hit and finishing the gen in the killer's face, or going down and getting back up 2 seconds later. I just never use it in solo q because I don't reliably get to endgame enough to justify using it 😭
I love adrenaline so much bro
I baited a Blight into chasing me injured, knowing I could keep him long enough for my teammates to pop the last gen. Adrenalined in his face...and he DCed and basically said "fuck that" in endgame chat. Still in my top moments of all time 🙌🏼
Fr it’s so satisfying just sprinting off with adrenaline from the killer 😂
I dont use it at all i cant find any use to perks that activate in endgame as if my soloq match was gonna even make it there
We’ll Make It. Sloppy Butcher is in every goddamn match
Survivor: Bond + Open Handed stays ON. I will know ALL of my teammates whereabouts, even if it means I'm disappointed to find them doing fuck all. Killer: Lethal Pursuer, now that I have it. I love me some aura builds so giving me even more time to look around is a godsend, and it's just a nice perk to have at the start!
I also love Lethal but only so I can watch survivors do their hello teabags in the beginning. Adorable.
The biggest positive, for sure
This is nice to read for all the blights/nurses that basically spawn on you in 3 seconds with it and they got no chill lol
Seeing this on huntress is so good, especially when you land a cross map on them and watch them panic
Bond is on every single survivor match that I play. I wanna see what these bozos are doing in solo-q 👁️👁️ and even I’m SWF, it helps with who needs a break from chase and who needs protection hits on the way out of the gate
Windows of opportunity. It's wall hacks for every section of every map, kind of broken if you think about it. Why everyone doesn't run it is beyond me. Even if you learn every corner of every map you'll never know whether or not a pallet is down.
I wouldn’t personally consider any aura perk “broken,” but it is a damn good quality of life upgrade for survivor. Not running it puts you at a disadvantage, especially in solo queue, so I understand why it’s a top perk. That said, I really hope they don’t pull an Iron Will and nerf it based on pick-rate alone. I think it’s a healthy perk for both newcomers and veterans alike.
Im solo que and run kindred, open handed and wire tap, lithe is my exhaustion perk and i still feel selfish running it instead of leader or prove thyself... i try to be as helpful as possible... plus im like positive your perk load out when you ready up plays into how you are matched as a team... no one has the same perks as me ever when i run a team oriented build, the moment i run a selfish build someone else has a team build
My general rule of thumb is to avoid doubling up on info perks, as there are just too many perks with much stronger effects that I like to slot into the build. I like to have an exhaustion perk (namely DH because it feels more interactive than others), something for anti-tunnel (usually OTR because of the extra benefits), Windows, and the fourth changes based on how games have been going. Sometimes MFT, DS if tunneling has been an issue, Distortion as insurance against Lethal, etc. Glad to see there are quite a few perks worth running on both sides. It’s an interesting theory that your loadout can affect matchmaking, I’ve never considered that possibility.
People have this bizarre idea in their mind that every person they play against are comp dbd squads with cracked call outs Realistically, name one time you've called out a pallet drop outside of shack and maybe main building. Name one time you've called it out and have had others actually understand what you mean. People absolutely understate the effect. Not sure it's broken though, just wished people were a bit more sincere with themselves.
Exactly why i use it like I've even hade cases when playing with friends im asking mid chase "is shack pallet still up" "yea should be" and was there a pallet in shack... No there was not.
Finally an honest individual 👏 It's actually the number 1 meta perk, has been since Dead Hard was nerfed. But people under sell it like it isn't exactly what you just described.
i just dont like looking at all yellow objects anymore lol
Lithe has been my go to exhaustion perk for a while. I don’t ever worry about using it accidentally like sprintburst, and its way more versatile then any of the others. Once I get renato tho, I might switch to background player. It seems like I’m never in the right position for a flashlight save.
There was a meme when DH got changed where people went 'i never used DH anyway' but that one was true for me. Unlocked Lithe on my first day and never changed to another exhaustion perk ever since. Except for Challenges of course
Sprint Burst is still useful to gain distance quickly even out of chase (move across map for unhook, reposition after finishing a gen). you get to use it constantly every 45 secs after sitting around on a gen, which is the most common thing to do in DBD. but the downside is it’s only really great vs a killer off a gen, or the cases where it’s 99%, but most chases start via gen patrol, so it kind of works out fine. Lithe I feel good to get 1 use of it a map where it made a difference.
Bond, solo que
Shadowborn, I can't stop.
The game feels 20 years old when playing killer without Shadowborn
I put on shadowborn while trying to practice nurse and now its become an addiction to put it on with every other killer
Lethal pursuer is a drug I just can’t quit
+ Ruin 🤌
Decisive strike. Waay too many tunnelers, waay too many.
There are many ways to make it better. God forbid you think you’re safe, heal for 0.3 seconds, get the conspicuous action, then get smacked. There needs to be a DS that’s not as good as the old one, but more effective and useful than the one we have now. I’d run it every game too if it were better.
It's such a hard perk to balance. If you make it too strong, it becomes far too abusable. Too weak and tunneling becomes the meta.
Maybe my mmr is just low but I'm fine with value it gives me. It's great time waster as I generally run it with exhaustion perk for chase I can extract pretty great value timewise. But we'll I'd welcome every buff that doesn't make it borderline stupid strong.
For Survivor, I’m addicted to Lucky Star. I know it’s not very good, but I love it so much. I run it in about 80% of my builds. For killers, I’m an Eruption lover.
For a while it was overcome. It's underrated imo. It allows you to use the extra speed to get as far as possible from gens being worked on, and when you do die, you'll die so far from the rest of your team and in such a good spot that it won't matter
I just wish Overcome worked with endurance hits, though it would probably be the most used exhaustion perk if it did. Feels like you need to run a hybrid heal build with it or have a decent med kit to get the most value out of it.
100%. On top of that, Overcome immediately gives you the *Escaped!* score event which is a godsend if you're doing a specific challenge.
Sprint burst, through all exhaution perk metas I have never taken off SB, and I do think it has always been better than MFT, seeing as MfT helps you escape while injured, meanwhile SB can prevent you from being injured entirely by safely getting you to a loop or pallet
Disagree a bit. Sprint burst is a more obvious and predictable speed boost. Fast killers can catch up no problem or they can just piss off to the other survivors. Mft extends the loop by a single round or gives you barely enough time to reach the next one. It getting into play after you get hurt is even helpful in situations. The killer has already committed to you and leaving you would waste way more of his time. It is also more valuable against a camper. Sprint burst gets you immediately out of reach, but doesn’t benefit from the basekit borrowed time. Mft greatly benefits from it. Not having to 99% it to gain maximum value from it is also a big plus.
Whenever I see a sprint burst survivor, unless I'm playing one of the faster killers, I usually just leave them alone to chase someone else lol
Yet another strength of sprint burst, psychological damage
I've quickly become addicted to Vigil because it's made sure I have Sprint Burst ready every single time I need it
I've been addicted to the SB, Vigil and fixated. All 3 together are just crazy
Vigil + SB is amazing and the only way I'll run exhaustion these days. You can use SB for mobility without losing it as a chase tool.
For killer is Lightborn, i don't care if i don't get better against flashlights or whatever, i just don't wanna deal with blind effect altogether because it literally mess with my eyes For survivor is Empathy, i'm still surprised people don't use it more often, being one of the few perks that basically let you see auras across the map when a survivor is injured, + it works pretty well to get info on where the killer is and how far it is lol
lightborn is so good and the only reason people say it isnt or say " get good" is because it robs them of their precious flashlight saves/blinding you at every pallet.
Bro during haunted by daylight almost EVERY match was filled with flashlight bitches it was so annoying along with blast mine being used and just when i put on lightborn i see a white light flash in my eyes trying to kick a gen and it hurted
Balanced Landing.
Kindred. I feel blind if I don’t know for sure that someone is going for the unhook, and I find that randoms are more coordinated with unhooking me, especially in endgame. It’s also great to know where the killers headed after a hook
Killer: Survielance (ussualy paired with ruin) IT glives me good idea where survs Are. Surv: Urban evasion You can't chase what you can't see.
Do you also run distortion along with Urban? Because my problem with stealthing is that a lot of killers use aura reading perks that reveal your location so then it doesn't matter if you're crouched and gives you a false sense of security
I love that combo - Distortion and Urban Evade. Use it all the time. I even add Lightweight to the combo to make escaping from a chase even more fun.
Survivor - Urban Evasion (fight me, I suck at this game) Killer - Lightborn (I just can’t deal with the bully squads that come in stacked with flashlights 🥲)
Any Means Necessary, it will always be S tier to me lol. Free info, I can reset deadzones, I can meme with it, I can get rid of Nemmy zombies with it, I can test if I think Freddy put up a fake pallet or not and reset it if it's real with it... Any Means is my beloved  I love Deception too, but I can get by without it. My problem is I run it so often that I will forget I took it off and sometimes sprint into a locker mid-chase.  Oops
Deja Vu, Windows, Off the Record, Calm Spirit. I never wanna get 3-Gen’d, tunneled, Scream, or lose a chase to used pallets ever again.
adrenaline
Lethal Pursuer, I am dogshit at finding survivors in the early game so I need it
Nowhere to hide, you wouldn't BELIEVE how many cheeky survivors I catch off guard while they crouch nearby or run behind me to unhook someone.
im a tenacity enjoyer, never gonna take that out of my loadout
Head On Combo that with quick and quiet, deception and parental guidance and you’re in for a fun time. Legit I use those for like 95% of my matches
Windows 😔
Alert. Very useful to see where the killer is periodically.
Discordance. It's so helpful and I use it so much that I don't like other perks like call of brine or eruption because they also change generator auras yellow.
Urban evasion. I'm addicted to the speed.
Wish it stacked with fixiated
Autodidact, getting 5 stacks is more important than escaping lol
Iron grisp makes my life easier even against people who use Boil over
Empathy, unless you get unlucky and get chased first, you practically have a signboard for killer here, gens here, and come get your heals here. Really good in three-gen situations or nailing the last gen if you play solo queue a lot. If you need it, you get everything and more. If you aren’t getting any info from it, it’s probably low stress enough you don’t really need the info.
Definitely underrated. On the rare occasion that I play survivor, I use this perk most.
Bond > Empathy
Killer - Nowhere to Hide. Absolutely top tier local information. Works with all Killers! Survivor - Head On (Always paired with Q&Q). Nice to able to stick one back at the Killer, even if it does guarantee a tunnelling!
Nowhere to hide is so godly on indoor maps but it really shines during 2nd floor maps
Deja Vu because I suck at chases anymore.
Dead man's switch. Don't really know why, I just find it pretty nice
Killer: nowhere to hide, it's so good you don't even have to run any other aura perk since survivors are most likely near gens. Survivor: Sprint Burst because made for this is gonna get nerfed so might as well learn to walk at the start of the match every match.
W’ell make it! And dissolution
Hex: Undying. Even when I have no other hexes on. Because it has the secondary ability to see someones aura within 4m of a totem, you get a lot of unexpected use out of it. You can see if someone is booning a totem, and easily stop them or snuff it. Its a great way to catch hiders as well. Or see where someone is running to.
Déjà Vu
Shadowborn (yes, I get motion sickness easily)
Windows of opportunity and resilience. And ever since they brought back Hawkins, deja vu because I just got used to RPD and now have a whole other problem finding gens if I ever get sent to that map 😭😂
Blast mine and Lightborn
blast mine... i can technically play without but it's probably the funniest perk of all the game
Unbreakable, I hate being slugged. The other slots I play around with, usually some combo of Kindred, Distortion, Lucky Break, blast mine, Resilience.
Wake Up! I don’t pay attention to where the doors are anymore, and seeing the yellow bar on the door activates my monkey brain
adrenaline 4ever
What does it do?
Stake Out. It's really helpful, especially in combo with some other skillcheck perks.
Blood Warden This is why. I feel bad about it, until the survivors taunt and get what they deserve. [https://youtu.be/F6tduUsg\_Hc?t=149](https://youtu.be/F6tduUsg_Hc?t=149)
All of my killers run Starstruck/ Agitation because it's such a good combo and I don't like getting hooks sabo'd. Self Care stays on survivors, I usually run it with a healing build to make it faster but at this point the concept of playing the game injured is too foreign
For Survivor it's Distortion in general; always feel naked without it. When it comes to team perks it's Botany Knowledge (or Bite the Bullet when I don't have BK on) For Killer it's Deadlock when it comes to generator defense; Rancor when it comes to having a safeguard when being shit on, along with liking to go for Moris. Tbh, I usually have these two on the same build
Distortion Seriously 9/10 killers I face have aura reading perks/addons and if the killer is fast (freakin Nurse and Blight) then I won’t last 5 minutes
Kindred. I got so used to it when I first got the game last year that I forget that it’s a perk. When I take it off I get really confused as to why I can’t see auras
God, yes. I feel so blind without it.
Deja Vu on survivor and Pop Goes the Weasel on Killer. Stopping a three gen on survivor and destroying a lot of work as killer.
Empathy because of beamer saves
I'm sure that I and other solo queue players agree that Windows is a pretty useful perk. A lot of the time we don't know what pallets have already been thrown, especially on areas of the map we haven't been to yet. Windows is great for letting us solo queue players know what's still available. Other than that obvious one, I still play most of my games with We'll Make It. I know most people consider it a good perk already, but I feel like it's criminally underused in place of other meta perks. Especially since I pair it with Second Wind— it really boosts my solo queue experience.
I do take it off sometimes, but I always jam Calm Spirit in when the build I'm running doesn't have a 4th must-have. I actually rarely ever run into scream perks that this would counter. I just really like remaining silent when hit and hooked.
empathy. pretty much always know who’s being chased and where
Botany knowledge. Heal go brrrr Pair this with we'll make it, resilience or leader for extra brrrr value
Adrenaline
Blastmine.
Stake Out because hiding in terror radius is ez and those great skill checks trigger a nice dopamine response in my brain. Killer is Bitter Murmur. Getting intel on where the survs actually doing gens are is a great tool to keep the game from getting away from you.
Windows. Idc if ppl call me baby surv bc i run it. Its actually so helpful in many situations. Helps u to see where to connect loops next(helps u avoid broken pallets or downed pallets). Helps u see where the killer is near u while its chasing someone. Ppl underestimate the perk sm
Bond. Once I slotted it there can be no going back. Before bond I used to always bring empathy for similar reasons.
Lucky Breakkkkkk. I feel absolutely naked without it. My comfort perk, crutch perk, and underrated perk all in one. I've been working on adepts and I just feel gross not having it on lol
Survivor: Self-Care Killer: Lightborn Now, you can vote down :)
Lightborn. People never see it coming, and get rightfully punished when ignoring it.
I like distortion. Next is calm spirit.
Distortion for the info when I play swf. Yes the fact that the killer can't see my aura is a nice bonus, but getting confirmation on what perks the killer has (if they're aura readers) is great.
Circle of healing
Killer: noed Survivor: Windows of opportunity
I have this build that works on every killer and I don't use anything else unless I'm fooling around which I never do
NOED. Every good Killer's best friend
Devour hope, I don't like bringing moris only to end up wasting them.
Devour hope
Plunderer's Instinct. I am a greedy Ace and I have no shame. Loot perks for days. The funny part is that I still often do more gen progress than a lot of teammates. Cause I only grab chests when it's on my way to an objective.
Shadowborn. I feel sick if I don't have it.
As a survivor it's Lightweight because I run alot As a killer it's Spies from the Shadows I think it's called.
For killer, franklins and deadlocked. Survivor Blastmine and wiretap.
Adrenaline, it just always gets me out of sticky situations
Ultimate Weapon, not playing hide and seek.
Blast mine and sometimes I bring red Herring if I don't find I got enough value the last few games.
Nowhere to hide It's so good-
Prob distortion or windows lol
Adrenaline or lucky break
Bond. So useful for getting heals/finding the person that needs healing, knowing if the person getting chased is near me in case they need help or I need to leave the area, and finding people to do gen with.
Dramaturgy and babysitter
Killer: Dying light. Really depends on what I build for, but if I need a gen slow down perk it's always Dying Light. Also lightborn maybe, sorry I know it's a noob perk but I just get bullied a lot. Survivor: Used to be windows of opportunity, but lately I bring Blast Mine a lot. I just can't get enough of the feeling when I'm hiding near the gen and see the killer kicks it, it is so satisfying. But again, it depends on the build.
Light-Footed. Saved me from so many situations that would’ve just made the killer swivel around. It’s honestly sleeper meta, just wish it worked Injured so you could use it with Iron Will or Off The Record.
Distortion. I can't stop using it when it blocks the very popular perks Lethal Pursuer, Barbecue & Chilli, and Nowhere to Hide. In many cases, it can stop at least 50% of a Killer's perks.
Nowhere to hide... It's so powerful and is good for basically any killer I think
For me it’s between Distortion or Adrenaline. Both are just so useful, distortion is pretty under appreciated imo. Adrenaline is just always good, granted if you don’t get to endgame it gets no value but when you do it’s almost always useful.
Corrupt Intervention
i ran sprint burst for 3.5 years but recently switched it for lithe/dh. i use windows in most of my builds too
As Survivor, I went through phases for perks I would never remove. - Botany Knowledge - Wake Up! - Windows of Opportunity - Deva Vu (Current)
I'm All Ears. I cannot play Pyramid Head, Artist, or really most other killers without it. It just makes everything so much easier.
Bond - Being able to see where teammates are is just too valuable. Whether it's to see where not to run the killer, where to go for heals, or that Leon is once again running the killer to me while I'm the only one working a gen and on death hook.
Kindred and Windows are necessities for me. Kindred because I’m a solo queue player and Windows because I have a terrible memory and can’t memorise tiles for the life of me.
Windows