Patch 10.0.0 did not shake the S-tier. The Nurse, The Spirit, The Oni, and Albert Wesker remain the four best killers in the game. What the patch did do is make more killers genuinely viable through a pair of perk changes: Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance dropped from a 40-second cooldown to 30, and Eruption from 30 to 20. That is the difference between "too slow to matter" and "hooks into a full regression engine." Chase-weak killers like The Trapper, The Hag, and The Plague can now win games they would have lost pre-patch. The Skull Merchant had a rough patch. And the old Ruin-or-bust hex meta is finally dead. For perk build recommendations per killer, see our Patch 10.0.0 killer builds guide.
We have hand-tested all 26+ killers across 35 perk combos in high-MMR ranked play to build this list. Tiers reflect performance against coordinated Survivor teams - not what is fun to play or easy to pick up. A killer can be D-tier and genuinely enjoyable; that is a different question.
This list is specifically for Patch 10.0.0, released June 16, 2026. Patch notes affected the perk layer more than individual killer powers, which means the meta shift is about build viability - not raw kit strength. That context matters for reading the tier placements below.
What Patch 10.0.0 actually changed
Before the tier list: the patch changes that drove the meta shift.
Three perk changes define the new meta:
Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance - cooldown reduced from 40 to 30 seconds. This is the biggest single change. Pain Resonance now triggers frequently enough to be the foundation of a full regression strategy, not just a nice secondary perk. Every hook on a Scourge Hook deletes 15% generator progress. At a 30-second reset, that stacks meaningfully across a standard match.
Eruption - cooldown reduced from 30 to 20 seconds. Previously too slow to combo reliably with Pain Resonance. Now stacks cleanly, making the gen kick + hook cycle a viable primary win condition.
Hex: Plaything - significant buff. Now reveals the Obsession for 5 seconds after the totem is cleansed. This opens non-Ruin hex builds that were previously unplayable - Hex Party (covered below) works more consistently now because Undying + Plaything creates a two-layer totem defense.
The practical effect: the killer meta shifted from "run Ruin or lose early" to "hook-based regression through Pain Resonance and Eruption." Killers who could not reliably defend totems are no longer penalized for running non-hex builds. That directly lifts chase-weak killers who need consistent perk value regardless of early-game totem luck.
All killer strategy still consolidates around three pillars: Slowdown (blocking gens early), Regression (deleting gen progress on events), and Chase (shutting down loops). Patch 10.0.0 changed the best tools in the Regression slot - not the underlying framework.
The complete killer tier list (Patch 10.0.0)
Tiers ranked on: chase viability, gen pressure, map control, high-MMR performance, meta build synergy, and skill expression ceiling.
| Tier | Killers |
|---|---|
| S | The Nurse, The Spirit, The Oni, Albert Wesker |
| A | The Ghost Face, The Plague, The Cenobite, The Knight, The Artist |
| B | The Clown, The Nightmare, The Huntress, The Demogorgon |
| C | The Trapper, The Wraith, The Hillbilly, The Trickster |
| D | The Legion, The Twins, The Skull Merchant |
S-tier killers
These four killers are dominant in skilled hands. Patch 10.0.0 did not touch any of them - they are S-tier through kit strength, not perk dependency.
The Nurse
The highest skill ceiling in the game. Her Blink ability teleports through walls, pallets, and obstacles - rendering every standard loop in Dead by Daylight irrelevant. A loop that works against every other killer is simply not a loop against a competent Nurse.
The flip side: she is punishing to learn. Early-game Nurse play involves a lot of missed blinks and downed Survivors walking away to finish generators. The skill floor is genuinely high. But once the mechanics click, the skill expression is the best in any killer kit.
Recommended build: Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Grim Embrace + Bamboozle. Bamboozle is less relevant on Nurse than other killers (she can blink over windows anyway), but the regression core is the same - hook pressure generates gen deletion without totem dependency.
Nothing in Patch 10.0.0 moves her. She remains the scariest killer at high-MMR.
The Spirit
Information + chase dominance in one kit. Her Phase Walking creates an impossible-to-read chase state - the Survivor does not know where she is, she does. The reads-based gameplay rewards experience over raw mechanics.
Spirit pairs particularly well with the new Stealth and Stalk archetype. I'm All Ears gives her additional Survivor position information during Phase Walk. Thrilling Tremors and Dead Man's Switch punish the Survivors who try to capitalize on her phase time by rushing gens.
She is weaker early-game and relies on building positional reads over several chases. Against good headphone users who listen for audio cues, her effectiveness drops. But at the MMR ranges where most players operate, she is still S-tier.
The Oni
The snowball killer. Blood Fury charges from any Survivors taking damage - get one hit, and the next chase potentially ends with a one-hit-down through obstacles. Two early injuries and Oni is already running a fundamentally different game than any other killer.
The issue is the windup. Pre-Blood Fury Oni is a slightly-above-average M1 killer. If Survivors play clean for the first two minutes, he has not triggered his power yet. Patch 10.0.0 actually helps here - Pain Resonance and Eruption reduce how much gen progress Survivors can accumulate during that windup window.
Best with: Gen Kick / Pain Engine build. The regression pressure during early game buys him time to build Blood Fury charges without hemorrhaging generators.
Albert Wesker
The strongest licensed killer in the game. His Ouroboros dash creates zone pressure that forces Survivors to commit to vaults or pallets early, and his Virulent Bound follow-up punishes that commitment. Infected Survivors who take a second hit become incapacitated - it is asymmetric pressure that escalates across the match.
He is complex. Power management, knowing when to dash versus walk, reading vault/pallet decisions in real time - Wesker rewards deliberate, patient play over aggression. The skill ceiling is almost as high as Nurse, and the payoff is comparable.
A-tier killers
Strong killers that reward specific playstyles or build archetypes. These killers gained the most from Patch 10.0.0's new build diversity.
The Ghost Face
The best setup killer in the current meta. Marked stalk applies Exposed, which converts Ghost Face from a map-walker into a one-hit-down threat. The problem pre-patch was that the builds to support patient stalking were weak - Ruin dependency meant losing totems early gutted your pressure.
Now, the Stealth and Stalk build (I'm All Ears + Thrilling Tremors + Dead Man's Switch + Corrupt Intervention) runs without hex dependency at all. I'm All Ears reveals Survivors scratching gens and unhooking - exactly the information a stalking killer needs. Thrilling Tremors and Dead Man's Switch punish gen-rushers while he is setting up marks.
The counterplay is still there - Survivors who spot the crouch icon can break the mark. But against average coordination, Ghost Face's pressure window is more consistent than ever.
Recommended build: I'm All Ears + Thrilling Tremors + Dead Man's Switch + Corrupt Intervention
The Plague
The biggest winner of Patch 10.0.0 among A-tier killers. Pre-patch, Plague was genuinely weak: her power (infecting Survivors and consuming the corruption for one-hit downs) required Survivors to cleanse, and if they did not, she just had a slightly inconvenient M1 killer.
The Regression Quartet build (Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Eruption + Pop Goes the Weasel) changes her entirely. Plague does not need to win chases - she needs to apply hook pressure and kick generators. Every hook triggers Pain Resonance. Every gen kick triggers Eruption and Pop Goes the Weasel. The map control game turns Plague's weak-chase kit into a feature: she is not trying to catch anyone, she is making generators impossible to complete.
"Chase-weak killers are finally viable. Plague is A-tier with proper build support."
Recommended build: Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Eruption + Pop Goes the Weasel
The Cenobite (Pinhead)
Portal traversal + the ability to summon Cenobites makes Pinhead one of the highest-information killers in the game. His chain hunt mechanic creates constant low-level map pressure even when he is in a chase. He is not a chase killer - he is a pressure killer, and Patch 10.0.0's regression builds let him lean into that fully.
The learning curve is real. Understanding where to drop portals, how to chain hunt in parallel with gen pressure, when to use Cenobites versus portal camping - it takes matches to internalize. But the payoff is genuine high-MMR viability.
The Knight
Underrated in community tier lists. The Knight's Guards provide chase assistance and patrol pressure simultaneously - while he is chasing, a Guard is patrolling a generator. That dual-pressure play style is strong when paired with slowdown builds.
The ceiling is below Ghost Face or Plague in the current meta, but the floor is more forgiving. His power does not require the patient stalking setup that Ghost Face demands.
The Artist
Consistent pressure and information through Dire Crows. Crows reveal auras on hit and persist in their location, triggering on any Survivor who moves through them. It is passive map information that rewards positioning - knowing where not to chase because a crow will catch the Survivor cutting through that area.
In skilled hands, the Artist creates a zone-denial game where Survivors are funneled into predictable paths. She is less accessible than the other A-tiers but genuinely strong at high MMR.
B-tier killers
Solid killers with real strengths, but match-dependent or with specific skill floors that cap their ceiling.
The Clown
Map-dependent in a way that most killers are not. On indoor maps with tight loops, Intoxication clouds are strong - they cut off vault routes and slow Survivors to the point where a chase ends quickly. On open-terrain maps, thrown bottles require more accuracy than the payoff justifies.
If you are comfortable on indoor maps (Léry's, Gideon, Midwich) or consistently get good map offerings, Clown punches above his tier listing. In general map pool play, he is B-tier with a high floor.
The Nightmare (Freddy Krueger)
Dream World gives Freddy a persistent information advantage - Survivors in the dream state have aura reveals active, and they cannot act on generators at full efficiency. The problem is that Survivors can wake up at will by interacting with generators or alarm clocks, which breaks his pressure loop.
He pairs well with Corrupt Intervention for early-game blockage while he establishes Dream World. The information game is real, but it does not translate to chase wins the way S-tier kit powers do.
The Huntress
Hatchets are one of the highest-skill-ceiling mechanics in DBD. A Huntress who can land long-range throws through windows and around rocks is genuinely terrifying - the extended attack range breaks survivor loops that every other M1 killer has to engage with directly.
The problem is the inverse: a Huntress who cannot land hatchets is a slower M1 killer with a long reload time. She is arguably the most skill-dependent killer in the game in the sense that her tier placement is almost entirely skill-floor determined. High-MMR Huntress is top of B-tier. Low-accuracy Huntress is D-tier.
The Demogorgon
Map-dependent like Clown, but in the opposite direction - Demogorgon is strongest on large outdoor maps where portals provide meaningful traversal advantage. On indoor maps, his portal value drops off and Shred has too many collision issues with walls.
The Shred ability is genuinely good in skilled hands: it vaults through pallets, covers distance fast, and creates pallet-burning pressure that other killers cannot replicate. But the map dependency keeps him out of A-tier.
C-tier killers: post-patch gainers
All four of these killers gained from Patch 10.0.0. They are not climbing out of C-tier, but the gap between them and the B-tier above has narrowed.
The Trapper
The oldest argument in DBD: "Trapper would be good if Survivors just did not carry every trap away." Post-patch, that argument matters less. The Regression Quartet build means Trapper does not need his traps to close out games. He needs to apply early-game pressure, get hooks, and let the perk engine delete generator progress.
That said, Trapper's setup time is still a real cost. You are spending the first minute of every match placing traps instead of chasing. Against coordinated Survivor teams who split off generators immediately, that window is costly.
"Actually playable now with regression support. Map control + gen pressure changes the game for killers like Trapper."
The Wraith
Wraith's identity problem is that his invisibility power does not create a meaningful threat - it creates a jump-scare. Once Survivors learn to watch for the shimmer and pop bells early, the power loses most of its value. He becomes an M1 killer with a speed boost.
He benefits from Corrupt Intervention more than most killers because the early-game gens-blocked window is the only window where his invisibility approach genuinely catches Survivors off guard. After that first minute, experienced Survivors play around him.
The Hillbilly
One of the highest skill ceilings in the game, locked behind a power that punishes misuse more than almost any other killer. The Chainsaw creates instant downs on hit - but the hitbox requires tight loop awareness, and the revving animation is loud and telegraphed. Survivors who hear the chainsaw can pre-plan their next move.
Perfect Hillbilly play (knowing when to commit the chainsaw vs. step back) is close to Nurse-level difficult. It is just that the execution ceiling is lower because a missed chainsaw does not punish as badly as a missed Blink.
The Trickster
Blade stacks on hit, deep wounds from accumulated stack counts, solid pressure without needing to commit to a full down. He is a consistent low-risk pressure option - but that low-risk framing also means low-ceiling. He does not win games through dominance, he wins by attrition.
D-tier killers
These killers require either heavy build support to achieve average results, or have kit-level issues that perks cannot fully address.
The Legion
Feral Frenzy is fast and jumps over pallets, but the mending requirement post-hit is the problem. Survivors mend in roughly 12 seconds when not chased, which means Legion's power converts into a time tax rather than genuine chase pressure. At high-MMR, disciplined Survivors mend immediately and Legion's early-game frenzy does not translate into hooks.
The Regression Quartet helps - if Legion can get consistent hook pressure, the gen deletion from Pain Resonance and Eruption slows the game down enough that mend-time becomes meaningful. But you are asking Legion to succeed at something he is not built for (consistent hooks without chase dominance) to enable the perk engine.
The Twins
Victor provides chase extension and Charlotte handles presence, but the split control mechanic is genuinely clunky in ways that are not fully addressable by practice. Victor-pounce into Charlotte-pickup into resuming chase is smooth when it lands. When it does not - Victor getting stunned, Charlotte too far away - it is a significant time loss.
The floor is the issue. A player who has put in hundreds of hours on Twins can make the kit work. That same player on any A-tier killer gets better returns.
The Skull Merchant
The hardest hit by Patch 10.0.0, though technically her nerfs came slightly before the main patch. Drone changes and Alarm Status penalties reduced her map-control ceiling significantly. She is playable, but the version of Skull Merchant that was drawing complaints for camping drone stacks is no longer the live version.
The five meta builds (Patch 10.0.0)
Every killer in this list runs one of these five build archetypes. Which one depends on your killer and your playstyle.
The Meta Squeeze
(works on every killer)
Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Grim Embrace + Bamboozle. The universal build. Corrupt Intervention blocks three gens for 20 seconds of early-game breathing room. Pain Resonance + Grim Embrace creates a hook-based regression engine that does not need totems. Bamboozle converts window-reliant loop strategies into free downs. Nothing is dead weight.
Gen Kick / Pain Engine
(aggressive playstyle)
Pop Goes the Weasel + Corrupt Intervention + Eruption + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance. For killers who hook-and-run. Every hook + gen kick combination deletes 15-25% progress. At Eruption's new 20-second cooldown, the combo resets fast enough to chain across multiple generators.
Regression Quartet
(chase-weak killers)
Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Eruption + Pop Goes the Weasel. Four regression sources. Designed for Trapper, Hag, and Plague - killers who cannot win most chases against skilled Survivors. The game plan shifts from "win chases, get hooks" to "apply map pressure, make generators impossible." Viable post-patch in a way it was not before.
Stealth and Stalk
(setup killers)
I'm All Ears + Thrilling Tremors + Dead Man's Switch + Corrupt Intervention. For Ghost Face, Doctor, and Pig. Information first: I'm All Ears reveals Survivors at generators and unhooks. Then punishment: Thrilling Tremors and Dead Man's Switch lock generators while you are occupied elsewhere. No hex dependency, high information, rewards patient play.
Hex Party
(chaos / RNG)
Hex: Ruin + Hex: NOED + Hex: The Third Seal + Hex: Undying. Undying protects the other hexes. Ruin is the durable core. Third Seal blinds Survivors mid-chase. NOED is endgame insurance. This is meme-tier in concept and wins more games than it should. Hex: Plaything's buff makes the totem defense layer more consistent now. For killers comfortable with variance (Hag, Plague, Twins).
For deeper build breakdowns with perk interaction analysis, see our Patch 10.0.0 killer builds guide and the full survivor perk tier list for counterplay context.
How this list changes over time
Tier lists are snapshots. A few things could move killers up or down before the next major patch:
S-tier is sticky until BHVR directly nerfs kit powers. Nurse, Spirit, Oni, and Wesker have all survived multiple perk meta resets at the top because their strength comes from their abilities, not from builds. Perk changes affect their ceiling less than they affect every other killer.
Jason Voorhees (The Slasher) is currently rated in our separate post on his current viability given the mid-patch nerfs. He is not placed here because his tier position shifted post-release in ways that deserve their own analysis.
Skull Merchant's floor may be lower than D-tier if BHVR does not revisit her kit design. Right now she is playable. But the gap between her ceiling and any B-tier killer is larger than any other placement gap in this list.
If you are climbing on a specific killer and want a deeper build breakdown, every build listed above has a full combo walkthrough on dbdperkcombos.com with perk interaction notes and killer-specific variants.
Try DBD Perk Combos
If you are here for killer tier lists, you are probably already thinking about builds. DBD Perk Combos maintains 35 hand-tested killer and survivor builds updated for every patch - with the testing methodology visible, the killers used named, and the reasoning behind each slot explained. Not streamer opinions. Not copy-paste Reddit threads. Builds that have been run in ranked matches and graded by what they actually produce.
The killer builds section has extended analysis on every build listed in this post, including which killers run each archetype best and how perk interactions change across power sets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best killer in Dead by Daylight in 2026?
The Nurse remains the strongest killer in DBD as of Patch 10.0.0. Her ability to blink through obstacles makes her essentially unchaseable for unprepared Survivors. The Spirit and The Oni are close behind in S-tier. For a full breakdown, see our Patch 10.0.0 killer tier list.
What changed for killers in Patch 10.0.0?
Patch 10.0.0 buffed Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (cooldown 40s to 30s) and Eruption (cooldown 30s to 20s), shifting the meta away from Ruin-dependent totem builds toward hook-based regression. Hex: Plaything was also significantly buffed. The result is broader viable build diversity, especially for chase-weak killers like Trapper and Plague.
What is the best killer build for beginners in Patch 10.0.0?
The Meta Squeeze: Corrupt Intervention + Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance + Grim Embrace + Bamboozle. It works on every killer, requires no totem RNG, and covers slowdown, regression, and chase all in one build. See the full build breakdowns here.
Is The Nurse still overpowered in 2026?
Yes. The Nurse has been S-tier since her introduction and Patch 10.0.0 did not touch her power. Her Blink ability bypasses all loops and pallets, making every standard loop strategy useless. The only thing keeping her balanced is the extreme skill ceiling - a poor Nurse loses badly. A skilled Nurse is the hardest counter in the game.
Which killers improved the most after Patch 10.0.0?
Chase-weak killers benefited most. Trapper, Hag, and Plague moved from borderline viable to comfortably C-to-B tier because the Regression Quartet build (Corrupt Intervention + Pain Resonance + Eruption + Pop Goes the Weasel) lets them win through gen pressure alone. Ghost Face, Doctor, and Pig also gained through the new Stealth and Stalk build archetype.