This is not a tier list built from Reddit hot takes. It's built from data - specifically, from the 18 survivor combos we hand-tested across patch 10.0.0. If a perk keeps earning a slot when we build completely different roles, it's near the top. If it never earns one, it's at the bottom. Every effect number below comes from the perk description, and every combo count comes from the build pool.
How these tiers were built
Eighteen builds is not a huge sample and I will not pretend it is. It is enough to kill a myth though. The method is simple: for each build I asked whether removing a perk would break it, or whether I would just swap something in. Perks that broke the build went up. Perks I swapped without thinking went down.
Then I checked the effect text, because most loud perk arguments are really arguments about numbers nobody read carefully. Prove Thyself gets quoted as a flat percentage. The real text gives you a stackable 6/8/10% per other Survivor within 4 metres, capped at 18/24/30%.
S-Tier - 4 or 3 of the 18 builds
Kindred
Whenever any Survivor is hooked, the Killer's aura is revealed to all Survivors once that Killer comes within 8/12/16 metres of the Hook. If you are the hooked one, all Survivor auras are revealed to each other. If you are not, the other Survivors' auras are revealed only to you. That conditional is why it tops the list: the reveal is free, it fires constantly, and it does not care whether you are healthy or carrying an item. It appears in 4 builds across totally different roles, from the backbone of Aura-Reading Awareness to the info slot in The Altruist. The weakness is real: it does nothing until someone is hooked, so against a Killer who never hooks take Eyes of Belmont.
Sprint Burst
Starting to run triggers it: a +50% Haste Status Effect for 3 seconds, then Exhausted for 60/50/40 seconds. That is the whole perk. The haste is instant, it needs no aura read, and it fires the moment you commit to running. It also appears in 4 builds, spread across Anti-Slug, Endgame Runner, The Generator Push and The Runner. A perk that means something different in four builds is one you will never regret taking.
Prove Thyself
Repair speed goes up 6/8/10% per other Survivor within 4 metres, to a maximum of 18/24/30%, and the effect covers everyone in range. Three builds use it: The Generator Push, Saboteur / Gen-Rat and Wake Up! Closer. What earns it S-Tier rather than A-Tier is that the bonus scales with your team instead of with your skill. Pair it with Hyperfocus or Resilience.
A-Tier - 2 of the 18 builds
Every perk in this grade appears in exactly two builds and is role-defining. You do not take these because they are generically strong, you take them because you have decided what this Survivor is for.
Unbreakable
Once per Trial you can completely recover from the Dying State, and Recovery speed goes up on top of that. Two builds: Anti-Slug and Anti-Tunnel Divert. This is not a perk you take because self-preservation is always good, it is a perk you take because you have a specific Killer in mind who puts people down and walks away.
Decisive Strike
After an unhook it activates for 40/50/60 seconds. Get grabbed or picked up, land the Skill Check, and you stab out of the Killer's grasp, stun them for 4 seconds, and become the next Obsession. Two anti-tunnel builds. Two clauses kill it more often than people admit: it deactivates once the Exit Gates are powered, and it deactivates permanently if you perform a Conspicuous Action, which is the game's phrase for running like a normal human.
Adrenaline
Once the Exit Gates are powered you instantly heal the equivalent of 1 Health State and gain a +50% Haste Status Effect for 3 seconds. It ignores an existing Exhausted effect, then causes Exhausted for 60/50/40 seconds. Two builds: Endgame Runner and Wake Up! Closer. Best clutch button in the game and most overestimated perk in the same breath.
Hope
Once the Exit Gates are powered you get a permanent 5/6/7% Haste Status Effect. That is the entire effect, and it is the rare perk that gets better the more haste you already have. Two builds: Beginner Friendly and Endgame Runner. Nothing for the first twenty minutes.
Eyes of Belmont
Whenever a Generator is completed, the Killer's aura is revealed to you for 1/2/3 seconds. It also extends the duration of every other instance of the Killer's aura being revealed to you by 2 seconds, and it benefits from its own effect. Two builds: Aura-Reading Awareness and The Wallhacks Key Build. The +2 second extension is the part people skip. Stacked with Dark Sense, which reveals the Killer for 5/7/10 seconds within 24 metres after a gen is completed, you get two triggers on one event.
Resilience
Increases your action speeds for repairing, healing, sabotaging, unhooking, vaulting, cleansing, blessing, opening and unlocking by 3/6/9% when Injured. Two builds: Saboteur / Gen-Rat and Wake Up! Closer. The most underrated perk on the page. No condition beyond being hurt, and it improves the nine actions you spend a match performing.
Head On
Hide in a Locker for 3 seconds, rush out, and you stun a nearby Killer for 3 seconds. Exhausted follows for 60/50/40 seconds, and it cannot be used while Exhausted or with Idle Crows. Two builds: Chase-Stun Payback and Locker Build (Hide & Stun). Three seconds of stun from a Locker is a full pallet stun for the cost of a hiding spot. The gating is what stops it being S-Tier.
Inner Strength
Each Totem you cleanse heals you 1 Health State while hiding inside a Locker for 10/9/8 seconds, as long as you are injured or suffering the Deep Wound status effect. It does not activate while Broken. Two builds: Locker Build (Hide & Stun) and Totem Hunter. The trigger is the Totem cleanse, not the Locker.
Finesse
Whenever you are healthy, fast vaulting is 20% faster, on a cool-down that starts at 40 seconds. Two builds: The Runner and The Lithe Highway. Vault speed matters in the last stretch of a chase when you are healthy, because that is when you are being swung at. Once injured it does nothing.
Wide Open Throttle
10/12.5/15% Haste for 3 seconds, the pallet is immediately reset and blocked by the Entity for 60 seconds, then a 60 second cool-down. Two builds: The Lithe Highway and The Slasher Counter. The pallet reset is the perk. When the Killer breaks your pallet, most Survivors lose the tile. With this, the pallet is back up and blocked for a full minute, so they waste that time or vault through your fresh one.
B-Tier - strong in one specific build
One build each. That is not low, it is narrow. Every perk here is the reason a particular build functions, and each is close to worthless outside it.
Quick Gambit
While you are being chased, the auras of other Survivors are revealed to you and their repair speed goes up 3/4/5%, on a 60 second cool-down after losing a Health State. One build: The Generator Push. This is the perk that defines the loon strategy, where you take a chase on purpose so the team can work.
Windows of Opportunity
The auras of breakable walls, Pallets and Windows are revealed to you within 24/28/32 metres. One build: The Runner. Free information in a chase, with no Exhausted cost. It loses to Quick Gambit in the same chase because that one also gives the team a repair bonus, but it loses in slot one because it only helps you.
Off The Record
For 60/70/80 seconds after an unhook, your aura cannot be read by the Killer, grunts of pain are suppressed, and you are granted the Endurance status effect. One build: Anti-Tunnel Divert. The aura block is what makes this anti-tunnel rather than general stealth: the Killer cannot confirm you exist, so they cannot tunnel a target they cannot find.
Counterforce
You cleanse Totems 20% faster, gain another stackable 20% per cleansed Totem, and after cleansing, the farthest Totem's aura is revealed to you for 2/3/4 seconds. One build: Totem Hunter. Once you are stacking cleansing speed, knowing where the next Totem is turns a chore into a route.
Reassurance
Within 6 metres of a hooked Survivor, pause their Sacrifice Process for 20/25/30 seconds, and pause any Skill Checks if they are in the Struggle Phase. Usable once per Survivor per hook instance. One build: Endgame Runner. A rescue tool that needs no item and no perk synergy, which makes it the best thing against a hook-camping Killer.
Borrowed Time
The Survivors you unhook get their Endurance duration extended by 6/8/10 seconds and their Haste duration extended by 10 seconds. One build: The Altruist. The best anti-tunnel tool for the Survivor you are saving rather than for yourself, but it needs a resuscitator and a teammate worth saving.
Dead Hard
After an unhook, whenever you are injured and running, press the Active Ability button to get 0.5 seconds of the Endurance status effect. One use, then Exhausted for 60/50/40 seconds. One build: Anti-Tunnel Divert. That is not a dash and not a speed boost, it is a window where a hit that would have downed you does not.
Wake Up!
Once all Generators are completed, the auras of the Exit Gate Switches are revealed to you within 128 metres, your aura is revealed to all other Survivors within 128 metres while opening a gate, and your gate-opening speed goes up 15/20/25%. One build: Wake Up! Closer. Quentin Smith is still the best solo gate opener.
Dark Sense and Poised
Two aura perks, one build, one reason. Dark Sense reveals the Killer's aura for 5/7/10 seconds once they come within 24 metres of you after a Generator is completed, then deactivates. Poised suppresses your scratch marks for 10/12/14 seconds when a Generator is completed, and reveals the Killer's aura for 6 seconds the first time you start repairing any given generator. Both sit in The Wallhacks Key Build, and both improve once Eyes of Belmont extends their durations.
C-Tier - one build, and only if it is your build
Also one build each, but these contribute rather than define. Swapping them costs you less.
Hyperfocus and Fast Track
Both in Saboteur / Gen-Rat. A Great Skill Check while repairing or healing grants a Hyperfocus token, up to 6, each adding 4% to Skill Check trigger odds and pointer rotation speed up to 24%, and 10/20/30% of the base bonus progression up to 60/120/180%. You lose every token on a Good Skill Check, on a miss, or if the action is interrupted. Fast Track grants 1/2/3 tokens every time another Survivor is hooked, up to 9/18/27, and a Great Repair Skill Check spends them all for 1% bonus progression.
Ace in the Hole, Moment of Glory, Appraisal
The Treasure Hunter build. Ace in the Hole gives a 100% chance of an Add-on of Very Rare Rarity or lower on chest items, a 10/25/50% chance of a second Add-on, and lets you keep your Add-ons when you escape. Moment of Glory triggers after you have opened chests twice, makes you Broken, then heals 1 Health State 80/70/60 seconds later. Appraisal starts with 3 tokens and speeds up rummaging by 40/60/80%.
Botany Knowledge, Strength in Shadows, Bond, Resurgence
All four of the Self-Heal Solo build. Healing speed up 30/40/50% with a 20% hit to Med-Kit efficiency. A basement-only self-heal at 70% of normal speed that then reveals the Killer's aura for 6/8/10 seconds. Other Survivor auras within 20/28/36 metres. And 50/60/70% healing progress the moment you are unhooked. Botany Knowledge is worth stealing for any healing build.
Blast Mine, Exultation, Any Means Necessary
The Chase-Stun Payback build. After 40% total repair progress you can install a trap on a Generator that stuns the Killer for 4 seconds and blinds everyone within 12.5 metres. Stun the Killer with a Pallet and your held Item upgrades a rarity tier and recharges by 25%. Hold the ability button beside a dropped Pallet for 6/5/4 seconds to stand it back up. This is the build for the Survivor who wants every tile to cost the Killer something.
Empathy and Open-Handed
Both in Aura-Reading Awareness. Empathy reveals injured or dying Survivor auras within 64/96/128 metres, and Open-Handed adds 8/12/16 metres to every aura-reading perk on the team. On top of Kindred and Eyes of Belmont, you have won the information game before the first hook.
Lend a Hand and Cross-Examination
Both in The Slasher Counter. While healing a Survivor, hand them 2/3/4 permanent healing charges, once per Trial per Survivor. And while standing on a Light Mark, gain the Elusive status effect for 3/4/5 seconds. Your team heals without Med-Kits, and your Killer loses the ability to track you mid-chase. Read the Shane Wiigwaas release breakdown first.
F-Tier - 0 of our 18 builds
None of these earned a slot in any of the 18 builds. That is a statement about our build pool, not a death sentence.
Self-Care, No Mither, Overcome, Distortion, Deception, Dramaturgy, Scene Partner, Visionary, Red Herring, Boil Over, Low Profile, Built to Last, Inner Focus, Flashbang, Fogwise, Deadline, Residual Manifest, Potential Energy, Streetwise, Calm Spirit, Up the Ante, Friendly Competition, Teamwork: Power of Two, Solidarity.
Three of these deserve an apology. Self-Care is a fine perk that lost because so many builds had a better answer to solo sustain. Low Profile is excellent in a scenario the pool never reached: when you are the only Survivor still standing, it suppresses grunts, pools of blood and scratch marks for 70/80/90 seconds.
What a perk needs to be paired with to matter
A perk that does nothing alone becomes great with the right partner. Four patterns show up across the builds.
Triggers need a second trigger. Auras that fire on a Generator being completed only pay off if you are completing Generators. Eyes of Belmont, Dark Sense and Poised all key off the same moment, so they need at least one of them running while you are on a gen. That is why the aura builds stack three.
Conditionals need a delivery mechanism. Inner Strength fires on cleansing a Totem, and without a Totem habit it is nothing. Head On fires on a Locker exit, and without somewhere to hide it is nothing. The perk is not the plan. The plan is what it attaches to.
Endgame perks need the endgame to arrive. Hope, Adrenaline, Wake Up! and Reassurance are worthless before the gates pop and essential after. Decisive Strike runs the other way and deactivates the moment they do.
Stealth needs a reason to be read. Distortion and Deception only matter against Killers who read auras or assume Locker usage. Every stealth perk is a bet on the Killer's habits.
Strong in the right build, dead in the wrong one
Several perks here are top-of-their-class effects that are worthless if you are playing a different game than the one they were designed for. Boon: Exponential is the best self-recovery source in the game and appeared in exactly one build. Put it next to Lend a Hand and your team heals without Med-Kits on one map corner.
Inner Strength plus Head On is the clearest example of a pair that only works together. Head On gives a 3 second Locker stun. Inner Strength heals you one Health State while hiding in a Locker after a Totem cleanse. Alone, one is a situational stun and the other a niche heal. Together they form a loop where the Locker is first a safe place to heal and then a weapon, which is the entire Locker Build identity.
And the reverse case: Quick Gambit gives you other Survivor auras and a team repair bonus, but only while you are being chased. The loon who takes a hit on purpose to keep four generators moving is playing a different game from the Survivor who hides in a corner and hopes.
Slot by slot - what goes in 1, 2, 3 and 4
Most people lose points by spreading picks across four different ideas instead of committing to one. Pick the identity first, then fill the slots to serve it.
Slot 1: the engine. The perk that decides what the build is for. Info, take Kindred. Repair, take Prove Thyself. Chase, take Lithe or Wide Open Throttle. Rescue, take Reassurance.
Slot 2: the partner. The perk that makes slot one work. Kindred wants Open-Handed or Eyes of Belmont. Prove Thyself wants Hyperfocus or Resilience. This is the slot people get wrong most often.
Slot 3: insurance. Endurance, health, or a second chance. Dead Hard, Unbreakable, Off The Record, Adrenaline. Pick one thing that saves you from a specific named failure. Do not stack three, because you end up with three second chances and no chase tool.
Slot 4: the closer. The perk that only matters at the end. Hope for escape speed, Wake Up! if you are opening the gate, Decisive Strike if you are being carried. Slot four is also right for a cheap constant like Botany Knowledge.
A default that works on any character and any Killer: Kindred, Prove Thyself, Sprint Burst, Resilience. Info, repair, chase, sustain. That is the Generator Push shape with a safety net. My solo queue build guide covers the defensive version.
Frequently asked questions
Are these tiers official game data?
No. The effect numbers are the real perk descriptions and the combo counts come from the 18 builds we tested. The grades are my editorial call and I will happily defend any of them.
Why is a 0-count perk not marked as bad?
Because 18 builds is a sample, not a census. Low Profile earned no slot and would be my pick in a two-Survivors-left endgame.
Does the grade change if I queue against Nurse or Wesker?
Not the perk grades, but it should change your picks. Anti-tunnel and anti-slug perks spike against Killers who commit to a target, and aura perks lose value against anyone who never hooks. Read the killer tier list first.
What is the best four-perk build for a new player?
Beginner Friendly. Kindred, Deja Vu, Hope and We'll Make It are all teachable, work on any character, and teach the three habits that win games: know where the Killer is, know where the generators are, and get people back up.
Should I take an Exhausted perk at all?
Only if something else recovers Exhaustion. Sprint Burst, Lithe, Dead Hard and Head On all cause Exhausted for 60/50/40 seconds, so two of them means half your match is a stat penalty. Pair one with Blood Rush and it works.
Final verdict
Three perks earned the top grade, and the reason is not that they have the biggest numbers. It is that their effects fire on a trigger you control. Kindred fires on hooks. Sprint Burst fires on you starting to run. Prove Thyself fires on teammates being close.
The A-Tier is the widest and most useful grade on the page. Unbreakable, Decisive Strike, Adrenaline, Hope, Eyes of Belmont, Resilience, Head On, Inner Strength, Finesse and Wide Open Throttle are all two-perk loadouts waiting for a partner. If you are not sure what to do, build out of this grade.
Do not use this list to pick four perks. Use it to pick one, then find the partners. Every grade below S exists to make a specific build function, and the fastest route to a good loadout is deciding what you want to be - the one who knows, the one who repairs, the one who runs, the one who rescues - then taking the three perks that make that role work.