Dead by Daylight is home to some seriously terrifying killers, some of which can make the game difficult for both new and experienced players. In the past, the game included perks that directly targeted killers' abilities. For example, Slippery Meat used to enable players to easily escape the Trappers traps.
More recently, the creators of the game have mentioned not wanting perks to directly target specific killers anymore and altered some perks to reflect that. Even with this adjustment, there are still perks that survivors can use on Dead by Daylight to avoid the best killer powers or annoying playstyles used to their advantage.
Iron Will
Many killers rely on hearing when hunting down players in Dead by Daylight, which makes Iron Will one of the handiest perks in the game. When injured, survivors make very loud grunts of pain which can make it easier for the killer to find them.
With Iron Will, sounds of grunts and pains from being injured are lessened significantly, all the way to 100% if the perk is tier 3. This perk is essential for players trying to stay low and avoid every killer at all costs.
Inner Healing
One perk that ends up getting many players hooked is A Nurse's Calling. With this perk belonging to the Nurse, the killer is able to see the auras of any survivors that are currently healing if they're within a radius of the killer. This makes healing incredibly difficult for survivors who just escaped the killer.
With Inner Healing, players can heal quickly if they have cleansed at least one totem and hide in a locker for a short amount of time. With this perk, the Nurse won't be able to see a player's aura as they're healing up.
Boon: Shadow Step
Many killers have perks to find survivors, such as Leatherface's perk Barbecue and Chili, or Freddy Krueger's Blood Warden. In the past, aura reading perks were more common amongst survivors, but it seems more killers are also getting these perks.
Mikaela Reid's Boon: Shadow Step allows players to bless a totem that prevents scratch marks from being visible and makes survivor's auras become invisible to the killer within range of the totem. This perk is perfect for staying low and losing nearly every killer in a chase.
Small Game
It's easy to be a powerful killer in Dead by Daylight with Hex Perks, some making them capable of one-shotting survivors or making generators begin regressing whenever no one is working on them. These perks can be a pain for survivors, which makes it important for them to cleanse as many totems as possible.
The perk Small Game allows players to get a noise notification whenever they're nearby a totem, which makes it easier to find them. It also shows the number of totems left on the match, which is essential for countering the perk No One Escapes Death. Not only that, but this perk alerts the players of nearby traps, which is perfect for countering the Trapper and the Hag.
Spine Chill
Some of the scariest killers on Dead by Daylight are silent, meaning that the player hears no warning sign when they're nearby as they usually would with other killers. Killers like Michael Myers, Ghostface, and The Wraith can easily sneak up on players.
With Spine Chill, players will always know when a killer is lurking nearby. Its icon, which looks like a cat, will light up whenever the killer is nearby and facing their direction. This is essential, because killers like Michael can farm their abilities on players and easily one-shot them.
Decisive Strike
One of the most frustrating things that could happen on DBD is when a player just gets off the hook and the killer immediately begins chasing them afterward. In the DBD community, this is referred to as tunneling. It's when the killer keeps going after the same person because they'll be more easily killed.
In order to prevent tunneling, many players might want to run the perk Decisive Strike. This perk makes it so that players will be able to escape the killer's grasp by hitting a skill check if it's within 40-60 seconds from when they last got off the hook.
Borrowed Time
Many killers will use camping as a strategy to guarantee kills. Once hooking a player, instead of searching for others to attack, they'll wait by the hook for another player to come for the rescue, and then try to kill that player or simply rehook the player who just got off the hook.
Borrowed Time is perfect for countering camping killers, as it prevents the player who just got off the hook from going down after a hit. It's even frowned upon by many DBD players to take someone off the hook when the killer is nearby without using Borrowed Time. This perk is also great for solo survivors who lack communication with their team.
Urban Evasion
Killers like The Hag and Pyramid Head can place annoying traps on the ground that either injure the survivor or notify the killer of their location. These can be really frustrating to get around, but it's certainly not impossible.
With Urban Evasion, players have increased speed when crouching. Players can crouch over the Hag's traps to prevent it from alerting her, or over Pyramid Heads trail to avoid its effects. Urban Evasion is another perk that isn't many players' first choice when creating a build, but it can be useful against some killers.
Sprint Burst
Killers like Legion and The Pig can be incredibly fast at times, which makes it difficult for players to outrun them. Other Killers, like the Plague, have a large range in which they're able to hit a player.
Sprint Burst is perfect for countering these speedy killers, or killers with range. This perk gives players a tremendous speed boost that gets them very far from the killer in a short amount of time. This could help players avoid getting hit or help them lose the killer altogether.
Calm Spirit
Calm Spirit is one of those perks that many players might not care to run, as on the surface it only prevents notifying the killer when a player disturbs a crow. Even though this perk seemingly doesn't do too much, it counters the doctor, which is one of the most annoying killers.
With Calm Spirit, players can easily overcome the urge to yell. Going against the doctor can be very irritating because he constantly makes players scream, and then is notified of their location. Calm Spirit is perfect for avoiding the doctor at all costs.