The new killer in Dead By Daylight, The Trickster, is a ranged killer whose main abilities involve knife throwing and who has been compared to both Huntress and Plague. The Trickster's real name is Ji-Woon Hak, and he is a Korean K-Pop star who loved killing more than he loved the stage. Dead By Daylight fans have rated him as a fairly easy killer to learn and play. The Trickster has amassed something of a fanbase, likely due in part to his appearance. While he is undeniably attractive and put-together, unlike the other killers, he is also not wearing a mask or otherwise covered in grime or scars, making him something of a novelty.

Related: Dead By Daylight Gets More Stranger Things Content In Update

Released as part of Chapter 19: All Kill, The Trickster comes with three new Perks, a new Power, a Special Attack, and more than a dozen possible add-ons. His main attack, Showstopper, allows him to throw a volley of knives at survivors, which will eventually fill the survivor's Laceration Meter and cause them to lose a Health State. Players can master The Trickster in Dead By Daylight by making sure they understand his power, build him well, and avoid trying to play him like Huntress.

How to Use The Trickster's Powers in Dead By Daylight

The Trickster in Dead By Daylight

The Trickster in Dead By Daylight moves and kills at 110 speed. As he throws knives, however, he slows to about 3.68 m/s or 92% movement speed. The longer he spends throwing, this can decrease further, falling all the way to 2.68 m/s or 67%. Because survivors move at 100% speed, this can make it difficult to keep up with targets.

After landing eight blade hits on a survivor, their Laceration Meter will fill, and they will lose a Health State. Unlike The Plague, The Trickster's effect must remain sustained until that survivor's Laceration Meter fills. If Trickster only throws a few knives, then lets the survivor go until later, their Laceration Meter will begin to decay and eventually disappear. Trickster must hit the survivor with eight blades to fully fill the meter and cause the Injured or Dying State.

The Trickster's attack, Showstopper, equips him with 60 blades to throw. Players can throw these one at a time by tapping, or they can hold down the button to release a volley of knives at a survivor. After the 60 knives are gone, The Trickster needs to stop at a locker to reload.

After making 20 hits, The Trickster can trigger The Main Event. In Main Event, Trickster throws unlimited knives for the duration of the event, around 10 seconds. This Special Attack increases Trickster's throw rate significantly and keeps his movement speed up after each throw. Unfortunately, this attack tends to be difficult to use around certain tiles, like Pallets or other items, or when survivors duck into buildings, and it prevents The Trickster from using Showstopper again for 10 seconds.

The Trickster also has a bat, called the Polished Head-Smasher, modified to include a sharp edge. He can attack with this in addition to the knives.

How to Use The Trickster's Perks and Add-Ons in Dead By Daylight

The start screen for The Trickster in Dead By Daylight

The Trickster comes with three new Perks that initially only appear in his Bloodweb. After reaching Levels 30, 35, and 40, these Perks can be taught and transferred to other killers.

Trickster's Perks and their uses appear below:

  • Starstruck: When carrying a Survivor, Starstruck inflicts the Exposed status effect on any survivors in the Terror Radius and maintains it for 26/28/30 seconds after the survivor leaves the Terror Radius. Starstruck deactivates after Hooking or dropping the carried survivor, though the Exposed status effect remains for anyone still within the Terror Radius.
  •  Hex: Crowd Control: Survivors who perform a rushed vault through a window prompt The Entity to block it for 10/12/14 seconds. The Hex Totem must be standing for these effects to remain.
  • No Way Out: When the last Generator is completed, The Entity blocks both Exit Gate Switches for 10 seconds and an additional 4/6/8 seconds per Token The Trickster has. The Trickster earns a Token for each survivor they successfully Hook.
The Hag in Dead By Daylight

Players can choose to use these, but there are a few others that might work better depending on playstyle. A few other options include:

  • Hex: Ruin: Unique to the Hag. All Generators automatically regress at 100/150/200% of the normal Regression speed when not being repaired. The Hex Totem must be standing for these effects to remain.
  • Hex: Undying: Unique to The Blight. The Auras of survivors within 2/3/4 meters of the killer are revealed. Additionally, when another Perk's Hex Totem is cleansed, its Hex and any Tokens are transferred to Hex: Undying.
  • Pop Goes the Weasel: Unique to The Clown. After Hooking a survivor, the next Generator the killer damages instantly loses 25% Progression.
  • Oppression: Unique to The Twins. When damaging a Generator, three other random Generators also begin regressing. If a survivor is currently repairing one of the Generators, they will need to pass a difficult Skill Check.
  • Monitor & Abuse: Unique to The Doctor. Increases base Terror Radius by 8 meters. When outside a Chase, this Perk reduces the killer's Terror Radius by 16 meters but increases Field of View by 3/5/10.
  • A Nurse's Calling: Unique to The Nurse. The Auras of survivors who are healing or being healed are revealed when they are within a range of 20/24/28 meters.
  • Iron Maiden: Unique to The Legion. The killer can open lockers to reload 30/40/50% faster, and any survivors who exit lockers suffer from the Exposed status effect for 30 seconds. Their location is revealed to the killer for 4 seconds.

These are suggested because, once the 60 knives run out, players will need to pause and reload. Any Perks that regress Generators during that time can be powerful, as can Perks that augment Trickster's Terror Radius and Aura reading ability.

dead-by-daylight-survivors

The Trickster comes with a plethora of add-ons, and, while all of them can be helpful, there are a few players should prioritize. These include:

  • Killing Part Chords: Slightly increases Throw State Movement speed
  • Caged Heart Shoes: Moderately increases Throw State Movement speed
  • Yumi's Murder: Moderately reduces each survivor's Laceration Meter capacity, lowering the number of hits needed to fill it.
  • Trick Blades: Allows blades to ricochet off the environment twice.
  • Trick Pouch: Increases blade carrying capacity by 10.
  • Lucky Blade: Slightly decreases Laceration Meter decay when out of knives.
  • Waiting for You Watch: Moderately decreases Laceration Meter decay when out of knives.
  • Diamond Cufflinks: Reveals a survivor's Aura for 6 seconds when they are one hit away from filling the Laceration Meter.

These can help offset some of The Trickster's greatest weaknesses.

How to Play as The Trickster in Dead By Daylight

Dead By Daylight All Kill Key Art

Players should note it is possible The Trickster will be updated, patched, or otherwise tweaked over time, so what works while playing him now may not work later. Developers at Behaviour interactive have already done some patching with this character, and it is likely more changes could come.

When playing as The Trickster in Dead By Daylight, it is important to note he is not Huntress, and it is generally a bad idea to play him like Huntress. He is not quite as strong a sniper, but he can still be a powerful, terrifying killer at closer range.

Players can keep the following in mind when choosing to run as The Trickster:

  • Tap the button to throw blades, and avoid holding it too long to prevent aim drift.
  • Try to stay close to survivors and find ways to close the distance in case Trickster takes a Health State and grants them a speed boost.
  • Aim over items in the way, like Pallets or broken windows.
  • When survivors pull down Pallets, use the time it takes for the animation to play to get in several good knife hits.
  • Spend some time not throwing knives to prevent Movement speed from decreasing too much.
  • Adapt to what survivors do, and avoid over-committing to avoid wasting time and initiating Laceration Meter decay.
  • Choose Perks to improve Aura reading, sabotage Generators, or
  • Use Main Event only in the open.

An ideal way to capture and Hook a survivor might be to throw enough knives to fill the Laceration Meter and injure them, then catch up to them and hit them with Polished Head-Smasher, knocking them down and allowing Trickster to carry them away.

Players can also check out video below by DyllonKG to learn more about playing The Trickster effectively.

Next: Dead By Daylight Killer Guide: The Spirit

Dead By Daylight is available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, & Nintendo Switch.