On 6 October 2026, Patch 10.2.0 changed 27 Killer perks in one go. Most Killer perk tier lists you'll find were written before that, and a lot of the ones written after it copied the September PTB numbers, which BHVR changed again before release. If a list tells you Machine Learning gives 10% Haste, or Help Wanted lasts 120 seconds, it was written from the test build.
This tier list is checked against the live game, Patch 10.2.1 (14 October 2026). Every value below comes from Behaviour's own 10.2.0 patch notes, and the ranking accounts for Diminishing Returns, which decides whether a perk keeps its full value next to your other three.
Quick answer (Patch 10.2.1, verified 17 October 2026). The best Killer perks are still the same six as before 10.2.0. The patch rebuilt the middle of the list.
- S tier: Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance, Corrupt Intervention, Grim Embrace, Pop Goes the Weasel, Lethal Pursuer, Nowhere to Hide. None of the six changed in 10.2.0 or 10.2.1.
- Biggest risers: Undone (now 1 Token per hook, up to 3, worth up to 30% regression plus 30 seconds of block), Help Wanted, Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine and Unrelenting.
- PTB trap: Machine Learning shipped at 8% Haste, not 10%. Help Wanted lasts 70/80/90 seconds, not 100/110/120. Hex: Thrill of the Hunt blocks for 4/5/6 seconds, not 6/7/8.
- Halloween warning: during Haunted by Daylight (13 October to 3 November), players report that Survivors' Void Crystals keep repairing through Hex: Ruin and generator blocks.
What patch is this DBD killer perk tier list for?
Patch 10.2.1, released 14 October 2026. It's a bugfix patch with no perk value changes. Two fixes touch Killer perks: Hex: The Third Seal was activating inconsistently, and The Trickster was losing 4 Keep Them Waiting Tokens instead of 2 when he injured the Obsession with Showstopper. BHVR's notes still call that perk "Save the Best for Last (Keep them Waiting)", so the old name hasn't fully gone away.
The values that actually moved came a week earlier, in Patch 10.2.0 (6 October 2026). BHVR's dev note sums up the pass: "With this release, we are doing a pass on general perks - the perks new players gain access to when they begin their journey." By our count the live notes list 27 Killer perk updates and 30 Survivor ones. Six of the Killer changes shipped with different numbers from the PTB.
The Haunted by Daylight event runs on this same build until 3 November, and BHVR hasn't announced any perk changes before it ends.
What are the best killer perks in DBD right now?
The ranking weighs three things: how much a perk does without you playing around it, how many Killers can use it well, and whether it keeps its value under Diminishing Returns once you stack it with the rest of a build.
S tier: take these on almost anyone
| Perk | Live effect (10.2.1) | Why it's S |
|---|---|---|
| Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance | 4 Scourge Hooks, 4 starting Tokens. Hooking on one regresses the most-progressed Generator by 10/15/20% and makes its repairers scream | Instant regression plus free information for something you were doing anyway |
| Corrupt Intervention | Blocks the 3 furthest Generators for 80/100/120 seconds at match start, ends on your first down | Buys you the whole early game |
| Grim Embrace | 1-3 Tokens block all Generators for 6/8/10 seconds; at 4 Tokens, 40 seconds plus the Obsession's Aura for 6 | Blocking isn't regression, so Diminishing Returns doesn't touch it |
| Pop Goes the Weasel | For 35/40/45 seconds after a hook, a kick regresses 20% in total | A 20% kick after every hook, with no setup |
| Lethal Pursuer | Reveals every Survivor for 7/8/9 seconds at match start and adds 2 seconds to your other Aura reveals | Makes every other Aura perk in your build last longer |
| Nowhere to Hide | Kicking a Generator reveals Survivors within 24 metres of it for 3/4/5 seconds | Turns a routine kick into your next chase |
None of the six appear anywhere in the 10.2.0 or 10.2.1 notes. BHVR's general-perk pass didn't touch the top of the meta. It rebuilt the middle.
A tier: excellent, slightly conditional
| Perk | Live effect (10.2.1) | 10.2.0 change |
|---|---|---|
| Undone | 1 Token per hook, up to 3. A kick spends all of them: 8/9/10% regression and 8/9/10 seconds of block per Token | Full rework |
| Help Wanted | Kicked Generators become compromised, up to 3. When one is completed: 25% shorter successful-attack cooldown, and unrepaired Generators regress at 150% speed, for 70/80/90 seconds | Was 1 Generator and 40/50/60 seconds |
| Dead Man's Switch | After a hook, the first Survivor who stops repairing for more than 2 seconds gets that Generator blocked for 30/35/40 seconds. Cooldown 30/35/40 | Was an instant trigger, 25/30/35 seconds, 50-second cooldown |
| Unrelenting | Missed-attack cooldown 30/35/40% shorter, successful-attack cooldown 10% shorter, and it now counts obstructed hits | Was 20/25/30%, missed attacks only |
| No Holds Barred (was Deadlock) | Each Generator completion blocks the most-progressed Generator for 15/20/25 seconds | Unchanged |
| Hex: Ruin | Unattended Generators regress at 100/125/150% of the default rate while the totem stands | Unchanged, but see the event warning below |
| Eruption | Kicked Generators explode for 10% on any down and reveal repairers for 8/10/12 seconds | Unchanged |
| Surge | A basic-attack down explodes every Generator within 32 metres for 6/7/8% | Unchanged |
| Keep Them Waiting (was Save the Best for Last) | Up to 6/7/8 Tokens, 5% successful-attack cooldown each, capped at 30/35/40% | Unchanged |
| Bamboozle | 5/10/15% faster vaults and blocks the vaulted Window for 8/12/16 seconds | Unchanged |
| Darkness Revealed | Searching a locker reveals Survivors within 8 metres of any locker for 6/7/8 seconds, 30-second cooldown | Unchanged |
Undone is the biggest mover in the patch. At Tier III, three hooks bank a single kick worth 30% regression and 30 seconds of block. Before 10.2.0 it depended on Survivors failing Skill Checks, which good Survivors rarely do. Now it depends on you hooking, which you were going to do anyway. Undone belongs to The Unknown. Prestige him to 1, 2 and 3 to unlock its three tiers for everyone else.
B tier: good in the right build
- Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine (General Perk): 4 random hooks plus the Basement hooks become Scourge Hooks. While you're at least 24 metres from a Survivor on one, unrepaired Generators regress at 150/175/200% speed. It's new regression for a perk that used to only speed up sacrifices, but it overlaps with Ruin and Help Wanted. More on that below.
- Machine Learning (The Singularity): up to 3 compromised Generators; when one pops, you get 8% Haste and Undetectable for 40/50/60 seconds.
- Bitter Murmur: 10 seconds of Aura on Survivors within 20 metres of a completed Generator, and every Survivor for 16/18/20 seconds when the last one pops.
- Ravenous (The Krasue): each first hook earns a Token for 4% carry Haste and 4% faster hooking; at 4 Tokens, everyone is Exposed for 80/85/90 seconds.
- Distressing: Terror Radius 30% larger, and Survivors inside it now repair 6/7/8% slower.
- Knock Out (The Cannibal): a Survivor who drops a Pallet and moves 10 metres away within 6 seconds gets 20% Hindered for 2/3/4 seconds.
- Also B: Barbecue & Chilli, Terminus, No Way Out, Starstruck, Friends 'til the End, Enduring, Brutal Strength, Sloppy Butcher, A Nurse's Calling, Coup de Grâce, Agitation (now 14/16/18% carry Haste) and Whispers (now 28/26/24 metres, plus 5% Haste while you're outside that range).
C tier: situational or outclassed
Hex: Thrill of the Hunt (reworked: hooking blocks all Hex Totems for 4/5/6 seconds per lit Hex), Shattered Hope (reworked into a totem-block perk), Dominance, Insidious, Dissolution, Hex: Blood Favor, Hex: Nothing but Misery, Deathbound, Predator and Territorial Imperative. Dissolution and Blood Favor were both narrowed to basic attacks only. BHVR's reason: "Some Killers benefited from this perk a lot more than others."
Which 10.2.0 killer perk values changed between the PTB and live?
Six of them. This is where most post-patch lists go wrong:
| Perk | September PTB | Live 10.2.0 / 10.2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Machine Learning | 10% Haste | 8% Haste |
| Help Wanted | 100/110/120 seconds | 70/80/90 seconds |
| Hex: Thrill of the Hunt | 6/7/8 seconds per Hex | 4/5/6 seconds per Hex |
| Knock Out | Hindered for 3/4/5 seconds | 2/3/4 seconds |
| Bitter Murmur | 8 seconds; 10/12/14 at the last Generator | 10 seconds; 16/18/20 at the last Generator |
| Dark Arrogance | Shorter cooldown on every basic attack | Missed attacks only, 15/20/25% |
BHVR explained the Dark Arrogance change in the notes: "Stacking successful basic-attack recovery led to very short chases on the PTB." On Thrill of the Hunt they wrote: "A little snowball went a long way on the PTB." The two compromised-Generator perks were trimmed together because, in BHVR's words, "they are more easily triggerable". Our PTB-to-live breakdown covers the Survivor side too.
Why does stacking four slowdown perks not work?
Because of Diminishing Returns, which has been in the game since Patch 9.6.0. When several modifiers of the same kind apply at once, the game sorts them highest first and pays:
- 1st value: 100%
- 2nd value: 50%
- 3rd value: 25%
- 4th value: 12.5%
- 5th value and beyond: 5%
It covers modifiers from Powers, Items, Perks and Offerings. Only Add-on modifiers are excluded.
10.2.0 made this matter more, because three of its biggest buffs land on values other perks already change:
- Passive regression speed: Hex: Ruin, Monstrous Shrine and Help Wanted all speed up regression on unrepaired Generators. Running two of them pays the weaker one at half. Pick one.
- Successful-attack cooldown: Keep Them Waiting, Unrelenting and Help Wanted all shorten it. Unrelenting's missed-attack half doesn't overlap with anything, and that's the half that wins chases.
- Instant regression: players were already doing this maths on the PTB. One comment on the new Undone put it as "you'd get the 30% from undone, and 10% from pop cut in half."
The rule of thumb: two regression perks, not four. Fill the other slots with things Diminishing Returns can't touch, like Generator blocks (Grim Embrace, No Holds Barred, Dead Man's Switch), Aura reading (Lethal Pursuer, Nowhere to Hide) or chase tools (Bamboozle, Enduring). Our Generator regression perk ranking shows which pairs stack cleanly.
Should you run Hex: Ruin during the Halloween event?
Probably not, at least until BHVR says something. This is the one part of the tier list that only applies until 3 November.
In Haunted by Daylight, BHVR's own event notes say Survivors start with Void Crystals that let them "place the crystal on the Generator to repair it remotely." Killer players have been reporting what that does to their builds. In one r/DeadByDaylightKillers thread this week, players said the crystal keeps repairing while the Generator is blocked. One saw a Survivor trigger their Dead Man's Switch "by putting the crystal on a nearly finished gen and it finished seconds later." Another reported the same thing with Deadlock (now No Holds Barred), and Thrilling Tremors users are asking whether it hits their block too.
Ruin is worse off. Under Ruin, every Generator that isn't being repaired is already regressing, and a regressing Generator can't be kicked. Players report that a crystal Generator under Ruin can't be kicked either, so there's nothing you can do until the totem is cleansed. Reports aren't unanimous. A couple of players in a second thread said Ruin cancelled the crystal in their games. BHVR hasn't addressed it, and the 10.2.1 notes don't mention it. As one Killer player put it: "I don't think we will get any kind of hotfix so I wish the devs would be more vigilant."
For the event, lean on perks that regress on a hook or a kick, like Pain Resonance, Pop Goes the Weasel and Undone. Bring Generator blocks for the parts of the match where crystals are used up. The full event breakdown is in our Void Energy and Portals guide.
What are the best killer builds for Patch 10.2.1?
Four loadouts that work with Diminishing Returns, not against it:
Gen defence. Corrupt Intervention, Pop Goes the Weasel, Grim Embrace, No Holds Barred. Only Pop changes a regression value, so nothing gets taxed. This is still the highest-ceiling build in the game. Nothing in it changed in 10.2.0.
The 10.2.0 hook build. Undone, Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance, Lethal Pursuer, Dead Man's Switch. Each Survivor's first Scourge Hook feeds two perks at once: a Pain Resonance explosion now, and an Undone Token for your next kick. Lethal Pursuer finds the next Survivor to hook.
Chase. Bamboozle, Enduring, Unrelenting, Pop Goes the Weasel. Unrelenting takes the slot Keep Them Waiting used to hold, so its successful-hit cooldown is paid in full, and its missed-attack cooldown overlaps with nothing.
Leave the hook. Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine, Corrupt Intervention, Lethal Pursuer, Nowhere to Hide. Hook on a Scourge Hook, walk away, and unrepaired Generators regress faster while you look for the next chase. It wants a Killer that can cover 24 metres fast. Don't add Ruin.
Which Killer you put these on matters as much as the perks. See our DBD Killer tier list, and our DBD builds guide has full Killer and Survivor loadouts.
Which killer perks were renamed?
If you search for a perk from an older guide and nothing comes up, it's probably been renamed:
- Deadlock is now No Holds Barred, and it's a General Perk every Killer can use.
- Save the Best for Last is now Keep Them Waiting, also a General Perk.
- Jolt is Surge again. Jolt was the temporary unlicensed name. Surge is The Demogorgon's original, and it's still a teachable from him.
The Survivor renames, including Decisive Strike becoming Will to Live, are in our best Survivor perks tier list.
Which killer perks are free for every killer?
The General Perk pool is stronger after 10.2.0 than it has ever been. No Holds Barred, Keep Them Waiting, Unrelenting and Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine are all General Perks, which puts a blocker, two chase perks and a regression perk in reach without buying a single DLC Killer. Whispers, Distressing, Insidious, Iron Grasp and Bitter Murmur were all buffed in the same pass.
The S tier still costs money. Pain Resonance and Grim Embrace both come from The Artist, Corrupt Intervention from The Plague, Pop Goes the Weasel from The Clown, Lethal Pursuer from The Nemesis and Nowhere to Hide from The Knight. Prestige each to 1, 2 and 3 to unlock Tiers I, II and III on every other Killer.
FAQ
What is the single best killer perk in DBD right now? Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance. On Patch 10.2.1 it still regresses the most-progressed Generator by 10/15/20% the first time each Survivor is hooked on one of its four Scourge Hooks, and it makes everyone repairing that Generator scream.
Is Undone good after 10.2.0? Yes, it's one of the biggest winners of the patch. You earn 1 Token per hook, up to 3, and the next kick spends all of them for 8/9/10% regression and 8/9/10 seconds of block per Token. If an in-game bot or an old guide describes Tokens from failed Skill Checks, that's the pre-10.2.0 version.
Is Machine Learning 8% or 10% Haste? 8%. The 10% figure was the September PTB value. BHVR lowered it before release because compromised Generators became easier to trigger, with up to 3 at a time.
Can I just run four gen regression perks? You can, but Diminishing Returns pays the fourth at 12.5% of its value. After 10.2.0 it's even worse, because Ruin, Monstrous Shrine and Help Wanted all change the same passive regression speed.
Why can't I find Deadlock in my bloodweb? It's called No Holds Barred now, and it's in the General Perk pool, so it can show up in every Killer's Bloodweb.
Did Patch 10.2.1 change any killer perks? No values changed. 10.2.1 (14 October 2026) is fixes only, including a Keep Them Waiting Token bug on The Trickster. Every value change in this list came from 10.2.0 on 6 October.
Where can you find more Dead by Daylight guides?
Want more Dead by Daylight guides? This tier list is re-checked on the day BHVR publishes new perk notes.
- DBD Killer Tier List
- Best Survivor Perks in DBD 2026
- Unrelenting, Fire Up and Distressing after 10.2.0
- All 58 DBD Perk Changes in the 10.2.0 PTB
Sources: Patch 10.2.0 notes and Patch 10.2.1 notes, published by Behaviour Interactive. Unchanged perk values and perk ownership are from the official Dead by Daylight community wiki. Player reports are from r/DeadByDaylightKillers and r/deadbydaylight, 16 to 17 October 2026. Last verified 17 October 2026 against live Patch 10.2.1.
