The Wraith is the Killer most new players meet first and many veterans never stop playing. He is free with the base game, Behaviour rates him Easy, and in Japan he was the most-picked Killer in both of Behaviour's last two Dead by Daylight Day stat reports. He is also badly served by most guides, which still describe his old Predator perk and the Lightburn mechanic that was deleted years ago.
This guide covers The Wraith as he plays on live patch 10.2.1 (bugfix patch released 14 October 2026, per the official Steam patch notes). Nothing in his power, add-ons or perks changed in 10.2.0 or 10.2.1, but the 10.2.0 perk pass and the Haunted by Daylight event both changed how he plays.
Quick answer: how do you play The Wraith in DBD?
TL;DR (19 October 2026, Patch 10.2.1): Ring the Wailing Bell to cloak, which makes you Undetectable and fast (6.0 m/s vs 4.6 m/s), cross the map, then uncloak right behind Survivors who are busy on a Generator. Uncloaking takes about 3 seconds and the bell only rings for the second half of it, so start uncloaking out of sight. Best add-ons: "Windstorm" - Blood (+9% cloaked speed) and Coxcombed Clapper (silent bell). Best free build: No Holds Barred, Unrelenting, Whispers and Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine. During Haunted by Daylight, players report he cannot use Void Portals while cloaked, so uncloak first.
Three numbers to remember:
- 20 metres. Beyond this distance a cloaked Wraith is fully invisible. Inside it, Survivors see a faint shimmer
- 24 and 40 metres. The bell toll carries 24 m. The rushing noise of the transition carries 40 m
- 1.5 seconds. The bell stays silent for the first half of the roughly 3-second uncloak, which is the window that makes his surprise hits work
What does The Wraith's power, the Wailing Bell, do?
Behaviour's own character page sums him up in one line: "A hit-and-run specialist, The Wraith is adept at keeping everybody injured." (deadbydaylight.com). The power description on the same page reads: "Ring the Wailing Bell to cloak, becoming invisible and losing the Terror Radius. Though The Wraith cannot attack while invisible, uncloaking grants a deadly lunge capable of injuring unsuspecting Survivors."
The working numbers, as documented on the community wiki:
| State | Speed | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Uncloaked | 4.6 m/s (115%) | Normal Killer. 32 m Terror Radius, can attack and hook |
| Cloaked | 6.0 m/s (150%) | Undetectable, no Terror Radius, invisible beyond 20 m. Cannot attack or interact with Survivors |
| Cloaking | 4.6 m/s, about 1.5 s | Bell rings through the whole animation |
| Uncloaking | 1.6 m/s, about 3 s | Bell starts ringing only after 1.5 s |
| Post-uncloak burst | 6.9 m/s for 1 s | The lunge that lands the surprise hit |
He starts every Trial already cloaked. Hitting a Survivor within 5 seconds of uncloaking counts as a Surprise Attack, a Bloodpoint score event that several add-ons hook into.
Two pieces of outdated advice are still everywhere. First, flashlights no longer force him to uncloak. That mechanic, Lightburn, was removed in Patch 6.7.0. Second, he is not a speed demon in chase. Once he is uncloaked, he is an ordinary 4.6 m/s Killer with no chase power at all.
How do you play The Wraith well?
The whole Killer is one loop: cloak, find a target, uncloak where they can't see you, hit, and either chase or leave.
- Cloak the moment a chase stops paying off. Cloaking ends the chase, and that interacts with Predator (see below)
- Use the 20-metre rule. Approach from outside 20 m, then start uncloaking behind cover, such as a wall, a truck or the far side of a Generator. The first 1.5 seconds are silent, so you can be almost uncloaked before anyone hears the bell
- Pick Generators with two people on them. One of them is almost always facing away from you
- Hit and leave. The Wraith gets the most value from injuring several Survivors, which is why Behaviour calls him a hit-and-run Killer. If the injured Survivor runs to strong loops, cloak and find someone else
- Use the cloaked speed to cover the map, not to chase. At 6.0 m/s cloaked you cover distance about 30% faster than most Killers do while walking, so Generator kicks across the map are cheap
The most common mistake is uncloaking in plain sight. A Survivor who watches you uncloak has 3 seconds to reach a pallet, and at that point your power has done nothing.
Which Wraith add-ons are the best?
The Wraith has 20 add-ons. Most are small number changes. These are the ones worth bringing.
Speed and stealth (the core):
- "Windstorm" - Blood: +9% movement speed while cloaked. The best add-on he has for map pressure. The Mud (+5%) and White (+7%) versions are weaker copies
- Coxcombed Clapper: silences the Wailing Bell entirely. Survivors lose their best warning
- Bone Clapper: makes the bell echo so Survivors can't tell its distance or direction. A cheaper version of the same idea
- "The Ghost" - Soot: keeps your Terror Radius and Red Stain suppressed for 6 more seconds after uncloaking
Faster transitions:
- "Swift Hunt" - Mud / White / Blood: uncloak 8% / 10% / 12% faster
- "Blink" - Mud / White: cloak 40% / 60% faster
Hit effects:
- "Blind Warrior" - White: Survivors hit by a Surprise Attack suffer Haemorrhage and Mangled for 70 seconds, which slows their healing
- "Blind Warrior" - Mud: Surprise Attack victims are Blinded for 60 seconds, which hides auras from them
Information:
- "All Seeing" - Spirit: while cloaked, Generator progress shows through the intensity of their auras. Excellent for picking which Generator to defend
- "All Seeing" - Blood: reveals Survivors within 8 metres while cloaked
- "Shadow Dance" - Blood: +60% speed for breaking pallets and walls, damaging Generators and vaulting windows while cloaked
The best pair: "Windstorm" - Blood with Coxcombed Clapper. You get faster and silent at once. If you are short on those, Windstorm - White with Bone Clapper is nearly as good.
Skip: "The Beast" - Soot. It keeps your Terror Radius on while cloaked in exchange for bonus Bloodpoints, which throws away half the power. "The Serpent" - Soot auto-uncloaks you when you break things. It is mostly a downside, with one exception covered in the event section.
What are The Wraith's perks, and are they any good?
Prestige him to 1, 2 and 3 to unlock Tiers I, II and III of his three teachable perks for every other Killer.
Predator (reworked in 2024). Behaviour's own character page still describes the old effect: "Scratch marks left by Survivors spawn closer together, allowing for efficient tracking." That text is two years out of date. Patch 8.3.0 replaced the effect, and Patch 8.3.2 trimmed it. The current version reveals a Survivor's aura for 4 seconds when they lose you in a chase, then goes on a 60/50/40-second cooldown. Behaviour's dev note from September 2024 explained why: "Predator has always caused mixed feelings; some feel like tighter scratch marks make tracking easier, others find it makes finding Survivors harder. We have given this a new effect which will be more useful for all."
This is the one perk that has real synergy with The Wraith. Cloaking ends a chase immediately, so you can cloak on purpose and Predator shows you where the Survivor ran.
Bloodhound. Pools of Blood show in bright red and last 2/3/4 seconds longer. It is weak in a normal build, and on The Wraith the "The Hound" - Soot add-on already shows Pools of Blood in bright red while cloaked.
Shadowborn. Being blinded by any means gives you 6/8/10% Haste for 10 seconds. It is a niche anti-flashlight perk, and it is the reason Survivors should think twice before blinding you.
Verdict: only Predator is worth teaching to other Killers, and even it sits outside the top tiers. Our best Killer perks tier list has the full ranking for Patch 10.2.1.
What is the best Wraith build on Patch 10.2.1?
Free build (base game only). No Holds Barred, Unrelenting, Whispers, Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine. All four are General Perks, and The Wraith himself is free, so this build costs nothing. Whispers tells you when Survivors are within its range, which is when to start a silent uncloak. Monstrous Shrine rewards you for leaving the hook, which suits a Killer who crosses the map at 6 m/s. Unrelenting shortens your cooldown after a missed swing, and a missed post-uncloak lunge is the most common way a Wraith chase goes wrong.
Stealth build. Predator, Lethal Pursuer, Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance, Grim Embrace. Lethal Pursuer adds 2 seconds to Predator's aura, so each lost chase shows you a Survivor for 6 seconds. Pain Resonance and Grim Embrace both come from The Artist, and you hook anyway, so they pay off without changing how you play.
Hit-and-run build. Sloppy Butcher, Pop Goes the Weasel, Grim Embrace, Lethal Pursuer, with "Blind Warrior" - White. Sloppy Butcher plus Mangled and Haemorrhage keeps Survivors spending time on healing instead of Generators.
One 10.2.0 warning. Patch 10.2.0 made healing much faster. Better Than New's healing bonus rose to 40/45/50% and No One Left Behind's altruistic speed bonus (once the exit gates are powered) to 80/90/100%. Hit-and-run Killers feel this most, because the injuries they spread now come off faster. That is why the hit-and-run build above leans on Mangled, and why the other two builds rely on Generator pressure. Our DBD builds guide covers the full 10.2.0 changes.
Does The Wraith work in Haunted by Daylight 2026?
Mostly yes, but with one trap that has caught Wraith players this week.
This year's event has no Void Realm. Void Energy opens Void Portals on the normal map, and Behaviour's event graphic warns that "Killers can teleport to nearby channeling Survivors." That Portal ambush is one of the best event tools for a Killer, and it costs 4 Void Energy.
Wraith players report that you cannot use a Void Portal while cloaked. One r/DeadByDaylightKillers post on 16 October warned other players off The Wraith for the event "unless you have uncloaking addons because wraith cannot teleport while cloaked". The poster said Survivors worked this out mid-match and played around it. A commenter in the same thread said Dracula has the same limit, since he can't use Void Rifts outside Vampire Form. Behaviour hasn't addressed it, and the 10.2.1 notes don't mention it, so treat it as an unconfirmed player report rather than a documented rule.
How to play around it until the event ends on 3 November:
- Start uncloaking before you reach the Portal. The 3-second uncloak is the cost of every teleport. Uncloak out of sight, then step in
- Bring "Swift Hunt" - Blood to cut the uncloak by 12%
- "The Serpent" - Soot has one real use here. It uncloaks you automatically when you break a pallet or kick a Generator, so after every kick you are already uncloaked and can step into a Portal straight away
Our Void Energy and Portals guide explains how Portals and Void Energy work this year.
How do Survivors counter The Wraith?
- Listen for the bell, not the heartbeat. He has no Terror Radius while cloaked. The toll carries 24 m and the transition noise 40 m. If you hear it nearby, check behind you
- Watch for the shimmer. Inside 20 m he is only partially invisible, and moving grass and the distortion around him give him away
- Use the 3-second uncloak. If you see him start to uncloak, you have about 3 seconds to reach a pallet or window before he can attack
- Don't stack on one Generator. Two Survivors on the same Generator are his best target
- Heal after hits. The 10.2.0 healing buffs work well against him. Heal through his hits instead of playing injured, unless he is running Mangled
- Flashlights still have value, but less than before. They no longer force him out of cloak (Lightburn is gone), and if he runs Shadowborn, a blind gives him Haste
Once he is uncloaked and chasing, he is a 115% Killer with no chase power. Run him to strong loops and he will usually cloak and leave.
Is The Wraith good in 2026?
He is a solid mid-tier Killer and one of the best ones to learn on. Our Killer tier list places him in B tier on Patch 10.2.0, and he is one of only three Killers Behaviour rates Easy, alongside The Trapper and The Legion.
He is also one of the most played. Behaviour's DbD Day 2026 stats put him as Japan's most-picked Killer at 5.9%, ahead of The Huntress at 5.3%. In the 2025 report he led Japan again at 7%. Outside Japan he didn't make the 2026 top ten, which The Animatronic led at 5.2%.
Who he is. The Wraith is Philip Ojomo, one of the original three Killers that launched with the game on 14 June 2016, alongside The Trapper and The Hillbilly. Behaviour's lore says Ojomo fled Nigeria for a new start, took a job crushing cars, and discovered that his boss, Mr. Azarov, was running a body-disposal business through the crusher. His weapon is Azarov's skull and spine. New accounts unlock him by finishing the Killer tutorial.
FAQ
Is The Wraith free in Dead by Daylight? Yes. He is one of the three original Killers, so he has no Iridescent Shard or Auric Cell price. New players unlock him by completing the Killer tutorial.
Can flashlights uncloak The Wraith? No. Lightburn, which used to force him out of cloak, was removed in Patch 6.7.0. A flashlight blind still works on him like on any Killer, and it gives him Haste if he runs Shadowborn.
How long does it take The Wraith to uncloak? About 3 seconds, and the bell only starts ringing after the first 1.5 seconds. "Swift Hunt" add-ons cut that time by 8% to 12%.
What is The Wraith's best add-on? "Windstorm" - Blood, which adds 9% movement speed while cloaked. Coxcombed Clapper, which silences the bell, is the best partner for it.
Did The Wraith change in Patch 10.2.0? No. His power, add-ons and teachable perks are unchanged in 10.2.0 and 10.2.1. The faster healing that 10.2.0 gave Survivors does make his hit-and-run style weaker.
Can The Wraith use Void Portals during Haunted by Daylight? Players report that he can't while cloaked, and has to uncloak first. Behaviour hasn't confirmed or addressed it, and the event runs until 3 November 2026.
More Dead by Daylight guides
Building your Killer for Patch 10.2.1? These guides cover the perks, builds and rankings around The Wraith.
- DBD Killer Tier List
- Best Killer Perks in DBD 2026
- DBD Builds for Patch 10.2.1
- Haunted by Daylight 2026: Dates and Rewards
- DBD Kill Rates and Pick Rates
Last verified 19 October 2026 against live patch 10.2.1.
