Dead by Daylight Beginner's Guide

New to Dead by Daylight? How a trial works for survivors and killers, which killer to play first, and the systems you need to know.

Updated 3 November 2026Checked for patch Patch 10.2.23 sources
Image: Dead by Daylight / YouTube

Dead by Daylight is an asymmetric multiplayer horror game from Behaviour Interactive, released on June 14, 2016. One player is the killer, four players are survivors, and every match plays out in a foggy realm ruled by The Entity. You can play both sides, and the roster now counts more than 40 killers – see all killers.

How a trial works

Four vs oneFour survivors try to escape one killer. Each match is called a trial.
Repair generatorsSurvivors must repair generators to power the two exit gates.
HooksThe killer downs survivors and hangs them on hooks for The Entity. A survivor hooked for the third time is sacrificed.
EscapeOpen an exit gate and run – or, when only one survivor is left, look for the hatch.

Habits that help

Unhook and healSaving teammates and healing them keeps the team in the game – but don't all crowd one hook.
Watch the terror radiusThe heartbeat grows louder as the killer gets close. Hide or start running before they see you.
Use pallets and windowsLoop the killer around pallets and windows to buy time while others repair.
Pick an easy killerThe Trapper, The Wraith and The Huntress are free and easy to learn.
Bloodpoints and perksSpend Bloodpoints in each character's Bloodweb for perks, add-ons and items. You can equip four perks.
Quick chatSince patch 10.2.0, survivors can send short preset messages to their team during a match.

Keep up with changes

Perks changed a lot in patch 10.2.0 – see our Help Wanted build for an updated survivor setup. Browse every chapter and the trailers.

Our Dead by Daylight articles on this

Reference page written by AI (Claude) and checked against the sources above. Games change with every patch – the patch this page was last checked for is shown at the top.