Competitive 4v1
Dead by Daylight Killer Tier List& Competitive Rules
All 43 killers ranked from S to D for competitive play. This is not a casual power ranking - it is the list DBD Arena uses to decide who actually won a ranked 4v1 trial.
Because a 4K on The Nurse is not the same achievement as a 4K on The Trapper, every tier has its own win condition. The stronger the killer, the more they have to do to be credited with a win.
How each tier wins a trial
| Tier | Killer must achieve | Killers |
|---|---|---|
| S | 4K with at least 1 generator remaining | 2 |
| A | 4K (any number of gens) | 8 |
| B | 11+ hook stages | 22 |
| C | 10+ hook stages | 8 |
| D | 9+ hook stages | 3 |
Anything below the threshold is a survivor win. There are no draws.
S Tier2 killers
Strongest killers in the game. Held to the highest standard - a 4K alone is not enough, the survivors must also be denied the gens.
Win condition: 4K with at least 1 generator remaining
Nurse
Sally Smithson
Blight
Talbot Grimes
A Tier8 killers
Very strong killers with high map pressure or chase power. A full 4K is required, but the gens do not matter.
Win condition: 4K (any number of gens)
Hillbilly
Max Thompson Jr.
Spirit
Rin Yamaoka
Oni
Kazan Yamaoka
Twins
Charlotte & Victor Deshayes
Singularity
HUX-A7-13
Dark Lord
Dracula
Ghoul
Ken Kaneki
First
Henry Creel
B Tier22 killers
Solid, balanced killers. Judged on total hook pressure across the trial rather than on kills alone.
Win condition: 11+ hook stages
Wraith
Philip Ojomo
Shape
Michael Myers
Huntress
Anna
Nightmare
Freddy Krueger
Clown
Kenneth Chase
Plague
Adiris
Deathslinger
Caleb Quinn
Executioner
Pyramid Head
Trickster
Hak Ji-woon
Nemesis
Nemesis T-Type
Cenobite
Elliot Spencer
Artist
Carmina Mora
Mastermind
Albert Wesker
Knight
Tarhos Kovács
Xenomorph
Xenomorph
Good Guy
Chucky (Charles Lee Ray)
Unknown
Unknown
Lich
Vecna
Houndmaster
Portia Maye
Animatronic
William Afton (Springtrap)
Krasue
Burong Sukapat
Slasher
Jason Voorhees
C Tier8 killers
Killers that struggle against coordinated survivors, so the hook requirement is lowered.
Win condition: 10+ hook stages
Hag
Lisa Sherwood
Doctor
Herman Carter
Cannibal
Bubba Sawyer
Pig
Amanda Young
Legion
Frank, Julie, Susie, Joey
Demogorgon
Demogorgon
Onryō
Sadako Yamamura
Dredge
Dredge
D Tier3 killers
The weakest picks at a competitive level. They get the most forgiving threshold to stay viable.
Win condition: 9+ hook stages
Trapper
Evan MacMillan
Ghost Face
Danny Johnson
Skull Merchant
Adriana Imai
The competitive 1v1 format
The 1v1 is a pure chase duel - no generators, no hooks, just how long each player survives a chase on the same killer.
- 1The 1v1 is a pure chase duel - no generators are played.
- 2A custom lobby is made with 2 players: one Killer, one Survivor.
- 3Standard start: Killer Shack. The Survivor stands next to the pallet, the Killer at the door on the opposite side of the shack.
- 4The Survivor signals the start of the chase by crouching twice. The timer starts at that moment.
- 5The timer stops when the Survivor is downed. Time is tracked here on DBD Arena.
- 6Players then SWAP roles on the same map (restart the trial to reset pallets).
- 7The player who lasted LONGER as Survivor wins the round.
- 8Matches are played Best of 3 rounds.
- 9Killer ban/pick before the series: the coin-flip winner bans a killer, the other player picks their killer, then bans, and the coin-flip winner picks last. Each player plays their own picked killer.
Killer rules
- ·Up to 1 chase perk of choice, as long as it is not banned (ranged killers may bring 2).
- ·NO aura-reveal perks or add-ons are allowed.
Banned killer perks (14)
Survivor rules
- ·Up to 2 perks of choice, as long as they are not banned.
- ·Maximum 1 exhaustion perk (Lithe, Balanced Landing, etc.).
- ·A medkit without add-ons is allowed. Healing and recharging exhaustion between chases is allowed.
- ·Lockers are NOT allowed.
- ·A purple flashlight (no add-ons) is allowed in every 1v1, except matches vs Trapper and Wraith.
- ·The flashlight cannot be combined with the perk Champion of Light.
- ·Firecrackers are banned.
- ·Banned cosmetics: all Eren skins, the Murderous Grizzly skin, and the "golden muscle" body part.
- ·NO aura-reveal perks or add-ons are allowed (exception: Windows of Opportunity + Five Moves Ahead).
Banned survivor perks (16)
Per-killer competitive rules
The 14 killers in the 1v1 competitive pool each have their own add-on bans, playstyle restrictions and a fixed map. Click one for its full ruleset.
Blight
S tier · Suffocation Pit
Must use 1 rush in place + take the fatigue before the chase starts.
Banned: All Ultra Rare add-ons, Compound 21, Adrenaline Vial
Cannibal
C tier · Wreckers' Yard
Banned: Light Chassis
Clown
B tier · Wreckers' Yard
No add-on bans
Demogorgon
C tier · Wreckers' Yard
No add-on bans
Doctor
C tier · Wreckers' Yard
Banned: All "Restraint" add-ons
Dark Lord
A tier · Wretched Shop
Banned: All Ultra Rare add-ons, Lapis Lazuli, Medusa Hair
Hillbilly
A tier · Blood Lodge
Must start the chase with 0% Overdrive (walk to shack or let Overdrive expire).
Banned: Lo Pro Chains
Mastermind
B tier · Coal Tower
Banned: All Ultra Rare add-ons, Uroboros Virus
Oni
A tier · Coal Tower
Banned: All aura-reveal add-ons, All Ultra Rare add-ons
Pig
C tier · Wreckers' Yard
Banned: Amanda's Letter
Trapper
D tier · Suffocation Pit
Setting traps is not allowed.
Banned: All Iridescent add-ons
Wraith
B tier · Coal Tower
No add-on bans
Nightmare
B tier · Dead Dawg Saloon
Survivors may bring Visionary + 2 perks.
No add-on bans
Nurse
S tier · Coal Tower
All add-ons banned - Nurse is played perkless.
Banned: All add-ons
Why this tier list exists
Dead by Daylight has no official competitive ranking, and the game's own match logs are encrypted, so results cannot be verified automatically. Competitive DBD therefore runs on agreed standards rather than on raw kill counts.
A flat "4K = win" rule rewards picking the strongest killer and punishes anyone playing something fair. Tiering the win condition fixes that: bring The Nurse and you are expected to dominate, bring The Trapper and a strong hook game is enough. It keeps weaker killers playable in a ranked setting instead of instantly throwing.
This list is used live in DBD Arena's ranked 4v1. Survivors report their own hook stages, the killer reports kills and generators left, and the outcome is settled against the tier of the killer that was actually played.
DBD Arena is a community project and is not affiliated with Behaviour Interactive.