Dead By Daylight best Deathslinger build (September 2023)

The best Dead by Daylight Deathslinger build is one that uses his gun and size well. He was introduced alongside a new Realm called The Grave of Glenvale, and a map called the Dead Dawg Saloon, which is well worth checking out.

Much like other killers like The Huntress and The Plague, The Deathslinger is a Killer that works best when his ranged ability is used effectively. But how does one use The Deathslinger and his ranged ability effectively? We’ve got just the guide for you, laying down everything you need to know about The Deathslinger’s perks, power, add-ons, as well as tips and tricks to make you a threat to anyone in Trial.

Dead By Daylight The Deathslinger perks

The Deathslinger has three unique perks that can be unlocked for other Killers via the Bloodweb.

Dead Man’s Switch

After hooking your Obsession, this perk activates for the next 35/40/45 seconds. During this time, if a Survivor stops working on a Generator the Entity will block the Generator off until the perk ends. This Generator will have its Aura shown as a white colour. This is great for general information but also helps with gen slowdown.

Gearhead

After hitting a Survivor twice with a Basic Attack, any Survivor that succeeds on a Good Skill Check while repairing a Generator will cause it to be revealed by a yellow Aura for as long as it continues being worked on.

Hex: Retribution

Survivors who cleanse a Dull Totem will suffer from the Oblivious status effect for 35/40/45 seconds. But if a Survivor cleanses a Hex Totem, all Survivors are revealed to you for 10 seconds.

What is the best Dead by Daylight Deathslinger build?

We would go with the following perks for the Best possible Deathslinger Build:

BBQ & Chili (The Cannibal Perk)

A deep bond with The Entity unlocks potential in one's Aura-reading ability. After hooking a Survivor, all other Survivors' Auras are revealed to you for 4 seconds when they are farther than 40 metres from the Hook. Each time a Survivor is hooked for the first time, gain a stack-able 25% bonus to all Bloodpoint gains, up to a maximum of several percent.

Hex Ruin (The Hag Perk)

A Hex that affects all Survivor's Generator Repair progress. All Generators automatically regress at percentage of the normal Regression speed whenever they are not being repaired. The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing.

Thanatophobia (The Nurse Perk)

Each injured, dying, or hooked Survivor incurs a stack-able percentage penalty to all Survivors' Repairing, Sabotaging, and Cleansing Action speeds, up to a maximum of several percent.

Dead Man’s Switch (Deathslinger Perk)

While activated, any Survivor that stops repairing a Generator before it is fully repaired causes The Entity to block the Generator until Dead Man's Switch's effect ends. Affected Generators are highlighted by a white Aura. It is activated when you hook the Obsession, making obsession perks a nice choice.

Dead By Daylight The Deathslinger powers

The Deathslinger’s power is called The Redeemer. The Redeemer is a hybrid rifle that instead of shooting bullets, instead shoots a chain with a razor-sharp hook at the very end of it. With it, The Deathslinger is able to shoot at Survivors and reel them in for a Basic Attack.

Survivors are able to break the chain of The Redeemer by pushing away from it or using environmental objects like walls or even pallets. This doesn’t necessarily mean that The Deathslinger loses out on a chance of hurting Survivors, however. If the chain of The Redeemer breaks, Survivors will have a Deep Wound status effect applied to them, making it necessary for them to Mend. If The Deathslinger lets go, however, no status effect will be applied to the Survivor.

The downside of The Redeemer is that it needs to be reloaded every time you shoot at a Survivor, meaning yes, it’s basically like a real gun. Reloading the Deathslinger's rifle now takes 2.6 seconds to do, so it can be some surprisingly slow paced action. For DBD standards, anyway.

Best Dead By Daylight Deathslinger add-ons

The Deathslinger has some okay add-ons, but a little like The Ghost Face his good add-ons are largely about his reload time and his Movement Speed when aiming down the sights of The Redeemer. Other than that… The Deathslinger doesn’t have too much going for him. That said, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t equip him with any add-ons at all, in fact, try out the ones listed below.

Warden’s Keys

This add-on moderately reduces the reload time of The Redeemer, which is very useful if you’re using Perks that make The Deathslinger move/finish his animations faster. It’s useful for helping you even when you miss a shot too, giving you more time to get back into the fray and hunt down your prey. This add-on now decreases the Speargun's reload time by 0.35 seconds.

Gold Creek Whiskey

This add-on moderately reduces your Movement Speed while looking down the sights of the Redeemer, but also decreases your Terror Radius. This can be helpful when running a perk like Monitor and Abuse and sneaking up on Survivors who are doing a Generator and have no idea that you’re coming. It’s a sneaky add-on, but very fun.

Bayshore’s Cigar

In a perfect world, you’ll be able to reel in a Survivor with your chain and give them a good ol’ wallop. But unfortunately some Survivors do get away, and you get a hefty stun for your trouble. With Bayshore’s Cigar however, that stun time is practically slashed in half, giving you more time to catch up with the Survivor and knock them down.

Bayshore’s Gold Tooth

This moderately increases the speed of the chain of the Redeemer when it reels you in. Doing anything faster in a game like Dead by Daylight where it’s 1v4 is always helpful. The faster you can get Survivors down, the better it is for you.

Dead By Daylight The Deathslinger tips and tricks

• Anything that further shrinks his terror radius is perfect for The Deathslinger as he's great at taking on enemies from a distance. This makes Monitor and Abuse a really good perk choice.
• Nurse’s Calling is also a great perk on The Deathslinger as you’re able to see Survivors from 32 metres away, but your Terror Radius is a lot smaller. Again this allows you to see Survivors who are healing and creep up on them to knock them down.
• The hitbox of The Redeemer is VERY precise. You’re able to hit through small cracks and Windows with ease and - on certain maps - you can even yank Survivors off higher ledges which, speaking from personal experience, is very funny.
• While we don’t believe in camping, there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of Survivors running towards the Hook before you’ve even left the area. If they rush the Hook and you can get away with it, shoot at the unhooking Survivor and pull them away. If you can take them down before they unhook, even better.
• Save the Best for Last is excellent on The Deathslinger, as you can easily save your stacks against the Obsession by using The Redeemer. This is great for times when Survivors rush their way to Hooks and Vault in front of you, because it makes it easier to down.
• Fake like you’re going to shoot with The Redeemer to force Survivor’s to move away from an easy Vault or Window. When they do so, you can hit them with your Basic Attack instead. They simply won’t see it coming and anything that gets an easy down is a win in our books.

That's all you need to know about the best The Deathslinger builds in Dead by Daylight. Be sure to check back regularly to see how your build could be improved. In the meantime, check out the killers we wish to see in Dead by Daylight soon, or some games like DBD for when you need a break.

While you're here, check out our Dead By Daylight tier list to see where each killer stacks up. That's on top of the best Demogorgon build, as well as some free Dead By Daylight codes to use.

For even more, check out our Dead By Daylight guides hub and the best Singularity build, as well as the best Survivor perks.