Totems have always held a unique place in Dead by Daylight's gameplay. Killers use them for game-changing Hexes, devouring the hope of Survivors and reminding them that no one escapes death. For a long time, the only thing a Survivor could do to counter Hexes was to find and cleanse the totem, hopefully in time to save their own life and that of their team.

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With the Hour of the Witch chapter, however, Dead by Daylight, introduced players to Boons, powerful new perks that allowed Survivors to turn totems against Killers, encompassing Survivors in the beneficial aura of the newly-blessed bones. Here are some of the best and most fun builds involving Boons.

5 The Unbreakable

Slugging is the popular Killer strategy of downing a Survivor and leaving them on the ground to chase a teammate, rather than picking the downed Survivor up and hooking them. The Unbreakable build is the best way to counter slugging, short of No Mither, and is intended for Survivors who want to disrupt that strategy above all else.

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• Exponential doubles the speed at which Survivors recover from the dying state and allows players to pick themselves up from the dying state while within the Boon's aura.
• Unbreakable increases the speed at which the Survivor recovers and allows them to pick themselves up once per trial.
• Soul Guard grants the Survivor the Endurance Status Effect for 8 seconds after being healed or recovering from the dying state. It also permits the Survivor to fully recover from the dying state when Cursed.
• Dead Hard allows the Survivor to briefly dash forward, gaining distance and avoiding attacks.

With this combination of perks, the Survivor can pick themselves up in virtually any situation, and their teammates can do the same whenever they are in the aura of Boon: Exponential.

4 The Ghost

The Ghost build is devoted to hiding the Survivor, masking their sounds, and eliminating their scratch marks to make it impossible for the Killer to track them. The Ghost is intended for Survivors who want to avoid detection and the need to loop.

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• Shadow Step suppresses scratch marks and hides the auras of Survivors within the Boon's aura.
• Lucky Break activates whenever the Survivor is injured (but only for 60 seconds total), hiding the pools of blood and scratch marks they would normally leave behind.
• Iron Will silences all noises the Survivor would normally make when injured.
• The first three times that the Survivor's aura would be shown to the Killer, Distortion hides it and the Survivor's scratch marks for 10 seconds.

The Ghost is all about avoiding the Killer's detection, using Distortion to hide early in the game, Lucky Break and Iron Will to hide once injured, and Boon: Shadow Step to hide the movements of the Survivors throughout the Trial, letting them vanish like the Wraith.

3 The White Witch

The White Witch build is delicious in its simplicity: bring all four Boon perks so that blessing a single totem infuses the surrounding area with every possible benefit at once. With this build, teammates won't have to move to different parts of the map just to benefit from a Boon.

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• Circle of Healing and Exponential combine to assure that no matter how much the Killer savages them they'll always be able to patch themselves up and keep fighting.
• Exponential and Shadow Step make it harder for the Killer to pin Survivors down within the Boon's reassuring light.

Since some Killers lurk in the area around a Boon, trying to catch Survivors healing themselves or blessing the totem again after the Boon is snuffed, the White Witch build can provide serious buffs where they're needed most. Though the White Witch build risks the deactivation of all four perks if the Killer snuffs the Boon, the player can simply find a new totem to bless, forcing the Killer to go out of their way to deny Survivors a safe haven.

2 The Physician

The Physician is devoted to healing and aims to provide the player with as many ways to heal others as possible. It's intended for Survivors who want to play a support role.

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• Circle of Healing increases healing speed and unlocks the Self-Care action while within the Boon's aura.
• Botany Knowledge increases healing speed and healing item efficiency by 33%.
• Pharmacy guarantees the Survivor will find an Emergency Med-Kit the first time they unlock a chest during the Trial, and it increases the speed and reduces the noise of this unlocking.
• For the People allows the Survivor to instantly heal a teammate in exchange for the healer gaining the Broken Status Effect.

Paired with a powerful med-kit, The Physician is an exceptional build for keeping Survivors alive long enough to finish generators. Rather than focus on selfish healing with the perk Self-Care, The Physician specializes in saving others.

1 The Meta

The Meta is, by definition, one of the strongest Survivor builds in the game, giving Survivors all the tools they need to outlast and overcome the Killer, no matter who they are facing.

• Circle of Healing allows the entire team to patch themselves back up quickly.
• Dead Hard lets the Survivor save themselves from otherwise lethal situations.
• The combination of Unbreakable and Decisive Strike acts as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, as the Killer can neither slug the Survivor nor pick them back up once they have been unhooked.

It may not be original, and it may not make the Survivor any friends with their opponents, but The Meta gives Survivors just what they need to persevere through difficult Trials.

Dead By Daylight is currently available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and Stadia.

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