One of the most highly anticipated Killers arrives in the Fog with Dead by Daylight’s Alien chapter. The titular villain, most commonly known as The Xenomorph, introduces a brand-new traversal system and new ways to attack Survivors. Able to burrow through its vast underground nest, The Xenomorph can quickly reach far corners of the map and enter Crawler Mode. In this mode, it can attack Survivors from a distance and negate even the safest of loops. With such powers, The Xenomorph can be a colossal threat, especially with the right perks.

As with every killer, learning the Xenomorph's strengths and weaknesses is key to winning. This guide will break down the best builds to run with The Xenomorph in Dead by Daylight, using both teachable and non-teachable perks for players with varying access to other DLC.

Related

Dead by Daylight: How to Play The Xenomorph

The Xenomorph’s power in Dead by Daylight can be better understood with this comprehensive guide detailing its abilities and how to use them.

The Xenomorph: Best Non-Teachable Build (2024)

The Xenomorph comes with some exceptional information perks that allow the Killer to keep track of many Survivors across the map. With their perk Alien Instinct, The Xenomorph can track injured Survivors from a distance, while Ultimate Weapon can help find Survivors nearby. Meanwhile, Bitter Murmur will show Survivors in the endgame when Hex: No One Escapes Death activates.

• Ultimate Weapon (The Xenomorph) – After opening a locker, any Survivor that enters the Terror Radius screams and gains the Blindness ailment for 30 seconds. This perk has a 30-second cooldown.
• Alien Instinct (The Xenomorph): After hooking a Survivor, the Killer can see the aura of the farthest injured Survivor for five seconds, inflicting them with the Oblivious status effect for 20 seconds.
• Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk): After the final generator is completed, all survivors will start to suffer from the Exposed status ailment. Users of this perk also gain a 4% Haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.
• Bitter Murmur (General Perk) – Each time a generator is completed, the auras of Survivors within 16 meters of that generator are revealed for 5 seconds. Once the last generator is complete, all Survivors’ auras are revealed for 10 seconds.

The Xenomorph: Best Build With Teachable Perks (2024)

As the Xenomorph, the player’s first instinct should be to enter his tunnels to quickly build up their Crawler Mode and find Survivors working on far generators. As such, one of the most effective perks to run on him is Lethal Pursuer. This can help the Xenomorph find exact Survivor locations early on. Pairing this with a perk like The Knight's Nowhere to Hide will increase aura reading length while showing Survivors near generators while using Pop Goes the Weasel. Finally, Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance will drastically stall generator progress.

• Lethal Pursuer (The Nemesis): At the start of the trial, this perk will reveal all Survivor's auras for 9 seconds. It also increases the duration of other aura-reading abilities by an extra 2 seconds.
• Nowhere to Hide (The Knight): If The Killer kicks a generator, the aura of all Survivors within 24 meters will be revealed for 5 seconds.
• Pop Goes the Weasel (The Clown): For 45 seconds after hooking a Survivor, kicking a generator will remove 30% of its current progression.
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist): With this perk, The Killer starts with four tokens. Each time they hook a different Survivor on a white Scourge Hook, The Killer will lose one token and explode the generator with the most progress. This causes the generator to lose 25% of its progress.

The Xenomorph: Best Add-Ons

Ovomorph

When The Xenomorph is knocked out of Crawler Mode by a Remote Turret, it takes 35 seconds before the creature can regain its power, unless it re-enters a nearby tunnel. For when you don't have time to retreat and need to maintain pressure on Survivors above ground, the Ovomorph add-on reduces the cooldown of The Xenomorph's power outside tunnels by nearly 9 seconds.

Cereal Rations

Though the builds above provide The Xenomorph with plenty of information on Survivor locations, knowledge of the generators being worked on is absent. The Cereal Rations can fill that role, revealing the location of Remote Turrets while in the tunnels, thereby clueing you into where Survivors are likely to be.

Lambert's Star Map

Since the Remote Turrets are Survivors' primary means of fighting back against The Xenomorph, weakening them is a huge boon to the Killer. Lambert's Star Map reduces the distance of their flames by 2 meters, making them somewhat less likely to remove your power.

Crew Headset

Another information Add-On, like the Cereal Rations, the Crew Headset increases the detection range of Survivor's footsteps while in tunnels by 6 meters. This better allows The Xenomorph to track its opponents' movements around the map.

Kane's Helmet

Referencing how the Nostromo's Executive Officer first encountered The Xenomorph's violent life cycle, Kane's Helmet inflicts those hit with tail attacks with the Mangled status ailment for 70 seconds. This slows down their healing by 25%.

Emergency Helmet

Pairing well with Lambert's Star Map, the Emergency Helmet shown in Alien's iconic opening reduces the stagger from turrets by 35%, giving The Xenomorph a greater chance to destroy it or land a hit on a nearby Survivor before being knocked out of Crawler Mode.

Self-Destruct Bolt

Though fast-vaulting windows can prove to be an inconsistent way to land hits on Survivors, its strength shouldn't be downplayed, particularly on window-heavy maps. The Self-Destruct Bolt, which Ripley rushes to operate in the 1979 film's climax, increases window vault speed by 30% while in Crawler Mode.

Acidic Blood

Although it is a particularly situational Add-On, The Xenomorph's Acidic Blood is nothing to shrug at. When exiting a tunnel in Crawler Mode, any Survivor who stuns you with a pallet within 20 seconds will be injured, or will enter a Deep Wounds state.

Dead by Daylight

Platform(s)

PC , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Stadia , Switch , Mobile

Released

June 14, 2016

Developer(s)

Behaviour Interactive

Publisher(s)

Behaviour Interactive

Genre(s)

Horror , Survival