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Exhaustion perks are some of the most useful perks in Dead by Daylight; survivors can use them to escape a chase or prevent a chase when necessary. These perks grant survivors a powerful ability, then inflict the exhaustion status effect for a short time, preventing survivors from using any other survivor exhaustion perk. As exhaustion doesn't recover while a survivor is running, players can typically only use one exhaustion perk per chase.
Not all exhaustion perks are created equal, however, with some standing out only in certain scenarios while others provide reliable value throughout every trial. By understanding which exhaustion perks are the best for which situations and play styles, survivors can equip the exhaustion perks that best fit their Dead by Daylight survivor build's needs.
8 Head On (Jane Romero)
Jane Romero's perk Head On is an exhaustion perk that allows the player to stun any killer who walks in front of the locker they're standing in after a few seconds. This perk is highly situational, requiring the killer to be in a certain position and the survivor to have been in the locker for several seconds for it to work.
That said, it can be fun to bait a killer toward a locker and stun them with Head On; plus, it gains the survivor a bit of distance in a chase when used correctly. While Head On isn't the strongest of the exhaustion perks, it can be fun and frustrating for inexperienced killers, and it's also a creative way to use lockers to the player's advantage.
7 Balanced Landing (Nea Karlsson)
Balanced Landing gives the survivor a speed boost after they fall from a great height. Therefore, the Balanced Landing perk is great for extending chases in certain maps, but its map-dependent qualities are also what weakens it. There are some maps that make Balanced Landing borderline overpowered by some players' standards; for example, Lampkin Lane is extremely challenging and sometimes impossible for killers when survivors bring Balanced Landing and loop certain buildings repeatedly.
Other maps, though, like Lery's Memorial Institute, only have one location from which to fall, making Balanced Landing fairly useless on these maps. Balanced Landing can either be exceptionally powerful or never come into play, depending on the map.
6 Smash Hit (Yun-Jin Lee)
Smash Hit requires players to stun the killer before the player gets a burst of speed. While this perk is useful for escaping the killer and encouraging them to abandon the chase, it isn't very easy to activate. Stuns aren't always easy to come by, especially when the killer is skilled or the map doesn't have a lot of tiles that benefit survivors.
While Smash Hit will probably give the player the boost they need to escape mid-chase, it's a gamble as to whether they'll be able to activate it or not in time. As such, it may be a better fit for some survivors than others, depending on their individual play styles.
5 Lithe (Feng Min)
Lithe grants the player a burst of speed after vaulting a window, making this perk useful for gaining distance on the killer mid-chase. It does require the player to vault, though, so if the player isn't in a good position, or they are out in the open, they may not be able to activate this perk.
Most tiles do contain a window or two, though, so it's not incredibly hard to activate Lithe. It can also feel a little awkward to navigate getting so much speed after a vault. Overall, Lithe sits among the middle tier of Dead by Daylight's exhaustion perks thanks to its few drawbacks.
4 Overcome (Jonah Vasquez)
Similarly to Yun-Jin Lee's Smash Hit, Overcome is great for escaping mid-chase. Overcome grants the survivor a longer speed boost after they are injured. Combined with perks that hide scratch marks or lessen the player's groans of pain, this perk can be incredibly effective.
Not only can it help the survivor to put a lot of distance between themselves and the killer, but also help them completely evade the killer if the right stealth strategies are used. Overcome makes a chase easier for survivors who feel they may become injured at some point, as most survivors tend to do.
3 Adrenaline (Meg Thomas)
Adrenaline grants a burst of speed when the exit gates are powered, giving the survivor an opportunity to come back during a challenging end-game. While Adrenaline only activates once per trial, its effects are instant, allowing survivors to completely turn the game around with just this one perk depending on the circumstances.
Adrenaline even activates after a survivor is unhooked, making unhook scenarios during the end game collapse more tense and interesting. Because Adrenaline can single-handedly win a survivor the game when it activates at a helpful moment, it's a great pick for an exhaustion perk.
2 Sprint Burst (Meg Thomas)
Sprint Burst grants the player a burst of speed when they start sprinting, allowing them to gain a great deal of distance from the killer before the chase even begins. Sprint Burst can deter a killer from pursuing an otherwise viable chase, causing them to either waste time catching up or, in some cases, force them to look for another survivor instead.
However, survivors will have to keep an eye on their exhaustion meter and avoid running needlessly when using Sprint Burst to avoid wasting it. Still, because of this perk's ability to deter killers from pursuing important chases, it's one of the best exhaustion perks in Dead By Daylight.
1 Dead Hard (David King)
Dead Hard has been one of the most commonly-used survivor perks since it was introduced into the game, and for good reason. Dead Hard gives the survivor the ability to dash forward when injured, avoiding any damage taken during that time before inflicting exhaustion.
Using Dead Hard at the right time can allow a survivor to make their way to another tile, avoiding the killer's hit and prolonging the chase while other survivors complete generators or other side objectives. This effect can throw off the killer and be truly game-changing. Because Dead Hard allows the player to survive taking a hit and can help a survivor punish the killer for even the best of plays, it's not only one of the strongest exhaustion perks in Dead by Daylight, but possibly the strongest perk altogether.
Dead By Daylight is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.