Dead By Daylight best Trickster build (April 2023)

Probably the most stylish and flashiest killer in Dead By Daylight, "The Trickster" always has something up his sleeve to eliminate Survivors. Added in March 2021, the Trickster is still a great Killer to use in the game in 2023.

If you want to learn the best ways to eliminate Survivors using the Trickster, this handy guide includes his best perks, add-ons, and several tips and tricks to trap your unsuspecting foes.

For more, check out our Dead By Daylight Killers tier list to see where each Killer ranks. For some highlights, we've also got the best Michael Myers build, as well as the best Wraith build to try out.

Trickster perks in Dead By Daylight

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

Starstruck

When picking up a Survivor, other Survivors within your Terror Radius suffer from the Exposed status effect. This status effect lingers on Survivors for 26/28/30 seconds after leaving your Terror Radius. The perk deactivates after hooking or dropping the carried Survivor. It has a cooldown of 60 seconds.

Hex: Crowd Control

If a Survivor does a rush action through a window or vault, the Entity will block them for the next 10/12/14 seconds. The effects of this perk are nulled when the Hex Totem is cleansed.

No Way Out

For each Survivor you put on a hook during the trial, you gain one token. Once the generators are completed, the Entity blocks the exit gate switches for 10 seconds, as well as an additional 4/6/8 seconds per token in your possession. This can prevent Survivors from opening a door for a maximum of 26/34/42 seconds.

What are the best builds and perks for the Trickster?

We would go with the following perks for the best possible build for the Trickster:

Cruel Limits (Demogorgon perk)

Each time a generator is repaired, all windows and vaults within 32 metres of the completed generator will be blocked off for all Survivors for the next 20/25/30 seconds.

I'm All Ears (Ghost Face perk)

Any survivor who performs a rushed action within 48 meters will have their aura revealed for six seconds.

Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (Artist perk)

At the start of the trial, four random hooks will be changed into a scourge hook. Survivors who are hit with a scourge hook will scream and the generator that has the highest progression will explode and will instantly regress.

Barbecue & Chilli (Cannibal perk)

When a survivor gets hooked, all of the other survivors who are at least 60/50/40 meters away from the hook will get their location revealed for four seconds.

Dead By Daylight Trickster powers

The Trickster's power is called Showstopper. Showstopper refers to the Trickster's array of knives (also known as blades), which he can use to throw at Survivors during the trial.

The Trickster starts with 60 knives at the start of a trial and must hold the power button down to wind up and start throwing them. Players can either tap the power button to throw one or two knives at a time, or they can hold down to unleash a flurry of knives. This gives you more of a chance of hitting a Survivor but reduces your movement speed in the process.

The more knives that hit Survivors, the more progress they get on their laceration meter. It takes eight blades hitting a Survivor for them to lose a health state, either getting injured or being put into the dying state. The laceration meter on Survivors will gradually fade if they haven’t been hit by the Trickster's knives for a short time or partially deplete altogether if they get hit with his basic attack, instead.

After hitting Survivors with knives so many times, you'll trigger a special attack called The Main Event. During this time, the edges of your screen will gain yellow lines around it to show that it's ready to be used. Press the power button and the Trickster will unleash an unlimited flurry of knives at Survivors.

Unlike before however, his movement speed does not decrease after each throw, and his throw rate is significantly improved. You can cancel this ability at any time, but this will put a cooldown on your knives. Once you run out of knives for Showstopper, you must go to the lockers to refill.

Best add-ons for the Trickster in Dead By Daylight

There are some incredibly strong add-ons for the Trickster, but it takes a lot of calm and patience due to how flimsy and underpowered his power is. Because of that, his best add-ons are usually the ones that either add something new and exciting to his base kit or improves the damage of laceration.

Bloody Boa

With this addon, the Trickster will now start with eight extra blades and can carry more.

Fizz-Spin Soda

This addon compliments Bloody Boa really well. Fizz-Spin Soda will increase the throw rate of blades by two for easier hunting.

Edge of Revival Album

While nothing incredible, this add-on makes it so that when knives hit the environment they shatter, causing 50% laceration to nearby Survivors. This is useful for when you just miss a Survivor because the knife will shatter and hit them anyway if they are close enough.

Caged Heart Shoes

The Trickster is one of the slowest Killers in the game, and he gets even slower when he uses this power. The best way to combat that is with this add-on, which increases your movement speed when you're in the throwing state.

Dead By Daylight Trickster tips and tricks

• Do not rely on loops in the same way as you would if you were another Killer. The Trickster is a slow Killer and can be given the run around by Survivors, even with his ranged ability. Just break the pallet and move on.
• Narrow, precise areas like windows, vaults, and pallets are the time to use your knives on Survivors and get their laceration meter up. If you know the Survivor is going to be stuck in an animation of some sort, do your best to take advantage of that.
• Don't use your knives if you can just as easily get a basic attack hit on a Survivor. While it may be tempting to do so, you're just going to waste a lot of time (as well as knives) on a Survivor when you could easily just hit them.
• Using your knives at the exit gate can be helpful against injured Survivors as they don’t "fall" in the same way as they would if they’d been downed by a basic attack - not vaulting forward but instead crumbling. This gives you more than enough time to pick them up and carry them to a hook.
• Use your knives from afar as much as possible. The Trickster’s power is ranged after all, and you can quite easily get a Survivor’s Laceration meter to halfway before you even reach the Generator they’re on.
• If you're able to, herd a Survivor into a blocked-off place like a wall or a small jungle gym with very little to no vaults. This makes it harder for them to move and you can unleash your knives on them with much more ease at these locations.

That's all you need to know about the best the Trickster 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.