The Best Artist Builds In Dead By Daylight (Update 8.2.1)

4 September 2024 - We've updated the page to reflect any recent changes to perks and abilities in Patch 8.2.1 that might impact the best Artist builds in Dead By Daylight.

The Artist is one of the most recently added characters in the horror game Dead by Daylight, but has quickly found her place in the roster as one of the game's strongest killers. It takes a strong player to play her well, though, meaning that she takes some practice and game knowledge to use her at her best.

Here is your guide to playing The Artist in Dead by Daylight, including the best possible loadouts so you can use your birds to down survivors and get those kills.

The Artist Power And Perks

To pick out the best perks for The Artist, you'll first need to understand his power and how it works so you can think about how the game's many perks may be able to complement it.

You should also learn more about The Artist's teachable perks since they come with the killer by default and can be used together to earn Adept Artist. Let's go over all of The Artist’s perks:

Perk: Grim Embrace

• Once all four survivors have been hooked at least one time, all of the generators will be blocked by the entity for 30/35/40 seconds. The aura of the obsession will also be revealed for five seconds.

Perk: Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance

• When the trial begins four random hooks will be turned into Scourge Hooks. These hooks can be seen with special white auras by the Dead by Daylight killer. When a survivor is placed on a Scourge Hook, the generator with the most amount of progress will explode and cause it to lose 9/12/15% of its progression, as well as cause it to regress if nobody works on it. Survivors working on the exploding generator will scream.

Perk: Hex Pentimento

• The killer gains the ability to see the auras of cleansed Totems. These Totems can be changed into Rekindled Totems. As more Rekindled Totems are created, more debuffs are given to survivors. These are:
  • One Totem - Repair speed is reduced by 20/25/30%
  • Two Totems - Healing speed is reduced by 20/25/30%
  • Three Totems - Recovery speed is reduced by 20/25/30%
  • Four Totems - Gate Opening speed is reduced by 20/25/30%
  • Five Totems - All Totems are blocked by the Entity
• If survivors find a Rekindled Totem before five are created, they can be cleansed once more where they will be destroyed for good.

Power: Birds of Torment

The Artist's power is called Birds of Torment, which allows her to locate and injure survivors using her Dire Crows. The in-game description reads:

• Press the Power button to charge Birds of Torment.
• Once fully charged, tap the Attack button to summon a Dire Crow.
• This action can be repeated in quick succession by continuously holding the Power button and tapping the Attack button again.

Dire Crow:

• When at least one Dire Crow is summoned, it stays idle for a limited amount of time.
  Spawning a new Dire Crow will extend the time the previously spawned Dire Crow stays idle.
• Tap the Ability button to propel all Idle Dire Crows into flight, following their indicated Flight Path.

Flight Path:

• Dire Crows inflict damage to Survivors while still on their Flight Path, which is indicated to The Artist.
• Once Dire Crows continue past their individual Flight Paths or fly through an obstacle within it, they turn into a Swarm, able to pass through any obstacles while flying on through the environment.

Swarm:

• While a Swarm continues in a straight line throughout the environment, it will reveal any nearby Survivors through Killer Instinct.
• If a Swarm collides with a Survivor, it will start to swarm them with a Murder of Crows.
  The Aura of the Swarm is revealed to The Artist in white at all times, except for when it is being repelled.
• If a Swarm collides with an already Swarmed Survivor, it will inflict damage.

Repel:

• Swarmed Survivors can repel the Swarm either by completing the Repel action or by entering a Locker.
  During this time, the Swarm's Aura is not revealed to The Artist.
• Colliding with an idle Dire Crow while repelling the Swarm, will reset the Repel action.

The Best Artist Builds In Dead By Daylight

The Artist excels at finding and injuring survivors but can have a hard time in some other areas. For example, she is not particularly strong at generator slowdown. The best builds for Artist complement his strengths while helping him in the areas where he struggles. 

With so many perks available in Dead by Daylight, there is not just one build that works well on Artist - there are many choices. Here are just a few of the best.

Beginner Artist Build

When starting as a new Artist main, it can be hard to figure out what perks to use. That's why we've put together this beginner Artist build using only perks that come with the Artist or can be found in any killer's Bloodweb.

• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist)
• Whispers
• Bitter Murmur
• Hex: No One Escapes Death

This build focuses on both tracking survivors and slowing down generators. Whispers and Bitter Murmur both help you find survivors, while Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance slows down generators. As with most of our beginner killer builds, we also add in Hex: No One Escapes Death to provide you with an extra boost at the end of the game.

Gen Destroyer Artist Build

The Artist can find and injure survivors from across the map using her Dire Crows, but she needs the help of perks to help her aim her follow-up shots. That's where this build comes in. Not only will it help you find survivors working on generators, but it will also help you slow those survivors down so much they aren't able to keep up.

• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist)
• Overcharge (The Doctor)
• Pop Goes The Weasel (The Clown)
• Dead Man's Switch (The Deathslinger)

Most of the perks in this build serve to help you damage generators; Overcharge, Pop Goes The Weasel, and Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance all-cause direct damage to generators under different circumstances. You should make it your goal to activate them as often as possible. Dead Man's Switch will help you find survivors working on a generator after you land a hook, as well as prevent them from working on the generator.

What Are The Best Perks For The Artist?

Those are all the best builds for The Artist, but you might still be wondering which individual perks work best on this killer. After all, creating your own builds can be fun and allow you to try new playstyles.

You can mix and match the following perks to create an incredible build for The Artist:

• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist)
• Whispers
• Hex: No One Escapes Death
• Hex: Ruin (The Hag)
• Hex: Devour Hope (The Hag)
• I'm All Ears (The Ghost Face)
• Bitter Murmur

We recommend mixing and matching the perks in the builds we've provided to create your favorite loadout. As you familiarize yourself with this killer, you'll determine which perks are your favorites and be able to mix and match these perks effectively.