The Best Skull Merchant 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 Skull Merchant builds in Dead by Daylight.

Skull Merchant Perks

Game Afoot: 

While you are chasing the Obsession, this perk activates. Damaging Generators and destroying Breakable Walls and Pallets gives you a 5% Haste Status for 8/9/10 seconds. Whenever you hit the Survivor with the total most time in chase with a Basic Attack, they become the Obsession. The Killer can only be Obsessed with one Survivor at a time.

THWACK!: After hooking a Survivor, performing the break action on the next Breakable Wall or Pallet will make Survivors within 32 meters scream and reveal their Aura for 4 seconds. THWACK! is active for 45/60/75 seconds after the Survivor is Hooked.

Leverage: Each time you Hook a Survivor, gain 1 token, up to 10. When you Hook a Survivor, this perk activates. For each token, reduces the speed at which Survivors heal by 3/4/5% for 30 seconds.

Skull Merchant Killer Power

Eyes in the Sky

Inspired by the dark mangas created by her father, The Skull Merchant relentlessly hunts her prey using the latest in surveillance technology.

The Skull Merchant starts the trial with four Drones. Pressing the Power Button places a Drone, which enters Active Mode after a short boot-up period. In this mode, the Drone creates a Detection Zone around itself. Within it, the Killer is Undetectable, and Survivors gain Lock On progress. The Drone reverts to Scouting Mode when no Survivor is detected for a while.

In Scouting Mode, the Drone begins a sweeping scan, and if iit finds a Survivor, it re-enters Active Mode. Survivors can interact with a Drone to disable it. If they fail, it enters Active Mode; if they succeed, it returns to the Killer, but the Survivor is stuck with a Claw Trap.

SPECIAL EFFECT: CLAW TRAP

A Claw Trap broadcasts the Survivor's location to the Killer until its battery dies. If they get too close to a Drone, it enters Active Mode and the Claw Trap's battery is recharged. The Killer can press the Ability Button to open a Radar to see the locations of Survivors with Claw Traps and those in a Detection Zone.

SPECIAL EFFECT: LOCK ON

When full, the Survivor is revealed by Killer Instinct while inside a Drone's Detection Zone, and suffers from the Exposed status effect until the meter discharges or they are put into the dying state.

Best Skull Merchant Builds In Dead By Daylight

The Skull Merchant's kit allows her to easily track down survivors using her Drones, then make them vulnerable to attack by inflicting them with the Exposed status effect. While her ability is relatively simple to use, she's a powerhouse when played correctly. Survivors do have some counterplay, earning her a solid place in the killer tier list's B Tier as of her initial release.

Because she's a fairly simple killer who can use many different perks to her advantage, Skull Merchant players have the privilege of being able to experiment with lots of different loadouts. Here are just a few of the best possible builds for The Skull Merchant.

Beginner Skull Merchant Build

If you are just getting started as a new Skull Merchant main, it might be hard to decide which perks to use. The Deathslinger can use his power to close in on survivors and land hits where other killers cannot, but he is a slow killer, meaning that he can use the help of perks for slowdown.

• THWACK! (The Skull Merchant)
• Whispers
• Leverage (The Skull Merchant)
• Fearmonger

Whispers helps you find survivors so you can accurately place your Drones and pressure the team. Leverage helps with slowdown by preventing survivors from easily healing, while THWACK! helps out Whispers with even more tracking potential. Fearmonger is the last perk in this build, letting you chase down survivors and steal away their Exhaustion perks.

All-Seeing Skull Merchant Build

The Skull Merchant is at her most powerful when she's able to keep careful track of survivors' locations on the map and intimidate them with her drones. This All-Seeing Skull Merchant build allows her to do just that, giving her information about survivors' whereabouts from the moment the game begins.

• Lethal Pursuer (The Nemesis)
• Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage (The Onryo)
• THWACK! (The Skull Merchant)
• Barbecue & Chili (The Cannibal)

Lethal Pursuer will allow you to see survivors' locations at the beginning of the match, while Scourge Hook: Floods of Rage and Barbecue & Chili will both provide you with more aura tracking throughout the match when you earn a hook. THWACK! is your final tracking perk, giving you the chance to see survivors' auras - and make them scream - every time you break a nearby pallet.

To make this build really shine, you can bring along the addons Advanced Movement Prediction and Brown Noise Generators. This provides you with even more tracking potential.

What Are The Best Perks For The Skull Merchant?

Those are all the best builds for The Skull Merchant, 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 Skull Merchant:

• A Nurse's Calling (The Nurse)
• Lethal Pursuer (The Nemesis)
• Scourge Hook: Floods Of Rage (The Onryo)
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist)
• Jolt
• Whispers