Dead by Daylight Killer Guide: The Doctor (Perks, Tips, & Strategies)

The Doctor is a Dead By Daylight Killer who can control the match by inducing madness, tracking, and slowing Survivors’ progress toward Objectives.

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Many famous monsters and villains from popular horror media have featured as Killers across various DLC chapters in Dead By Daylight, but developer Behaviour Interactive has also created a comprehensive catalog of original Killers. One of the more popular DLC original Killers and one of the easiest Killers for new players to pick up is The Doctor. He comes with the Spark of Madness DLC chapter, which is now often considered a staple for the game. Herman Carter, The Doctor, is an evil neuroscientist who performed illegal experiments on vulnerable people at the behest of the CIA. According to Dead By Daylight lore, he took great pleasure in using electroshock therapy to interrogate enemies of the United States. As a Killer, The Doctor can shock Survivors from a distance to slowly induce madness that makes it more difficult for them to complete objectives and force chases through tricks that cause panic.

Like all other Killers in Dead By Daylight, The Doctor has two main powers and three unique personal Perks that can eventually be unlocked for all other Killer characters. He can shock Survivors multiple times to induce various Tiers of Madness, each with their own debuffs, and can inflict head trauma with his weapon, The Stick. His powers can be greatly improved with Add-Ons, including a few special options that further trick and terrorize Survivors. Though The Doctor is considered a Hard-difficulty character, he remains one of the most played Killers in Dead By Daylight and can help newcomers get the hang of playing Killer. Here’s everything players should know about The Doctor’s abilities and strategies for playing him effectively in Dead By Daylight.

How To Build The Doctor In Dead By Daylight

When players choose The Doctor as their selected Killer in Dead By Daylight, they will need to master his two basic weapon powers. His basic attack is a standard-range strike with a weapon simply called “The Stick.” More importantly, he can use Carter’s Spark to induce Madness. There are three levels of Madness corresponding to the number of times The Doctor shocks the Survivors.

At Madness I, after one shock, Survivors will scream, revealing their location to The Doctor, and there will be a 33% chance to trigger Madness Skill Checks when Repairing and Healing. Madness Skill Checks travel counter-clockwise to trip up Survivors and cause more failed Checks. At Madness Level II, after two shocks, Survivors will scream, experience hallucinations of The Doctor appearing in front of them, and have a 66% chance of receiving Madness Skill Checks. Finally, at Madness Level III, after three successful shocks, Survivors will scream intermittently, experience hallucinations, and be unable to Heal, Repair, Sabotage, Search, or Cleanse until they complete a successful Snap Out of It action. Level III also ensures Madness Skill Checks occur 100% of the time. After Snapping Out of It, Survivors are not cured but simply return to Madness I.

When The Doctor manages to shock a Survivor, they will be kicked off any action they were working on and will be unable to go back to that action for 2.5 seconds. After shocking Survivors a number of times, The Doctor will build up enough power to use his special ability, Static Blast, which causes all Survivors within his Terror Radius to scream and reveal their location. Any Survivors in that Terror Radius when Static Blast goes off also gains a Madness Tier and lose any interactions they were performing.

The Doctor has three unique Perks, all suited for tracking down Survivors while cloaked for maximum stealth attacks. Like other characters, once The Doctor reaches levels 30, 35, and 40, his Perks begin to appear in the Bloodwebs of other Killers. These Perks can work well with most Killers in the Dead By Daylight roster. The Doctor’s personal Perks are:

Overwhelming Presence: When Survivors within the Killer’s Terror Radius use an Item, its depletion rate is increased by 80/90/100%.
Monitor & Abuse: The Killer’s base Terror Radius is increased by eight meters, but while not in a Chase, their Terror Radius is reduced by 16 meters, and Field of View is increased by 3/5/10. Field of View effects do not stack.
Overcharge: Damaging a Generator Overcharges it. The next Survivor to interact with it will face a difficult Skill Check. If the Survivor fails the Skill Check, they receive an additional 3/4/5% Progression loss. Succeeding the Skill Check gains no bonus Progression.

While all three of The Doctor’s unique Perks can be useful, their playstyle will dictate which ones a player equips and which they borrow from other Killers. Many players who use The Doctor choose to keep Monitor & Abuse and swap Overwhelming Presence and Overcharge for different Perks. Some alternative teachable Perks that work well with The Doctor’s control-based Killer abilities include:

Thrilling Tremors (The Ghostface): After picking up a Survivor, all Generators not currently being repaired are blocked by The Entity for 16 seconds. The Auras of blocked Generators are highlighted in white.
Pop Goes the Weasel (The Clown): After hooking a Survivor, the next Generator the Killer damages instantly loses 25% of its progress. Regular Generator Regression applies after.
Whispers: The Killer can hear the whispers of The Entity when a Survivor is within 48/40/32 meters of them.
Hex: Huntress Lullaby (The Huntress): Survivors receive a 2/4/6% Regression penalty on failed Skill Checks when Repairing and Healing. Additionally, each time the Killer hooks a Survivor, the Hex grows stronger and shortens the time between the Warning Sound and Skill checks, up to completely silencing it.
Distressing: The Killer’s Terror Radius is increased by 22/24/26%. Killers earn 100% bonus Bloodpoints in the Deviousness category.
Save the Best for Last (The Shape): Each time the Killer hits a Survivor other than the Obsession with a Basic Attack, Save the Best for Last gains one Token (up to eight Tokens). The Killer gains a stackable 5% cooldown reduction on successful attacks per Token, up to a maximum of 40%. Hitting the Obsession with a Basic Attack causes Save the Best for Last to lose 4/3/2 Tokens.

Players can also use any standard meta Perks when playing as The Doctor. They will want to experiment with the options they have available and find the build that works best for them.

Players can use Add-Ons found in The Doctor’s Bloodweb to increase his power. The best options add elements to the three Madness tiers and increase the range of Shock Therapy and Static Blast. These include:

“Order” – Class II: Moderately decreases Static Blast’s cooldown. Survivors with Madness see Broken Pallets as Illusionary Pallets that persist until approached. The Doctor can see the Auras of Illusionary Pallets.
“Restraint” – Class III: Reveals the Survivors’ Auras for two seconds when their Madness Tier increases and allows The Doctor to see the Auras of Illusionary Doctors experienced by Survivors.
“Discipline” – Class III: Moderately decreases the Shock Detonation Delay of Shock Therapy. Survivors with Madness II perceive an Illusionary Red Stain and Terror Radius while in a chase as though The Doctor were right behind them. This effect lasts six seconds after the chase ends. Survivors in Madness III constantly see the Illusionary Red Stain and Terror Radius. The Doctor can see the Illusionary Red Stain.
“Calm” – Carter’s Notes: Considerably increases The Doctor’s Terror Radius when Static Blast is ready and considerably decreases it when Static Blast is on cooldown. Survivors with Madness II intermittently hear a distant Illusionary Terror Radius, and Survivors with Madness III constantly hear a distant Illusionary Terror Radius.
Iridescent King: Survivors suffer all the Add-On Illusions, including increased duration Illusionary Doctor, Illusionary Terror Radius, Illusionary Red Stain and Terror Radius, and Illusionary Pallets. The Doctor can see the Auras of all these Illusions.

Killers are limited to whatever items appear randomly in their Bloodweb, so it is a good idea to experiment with different Add-Ons to find a combination that works best for the player’s preferred style and selected Perks so they can gain the most control over the map and play The Doctor’s mind games.

Dead By Daylight is available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, & Nintendo Switch.