Sally Smithson, A.K.A The Nurse, entered the Killer pool of DBD on the 18th of August 2016. Since that very faithful day, she terrorized poor Survivor players in the high ranks of the game. And to this day she is one of the very best killers in history Dead By Daylight. You will find out everything you need to know about DBD Nurse in this handy guide, together with the best perks and strategies!
The Nurse, due to her very unique playstyle, is neigh impossible to counter when playing as the Survivors. But before you can reap the rewards that she has to offer you need to learn. Because Nurse is also one of the hardest Killers to master. Again, thanks to her unique power and other gameplay elements.
If you want to know how strong The Nurse is compared to other Killers in the game, check out our article about Dead by Daylight Killers Tier List – All DBD Killers Ranked From Best To Worst!
Step 1: Learn About The DBD’s Nurse
The first step naturally is to understand the Killer before you even attempt to play him/her. At the core of the Nurse’s strength is her ability, Spencer’s Last Breath. Her power enables you to blink, or teleport, a short distance in the direction you are currently looking. It is important to mention here, that you can even go through ceilings and floors. As long as there is a playable area in the spot you are attempting to blink to.
How the blink functions is pretty simple. You hold down the power button, the right mouse button by default, to initiate a teleport. The longer you hold down the button, the further you will blink. There is a very nice add-on that allows you to learn her maximum range and the rate at which the blink “accumulates” distance. It’s called Plaid Flannel. And it is one of the 4 brown rarity add-ons for the Nurse. But do keep in mind to take it off once you start getting used to blinking since you are giving up a very valuable add-on slot for a novice learning tool.
So, why does Nurse need the blink anyway? The obvious answer is that any Killer in Dead By Daylight has a unique power, and should use it often. But a more specific answer is that the Nurse cannot function without it. Her movement speed is capped at 96% of how fast Survivor sprinting moves at. So you will never actually catch up to a Survivor holding shift, ever! But with your blink, you can catch them with no problem.
| Survivor running speed | Nurse speed while moving normally | Nurse speed when blinking |
| 4.0 meters/second (or 100%) | 3.85 m/s (or 96.25%) | 13.33 m/s (or 333.25%) |
The next step is dealing with fatigue. Every time you blink, the Nurse will go into a fatigued state. Which is functionally a stun. It lasts 2 seconds and forces your camera to the ground, so you might lose your prey from your line of sight. If you swing your weapon before going into fatigue that’s +1 second of stun. And every blink in a chain of blinks is +0,5 seconds. So it is absolutely vital that you hit a survivor with your attack before you fatigue. Otherwise, your effort will be wasted and they can escape your grasp.
| Fatigue duration after a blink | 1 Additional blink in a chain | 2 Additional blinks in a chain (current maximum amount of blinks) | Swinging your weapon after a blink |
| 2 seconds of fatigue | 2.5 seconds of fatigue | 3 seconds of fatigue | + 1 second to your already built up fatigue time |
Step 2: Deck Out Your Nurse Before Going Into A Match!
Half of the battle in Dead By Daylight is being prepared, and Nurse is no exception. You need to understand her perks and add-ons for her power. There are 90 Killer perks in the game currently, and The Nurse has 20 add-ons for her power, Spencer’s Last Breath. With 4 perk slots and 2 add-on slots, the possibilities are… well, they are not endless per se. But there are too damn many of them to be covered in this guide, or any guide really. And there is no need. I will break down perks you want to have to play DBD Nurse into categories and give some examples. In the case of add-ons, I will just list some of the better ones, because thankfully you can ignore most of them.
Best Perks For Dead By Daylight’s Nurse
The first group is information gathering perks. Those are some of the best perks for her. Why? Because she is a killing machine. Spencer’s Last Breath is ideal for rushing down Survivors and getting downs in a matter of seconds. So then, if you are such a beast in a chase, what do you need? You need information. As soon as you hook a Survivor, you want to know where the next one is ASAP. While you initiate another chase someone needs to get your first victim off the hook. That’s 3 people not repairing generators, an ideal situation for you. And if you keep Survivors in this loop of events you will win in a matter of minutes. While they still have 3 or 4 generators to go before they can even think about escaping. Just remember to not stack too many! Pick 1 or 2 at most!
The best information gathering perks in the game for DBD Nurse are:
| Barbecue & Chilli * (Perk of The Cannibal) | Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance * (Perk of The Artist) | Lethal Pursuer (Perk of The Nemesis) | A Nurses Calling (The Nurses own perk) |
| After hooking a Survivor, all other Survivors’ Auras are revealed to you for 4 seconds when they are farther than 40 meters from the Hook. | At the start of the Trial, 4 random Hooks are changed into Scourge Hooks: Each time a Survivor is hooked on a Scourge Hook, the following effects apply: The Generator with the most Progression explodes, instantly losing 15 % of its total Progression and starting to regress. Survivors repairing that Generator will scream, revealing their location. | At the start of the Trial, the Auras of all Survivors are revealed to you for 9 seconds. | The Auras of Survivors, who are healing or being healed, are revealed to you when they are within a range of 28 meters. |
The next category is slowdown perks. These are perks designed specifically for slowing down the rate at which Survivors are repairing generators. This is very important. The Nurse can travel around the map in the blink of an eye. But your pressure comes from you chasing Survivors. And you cannot really chase more than one person at a time.
Without further ado, here are the best slowdown perks for The DBD Nurse:
| Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance * (Perk of The Artist) | Corrupt Intervention * (Perk of The Plague) | Hex: Ruin (Perk of The Hag) | Deadlock (Perk of the Cenobite) |
You can read all about it in the table above! | At the start of the Trial, the 3 Generators located farthest from you are blocked for 80/100/120 seconds. | All Generators automatically regress at 100/150/200 % of the normal speed whenever they are not being repaired. The Hex effects persist as long as the related Hex Totem is standing. | Whenever a Generator is completed, The Entity blocks the Generator with the most progression for 20/25/30 seconds. |
