KPop has never been this deadly. Introduced in the Dead by Daylight All-Kill Chapter, Trickster, a ranged killer, proved that sexy can still be terrifying. Survivors know full well just how dangerous it is when his maniacal, sadistic giggling starts up. While Trickster is a killer whose natural power can be difficult to deal with on its own, veteran players understand that a complimentary build is a must-have when trying to slaughter a full team of highly skilled survivors. Here are some of the best builds to use with Trickster, guaranteed to challenge even the most experienced of survivors.

5. Peak-A-Boo Performance

Trickster checks a locker for Survivors before reloading his throwing knives.

This first build aims to soften one of Trickster’s glaring weaknesses: map mobility. Trickster’s rather slow and doesn’t have the luxury of ridiculously long-range attacks like Huntress so every moment he is not in a chase with a survivor, putting pressure on them, is precious time being wasted as generators begin to pop. Perks that give him information on where survivors are at any given time help keep him on their trails instead of wandering aimlessly searching for them. 

What “Peak-A-Boo Performance” excels in:

• Allows Trickster to locate sneaky survivors hiding in his immediate vicinity for surprise attacks
• Rewards Trickster’s natural ability to end chases quickly and hook survivors by slowing down generator progression
• Forces survivors to avoid hiding in lockers which leaves them more exposed and easily found

Build Details:

Perks: 

• Darkness Revealed: When searching lockers, survivors within 8 meters of the killer have their auras’ revealed for up to 5 seconds. Trickster frequently searches lockers to reload his throwing knives which means any survivors crouching nearby will be revealed and vulnerable to a chase. 
• Barbecue & Chili: After hooking a survivor, all other survivors who are at least 40 meters away from the hook have their auras revealed for 4 seconds. Trickster relies heavily on survivor location awareness to continue putting on the pressure and disrupting generator progress. This perk allows him to hook one survivor then immediately track down another to continue the onslaught of quick chases. 
• Iron Maiden: Upon exiting from hiding in a locker, the survivor will scream, reveal their location for 4 seconds, and become inflicted with the “Exposed” status effect for 30 seconds. Survivors often hide in lockers in fear of Barbecue & Chili as their auras will not be visible if they hide right as a survivor is being hooked. This perk makes hiding in lockers a gamble as exiting will reveal their location anyway and make them an easy target for a single-melee instant down. 
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance: Four hooks have their aura’s turned white at the beginning of the game to signify them as “scourge” hooks. If a survivor is hooked on a scourge hook, the generator with the most progress will explode causing any survivor working on it to scream and the generator will instantly lose up to 15% of its completion progress. This perk rewards Trickster for his ability to end chases quickly with generator slow-down. 15% is quite a bit of progress and usually gives him plenty of time to reach it and damage it before survivors can bring that progression back up. Plus the survivors working on it scream which briefly indicates their presence near that generator for even more tracking potential. 

Add-Ons:

• Caged-Heart Shoes: Moderately increases movement speed while throwing blades. This add-on helps Trickster cross the map a bit faster to continue or begin chases with survivors. 
• Ripper Brace: Moderately increases the time before a survivor’s laceration meter begins to decay. Trickster tends to rely on his throwing knives to help end chases quickly. The longer it takes for the laceration meter to go down, the fewer blades it will take over-all for it to fill up and injure or down the target.

4. Bamboozling Beats

A window can mean the difference between escape and sacrifice for a Survivor.

Trickster does decently enough when it comes to anti-looping thanks to his throwing knives, but only to an extent. Veteran survivors can dodge his blades and still keep their distance long-enough to draw chases out which is Trickster’s bane. This build aims to cripple those particular survivors in order for Trickster to end chases quickly and continue his onslaught.

What “Bamboozling Beats” excels in:

• Allows Trickster to block windows quickly and cut off chases with pro-looping survivors 
• Gen-slow perks keep the generators under control so Trickster has more time early in the game to gain an advantage
• Gives Trickster an edge against higher rated survivors when he would normally struggle

Build Details:

Perks:

• Pop Goes the Weasel: After hooking a survivor, this perk becomes active for up to 45 seconds. Kicking a generator while active removes 20% of its current progress. Trickster tends to hunt from generator to generator for survivors in quick succession. This perk is great as it allows Trickster to capitalize on each survivor he hooks by removing a chunk of progression from generators. 
• Corrupt Intervention: This perk activates at the start of the trial and causes the three generators furthest from the killer’s spawn point to become blocked by the Entity for up to 120 seconds. Survivors cannot repair blocked generators. This perk caters to Trickster’s slow speed and difficulties getting started in most matches. It allows him some extra time to seek out survivors and put pressure on them right off the bat.
• Bamboozle: The killer vaults up to 15% faster and anytime a window is vaulted, the Entity blocks it for up to 16 seconds. Survivors cannot vault blocked windows. Trickster’s throwing knives allow him to cut survivors off from loops for the most part, but higher-rated competitive survivors tend to go for window vaults while dodging knives which can lead to a long, drawn-out chase. Trickster does not have time for long chases so this perk allows him to cut off a vital portion of loops and increases his potential to down survivors faster. 
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance: Four hooks have their aura’s turned white at the beginning of the game to signify them as “scourge” hooks. If a survivor is hooked on a scourge hook, the generator with the most progress will explode causing any survivor working on it to scream and the generator will instantly lose up to 15% of its completion progress. This perk rewards Trickster for cutting off loops and finishing off survivors quickly. It acts as a secondary method for slowing down generator progression assuming you can hook survivors consistently. 

Add-Ons: 

• Iridescent Photocard: Survivors suffer from the “exposed” status affect when their Laceration Meter is one or two hits away from becoming full. Since the point of this build is to cut chases short, prompting the effect of this add-on aids in downing survivors with fewer knives and rewards Trickster for quickly closing space between himself and them. 
• Fizz-Spin Soda: Increases the initial throw-rate of Trickster’s blades by 2 stacks. Useful in this build for its potential in Trickster raising a survivor’s Laceration Meter high enough for Iridescent Photocard to activate faster.

3. Main Event Musical

Trickster wields all of his throwing knives at once for the grand finale.

One of the most debatable parts of Trickster’s kit as a killer is Main Event. This power allows Trickster to throw many knives in quick succession without running out for a period of time. It can either be extremely fruitful or it’s a comical sight for out-of-range survivors who get to watch you toss knives at a wall for a while. This particular build tailors to Main Event to make it more viable for Tricksters to use instead of ignore.

What “Main Event Musical” excels in:

• Forces survivors to spend time hunting down totems around the map instead of working on generators
• Main Event lasts longer and leaves Trickster fully reloaded in the end making it more reliable to use whenever it’s ready
• Potentially punishes survivors for cleansing totems they find
• Cuts off access to vital escape paths for survivors during chases making it easy for Trickster to corner and down them

Build Details:

Perks:

• Hex: Blood Favour: This perk blocks pallets up to 32 meters away for 15 seconds when a survivor loses a health state. Heavily rewards Trickster for getting that initial hit in by blocking nearby pallets from being pulled down. This is crippling for survivors looking to stun the Trickster and put distance in between them. 
• Hex: Crowd Control: When survivors rush-vault a window, the Entity will block it for up to 20 seconds after. Yet another loop-breaking perk, this also takes access to an important escape route away from hasty survivors. 
• Hex: Undying: Survivors within up to 4 meters of any dull totems have their auras revealed. Whenever another hex totem is cleansed by survivors, that hex and Hex: Undying are swapped from totem to totem. Hex: Undying becomes inactive once any other hex totem is cleansed. This perk is essentially a time-waster for totem-hunting survivors. Such a heavy hex-reliant build will have survivors scaling every inch of the map searching for the totems to cleanse, so having Hex: Undying around to waste their time just gives Trickster extra time to chase them down while still keeping the important hexes active
• Hex: Pentimento: Killers see the auras of cleansed totems. Killers can then “rekindle” cleansed totems and replace their effects with a stage of Hex: Pentimento depending on the number of rekindled totems. Rekindling one totem causes repair speeds to drop by up to 30%, two totems causes healing speed to drop by up to 30%, three totems causes recovery speeds for downed survivors to drop by up to 30%, four totems causes exit gate opening speeds to drop by up to 30%, and rekindling all five totems blocks all of them from being cleansed by the Entity. This punishes totem hunting survivors and forces them to check back on formerly cleansed totems while also making it risky for other survivors to cleanse more totems. You do not want five totems with Hex: Pentimento on them blocked off for the rest of the game. 

Add-ons:

• Death Throes Compilation: This add-on causes Trickster’s throwing knives to become fully replenished after Main Event ends. Trickster can then keep up the pressure started by Main Event right away instead of having to find a locker to reload his knives at. 
• Waiting for You Watch: Main Event has its window of time increased by 0.3 seconds for each blade that hits a survivor while it’s active. One of the drawbacks of using Main Event is the rather short window of time it typically stays active, so this add-on rewards accurate players with additional time to get the final hits needed to down survivors.

2. Lunging Legato

A Survivor desperately tries to repair a generator needed to power the exit gates and escape the trial.

Trickster is more known for his throwing knives than for his melee weapon-a weird hybrid of a baseball bat and a blade. This build draws a bit more attention to it as Trickster still needs to utilize his melee weapon occasionally to finish off survivors. Sometimes pulling out and throwing the knives is impractical if the survivor is inches away during a chase. Plus, Trickster gains access to an add-on in this build that makes it well worth it to put away the blade and go for lunging melee attacks.

What “Lunging Legato” excels in:

• Significantly increases the range of Trickster’s lunge attacks after survivors complete a generator
• Allows Trickster to skip injuring a survivor and down them instantly with a melee attack once their Laceration Meter is high enough
• Massive decrease in progression after Trickster hooks a survivor and kicks a generator
• Forces survivors to keep their focus on skill checks when a generator is nearly completed leaving them vulnerable to Trickster’s ranged attacks

Build Details:

Perks:

• Pop Goes the Weasel: After hooking a survivor, this perk becomes active for up to 45 seconds. Kicking a generator while active removes 20% of its current progress. This build relies on Trickster’s ability to end chases quickly and hook survivors before rushing to a new location and stopping progress on a generator. Pop Goes the Weasel’s huge chunk of progression loss goes a long way once Trickster has pressure building.
• Call of Brine: After kicking a generator, this perk activates for 60 seconds during which time the generator regresses up to 200% faster than usual. This perk coincides well with Pop Goes the Weasel and allows Trickster to not only remove large chunks of progress but also forces the generator to continue losing progress extremely quickly. 
• Merciless Storm: Survivors are faced with quick, successive skill checks whenever the generator they are repairing hits 90% completion. If they fail a skill check, the generator is blocked by the Entity for up to 20 seconds. However, this perk can only be triggered once per generator per trial. Trickster’s slow speed makes it difficult for him to control generation progression particularly on large maps as survivors can usually finish them before he makes it there to apply pressure and stop them. This perk allows him some wiggle room on each generator since survivors tend to miss the skill checks when they first appear unless they’re outright expecting a similar build.
• Coup de Grâce: Each time a generator is completed, this perk gains one token. A token is spent each time the killer makes a lunge attack but the attack’s distance is increased by up to 80%. Considering the rest of the perks on this build are meant to slow down the progression of generators, this perk has primarily situational potential. Odds are, Trickster will be in a chase with another survivor if a generator is being completed. This perk gives him an edge in ending his current chase and hooking survivors, effectively punishing them for managing to get a generator completed despite the rest of the perks actively slowing their progression down. 

Add-ons:

• Iridescent Photocard: Survivors suffer from the “exposed” status affect when their Laceration Meter is one or two hits away from becoming full. The effects of this add-on pairs well with Coup de Grace as Trickster can effectively close the remaining distance on survivors during a chase using a lunge attack with increased range. 
• Fizz-Spin Soda: Increases the initial throw-rate of Trickster’s blades by 2 stacks. This helps Trickster get that Laceration Meter up high enough for the Iridescent Photocard to activate quickly. With increased distance on lunge attacks, you want Iridescent Photocard to activate as soon as possible.

1. Well-Rounded Rhythm

An animated Trickster prepares to swing his modified baseball bat weapon for major damage.

The previous builds all had factors that aid in overcoming Trickster’s individual weaknesses as a killer, particularly against high-rated survivors. This build combines several key aspects of all of them for a nearly unstoppable Trickster. It takes Trickster’s slow speed, varying success at stopping loops, and lukewarm ultimate ability into account while bolstering his natural strengths as a flexible mid to short ranged killer with a speedy secondary attack. 

What “Well-Rounded Rhythm” excels in:

• Allows ample time for Trickster to apply early-game pressure right at the start and go for quick hooks 
• Rewards those quick hooks by slowing generators and giving Trickster a clue on where to find the next survivor
• Makes it worth kicking every progressing generator for additional, larger chunks of regression
• Forces survivors to avoid lockers or else risk drawing Trickster to them for an easy down

Build Details:

Perks:

• Iron Maiden: Upon exiting from hiding in a locker, the survivor will scream, reveal their location for 4 seconds, and become inflicted with the “Exposed” status effect for 30 seconds. It also allows Trickster to reload his knives much quicker. As a slow killer, Trickster can’t waste any time so being able to reload quickly and potentially catch a survivor blundering in and out of a locker for an easy down makes this perk well worth the slot.
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance: Four hooks have their aura’s turned white at the beginning of the game to signify them as “scourge” hooks. If a survivor is hooked on a scourge hook, the generator with the most progress will explode causing any survivor working on it to scream and the generator will instantly lose up to 15% of its completion progress. Even if skilled survivors let off the generator they’re working on before it pops due to this perk, the fact that it pops at all still alerts Trickster to their general location so he can continue to keep up his pressure. 
• Pop Goes the Weasel: After hooking a survivor, this perk becomes active for up to 45 seconds. Kicking a generator while active removes 20% of its current progress. This just acts as back-up in case Trickster can’t find a white hook to activate Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance with. Taking away that large chunk of progression on a generator can make a huge difference in the length of time it takes survivors to complete all their generators. 
• Corrupt Intervention: This perk activates at the start of the trial and causes the three generators furthest from the killer’s spawn point to become blocked by the Entity for up to 120 seconds. Survivors cannot repair blocked generators. Trickster needs time, time, and more time. Combined with the other generator slowing perks, Corrupt Intervention lets Trickster get early pressure and early hooks against survivors that feels nearly impossible to come back from. 

Add-Ons:

• Fizz-Spin Soda: Increases the initial throw-rate of Trickster’s blades by 2 stacks. A well-rounded add-on for a well-rounded build, this lets Trickster get quicker ranged hits on survivors for a quicker loss of health states. 
• Caged-Heart Shoes: Moderately increases movement speed while throwing blades. Bolsters Trickster’s secondary ability especially when combined with the Fizz-Spin Soda and helps cushion him from the flaws associated with his slow movement speed. 

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