I have been playing Dead by Daylight since 2016, but nothing prepared me for the moment I stepped into the Player Test Build to try the new Killer, The Artist. The moment I loaded into the trial, the atmosphere felt different—darker, more sorrowful, yet strangely beautiful. Carmina Mora, the woman behind the brush, is now a Killer whose perks revolve around pressure, information, and hex manipulation, and after a full night of testing, I can say she brings a fresh layer of strategy to the fog.

Before I queued up, I spent some time reading through her three unique perks in the Bloodweb and Shrine of Secrets. The first one, Grim Embrace, immediately caught my attention because it rewards patience. Each time a Survivor is hooked for the first time, you gain a token. Once you reach four tokens, The Entity blocks all generators for 20 seconds, and the Obsession's aura is revealed for 4 seconds. In practice, this perk felt like a ticking clock for Survivors. I remember one match on the new map where I had three tokens by mid-game. The fourth hook triggered a complete gen lockdown, and for those 20 seconds I could push Survivors off objectives, knowing exactly where the Obsession was hiding. It may not be as flashy as some meta perks, but the slowdown and aura read can swing a trial in your favor.

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The second perk, Scourge Hook: Pain, has become my new favorite for generator regression. At the start of the trial, up to four random hooks are turned into white-aured scourge hooks. Whenever I hooked a Survivor on one of those, the generator with the most progress exploded, instantly losing 95% of its progress and beginning to regress. Repairing Survivors screamed, revealing their location. The information plus the massive regression felt almost unfair in the best way. I ran this perk alongside Pop Goes the Weasel in a few matches, and the generator control was immense. It punishes careless Survivors who stack on a single generator, because the scream tells you exactly where to go next.

The third perk, Hex: Pentimento, is where The Artist's identity as a tormented artist really shines. You can see the auras of destroyed Totems, and you can perform a ritual on a destroyed Totem to resurrect it as a Rekindled Totem. Each Rekindled Totem adds a stacking debuff:

  • 1 Rekindled Totem: Reduces Survivors' repair speed by 20%.

  • 2 Rekindled Totems: Reduces Survivors' healing speed by 20%.

  • 3 Rekindled Totems: Reduces Survivors' recovery speed from being downed by 20%.

  • 4 Rekindled Totems: Reduces Survivors' exit gate opening speed by 20%.

  • 5 Rekindled Totems: All Totems are blocked by The Entity.

In one memorable trial, I paired Hex: Pentimento with Hex: Ruin. Every time a Survivor cleansed Ruin, I would find the remains and rekindle them. By the late game, I had three Rekindled Totems active, and the Survivors were moving in slow motion—repairs, heals, and self-recovery all crippled. It was incredibly satisfying to turn their cleansing efforts into my own win condition.

Beyond the perks, the update also brings quality of life improvements and a brand new map. I won't spoil too much, but the new environment has a hauntingly artistic vibe that fits The Artist perfectly. The map design encourages mind games around loops, and The Artist's power—launching crows to scout and damage Survivors—feels natural on the new tiles. Her power is not covered in the perk descriptions, but after a few matches I learned to use crows to cut off vaults and reveal hidden Survivors, which pairs beautifully with Scourge Hook: Pain's information.

As an ordinary player, I always worry about new Killers being either too weak or too oppressive on launch. But The Artist feels balanced enough for PTB, with clear strengths in slowdown and information, and a weakness in raw chase potential if you ignore her crows. I can already see streamers and competitive players building entire strategies around Hex: Pentimento and Grim Embrace. The official release cannot come soon enough, and I will be spending the rest of the PTB window leveling up The Artist in the Bloodweb.

If you are planning to try her out, here is my quick tip list based on last night's session:

  • Prioritize first hooks on all four Survivors to activate Grim Embrace early.

  • Patrol white scourge hooks and force chases nearby for maximum Pain value.

  • Run at least one other Hex perk to make Hex: Pentimento more consistent.

  • Use The Artist's crows to pressure generators from a distance instead of always committing to chases.

With these three perks, The Artist turns the trial into a grim gallery of suffering, and honestly, I am here for it.