While not considered an esport, Dead by Daylight has quite the competitive community with both killers and survivors. At higher ranks, some matches become complex mind games between five different players.
The current system for increasing player ranks in Dead by Daylight is the emblem system. There are four different emblems for survivors and four different emblems for killers that all have five different ranks to them.
How Emblems Affect Ranking
The higher rank an emblem is, the more points it will award players toward gaining pips that will lead to ranking up. Losing pips can lead to players deranking. Reaching a safety pip will prevent the player from losing a pip. The emblem ranks are:
- None - 0 Points
- Bronze - 1 Point
- Silver - 2 Points
- Gold - 3 Points
- Iridescent - 4 Points
When players are at ranks 20-17 it takes 0-8 points to reach a safety pip, 9-13 points to get one pip, and 14-16 points to get two pips.
At ranks 16-13 it takes 0-5 points to lose a pip, 6-9 points to reach a safety pip, 10-13 points to get one pip, and 14-16 points to get two pips.
At ranks 12-9 it takes 0-6 points to lose a pip, 7-10 points to reach a safety pip, 11-14 points to get one pip, and 15-16 points to get two pips.
At ranks 8-5 it takes 0-7 points to lose a pip, 8-11 points to reach a safety pip, 12-14 points to get one pip, and 15-16 points to get two pips.
Finally, at ranks 4-1 it takes 0-8 points to lose a pip, 9-12 points to reach a safety pip, 13-15 points to get one pip, and 16 points to get two pips.
Survivor Emblems
There are four different emblems that survivors can earn during the trials. They are:
- Lightbringer
- Unbroken
- Benevolent
- Evader
The following actions put points toward the Lightbringer emblem:
- Repairing generators
- Cleansing dull totems
- Cleansing hex totems
- Being chased while other survivors work on generators
- Opening Exit Gates
The Unbroken emblem is based on how long a survivor stays alive in a trial. If they manage to escape a trial without ever being put in the dying state, they will automatically get an iridescent Unbroken emblem. If the survivor dies in the trial, the highest emblem they can get is silver and it is decided by how long the survivor stays alive in the trial.
The following actions put points toward the Benevolent emblem:
- Unhooking survivors safely
- Healing other survivors
- Making a killer drop another survivor
- Taking a hit while the killer carries another survivor
- Sabotaging a hook when a killer is about to put another survivor on it, allowing the survivor to wiggle free
If a survivor is downed shortly after being saved from a hook, that is counted as an unsafe hook rescue. Survivors are recommended to go for the rescue while the killer is far away, or use perks like Borrowed Time to buy time for the survivor being saved.
The following actions put points toward the Evader emblem:
- Hiding from the killer without being seen while also remaining close
- Escaping chases without being hit
- Putting the killer through long chases
- Stunning the killer with a pallet
Killer Emblems
There are four different emblems that killers can earn during the trials. They are:
- Gatekeeper
- Devout
- Malicious
- Chaser
Killers earn points toward the Gatekeeper emblem every second based on the number of incomplete generators remaining on the map. They additionally get bonus points for incomplete generators remaining after the trial is complete in case someone escapes early or the killer kills everyone. Damaging generators and perks such as Hex: Ruin additionally can halt generator progress during trials.
The following actions put points toward the Devout emblem:
- Sacrificing survivors
- Using a Memento Mori offering on a survivor
- Reverse Bear Trap kills when playing as the Pig
- Survivors being killed by the entity when the end-game collapse timer runs out
Killer players should note that survivors that bleed out on the ground from crawling around in the dying state do not put points toward this emblem.
The following actions put points toward the Malicious emblem:
- Injuring survivors
- Interrupting survivors in the middle of actions
- Putting survivors in the dying state
- Putting survivors on hooks
The following actions put points toward the Chaser emblem:
- Finding survivors
- Winning chases (the shorter, the more points)
An important thing for killer players to note is that staying close to a hooked survivor will cause the Chaser emblem to degrade.
Importance of Ranks
While players who only play in custom matches have nothing to worry about involving ranks, ranks are what show who are the best players of the game. To reflect this, players of similar ranks will often be put together with a killer of a similar rank so that games are as fair as possible. Additionally, ranks cannot be changed and pips cannot be earned during custom games.
Survivors that play in groups of friends don't have to worry about everyone having similar ranks, as anyone of any rank can play with each other in custom and ranked matches. Players also don't have to worry about their survivor rank affecting their killer rank or vice versa. A player's survivor rank is different from their killer rank, as some players prefer to play one over the other.
The 13th day of each month, a rank reset happens for all Dead by Daylight players. Players within the ranks of 20-17 have their ranks put back to 20. Players within the ranks of 16-13 have their ranks put back to 17. Players within the ranks of 12-9 have their ranks put back to 13. Players within the ranks of 8-5 have their ranks put back to 9. Finally, players within the ranks of 4-1 have their ranks put back to 5. The lower the number of rank, the higher they actually are.
Overall, there isn't a great benefit to having high ranks other than getting harder challenges and bragging rights. There are also achievements related to having high ranks for players that consider themselves to be achievement hunters.
Dead by Daylight is available now for Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: Dead by Daylight Wiki