I've played Doctor since he was released, and have played him ever since. Many consider me as the best doctor player in the game, so I feel like I have some form of grounds for making a guide. Hopefully this guide can help you improve your game play!

I also have over 3k hours (spanned over two accounts) and have been a killer main ever since I started playing

Keep in mind that this is my first guide ever, so the wording might be a little rusty. I will try to improve on it if some things don't make sense.

Since I'm a Doctor main, I feel I should give a heads up for anyone that wants to be a Doctor main.

You are going to get flamed. A LOT. Survivor mains don't like playing against Doctor, so you are going to get a lot of flame, and a lot of disconnects. Just don't play like a scumbag.

Don't downvote this guide because you don't like Doctor. Just move on with your life. Same goes for commenting. If you don't have anything nice/constructive to say then just don't say it.

People have gone so far as to send me death threats. I've also been banned from streams just for being a Doctor main.

You will most likely see a lot of salt from survivor mains in the comments.

The Doctor's power is split into two modes; Treatment Mode & Punishment Mode. In each of these modes, The Doctor has different abilities unlocked at his disposal.




Treatment Mode

In exchange for your normal attack, grants the ability to charge and release a Shock Therapy attack that greatly increases Survivors' Madness, and prevents them from performing any interactions for 2.5 seconds. While in Treatment mode, you move slower (4.4ms) and generate a Static Field based on your Terror Radius (32 meters) which slowly increases the Survivors' Madness based on their proximity to the The Doctor.

Survivors with prolonged exposure to the Static Field, or when being hit repeatedly with the Shock Therapy attack, will enter Madness I, II, III. Each madness stage has different effects depending on the addons you use

Punishment Mode

Your movement speed is increased to 4.6m/s, and grants the ability to hit survivors with your normal attack

You generally want to only use shock therapy to block survivors from vaulting windows or dropping pallets. If the survivor runs into a deadzone however (A deadzone is a spot on the map with no pallets or safe windows) then it's okay to shock them, but always prioritize hits over using shock therapy.


This all comes down to personal opinion. In my opinion, I find Asylum is great since it has a lot of walls to break the survivors line of sight on the killer. Asylum also has a decent number of safe pallets, which you can use to your advantage by shocking the survivor before the reach the pallet. (refer to Interact Blocker)


In my opinion, Interview Tape is one of the strongest addons on a good Doctor player. It has no additional charge time, but increases the range substantially.

Some of these facts about Doctor are CRUCIAL to know if you want to use your power effectively:

• It takes 1 second (without addons) for shock therapy to fully charge
  
• It takes 1 second for shock therapy to hit the survivor
  
• It takes 1 second to switch between Treatment & Punishment Mode
  
• Survivors' have a 2.5 second "Interact Blocker" once hit with shock therapy
  
• Each shock (without addons) inflicts ~65% madness
  
• The Doctor's Movement speed is 4.4m/s while in Treatment Mode, and 4.6m/s while in Punishment Mode
  
• It takes a survivor 12 seconds (without addons) to snap out of it
  
• Once a survivor enters Madness I, it will take 3 shocks to get them to Madness III
  
• If a survivor recently snapped out of it, it will take 2 shocks to get them to Madness III
  
• Each time a Survivors' madness level increases, they will scream, revealing their position
  
• Perks and Addons that effect your Terror Radius also effect Static Field's range
  
• Doctor is all about time management. Use your power effectively to stall the game by getting survivors to Madness III and injuring them.
  
• Each tier of Madness has a different percent chance of performing a randomly placed skillcheck
  
  
  Madness

  %

  I

  33%

  II

  66%

  III

  100%
  
  
  

Here are some extra tips to keep in mind when playing the Doctor:

• If the survivor is randomly the obsession, chances are they have Decisive Strike[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]. Before downing them, try to get them to Madness III so their skill check will be in a random location, making it harder for them to hit the skill check
  
• Always assess the lobby before equipping addons. Some addons are stronger against certain types of players i.e "Discipline" is stronger against lower level players, "Order" is stronger against higher level players.
  
• Always try to get the survivor to Madness III before downing a survivor. This means that the survivor will HAVE to snap out of it before they can work on a generator or heal a teammate, thus buying you time to find other survivors.
  
• If you're running a Discipline addon, try to mind game survivors.
  
• Keep and eye on your illusionary pallets, and illusionary decoys. This will greatly improve your tracking if you lose a survivor during a chase.
  
• Never stay in a chase while in Treatment Mode if you're not going to shock them. Your movement speed is slower in Treatment Mode. Change your mode frequently.
  
• Start the game in Treatment Mode until you find a survivor
  
• If you're going to slug someone, get them to Madness III before doing so. This means that if you find the next survivor and kill them finding the slug will be a lot easier for you
  
• To counter being pallet looped for the whole game, try getting that survivor to Madness III, and if you cannot down them, atleast get them injured. This will make them have to snap out of it AND self care which will buy you more time.
  
• Avoid camping hooks. Doctor is all about tracking, and if you're camping a hook without knowing if anyone is actually around then you're just wasting your time. Use your tools effectively
  
• Every static effect on your screen means there is an action that has went off in your kit. Things that trigger this static effect are:
  
  1. Illusionary Pallets Spawning // Breaking
     
  2. Illusionary Clones Spawning // Breaking
  If you're using the affilated addons for those mechanics, look out for that static effect.

Interact Block

Once a survivor is hit with Shock Therapy, they are blocked from interacting with anything for 2.5 seconds. This trick is really effective when a survivor is running towards a safe pallet that is already dropped (i.e Cow Tree Pallet, Shack Pallet) or a safe window (Iron Works Window)

Faking The Shock

With this trick, you pretend to use Shock Therapy before a survivor reaches a pallet or window, and if the survivor is good enough they will notice therefor go for a(nother) loop. If they fall for this, it's a free hit.


Reverse Vacuum Vault

This trick is very complicated, and requires A LOT of practicing.

Use Shock Therapy when a survivor enters the vacuum, or the middle part of the vault animation. This will cancel theanimation and the survivor will be blocked of vaulting it again (Refer to Interact Block). Here is a clip of what it looks like

>>>Reverse Vacuum Vault<<<[clips.twitch.tv]

In order to pull this trick off, you need to know the charge time of whatever addon you're using, and on top of that, 1 second for the shock therapy to register against the survivor. This trick will also only be effective if you're using a range addon, since the default shock therapy range is incredibly low.

Here are some recommended perks, and their benefits on the Doctor

A Nurse's Calling[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Nurse's Calling is a great tracking perk to use in general. When survivors' are snapping out of it, their aura is revealed to you. Definitely a must have.

Distressing[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Distressing increases your terror radius by 26% (26% of 32 is 8. So 32+8 = 40). This is effective on Doctor since your Static Field is affected by your terror radius which will help you find survivors easier early on in the game. Distressing also grants 100% blood points in the Deviousness category which you will max easily

Unnerving Presence[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Unnerving Presence lowers the survivors skill check success zones by 60% while in your terror radius. This 60% reduction works on the mandatory skill checks in Madness III, Decisive Strike, aswell as skill checks for generators. This perk works great with Distressing and the Calm series addons since both will increase* your Terror Radius

Hex: Huntress Lullaby[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Survivors receive a 2/4/6% regression penalty when missing any Skill Check
Each time a Survivor is hooked, Huntress Lullaby grows in power:

1 to 4 Tokens: Time between the Skill Check warning sound and the Skill Check becomes shorter.
5 Tokens: No Skill Check warning.

This Skill Check warning sound works on the mandatory skill checks in Madness III. Which means that survivors will have a much harder time getting out of Madness III if you have 5 tokens of lullaby.

Barbecue & Chili[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Like A Nurse's Calling, this perk is very strong to run on almost all killers. It's tracking ability and point generation is insane. If you're a player who can end chases quickly and get people on hooks, this is the perk for you.

Save The Best For Last[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

Once this perk is activated, and you get a free hit while a survivor is Interact Blocked, your cooldown on your next attack will be so low that you can hit the survivor again before they are able to vault the pallet/window. I wouldn't strongly recommend this perk since it's very situational, but its a perk that's definitely worth testing.


Here are some builds that I recommend to try out:

My Personal Build

Perks: Enduring // Brutal Strength // A Nurse's Calling // Barbecue & Chili
Addons: Interview Tape and Purple Restraint

How to: I don't use Shock Therapy much in this build, only to block safe windows and pallets. If you're good at finding a survivor in the early game WITHOUT Static Field, then save it for the end game. I use Restraint as a way to track Survivors.

3 Gen Doctor

Perks: Overcharge // Hex: TOTH // Unnerving Presence // Hex: Ruin
Addons: High Stimulus Electrode and Interview Tape

How to: The premise of this build is to find a part of the map that has 3 Generators close together. Stay in proximity of those gens, and use your shock therapy to stop people destroying your Totems. Using Overcharge with Unnerving Presence allows you to degrade Generators really quickly if the Survivors keep failing the skill check.

Stealth Doctor

Perks: Enduring // Barbecue & Chili // M&A // A Nurse's Calling
Addons: Purple Calm and Yellow Calm

How to: The point of this build is to reduce your terror radius to the absolute minimum. With both of the Calm addons, and M&A, your terror radius will be 12 while in Punishment Mode. Do not use Treatment Mode with this build unless you're trying to find a Survivor.

Range Addons

Moldy Electrode[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com],
Polished Electrode [deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com], and High Stimulus Electrode[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com] are the 3 addons that affect the Doctor's Shock Therapy range. I strongly recommend using Polished Electrode since its my personal favorite since the range is good for shocking survivors in jungle gyms or t-walls, without the cost of having a long charge time.

Interview Tape[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]is really good if you can predict survivors' routes very well, similar to Huntress. This addon also works well when you're trying to block a survivor from vaulting something since it has no additional charge time, but increases the range to 20 meters.


Order addons make broken pallets turn into illusionary pallets until approached. These pallets could look up, or dropped, making good survivors go for loops around the pallets without realizing that it's a fake. You also see the aura of these pallets. Always keep track of the illusionary pallets that are up, since you can find a survivor very easily once they approach it, and the fake pallet disappears.

If you're using an Order addon that's from Carter's Notes or Iridescent King, watch the pallet auras. Survivors that walk through the pallet will destroy the illusion. This will trigger the static effect around your screen. So watch where your illusion pallets are to pinpoint survivors.


Calm addons will increase your terror radius in Treatment Mode, and decrease it in Punishment Mode. This addon is effective for finding a survivor very easily at the start of the game with Treatment Mode. These addons work very well when paired with Distressing[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

If you're running a Calm addon that's from Carter's Notes or Iridescent King, the heartbeat will always play when Madness III. This will, again, make it hard for survivors to know if you lost them or not. Making them become very cautious of snapping out of it.


Restraint addons reveal survivors' auras for 3 seconds when their madness level increases. This addon can be very good when paired with a range addon, and a survivor is running in a jungle gym, or a building, and you don't know exactly where they are. This addon will also increase the duration that your illusionary clones are up for, which is a very strong mechanic if you pay attention to them around the map.

If you're running a Restraint addon that's from Carter's Notes or Iridescent King, watch for the illusionary clones auras. These auras can be super powerful, since it can help you find other survivors fairly easily


Discipline addons increases the madness inflicted by shock therapy by 25%, aswell as giving the survivors (while in a chase) the Red Stain[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com] and heartbeat as if the Doctor is right ontop of them. This addon is very powerful against players who don't look behind them while in a chase. If the survivor has this effect on them, and they are not looking behind them, chances are they will drop any pallet they run through, or vault every window they get to. Use this knowledge to your advantage by running around walls.

While using Iridescent King, this addon will work 100% of the time while they are in Madness III. Meaning that the survivor will have a hard time finding out if you lost them or not. This strat is very effective on maps that have lots of walls, or walls that you cannot see through (Asylum, Autohaven Maps, Lery's, etc)

"Iridescent King"[deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com]

This addon is another personal favorite of mine. It has a mixture of all the Class addons combined. This addon paired with a range addon is extremely effective. When using Iridescent King, try to notice what Madness effect they have on. If you notice the red light behind them, they have the Discipline part of it. If that's the case, try to mindgame them. The survivor will be incredibly confused

I strongly recommend using Polished Electrode with Iridescent King, as it is my favorite combo because its the most strong addon combo. It's nice to have a mixture of everything.

Thank you so much for reading my guide on the Doctor! If you have any questions, feel free to comment or message me on Steam! I'm more than happy to help with anything you are confused on.

If this guide helped you make sure to comment, rate, and favorite! Would mean so much to me.

I will be actively updating this guide even though I have quit dead by daylight.

If you feel like I have missed something in this guide please let me know! I'm a human, I forget things.

Thanks to everyone who pushed me to make a Doctor guide, and I hope all of you who read this guide improve and realize how strong of a killer the Doctor really is.

If you want to watch me play Killer, I stream sometimes over at https://www.twitch.tv/juryo_

All the best,

Juryo