One of the most highly anticipated Killers to arrive in Dead by Daylight’s Alien chapter, the titular Xenomorph introduces a brand-new traversal system and new ways to attack Survivors. Able to burrow through its vast underground nest, The Xenomorph can quickly reach far corners of the map and enter a Crawler Mode from which it can attack Survivors from a distance and negate even the safest of loops. With such powers, The Xenomorph can be a colossal threat, especially with the right perks.
As with every killer, learning the Xenomorph’s strengths and weaknesses is key to winning. This guide will break down the best builds to run with The Xenomorph in Dead by Daylight, using both teachable and non-teachable perks for players with varying access to other DLC.
Updated on September 29, 2024, by Lewis Smyth: The Xenomorph has gone largely unchanged since the Alien chapter’s release in November 2023. Nevertheless, the meta landscape of Dead by Daylight is frequently changing. This refreshed guide features new, stronger builds alongside a tier list of The Xenomorph’s strongest add-ons and combos.
The Xenomorph: Best Beginner Build (2024)
The Xenomorph comes with some exceptional information perks that allow the Killer to keep track of Survivors all across the map. With their perk Alien Instinct, The Xenomorph can track injured Survivors from a distance, while Ultimate Weapon can help find Survivors nearby. Meanwhile, Sloppy Butcher will slow down healing with basic attacks, before Hex: No One Escapes Death activates in the endgame.
- Ultimate Weapon (The Xenomorph) – After opening a locker, all Survivors within 32 meters scream and gain the Blindness ailment for 30 seconds. This perk has a 60-second cooldown.
- Alien Instinct (The Xenomorph) – After hooking a Survivor, you can see the aura of the farthest injured Survivor for five seconds, inflicting them with the Oblivious status effect for 20 seconds.
- Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk) – After the final generator is completed, all Survivors suffer from the Exposed status ailment, and you gain a 4% Haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.
- Sloppy Butcher (General Perk) – Basic attacks inflict the Mangled and Hemorrhage status ailments for 90 seconds, slowing down healing by 25% and regressing healing progress when left unfinished.
The Xenomorph: Best Build (2024)
As the Xenomorph, your first instinct should be to enter the tunnels to quickly build up Crawler Mode and find Survivors working on far generators. As such, one of the most effective perks to run is Corrupt Intervention, to prevent generators from being finished quickly across the map. A perk like The Clown’s Bamboozle will increase your lethality in chase, while Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance and Pop Goes the Weasel will drastically stall generator progress.
- Corrupt Intervention (The Plague) – At the start of the trial, the three generators furthest from your starting location are blocked for 120 seconds, or until the first Survivor is downed.
- Bamboozle (The Clown) – Your vault speed is increased by 15%, and performing a vault will block the window for 16 seconds.
- Pop Goes the Weasel (The Clown) – For 45 seconds after hooking a Survivor, damaging a generator will remove 20% of its current progress.
- Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist) – You start the trial with four tokens. For each new Survivor hooked on a white Scourge Hook, lose one token and explode the generator with the most progress, causing it to regress by 20%.
The Xenomorph: Best Add-On Tierlist
Tier | Add-On Name | Add-On Description | Add-On Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
S |  | Lambert’s Star Map | Decreases flame distance of Turrets | Universally helpful in avoiding turrets and being knocked out of Crawler Mode |
 | Emergency Helmet | Decreases stagger received from Turrets | Helps prevent you from being knocked out of Crawler Mode by increasing your resistance to flames | |
A |  | Kane’s Helmet | Tail Attacks inflict Mangled and Hemorrhage | Great passive slowdown which can assist with denying even the best healers |
 | Self Destruct Bolt | Increases vault speed while in Crawler Mode | Surprises Survivors and helps land otherwise unobtainable hits, especially when paired with perks like Bamboozle | |
 | Semiotic Keyboard | Generators near Turrets have their aura intensity determined by their progress | A useful substitute for a tracking perk, acting like The Wraith’s All-Seeing add-on | |
 | Crew Headset | Increases footstep detection while in tunnels | Allows you to find Survivors more easily while in tunnels, interrupting them as they cross the map | |
 | Acidic Blood | Survivors who stun you within 20 seconds of exiting a tunnel become injured or suffer Deep Wound | Rather situational, but exceptional when used with an anti-pallet chase build | |
B |  | Cereal Rations | Turret auras are visible while in tunnels | Since Survivors typically set up turrets near progressed generators and healing spots, this add-on is superb for tracking |
 | Improvised Cattle Prod | When a generator is completed, Survivors close to Control Stations have their aura revealed | Provides consistent aura reading value throughout a trial | |
 | Cat Carrier | Grants Undetectable after a Turret removes Crawler Mode | Can be used to mind-game and scare Survivors into mistakes when things aren’t going well in chase | |
 | Ovomorph | Reduces Crawler Mode cooldown outside of tunnels | Though it’s generally better to re-enter tunnels when knocked out of Crawler Mode, the Ovomorph reduces the penalty for staying above ground | |
 | Ripley’s Watch | Automatically destroys a Turret when it removes Crawler Mode | Good for Dead by Daylight beginners; Ripley’s Watch saves you some time dealing with Turrets | |
 | Light Wand | Increases Turret downtime after exiting a tunnel | Further punishes Survivors who place Turrets close to tunnels | |
C |  | Ash’s Innards | Increases Turret respawn time | Prevents Survivors from more quickly resetting lost Turrets, meaning you may encounter less |
 | Multipurpose Hatchet | Tail Attacks inflict Hemorrhage | Good for interrupting healing, though generally outclassed by Kane’s Helmet | |
 | Harpoon Gun | Hitting a Survivor within 10 seconds of exiting a tunnel causes distant Survivors to scream | Decent for keeping track of where other Survivors are, but inconsistent and difficult to trigger against warier players | |
D |  | Brett’s Cap | Destroying a Turret inflicts nearby Survivors with Blindness | May help in denying the use of Windows of Opportunity – one of the best Survivor perks in Dead by Daylight – though it’s hampered by the short duration |
 | Parker’s Headband | Grants Haste after exiting a tunnel | Such a brief duration of Haste amounts to very little in chase | |
 | Molted Skin | Survivors briefly suffer from Hindered and Exhausted after deploying a Turret | Highly situational, this add-on can rarely deny Exhaustion perks when catching Survivors while deploying a Turret | |
 | Drinking Bird | Increases Killer Instinct duration after exiting a tunnel | Extended Killer Instinct is almost entirely useless in most cases | |
The Xenomorph: Best Add-On Combos
Knowing The Xenomorph’s best add-ons means little if you don’t know how to combo them. A handful of the strongest add-on combinations for The Xenomorph include:
- Emergency Helmet & Lambert’s Star Map – These two add-ons weaken the Remote Flame Turrets that directly counter The Xenomorph’s power. With this combo, turrets are much less likely to remove Crawler Mode.
- Self-Destruct Bolt & Kane’s Helmet – This combination buffs The Xenomorph’s Crawler Mode significantly by increasing vault speed and slowing healing with Tail Attacks. This combo works in tandem with vault speed perks like Bamboozle, and healing-related perks like A Nurse’s Calling.
- Acidic Blood & Crew Headset – These Ultra Rare and Uncommon add-ons synergize to track Survivors and injure them when they stun you. Using these add-ons with Spirit Fury and Enduring can ensure quick and surprising double tap downs.
