If you just bought The Shape (Michael Myers), you are probably wondering how to play him and what kind of build you should use. We are here to help you get the most out of this strong and silent killer. Here are the best builds for The Shape in Dead by Daylight.
How to play The Shape effectively in DBD
To play the Shape effectively in DBD, you need to learn how to observe Survivors. The Shape starts off as one of the slowest Killers, but the more you watch Survivors run around or do whatever, the more powerful he gets. The Shape’s main ability is called The Evil Within, and it has three levels you can reach by Stalking Survivors.
The best way to Stalk Survivors is to quietly sneak up to them (maybe while they are fixing a Generator) and use the Stalk ability to watch them. The more you do this, the more your Evil Within level builds up.
Michael Myers starts at Evil Within level one, which is his biggest weakness. During Evil Within one, he is one of the slowest Killers in the game. Because of this, you need to get to Evil Within level two as fast as possible, where he gets standard movement speed.
If you continue to Stalk Survivors during Evil Within level two, you can reach level three, where you get the ability to down Survivors in just one hit. While this state is temporary, if you’re good, you can down multiple Survivors.
To sum up, sneak up on Survivors, Stalk them, build up your Evil Within meter, and then go to town with the killing.
Best early game The Shape build in DBD
Just like all Killers in DBD, you won’t have a lot of options when you start, so you have to take what you can get. Here are the perks I recommend if you’re just starting out:
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
| Save the Best for Last (The Shape) | One of the Survivors becomes your Obsession, and each time you attack someone who ISN’T your Obsession, you attack faster |
| Sloppy Butcher | Really useful if you find Survivors healing all the time. This perk makes it harder for them to heal |
| Dying Light (The Shape) | Works really well with Save the best for last. While your Obsession has a buff with healing, repairing, and sabotaging, all other Survivors get a penalty for the same skills. |
| Bitter Murmur | Each time Survivors complete a Generator, their Auras get revealed to you for a few seconds |
Since you don’t have many options at the start, you should utilize The Shape’s Obsession perks and a few common ones, too. I’d try to figure out which Survivor is your Obsession as early as possible and purposely ignore them while you focus on killing other Survivors. This gives you plenty of buffs, which can make your game easier.
Best mid-game The Shape build in DBD
After you’ve leveled up The Shape a bit, you should have access to a few more perks, which will allow you some, but not all, customization. For this build, I’m going to assume you haven’t bought any extra Killers other than The Shape.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
| Jolt/Surge (The Demogorgon) | When you down a Survivor, all generators in the vicinity explode and regress a little. This is super useful. |
| A Nurse’s Calling (The Nurse) | This perk allows you to see the aura of two healing Survivors. I can’t tell you how many hidden Survivors I’ve found because of this perk. |
| Insidious | If you get this perk to rank three, you can Stalk like a champion. Your presence becomes undetectable after standing still for two seconds, letting you Stalk in peace. |
| Tinkerer (The Hillbilly) | Whenever a generator is 70% complete, you get a noise notification and the Undetectable status effect. Another great perk for Stalking in peace. |
For the mid-game build, I picked perks that prioritize stealth, since Michal Myers needs to stay hidden to gain the most from his Stalk ability. With the perks above, you can muffle your presence, sabotage generators, and figure out where Survivors are healing themselves.
Best late game The Shape build in DBD
For my preferred build, you’ll need the following Killers: the Clown, the Cannibal, the Hag, and Sadako. This build focuses on winning chases with Survivors and quickly finding more after you finish hooking one. Hex: Devour Hope is insurance if the Survivors manage to unhook themselves too often.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
| Bamboozle (The Clown) | During late game, one of the biggest obstacles when chasing Survivors are vaultable windows. Bamboozle makes the Entity block a window when you vault through it and makes you vault faster. |
| Barbecue and Chilli (The Cannibal) | In my experience, whenever you hook a Survivor, there is at least one hiding nearby, waiting to save him. This perk reveals the location of nearby Survivors after you hook someone. |
| Hex: Devour Hope (The Hag) | Really fun if you hook different Survivors. Every time a hooked Survivor is saved, you get a token. With enough tokens, you can down Survivors in one hit and even get a free Mori ability. |
| Call of Brine (The Onryo) | When you kick a Generator, it starts regressing for 60 seconds. If a Survivor makes a good skill check on that same generator during that time, you get a notification. |
Best toxic The Shape build in DBD
Once you have had some fun with regular The Shape games, it will be time to try your hand at Scratched Mirror Myers. Also known as Peekaboo Mikey. For this build, you will want an indoor map, preferably Lery’s Institute, and the very rare Scratched Mirror add-on. Your perks should be time-wasters to send Survivors on a chase to cleanse Hex totems or to find an unblocked generator. Corrupt Intervention is a great perk to help you track down Survivors early on, while Hex: Undying and Hex: Ruin will have them looking for glowing totems, leaving the generators to regress.
| Perk | Description |
|---|---|
| Play With Your Food (The Shape) | Every time you chase your obsession and then break chase, you gain a token. Each token (up to three) gives you 5% haste. |
| Hex: Ruin (The Hag) | The generators will automatically regress when a Survivor is not repairing it. |
| Hex: Undying (The Blight) | Survivor auras are revealed when they are near a dull totem. Two lit totems appear on the map, one of which is your other Hex perk. When one hex is cleansed, the other then becomes your hex perk, in this case Ruin. |
| Corrupt Intervention (The Plague) | The three generators furthest away are blocked by the Entity for 120 seconds or until a Survivor is put in the dying state. |
