What Does Thanatophobia do in Dead by Daylight? Explained

She plays with us and revels in our pain.

by Matthew Kevin Mitchell
Image: Behaviour Interactive

Are you wondering what Thanatophobia does in Dead by Daylight? Thanatophobia is a unique perk that belongs to The Nurse killer. The perk causes penalties to Survivors when they are put into specific states by The Nurse During the match. Whether you are wondering if it is a useful perk for you to unlock or if you are wondering how to counter it when ran by Legion, we have everything you need to know on what Thanatophobia does in Dead by Daylight.

What Does the Thanatophobia Perk do in Dead by Daylight?

Thanatophobia translates to The Fear of Death as it gets in origin from the Greek for Thanatos, Death, and φοβία, Phobia. This is true for all Survivors in a Dead by Daylight match when the killer runs this Perk because the closer the survivors are to death, the harder it is for them to complete objectives.

Here is the full description of the Thanatophobia perk in Dead by Daylight:

  • Each injured, dying, or hooked Survivor afflicts Survivors with a stackable 1/1.5/2 % Action Speed penalty to Repairing, Sabotaging, and Cleansing, up to a maximum of 4/6/8 %.
  • Increases the Action Speed penalty by a further 12 % if 4 Survivors are injured, dying, or hooked simultaneously.

The Thanatophobia Perk can cause a maximum Penalty to survivors of 20% when all Survivors are injured based on both perk descriptions above.

Related: How to Play Dead by Daylight on Steam Deck  – Step by Step Guide

How to Counter Thanatophobia in Dead by Daylight

You can counter Thanatophobia by running any perks that buff the Action Speed of yourself and your fellow survivors. While you won’t gain the buffs from this perk, it will bring you back to an average speed, allowing you to complete objectives better than you would have.

The best perks that counter Thanatophobia are:

  • Leader: Increases the Action speeds of other Survivors in Healing, Sabotaging, Unhooking, Cleansing, Opening, and Unlocking by 15/20/25 % while they are within 8 meters of your location.
  • Prove Thyself: Increases your Repair speed by +15 % for each other Survivor within 4 meters of your location, up to a maximum of +45 %.

These are unique perks that belong to Dwight. They provide Action Speed buffs and will counter the penalties you and your team receive from Thanatophobia.

- This article was updated on April 18th, 2023

About The Author

Matthew Kevin Mitchell has been a contributing writer for Attack of the Fanboy and PC Invasion since 2022. Matthew primarily covers Manga like One Piece, horror movies like Scream, and survival horror games like Dead by Daylight. His favorite moment came during his first press event covering Scream 6 for AotF. He hails from Denver, Colorado, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from Regis University. When he isn’t scaring himself silly or writing, he loves to play ice hockey, spoil his dog, and drink an unhealthy amount of coffee.