The Wraith is one of DBD’s most popular killers, and for good reason. He’s fast, he’s sneaky, and he teaches you how to apply constant map pressure. His invisibility power lets you traverse the map quickly, catch survivors off guard, and interrupt gens before they pop.
Wraith has a low skill floor but a surprisingly high skill ceiling. New players can pick him up easily, but mastering his mind games and hit-and-run playstyle takes practice. Let’s break down how to dominate with the Wailing Bell.
The Wraith’s Power: Wailing Bell
Ability: The Wraith can cloak and uncloak using his bell. While cloaked, he’s invisible, moves faster, and can’t attack.
How it works:
- Press M2 to cloak (takes about 1 second)
- While cloaked: You’re invisible, move 126% speed (faster than base 115%), and see survivors more clearly
- Press M2 again to uncloak (takes about 3 seconds with a loud bell sound)
- After uncloaking, you get a short speed boost and can attack
The goal: Use invisibility to patrol gens quickly, sneak up on survivors, get free first hits, and constantly pressure the entire map. Wraith excels at hit-and-run - injure everyone, keep them healing instead of doing gens.
Core Wraith Strategy
Wraith is all about map pressure and mobility. You’re not a chase killer - you’re a hit-and-run menace who keeps survivors injured and paranoid.
Basic Gameplay Loop
- Cloak and patrol gens - Move quickly between gens, check for survivors
- Sneak up on survivors - Approach while cloaked, get close before they notice
- Uncloak for a free hit - Uncloak behind cover, use your speed boost to land a hit
- Don’t commit to long chases - Injure them and leave. Cloak and find the next target
- Keep everyone injured - Injured survivors heal instead of doing gens
Key concept: Wraith is not about downing everyone quickly. You’re about keeping 2-3 survivors injured at all times, forcing them to heal while you pressure gens. Eventually, survivors run out of resources and you snowball into downs.
Cloaking and Uncloaking
Knowing when to cloak and uncloak is the difference between a good Wraith and a great one.
When to Cloak
- Patrolling between gens - Stay cloaked as much as possible for speed
- Checking gens from a distance - Cloak lets you scout without alerting survivors
- After injuring someone - Hit them, cloak immediately, and pressure someone else
- Breaking line of sight in chases - If a survivor loses sight of you, cloak and reposition
When to Uncloak
- You’ve snuck up on a survivor - Uncloak when you’re close enough that they can’t reach a strong loop
- You’re about to land a guaranteed hit - Uncloak behind cover so survivors don’t have time to react
- At a hook to defend - Uncloak to attack rescuers or down the unhooked survivor
- Endgame at exit gates - Uncloak to bodyblock or secure kills
Uncloaking Mind Games
Uncloak at loops: Survivors will often pre-drop pallets when they hear your bell. Fake uncloak (press M2 briefly then cancel) to bait pallet drops, then cloak and go around.
Uncloak behind walls: Survivors can see your shimmer while cloaked. Uncloak behind a wall or obstacle so they don’t see you coming until it’s too late.
Use your speed boost: After uncloaking, you move 130% speed for 1 second. Use this to lunge and land hits survivors think are impossible.
Early Game Strategy
Wraith’s early game is all about finding survivors fast and getting first hits.
Opening sequence:
- Cloak immediately - Don’t waste time patrolling slowly
- Check 3-4 gens quickly - Move fast while cloaked, look for survivors on gens
- Get your first hit ASAP - Sneak up, uncloak, injure someone
- Don’t commit to chases - Injure them and leave. Find the next survivor.
- Keep pressure - By 2 gens done, you want 2-3 survivors injured
Common mistake: Committing to a full chase for your first down. Just get hits and move on. Injuring 3 survivors is better than downing 1 while 2 gens pop.
Mid-Game Strategy
This is where Wraith shines. Everyone’s injured, healing is eating up time, and you’re everywhere at once.
Hit-and-run pressure:
- Cloak between chases
- Land a hit, cloak, pressure someone else
- Force survivors to choose: heal or do gens?
- If they heal, you buy time. If they don’t, they’re one hit from death.
Interrupt heals:
- Listen for heal sounds while patrolling
- Cloak and sneak up on healing survivors
- Uncloak and get a free hit (or down if they’re both injured)
Defend gens:
- After hooking someone, cloak and patrol nearby gens
- Check for survivors working on gens near the hook
- Don’t camp the hook - use your speed to check everything nearby
Snowball potential:
- Once you down someone in an injured group, others will swarm for the save
- Stay cloaked nearby, wait for rescuers, uncloak and capitalize
- Multiple injured survivors = easy snowball into 2-3 downs
Endgame Strategy
Wraith is strong in endgame if you play it smart.
Cloak and patrol exit gates: Move between gates quickly. Survivors can’t open gates without you knowing.
Bodyblock gate switches: Uncloak in front of survivors trying to open gates. They have to commit to opening (20 seconds) and you can interrupt them.
Don’t let them heal: If someone’s injured at endgame, pressure them. One mistake and they’re dead.
NOED synergy: If you run NOED, Wraith becomes terrifying endgame. Cloak, sneak up, one-shot downs. Survivors won’t see it coming.
Best Perks for Wraith
Wraith wants perks that support hit-and-run playstyle and map pressure.
Top Tier Perks
Sloppy Butcher - Injured survivors heal 25% slower and leave more blood. Perfectly synergizes with hit-and-run. Survivors spend forever healing, giving you time to pressure gens.
Nurse’s Calling - See survivors’ auras when they heal within 28 meters. Wraith can cloak and sneak up on healing survivors for free hits. Essential on hit-and-run killers.
Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance - Hooking on scourge hooks regresses the gen with most progress. Helps slow down gen speed while you’re spreading pressure.
Deadlock - Blocks the gen with most progress for 30 seconds when a gen completes. Buys you time to pressure other areas.
Strong Perks
Save the Best for Last (STBFL) - Faster attack recovery. Wraith attacks a lot, so STBFL makes you more efficient in chases. Just avoid hitting your obsession.
Jolt (Surge) - Downing a survivor with basic attacks causes nearby gens to explode and regress. Great for passive gen pressure.
Corrupt Intervention - Blocks the 3 farthest gens for 120 seconds. Forces survivors toward you early game, making it easier to find and injure them.
Brutal Strength - Break pallets 20% faster. Wraith breaks a lot of pallets, so this speeds up chases.
Sample Builds
Hit-and-Run Build (Best for Wraith):
- Sloppy Butcher
- Nurse’s Calling
- Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance
- Jolt
Beginner Build:
- Sloppy Butcher
- Brutal Strength
- Corrupt Intervention
- NOED
Gen Slowdown Build:
- Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance
- Deadlock
- Jolt
- Corrupt Intervention
Aura Reading Build (Advanced):
- Nurse’s Calling
- Barbecue & Chili
- Lethal Pursuer
- Nowhere to Hide
Best Add-Ons
Wraith’s add-ons are some of the best in the game. Many directly buff his power.
Top Tier Add-Ons
“All Seeing” - Blood (Purple - Very Rare) - See survivors’ auras within 12 meters while cloaked. Lets you see exactly where survivors are hiding before you uncloak. One of Wraith’s best add-ons.
“Swift Hunt” - Blood (Purple - Very Rare) - Decreases uncloak time by 0.6 seconds. Huge. Survivors have less time to react when you uncloak.
“Windstorm” - Blood (Purple - Very Rare) - Increases movement speed while cloaked to 138%. Insane map pressure. You’re everywhere at once.
“Coxcombed Clapper” (Pink - Ultra Rare) - Bell is silent when uncloaking. Survivors don’t hear you coming. Absolutely terrifying on indoor maps.
“All Seeing” - Spirit (Pink - Ultra Rare) - See survivors’ auras within 12 meters while cloaked AND see auras of items, totems, and gens. Gives you perfect information.
Strong Add-Ons
“Swift Hunt” - White (Green - Rare) - Decreases uncloak time by 0.4 seconds. Cheaper version of Swift Hunt - Blood.
“Windstorm” - White (Green - Rare) - Increases cloaked speed to 132%. Still strong for map pressure.
“Shadow Dance” - Blood (Purple - Very Rare) - Suppresses your Terror Radius for 6 seconds after uncloaking. Survivors don’t know you’re there even after you uncloak.
“Bone Clapper” (Green - Rare) - Bell is only audible within 24 meters. Makes it harder for survivors to track you.
Sample Add-On Combos
Stealth Build: Coxcombed Clapper + Shadow Dance - Blood (silent and no terror radius)
Speed Build: Windstorm - Blood + Swift Hunt - Blood (fast everywhere, fast uncloaks)
Information Build: All Seeing - Blood + Shadow Dance - Blood (perfect info + stealth)
Playing Against Good Survivors
Good survivors make Wraith work harder, but he’s still strong with the right adjustments.
They predrop pallets: Good. You’re not committing to chases anyway. Break the pallet, cloak, and move on. Wraith excels when survivors waste resources.
They see your shimmer: Stay farther back when approaching. Uncloak behind walls or obstacles so they can’t react in time.
They heal constantly: This is fine. If they’re healing, they’re not doing gens. Keep injuring them and eventually they’ll run out of heals.
They use Spine Chill or Premonition: These perks reveal your approach while cloaked. Counter by approaching from unexpected angles or uncloaking farther away.
They split on gens: Wraith’s mobility lets you pressure multiple gens quickly. Cloak between gens and interrupt progress constantly.
They’re in a SWF: Comms let them call out your position. Counter by being unpredictable - don’t patrol in patterns. Cloak and reposition constantly.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Committing to long chases - Wraith is not a chase killer. If you’re chasing someone for 30+ seconds, you’re playing him wrong. Injure and leave.
Staying cloaked too long - Some Wraiths patrol cloaked forever without uncloaking. You need to uncloak to apply pressure. Don’t be afraid to uncloak and land hits.
Uncloaking in the open - Survivors see you uncloaking and reach safe loops. Always uncloak behind cover or when you’re close enough to land a hit.
Facecamping hooks while cloaked - This is a waste of Wraith’s power. Use your mobility to pressure gens, not camp hooks.
Not using your speed boost - After uncloaking, you get a massive speed boost. Use it to lunge and land hits. Don’t waste it.
Ignoring sound cues - Survivors make noise when injured, healing, or working on gens. Listen carefully while cloaked - sound is your best tool for finding survivors.
Map-Specific Tips
Indoor Maps (The Game, Midwich, RPD) - Wraith is insane on indoor maps. Survivors can’t see your shimmer from far away, and you can patrol floors quickly. Use “All Seeing” add-ons to track survivors through walls.
Large Maps (Mother’s Dwelling, Ormond, Temple of Purgation) - Use Windstorm add-ons for speed. These maps are rough for most killers, but Wraith’s mobility lets him pressure them effectively.
Corn Maps (Coldwind Farm) - Your shimmer is harder to see in corn. Abuse this by uncloaking right next to survivors working on gens.
Open Maps (Autohaven, MacMillan) - Survivors can see your shimmer from far away. Uncloak earlier and use your speed boost to catch up.
Swamp Maps - Dark and lots of cover. Great for Wraith. Survivors won’t see you coming until it’s too late.
Why Play Wraith?
Pros:
- Extremely high map mobility
- Easy to learn, hard to master
- Strong hit-and-run playstyle
- Great for learning game sense and pressure management
- Fun mind games with cloaking
- Strong add-ons
Cons:
- Weak in chases without hit-and-run
- Lightburn (flashlights can burn you while cloaked, though this is rare now)
- Good survivors can predrop pallets and waste your time
- Requires good game sense to know when to commit and when to leave
Advanced Tips
Fake uncloaks: Press M2 briefly then move. Survivors hear the bell start and panic. Use this to force pallet drops or bad positioning.
Bodyblock while cloaked: You can bodyblock survivors while cloaked. Use this at windows or pallets to force hits.
Cloak mid-chase to reposition: If a survivor breaks line of sight, cloak and cut them off at a different angle. They’ll think you’re still chasing normally.
Use your bell to zone: Survivors respect the bell sound. Use uncloaking to zone survivors away from gens or loops even if you don’t commit to a chase.
Track scratch marks while cloaked: Your vision is clearer while cloaked. Use this to track survivors more easily.
Final Thoughts
Wraith is one of the most satisfying killers in DBD when played correctly. He teaches you map pressure, game sense, and how to manage multiple survivors at once. You’ll learn when to commit, when to leave, and how to maximize every second of a match.
Don’t chase. Don’t camp. Just cloak, patrol, hit, and repeat. Keep everyone injured and paranoid. Eventually, survivors will crack under the pressure and you’ll snowball into a 4k.
Wraith rewards smart decision-making and map awareness. Master him, and you’ll understand how to pressure survivors better than 90% of killer players.
Good luck, and may your bell always catch survivors off guard.
Last Updated: Patch 9.3.0 - November 2025