Dead by Daylight: Top Shape Builds (2025)

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• The Shape: Best Non-Teachable Build (2025)

• The Shape: Best Build (2025)

• The Shape: Best Add-Ons (2025)

The Shape, or Michael Myers as he's better known, is Dead by Daylight's first licensed Killer. His terrifying gameplay revolves around stalking Survivors, building his ferocity to ultimately eliminate them one by one. This relentless pursuit is what makes him such a formidable and frightening opponent.

This Dead by Daylight guide outlines some of the best builds for The Shape, encompassing both teachable and non-teachable perks to cater to players of all experience levels.

Updated January 13, 2025, by Siddarth Narasimman: Despite remaining a popular choice, especially for newer players, Michael Myers is still considered one of the weaker Killers. However, recent buffs in Patch 8.4.0 have significantly improved his viability, making this an ideal time to explore optimal builds and add-ons for this iconic horror character.

The Shape: Best Non-Teachable Build (2025)

Mastering The Shape without access to other Killers' perks presents a challenge, but it's certainly achievable. This build utilizes Save the Best for Last to significantly reduce chase times, while Sloppy Butcher passively slows down the game for Survivors. Bitter Murmur and Hex: No One Escapes Death combine to decimate any remaining Survivors in the endgame without relying solely on prolonged stalking.

• Save the Best for Last (The Shape): Hitting a Survivor who isn't the Obsession grants a token (up to eight). Each token reduces basic attack cooldown by 4%, up to a 32% reduction. Hitting the Obsession costs two tokens.
• Hex: No One Escapes Death (General Perk): After the final generator is completed, all Survivors are exposed, and the Killer gains a 4% haste effect until the Hex Totem is cleansed.
• Bitter Murmur (General Perk): Reveals the auras of Survivors within 16 meters of a completed generator for 5 seconds. After the last generator is completed, all Survivor auras are revealed for 10 seconds.
• Sloppy Butcher (General Perk): Basic attacks inflict Mangled and Hemorrhage, slowing healing by 25% and regressing unfinished healing.

The Shape: Best Build (2025)

This build prioritizes slowing generator progress while providing a strong early-game advantage, crucial for compensating for The Shape's limited mobility and weakness in the game's initial stages. The strategy centers on controlling a generator cluster, tracking progress, and leveraging The Artist's Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance and The Cenobite's Deadlock to hinder repairs.

Lethal Pursuer helps quickly locate Survivors and initiate stalking, while Coup de Grâce improves performance in looping scenarios where The Shape typically struggles.

• Lethal Pursuer (The Nemesis): Reveals all Survivor auras for nine seconds at the match start. All aura-reading instances are increased by two seconds.
• Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance (The Artist): Starts with four tokens. Hooking different Survivors on white Scourge Hooks consumes a token and regresses the most progressed generator by 25%.
• Deadlock (The Cenobite): Completing a generator blocks the most progressed generator for 25 seconds (revealed by a white aura).
• Coup de Grâce (The Twins): Gains two tokens per completed generator. Use one token to increase lunge attack distance by 80%.

The Shape: Best Add-Ons (2025)

Memorial Flower

At common rarity, the Memorial Flower is arguably The Shape's best add-on, offering an 11% increase to stalking speed—a welcome boost to his inherently slow stalking.

Dead Rabbit

The Dead Rabbit reduces Terror Radius by 25% in Evil Within II but increases it in Evil Within III. Use cautiously, ideally with perks like Monitor and Abuse to manage Survivor awareness.

J. Myers Memorial

This add-on provides a flat 25% bonus to stalking gain rate, often paired with the Tombstone Piece to mitigate the drawbacks of reaching Evil Within III.

Hair Bow

The Hair Bow significantly enhances The Shape's threat level during Evil Within III. Combining it with the J. Myers Memorial add-on creates consistent map pressure.

Tombstone Piece

The Tombstone Piece is arguably The Shape's strongest add-on. Upon reaching Evil Within III, it instantly downs any Survivor, regardless of hook state—a powerful ability surpassing even the Ultra Rare Judith’s Tombstone.

Lock of Hair

Lock of Hair extends Evil Within III by 40 seconds (10 more than the Hair Bow) while boosting the stalk rate for Evil Within III. While the Hair Bow is generally preferred, Lock of Hair is a viable alternative, especially with Lethal Pursuer and J. Myers Memorial.

Fragrant Tuft of Hair

Despite a significant 200% reduction in stalking rate, this add-on grants infinite Evil Within III, eliminating power management concerns and enabling instant downs without prior stalking.