Dead By Daylight: How To Play The Cannibal

The Hillbilly might have better mobility, but of the two chainsaw-wielding killers in Dead by Daylight, the Cannibal is the one many players have learned to fear. With the ability to insta-down multiple survivors with a single Chainsaw Dash and chew through pallets, the Cannibal is an aggressive nightmare in the right hands.

Leatherface players may be infamous for facecamping as Basement Bubba, but there's far more to the character's skill than just standing and nodding. A good Cannibal needs to understand locker bumps, invisible walls for object curving, moonsawing, and other minutia of the character. Once the details of controlling the Cannibal are mastered, the killer is a force to be reckoned with.

Bubba's Chainsaw

The Cannibal's power is Bubba's chainsaw, a ferocious weapon that allows him to enter a lethal back-and-forth sweep after revving it. Any survivor caught by the Chainsaw Dash will be instantly downed. The Cannibal can hit multiple survivors with a single Chainsaw Dash, potentially letting him end the game in a single attack if he catches the survivors huddled together healing or repairing a generator. The Cannibal can extend their Chainsaw Dash by chaining it. The timing can be difficult, but by pressing the power button just as the bar reaches the charge counter in the upper-right hand corner, the player will be able to reliably chain Dashes together.

If the Cannibal bumps into an object such as a wall or tree while using Bubba's Chainsaw, the killer will enter a tantrum, swinging his saw wildly about. The Cannibal moves extremely slowly during tantrum, so survivors in the vicinity can easily run away, though any survivor unfortunate or foolish enough to get too close will still be insta-downed. Because of the amount of distance the Cannibal loses in chase as the result of a tantrum, learning how to carve tightly around objects without bumping is an essential skill for anyone looking to master this killer.

The Cannibal's Teachable Perks

The Cannibal and his perks from Dead by Daylight

The Cannibal's teachable perks range from just okay (Knockout) to often useful (Franklin's Demise) to absolutely essential (Barbeque & Chilli).

Barbeque & Chilli (Level 30) grants 25% additional Bloodpoints after the trial for each unique survivor the killer has hooked. In addition, whenever the killer hooks a survivor, Barbeque & Chilli reveals the location of all survivors outside of a certain range.
Franklin's Demise (Level 35) means that hitting a survivor with a basic attack causes that survivor to drop any item they are carrying. Once on the ground, that item begins to lose its charges over time until it is completely useless.
With Knockout (Level 40), downing a survivor with a basic attack inflicts them with Blindness and causes them to crawl 50% slower for 15 seconds. The dying survivor's aura is also hidden from other survivors outside a certain range.

Due to the Bloodpoint bonus it grants, Barbeque & Chilli is one of the most popular perks in the game. The information it provides the killer about where to go next is also useful. Franklin's Demise, while useful on "M1" basic attack killers such as the Hag and Wraith, is far less useful on the Cannibal, who gets the most value out of using his Chainsaw instead of his basic attack. Knockout is useful for niche scenarios such as preventing survivors from crawling out of the opened exit gates, but even killers that prefer a slugging playstyle can often find better value elsewhere.

General Strategy

The Cannibal benefits from a straightforward, aggressive playstyle: find survivors, chew through any pallets and breakable doors they take shelter behind, and down them. Finding multiple survivors is a top priority, as Bubba's Chainsaw can cut down the entire team if he corners them. Catching survivors in open areas, corralling them in dead zones, and bodyblocking them in tight spaces are the best ways to guarantee a down. Windows are survivors' strongest defense against Bubba's Chainsaw, so many Cannibal players use Bamboozle (Clown Level 30) to block windows and cut off escape routes. Players can fake the use of the chainsaw by revving it briefly before letting it die down again, convincing some survivors not to drop pallets they otherwise would have.

Many pallet loops can also be rendered unsafe by revving the saw on the pallet, chasing the survivor halfway around the loop in one direction, and then reversing direction to chase them the other way. It is difficult to avoid bumping and entering a tantrum, but if executed properly, the Cannibal will gain enough speed to catch the survivor before they can drop the pallet. "Moonsawing," walking backwards while using Bubba's Chainsaw in order to hide the killer's Red Stain, is another advanced technique that, while difficult, can proof extremely useful.

Recommended Build

dead by daylight leatherface bubba cannibal survivor skin face masks comsetics harassment blackface

The following perks arguably best support the Cannibal's aggressive style:

Corrupt Intervention (Plague Level 30) locks the three generators farthest from the killer for a period of time.
Hex: Ruin (Hag Level 35) causes generator progress to regress when a survivor stops working on it.
Tinkerer (Hillbilly Level 40) notifies the killer whenever a generator reaches 70% completion and makes the killer Undetectable for a brief period of time.
No Way Out (Trickster Level 40) locks the exit switches, preventing survivors from opening the exits gate. Hooking a unique survivor increases the time the switches are blocked.

When it comes to add-ons, the two Chilli add-ons are simple and reliable:

Award-winning Chilli (Very Rare) increases the duration of a chainsaw dash by 0.5 seconds.
Chilli (Uncommon) increases the duration of a chainsaw dash by 0.25 seconds.

This build is straightforward but effective. Corrupt Intervention and Hex: Ruin provide some of the best slowdown in the game, keeping generators from flying while the Cannibal hunts down his prey. Bubba is one of the best overall users of Tinkerer: his ability to insta-down multiple survivors means that survivors won't greed gens and complete them in his face, so when Tinkerer brings him, everyone scrambles. Since a good Bubba will have likely destroyed most of the map's pallets by the end of the match, No Way Out ensures he gets to maximize his end game lethality by trapping survivors inside. Last, the use of double chilli add-ons extends his the range of his chainsaw considerably, so that no one can escape the Cannibal's clutches no matter how far they run.