When you play as a Survivor in Dead by Daylight, sooner or later you will come across a small structure of bones called a Totem. These skull and club combinations will hide in the corners of each map and help the Killer with one of the hex perks, or the Survivors with a boom perk they’ve equipped to make life a little harder for others.

Related: How to use Hexes in Dead by Daylight

How do totems work in Dead By Daylight?

There are three different totems in Dead By Daylight that you can come across. First is the Hex Totem. The fire burning at the base of the Totem means it is linked to an Assassin’s Hex perk. If the fire isn’t burning, then you’ve found a boring totem pole. A boring totem doesn’t mean the killer doesn’t have a hex equipped, as five totems spawn at the start of the match, and another totem could have a hex equipped.

The third type of totem you can see is a blessing totem. These are covered in a blue light and are created by survivors with a Boon buff who find totems and bless them. Survivors get bonuses when they are in range of their area and Killers can turn them off when they find them. Boon’s perks make a sound when active. Survivors cannot clean Boon Totems.

When you approach a totem as a survivor, you’ll notice a prompt to cleanse (or bless if you have a Boon perk equipped). During the time you’re interacting with it, you don’t need to complete any skill checks, but it will remain motionless for a while.

When you clear a totem, you are essentially removing that totem from the field. When completed, the Totem crumbles and there is no chance of it returning unless the Killer is using the Hex: Pentimento perk. They can revive them at that point. If you clear a hex totem, there’s a good chance you’ve nullified one of the assassin’s perks for the rest of the game. Except for the eternal hex (which takes over a dull totem when it’s destroyed), all hex perks require a totem to survive. A Dull Totem doesn’t have any hexes equipped, but it can still be cleared to prevent the Immortal Hex from taking over and the survivor will gain blood points for it.

For the most part, it is very important that you clean a totem if you see it, especially if it is lit. The main reason for this is that it slightly weakens the Assassin in a way that he can’t normally recover from. Certain hexes will affect you when you clear them, so you’re taking a risk when you run into one, but overall, it’s worth the risk of being exposed or having your clearing speed slow down over the course of the match.