Perks and how to choose them

All of these perks were the ones shared on the wiki page: fridaythe13th.gamepedia.com so thanks to whoever put the time into that article.

Adrenaline Rush
+Grab Stamina Boost
-Stamina Regen
This is a perk to use only if you are planning on spending a lot of time looking for a pocketknife or if you.. *lowers voice to a whisper* know how to break grabs... Even if you get this perk with a negative attached, don't worry. If you are good at maintaining your composure, the sacrifice in stamina is not even a hinderance. As a matter of fact, if you plan on breaking grabs, your stamina should be topped off at all times and you should be planning to stand your ground a lot.

Aquanaut
+Swim Speed +Swim Stamina
-Sprint Speed
This perk basically gives you a bonus fear resistance to water. You can afford to take it slow in the water and not worry about the stamina drain or fear buildup. Since lots of maps have water that separates objectives, it's fairly useful.

Controlled Breathing
-Hiding Fear
-Stamina
Choose this if you like to use hiding spots! That's why the stamina penalty is not even a big deal. If you like hiding spots, you're a pro at keeping your stamina full anyway. Keeping your fear under control also helps your stamina so it's a win win.

Easy Listening
+Radio Stamina Regen
+Noise
Pretty decent perk because having radios on is a good idea. They protect you while you're in an area because they distract Jason quite well. This perk makes it so that you benefit from being in the same house as it. You can use your stamina bonus to fight your fear better if you are considering hiding or sneaking away.. But it can also be used if you plan on standing your ground and fighting. Jason opens himself up for a free hit in order to destroy the radio so if you really wanted to waste his time you could try to distract him from it.

Escape Artist
+Grab Escape
-Grab Stamina Boost
Good to take if you are practicing grab-breaking. The stamina negative doesn't matter because you should be good at keeping your stamina topped off if you plan on escaping grabs anyway. It's the noob version of adrenaline rush. NO SHAME IN THAT!

Evasion
+Dodge Speed
+Damage Taken
This perk is balanced out so that you can't troll Jason. You are taking a gamble applying this perk if you are not actually savvy at dodging because if Jason manages to damage you, he may get you crippled faster than you think. Practice dodging well if you have this perk applied because your life now depends on it!

Firecracker
+Firecracker radius
+Noise
Gives you free firecrackers(1). Firecrackers are like a temporary radio+stun you get to throw on the floor. You can also throw them in hallways where Jason can't avoid them to block areas off. Just remember, he can still shift if he wants.

Friendship
+Damage per nearby teammate
-Stun
Pretty self explanatory. Great perk to take if you plan on killing Jason but also fun to have if you like to demask him to intimidate him. You can use it for protecting teammates because you are using your friends' presence to buff yourself. Just be careful, extra damage could be dangerous to your team(if you're in private match).

Grease Monkey
-Car start time
+Boat start time
This perk has almost no downfalls because the boat start is stealthier than the car anyway so who cares how long it takes? You can technically start the boat in Jason's face but you shouldn't be trying to do that anyway I don't think..

Grinder
+XP gained
-Melee Damage
Want more xp? But at the cost of it being harder for you to kill Jason, the highest xp reward in the game. Good to take if you don't plan on killing Jason much. Don't get me wrong, you can still kill him. It's a group effort, after all.

Heavy Hitter
+Bat stun time
-Stamina regen
Great to choose if you plan on rescuing teammates. You should be watching your stamina extra close in these situations because sometimes you have to run a good distance to reach your friends in time. The perk's penalty helps you practice this while also giving you and your friend more time to run away after the successful save. Successfully stunning Jason gifts you some stamina so it cancels out that negative nicely too! Just remember, it's with the bat only.

Heavy Mover
+Barricade speed
+Noise
The only time barricading speed really matters is if Jason is close. That's my opinion, anyway.. This might be most useful for those who don't like to barricade doors often but when you do finally decide to, it takes no time at all. For those "last minute" kind of people. If you like to sprint everywhere and leave all your doors open like some sort of madman, it might be a good perk for you. Just remember that after rage is is play, you don't really have to lock doors because Jason busts through them.

Heavy Sleeper
+Tent sense avoid
+Fear
If you are using hiding spots its because you already know how to manage your fear so the penalty should not be a problem. If Jason is already around, however, you are taking a big risk getting into the tent because he might see you doing so. If he does, the sense avoid chance won't even matter. This is good for people who just genuinely enjoy using hiding spots and therefore know when it's smart to get in one and when to not risk it. The tent is a strong hiding spot but it's also a very specific hiding spot.. Remember that.

Home Body
+House sense avoid
-Stamina
Good for many situations because given any point in the game, you are most likely going to be in a house. Hanging out in houses also helps you manage stamina better so spend more time in them if you have this perk.

Hypochondriac
+Healing
+Damage taken
This lets you spawn in with a free spray. But I like to think of it like this: unless you have zero penalty applied to the perk, you are sacrificing your own health to potentially give to someone else. I like to take this perk if I plan on wrecking traps or healing my friends. If you use it on yourself it just negates itself with the penalty but you continue to take high damage after the spray is gone. The increase in healing also still applies if you were to find an additional spray. I would think twice before you put this on if you plan on directly fighting Jason because you are more frail overall.

Ice Cold
-Corpse fear
-Sprint speed
You see a lot of dead bodies throughout a match. Always useful to mitigate the fear they create. This makes you a stronger late game character.

Lead Foot
+Car speed
-Boat speed
This one is more situational than Grease monkey. Speed is useful for the car, yes.. But lowering the boat speed is a trade that's not so great. So maybe take this perk if you don't like using the boat very much or if you have (-)water speed Jason. I strongly feel using/avoiding obstacles and positioning of the car are more important than speed but what do I know.

Level headed
+Sense avoid
+Noise
This is good for people who are.. level headed. If you hear Jason teleport in yet you are calm enough to remain quiet and hidden until you locate him, this is your perk. The noise penalty is nothing to you because you already know how useful crouching and walking are to remaining unheard and unseen.

Light Foot
-Sprint noise
+Fear
If you're the guy who goes "oh ♥♥♥♥ it's Jason!" and you dip out immediately, this perk is your spirit animal. It helps you get out of there quickly and safely at the expense of making you easier overall to find.. But Jason is the biggest fear source in the game so you are actually mitigating your fear by running from him. Good work!

Lone Wolf
-Solo fear
-Melee attack
If you're alone you shouldn't be picking fights with Jason anyway so melee attack penalty is not much a problem. Use it if you like rummaging through houses by yourself and use your extra fear resistances to stay off Jason's radar. Might even be good to put on your designated "sweater girl" characters so you can practice pacing yourself for stealth.

Low Profile
+Sense avoid
-sprint speed
This perk makes your crouch more useful and also increases your crouch-walk speed. Stealth stealth stealth. Embodiment of stealth right here. Take it sneaky, take it slow.

Man at arms
+Weapon durability
-Melee stun
If you like fighting and actually know what causes stuns so that you can still pull it off regardless of the penalty. Think of it this way: the durability of your weapon won't matter if you can't get the stun and get grabbed immediately. The upside is that this is a universally good perk. Stuns don't matter as much when you are saving friends and not 1v1ing Jason. If you take this perk specifically to 1v1 Jason, my first sentence is most important.

Marathon
+Stamina
-Sprint speed
Almost the exact same thing as that one other stamina perk, "restful". Gives you more stamina but at the cost of you being slower. Learn to manage your stamina and the speed negative won't ever be a problem.

Medic
+Healing
+Damage taken
You don't start with a spray but when you find one, this perk lets you use it twice. Just like hypochondriac, kind of a gamble. If I have to use the heal for myself, I count it as the perk canceling itself out but with continuous risk to my survival cause of the penalty. But it can still be good if you plan on taking damage. If you know you're gonna attract Jason because of the character choice or maybe you want to wreck traps.

Motorboating
+Boat speed
-Car speed
I always approve boat speed. Might save you against a water Jason or help you juke against the slower ones. Boat is a riskier escape so any ability that increases it's chances, I approve of. The car speed, as I said somewhere earlier, I don't value as much. Maybe I'll change my mind about that one day.

My Dad's a cop
-Cop time
-Car speed
Makes the cops show up sooner which is always nice. Cop escapes are hard because of the travel so it's good to get the knowledge that is: "which side of the map will it be on?" ASAP. I take it with my characters who I know can repair the phone stealthy and therefore by themselves, as you are the one who needs to make the call. If you're in a group, just let them know you have the perk. The car speed is a fair trade, imo. If you are increasing your chances with the late-game escape method, you decrease your chance with the early-game one.

Nerves of steel
-Fear
-Sprint speed
This perk prevents minimap loss. With the shortening of your field of view as you are feared, it's harder to see where houses or friends are. Keeping your mini map is great, even if its just to tell in which direction you are heading. Sprint speed is not so bad an exchange imo cause you'll be sprinting less if you know EXACTLY where you're heading.

Night owl
-Darkness fear
+Noise
Since you are able to soak up more fear from being in the dark- and therefore have more time before you become scared, you don't have an excuse to make so much damn noise! That's how you can think of this one.

Potent Ranger
+Tommy damage
-non-Tommy damage
If you can somehow know that you are going to get Tommy Jarvis, you can have this ready to go! Only Tommy himself would choose a perk so wildly unpredictable. This is fine to have because if you do get Jarvis, you can demask Jason very suddenly which can sometimes spook even the toughest players! This is especially true if YOU WERE GOING FOR THE KILL ALL ALONG. See, only Tommy would take this one...

Preparedness
-Fear
-Sprint speed
You get a free map, which is useful no matter if you are a noob or a veteran. I put this on almost every character just because I like knowing where stuff is. How is it ever going to be not useful to know where the car is? It's just a good perk to take no matter what. Sprint speed? Who cares! I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere when I know I've saved myself all that time searching for a damn map.

Psychic
+Voice range
+noise
This is great to take if you are the friend who is really good at the game so you can scream at everyone else what to do. Nah c'mon don't yell at them. Maybe you shouldn't take it.. On the other hand, if you are new, I would say the map perk is better to have but this one is fun too. Just remember that in this game, there are 7 people. That's a LOT of people to be speaking to at once. Not everyone gets a walkie but there are going to be other walkie-owners interacting with the guys next to them too. so.. Just cause you have a walkie doesn't mean you have to be chatting everyone up constantly.

Pyro
+Flare spot time
+Fear
Whenever you do get that flare gun off, you will alert all your teammates as to where Jason is. Those who have maps can check it to see exactly where he is, too. I think this is a good perk to put on people with poor survivability who might use the flare spot in a way that shows teammates to come help them. It can also be good for characters who are going to distract Jason for long periods of time. This perk basically tells people to get objectives done while you show your team where Jason is currently. The added fear makes you easier to track so adjust your playstyle accordingly. If you're the distraction, it's not a deal. If you're the poor survivability person, try to play stealthier.

Quiet Swimmer
+Swim sense avoid, Fear
-Swim noise
Swimming does make a lot of noise, yes, but Jason does not typically morph directly into the water unless he sees a boat moving. So even if you do attract him to you, you are not exactly revealing that you are in the water, just someone who is making a lot of noise. The fear penalty makes this perk seem counter-productive but it is actually not so big a deal because the sense avoidance has you covered if Jason happens to appear suddenly. So long as you slow the pace enough to not make much noise, there is a chance he will not even notice you. Just keep trying to actively get out of the water, because the fear will climb faster and you will appear on senses soon..

Restful
+Stamina regen
-Sprint speed
This is a fine perk to take for any occasion. Sprint speed isn't that big a sacrifice. Keeping your stamina managed with the faster regen is basically what you should do in order to overcome it.

Scout
+Trap escape
+Damage taken
You can get out of the traps better but you should still not be taking a trap ever without having a way to heal yourself. Traps do a lot of damage so the extra penalty will probably ensure you be crippled. High luck might save you but now you are a fear target that lights up Jason's senses from 10 years away. Never ♥♥♥♥ with traps without spray!

Slugger
+Damage
-Stun
Start with a baseball bat that breaks a bit easier than the ones you find on the map. It's alright for anyone who plans on fighting and/or killing Jason. Since TK is also no longer around on quickmatch, you can be an OP character who does tons of damage all while having it never hinder the grab saves. Have your cake and eat it too. It's on the devs. (not really, it's on all the people who thought it would be soo fun to TK their team. Why cant we have nice things?)

Sneaky
+Window speed, Hiding speed
+Damage Taken
You go through windows faster but if your Jason is talented enough to find and punish you with a knife you could be in trouble. Hiding speed is also good because then the damage penalty isn't even a problem anymore! I mean, if he finds you he insta-KOs you so, ya know.. don't get found.

Spacial awareness
-Stumble
+Noise
Stumble is bad because it locks you in a certain direction for a moment and it increases your noise to some extent. So the small added penalty of having more noise overall(in the areas that are more managable) isn't a bad sacrifice. Stumbling is especially bad for indoor situations, too. If you are trying to avoid Jason in a small, cooped up area, one stumble might accidentally send you right into him. So if you like juking in houses or other tight situations, maybe this is a good one for you.

Speed Demon
+Solo vehicle speed
-Repair speed
If you want to be a Jason distraction or the person who ferrys people places? I don't know who drives alone aside from the people who have to. This perk is good for someone who should be driving the car, so high luck. It says "vehicle" so I assume it also goes towards the boat. As I said, anything that boosts the boat is good imo so this could be used as a last minute "I want to live!" type situation where you need to outrun a water Jason or a +shift Jason. I can also imagine someone trolling with it pretty well.. Starting the car, letting Jason morph to you and then using the extra speed to make him also waste his shift on you is very nice for your teammates. Take this one while you blast that one song: GAS GAS GAS for maximum Jason-trolling potential.

Sucker Punch
+Melee stun
-Sprint speed
Stunning is nice but remember you are just delaying the inevitable if you're not actively helping an objective get done. So take this perk if you like to solo-troll Jason or save friends, I guess. The sprint speed penalty isn't a big deal. If you're planning on successfully stunning, you're probably going to need to gather fear first so the penalty in sprint speed actually encourages you to stand your ground more.

Swift attacker
+Attack speed
-Attack damage
You swing faster than before but it's less effective at taking Jason's mask off. Speed also may not mean much if you don't get a stun off, remember this. Optimal choice for people who plan to save friends from grabs, imo. It is especially useful in private matches when team attack is on.

Teamwork
-Fear per nearby teammate
-Attack strength
Your friends help you resist fear. They always have but this just increases it by a percent. JUST REMEMBER, your fear reduction rates are pretty much dependent on how feared you are.. Also remember that x% of 0 = 0. If you destroy your own fear levels, even your "30%+" bonus doesn't mean squat. The -attack I don't think is a big deal because if you're using the perk and with your team, you should have the upper hand simply with numbers.

Thick Skinned
-Damage taken
+Stumble
This helps noobs survive the game and stumble isn't a terrible thing to deal with, it just teaches you to manage your fear better. This perk can help you through any situation and is always useful. It can save you from death simply because it gives you a couple more hp points above the cripple line and lets you keep moving. It does not mean you should be taking damage for free, though.

Thrasher
+Axe Damage
-Melee Stun
You decrease your entire stunrate with all weapons just to get some extra damage with the axe. Take this if you are the kind of person who drools when you see the axe. Just know if you are Buggzy and hit your teammate while TK is on, they're probably going to be in trouble.

Tinker
+Repair speed
-Stamina
Turn yourself into something a little bit closer to Deborah but you'll never be quite there. What..? What if Deborah takes this perk? Well I just don't understand some people.. Okay, now you are Deborah version 2.0. Do not mistake "overbuffing" for being Tommy; Tommy will always be better than you at everything. You are still a Deborah.