Perks are an essntial part of the game and they give you huge bonuses to help you in the pit. There are a total of 3 perk slots one is unlocked at level 35, the next at 70 and the final one at 75. Perks are bought for gold from the perk shop ( it looks like a villager and its located in spawn ). Perk setup= the perks you have active. Btw you get a golden apple on kill just generally in pit.
Healing perks: Perks that improve your healing abilities. You will want a healing perk in your perk setup in almost all scenarios.
Golden heads 500g: Golden heads replace golden apples. Golden heads are an improved version of golden apples and they are insta-eat meaning that right clicking once eats the item instantly rather than having to "chew" when eating normal food like golden apples. This perk is very helpful and it should be the first perk you buy as it is a MASSIVE improvement from golden apples. Vampire
Once at level 60 you can buy first aid eggs from other players that are farther along in the game but in my experience its a massive waste of money in the early game. If you are going to buy them dont buy for more than 300g each and NEVER hold more than one on you at a time. Dieng, or even interacting with a shop will delete your entire stack of first aid eggs. If you have them put them all in your enderchest and take one out at a time if you wish to use one.
Resource perks: Perks that give you gold or XP bonuses Trickle down
Streaker 8000g: The perk streaker gives incrementally more exp from your second third or fourth kill a life. Basically if you kill 5 people before dieng each kill will reward more XP than the last but the bonus caps at __kills. This perk is used for going on streaks(killing lots of people without deing) And is a great way to get XP as its bonuses are Quite large. It seems dumb and expensive but it gives a ton of exp and in my opinion it is very worth it. It should be a part of most streaking perk setups or just general perk setups as it rewards a lot of exp.
Spammer 4000g: You gain 2x gold on kill if you shot them with an arrow first. You get 2g on assists. Not worth I didn't bother nor should you. Maybe its good in certain scenarios but I never see anybody use it really but if some knows tell me so I can update this
Support perks
Fishing rod 1000g: You spawn with a fishing rod. Do not actually use it for fishing. Fishing is a massive waste of time in my opinion only fish if you have unlocked fishing club at prestige 3. If you are skilled with a fishing rod then feel free to use it for pvp.
Lava bucket 1000g: You spawn with a lava bucket. Only possibly useful for a contract but generally it is quite bad don't use this unless its the easiest contract possible. In general never use this lava is very weak in the pit and it doesn't flow.
Safety first 2000g: You spawn with a chainmail helmet. useful in all scenarios you get more survivability
Gladiator 4000g: -3% damage per player near you, 12 blocks range, min 3 people max 10 people. Better when there are more people near you but still pretty versatile and you get significant damage reduction. Quite useful in many scenarios
Strength chaining 2000g: +8% damage for 7s stacking on kill. goes up to strength 5 Major damage increase, but you need to kill players in rapid succession to get you increased damage. Amazing in some scenarios and ok in others.
Endless quiver 2000g: Get 3 arrows on arrow hit. Self-explanatory. Doesn't seem super useful to me as I never really had a need for arrows but it could be helpful in some scenarios I guess.
Mineman 3000g: You spawn with 24 cobblestone and a diamond pickaxe, +3 blocks on kill. Very situational I guess it gives good movement and could help in some places but to me, it doesn't seem amazing.
Lucky diamond 4000g: 30% chance for dropped armor pieces to be diamond. Free diamond armor pretty good for outskirts streaking cause you don't have to buy diamond armor from the shop.
Bounty hunter 2000g: +4g on kill and you earn bounty shares. +1% damage/ 100g bounty on target. Possibility for getting a ton of gold but super inconsistent.