I'll say it before and I'll say it again, Autodidact needs guaranteed skill checks
When the devs reworked Ruin, one of the reasons they mentioned is that the unpredictable nature of skill checks made Ruin either too powerful or too weak. However it's been months since the change and Autodidact is still in the same predicament that Ruin was. You can go a full heal without getting a skill check, which for a perk which requires five skill checks to activate is a massive deal. For an example you can just look to Monto's video "Konami Code Gives Presents!" where he heals multiple survivors without getting a skill check. Plus even if you get all stacks it still only saves the same amount of time as We'll Make It, a perk that is easier to activate, has a long usage time of 90 seconds and has no penalty to it.
I believe Autodidact needs a bit of help so it can compare to the other healing perks. I propose that the perk receives the following buff:
After perform a healing action for 8 seconds, a skill check will appear during the interaction.
The timer resets if a skill check appears or the survivor stops the interaction.
This change will be a net benefit for the game as:
It guarantees that the survivor will get at least one skill check per full heal, which alleviates one of the most frustrating aspects of this perk.
It makes sure that you can use the perk at its full potential when you have all stacks, as it was possible before to get all stacks but then only get a skill check at the end, basically getting no benefit from the perk.
The timer resets after a skill check or canceling the interaction, so it prevents the survivor from getting too many skill checks at once.
8 seconds is the same amount of time as two people healing or a We'll Make It heal, making sure survivors aren't guaranteed to get a super quick heal in these situations.
With this change, I believe that the perks can still be used for some exciting plays, like getting a skill check instantly to pick up a downed survivor, but also removes the frustrating aspects of this perk. I hope the devs reconsider their stance on this perk and gives it the love it needs.
Comments
Autodidact is a dangerous perk..consistancy could make it way too powerful
Let's compare Autodidact to We'll Make It. We'll Make It has an easier condition, is active for a long time and has no penalty attached to it. Autodidact requires five skill checks, which is easier said than done, only reaches full power late into the match and punishes you for your first two skill checks. Even if you do get 5 stacks Autodidact saves 8 seconds, which is the same as We'll Make It. My change doesn't even buff it a lot, all it does is make sure that you can use the perk's full power and not get cheated out of it just because of RNG. And before you say it, you can't combine Autodidact and We'll Make It because Autodidact works best if the heal is long, which We'll Make It does the opposite.
Even with the change above, how could you say that Autodidact is a stronger perk than We'll Make It? If Autodidact is weaker than We'll Make It, then it not overpowered.
1, itll work on demand , 2 itll be slowed almost none by anti heal which makes it even more powerful than we'll make it in that regard, plus this perk could easily stack faster through rng and running spine chill for extra skill checks , all you've done is make a garuntee. It could always get more..so in theory it could stack up nearly instantly and basically provide near insta heals all game..doesnt sound like a perk I'd enjoy facing ngl
Read my post again, I said that the timer resets if you get a skill check. It's not a bonus skill check if you already got several, it's a failsafe in case you get unlucky and don't get any. This change only guarantees one skill check per heal, the others you still rely on RNG.
Also, have you tried playing with Autodidact? You get on average about 2 skill checks per heal so you would need about three heals to get the full effect. There's no way you could get all the stacks instantly as you claim. It works on demand yes but you need to build it up and it actively harms you in the early game. And you know what other perk counters slow heal perks? We'll Make It.
All I'm suggesting is to make the perk consistent. This change would help you if you were unlucky and does nothing if you're lucky. Imagine if Pop Goes the Weasel just didn't activate at random hooks people would be upset, so why do we leave Autodidact in a similar state.
Just to add, last game I healed 3 survivors (1 coop, 1 full and 1 half) and only got 2 stacks of Autodidact. Maybe I'll keep a record of my games with Autodidact in this comment.
The difference is pop isnt a potentially dangerous perk..autodidact is..that was my point , once again rng is the perks downfall but it can still be influenced