It is so disappointing to see the difference in strength with killers
(Not including nurse since we all know how strong she is)
Let's just compare the Wraith and Oni's base kit (no addons) for reference.
What does the virgin Wraith have for his power?
The Wraith is a stealth killer who has a bell that he can use to cloak himself. During the cloak, the Wraith gains undetectable status effect for as long as he is cloaked. Survivors can hear the bell ringing when in a range of 24 meters away from the Wraith, they can also hear a wisping sound when in a range of 40 meters away from the Wraith...He is not fully invisible though, you can see him across the map when he is cloaked... He moves at 126% movement speed when he is cloaked, which is exactly 11% faster than he is not... It takes 3 seconds to uncloak and when you fully uncloak you gain a boost in movement speed for one second. Finally, he is fully invisible when standing still.
Now, what does the chad Oni have for his power?
The Oni is a killer whose power allows him to enter blood fury. To enter this mode, the Oni needs to fill up his power bar by sucking up blood orbs. The blood orbs are dropped from injured survivors every few seconds or when they perform most actions (being hooked, vaulting, dropping a pallet, crouching, and failing a skill check) and can be seen through walls. The oni also gains 40% of his power instantly by hitting a healthy survivor or a survivor with the endurance status effect. Once the Oni has the power bar filled up, he can choose to enter blood fury mode. This state lasts 45 seconds and allows the Oni access to two special abilities, demon dash and demon strike. Demon dash is performed by holding the secondary action button for two seconds. The Oni then begins running at a speed of 195% movement speed (Do NOT hold w when dashing because it actually slows you down, same for spamming a and d). Demon strike allows the Oni to perform demon strike which instantly puts survivors in the dying state. This can also be done during demon dash.
I think it is safe to say that there is a clear difference between different killers' powers in the game. Seriously, I wonder "Why would I ever play this guy at the high ranks?" sometimes. I still do because their concept is fun to me. Same for Clown, the idea behind the power is there it's just weak and not expanded upon.
What does Wraith have to get around the map? Nothing. His movement speed increase while cloaked is not enough. In fact, unless you are going to the complete opposite side of the map there really is no reason to cloak other than to hide from an object of obsession user. What does he have to help him catch survivors in a chase? nothing, unless you count the burst in speed when you uncloak which only helps on unsafe pallet loops.
But look at Oni, the dude has both. He has the ability to run around the map (better than billy btw) and be dangerous in a chase. He IMO, is the most balanced killer right now. You can still win against him and have 3 or 4 escapes, he is only really good if the player playing as him is skilled, and his power is a "power burst" kind of ability. This means the tides can tip fast for either side depending on who plays better or outsmarts the other person in a chase.
Even with the upcoming buffs to both Wraith and Clown, I feel like they are still going to need a bit more than just a few buffs, I mean a full-on rework. What I don't want them to be is just an average killer like Plague or Doctor in the middle tier. For Wraith idk give him some sort of passive ability I guess? Maybe every time survivors hear the bell ring they suffer from some sort of passive status effect that gets stronger as the trial goes on. Just some random thought but he will still need more than "true invisibility" and a few addons being base kit and changed. For Clown, I am clueless other than giving him different effects with his bottles.
Note: So after some thought and discussion, I have come up with the suggestion of instead of completely reworking all killers to be viable, they should instead get some buffs (not lazy ones) that are thorough and make the killer receiving said buffs to be able to be put in a mid-tier position.
I really hope that the Wraith and Clown will be given creative buffs or changes that create unique and fun gameplay.
Comments
Tbh, wraith and clown are very dated. I wouldn't really say we've gotten a weak killer since like, demo
I feel like people value mechanical complexity too much here. Similar to BHV and their graphs, the kill rate vs pick rates don't accurately show a killer's strength very well. Nurse is probably the best killer in the game, yet the sheer mechanical skill required to play her would have you believe shes a below average killer if you take the graphs at face value. Oni takes a fair bit more mechanical "skill" to play than Wraith, but I'd argue Wraith is far more difficult to play effectively, as similar to what OP stated, his base kit is embarrassingly lacking when compared to Oni. You have to compensate a lot in strategy, add-ones, perks and luck. Now, I'd argue comparing Wraith to Spirit would be better, due to the similar playstyles, and very simple mechanics to actually learn. However that said, Spirit still has far more depth to her power, more strategy to expand on, and thats reflected in how powerful she is.
I did not say that they all need some sort of map traversal ability, I said that they need more than what they have or something to help create pressure that isn't just speed (pyramid heads cages). You are right about all killers having different playstyles though. For example, look at Wraith and Ghostface. They are all about sneaking up on survivors and getting hits when they can however, if you look at it Ghostface is just a better Wraith. Ghostface doesn't have to deal with the cloaking and uncloaking thing and has more lethality in general. Even if someone plays a killer to their fullest, a couple of experienced players can completely change how you perform. Simply sneaking up on survivors is pretty much impossible if they all are looking out for you so you will have to rely on something else. In this case, ghostface will do better than Wraith since he can use his power to instantly down survivors. Wraith can at most get normal hits excluding lethal perks like MYC.
I feel like demo is a bit underrated for the fact that he is just a bit weak when it comes down to it. The stealth he gets when coming out of a portal is not enough and he is very loud so it doesn't even do much. The shred ability is actually very useful and his portals just give survivors a bit too much information. He also makes noise when in a chase swinging at survivors. Everyone else is able to easily tell if they are safe. A few tweaks and an addon pass will make him much better.
There are those who are looped, and those who are not.
The strong killers can still be looped a little, but they actually have options.
Lemme state that I'm a survivor main first. I agree that these problems shouldn't be seen with addons, but the actual killers themselves. I don't really agree with the specific comparison above, but I do agree with the idea. Personally, Oni is a very easy character to just avoid for me, and fighting things like doctor or spirit are just over before it starts (because they are overpowered)
I compared Wraith and Oni, not because of their playstyles, but because one of them had everything and the other had almost nothing. I could have probably chosen a different pair of killers though. Now, for spirit and doc? Spirit is not overpowered but she is barely pushing the line. The doctor is a decent killer at best, what makes you think he is overpowered?
Couldn't disagree really as u said with no add-ons however flip that and give wraith imo his 2 best add-ons the silent bell and the purple all seeing mud and u have a top tier killer can use mind games at pallets where there are clear blind spots and survivors even good ones can't anticipate what u going to do like are u unloaking or waiting to catch a better position love wraith and before all the haters say he rubbish I say try with those add-ons and u will see how fun he can be and also gets kills at the high ranks but ofc the top tier killers are immense providing u know how to use them otherwise u may aswel play billyboi
Could you be a bit more clear with this comment please?
Thats 2 bad.thats the only way a survivor can survive.
Agreed. I really just think the devs have gotten much better with the killer designs that play around the meta a lot, though they aren't as fun to verse at times they're sure as hell stronger compared to say trapper and wraith, who have very simplistic powers that aren't very thought out, compared to what we have today
Maybe, but her problem is more with the RNG aspect of her power and a bit of her stealth part. A survivor can either get it off the first try or spend a long time trying to.
Her ambush is not really an ambush for the tiger roar that happens the second she starts the channel. It is pretty useful in quite a few loops during a chase though.
All I am trying to say is most players use add ons for all killers unless messing about a bit or trying to prove a point but as for the the wraith having nothing really power wise I think if you try the add ons I mentioned makes the wraith a really impressive top killer and makes it for a really fun game. I would much prefer to play as a no add on wraith to a add on Oni tbh as I am quite poor with him so I do believe everybody has a certain killers that work or don't work for them depending on a players style, level or preference but that is just my opinion like before Freddy rework I really enjoyed him and how his powers work same as Dr but I also enjoy them since there reworks so if a rework is done to improve things I'm all for it but I don't think some things need changed but as long as the game grows and improves that's all that matters