Decisive Strike Balancing
So I think that it's pretty safe to say that decisive strike needs to be balanced in some way, but just in case some people would argue otherwise, I will link a video clip here: https://youtu.be/2mWGK5RG5DQ
Looking at the video, you will see that at about 1:20, I down and hook the Steve. After having done so, I succeed in downing 2 other survivors and go back to check on the Jake since they just saved him. They saved Steve at 2:10 and Steve decided to save Jake which happened at 2:20. If you continue to watch the video, you will see that Steve was healing right under the hook that he saved Jake from. I down him and pick him up. Of course, I get stabbed and am forced to drop him. Steve was granted a free pass to save Jake and heal right in front of the killer because he essentially had a little protection bubble around him that prevented me from killing him.
Now that you can see the problem that DS poses in this game since it essentially grants survivors a free pass to do whatever actions they want even if they would normally be considered risky, I think that it is fitting to come up with a few balancing solutions.
First, I think that DS should deactivate if the survivor does any risky actions or objectives. I believe that the devs are already putting in the objectives part but I think that if the survivor unhooks other survivors or takes a hit for another survivor while that survivor is in a chase with the killer, DS should deactivate because that survivor is pretty much just abusing their protection from the killer by putting themselves in danger.
Secondly, DS should not activate if the survivor is unhooked within 15 seconds or so of the survivor being hooked. This should be the same for borrowed time but that's another discussion in itself. The reasoning behind this is that the perk is being abused if survivors unhook right in front of the killer just because the person they are unhooking will have protection.
Thirdly, DS should deactivate if the killer downs a survivor who was not near the hooked survivor or if the killer leaves the hooked survivor for a period of time. This will work in unison with the last change and since decisive is often considered anti-tunneling perk, this will ensure that survivors who are not tunneled do not get to use DS.
Fourth, DS should not work if the survivor is the last one in the match or if the survivor is in the exit gates. The first part is to prevent the killer from getting punished for "tunneling" even though that survivor is the last one. The second part is to prevent survivors from having a free pass to escape with no backlash. Oftentimes, survivors can take hits for their teammates while they are heading to the gates to ensure that they escape. Their teammates get to escape and they also do because if the killer picks them up, then they can stab the killer and escape and if the killer slugs them, then they can crawl out. As a survivor main, I have done this countless times and it's sad to see the killer be so powerless in a situation where they would otherwise get at least a kill or two. The killer's objective when the gates are open is to keep one survivor on a hook in order to apply pressure for other survivors to save and DS (as well as BT) essentially removes all of that pressure.
Fifth, I think that DS needs to work when a survivor actually does get tunneled. Currently, I can get tunneled as a survivor and if I last long enough in a chase, my DS will run out. I purposefully get downed in these cases in order to make sure that I can use my DS and continue. In order to combat this. I believe that if DS is active, then its timer should pause when you are in a chase or on the ground and in the killer's terror radius. This will make sure that when you do get tunneled, DS will activate no matter what any poorly designed timer system has to do about it.
Sorry for the long post but if you cared enough to make it to the end, then by all means comment down below and discuss this topic. Also, feel free to point out any flaws that you see in the changes above.
Comments
DS is getting nerfed with the upcoming chapter, in about a week. It will now deactivate if the survivor cleanses a totem, heals, touches a gen, etc.
I think the way BHVR have already announced DS will be nerfed, was the correct way to do it
I feel like the nerf that will be coming with the next chapter should be sufficient enough. Overcomplicating a perk is never a good thing and DS is already complicated for newer players.
You can read about the upcoming DS changes above.
Do you know if DS also will be deactivated if self healing with medkit or selfcare?
yes it will I’m pretty sure it’s just anything you do that has a progress bar
The upcoming DS nerf fixes everything unfair about it.
The only thing that i think needs changing is removing healing from the list that deactivates it. The argument is "If you performing healing your not getting tunneled" but you can bypass this with perks or another survivor healing you yet you can't heal yourself with a medkit or selfcare. Also no matter what if you get healed in any way you were not getting tunneled so why not just let healing be a thing so you don't hurt your team by not healing them and so you can use a medkit in case your unhooker just doesn't heal you.
yes it will, but not if someone else is healing you.
Ty! Good to know.