Who is the most balanced killer in the game?
I think we all know how everyone feels about killers like Nurse, Spirit, and Freddy. These killers are the epitome of unbalanced as Nurse breaks the game, Spirit has no counter and takes like 2 brain cells to master, and Freddy is like Spirit to a lesser extent, except at least he can be looped.
Let’s just sit back and think to ourselves, which killer defines what every other killer should strive to be in terms of balance and game health? When we say balance, we mainly talk about a killer that offers fun and exciting gameplay from both sides where it actually feels like an interactive multiplayer game.
In my opinion, the most perfect killer in terms of game balance is Hillbilly, and I would assume a lot others will agree with me on that. Hillbilly is a very strong killer as he has a one-shot ability, amazing map mobility, and has add ons that can enhance his strengths. Even though he may be a strong killer, he has reasonable counterplay on the survivor side with a very high skill ceiling. There’s a lot that goes into playing as and against Hillbilly that it feels so rewarding to play as him and against him. Hillbilly never deserved the overheat nerf. His insta saw add ons needed the nerf as that was the only thing that kept Hillbilly from being a well-rounded balanced killer, but they’ve been removed so it’s not that big of a deal anymore. Other killers that I believe fall in the same category with Hillbilly of being strong but fair for both sides are Huntress, Blight (without J-flick), Demo, Oni, and even the new Wraith, even though he may not be as strong as others.
I wanted to create this thread because I think the devs need to take time to look at these balanced killers and analyze why they are so fundamentally balanced when they design new killers or rework current killers. I don’t want killers like Spirit nerfed to the ground as I really like the concept of her power of turning invisible and tracking by audio, but she certainly needs a serious rebalance that takes both sides into account.
Comments
I don’t necessarily have a direct win condition. Sometimes just completing a tome challenge is a win. I love using certain builds that give me more options and more things to do, even if they aren’t an effective way to play the game. Yesterday, I ran a sabo build and was in a 4-man SWF. I got Mettle of Man to activate and ended up escaping because that perk saved my ass. That kind of stuff feels rewarding and that’s why I love this game, there’s endless opportunities of things to do and it feels rewarding to make it work. That’s why I don’t find DS, Unbreakable, Soul Guard that fun.
Blight is a good boy
yes we need more love for the crackhead pinball
Same. It was nice talking about this kind of stuff with you. I love being able to talk about the state of the game with others as it can be healthy for the game and it gets the community more involved.
I have always considered Demogorgon to be the definition of a balanced, mid-tier Killer. Jack of all trades, master of none.
I definitely agree with that. Demo is a good boy.
Plague? Oh wait where not supposed to day her name she does not exist. Right BHVR!
BHVR- Plague? Is that a skin for Legion?
Honestly, I forgot she existed lol.
For me its huntress, without iri head obviously.
But i understand Billy, not necessarily Oni though i think i disagree there.
What’s wrong with Oni?
He slugs like crazy i think the Oni is a bit too oppressive to be called most balanced killer.
But he has counters and a very high skill ceiling while being a strong killer.
Yeah that's fair, i personally feel like theres too much inconsistency with the killer, the survivors can play it safe and counter oni so he gets gen rushed and stuff, or he can get his power immediately and four man slug at 5 gens.
With oni in my experience, its either survivors win flawlessly or the oni wins flawlessly, not my idea of balanced.
But thats just my opinion, maybe i dont go enough onis or play enough oni.
Yeah, I see what you’re saying. Him having counters and high skill ceiling is enough for me to have the opinion that he’s a balanced killer.
My point exactly I try to drop her name whenever I can one day hopefully she will be remembered
Oni and Blight.
Maybe Huntress.
Agreed
@TheGannMan I know I was talking about plague that was a joke obviously. I didn't give a serious answer because they were all already said Oni, blight, huntress. I will add that even though I feel his add-ons need a rework demo is pretty close.
id say billy. his chainsaw isnt impossible to counter if you have the skill. you dont need to rely on rng mindgames like you do vs spirit and nurse.
Yeah I know you were joking. I hope the give Plague more recognition because she is so forgotten.
Anyone saying Freddy is balanced forgot that Freddy can:
Freddy is that one problem child in the family blessed with all the gifts for sheer pity of what he once was.
I have never in my life lost a single game with Freddy when using my patented Tinker + Ruin + Undying build. I can simply just keep infinite gen pressure on and force survivors to waste tremendous amount of gen progression, and even when they try to split, I can still manage to win the game without breaking a sweat. It's not even a challenge. This Killer has literally everything a Killer can have.
I would have agreed pre-rework.
Now? I rarely see him, and when I do he's Leatherface.
Jokes aside, When I ACTUALLY face Billy he's doesn't feel balanced. He's too easy to deal with now.
Agreed
Exactly. I’m hoping this upcoming Freddy nerf will make him take more skill but keep him as strong. I think his strength right now is not the issue it’s just him being too easy to win with.
Pre-rework I would've said Billy because the freedom you had with the saw let you keep up with decent teams without add-ons. Now you can't keep up as well, you use the chainsaw the same way you did before his rework and your power goes on cooldown. Now I would say it's Oni without topknot or Wraith with good add-ons.
They should honestly just revert base kit Billy back to his old self. The overheat mechanic was a very unnecessary change.
This is a really nice thread. I do agree with most killers people are mentioning: Blight, Oni, Billy, Bubba... However, I do disagree with a couple statements that Hag is balanced. All I need to say is: please, play Hag and try to get a 1k. You won't even realise how you got that 4k with only 1 or 2 gens done.
Hag is just plain annoying to play as and against. She is so good at camping and that is literally all that some Hags do.
Yeah I use my Fred for the first time in about a month couple days ago I got blasted with messages. My build is brutal, pop, BBQ, Disco and I can't remember the last time I lost a game I'm sure there was a random hatch escape here and there. I couldn't imagine how strong he would be with that build nor would I want the messages from it.
Totally agree! I believe Hag should have a similar limitation like Twins. They can't divide next to a hooked survivor, and Hag shouldn't be able to trap hooks.
I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years since the Hag came out and they still haven’t fixed that.
Myers honestly needs some buffs because he’s pretty outdated.
so you mean to tell me that you have never been hit with an M1 from Oni? I am not quite sure if I believe that. that does not sound likely nor realistic to normal gameplay. I also think that Unbreakable and specifically 4 unbreakable is SUPER unrealistic. Its probably one of the most overrated survivors perk in the game. The reason why its not amazing is because it only works when your at brink of defeat as survivor and that is simply not when survivors are at their strongest.
The reason why the perk got such big hype for being a good perk was because the perk decisive strike was so strong for long because survivors used DS+Unbreakable to rush generators which does not exist anymore. WGLF is not worth going into either, its obviously a BP farm perk. It can make plays in very specific situations but its definitely not a perk you will see at top-level.
The contradiction of saying that the killer relies on survivor mistakes and than mentioning perks that rely on survivor mistakes to activate is a self-defeating argument. I assure that if there was a steam achievement where you need escape as the team without taking single hit as team, that would be one of hardest achievements to ever acquire so much so that it will never happen vs any good killer player.