Question with the changes to keys and hatch, what is the point of keys?
I understand that keys are really strong and a nerf is needed. I thought however they would make it so only one person could use it or maybe allow you to instantly open an exit gate once they are powered. So now the hatch will not spawn unless you are the last survivor. So what is the point.
First everybody must either be dead or left.
Second the exit gate has to be either powered by killer closing hatch or by everybody leaving. giving you three minutes maximum to find it
Third to get any real value the killer must find the hatch first because the hatch will still spawn open.
So to use a key your whole team must die, then the killer has to find the hatch and then close it. you then have to choose to search the map for hatch with 3 minutes, instead of just opening a door, all so you can escape one time. Unless you want to tell me once the door is open, wait for everybody to leave which could take anywhere between 30 seconds and 3 minutes depending on your teammates, then the killer finds it, closes it, and then you still find it with the small time left. I doubt that will ever happen.
I agree keys needed a nerf, but they nerfed the item to the point that it has basically no value. Unless is am misunderstanding something about this change.
so I ask again, what is the point keys now?
Comments
I didn't say I'm regularly not getting hit. I said you can go through a match where you don't get hit or players are in broken state. These matches do happen enough with camping killers or vs Plague.
Having an additional option to escape the match when you're the last survivor, especially if door RNG is terrible, makes the key useful. Better to have the key and not need it than not have the key at all. Then on top of that you can equip add-ons that give you aura reading through out the match, adding to the usefulness of keys outside just being used for the hatch.
To use a key you will need
to be the last person alive
have found one inside a chest
have the killer found hatch and chosen to close it
the doors be too close together or killer with high mobility
find the hatch in the allocated 3 minutes
avoid the killer, who will be looking specifically for you, and if you brought one in for your (aura reading he should know this.
and open the hatch when the killer is not around as there will be an unlock bar like the door.
This is the bare minimum circumstances in order to use a key form a chest.
to use a medkit you will need
verse any killer besides plaque as I believe she is the only killer to skip the healing mechanic
find a medkit in a chest
get hit (which you should be, if you're not getting hit the killer is either not playing the game, or you are in too low of a rank)
and then find an opportunity to heal which should be happening unless the killer is tunnelling you in which case no item will save you
one of these is a common item, the other is a rare item. As for aura reading there are I believe 4 aura reading addons for keys, 1 for killer 3 for teammates. I stated if the devs intended for keys to be used in aura reading they would make them appear in chests that way. I suppose if you really want to see aura and do not want to run
kindred
bond
empathy
a map
rookie spirit
detectives hunch
visionary
dark sense
sabatour
counterforce
new perk Clairvoyance
or any other aura reading perk I suppose you could run a key. But lets be serious nobody is going to do that. Especially the completive players, I may run it as a joke, but that is it. Simply making a perk or item (a meme) is not a proper rework.
I am certain that 90% of players did not ask for Moris to be nerfed into uselessness. You can literally go back to the feedback from the Mori change or videos from the patch and you have people saying "I'm a survivor main, why are moris useless?"
Moris and keys were overnerfed, which I think both sides can agree on.
Green keys can be found in chests and unless you are running Ace in the hole they do not include add-ons even though their only use comes from equipping them with add-ons. Devs intended this otherwise they would have given them some base ability.
Medkits, which you are more likely to be able to use, are a common item making them appear more often in chests. Keys, which you would not use as often, are rare so they do not appear as often in chests. Would you rather keys were made common and you have higher odds to pull one out over a medkit?
I have had many matches where a teammate brought in a green key with aura reading add-ons or used the aura reading add-ons on a purple/pink key. I've seen people say that thanks to the nerf they'll be more willing to bring a green key with add-ons since they'll be less likely now to be tunneled out if killer sees a key in the lobby. This comes down to a play style choice - while you wouldn't use a key for aura reading there are plenty who will to save a perk slot for something else.
I always considered green keys as a joke. Lets be honest, a green key with no addons does nothing, I think this was implemented during the time in DBD where balance was less of an issue and if was made under today's development, green keys would likely never have existed.
As your point on med kits, obviously I prefer med kits over the reworked keys, even if the key had aura reading by default. However the fact most people would rather a common item over a rare item, I think is rather poor balancing.
Again my actual point is not that keys are weak, I in fact support keys being nerfed. I however outlined the situation where the key itself can be used, and it is rare and obscure. With addons it may be used, but no other item in the game is like this. What my biggest fear is that survivors who have a key will realise that their best chance of escaping is letting teammates die. If there are 3 survivors and 3 generators left, if one survivor has a key, the optimal way to survive is just hide. The moment they realise they are likely to lose they go hide, now sure currently some survivors already do that. however if 3 survivors are alive and 3 geneartors, if they do even just one generator if one teammate dies, they can still escape and so can their teammate. There is at least incentive to keep playing. If you are running a key you are saying "not only do I already plan on losing, but I will let you die to ensure that I survive. They may not, but that is what you are saying. It is even worse when you realise that survivors can't even start looking for hatch until all their teammates are dead, so killers have more of an incentive to camp because there is no need for them to search for hatch, the survivors literally cannot start looking until their teammates die, making every match a 50/50 who finds hatch first.
That happens most of the time anyway. Then there are those beautiful spots where The Killer can easily watch both gates from a vantage point and not have to move a muscle. Some real beauties also have the Hatch spawn in perfect harmony with the two gates for a triple whopper of a view. It does seem like the Key changes are excessive atm. EGC already favors The Killer and often feels hopeless as is.
killer closes hatch, you escape while they run around the gates.