Survivors and Killers SHOULD have Strong Perks.
Just to get this out of the way first, I'm not saying that the Boon Totems are fine. They definitely could use some nerfs, and I hope they get them. But I'm glad BHVR is trotting them out in this manner, because I feel like they're far more likely to nerf them than they are to buff them if they're too weak. (And I suspect we'll get nerfs before they hit live)
Look at how many perks are just outright useless. I WANT to use different perks. They make the games more exciting. The problem is, most perks you just won't get much use out of. Every time I play Survivor or Killer, I want to use something different, but end up going with ol' Reliable perks because I always get use out of them. Once in a while, I might try something else and get good results -- but they're too inconsistent to be worth using. Take Soul Guard, for example. I might get use out of it one in 10 games. The one game I do get it, it's potentially very powerful. I picked myself up off the ground against a Devour Hope ghostface who left me slugged to slug all 3 remaining survivors for the 4K. We didn't end up turning the game around, but we had a shot thanks to the perk. It was nice, but way too inconsistent for me to use regularly. Not when I can get more value out of the perks I normally use. Or I'll have Mad Grit on by chance, and happen to hit a survivor, and barely make it to a hook I wouldn't have made it to otherwise.
Just look at perks like Blood Favour. It took a year for them to buff it. And that's fair. THey wanted to see how it performed. But I think they were a bit TOO cautious with it, and if in the PTB it had been in its current form, I think they would've discovered it wasn't that strong. So I'm glad they're testing out Boon Totems the way they are. They can always nerf them, and are likely to nerf them when they hit live. (They're particularly insane for SWF's) I'd much rather them do that, then Boon totems to be released absurdly weak, and then wait a year for them to be slightly usable. As long as they listen to feedback before making the final balancing decisions, I hope they release perks in more powerful forms on the PTB going forward, so the players can give them feedback on if they're too strong (like Boon Totems are) or not.
Comments
That is ridiculous. Only the role I play should have strong perks.
Or strong killers with fun potential, you know, Billy, Nurse...
Disagree. Nobody uses different perks because you're putting yourself at a disadvantage by not running the meta right now. The discrepancy between perks is one of the biggest problems in this game imo, as it stops the devs from balancing the base mechanics of the game and it remove a lot of skillful interactions between players. The main example of that is how they can't buff base gen regression as long as perks like Pop and Ruin exist as they are right now, but then if you don't run neither of them you're putting yourself at a massive disadvantage, especially against meta survivors.
Perks should not be useless (looking at you Monstrous Shrine), but they shouldn't be so strong that they lessen the impact of skill in matches. BBQ, Brutal Strength, STBFL, Kindred, Windows of Opportunity and Balanced Landing are examples of good perks that don't exactly win you games all the time like the meta does, but they provide nice effects, and this should be the level they should range around.