Many popular killer add-ons are a telltale to how their basekit is weak
I'm gonna pick out 3 killers who have many add-ons which I think could be basekit, because the aspect of the killer's power that those add-ons affect to me should not be alterable to improve; they should be good at base. There are more killers that I could name, but I'm focusing on these 3 to make it short and get my point across. And it's not to say that these add-ons are OP and should be nerfed, but maybe they should be made base because everyone uses them anyway, and doing so would lead to more add-on variation, which we saw with Wraith when Windstorm pretty much became basekit, and with Trapper when his brown bag became basekit.
Huntress:
There are 2 add-on types I can name that almost every Huntress worth their salt uses: Wind-up time add-ons and flight speed add-ons.
With wind-up add-ons, Huntress can option select pallets and windows significantly easier, because she doesn't have to sit through such a long animation just to pull her hatchet up. It can lead to some crazy shots around corners and through windows. You will see Babushka or Grass Braid used on almost every Huntress you go against. Maybe this indicates that her default wind-up time is too slow?
The flight speed add-ons are not good to some people, because they "mess up the muscly memory" which can be true. But I think they're slept on heavily. I believed, when they were first introduced, and still do despite scarcely seeing this combo, that combining these with the wind-up add-ons could make Huntress game breaking. Imagine how little time as survivor you have to react to a 12% faster wind-up, 20% faster flight speed hatchet. You'd have seconds at most. I kind of feel that's how Huntress should be, like a pseudo pre-nerf Deathslinger. As any experienced player has seen, you can't just ready up a hatchet and throw it instantly and expect the survivor not to dodge it. They're gonna dodge it almost every time. But with these add-ons plus the wind-up add-ons, that split-second reaction scenario becomes closer to a reality. That's why I encourage people to use the flight speed add-ons and not wait years before realizing they're really good, like we did with Windstorm old Wraith or Tampered Timer/Crate of Gears Pig.
Doctor:
I know 3 types of add-ons that many Doctors use to round out his power: Range add-ons, illusionary add-ons, and detonation delay add-ons.
People use range add-ons for Doctor's shock, not to play sniper Doc, but to make his pitiful default shock range go a little further. Unless the survivors are at a short loop, the shock usually won't even reach them without range add-ons, and once they realize his range is short, they'll stop wasting time dodging it and loop him much easier. Doesn't this indicate that his default shock range is a little too short?
People also use the illusionary add-ons, or the folder/book add-ons regularly. Surprisingly, the only illusion that default Doctor has is slightly more difficult skill checks and survivors seeing an illusionary Doctor. This might affect newer players, but nobody at high level is falling for them. His other illusions that his add-ons provide are far more useful. False terror radius, false red stain, false pallets, and even the ability for Doctor to see these illusions affecting the survivors. Perhaps his base illusions are a bit underwhelming?
Doctors also commonly use shock delay add-ons. He has a pretty hefty base start-up to his shock therapy, giving survivors plenty of time to react, allowing them to mindgame the killer rather than vice versa. A major issue with Doctor's base shock is not just that it's a slow charge bar, but also that he's slowed down a bunch while he does it, allowing the survivors to run him around a loop pretty much indefinitely. With the shock delay add-ons, you don't see this as much. Instead of shocking a survivor around a loop 10 times before getting them, he'd have to shock them 3 or 4 times at most to get them. That's why most Doctors run Discipline add-ons. It makes a big difference in Doctor's strength, so is it a wonder why it's so popular?
Twins:
There are a lot of things that the Twins do really slowly, and I have 3 add-ons here that I'd like to shed some light on.
Toy Sword is easily the best Twins add-on. The charge time of Victor's base pounce is kind of brutal, especially when he has to keep cancelling it to catch up because someone is running him around a rock or a tree. Toy Sword reduces this charge time by only .25 seconds, but it makes a big difference.
Tiny Fingernail decreases the time it takes for Victor to unbind from Charlotte. It is very noticable when you don't have it equipped, in fact it causes a pre-buff Plague and Leatherface problem where they can accidentally not charge the bar all the way, and their ability will be cancelled. These short animations taking realistically an unreasonably long amount of time is a common theme with these add-ons.
Bloody Black Hood decreases Charlotte's waking time by 0.5 seconds. That fraction of a second makes all the difference when you're having to constantly switch between Victor and Charlotte over the course of the match. Wouldn't it be great if her wake up time was great to begin with?
Conclusion:
All of these add-ons show what areas the killers' strengths are in, and where they can be improved upon at base. I don't think killer players should have to run add-ons to make up for their killers' mediocre base powers. If these add-ons were made basekit in part or in full, the add-on slots that they take up could be used to make add-ons that are so much more interesting. The same goes for many of the killer add-ons that I didn't mention because frankly they are insignificant and not worth using, with the exception of the really strong add-ons I didn't talk about like Doctor's iridescents or Twins' Victor movement speed add-ons. I hope to hear some meaningful responses.
Comments