Let's talk about Hexes
Hexes aren't really a perk category themselves but rather a modifier to an existing category and have multiple problems that make them frustrating to use. They are powerful in theory, but mediocre in practice.
The first major problem is the risk. Hex perks can be lost within the first 20 seconds of the match if you are unlucky. this means if you want to keep a perk active, you need to run undying or maybe hex: thrill of the hunt. This however means that you are now spending two perks slots to keep one perk up, which means that the effect of the perk has to be worth it.
This leads us to the second problem: most hex perks are just not worth the perk slot. Third Seal only affects solo q survivors, huntress lullaby's effect is just too weak for how much time it takes to get it running, blood favor and crowd control are nice perks to have, but they just aren't worth the risk when other perks can serve their role without worrying about losing them immediately. The five defense hexes, undying, the thrill of the haunt, retribution, pentimento, and haunted grounds are either too weak by themselves or require the survivors to cleanse totems. Ruin and Devour are both strong perks, but that power means that once the survivors know about they will track them down immediately so you need to use another perk slot for a defense hex. The only hex perks really worth running by themselves are NOED and Plaything, maybe haunted grounds on a killer like trapper.
The third problem is totem spawns. I know I already mentioned the risk, but I am talking about this from a new survivor's perspective. If you don't know where hexes spawn in a map, it can be incredibly frustrating to go up against.
How can we fix these problems?
I think a good start is to have more hexes work like NOED and Plaything, only activating once a certain condition is met.
Another solution is to make some hex perks be able to be relit.
A third solution is just buff each hex perks effects to be on the level of ruin and devour hope.
If you have any more ideas, please put them down.
Comments
A big thing that needs to change is STOP PUTTING TOTEMS OUT IN BLATANTLY OBVIOUS PLACES!!!! The new map for instance does not have a single totem spawn that is even slightly hidden from anyone possessing a pair of eyeballs.
What I'd like is at the start the killer can see all the POSSIBLE totem spawns but no totems actually spawn or take effect until 2 minutes into the game and the killer can select one for their hex perks. When a totem is chosen that perk immediately starts to perform whatever its purpose is.
This would also be a small nerf to the broken bs that is CoH as survivors wouldn't be able to break a killer totem straight away or place a boon in that time.
Plaything good design.
NOED bad design.
I think Hex now should work like Plaything. A Hook or a hit will cause them cursed, each Dull turned into Hex that applied to 1 survivor.
If you use more than 1 Hex. The Dull that turned into Hex and signed to a certain survivor will have multiple effect on them.
example you use Lullaby, 3rd seal & plaything. Hit a survivor will turn a Dull into Hex and make him Blind & can not hear skill check noti. Later if you hook him, he also can not hear TR if the Hex still stand.
This is my idea that believe can make Hex actual High risk - High reward.
they could introduce offerings that show survivors one totem position at the beginning of the game. for killers, hidden offerings that block totems for 40 seconds after the match begins and shows you their positions. also a killer offering that calls the entity to block a totem from being cleansed for x seconds after a survivor interacts with it.
In my opinion the Hex mechanic should be entirely reworked as it currently doesn't offer enough protection for Killer perks. Something along the line of a passive perk that goes along with their other 4 perks that starts weak but then can gain power over time or perhaps gain power per number of gens completed. That way it is on par with the current Boon mechanic and can allow Hexes to be reworked to balance.
The 3rd solution isn't really a solution as is doesn't fix the issue of totems being destroyed fast. I believe the first solution is probably the best, of course, with different conditions with certain hexes. I've always thought this, but the totems need to spawn in different places every chapter. It becomes really easy to find hexes once you know where all the totems can spawn.
They need to stop making Hex perks and just go back to making viable perks. Please and thank you. Also add more boons so that maybe people will take the hint.
Honestly I was always a fan of the idea of hexes not appearing on a dull totem until they have exhibited their effect. This means they could, reasonably, be played around by the killer player because they could visually see a hex light up and skillfully deduce which of their perks has been activated based on the current factors of the match.
It would also mean that perks that are meant to be broken would always be active, (haunted grounds, retribution, undying) and are highly likely to consume very easy to find totem spots, as is tradition.
My solution for the weak hex problem is that weak hexes should get two totem spawns. I think more hexes like Crowd Control, Huntress Lullaby might actually get picked by killers if they took two hexes for survivors to cure the perk.
Hex perk are not good even ruin and undying is kinda bad because those perk can be destroy. Hex perk are just a nerf boon perk
Let’s talk about hex baby
lets talk you and me
let’s go all about all the good things
and the bad things that may be
younger forums members will have no clue WTH this is
Killers can already see active totems.
One of my biggest issues with hexes is that everything designed to help with the issues of hexes are hexes themselves.
Rather than fix any of the issues with hexes, that they're unreliable and quickly leave me down a perk slot in the match, I'm instead doubling down on the issue, because they're still unreliable and now I'm down TWO perk slots, or more.
Hell, look at Undying, you're literally bringing a perk that does essentially nothing in the game to keep your Ruin alive. What does it accomplish? An extra 10 seconds of Ruin, and then you have 2 perks for the rest of the match.
Just once I'd like a hex protection perk to not be a hex itself so I don't have to rely on them not accidentally removing the protection straight away, or completely ignoring it like Haunted Grounds.
One of the biggest offenders, especially since its nerf, is Thrill of the Hunt. Before it made sense to be a hex because it gave an alert when survivors touched hex totems, so alone the perk would do basically nothing. Now, however, there's much more interaction with totems so just bringing a perk which slows down cleansing and blessing would be a nice buff, except that it is a hex and can be removed after only slowing a single interaction.
Thrill of the Hunt already loses 20% of its effect for every totem cleansed, it doesn't ADDITIONALLY need a lit totem that removes 100% of the effect. It would be a much more interactive perk if it made survivors consider cleansing dull totems in order to speed up later blessings. Instead it has the very quick and easy counterplay of just cleansing/blessing the lit totem and then there's still 4-5 normal speed totems on the map to abuse.
You can't buff all hexes to the level of devour and ruin because they can all be ran together. Imagine a game against a killer with 4 ruin-level hexes.
The best thing that can be done is better totem locations. But even then, survivors learn the locations, making all totem spawns "bad" again in given time.
The best thing you can do is expect to defend your totems if you want to bring them.