Freddy Krueger - A discussion-thread around The Nightmare (4.7.2)
I havent found a discussion-thread around a Killer, so I think its not the worst idea to have a Thread for discussions around one specific killer. As a Freddy-Main, Ive decided to open this discussion, especially for discussions about his addons....
In my opinion, Freddys Basekit is really good (for an M1-Killer). He has a little Anti-Loop-Technique and a decent Map Pressure thanks to his - in my opinion - main ability, the Dream Projection.
With the latest nerfs, his speed reduces to 4,0m/s when he places a Dream Snare and he has only 5 of them in his arsenal.
With the latest perk-changes (especially Dead Mans Switch and maybe the new Hemorrhage-Statuseffect), he became a little buff. U have the ability, to block gens with DMS all over the map, if u hooked someone. In Combination with Tinkerer (or in my gameplay BBQ), u know exactly which gen u should port on. Most of the time u can slow down the game a bit, what u actually really need in the current meta, because the gens are flying most of the times.
His Base-Kit is fine how it is in my opinion, but his Addons are his massive problems!!!
Lets discuss about them:
In my opinion, you only have 4 useful addons, which are Red Paint Brush (everyone starts in Dreamworld, Failed Skill-Checks doesnt make you awake), Nancys Masterpiece / Sketch (to speed up the reloadtime to use Dream Projection more often) and - maybe - Pill Bottle, for some sneaky gameplays, if survivors arent careful.
With the Combo Red Paint Brush - Nancys Masterpiece u can have at least a quicker Dream Projection Option.
Apart from that, all other addons are really "not that good", to call it friendly.
You have 3 Addons for changing Snares into Pallets. Why 3? The Extra-Effects on seeing an Aura doesnt matter, because they interact in 99% with Pallets in a chase and if they fall for a Fake Pallet, u have a hit.
Black Tool Box: The Exit is blocked for 16 secs (wow...), WHEN the survivor is asleep. So basically this IRIDECENT addon gives you exactly 1 hook, when major circumstances are in play... and they happen in, lets guess, 5% of your games? Ive never seen a Freddy who actually plays this.
Blocks: All 4 Blocks are for Status-Effects only. At the moment no one really use this, because no one cares if you have to deal with 30secs of Blindness or whatever. MAYBE the Z-Block (purple) comes sometimes into play, at least to try out the new Hemmorhage. But for 90secs? As a purple addon? I cant see this worthy, even with the Hemorrhage-Change. Maybe a remove of this time window makes it more reliable.
Class Photo: New Mechanic to change the killer a bit, which is good (different ways to play a killer), but with that, u dont have one of your powers, faking a dream projection, anymore + you cant cancel it to hit a survivor, when a survivor shows up while u are in the dream projection animation. Its kinda frustrating, that u must (!) teleport.
Swing Chains/Jump Rope/Outdoor Rope: Lets say they are beginner-friendly, but Freddy is a character you have to buy. Which means, most of the players knows a little bit about the game and really dont need any of them.
Blue Dress/Green Dress increases the penalty of failed Skill Checks.... well, at least u can use them.
About the other Addons, we should not talk...
So in the end, you dont have a addon that increases the dream projection speed (for example even a Pig has addons to speed up the ambush-charge-time or your crouch or your animation into the crouch - as brown addons!), you dont have an addon which speeds up Freddys Dream Snare-Placements back to 4,6m/s or at least 4,3 or anything like that.
It feels like most of the addons arent really combined with Freddy itself, they are more or less "random addons", which u could add to everyone.
My wishlist for the future:
Change some addons more into Freddys Gameplay, like I said, speed up the snare placement (u could combine it with another decrease of possible snares with this addon to 4), speed up the dream projection channel and rework the Black Box Iridecent-Addon. Its absolutely useless. The Alarm Clock extra 30secs are a huge problem too.
Demogorgen and Sadako, which are kinda similar to Freddy, do have such Addons (Bloody Fingernails, Well stone, Rat Tail, Rat Liver, Mews Guts etc.), which powers up abilitys or change them a bit. Why does Freddy have only 2 of them (Nancys Masterpiece and Nancys Sketch) to give u your Dream Projection a bit faster... IF Survivors are asleep.
Tell me your opinion.
Comments
Freddy is weak not because of his kit, which is pretty solid and versatile overall IMO, he's weak because he's just another M1 killer in a world filled with anti M1 measures, like pallets leading into tiles, godwindows, E, protection hits, Shift W on big maps... The list goes on. His addons in general don't help him much as you said, Dream World doesn't give Freddy any real advantage, in fact it hinders the usage of Terror Radius perks just so he can use his anti-loop, while other killers with a similar concept of zoning anti loop like Hag or Trapper don't need to give their Terror Radius up to achieve that.
His semi-invisibility while outside the Dream World is completely countered by his Terror Radius, while Sadako has a similar mechanic, but she's actually stealthy. In short, his semi invisibility should happen INSIDE the Dream World, so it has an actual use. Terror Radius for when he can be seen, Lullaby + Semi-Invis + Anti-loop for Dream World. About his Snares, they have 2 main weaknesses: They don't do much in HUGE loops (like main buildings), and they are redundant in very short loops, like debris tiles and Z walls. Realistically speaking, the info provided by the screaming won't help him at all, he'll be either too far to do anything about it (teleporting isn't instant), or already know the survivor's position.
Now, on the topic of his teleports, his map presence is awesome... In theory. Put it into practice, and you'll see that the more you lose, the weaker you become. Quick games hit Freddy pretty hard, as he loses map presence AND has no reliable way on getting quick downs. And no more teleporting at all once gens are done (Sadako keeps her teleports intact), which is pretty incoherent with the designs of his personal perks, especially Blood Warden, which are all perks that get stronger or activate during the endgame. And also with his "mini blood warden" addon. His teleport cannot be used repeatedly like Sadako's. And also, he announces his presence WAY before he's actually there.
On combo perks, we all know Pain Resonance + Dead Man's Switch is basically the best perk combo he can have, especially when paired with his addon that fakes teleports on every gen. But they both rely on consistently quick downs, which isn't Freddy's specialty. Corrupted Intervention is "basekit" for most killers, since it hinders genrushing strategies, but a SwF can just hide for 2 minutes and wait it out, essentially making this perk non-existant. Freddy cannot (?) and shouldn't be patrolling locked gens, or else he'll lose pressure on gens that can be actually worked on. Barbecue and Chili doesn't win games, but he can actually do something with the aura reading bonus. Tinkerer is another "basekit" for a lot of killers, and allows him to precisely aim his teleports on the right gens. Discordance serves the same purpose, but lets you know which gen you'll be flushing out multiple survivors. Pop goes the Weasel doesn't go well at all with DMS, it's either Pop or Pain + DMS. Lethal Pursuer doesn't help him like Blight or Nurse, he can't teleport from the go.
Sloppy Butcher would be really useful, but his addons suck so much that you can spare to put Hemorrhage addons and save the perk slot. Devour Hope would be amazing, if survivors didn't know the location of every totem spawn. Undying could be use to protect it, but at most it makes Devour (and other hexes) last a little bit longer. Now, No One Escapes Death, one of the strongest hex effects in the entire game, it sinergizes pretty well with his own Blood Warden, the "mini Blood Warden" addon, Trickster's No Way Out... And it speeds him up by a quite good amount, which becomes massive when paired with Snares. BUT, there's always a but, other killers can also pull it off their own ways. Wraith becomes an olympic athlete when under NOED, Hag gets to block 2 gates at once if they are close by, and if her totem is on the middle of these 2 gates, well, 4k. Trapper gets real time information (and even a free pick up on the very oblivious survivor) by locking his gates. Deathslinger can catch otherwise unreachable survivors running for the gates to have a more realiable way to get Blood Warden value.
It seems that Freddy can do a lot of stuff, but gets individually outclassed by other killers with similar abilities. Jack of All Trades, Master of None, they say.
TLDR: Dream World isn't menacing enough, terrible addons, incoherence betweer power and personal perks, a lot of killers outclass him on a bunch of his strongest perks.
The new Dev.-Patch in the eyes of a Freddy:
Pain Resonance - Dead Mans Switch-Combo is officially dead, but u can still block Gens with fake teleports.
M1-Gameplay is buffed
What build should I run now... Double Dresses and Overcharge in Combi with Pop and Call of Brine? #
Or a hardcore-Chase-build with Spirit Fury and Enduring?