As a Veteran player, I am extremely concerned about the perk reworks.
I am sure many of you saw the 40 perk rework announcement. I personally think for the perks listed it would be unnecessary. I realize that the meta is stale, however that is because there are a ridiculous amount of perks on both sides that are simply bad or outclassed by other perks. Like who would honestly run Off the Record over Iron Will? I think if the Devs want more perk diversity, they should buff weaker perks and add secondary effects so they aren't simply outclassed by other perks. For example, Off the Record could perhaps show the killer's aura to you right after you are unhooked or maybe make it so your rushed actions after being unhooked are silenced for a period of time.
I think that every perk they listed on killer side is fine, and this is someone who primarily plays survivor. I have no problem with BBQ or any of the Gen Regressions perks they listed. I think perks like Pop goes the Weasel are already well designed in that they reward the killer for getting hooks and encourage leaving the hook.
The only perk I would like redesigned on killer side is NOED because it is often very predictable when a killer has it; yet, if a killer chooses to camp and tunnel survivors simply won't have time to do totems, especially if they are solo. If you are the type of killer that hates SWF I can honestly say frustrations around NOED are primarily the reason I play in a SWF, and I'm sure other survivors will agree. It leads to boring gameplay where killers feel empowered to camp or tunnel 1 person out because they know a huge power boost will come endgame that can be impossible to deal with even with the best of coordination. Let's not forget it can stack with other broken things like Moris or be used with Nurse.
The perks on survivor side I also believe are fine. BT and Decisive have had a lot of reworks, and I think they are in a healthy state right now. They are quite literally the only tools survivors have to counter camping and tunneling. You may argue that killers should feel powerful and have the ability to camp or tunnel if they want, and I agree. But games where the killer camps and tunnels leads to a fun game for maybe one person, while the other 3 are left playing gen repair simulator. I think it is healthy for them to be left alone as a deterrent to a boring play style.
Iron will is another perk I don't understand why they want to rework. Yes, it is a good perk but it's not broken. If you lose a chase because of Iron Will, that is completely your fault because there are many more indicators that can be used (Crows, Scratches, Blood pools). Iron will also encourages survivors to make riskier plays (Window Techs, Jukes, Flashlight saves, Trying to lose the killer). If Iron Will is nerfed I am sure gameplay will be more boring for both killer and survivor at a high level.
Lastly, I would like to address Dead Hard. Dead Hard has been in the game since David, and I am surprised how many 200 hour killers are talking about how it's uncounterable and broken. Yes it is used more than other exhaustion perks, but I think people are forgetting that's because of the inherent risk of using something like Lithe or Balanced Landing and then getting a map like The Game or Shelter Woods where your perk is useless. Not to mention that it only works when you are injured, a huge disadvantage with the amount instadowns in the game. Dead Hard is a well designed perk as it does require skill and understanding of distances. There are many survivors I have downed after they messed up a dead hard, and there are many times I have messed up my dead hard and have gotten downed as a very experienced survivor.
Dead Hard is also in a way healthy for the meta because it encourages survivors to greed pallets, which believe it or not is better for the killer. A simple experiment can confirm this. Load in KYF with a M1 killer on a pallet heavy map like Blood Lodge or the Game. First play a round with a stipulation that survivors must drop pallets immediately or after one loop. Then play a round where survivors are encouraged to play as efficiently as possible. I guarantee you that you will perform better when survivors are playing greedy, because that often leads to survivors making mistakes and getting downed. If survivors pre drop pallets, it's often worse for the killer as there is little counterplay. I've personally played many games as Clown or Myers for example where the survivors instadrop every pallet, yet I lose anyway because there were simply too many pallets and nothing else I could do.
Comments
You know that people who are rescued with BT really need to do that to be able to get the speed burst from it to get to a loop.
There are a lot of Killers that tunnel-off-hook-till dead and BT is needed to try and get away from it. Plus, the unhooker is usually injured, so it gives the unhooker a slight chance also.
Precisely
When a survivor uses SB, the killer can either not engage or go for the chase
If a survivor has DH, the killer has to either abandon the chase, making that entire chase pointless, or continue chasing when the chase should have ended without DH
SB's strong, but it's balanced due to not being able to be used mid-chase with no set up, unlike DH
You have 2 killers that are disgusting game breaking because of few death squad swf
But it feels a lot less frustrating, tbh. Except for mid-chase 99 plays it doesn't feel as annoying to deal with as Dead Hard
Lithe, Balanced Landing and Overcome all work mid-chase, so that's not the issue Killers have with Dead Hard.
I've said this before but I'll say it again here: I will not be spending any more money on this game other than the auric cells I already have until they announce what these changes will be. I am not even someone who sticks to the meta, I do not use Dead Hard, Iron Will, Unbreakable, and only bring out Decisive and Borrowed Time when I've been seeing a lot of campers or I need to complete certain challenges. I am a solo survivor. I do want the meta to change but if they are going to nerf a bunch of good perks to near uselessness and only marginally improve weaker perks then I will no longer be playing this game.
I also did not see NOED mentioned yet as far as changes go and if that perk remains untouched while perks like Iron Will and Spine Chill get nerfed, I'm done.
This might seem like I'm being overly negative but I really don't think so. I think the devs can pull off a shake up of the meta but I would be very surprised if there weren't a few very unfortunate changes made and I need to see what happens.
Literally your first 4 sentences is exactly why they're doing this. Also the meta isn't 40 perks, only like 10-15 (MAX). So they're going to buff some weaker perks and nerf the meta, at least that's their end goal, we'll see if that happens. After all, Ruin was nerfed at the beginning of 2020 because it was so strong and overused and they just managed to make it, at least as far as I'm concerned, stronger.
Please. There's a loop every three feet in this game. Using your off the hook invincibility to keep your friend from taking a hit is gonna get you put on the ground. If I'm feeling ornery you're going back on the hook as well.
Lithe is actually harmful to looping.
Overcome can be negated through keeping people injured.
Balanced is very situational.
Dead Hard is adaptable and frustrating and feels like you've been robbed of a hit.
I think they won’t rework noed, and they will kill survs meta. Probably they will do small changes to killer perks (40 secs to use pop or something like that). And I’m 100% sure kicking a gen would regress the gen more than now, and they will say it’s fair because it makes killers go to the gens and camp less
I would like to see the base game get changed first
Make base regression .50 and disable the regression perks for a week (give or take) and see if that makes much difference... cause that's seems to be the thing all Killer players want (but I can be wrong)
BT has made risky saves possible (and bodyblocking)... DS is in a good place now (IMO)... then again Survivors do have other perks that help but they can't compare to what we see
At this point it's more about the base game rather then perks (again IMO)
DH is a balanced perk, it just depends on the killer. For example DH against a wraith? Obviously overpowered. But against a nurse, spirit or blight? Or even a doctor with high stim, and iridescent queen? No I would say it's fair if not needed. This is the issue with changing the meta. The meta is only overpowered half the time? Due to the massive power difference between strong and weak killers. And killers with strong addons. I am concerned that these perk changes win't consider that.
I NEVER body block with BT because if the one rescuing me wants to play dangerous then they can have it I'm getting the heck out of dodge. Also where is the unhooker usually injured? In 95% of BT saves I have seen the unhooker is full health and stay that way, the only times they are injured is when they run up while the killer is still there so it's their fault for getting injured.
BT is a anti tunnel perk not a save my buddy from a hit perk. It's like the arguments about the DS change, players complain that they can't do anything without it deactivating DS but if your doing anything other than running from the Killer then your not getting tunneled so you don't need DS.
Dont forget Balanced Landing is also buggy as hell since it can activate from a drop as small as 2ft lol.
My last comment was deleted for no reason so I'll just state I wouldn't worry too much. Many of the perk changes have been positive and less used perks have been used more often. We need a big shake up to keep some of the matches fresh from the standard meta.
I've seen a lot of players who talk about the counterplay to deadhard being "just wait it out" but not a single one who has said anything about what to do when DH is being used in a loop or for distance.
Coincidence?!??!?!?!???!??!?!?!!
I think the idea of seeing more perk variety in the future is what has gone over well, but many people are also concerned that their favorite perks will be changed for seemingly no reason, and that so many perks will be changed at once that it will be impossible for BHVR to keep up with the feedback and/or course correct. If you gradually announced some changes in the later stages of their progress, similarly to what was done with Object of Obsession or what Almo did recently with the new Pig trap mechanics, I think you'd help put the community more at ease, and also help gather feedback one chunk at a time, instead of after it's already too late and you're left scrambling to fix it. Just my two cents.
Because I do like the idea of seeing more perk variety, but I'm pretty darn worried about what perks and game mechanics will be changed and how.
I hope Iron Will gets the same treatment as Lucky Break: no sound while injured, but on a timer that lasts 2 minutes or however long.
...hopefully between the "small changes" to accomodate the nerf of meta perks there won't be something like "when an injured survivor is in a chase, they don't make any sound" lol
it's different because those perks all have activation requirements.
DH is an on-demand extra health state/distance.
Very true. A huge pain point with DH is that the value is much easier to quantify.
I’ve been saying this forever: if you have borrowed time it’s six seconds of not having collision, not endurance for 12 or w/e
The only thing that concerns me is it will be an overall killer buff. If history is anything to go by, survivors will get nerfed from the meta changes.
Killers shouldn't have built-in gen regression.
Dead Hard is a well designed perk as it does require skill and understanding of distances.
Going to call you out and say you are not a veteran player of this game; you complain about NOED which is a perk that is well known for being mediocre at best while also saying DH is healthy for the game? Yeah no way man, you sound like someone who is just worried that their crutches are going to be taken away and I say that as someone who never takes DH off, it is absolutely a crutch and absolutely busted overpowered.
You Lost Me At Dead Hard..
I've been playing this game for 5 or so years, and not ONCE in my life have i said that "Dead hard is balanced =)"
No, it's a unhealthy perk and it needs to be removed and or hard nerfed, it's bs on how much freebies it gives a survivor on a pallet or window,
You can't just nerf the perks and only "slightly" change the base game.
What are you going to do about gen speed? Survivors attention span is way too short to increase the time. At least that's what i gather from all the "it's boring" posts whenever someone brings it up.
What are you going to do about camping? The only solution requires drastic changes like making hooks work like Pyramid cages. perhaps replace hooks with offering pits and the entity dangles the survivor on a random part of the map from a hook.
Small changes will not cut it if you remove all the band aid perks bhvr made to cover these issues.
Survivors have other options besides the meta perks, they just never take them because it requires luck or team work to make them work.
What do killers have, Monstrous shrine? Their perks either do nothing useful, or have so many requirements that they are useless or even harmful to take.
I’m just setting my expectations low so maybe I won’t be disappointed that the perks I like to use will become worthless. I’m fine with the meta as is including DH.
It will eventually happen the same, a very narrow meta will appear. My best guess is that the "disbalance or staleness" comes from the open build system.
I would love to see something like how GWENT does the deck build system translated into DBD:
But i understand a long term change like this can be risky.
If you adjusted values in the game, i.e gen repair/regression then killers would'nt need to run as much regression and stomp surv perks. ergo Survs wouldn't need so many 3rd chances.
Can you imagine all the Killer-sided slowdown perks that will need to be nerfed if they adjust gen speeds. I think half or more of Killer perks are slowdown perks now.
I think I'm going to call you out about NOED being mediocre. NOED is an amazing perk. There are amazing builds and synergies with NOED. It pretty much a requirement for face-camping builds. And, killers will randomly throw NOED into their builds, not because it has synergizes, but because it's so good.
Also, just look at the developers usage chart at high levels. Killers at high levels of play use it significantly.
Still a lower number than the 40+ they are doing, which won't change how the game is played.
Then what's the reason of nerfing dead hard? Survivors just wanna win, that'd be dreadful if they didnt want to play with urban evasion or garbage slippery meat.
If you want to win you play nurse as it is right now, if you wanna have fun you play other killers. Just like survivors can have fun with flashbang and smash hit instead of dead hard
Basically you're introducing inflation in dbd? Make low quality stuff more appealing by making high quality stuff garbage
I agree with most of what OP said. I'd like to
rantsay more about this when we get closer to it if I have the time, but for now... a meta nuke is a terrible idea for a game like this.And not a single person should be looking forward to these reworks given the track record the devs have when it comes to perk design. Just look at 90% of their perk reworks, Jonah, Yoichi, and Haddie if you need any proof that the devs still have no idea what they're doing when it comes to making decent perks.
Blight is fine
If everything is OP, nothing is op.
they already buffed so many perks but no one cares until dh exists. just look at its pick rate.
Please don't nerf IW. SoloQ is hard enough without it.
Personally, I'm so bored with the current state of the game changing things up sounds WONDERFUL. I cannot wait for this.
That won't do anything. People will still use dead hard and slow down every game.
I have no hope (hence being a killer main), But I'm curious to see just how much they set things on fire.
Why do people keep saying "i think..." instead of waiting and seeing.
Anyways i just want a new experience and this perk rework seems promising.
Plus: iron will is overrated by survivors and killers.
So Dead Hard and Iron will are completely fine but noed isn't ?
People who say DH is fine never play killer, and the ones who do are prolly low MMR. Most. if not all survivors that swap to killer after hundreds/thousands of survivor hours are generally bad at killer and just use that as their reasoning.. I honestly want someone who is a survivor main that has hundreds/thousands of hours and think DH is fine to go play killer and sink the same time frame into them and get high mmr.