Hexes Vs. Boons: Tactical Feedback
Going to put the TLDR up top before I go into detail; if you have a boon totem and the killer has a hex totem, it is almost always more advantageous to boon the hex than to break it. The extra time means very little in a 4v1, especially compared to what is lost by being denied that location for boon placement for the rest of the match. As a result, I am suggesting that Hexes flare up when they are booned instead of just being destroyed.
So, the long end of this:
I have been trying to do the achievement to bless a bunch of hex totems, and I noticed it has been over 50 games of survivor, and I have only gotten 11, and 5 of those came from two games with Hex: Plaything. Then, I started thinking about why that was, and came to a realization, and went to check my killers. (I play about 60% killer - 40% survivor) Well, I went through every single killer, and the only killer who had a hex perk was Cenobite, and that was because he is level 30 and I barely have any perks on him. Since boons came out, I stopped using hexes on any killer.
From a tactical standpoint, this makes sense. Booning a hex totem only takes ~16 seconds longer, which in a 4v1 is the equivalent of 4 seconds of the killer's time. If the killer is not around, and the hex isn't Devour Hope with 3+ stacks, it is far more advantageous to be able to put my boon there under all circumstances. The very act of finding another totem spot to place the boon is likely going to take more time than the extra time booning a hex. Destroying it would mean that that location is no longer available for me or my team, limiting our gameplay options. Since boon totems encourage survivors to check totem spots anyway, hexes became way less viable because the act of having to search for them isn't even a time sink anymore; the survivors were going to do it anyway.
My suggestion to balance the equation a little bit is to keep destroying a hex totem working the same way it currently does for all totems, but BLESSING a hex totem causes the hex totem to flare to life in a more powerful state for a short time before fully fizzling out. This adds an actual risk reward where you have to question whether or not keeping that location available for blessing is worth the potential risks the hex totem could cause. The boon still goes into effect immediately when the blessing occurs.
This also offers an opportunity to empower certain weaker totems by making their flare up far more powerful than you would the hexes that already can mostly stand on their own.
Here is my suggested list, albeit some of them are a bit more slapdash than others. Remember, these additional effects only apply if the Hex totem is blessed instead of destroyed;
Blood Favour: Blocks all pallets on the map for 20 seconds.
Crowd Control: Blocks all windows on the map for 20 seconds.
Devour Hope: If Devour Hope has at least 2 stacks when it is blessed, the 2 Token effect stays in place until the Boon is destroyed or moved elsewhere.
Haunted Grounds: +30 seconds to the duration.
Huntress's Lullaby: All generators being worked on experience a sudden, silent, extremely difficult skill check with the usual extra regression penalty.
No One Escapes Death: None. NoED doesn't need encouragement.
Pentimento: The first time a Pentimento totem is booned in a trial, one minute later it reverses the process, going back from a boon to a Pentimento totem.
Plaything: None. The whole thing with Plaything is that it happens a lot, so the extra time needed to boon one actually matters with Plaything.
Retribution: The blessing survivor takes one damage state.
Ruin: Old Ruin triggers for 20 seconds on all gens. (Good skill checks stall the gen, Great Skill checks keep it going without extra progress)
Thrill of the Hunt: None. It's whole purpose is to make booning/breaking much harder, and it does that job well. Unrelated, but Thrill of the Hunt should keep its BP bonus regardless of being up though.
Undying: The first time Undying is Booned, the totem disappears from that spot and a new totem with Undying appears.
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