Incredible, Underrated Perks People Need To Use More? Killers And Survivors Welcome!
Let's list our off meta and slightly off meta perks that we always use, and find work well for us.
I'll start.
Killer
Discordance. This is, in my opinion, the *best* info perk killers have, and if it wasn't for Spinechill, it would be the best info perk in the game. Far too many people neglect info perks that aren't BBQ, and this one is almost as good as LP early game and keeps right on giving all game.
Floods of Rage. Another great info perk, but you'll need to combo it with Agitation to make it reliable, and then you might as well throw in Pain Resonance too. It's not amazing on everyone, but on any roaming, snowbally killer like Oni or Plague, it's incredible.
Call of Brine. I'm using this more and more these days. It's good on it's own - a nice mix of info and regression, but combo it with Pop, Oppression or any other 'kicky' perk, and it's a force of nature.
Pentimento. This perk has straight up carried me at times, as a combo with Plaything. For some reason, survivors will cleanse the Plaything ASAP, but ignore the Penti, as it has an invisible effect that turns the game into a mire. Get two up and, if you can defend them, it's a nightmare. Works best on killers with sustained mobility, using Plaything as a platform (which sadly makes it weaker on Onryo and Wraith). I run it on Demo and Dredge almost every game now, and it melts faces. It's also nutso amazing on any 'objective' killer, like Cenobite and Pig, as between Plaything, Penti, SAW traps and The Box, you'll make people run all over the map. It's also decent on Nemesis.
Iron Maiden. Saw Otz running this on Trickster and it made me go 'huh, that's a brilliant idea'. Speeds up reloads (shaves off a lot of time over the course of a long match)...plus, plenty of survivors just love lockers, and will instinctively hop into one - and even if you only get one instadown in a match, this seems to make people panic.
Survivor
Empathy. The aura reading is incredible, you'll always know where to go to heal someone - and more importantly, you'll generally know who is being chased and where, allowing you to be on the spot for a save or a sabo.
Windows of Opportunity. This often gets ignored as a 'noob' perk, but even now that I've got a good feel for survivor (sort of), it still saves my butt at least once a game. Knowing where certain things spawned, which pallets are still up and sometimes even where a chase is happening is a godsend.
Built to Last. Infinite medkit? Yes please.
Boon: Shadowstep. This perk should scare killers more. Well sited, it can cover most of the map and negates all aura reading, as well as scratch marks - countering a lot of perks and addons and confusing all but the most experienced killers in a chase.
Camaraderie/Kinship. Literally the only answer I've found to a camping Bubba.
Comments
For underrated perks, I would have to go with rookie spirit 100%. It’s really easy to activiate, lets you know which gens to prioritize, and can give you info on the killer.
Fearmonger, Eruption, Blood Favour, Pentimento, Trail of Torment, Make your Choice, Floods of Rage, Spirit Fury, Surveillance (bugged currently), Thrilling Tremors.
The classics:
Brutal Strengh: 50% instead of 20%
Enduring: 50% instead of 30%
Empathy, We'll Make It, We're Gonna Live Forever.. becoming an 8 second heal and 4 second ground pickup dispenser is nothing to sneeze at.
So much so that it's my current go-to build.
Yeah I'm surprised Shadow Step doesn't get more use. I suppose because unless you get a map where you can hide the totem well, it's hard to get much use out of as the killer can find it easily.
For me, Overcome and Lucky Break are pretty strong together. Bit bummed Lucky Break is getting a rework because it'll probably be a nerf. Whenever I run these two together my escape rate is pretty high. I try not to use it much though as chase skills are pretty important to have in this game.
Apparently DH can detect the event invite pedestals. Probably a good perk to have during the event.
Dark Sense is very overrated. Great info perk to keep tabs on killer. Especially if it’s the last gen completed, you’re injured, and on death hook. I’ve watched killer auras break off chase with healthy survivors, only to make a bee line towards one of the exit gates to see if I’m there. Saved my ass plenty of times.
Sorry, can’t edit posts on iPad. I meant UNDERRATED.
We'll make it always an extremely good perk that's secretly always been an A tier perk imo
Although it's sorta forgotten in the conversation when it comes to healing perks
surv: we'll make it, second wind (renewal), inner strenght (inner healing) and kindred
killer: enduring, spirit fury, devour hope (only if you have a totem build) and starstruck (extremely situational but it works wonderfully when you have to deal with sabo/bodyblock teams)
Ngl, i never like discordance..
i get the idea behind it, but most of the time i don't find it really useful despite two survivors on the same gen,
i'd rather have something that'll help me get to said hooks faster like Agi,
(that and the 2 story maps are just absurd for hook spawns..)
Atm I'm enjoying dissolution on clown, its working decently
Lithe: Yes I do see it occasionally, it's an exhaustion perk after all. It needs some management as you need to use it when you want to leave the loop so you have to save the vault for last and that's really the one major downside. However, it can be super valuable to not just extend chase but actually end. It has also helped me book it to the exit gate in end game although I will admit Dead Hard is the better exit gate perk as it can make the difference between living and dying when you're solo & teammates don't take a protection hit.
Detectives Hunch: I run it on every survivor that has it unlocked! Genuinely one of the best perks in the game, I wish more people ran it as I'm hoping their meta game would be a little less abysmal...
Hex: The Third Seal: I understand this is hard countered by SWF. But not every Lobby is a four-stacked team and it still denies all aura reading perks like Windows of Opportunity.
Blood Echo: It's not meta but can be fun, especially against Resilience-Dead Hard Gamers.
Yeah, I've been running Lithe, in anticipation of the DH nerf. I really like it.
Mettle Of Man
I love it. Sure, activating is a pain, (aswell as being a weaker Dead Hard) but being able to go for a risky save on a teammate during EGC is fun
Pharmacy, faster looting (I am a loot goblin) and being able to bring another item but still ensure a medkit later is great.
As a Survivor I think Blood Pact is more of a personal favorite over Empathy just due to the fact that the other survivor injured can see you and you can see them where as Empathy you cannot and also with Empathy, they cannot be in direct contact of the killer. So in some cases you can avoid the killer if the survivor is slowly (unknowingly or accidentally) moving towards you, you can move away using Blood Pact, unlike Empathy.
Also you have to go to them with Empathy, as they can't see your aura which can be an annoyance.
Overall just think Blood Pact is Empathy but better.
Off the Record. Protects you from a lot of tracking when you've just come off the hook, which is super underrated!
Self Preservation - Prevents snowball situations
Tenacity. All the time survivors crawl instead of recovering. Had they recovered first and then crawled could do a quick pick up but instead they haven't recovered at all and now you don't have time to pick them up before the killer comes back.
As a solo player I’m starting to enjoy Sole Survivor. Killers like using aura reading. Clowns with Cigar Box. Huntress with Deer Stalker and Glowing Concoction. Blights with the serum that lets them see you when they bump into stuff. BBQ. Floods of Rage.
Sure when everyone is alive it’s useless. That’s like saying when everyone is healthy We’ll Make It is useless. The catch is when the perk is needed it’s actually beneficial. Whenever players go down you get protection form all of that aura reading killers will have. People underestimate how good that is. If killers realize that isn’t working against you it throws them off their rhythm.
Plaything has become one of my favorite perks. Even without Pentimento to back it up, it's amazing for both slowdown and the opportunities it creates for free hits. All the paranoia in the world can't prepare you for a killer walking out around a corner. It's no good on stealth or lullaby killers, but on everyone else, it's pretty fantastic.
As survivor, Detective's Hunch is seriously underrated. Any hexes are toast, and you can disable NOED without lifting a finger until the gates get powered.
Would sign off on this if this said Aftercare. 😅 It's a really even better as the aura reading isn't tied to the injured state and unlike Bond ist also mutual. I got Jeff late and don't have Aftercare unlocked on everyone but when I do I usually use it at the info perk over Bond or Empathy.
In my opinion, I would disagree with Discordance, Iron Maiden, and Windows being underrated. I use and come across a good amount of players using Discordance and Windows. And Iron Maiden I see pretty often on Huntress and Trickster players since those are the two Killers the perk is best with. It's just not good with most of the other Killers.
But I would say Blood Echo is pretty underrated. It's good on hit and run Killers, and is especially good on the Plague. It helps counter entire squads running exhaustion perks, especially dead hard since they won't be able to dead hard to a pallet.
Some of my favorite less popular perks are
Dying Light and Unrelenting are both almost good perks, that just need some numbers buffs. I'd probably run Unrelenting on Hag if the number was a tad higher.
Survivor:
We'll make it- Yeah bt is better if the killer is right up on the hook, if not we'll make it is better. Quick heals for 90s that can remove killer pressure very quickly.
counterforce? I think that's the name of Jill's perk. Love it for a totem build.
Mettle of man. Ever since it was changed to not be completely broken, people assume that it's completely useless. But protection hits are really easy to get, and having a free hit that the killer isn't expecting can be a game changer if used properly.
Killer:
Deathbound- this perk is very underestimated. Add this with make your choice and maybe even floods have rage, and you get an exposed survivor that you get easy tracking on and you don't even need to tunnel off hook to keep your pressure up. Very undervalued of a perk. I especially love it on killers like the twins as I can just send Victor to the notification.
Unrelenting- I love this perk. Especially in my first game of the day, or if I'm having an off day. People underestimate how many times they actually miss swings, and this will save you a lot of chase time and can even give you hits you wouldn't normally have gotten.
Spies from the shadows- I really like this perk on quite a few killers, especially fast paced killers like spirit, nurse, blight, ect. They can really give you decent information mid chase to know which way you need to redirect yourself. Like say mid blinks or rushes, or if a survivor double backed while you're phasing and you have to turn around. Not always the most reliable, but you'll definitely get value out of it at some point.
Fire Up, just fire up
pwyf, hangmans, agi, shadowborn, grim embrace
MoM, OoO, pebble