Deathslinger Rework concept 2
Hello again DBD forum. Last month I made a post explaining a concept I had for a Deathslinger buff/rework. I have since more than doubled my hours in the game and would like to propose a new concept with some changes to my original one. Here is the post for anyone who is interested:
@RonMan32 said:
I'll start off by saying I'm pretty new to this game and it's community. I yoinked it on the last day of the Steam Summer Sale (2022) and have been playing it almost everyday since. Currently at 89 hours according to Steam so I won't claim to have an at all expert level grasp on the game's mechanics or balancing.
With that said the Deathslinger in his current state is my favorite killer I've tried. I think he's really fun to use, it's really rewarding to pick your shots and shut down simple loops. But apparently he's not worth using anymore. I've only faced him as survivor once and we won all 4 in that game.
I won't pretend to know exactly why that is but I've boiled it down to people despising the nerf he got last year. So maybe he could use a tiny buff. Some people are just calling for the nerf to be removed. As someone who never used old 'slinger I don't see the big deal with the quickscope nerf (maybe the ADS animation could be a TINY fraction of a second shorter but I think that was a necessary change). I get about 2/3rds of my shots in a game with clearly experienced players. So instead of making a call to revert that change I have a different proposal:
What if he could move faster (perhaps just slightly, and not while carrying a survivor) if he kept The Redeemer unloaded. This would give him an option to search around the map with more haste, at the cost of not being instantly ready to chain someone should he come across a target before he reached his destination. I think it would be a decent way to give him back some "Map Pressure" if I'm using that term correctly.
In addition to that, give him *some* of his ambush-ability back. Reduce his terror radius to 28 or perhaps even the original 24 meters and give him a non-directional humming huntress equivalent sound outside that with him whistling some western or Irish tune.
That's it for the buffs. Finally I'd like to propose a small nerf to the chain of The Redeemer. In my experience it's way too hard for the survivor to break off if you catch them in the open with no objects to use. I think the struggling on the chain w/ out any props to break off of should progress slightly faster in general, with the object collision break being left alone.
And that's all. I think for the most part everything else about him is good as is. *Maybe* it would be nice if The Redeemer projectile was a tad faster so a longshot is harder to dodge. You can kinda only get those if you're lucky or the survivor isn't even trying to dodge and is just W-ing foward in a straight line. Although that might be best left alone as that's probably the intended drop off at range.
Vets and fellow newbies alike, please let me know what you think.
P.S. I copy pasted this from my post on the reddit just because I figured it might get more interaction on here.
I will also be more precise with my proposed changes. I refer to changes that flat out give him an edge as a buff, something that puts him weaker in that area as a nerf, and something that is changed in both directions that it's hard to say if it counts as either because it gives AND takes as a "rework".
Note, I am copying terminology used on this page: https://deadbydaylight.fandom.com/wiki/Caleb_Quinn
Rework: Decrease Terror Radius to 28m and have a non-directional/no volume change "Lullaby" where he whistles a tune (some sort of Irish folk song maybe?) 7m outside of his base TR (35m) and stops completely once you're within 12m. The 12-35m lullaby range stays the same regardless of TR size and can be heard when obvious.
Buff: While Redeemer is unloaded increase walking speed to 4.5 m/s (not active when carrying survivor and does not directly effect lunge distance/speed), decrease vaulting time by 10% and decrease Terror Radius by 4m.
Nerf: When a survivor is hit by the Redeemer projectile while within the first 6m of the 18m range activate a difficult skill check akin to the one for DS. On a success the chain is broken and stuns the Deathslinger for -0.5 seconds less than a normal chain break (2.5 seconds at base, 2.0 with chewing tobacco etc.)
Rework: Decrease ADS activate time to 0.35 seconds (0.3 if 100ths of a second aren't supported) and increase deactivate time to 0.65 (0.7 if 100ths not supported).
Nerf: If a survivor is healthy when hit with The Redeemer increase Chain pulling c/s to -17 c/s during the first 3m of chain length.
Ok. Now I will briefly explain the reasoning behind each. First change is primarily to address his old 24m to 32m nerf in a way that is more interesting and allows him to get the drop on survivors a little more often, especially with perks.
Second change has nothing to do with his nerf and is simply a buff I think would add more depth to his gameplay, while also making him better at pressuring gens/efficient map traversal. The trade off being he won't me immediately ready to shoot when he stumbles upon a survivor.
Change 3 promotes skillful shots and allows for survivors more leeway when it comes to scummy after window vault shots. I think the way this is approached makes him more fun to fight against and without completely destroying his fun rush vault punishing window shots. Adds an extra layer of depth to the chain.
Change 4 is to make him *feel* a little better to use without causing a return of quickscopes. It also punishes faking out shots to zone a tad more.
Change 5 is supposed to promote the "Hit with basic attack, THEN go for the shot" kind of playstyle most people do on him anyway. Just slightly brings down higher level 'slingers who go for the frustrating double shot. Is likely too small of a change to make a difference with mid and close range shots.
Finally I'd like to propose an addon concept I just think is cool. Not relevant to bringing him to a preferred state in the meta. Just a fun way to end it. I also won't claim this concept is unique. I actually got inspired by someone else somewhere on this forum.
Ultra Rare: Sniper scope
When a survivor is on a hook press the active ability button to attach a scope to The Redeemer (takes 1.2 seconds). ADS activate speed is increased to 0.6 seconds. Increases ADS zoom to 150% (normal ADS is 125%) and adds scope overlay w/ crosshair obscuring the edges of the screen. Shots beyond 12m increase reeling speed by 10%. (This would also be less sensitive than normal ADS because then shots would be too finicky to use otherwise.) If no survivors are on hook after it has been attached Caleb does an animation to remove it that briefly prevents ADS but speeds up if the ADS button is being held. Maybe attaching should reduce his movement speed to his ADS speed but removing should have no speed penalty.
That's it. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk! Please let me know what you think in replies! I check this forum daily and will likely respond.
Comments
I guess it's kind of a glass half full/half empty thing but maybe it's more accurate to say change 3 DISCOURAGES UNskillful shots.
I've actually done a Deathslinger rework concept as well which I will share soon if my Blight one is received well.
gaming?
gaming.
in some way, I kinda like this.
Sick. What are the highlights?
I like the concept. It sounds cool overall.
There are just minor things that are little off, but nothing substantial.
A, the numbers you provided don't round up to standard numbers and for some reason it feels bad. Like lullaby should start at 36m instead of 35 (it can be very quiet at this distance to get effectively same distance). Quicker vault speed is also specific thing for meyers and TR is doctor's and it also feels bad even if I can't explain why that is. I am more willing to give him full 4.6 speed (115%) then this even if base speed buff does more.
As for the nerf - I think 6m is too much. Like the interaction sounds interesting, but make it 4 or 3m, otherwise the killer will have hard time in higher elo.
On the other hand I really don't like your ultra rare addon proposition. The addon is designed to just promote/help with camping. Camping is boring. Game should promote fun interactions as much as possible instead of staying on a single spot and waiting. If anything I would swap condition when this new scope is usable. I would even go as far as to prolong shootable distance for additional 2m - it's ultra rare after all. Just don't make addons specifically for camping (or tunneling for that matter).
overall a weak buff if you can call it that, he'd be fine if they reverted the nerf but kept the ADS cancel cooldown.