Hook timer change - 60 - 90 seconds then automatic first unhook?
So thinking about the often maligned face camping, one possible system that might be feasible would be to change how the hook timer and self unhooking works. Specifically
- Make the first hook stage take 60 to 90 seconds instead of the current 60
- Remove the timer penalty for self hook attempts but still limit how many you can attempt. (So you can try to escape three times but if you fail all three you get no more attempts. However you’re still in stage 1 instead of stage 2)
- After the first hook stage finishes at that 60-90 second mark you automatically pull yourself off the hook.
- Second hook stage works normally.
The reasons for this suggestion are it helps address a few common complaints
- By making the first stage take longer than the current 60 seconds it makes literal face camping less viable (and more boring for the face camping killer for additional incentive not to do it.)
- By removing the penalty for trying unhooks it makes Luck a more beneficial effect since you could try to unhook yourself at no risk and get the benefit of the Luck. Currently Luck is generally considered a basically useless effect since the penalty for failing to pull yourself off a hook is so severe. However, since the chance of pulling yourself off a hook is still quite low without something boosting your chances, the increased first stage timer will still act as additional incentive for other survivors to try and rescue you to avoid being shorthanded for a long period of time.
- Removing the penalty from the first hook stage also restricts the ability of people to ragequit on first hook in a match. The hope is that by forcing the potential quitter to cool their jets for a short time they’ll have a chance to reconsider and not impulsively suicide but instead try and play it out, especially if they’re rescued and see the game turning around. (Of course some people are just hot heads and will still try to throw the game anyway, but any reduction in ragequitting is a good thing I think.)
- By letting the survivor automatically get off the hook after 60-90 seconds it further penalizes face camping by forcing the would be camper to rechase and down the survivor if they really want to hardcore keep them out. Sure, they can do it, but it will still take additional time and there’s a chance the survivor might even evade them a long time if they’re a good looper and can get to decent tiles.
- And by having the survivor get off the hook automatically after a while on first hook it helps survivors who might otherwise feel slightly abandoned by others who would have possibly let them die under the current system. It at least gives them a chance to get back in the game after their time out rather than spend up to an additional 60 seconds doing literally nothing at all.
- I left the hook duration above intentionally broad as 60-90 seconds because which specific amount of time is something that would be fine tuned for balance. But in this system it should be longer than the current 60 seconds but also shorter than the two minutes it takes to die on hook currently so that 60-90 range seems about right.
- This is a potential buff for survivors overall, but I don’t think it’s too huge of a one because it wouldn’t dramatically impact the effectiveness of more typical killer strategies like zone defense and forcing hook trades and slugging, etc. The biggest impact would probably be that if the other survivors try to sit on a gen then they don’t necessarily have to get off it to rescue the survivor if they’re willing to be short a player for that 60-90 second span. But I’m pretty sure good survivors will still want to rescue the hooked one if they can, especially if the killer isn’t currently near the hook, to get that other player back in play more quickly and also just for sheer altruism purposes. It would impact the game more the more the killer hangs around the hook versus them proactively chasing survivors off the gens.
Obviously since this is more than a numerical only change it’s not that likely to be picked up, but it still feels like an interesting and hypothetically useful enough tweak that it was worth jotting down. 🙂
Comments
Fun fact: Base self-unhook chance is 4%. Even with 4 instances of Vigo's Jar of Salty Lips, that's still only an additional 16%. I like your idea, it's a good idea.
You just wrote an essay about how killers shouldn't get any pressure from having survivors on the hook. Obviously an issue.
Killers that want to take advantage of the auto unhook will also just go back to the hook when they know it will happen and tunnel the survivor. Uncoordinated teams will not unhook anymore, knowing that there's an auto unhook. Making it more predictable for folks who want to tunnel off hook.
Im not even gonna say anything, ill just let everyone else do that for me
Removing the penalty for unhook attempts to make them viable is a great idea.
I'd be on board with extending default hook stage times, though not sure if 90s would be too much.
Guaranteed unhooks after the first stage however is a no from me. This completely removes any threat of dying on first hook. Your team mates will no longer need to put themselves in harms way to rescue you. Leading to a status quo of survivors routinely waiting out their entire first hook (now 90s?!). Get ready to be camped by your own teammates, hope you enjoy hanging on the hook while the other survivors repairall the gens!
Just because you have 3 potential hooks in you, doesn't mean you're entitled to get all of them. If you die on first hook that's a failure of your team to rescue you, and a failure on your part for being hooked in the first place.
Not a good idea. People being unhooked needing an unhook is pressure off gens. Survivors have to leave objectives to do unhook. If it was automatic, they would just focus on gens only causing gens to fly by faster than they already are. If you don't like killers stacking gen slowdown perks, it would be absolutely mandatory that ALL killers stack them if this came into place. Unhook pressure us one way killers can do gen slowdown without perks.
great idea, the balance we need in dbd (sarcasm)
I mean, wth gens taking longer, don't really see the drawback of extending hook timer.
This is an awful suggestion.