Skip to content

Multi-Purpose Perks *Can* Be Problematic

Iron_Cutlass Iron_Cutlass
in General Discussions

Is multi-Purpose perks actually problematic?

To better explain, perks can sometimes serve multiple functions which inherently overshine existing perks and make them not worth using, this heavily reduces the diversity on perks you see on either side whenever this happens. We saw this a few months back with Dead Hard, back when it could be used for distance and for I-Frames, leading to it being one of the most used perks, it provides the strongest aspect of Exhaustion perks with added utility thus being a multi-purpose perk. Even though perks like Sprint Burst were better for distance, it never really saw the same usage because Dead Hard had utility to it.

Multi-Purpose perks in today's meta...

But I really just want to highlight the Generator-Kicking Meta that has risen since it falls into the same situation.

Call of Brine regresses a generator at 200% regression and whenever a survivor hits a good Skill Check, the killer is alerted with a Loud Noise Notification.

  • The sole existence of this perk completely outshines a perk like Surveillance, it provides regression AND amazing information, and when toying around with the perk myself, I found myself in situations where I knew what generators to pressure since survivors were constantly alerting me to my position.

Overcharge regresses a generator progressively more over time to a cap of 200%, the next survivor who touches the generator gets a very difficult Skill Check, missing the Skill Check regresses the generator.

  • This perk already has great synergy with Call of Brine, boosting the regression over time, but it provides a general defense to generators by making the generator difficult to tap in the middle of chase or when the killer is close by. But due to the weak nature of this defense, everyone just uses it solely for the extra regression.

Eruption is the most problematic of the perks listed. After kicking a generator, it becomes afflicted with Eruption. If a survivor goes into the dying state, the generator regresses by 10%, and any survivor on the generator screams and is afflicted with the Incapacitated debuff for 25 seconds.

  • This perk's base regression of 10% is fine, however the Incapacitated and screaming prove to be problematic aspects of this perk. Incapacitated is often unavoidable without communication, and outright prevents actions such as cleansing totems and healing; this design literally prevents survivors from playing the game entirely. And the screaming is proven to make decent enough information for most killers to not run information perks. Perks like Thrilling Tremors and BBQ are never used as a result, because the survivors screaming provide a general direction to find and chase a survivor.

where exactly does this lead us?

Now, none of this is to say that these perks are overpowered; they just prove to be mechanically frustrating. We saw the mass frustration of killers dealing with Dead Hard and Second-Chance Meta; now we see the same exact thing with Generator-Kicking Meta. It leads to less variety overall for the game, and leads to an unhealthy reliance of perks that heavily shift game statistics once significant changes are actually made.

Multi-purpose perks do have a place in DBD when they are made right, however BHVR needs to design multi-purpose perks with existing perks in mind, otherwise a lot of perks will be left dead in the water, or dead by daylight... (I hate myself for making this joke, but come on, the opportunity was right there.)

Comments

Categories