History of Hillbilly and How He Can Be Saved
The above video I found to be extremely interesting and sparked this post. If you have the time, give it a watch. Ardetha has been around forever and this video, I think, is extremely well put together.
Billy was always extremely popular when I began playing. Even as a new player, he felt fun to play against. Scary, threatening but fair. There was no question of the Killer's skill, if I got downed, I knew that I screwed up. It seemed that most of the community felt the same way. There were some valid complaints about his instant-saw combo, but compared to other things in the game (Omega-Blink, Iri Head, etc), he really didn't seem close to that level of power and certainly not in need of drastic changes.
That's why many of us who were around in July of 2020 were shocked when he was completely gutted in 4.1.0. Even the Devs believed him to be in a good spot.
That didn't stop them from adding an arbitrary limitation to his power, which massively limits his potential. Likewise, they made most of his add-ons Freddy-tier levels of awful. Even add-ons that didn't need to be changed were absolutely obliterated. Seriously, a 0.2 m/s boost to movement speed only active when a flashlight is shined on you? These nerfs made Hillbilly, once a difficult but rewarding and fun Killer, feel absolutely miserable to play.
Today, he's fallen far. He's been passed up by Killer like Blight and Wesker, who do everything he does, but better. His pickrate has certainly suffered, you never see Hillbilly players anymore. Even if his nerfs were completely reverted (I'm of the opinion that insta-saw should stay in the past), he still wouldn't be overpowered.
However, I'm no Billy main. I was around but I never invested the time to play him. I wish that I would have. I certainly don't see the point in it now. If there any Billy mains among us, how would you return him to his former glory? Not as a necessarily strong Killer but as an enjoyable one.
Comments
LF is better than Billy.
Deadlock - locked behind Pinhead (never been in shrine)
Eruption- locked on Nemesis
Call of Brine - Locked on Ring
See a pattern?
do you think even if billy got buffed anyone would be interested in him over oni, wesker, blight, bubba? his kit arguably the most outdated in the game even more than trapper's i doubt anyone would want to touch him over actually fun and modern killers with smooth powers.
Imo Bubba ruined Billy.
Why play Billy who can overheat and lose power of the one hit down when you can play Bubba who has a one hit down swing that lasts bloody forever, can hit multiple survivors if you're lucky and has next to no cooldown?
The only reason I feel anyone would play Billy now is because they like him and want to have fun - Billy's always seem to be down for a good time. I enjoy going against Billy.