Remove Keys, replace with new items and add on.

gabrielfan1983

How meny keys are in any survivor inventory? Probably in the high 100, including iro skeleton keys. Why? They are practically worthless. Yes you can keyout a closed hatch but you will probably be struck by lightning, on a flight to Antarctica, after winning the Powerball, bought with a 100 found on the sidewalk before you escape keyout. Also yes you can mod a key to see the killers aura, if they are not using any stealth abilities, for about two seconds. But why go in that way when there are a handfull of way better aura perks? So ergo, practically worthless.

Now the devil advocate would state that the key was once a og item, and yes there is a tome challenge to keyout but I'm sure most of us just bypassed it. Also in the early years of dbd keys were powerful. Back when the hatch spawned in match after first kill and gens remained. It was a cheese to swift up and one teammate would map the location of the hatch, and one would key open it. Easy 3 escape. Till killer mains ruined it.

Anyways I think it's time to retire the keys and replace with a new item. Not another stun item, there are already way to meany flashlight bullies as it is. Maybe a haste bost, invisibility cloak, etc. Also I think it's due for a survivor to get a bone after the devs killed health kits (yes I don't care what anyone said, I got 15 ranger kits in my inventory that are now as useful to me as common med kit).

THE_Crazy_Hyena

I have to somewhat agree on all this. There aren't that many uses for keys these days. Same for the higher-tier medkits.

Seraphor

Customary thread plug:

@Seraphor said:

I've always found it odd that we have two classes of items that (now at least) only exist to track auras. So why couldn't these functions be combined into one item class that's used to track auras, using add-ons to determine what additional objectives are tracked?

I've formed this idea on the basis of three issues I have with or regarding these items:

1. Since the Hatch rework, Keys have become virtually useless for opening the Hatch, and still very rarely used for their aura tracking features. That aura tracking is very useful, but it doesn't appear to be good enough to get many players using them.
2. Maps are also rarely seen, despite not being changed. Of course this is probably because they were previously used with Keys in a SWF to locate the hatch. As it turns out, their limited aura tracking isn't quite good enough to make up for this.
3. This will seem unconnected but... basekit Kindred. It's requested over and over again as a bandaid fix for solo survivors to deal with camping. It's never going to happen, but these items could make up for it. We have medkits in place of healing perks, toolboxes in place of repair perks, and flashlights provide additional ways to stun. So why not have items that replace aura perks? Do these items already do that? Kinda. Do they do it effectively enough? No.

So I've come up with a concept where instead of having Keys or Maps, we instead get Keyrings. We can attach various charms, and indeed keys onto these Keyrings, and they effectively serve as buffed Maps that could be used to open the hatch, if they have a functional key attached to them.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/DULKSWT7SJJN/keyrings1.png

Please forgive the scuffed icons.

The main addition here is that simply equipping the Keyrings will provide the survivor with one permanent basekit feature, the ability to see the auras of fellow survivors within a short distance. Effectively replicating Bond but slightly reduced. This is comparable to a Medkit replacing Selfcare.

In addition, Keyrings can still be channelled, using up charges, to activate further aura tracking abilities. As default that includes survivors further away, and generators within that same short distance zone.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/L32R2JSLFYX5/keyrings2.png

For common/uncommon add-ons, we get the general distance/charges upgrades, plus a few additional abilities. Some of these are simply existing Key or Map aura tracking abilities that I've integrated back into Keyrings, however the Eroded Token's new effect is entirely novel.

The Eroded Token would allow you to see the aura of survivors who are within 16 metres of the killer, when using charges. This would serve as a sort of Kindred-lite, as if you start charging the Keyring and see a survivor appear further than 16/24 metres away from you, you can infer that the killer is close to them.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6030815/uploads/TUYJMLA90CGF/keyrings3.png

Then we get the rare and up add-ons.

The Gold Token is straight up Kindred replication, although obviously limited by the charges of the Keyring.

The Broken Key now sees a new lease of life, it's no longer useless, it can be used to track the Hatch, even while it's open, giving you as the last remaining survivor an edge over the killer in the race to the hatch.

Attaching the Dull Key allows the Keyring to function just as the current Dull Key does, giving the ability to open a closed Hatch. Then the Skeleton Key combines both together, giving you the aura of and ability to open the Hatch.

I think these changes, essentially combining the best parts of Maps and Keys into one, would make an item that may actually be as useful as a Medkit, Toolbox or Flashlight, and provide solo survivors with additional effective options to gathering info, that won't feel like a waste of a slot that using Kindred does for some.