Chests Needs A Buff

IHSGames

I feel like one of the most forgotten elements in DBD are chests. Of course for good reason. Chests are a waste of time majority of the time. Searching for one, digging just for it to provide you a very mediocre item that either will get used up quickly or not used at all. All that time spent could've been used to do a gen or unhook a teammate. The Bloodweb also provides you a better chance at higher rarity items and add-ons.

If chests are going to waste survivors time while searching, it should at least provide something worth while. The best thing to do to buff it, funny enough, has been done before. The Lights-Out game modifier gave players who search chests a higher rarity item. I think all chests should be buffed to provide a higher chance to get a high rarity item. Maybe 25% low rarity (Brown and Yellow items) 50% mid rarity (Green Items) and finally 25% for high rarity (Purple items)

I do think that Basement chest should have a even higher chance to get a high rarity item as well. Maybe 15% low rarity, 35% mid rarity and 50% high rarity.

I think these changes will allow players to reward them better with their time searching for a chest instead of immediately doing something to progress the game fast such as doing gen after gen only, aleviating pressure off of killers who need to kill survivors fast due to gens flying by a single chase. This will also give survivors a secondary objective that is worth pursuing.

MagicJoe

I feel the biggest issue with these change (and how chests are right now) is that it would still be worse than just bringing the item with the add-ons you want.

Why would you spend 12 seconds or so searching a box which might give you the item you want/need when you can simply start with that item at the beginning of the match for basically free.

In my not-so-humble opinion, if you want to make chests a bit more useful and worth their cost they should make unique, chest-only items that are guaranteed to pay back in some way. Maybe you can get a toolbox that allows you to repair a single pallet or breakable wall, or a map that lets you see other survivors. Stuff like that. At the very least it would add a new tool for survivors to consider while playing a match, and would be something you can buff/nerf without affecting the balance of regular items.

Crowman

Honestly I think the perks that guarantee a specific item make chests decent but I wish they would work on either opening and scavenging. Otherwise you end up opening a chest and then scavenging just get a toolbox or flashlight.

UndeddJester

This was my suggestion:

@UndeddJester said:

Why rework chests?

Chests are something that I definitely believe should be in DBD... they allow clutch moments in SoloQ, such as finding a medkit to heal yourself before heading to gate, or finding a key to get out through hatch when all other options are exhausted... however the inescapable truth is that 99% of the time, taking the time to find and search one is a throw. They take too much time to find, too long to open, and the items are randomised, with random rarity and no add-ons, making the rewards for doing chests just not worth the effort.

Goal: Can they ever be meta?

The simple answer is no... not really. The time investment is almost never worth it compared to just doing gens in normal situations… this is a fact that would be almost impossible to change. Doing your objective will always be better than searching for an item to aid in doing your objective...

There is however one niche that chests can potentially fill... allowing you to hide your build in the lobby from the killer, and instead pull your item from a chest in the trial. With the prevalence of perks like Corrupt Intervention, Dead Man's Switch, Grim Embrace, Deadlock, having this niche is not as pathetic as it seems at first, but only if building for a loot set up was actually reliable and not too costly on time. This idea will be the goal of our rework.

For reference

• Unlocking chests takes 10 seconds at base.
• There are 4 tiers of item looting: Base, Plunderer's Instinct Tier 1, Plunderer's Instinct Tier 2, Plunderer's Instinct Tier 3.
• Chances of items looted from chests is set by rarity. From playtest data: 43% brown(2 items), 33% yellow(3), 16% green(6), 5% purple(5), 2% iri(2).
• Chances of items looted from chests with tier 3 Plunderer's Instinct from playtest data: 14% brown (2), 18% yellow(3), 22% green (6), 31% purple(5), 15% iri(2).

Proposed Luck Changes

• Luck no longer affects unhook chances.
• Luck now instead affects item rarity in chests.
• Luck has 4 tiers identical to the current effects of the tiers of Plunderer's Instinct, that can be raised or lowered by perks/effects.
• Items from chests have a 50% chance of having no add-ons, 50% chance to have 1 add-on, and a 0% chance of having 2 add-ons. Denoted as such:
  - 0 = 50% 1 = 50%, 2 = 0%
• Luck also affects the rarity of add-ons looted from chests, based on your current luck tier and identical to the tiers provided by Plunderer's Intinct.

Perks Reworks

Ace in the Hole

• Increases search speed of chests by 50/100/150% (6.67/5/4s).
• Items discovered via any means gain an addative 50% chance of having add ons.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 50%, 2 = 50%
• Raises Luck by 1 tier.

Appraisal

• Unlocks the ability to rummage, no tokens, limited to once per chest.
• Rummaging through chests is now 50/100/150% faster (6.667/5/4s).
• Items and add-ons pulled are affected by Luck.
• Raises Luck by 1 tier.

Up The Ante

• Raises Luck by 3 tiers.
• Whenever searching or rummaging a chest, the item and any addons attached automatically go up an additional rarity tier (if it is able).
• Mad Cap Idea I'm throwing in for fun/giggles: If a maximum tier item is found, a special "Entity Essence Embued Item" (denoted by a black/orange background, and an orange glow on the item itself), which has the same properties as the top tier item, with an additional bonus on a select stats…. e.g.
  - key duration +6s
  - map range +2m / duration +5s
  - flashlight increased aim accuracy +25%
  - medkit +6 charges
  - toolbox sabo speed + 25% (alex variant)
  - toolbox +6 charges (engineer variant).
  This item can be escaped with (the only way to acquire one)! Would be a fun/goofy thing for survivors to try for ^^

Plunderer's Instinct

• The auras of objects are revealed to you within 16/24/32m, including chests, items in chests or items dropped in the environment.
• Press the active ability button to consume an item in range (including flashbangs and expired items) to recharge 10/20/30% of your current item.
• Raises luck by 2 tiers.

Pharmacy

This perk activates whenever you are injured. While active:

• Auras of opened and unopened chests are revealed to you within 24m.
• Unlocks the ability to rummage, limited to once per chest.
• Searching/rummaging a chest guarantees a Medkit.
• Raises Luck by 2 tiers.

This perk deactivates for the rest of the trial after successfully searching/rummaging for a medkit while the perk is active.

Residual Manifest

• The first time searching/rummaging a chest guarantees a flashlight.
• After a successful killer blind, the killer suffers from the blindness status effect for 20/25/30 seconds.
• Raises Luck by 1 tier.

Scavenger

While holding a depleted toolbox Scavenger activates:

• Succeeding a Great repairing skillcheck grants 1 token, up to a max of 5 tokens.
• Unlocks the rummage action.
• Instead of granting an item, completing the rummage action in a chest will consume all tokens and replenish 5/15/30/60/100% of the toolbox.

When searching a chest for the first time without an item, Scavenger guarantees a Toolbox.

Slippery Meat

• The anti-camp killer detection range is increased by 8m.
• Charges 10% faster.

Dramaturgy

The item acquisition effect is changed to:

• Temporarily raises luck by 2, and any item acquired through Dramaturgy has an additional 25% chance to have an add on and is automatically increase by 1 rarity tier.
  - 0 = 25% 1 = 50%, 2 = 25%.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 25% 2 = 75% with Ace in the Hole.

Offering Changes

Honestly we could do anything here. There are a lot of them, and they are all dedicated to self-unhook attempts… so these really need an overhaul. They are all luck themed and that "ward off evil" type thing… but if I just throw random stuff at them of top of my head…

• Chalk Pouch - All item chests start the trial 10% unlocked.
• Cream Chalk Pouch - All item chests start the trial 20% unlocked.
• Ivory Chalk Pouch - All item chests start the trial 30% unlocked.
• Salt Pouch - Items looted from chests gain and addative 5% chance of having add-ons
  - 0 = 45% 1 = 50%, 2 = 5% base.
  - 0 = 20% 1 = 50% 2 = 30% with Dramaturgy.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 45% 2 = 55% with Ace in the Hole.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 20% 2 = 80% with Dramaturgy and Ace In The Hole.
• Black Salt Statuette - Items looted from chests gain an addative 10% chance of having add-ons
  - 0 = 40% 1 = 50% 2 = 10% base.
  - 0 = 15% 1 = 50% 2 = 35% with Dramaturgy.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 40% 2 = 60% with Ace in the Hole.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 15% 2 = 85% with Dramaturgy and Ace In The Hole.
• Vigo's Jar of Salty Lips - Items looted from chests gain an addative 20% chance of having add-ons
  - 0 = 30% 1 = 50%, 2 = 20% base.
  - 0 = 5% 1 = 50% 2 = 45% with Dramaturgy.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 30% 2 = 70% with Ace in the Hole.
  - 0 = 0% 1 = 5% 2 = 95% with Dramaturgy and Ace In The Hole.

These don't stack, the highest wins out. Could probably do something more interesting… but seriously what can be done with these really? :S

Conclusion

As stated before, this would not make chest builds meta… but they would at least have a niche, where survivors could grab items from chests as a means of circumventing killers taking hard counters to their builds, such as Lightborn or Franklin's.

Most builds would be pretty functional with a combination of any of item grabbing perks, in conjunction with any of the luck boosting perks, granting a decent chance of getting reasonably strong items. With Dramaturgy, Ace in the hole, and Appraisal all providing options for faster chest work, it makes them not a complete throw to use.

Builds could include: -

1. A self heal build using Pharmacy and Ace in the Hole, maybe to try for a stypic or syringes and otherwise be able to get 2 medkits into a game consistently.
2. A flashlight build with Residual Manifest and Ace in the Hole to grab a strong flashlight early and/or Plunderer's Instinct to be able to top it up.
3. Scavenger and Plunderer's Instinct to line up a chest with an item then consume it if you're struggling for stacks. Can also consider appraisal for faster rummages. (This change also makes Scavenger a little less difficult to get value from if you can find chests promptly).
4. Plunderer's Instinct With Appraisal to farm for charges on your item.
5. Any of the above with Up the Ante if you want a specific item of high rarity.
6. A pure looter build using Up the Ante and Ace in the Hole to get some kind of strong item if you want to roll the dice (very on brand for Ace).
7. The pure madness of a Dramaturgy, Ace in the Hole, Up the Ante… yes… Dramaturgy and Up the Ante would stack their individual items rarity increases…. mother of God O.o

I feel like this would be my best shot at getting chests to not be a complete waste of time, and retain a somewhat meaningful purpose within the game. The fact you can reliably get decent items with these perks smuggled into the trial without a chance for the killer to counter, is offset by the fact you're not in perfect control of exactly what you get, and it otherwise leaves the chests as something you probably shouldn't do without a specific idea in mind.

If you read all this… have a cookie 🍪 cause Jeez… this was long. 😴

The TLDR version is: -

• The only real niche chests can serve is if you want to hide your item from the killer in lobby.
• Survivors need options to acquires these items quickly.
• They need options to significantly increase the rarity and strength of the items they acquire.

They can't ever be meta, because doing your objective will always be better than searching for an item to help doing your objective… but at least if perks actually allowing looting to be a omplete waste of time, that is the only way these perks see life.

Chordyceps

@MagicJoe said:

I feel the biggest issue with these change (and how chests are right now) is that it would still be worse than just bringing the item with the add-ons you want.

Why would you spend 12 seconds or so searching a box which might give you the item you want/need when you can simply start with that item at the beginning of the match for basically free.

In my not-so-humble opinion, if you want to make chests a bit more useful and worth their cost they should make unique, chest-only items that are guaranteed to pay back in some way. Maybe you can get a toolbox that allows you to repair a single pallet or breakable wall, or a map that lets you see other survivors. Stuff like that. At the very least it would add a new tool for survivors to consider while playing a match, and would be something you can buff/nerf without affecting the balance of regular items.

I agree with this way of thinking. A question I think this raises is "should you be able to take these unique chest items out of the trial?". It could both these items more appealing by being able to keep them, and contribute to the present issue if you manage to just stockpile a large amount of these items in your inventory. Getting to keep them would definitely add tension/excitement matches since if you die, getting another one of those will be more difficult than any other items.

Overall I definitely think the idea would do some good though.

goodfriday

Survivors Items all need a serious buff/rework. But I doubt it will happen, the only thing look at is killer add ons.

Chordyceps

@goodfriday said:

Survivors Items all need a serious buff/rework. But I doubt it will happen, the only thing look at is killer add ons.

I doubt it's not being looked at. It's probably just taking longer cause adjusting items has a much more widespread effect than an addon that slightly adjusts a singular killer's power.