Is slugging really all that bad?

Nyllawafer_

I know that this one might be an extremely hot take but slugging responsibly, as to create pressure or when someone is purposfully trying to get themselves hooked, or even when i've all but confirmed they had decisive strike. I'm worried that my main pressure tool is going to be gutted by the new slugging update

jajay119

Do we really need this exact same thread every week? The answers won't have changed.

@dbd900bach said:

Slugging is the act of purposely leaving survivors on the ground after downing them. It is generally frowned upon by the community obviously yet is still seen as a valid tactic within the game that can turn the tide of a match.

Camping, tunneling and slugging are all tactics killers can opt to use, but many players take issue when the tactic is used for more toxic purposes, or they repeatedly encounter one or all in multiple matches. Yet, as of late, a lot of players keep talking about a slugging meta and claim that slugging far more prominent than before. Is that really the case though?

My thought process on the subject is players general habit of hyperfixation, something unintentional but does happen due to the stigma around these tactics. Players tend to fixate on other players are doing something wrong or something they don't like. Players remember these instances more than positive ones, especially if they lose. It doesn't even have to happen all that much for it to stick either.

Skill and mmr also play a huge factor as less skilled killers tend to rely on the easiest solution to make up for a lack of skill such as camping because they don't know how to spread pressure. It is a necessary action or the player feels like they will lose. More skilled players rely less on these tactics in general because they aren't necessary and when they are necessary, it's for a good reason. Survivors tend to fixate on the action, but neglect to ask why it happened sometimes. It's easy to jump to the conclusion that the killer lacks the skill, or they did it on purpose to be toxic because it lessens the impact of losing and removes blame from the player. Yet when it's necessary, a situation where the killer would otherwise be intentionally losing if they did not slug, camp or tunnel, it still gets lumped into the other two conclusions.

In conclusion, people don't like slugging and tend to hold onto the more extreme situations which often can give the implication that it happens more often then it actually does. Whether or not this gibberish means anything is up to whoever actually read all this.

Thusly_Boned

@jajay119 said:

Do we really need this exact same thread every week? The answers won't have changed.

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/439412/is-slugging-an-actual-issue

lol, you new here?

This forum is like a skipping record

Not disagreeing, but asking people to stop posting redundantly here is like asking water to stop being wet

jajay119

@Thusly_Boned said:

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/comment/3894682#Comment_3894682

lol, you new here?

This forum is like a skipping record

Not disagreeing, but asking people to stop posting redundantly here is like asking water to stop being wet

Ac-chu-ally, water isn't wet. Whatever it touches becomes wet… but I take your point lol.

crogers271

@Nyllawafer_ said:

I know that this one might be an extremely hot take but slugging responsibly, as to create pressure or when someone is purposfully trying to get themselves hooked, or even when i've all but confirmed they had decisive strike. I'm worried that my main pressure tool is going to be gutted by the new slugging update

slugging responsibly

The fact that you had to put the word responsibly after slugging answers the question.

ChrisPBacon

@Nyllawafer_ said:

I know that this one might be an extremely hot take but slugging responsibly, as to create pressure or when someone is purposfully trying to get themselves hooked, or even when i've all but confirmed they had decisive strike. I'm worried that my main pressure tool is going to be gutted by the new slugging update

think about it from bhvr's perspective. slugging makes the game less fun for the survivors, if a player finds a game to no longer be fun then they'll likely stop playing it, and if they stop playing it they won't spend any more money on the game.

I_Cant_Loop

I worry as well. Most of the feedback from people complaining about slugging is coming from people who have never played killer and don’t understand that there are situations where you should slug or need to slug (e.g. when you’re in a bad position to get pallet or flashlight stunned on a pickup with other survivors close by). I play survivor about half the time and I have found that “toxic” slugging - trying to slug an entire team to win - is extremely rare.

I’ll wait to see what comes out of the roadmap changes before drawing conclusions, but I’m worried that “anti-slugging” will mean nerfing slugging when it’s legitimately needed to apply pressure.

NewPlayer100102

Nope.

Whole survivor life here I was maliciously slugged once, and this was by a tool trying to upset as many matches as he could.

1 out of 10 matches, general slugging from my very rigorous poll of honest survivors that I personally know.

TieBreaker

Isn't the only announced change the ability for survivors to surrender when all four are slugged? I don't think that's gonna affect your pressure tools.

redhat74

Slugging? No it is not all that bad. It gives the killer an alternative end game solution, however survivors are fickle and bhvr appreciate new players and their auric cells. Next question

redhat74

Oh, sorry I'm drinking numerous types of liquid so I should expand.

Killer having alternative options creates more varients for survivors to carry but survivors don't want that, similar to PHead they don't want a cage when they have DS. How can DS work against being slugged, it can't so they have to have a variety… but wait that isn't optimal so as BHVR 'shook up the meta' it lasted for a few weeks until Unbreakable and DS were back in there… 'BORING!' is how this game is heading and will nose dive. Sorry but everyone knows it and BHVR don't seem to care

danielmaster87

@Nyllawafer_ said:

I know that this one might be an extremely hot take but slugging responsibly, as to create pressure or when someone is purposfully trying to get themselves hooked, or even when i've all but confirmed they had decisive strike. I'm worried that my main pressure tool is going to be gutted by the new slugging update

The killer failing at slugging is way worse for him than doing bad with hooking or tunneling. If it takes so much to down 1 person, because they're a good survivor, and they get slugged for a mere 30 seconds, then picked up and healed to full, that might as well have been a hook, and now you don't even have that to your name. Survivors seem to think there's no downside to slugging. No, hooks would be preferable if the slug is gonna fail anyway. And think about how hard it is to slug anyway. You're basically aiming for downing 4 people within like 45 seconds to a minute, or else they start picking each other up and completely reset. That takes perfect timing, perfect chase execution, and perfect game knowledge of where the other survivors are as you finish downing each. Sad that the devs just keep taking away the most skilled ways killer can play.

redhat74

@Nyllawafer_ said:

I know that this one might be an extremely hot take but slugging responsibly, as to create pressure or when someone is purposfully trying to get themselves hooked, or even when i've all but confirmed they had decisive strike. I'm worried that my main pressure tool is going to be gutted by the new slugging update

Nope, not bad at all.
It gives killer an alternative to pressure which when you have a survivor meta build based on unhooking you can become quite frustrated as you lay there taking around the same time to bleed out as hitting the end of a 3 stage hook.
BHVR do not like to upset survivors, has given up on balancing SWFs with solos (when excluding the obvious communications that was pointless anyway), do a survivor meta shake up by nerfing meta perks then rebuffing them before then adding more strong perks to consider but ultimately stick with the strongest year after year meta perk, continue to nerf killers, bring no balancing system to match a nurse/blight with legion/ghostface, refuse to address broken comms, reshade,syringes,map offerings and is trying to get as many auric licenced stuff as possible… IMO.

Nyllawafer_

@danielmaster87 said:

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/440041/is-slugging-really-all-that-bad

The killer failing at slugging is way worse for him than doing bad with hooking or tunneling. If it takes so much to down 1 person, because they're a good survivor, and they get slugged for a mere 30 seconds, then picked up and healed to full, that might as well have been a hook, and now you don't even have that to your name. Survivors seem to think there's no downside to slugging. No, hooks would be preferable if the slug is gonna fail anyway. And think about how hard it is to slug anyway. You're basically aiming for downing 4 people within like 45 seconds to a minute, or else they start picking each other up and completely reset. That takes perfect timing, perfect chase execution, and perfect game knowledge of where the other survivors are as you finish downing each. Sad that the devs just keep taking away the most skilled ways killer can play.

I notice that with survivor mains who claim slugging is BM, its always when they actually die to it. Slugging is also situationally viable, as using it on anti-hook builds or DS is the best way to counter them, but those survivior with DS always whine when they're denied the stun

Nyllawafer_

@ChrisPBacon said:

https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/discussion/440041/is-slugging-really-all-that-bad

think about it from bhvr's perspective. slugging makes the game less fun for the survivors, if a player finds a game to no longer be fun then they'll likely stop playing it, and if they stop playing it they won't spend any more money on the game.

While I see your point, I could argue that flashlight/flashbangs make the game less fun for killers.