Perk type idea: Dwelling
Survivors are getting good perks. Killers should get something nice also. At least to show that killer powers aren't supposed to be the ONLY part of them that matters. I figured, looking at territorial imperitive, why not double down on shack being "killer's spot"?
"Dwelling" is essentially another hex perk for killers, but it also acts as an invocation ritual for survivors. Since unlike a hex perk, you KNOW where it shows up (basement), the time to remove it is FAR larger (essentially the time of a generator). The buffs won't be LARGE, but would last the whole match AND get buffed at endgame if not removed. This creates another objective for survivors to clear out to prevent a stronger snowball from killers.
Survivors are forced to risk entering basement, but no longer worry about hooks down there. They are instead placed at the corners of killer shack, or replacing any already existing hooks with one that COUNTS as a basement hook. (I love trapper but it's not exactly a simple matter to counter him when you get to basement plays- so removing the basement hooks for something that makes survivors want to go into basement at least mitigates such effects slightly).
I think RUIN would be a good example of a contender for a Dwelling perk in it's current state. Where it applies as normal towards generators before they are finished, and if it isn't cleansed by the end of match the exit gate gains additional time required to open based on the amount of survivors still alive (5 seconds per survivor).
What do the rest of you think?
Comments
Its an interesting idea, and the game desperately needs some more perk types. However as you described it, the ability to cleanse the perk seems kinda pointless, since the effect of a dwelling perk would need to be incredibly oppressive to make doing the equivalent of a 6th gen in the basement worthwhile. And at that point, it's just a regular perk with some extra flair.
What if working on cleansing it progressively reduced the power of the perk? With Dwelling: Ruin for example, survivors getting halfway through the cleanse would reduce the regression bonus by half. Of course the endgame bonus would still exist to punish survivors for not completely cleansing the perk.
I don't mind reducing the effect as you make progress. However I figure it's worth mentioning part of the balancing is that you CAN'T undo any progress a survivor makes on the cleansing. Meaning they can take quick little pot shots in between healing and unhooks to wittle away. Too much time and they risk their teammates dying while they've made NO gen progress, not enough and the endgame surprise happens. It's what totems were meant to be, a side objective that slows the game down without making it sluggish. Meanwhile, killers who use this perk would almost certainly have equipped some basement perks (like territorial imperative or monstrous shrine) to make that idea more dangerous. It's essentially a lure for survivors to risk themselves during the match, a stick disguised as a carrot- so to speak.
That being said, I do like the idea overall. Maybe have it be certain percentages based on the perk? Like, if ruin has 100% regression, every quarter progress 25% of the progression gets chopped off. Whether it be quarters, thirds, or one time at halfway- would be dependent on the actual effect and it's potency where the cut off and mitigation happen.
Heck, thinking about it. This could be used for more powerful effects that are hard to balance around random chance. Hex totems really would have been better being a "distributed" effect across multiple totems rather than the pimple popping it currently is. Maybe if this gets added we could see them end up that way.