Suggested Bloodlust rework
So, I have 3 main problems with Bloodlust:
1. it rewards killers who make (relatively) bad decisions with up to 15% haste (like, imagine giving survivors who miss skill checks a 10% repair boost for each time they've missed a skillcheck the past 30 seconds)
2. it doesnt reset when killers miss an attack (so, they get rewarded even more)
3. its something that can activate when tunnelling
Thats not bloodlust, that's obsession.
So, suggested rework:
Whenever you start a new chase with someone that has never been hooked, gain 10% haste, 10% pallet stun reduction, and 10% action speed for 5 seconds
Whenever you start a new chase with someone that has 1 hookstate, gain 5% for the above instead of 10%
Whenever you start a new chase with someone that has 2 hookstates, gain 0%
If multiple survivors are in chase, the person with the most hooks overrides all others.
Gain double the effect for 30 seconds after you start a chase after hooking someone
Gain half the effect for each downed survivor, for as long as they are downed.
Gain a 1.5x multiplier to this effect for 30 seconds after you've hooked a survivor. So you wanna enter a new chase ASAP
Gain a 2x multiplier to this effect, basekit, after the final gen has been finished (not when the exit gate has been powered, closing hatch should not trigger this effect)
Optional (but I think it would be great in addition to this):
Add in a basekit DS(dont worry killer mains) that will only apply if no one else has been hooked since the last hook, which lasts as long as the original hookstate. So effectively, you get 70 seconds the moment you gain a hookstate. If you're unhooked with 5 seconds left and no one else has been hooked since, you're gonna get that basekit DS for 5 seconds. The earlier the unhook, the safer your teammate would be. Regular DS would simply reset this timer to 60 seconds.
This DS stuns the same and would add a 10% hinderance for 5 seconds after the stun, on top of disabling killer power for 5 seconds after the stun.
That way, killers are more encouraged to spread out more hooks overall, survivors dont get punished for outplaying a killer.
And yeah, this is not the fully fleshed out idea, numbers need tweaking, effects need testing, maybe elusive should be added after DS, maybe the killer should gain the effect in a new chase for 2x duration within the 30 seconds after hooking. I dont know. Point being, current bloodlust is not healthy and punishes survivors for looping good. I know it's meant to be a catch-up mechanic since there is 4 survivors, but I think this suggestion would take care of it.
And yes, a new chase means whenever you've lost chase for 5 seconds with that survivor. I'd even argue that if you've regained chase after a lost chase, you should get a small bonus too, but I think that would be too OP on many maps
Comments
Just… Just break line of sight? Bloodlust is absurdly weak due to a single LOS break making the buff disappear. In addition to that it has a rev up time, and it is buggy in its activation condition to begin with. I regularly don't see bloodlust even tick on during a loop due to buggy map meshing creating invisible LOS breakers.
But to engage with your problems directly :
1. it rewards killers who make (relatively) bad decisions with up to 15% haste (like, imagine giving survivors who miss skill checks a 10% repair boost for each time they've missed a skillcheck the past 30 seconds)
This is apples to oranges. Bloodlust is there to incentivize the killer to take a chase and hold it. But in its current state it hardly does that. That isn't comparable to giving survivors a gen repair boost for missing skill checks. Bloodlust is there to help close distance in a chase, which by definition starts with distance. If anything it 'rewards' the killer for interacting with a survivor in a chase.
2. it doesnt reset when killers miss an attack (so, they get rewarded even more)
I don't follow: Why would missing an attack and not being punished by losing bloodlust be a reward? Hitting you has nothing to do with bloodlust, why is the comparison to this being drawn? How does X have to do with Y? Just break line of sight, which you're going to naturally try to do anyway in a chase. By your logic, survivors are rewarded to failure to hide with the LOS break making bloodlust drop.
3. its something that can activate when tunnelling
Everything in the base kit can activate when tunnelling. Hooking can activate while tunneling. Bloodlust can activate while tunneling. M1 and M2 abilities can activate while tunnelling. Again, X does not have to do with Y, why are you drawing this connection?
Honestly the way this reads sounds more as though you have an issue with killers tunnelling, which is a valid opinion but nuking core mechanics is (imo) not the way to try addressing that.
Breaking line of sight doesnt always work as you'd expect, because both you and the killer have to have it occuring, then that has to happen for ~8 seconds(which, once again means both sides dont have line of sight in that entire duration, with 50 ping and potential desync, that can be up to 10 seconds). So that's just a lie.
1(&3). If killers were meant to not be outplayed in chase, then why not simply add the haste at the start of a chase? Why add it at a moment in time when you SHOULD be able to hit a survivor? Why remove it on pallet break and pallet stun? Why not grant it after breaking a pallet or having been stunned? That would make sense for the killer to be able to hold a chase, because in those scenario's the chase gets interrupted. The fact that you cannot use your m2 to gain bloodlust means you have hold W, the fact that it doesnt reset on a missed hit means it rewards failure rather than succes. The whole point of a survivor gaining too much distance is initiative for the killer to break the chase and go for someone else unless there is no other choice. You know what other situation is meant to give a survivor a large distance so that the killer is supposed to go for someone else unless there is no other choice? Basekit BT. Bloodlust defeats the purpose of basekit BT. It's also by far the main reason I see bloodlust being used. I very rarely get bloodlust in a regular chase, but if I were to need to tunnel, forcing bloodlust often ends up being the fastest way to do so. If a pallet is in the way, you shouldnt be able to ring-around-the-rosy to still get a hit. Breaking the pallet should be a priority unless you feel like you could get a hit through your M2.
2. Because breaking a pallet resets it. Getting stunned resets it.
And no, the logic that survivors get rewarded for failing to lose LoS doesnt work for 3 reasons:
1. chase is about NOT getting hit. Not about not being seen.
2. maps like Ormond have a lot of loops where you cant lose LoS anywhere for 8 consecutive seconds.
3. Bloodlust was implemented to counter infinites, it wasnt an original mechanic. Since infinites effectively no longer exist (except that 1 route on Lery's that I am shocked still exists, they should really add breakable walls to that map, but only 5 survivors use it regularly, and those survivors dont use perks), Bloodlust only punishes survivors for gaining distance.
If an m2 resets it, why wouldnt a missed m1 reset it? The whole reason an M2 resets it, is because you're actively trying to damage the survivor. Using an m1 is used for the exact same reason? Which also contradicts your earlier statement, why would a killer, who has access to an ability that either deals damage or reduces distance, need bloodlust to reduce distance? I can ofcourse name 3 specific killers where that's not entirely true, but all those 3 killers are also in desperate need of tweaks and buffs.
Bloodlust is even more outdated than slugging and it's artificially raising killrates, and how can killers recieve the buff they deserve, when they can currently rely on Bloodlust?
As for tunnelling, well, one of the 3 big mechanical reasons tunnelling early game is a problem, is bloodlust. Tunnelling on its own is fine. But remove bloodlust and I genuinely think that it would only affect the killrates of people who tunnel early game.