Boon: Rework
This post will be pretty long, I feel like I should warn you.
BOONS | THE PROBLEMS
Boons have been a contentious issue since first being added alongside Mikaela Reid in 2020. From release Circle of Healing breaking the game, to promoting a frustrating gameplay loop, to several accessibility issues, Boons now sit in a weird spot where nobody likes facing them despite having a relatively low usage rate and middling escape rate across the board (stats taken from Nightlight.gg on August 1st 2026 which, I'm aware is not 100% reliable, but is the best we have at the moment). Compared are some of the most-used survivor perks.
Now obviously, we don't want to buff boon perks to equal these usage rates, but with the exception of Shoulder (which is chronically underutilised) the difference in perk usage becomes clear, especially Dark Theory and Illumination. The payoff these perks give feel far too situational, or that one must construct an entire build around it, and it isn't worth the 14s it takes to set these perks up. This is something compounded further with Aurora's new boon perk, Steadfast, where the 10% increase to gen speeds gives you an 8.19 second boost verses the 14 seconds it takes to set up the totem (and due to diminishing returns running it with Overzealous doesn't even help). So for problem number one: the effects feel too situational or not worth running, especially compared to other perks which give a lot more value.
Despite being used so infrequently, however, the frustrations with boons from the killer's perspective are many. For example, there's no real way to permanently deal with the perk - it's all well and good snuffing the totem, but it can be back up in 20 seconds. Totem spawns can be forgiving, and it's a minor annoyance, or there can be a boon on Ironworks of Misery and it takes an eternity to snuff each time. Shattered Hope exists, but has no effect beyond dealing with boons, so becomes a wasted perk slot any match a boon is not in play, and again boon perk effects are simply not strong enough to justify using an entire perk slot on, with the exception of perhaps Exponential or Circle of Healing. This promotes a frustrating gameplay loop of constantly going out of your way to snuff a totem, which just keeps being relit, and even if this isn't an optimal play it's a frustrating one to deal with. When playing the role which is already so pressed for time, having to take side detours to counter the effects of the boon feels bad.
Another issue is the only signal a boon perk is in play, the sound effects. A large crack of thunder when the perk is first placed (which just sometimes doesn't play), and the chimes when within the area of effects. There is no visual queue, unless actively looking at the Totem, that a boon is in play, presenting quite the accessibility issue for those hard of hearing or deaf.
So, how do we fix this?
KILLER FRUSTRATIONS
The killer frustrations are easier to deal with, so I'll begin with these.
NEW: Boons now have a global cooldown of 60 seconds
To help avoid the constant booning and re-booning, where Killers often feel powerless to deal with the perk (which could be Illumination, or could be Exponential), all boon perks will now go on cooldown once the totem has been snuffed for 60 seconds, after which another boon can be set up. This helps make the decision to snuff a boon feel more worthwhile, adds some strategy into the decision (ie. can you do enough in 60s to capitalise on the time where no boon is being used, or is it more worth it to keep it up for now to use it to help you snowball later), and reduces frustrations of feeling unable to really counter the perks. During this 60s, no new boons can be set up by anyone on the survivor team, to prevent abuse in SWF teams where they would have realistically 1 second of downtime per person (14s to bless).
NEW: Boons now have visual indications for the Killer
As mentioned, boons are a killer's accessibility nightmare, so adding some visual queues as well should help this. Specifically:
- When a boon is in play, the Killer is notified via a red "Debuff" icon in the bottom right of their screen
- When within the Chimes radius, the Killer's screen will receive a blue vignette, similar to Survivors
- When within 16m of the Totem, the aura of the boon is revealed to the killer
These changes were made to help those who are hard of hearing understand a boon has been set up (to which they currently would be entirely unaware), understand they are in an area where a boon is active, and help track the totem down if unaware of totem spawns, a change particularly targeted towards newer players who may struggle with accessibility issues. However, this should also just help newer players as a whole, who may not understand that Ye Ol Call of Zues means a boon has been set up.
NEW: Shattered Hope can be used independently of boons
Shattered Hope, thematically, works as a perk, and I don't wish to change it too drastically. Therefore, I would change it as follows:
- Press the Active Ability 2 Button when in front of a Dull Totem to destroy it, or in front of a Boon Totem to destroy it instead of snuffing it.
- Destroyed Totems reveal the Auras of Survivors within 2m/3m/4m.
- Destroying a Totem in this way reveals the Auras of Survivors within 28m for 8 Seconds.
This change does a few things. Firstly, it keeps the thematic identity of Shattered Hope in-tact (I'd argue it strengthens it). It grants the killer a reason to destroy totems outside of Pentimento (which would work, but one a Pentimento totem has been cleansed there is no aura benefit). It grants small pockets of aura reading around the map, which wouldn't be too impactful, but their position in loops may help rarely. It keeps the main draw, which is the ability to counter boons and gain a powerful aura read, while also granting the choice to keep a totem standing. This could be useful when the killer is running, ie, NOED, but also to funnel Survivors into only using the weaker totems a killer can patrol to easier and take better control of due to the new global 60s cooldown. It makes Shattered Hope more worth running, as now it does something beyond boons, and it helps it counter more perks. Survivors using Lend a Hand, Overzealous, Inner Strength, Counterforce, etc. would miss out on their perks' powerful effects, while punishing them for cleansing. Finally, and most importantly, this all makes Shattered Hope more worth running.
NEW: Boon effects no longer stack.
This isn't really a pain point right now with the 24m range, but some changes below justify this change also being made to prevent Circle of Healing or Exponential from running away with us again. Putting it below felt weird, so up here it goes.
SURVIVOR FRUSTRATIONS
Now, let's address some survivor frustrations: namely, that they are too situational and not worth the time investment. The following two changes are global changes, with individual perk changes in the subsequent section.
NEW: When a boon is active, increase your blessing speed by 20%.
This is a part of Illumination I particularly enjoy, buffed a little further to account for the new global 60s cooldown. It makes it less of a timesink to bless totems, as moving the boon totem now takes far less time. It makes it easier to bless in riskier areas, as it's possible to bless in a safe area then set up a Shadow Step or Dark Theory in 11.67 seconds in a riskier spot where the Killer may be patrolling to assist a teammate in chase.
BUFF: Increase boon ranges to 28m
On the PTB, boons were 28m. This was nerfed to 24m when the perks came to live. I feel like 28m could be re-tested, making the perks less situational as there is a wider area they can be used in. This change was made to bring release Circle of Healing down a peg, and it entirely failed to do this. Ideally, these perks would have different ranges, but it would make stacking boons a technological nightmare and be very difficult for new players to understand; this is the much simpler option, even if it makes balancing a little more difficult.
Those who remember that PTB, fret not, for boon totems no longer stack their effects.
INDIVIDUAL CHANGES
Boon: Circle of Healing
The big one, the one everyone's afraid of: I'd actually leave Circle entirely untouched. 100% healing increase without a medkit across a wider area, aura reading across a wider area, and being able to set it up easier leaves this perk in a pretty good spot for both solo and SWF. I think the above boon changes would more than help keep it in-line, and failing this a number tweak (down to, ie, 55%/65%/75% from 50%/75%/100%) could be made.
Boon: Dark Theory
Dark Theory used to be alright, before diminishing returns, but even then was only really used in a situational build with other Haste perks (ie. Made for This, Dead Hard, Dark Theory, Hope). A numbers buff is needed alongside the area buff, but this cannot really be done without making it too scary when combined with other Haste perks despite diminishing returns. Therefore, I propose the following:
- When within the Boon's radius, Survivors gain 5% Haste. This effect lingers for 2s/3s/4s after leaving the Boon's radius.
- Survivors cannot gain Haste or Hindered other than by this perk's effect or Killer powers.
So, my thought process: Haste stacking makes the perk scary? Remove it outright. Give it another additional effect helping it to counter killer hindered perks, though the devs have specifically said they want to reduce survivor perks interacting with killer powers, so they have a little carve-out. Add-ons would remain affected. Finally, the numbers buff itself is to 5% to match it with Hope, an incredibly powerful endgame perk, and to help alleviate the issue of being unable to use your own Haste perks inside the boon's range (ie. Sprint Burst would activate and give you Exhaustion, but you would not gain the Haste from it).
Once more, if this proves a little too powerful, taking it down to 4% Haste should be sufficient (and a return to 3%, though I think wholly unnecessary, would still be justified due to the Hindered removal, and wider range of effect the perk now enjoys).
Boon: Exponential
Another big one which runs a risk of running away with itself, Exponential by itself is fine, but can be problematic when paired with Conviction or Flip-Flop/Power Struggle specifically. I therefore think that the perk itself could honestly remain unchanged, or may even justify a small nerf. It is specifically very abusable in SWF teams where picking up immediately is impossible due to flashlights or the threat of pallet saves, and the increased range would make it harder for the killer to down a survivor and make it to the boon in-time. The global cooldown of 60s should help in this situation immensely, however, preventing a permanent Exponential from taking place and granting a blissful 60s of slugging peace. Therefore, I'd leave the perk unchanged, or much like Circle reduce its numbers to 55%/65%/75%.
Boon: Illumination
The most unique of the Boons and the most successful escape-rate wise, purely because it hasn't been used enough to see this escape rate plummet again. Illumination has a wonderful concept, and is executed terribly. I therefore suggest the following rework:
- All Generators, Chests, and Totems within the Boon's radius are revealed to all Survivors outside of the Boon's radius.
- All Generators, Chests, Totems, Pallets and Windows within the Boon's radius are revealed to all Survivors within the Boon's radius.
- Repairing revealed Generators, cleansing or blessing revealed Totems, or vaulting revealed Pallets or Windows is performed 10% faster.
So, what the hell was I thinking with this?
Firstly, the perk currently only works for those within the range to see everything beyond the range, however when they leave this range they lose access to this aura reading. This feels entirely backwards, so I firstly reversed it: all gens and chests within the totem's range are revealed to everyone, alongside totems, which seems like an odd omission. When survivors get closer, more is illuminated to them, seeing now the auras of nearby pallets and windows too. Finally, to give the perk more utility and ensure it is deserving of a spot in people's builds when they have more than 150 hours, it increases the action speed slightly of all interactions with revealed props. I don't feel 10% is a particularly insane number - it is 1% higher than resilience, but due to diminishing returns will not stack and simply makes the perk more worthwhile setting up (see my above discussion on Steadfast's 10% for why this isn't a crazy number, especially with the global 60s cooldown).
Boon: Shadowstep
Another nice easy one, this has fallen off simply because it feels outclassed by Self-Preservation. While the increased range is nice, this perk should receive an additional slight tweak.
- Survivor's within the Boon's radius receive the Elusive status effect.
- This lasts for 2s/3s/4s after leaving the Boon's radius.
This makes it a useful side-grade to Self-Preservation, spreading the effect teamwide at the cost of restricting it to a smaller area where it may not always be useful. It already does most of Elusive anyway; no reason not to go the whole way.
Boon: Steadfast
This perk isn't even out yet, and my problems with it are two-fold. As mentioned, it simply is not worth it to set up the perk, and it also isn't like what we saw in the PTB. Therefore, I propose the following changes
- Generators within the Boon's radius become Blessed Generators.
- Blessed Generators have the following unique properties:
- Great Skill Checks adds one Permanent Charge* to the Generator.
- Generators regress at 200% speed.
I know everybody saw the permanent charge bit above and panicked, but this is not permanent charges like on BNPs, Fast-Track, or Specialist, which reduces the total charges to complete the generator. Instead, this would take an existing charge and make it so it cannot be regressed, cutting the time down to complete the generator from zero but crucially not the time to complete the generator if already working on it. This also comes with the added risk of any non-permanent charges being removed quicker. It helps against three-gen or other regression-heavy builds, particularly The Judgement's new perk Lay Waste (which is a thematic touch I would love), but does not speed up gen speeds. Instead of creating shorter games, it helps in the longer games, when resources are depleted. This is something I'd like to see added to BNPs, Fast-Track and Specialist too, but that's for another post at another point. And crucially, this is much closer to the perk we voted for.
I'M NINETEEN AND I NEVER LEARNED HOW TO READ
For those who don't want to read my reasoning behind changes and just want to skip to the end for something to get mad at, here's a whistle-stop tour behind what I'd change:
- NEW: Boons now have a global 60s cooldown upon being snuffed.
- NEW: Shattered Hope now does something without needing a Boon.
- NEW: Boons now have visual queues for the Killer.
- NEW: Boons now have a 28m radius.
- NEW: Blessing speed is increased by 20% when you already have an active Boon.
- NEW: Boon effects do not stack.
- NEW: Dark Theory now grants 5% Haste, and prevents obtaining Haste or Hindered by means other than Killer Powers while within its radius.
- NEW: Shadow Step now grants Elusive.
- NEW: Illumination now reveals map-wide, and increases action speed on revealed Props by 10%.
- NEW: Steadfast now grants permanent Generator Charges, at the cost of increasing Generator Regression Speeds (but not like that).
Let me know any thoughts, critiques, glaring holes I've missed which would make these perks abusable, etc. I'm interested in some wider feedback on this topic.
Comments
Well, nothing i could add to that.
especially because so much was said lol.
Great stuff, they should Hire you.
sir yapsalot yaps again
I wouldn't mind a boons buff but current shattered hope should be base kit then (with a completely unique rework) and your rework doesn't work as it's literally would be meta with pentimento cuz it's free 5 stacks on most killers, like you would still be able to boon a different totem and it's more fair with how powerful some of those boons are compared to hex perks (which are gone forever when cleansed).
Also I like your steadfast rework and this would be more like the perk people voted for BUT with stakeout it would be insanely overpowered, especially with hyperfocus which would also be paired and this will just make gen rushing problem worse, like I don't care if survivors gen rush but if I have no slowdown (or only 1 or 2 slowdown perks) then it's just impossible for me to win, games finish in less than 5 minutes with gen rushing and fear of this meta forces me to use full slowdown just to have a chance (even if there's only 2 gen rushers) while I would want to try a fun build with a chance of winning.
So, with point #1, I actually disagree: it wouldn't be a guaranteed Pentimento 5-lock because Penti reveals itself as soon as it enters into force, competent players will realise the killer is just walking around the map destroying totems, and crucially the killer still has to find all totems. They can't rely on hex perks to do this, because the perk doesn't allow them to break hexes, only dulls and boons. By the time they've done this, they've lost too many gens with no hook or chase progress. But I understand the worry with Penti - perhaps just making it so the two don't work together is the best way forwards if it becomes too oppressive (ie. Penti only works on totems which have been cleansed, while shattered hope would destroy them).
And I don't agree it should be made basekit (giving boons a hard use of 5 times only) - if anything doing so would justify buffing boons even further. Hence, the 60s global cooldown (which can obviously be extended if it's too lax) where no blessing can occur as a happy middleman between basekit destroying boons and current.
As for point 2, I don't see how. It doesn't grant any charges beyond what you already have, it only makes the generators unable to regress beyond a certain point. For example, combining with Stake Out and hitting 4 Great Skill checks would grant 4 permanent charges, or just under 5% progress, which cannot be regressed, but does not reduce the overall generator progress required to 86 charges. It remains at 90 charges. It doesn't increase the gen speeds at all.