10.2.0 Perk Adjustment Ideas
Before I detail my proposed changes I do want to note, I think
releasing the changes as they are and letting them mix things up for a
bit would be more than fine. However, I wanted to make a list of how I
would adjust the ones I think will end up being too weak or problematic, and see how
they'll stack up once things have gotten a chance to play out.
Killer:
Bitter Murmur
Minor Adjustment
Removed range restriction on aura read.
Reduced aura read when all gens are completed from 10/12/14 seconds to 7/9/11.
While the numbers buff was nice, it felt like BHVR is still resistant
to making the change that would make it an actually appealing aura
reading perk. In exchange, the final aura read is toned down to keep it
from being too over the top with Lethal Pursuer.
Dark Arrogance
Minor Adjustment
Added Restriction: Does not stack with other basic-attack recovery speed increases.
While this perk is strong, it feels like a healthy addition to help
m1 killers in chase. However, even with Diminishing Returns this perk
combined with STBFL created scenarios where unhooking became impossible.
In order to remedy this the synergy between the two is now further
diminished, potentially being useful in the early game before STBFL
builds power but no longer stacking in any way.
Dissolution
Minor Adjustment
Reverted nerf to active timer from 15 seconds to 20.
Replaced Terror Radius restriction with "while within 24 meters of you".
While this perk needed some nerfs, as it stands its simply far too
restrictive to be viable. Removing the need for a terror radius opens it
up for stealth killers, potentially finally being useful on the perk's
owner Dredge!
Hex: Thrill of the Hunt
Major Adjustment
Added: After activating its effect, Thrill of the Hunt cannot be activated again for 60 seconds.
Changed totem block mechanic, now blocks for 16/18/20 seconds along with 4 additional seconds for each hex totem.
While the rework is interesting, the way stronger chase killers could
utilize the effect even better than before makes it heavily
problematic. The added cooldown normalizes the effect between killers a
bit more, avoiding scenarios where hexes could be permanently blocked.
Additionally, the block mechanic has been reworked to make it a bit more
useful outside of a full hex build.
Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine
Revert
When you are further than 24 meters from a Survivor hooked onto a Scourge Hook, accelerate their Sacrifice Progress by 35/40/45%
While this perk was definitely in need of a buff, the rework took
away from the identity of the perk and encouraged a tunneling playstyle a
little too strongly. Instead a simpler numbers buff could increase the
effectiveness of the perk a lot, going from cutting down hook states to
~58 seconds previously to now ~48 seconds.
Whispers
Minor Adjustment
Increased haste from 5% to 15%
The addition of haste was a very good idea, but outside of chase its
simply not enough to be noticeable. Increasing it to 15% means it will
make a much more noticeable difference in map traversal for the slower
killers in the roster.
Survivor:
Borrowed Time
Partial Revert
Added back the 10 second Endurance and Haste extension when unhooking other Survivors.
After unhooking, the next time you gain Deep Wound, you passively mend over a period of 40/35/30 seconds.
While the attempt to increase the perk's pick rate was nice, the new
effect was much more niche and the loss of the original one reduced
options against tunneling. Instead, its now an additional effect that
functions as a reward for altruism.
Road Life
Major Adjustment
Added condition: Now requires you to not be using a Toolbox to earn tokens.
The buff finally let this perk fulfill its identity as as a perk that
rewarded working on gens with the ability to heal yourself. However
with a strong toolbox, this perk goes from an alternative to Self Care
or Strength in Shadows to heavily power creeping them. By adding the
restriction, the fast, gen efficient heal is counter balanced by the
longer time it takes to charge it up.
Shoulder the Burden
Partial Revert
(It's clearer as a full description so I'm just gonna break the format of this a bit)
When a Survivor is hooked twice in a row, this perk activates.
While not on Death Hook, press the Active Ability button while
standing in front of a Hooked Survivor to unhook them and trigger the
following effects:
- Take 1 Hook Stage from them
- Scream and become Exposed for 70/65/60 seconds.
Whenever any instance of Shoulder the Burden is used, this perk deactivates.
This perk was easily the strongest one on the Survivor side before
the changes, so nerfing its power was necessary. However, the global
deactivation and change to Broken instead of Exposed were a bandaid fix
to the main issue with the perk: Being an anti-tunnel perk that was
effective even when the killer wasn't tunneling.
Now it actually requires tunneling to occur to be used, and the
amount of times it can be used is much more limited. However if the
killer continues to tunnel, it'll reactivate and let other survivors
have a chance to use the perk instead of it being permanently a dead
slot. Its now back to inflicting Exposed again as well, but for a longer
period.
Windows
Partial Revert
Now reveals Windows and Pallets within 32 meters.
After being in Chase for 10/15/20 seconds, this perk goes on cooldown for 60 seconds.
While nerfing this perk gives room for Maps to gain their own niche
as a chase tool, removing the main effect of a staple perk for newer and
casual players feels short sighted. This is an attempt at softening the
blow, giving info on all resources again but now stopping after being
in chase for a bit.
Comments
Agree on Road Life and Borrowed Time. Otherwise I think the perk changes are fine and should go live as their are. You issue with Dark Arrogance and STFL isn't solution. Dark Arrogance = 5 stacks of STBFL which is already enough to deny unhooking. So making it weaker in chase won't change camping potential. And with STBFL working this way already in live you won't get QOL truly.
I know its enough to deny unhooks on Doctor, is it really enough for everyone else? At 5 stacks you have a 2.025 second cooldown compared to the 1 second it takes to unhook, even deducting an additional .3 to account for human reaction time and ping it still seems possible. Compared to the combined ~1.35 second cooldown you can get by stacking them on the PTB, I think it would make a big difference.
Also to clarify I think everything should go live as it is anyways, this post is more looking at possible adjustments they could make in the future (Maybe except Bitter Murmur and Whispers, just because I think they're gonna end up immediately forgotten again even with the buffs).