No One Escapes Death Perk Rework Ideas
Perks spark controversy all the time, that's why perks that are deserving of change are changed. Perks like Mettle of Mann and Decisive were unfun to play against and were thus changed (thankfully so) however, one of the most controversial killer perks (Noed) has only been buffed since it's creation. It's important to note that the only issue I have with this perk is that it rewards failure. I play both killer and survivor and find that it teaches bad habits to newer killers, brings bad killers to higher ranks, and causes frustration. The goal of this post is to change Noed into a more balanced but competitively viable in the perk meta.
Here's what I find to be a good change for Noed. First, keep it as a dull totem that turns into a hex totem, however, make it turn into a hex totem after the 2nd or 3rd gen is completed, but keep it active for the duration of the match. It no longer increases movement speed and grants one shots down, instead, it's designed to slow down the gens for the duration of the match (at least when it's still active). Now, every time a generator is completed the next generator will repair 8/9/10% slower, up to a maximum of 32/36/40% slower gens when 4 are completed and the totem is still active. Lastly, any gen not being worked on or repaired currently, will lose 1% of progression passively for every 1 second it isn't worked on (if it is damaged by a killer, it has normal gen regression + natural perk regression). All in all, the perk is designed to drastically slow down the game for every gen completed.
Summary: Noed becomes a hex after 3rd gen completion, but is active all match. Every gen completed slows every other gen down by 8/9/10% up to a maximum of 32/36/40% and gens not being worked on regresses 1% for every second it's not being worked on.
I want to hear anyone's thoughts and opinions, and any other possible changes they might have!
Comments
The problem with your idea is, when you would change it like that it would had the same isuess like every totem perk, it would be to much RNG like ruin, Devour hope, etc. .It should be a endgame perk IMO. If they would rework Noed IMO they should rework it like:
-Noed is no longer a hex totem.
-it only activates if all 5 gens are done.
-you can destroy pallets 5/10/15% Faster.
-you cooldown is reduced by 10/5/20%.
-you vault speed is increased by 0/5/10%.
But i think they shouldn't rework it it isn't OP you have a Counter if you destroy some Totems then Noed is gone.
in fact, yes, totems are the currently existing secondary survivor objective.
they are not a mandatory objective to fullfill, though they are one of your objectives.
usually survivors get to completely ignore it, as long as the totem is not lit up, though that changes when NOED is in the game. as oyu said: you dont know if its going to be a thing or not, so you have to take a gamble. you can eigther say the killer has it and destroy all the totems at the risk of losing potential gen time or you can choose to ignore them and focus on generators, at the risk of getting exposed during the end game. NOED just gives dull totems a reason to exist, which is my main reason why i like the perk as is.
if you end up getting exposed, its your own fault. simply do totems and the perk is literally useless.
now, regarding the whole "totems are not worth it" part, if they are not worth cleansing, why do you complain about NOED then? you just said the possibility of being exposed during end game is not worth even trying to fight off, so how is it suddenly unfair that you got exposed? totems reward you tons of BPs, grant you emblem points AND charge up certain perks! honestly, if thats "not worth it" i dont know what is.
i wont go into big detail here to why i tink my suggestion of NOED is better, i made a whole discussion about that i'll go and see if i can edit the link into this post a little later.
basically, the perk has the exact same counterplay as old NOED. you can still completely avoid it by just doing bones.
also, i dont think you want to get to endgame when you have NOED. it basically just gives you a chance , but they can still leave, leaving you with a loss. getting to endgame is nothing a killer would desire, unless they literally run 4 endgame perks that ensure the survivors being trapped in there with you for longer periodes of time witth NOED active, such as Remember Me and Bloodwarden.
regarding that last part, yeah i kinda messed things up there. sorry for that.
i read through your whole idea again and while i think it would make NOED a cmpetetive perk, it would again take away the main thing NOED is supposed to do, which is giving dull totems a purpose and giving killers an actual chance to win during endgame. as i mentioned above, without NOED killers cant really catch anyone anymore, as they will just speed boost out the exit.
like i said above, the game is not over just cause gens got powered.
otherwise, why is there even an endgame to begin with?
That would be very op. That the dying light, this is an effect twice as powerful and requires no hooks, only the survivors working for you. Also, having the gen lose progress with time is very op.
I don't think "rewarding failure" is a good excuse to nerf or rework a perk. Getting injured or downed is "failure" for survivors, but I don't think that means that resilience, this is not happening, unbreakable, tenacity, or flip flop need to be changed. A survivor team dying without finishing gens is a "failure" does left behind need to be changed?
Losing an injured survivor could be considered a "failure" but I don't think nurse's calling or bloodhound need changes. Letting a door open might be considered a "failure," but I don't think bloodwarden needs to be changed.
I think the "noed rewards failure" argument just doesn't make sense. In a balanced game sometimes things just aren't going to go the way you want them to.
NOED does in fact reward failure. If you base success and failure off of killer pipping system, what developers say, and how many survivors escape, the end game collapse is considered a failure for killers. Their job in the gatekeeper scoring category is to complete the game as soon as possible with as little gens done as possible. The issue with NOED is that it encourages survivors to things that are considered non optimal in order to achieve end game (the very state that you don't want to be in as killer). You can easily tell when a killer has NOED because they participate in chases for way longer than they should, this is the bad habits I'm talking about. Optimal killers need to understand how long they should chase a survivor for without gens being completed like crazy, NOED killers will stay in chases for way longer because they hold the mentality of "I have NOED, I'll get him soon." That should never be the mentality of a killer, the killer needs to understand time is precious and needs to be treated as such. I don't personally mind the perk too much, but newer killers get to higher ranks based off of one perk that will ultimately betray them in the future. Unfortunately, it's the very definition of a crutch perk since NOED itself makes worse killers better but only when they "fail." This is the issue I have with the perk, it rewards failure, teaches bad habits to newer killers, and overall dulls the objective for killer.
Also, for your second part, I think perks that reward failure are inherently flawed, for both killer and survivor. Being downed and hooked is part of gameplay for survivors, if it wasn't, killers wouldn't win. Perks like unbreakable, tenacity, and flip flop will help survivors in the injured state, the killer's job is to hook survivors, by slugging them, they failed their job to secure the hook on the survivor. In reality, those perks reward survivors for failure on the killer's part. I will admit that there's survivor perks that reward failure, for instance DS. However, this isn't the topic for those kind of perks, and I will discuss them on a later date in a discussion of it's own. I respect your opinion on the matter since it's interesting from seeing multiple perspectives, thanks.
What you call "bad habits" is actually better referred to as a "strategy" or a "backup". Noed is utilized best as a backup against low to mid-tier survivors that try to gen rush or stealth/hide, and is a great perk to punish people that don't do totems after ruin is gone. Your perk would be awesome as a new perk, but like it or not, some will always try to take the easy or frustrating way out and use endgame tactics.
Besides, if a killer isn't aggressive through the match, and let's gens go off quickly, then the survivors should EXPECT noed, and if they don't, are more then fairly punished. We all had to learn to adjust to the game mechanics when we started, and this is a perk mostly frustrating for gen rushers and new players, but that doesn't mean it's unbalanced or needs changed.
I like this idea! But not as a change for NOED but a perk of it's own! The numbers need tweaking but you got some good ideas rattling around!
Side note: I saw the word "Optimal" thrown around for just doing the gens and leaving instantly. Don't do that. As a Killer that really just makes me think "Why Bother" or that it was ultimately uninteresting cause of not being able to do much about the gens popping like popcorn. Play the game, have fun. It's not about being "Optimal" and alot of people think it is... it's about enjoying yourself.
Hi! I like to play the same way and have fun, but unfortunately, optimal players are the ones who have played this game for quite some time and focus on winning. It's hard to balance anything since it's closer to being a spectrum, ranging from newer players, casual players, good players, and optimal players. It's quite a task to balance between everyone since not everyone can be pleased. I personally agree with your idea of having fun and just casually playing, but others prefer playing this game to their highest efficiency.
I mean... I red Rank as Legion. I'm not casually playing but I am playing for fun.
Also i agree its insane to try and balance this stuff. That's why I leave it up to the devs, trust them to do it okay now that they seem to be heading the right direction, and hope they look at my Rework Legion thread.