Comments

• @Critical_Fish said:

  Now, there are a lot of things to comment on here so I apologize for my long-winded comment in advance. Continuing on...

  First and foremost, the aspects of this Killer are above average. The mere trait of being a 4.6 m/s Killer who is also Average height means looping becomes significantly harder. As we'll get to later, as well, there is no balancing factor for this in the power. Killers with shorter statures tend to have concessions elsewhere in their kit; Pig lacks chase power, Legion lacks the ability to down Survivors, Ghostface lacks slowdown and mobility. The only Killers who seem to contradict this are Nurse, Spirit, and Wesker, but it must be said that the Nurse is slower than a Survivor (she's still broken I won't deny that, BUT the concession for her height has been paid), Spirit is slow as well and lacks slowdown, and Wesker has a huge terror radius. The Horseman makes no such concessions; even Nurse pays her fair share more than Horseman does.

  First and foremost, Gore Piles. 10 Gore Piles is immense, especially since each covers a 20 meter radius and they cannot be within 32 meters of each other. This total count could be halved with no change to gameplay. Additionally, time to place is not listed, which is major in determining how long it would take for The Horseman to set up early in the game: the only time he's in any way a fair Killer.

  In terms of functionality, as well, Gore Piles are absurd. Full area denial that can cover multiple loops and generators, within which Survivors can be hooked and chased with no penalties, that injures and breaks a Survivor passively and for 120 seconds???

  Yes, torches exist as counter play to the Piles, but here's a couple things that already exist that you can use as comparisons for powers with built-in counter play. Nemesis, Plague, Wesker, and Singularity cannot prevent the Survivor from using the counter play, and simply must cope with it. The Alien must actively flee from its counter play, which wholly deletes its power in moments.

  The torches, though? They can be removed before even being used, have a minute long cooldown minimum, and can't possibly keep up with limiting the Horseman's output of Piles. Just do the math: 8 torches at the start, that can be put out for free by the Horseman. 5 Piles at the start. Those 5 Piles will be gone quickly, but the torches will also be gone. The torches take anywhere from 60 seconds to 120 seconds to recharge. Piles take 30. The math isn't mathing.

  Hastening the End just adds more to the immense strength of Piles, enabling both map mobility and free damage to multiple Survivors at once. The limitation of not allowing teleportation near a hooked Survivor is standard to these sorts of Killers, it deserves no mention nor any concession. Much weaker Killers (who are still strong), such as the Singularity, have even harsher limits to their teleportation despite for the Singularity the teleportation being the power. No, the lengthy cooldown doesn't help either. Piles are still too strong even with Hastening the End, this is just icing on the cake.

  For the cherry on top, The End is Here. Gaining Tokens for a power whenever someone unhooks with Deliverance, uses Second Wind, gets hit by any number of Killer perks, etc is ridiculous, especially when the threshold is as low as 4. Especially with a Killer who so effortlessly inflicts excessive amounts of the Broken status condition. Given the strength of The End, as well, this low of a threshold is... insane.

  The End has 4 possible effects.

  • Conquest just makes chase impossible for 30 seconds, no if's, and's, or but's. Comparing to other "you will die in this chase" Killers, specifically Oni, the ease of activating this effect and the amount this effect chews through materials even compared to Oni is absurd. Again, Oni's entire power is lesser compared to Conquest alone. This is a theme with this Killer.
  • War erases all progress full stop, and gives complete ability to tell where every Survivor is. This amount of passive game delay, coupled with perks like Pop and Pain Resonance makes progress impossible. Pig, whose entire power might as well be her traps, can seldom achieve this level of regression and game delay.
  • Pestilence prevents all counterplay from Survivors, allows for Hastening the End to just... not have a cost, and offers additional Broken. Something this Killer really doesn't need.
  • Death Exposes all Survivors, makes the Horseman Undetectable, and reveals the auras of all Survivors. All of this for 30 seconds. This amount of lethality wasn't even mimicked by Starstruck Agitation Nurse before her post-blink attacks were nerfed to be Special attacks. Especially with map offerings, this can become an instant loss based on a 1 in 4 chance.

  No, the End isn't saved by its randomness.

  Let's see how the Add-ons jive; I cross my fingers aggressively. I'll also only cover ones that I find interesting or worth unique comment; they'll all be covered as a whole after that.

  • Hellish Offering: Makes the early game, the Horseman's only mild flaw, incredibly strong. Makes the end game even stronger.
  • Iridescent Scroll: Exasperates the issues this Killer has as a whole; numbers that are too strong, immense Breaking, and extreme pressure for no cost or demand of skill.
  • Scroll of Conquest: Selecting Conquest for free is incredibly strong; no pallets will exist after the second activation of The End, of which there will be a minimum of 4 each game.
  • Scroll of War: Well, 4 free perk slots now that you don't need game delay because this add-on does everything for you.
  • Scroll of Pestilence: By far the worst scroll, but denies all counter play for Survivors and adds additional anti-healing to a Killer already not lacking in it. With this and Hellish Offering, torches may as well not exist.
  • Scroll of Death: Win.
  • ALL SCROLLS: What happens if these add-ons are used in tandem?
  • Broken Helmet + Broken Sword: Only 3 poles exist. Wow.
  • Rusty Cage: Usually that injury will come with being Broken about 2 seconds after; what's the point of Mangled?
  • Rusted Toy Car: This is a Very Rare add-on. Usually you'll find gimmicky stuff that massively changes playstyle EXTREMELY far up the rarity spectrum; Commons are minor buffs, QOL changes, or meme add-ons exclusively.
  • Burnt Children Book: This is about 1 add-on for each page in this book. About 19 too many.
  • Ripped Scroll of Atonement: Only worsens the issue of the Survivors being unable to adequately use their counter play by giving extra Piles.

  Overall, these add-ons read like Blight add-ons if they were all buffed twice and given the same crack cocaine old Hillbilly add-ons were on. For a base kit rivalling the Nurse's, that's... wild.

  Please let the perks be cool please let the perks be cool.

  Hex: Tormenting Pain

  I really don't get how this is functioning, but I will assume the following: Hex: Tormenting Pain activates once 2 injuries have been afflicted via basic attack to a Survivor(s), and after activation all injured Survivors are permanently Broken. This is... okay, allow me to describe why Broken is so powerful, because it doesn't seem like you respect it.

  Broken, as a Status Effect, removes a third of the Survivor's entire game. They lose a ton of perks, they are forced to play incredibly safe lest they immediately die, and they become complete fodder for Dead By Daylight's abundant cheese. There's a reason it's easier to be afflicted with Broken by a Survivor Perk than a Killer through any means; IT REALLY SUCKS TO HAVE.

  Now, the counterplay to any stealth Killer (even Pig) is to be constantly fully healed. Imagine having to play against a Wraith who has Hex: Tormenting Pain. You automatically lose, because you will ALWAYS get decimated by the hit and run strategies the Wraith already excels with, and the Wraith has enough mobility to protect the Totem and the objective at the same time (also Undying exists).

  Now imagine Nurse with this perk.

  Scourge Hook: Hopeless Efforts

  I wish to face camp and be rewarded for it. Seriously though, this perk completely misunderstands why perks that slow down the progression of the objective, without directly regressing it, work the way they do. Thanatophobia is easy to limit the effects of; keep 1 Survivor healed and it isn't strong anymore. Even then, its slowdown is only equivalent to what this perk offers for... hooking a Survivor. Injure all Survivors and keep them all injured, or hook a guy; one is oddly easier than the other.

  Hex: Pentimento is the other perk that comes to mind that does what Hopeless Efforts does. And it mandates an entire build around it. Pentimento limits the number of gen regression perks you could have to 1 or MAYBE 2 if you're a masochist who runs Hex: Ruin. Otherwise, it's just those 4 uses of Pain Res and that 30% reduction to repairs, baby. And Pentimento can be removed at any time; Hopeless Efforts doesn't have that flaw.

  So not only does it synergize super well with degenerate strategies such as proxy camping, but this perk synergizes amazingly with Pop Goes the Weasel and Pain Resonance, something no other perk that does what it does can say.

  Scourge Hook: Armageddon

  Again I have to make assumptions regarding this perk because of how vaguely it's written; I will assume that the first pallet dropped within 60 seconds after a Survivor is hooked on a Scourge Hook is broken, and nothing more. This is a super generous concession, aaaand the perk is still broken. 30 seconds of Exhaustion on everybody is WILD, as it shuts off the best perks in the entire game for a very long time. Additionally, it stacks, meaning if you keep hooking Survivors (which will be easier since they don't have their Exhaustion perks active) you can permanently turn off Exhaustion perks.

  Also free Spirit Fury just... isn't.

  Overall, while there is nothing wrong with the concept of the Horseman, the execution is far too extreme and powerful for me to give good words to. And throughout this perk selection, I'm really not seeing any sort of healthy design, making it difficult to find something to praise here. I recommend, if you were to rework this Killer and/or if you were to design new ones, that you study what other Killers can do and how their abilities compare to those your Killer possesses. Additionally, I'd suggest you keep in mind what other perks in the game can already do, and how they compare to your perk concepts. Doing this will also naturally give you resources to improve how you write and elaborate on Killer powers and perks.

  Best of luck in your future endeavors.

  Thank you for the feedback. It is very much appreciated and I plan to make a 2.0 for this killer so it isn't as busted.

  in New Killer Idea Comment by UtopianSlayer December 31, 2023

• @blackhat112 said:

  Sounds very interesting honestly, devs shouldve taken the route of adding more interesting killers a long time ago IMO. Its all the been the same things for forever now.

  When the new killer is a literal pinball machine, i guess anything looks fanastic though.

  Some suggestions honestly might be a more creative power if you're going so far as to make survivor gender a deciding factor in survival.

  Agreed, with instant downs and no charge time instant pallet breaks I just don't know what to add that wouldn't make the killer broken, however I do think it is lacking something.

  in Killer Idea Comment by UtopianSlayer September 3, 2020