Hex: Ruin, a hybrid approach

starpilotsix

Like most changes, the new Ruin proposed changes has some benefits and some drawbacks.

I'm writing this, btw, as a survivor main and... I actually kind of like Ruin? Like, it's irritating when you can't find the totem, but I like that it actually adds variety to the game. Is this a game where Ruin's in play and I just bang out generators until the killer finds me (basic game), or is this a game with a special bonus round of "find-the-totem" first? I don't know going in (and even as red ranks, I found Ruin as far from universal as people claim, it's common sure, but again, that means variety, particularly since sometimes 'find the totem' ends in the first minute of the game)

So, for me, one of the big drawbacks of the changes is there's really no incentive to seek out the Hex totem. Even if you know Ruin's active, it's still a better call to just finish the gen you're on, unless it turns out the killer is REALLY good at map pressure. If the killer's chasing someone, work on a gen, if you see the Hex (and you will eventually), grab it obviously, but there's no pressure to HUNT for it.

The changes also lose out on the red-skill-check-zone effect and the fizzle effect, all that design work for nothing, think of your poor devs having to remove their effects from the game, never to be seen again.

And, the changes disproportionately punish killers who just don't have good map pressure (they can't teleport or enter a super speed mode), compared to ones who do and can effectively make use of it to chase survivors away from gens. Except... killers with good map movement traversal methods are already advantaged in so many ways, so to make a change that hurts them less than other killers seems wrongheaded.

As others have pointed out, the new Ruin is not particularly strong, the benefit devs describe "strong late game" is ridiculous because it'll almost never MAKE it to end game (and it's not even that strong if the gens are spread out).

But, yes, Ruin is annoying for survivor players, though. Seeing your progress set back is frustrating, and particularly if the totem is hard to find, it can make the game just frustrating.

So, my suggestion is a hybrid approach. Keep the 'gens auto regress' method. As you say, it's weak early game, potentially strong late game.

Add back in the red ring and hex skill checks... except now, good skill checks don't set you back. Good skill checks slow you down (with a fizzle effect). Every merely good skill check adds a stackable debuff to that survivor's gen repair speed (for any generator they touch). "That's also going to be annoying as $@!$" you might say. And sure, probably... except, not as much. Great skill checks set your debuf back to 0 (in addition to the normal progress, and, let's just say it, giving something like 500 points instead of a measely 150 for the hex skill check would probably make survivors less annoyed about Ruin in general). So there's still incentive to find the totem, if you're not great at hitting greats reliable and the slowdown irritates you. Or you can just grit your teeth and get through it until you hit a great skill check.

So the Hex still slows down gen progress, but not as much, is less frustrating to the survivors, particularly good ones (good killers face good survivors, and so they will have to rely more on map pressure, not-as-good killers face not-as-good survivors who get more slowdown and still get a benefit even if they take longer to finish a chase) and really frustrated survivors can still play Find-The-Totem to get rid of it.