Gen speed and how to fix them
Most of us recognise that the biggest balancing issue that has never been addressed is the rate of gen repair versus length of chases. Even if a Killer manages their time well and uses their knowledge of the map and game mechanics expertly to earn hooks, there are very few things a Killer can do to prevent the objective from being completed in most settings. They may play the same characters with the same builds in order to have a better chance of winning, which disables variety. And even despite this, Survivors working efficiently and playing decently well can result in generators going online at the speed of sound.
There are three primary ways I would rectify this. (Thanks to discussing with my friend!)
- BHVR has stated that they wouldn't increase gen time due to the experience of sitting in front of a generator being quite dull. If the experience was made LESS boring, that problem might be avoided. Rather than occasional button prompt skill checks, I would propose small puzzles and minigames that are simple enough to not require too much thoughts and engaging enough to keep you busy while doing the objective. This would also force some degree of tension on Survivors as they try to keep aware of their surroundings whilst also trying to avoid failing these minigames.
- Make generator speed dynamic, adjusted to each map and to the strategies Survivors use repairing them. The bigger the map, the longer it would take. This would help Killers with poor mobility and poor means to pressure across maps avoid gen-rush or at least mitigate it. The gen speeds would be relative to the distance of the two farthest inactive gens. If for instance the Survivors end up with three generators close to each other at the end of the game, those three generators would take far less time to be repaired. Conversely, if they are far apart, they would take a much longer time to repair. As such, there would be an element of strategy on both sides that inform the way they play. Where should they begin working first? Will they play safe, or with more risk?
- Maybe as an addendum to the second option, generators having a health stat. Each time a generator is damaged by any means, its health will decrease by 1 point. For every point of damage, that particular generator will have a penalty to its repair. Brand New Parts would then be reworked to enable healing generators to remove this debuff a maximum of 3 times. This change would add further incentive for Killers to kick gens, and for Survivors to get great skill checks to be as efficient as possible.
I believe these changes would be healthier for the game, and allow for a better game experience.
~RosiepaiDaVille