A genuine question about the meta.
Survivor mains, have you ever considered running a game off meta to try different perk synergies or play styles? If you only ever run the meta (DS, BT, DH, Unbreakable, adrenaline) why do you not change it up and what could convince you to? If you don't always run the meta, what are some great perks not being utilized?
I just had yet another game where the majority of the Survivors are opting for the meta builds.
Lately I've been doing pretty well against them but it's getting so boring going up against the same tactics (bait the dead hard, 360 lunge the juke, slug the most recent unhook who is playing super bold suddenly, slug then find hatch before hooking the final survivor, camp slugged final survivor of possible) nearly every trial.
And since I also play a lot of Survivor I'd like to try out some cool builds.
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Oh no survivors trying to escape. Simple.
Edit: The archives heavily influence my perk choices. Other than that I have off-meta perks in my build because they suit my playstyle.
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They become complacent, and instead of switching things up in higher ranks, they claim 'killers force me to use this build,' as an excuse to keep the same old, same old.
I agree, it's boring, but what can ya do.
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I've tried but killers can't play the same way.
BBQ, NOED, Monitor, Save the Best for Last, Nurse's Calling.
You think I want to run DS, Borrowed Time Sprint Burst and Iron Will? Hell no. I want to run fun perks, but the second I do, I get tunneled, moried, and camped into Oblivion.
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It's clear as day there are only certain perks a majority of the community runs.
This means either we need more perks to rival the strength of the meta perks, or we nerf the meta perks to be similar to their weaker, lesser played options.
I get EXTREMELY tired of seeing the 67th trillion DH or DS tbh.
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There are a lot of great underrated perks out there. People tend to underestimate the amount of information that aura-reading perks, like Alert and Empathy, give the player. Personally, I'm a fan of perks that allow you to escape by doing things the killer isn't expecting - so Poised and Tenacity are two of my favourites for that reason.
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I run some combo of DS, DH, IW, BT, Spine Chill+Resilience
when with SWF i may use Head on builds or something goofy, but normally just stick to what works, no real reason other than its consistent
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You're not the only one who gets tired of seeing Meta Perks every game.
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Do you ever consider running poised with SB and Fixated?
I am more asking because I want to know if it is a decent survivor build. I am not good at making those (killer builds are different stories though).
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To some extent it's a prisoners dilemma of sorts - both sides want to bring fun builds, but think the other side could be using the meta so they do as well. I agree that variety is great and I often vary my builds but some perks are blatantly more powerful which is a problem in itself. DS for example is predictable and boring by now, but getting non-obsession games in solo queue gets old quickly and it's a strong perk anyway hence its fairly common usage.
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This is why I love Dark Devotion and Aftercare. : D
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"Survivors force me to tunnel and run NOED"
it goes for both sides
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I impose a max of 2 meta perks on all my builds and no DS+Unbreakable, I find that the people who just use all meta perks are lame and then the rely completely on their perks instead of their own skill and they new try to tinker with other perks to make new fun build instead of the same old boring DS, BT, DH, Unbreakable
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Aura reading perks are very map dependent too
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Cool, thanks!
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I'm very anti meta in my survivor build, the only meta I ever being is BT during swf, if I'm solo que it's Lithe, Kindred, Urban, and Self Care since I prefer to play sneaky and don't trust other to bring the killers attention to me. For killer apparently now Monitor and Abuse is meta but the only meta imo killer perk I bring is BBQ for those sweet sweet bloodpoints.
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This is why I have other accounts at lower ranks. So I CAN play with underpowered/underrated perks, not have a horrible time and have some fun with new ideas since I can't really convince other people do to some customs with me.
Maybe if I start streaming, then I could. If cross-play comes soon, I might even look into it more.
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Same here, I think that's most of the power of perks like the ones I mentioned, as well as things like Blood Warden or Diversion. It's one of the reasons that I'm against the idea of underused perks being buffed just because they're underused, because for a lot of them their strength lies mainly in the fact that they are niche to begin with.
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Well, Fixated doesn't really synergise with Poised because it only affects walking speed, and the entire point of Poised is to be able to sprint without consequence for 10 seconds per generator. Sprint Burst would definitely work with it, I just personally wouldn't run that combo because I'm not a fan of Sprint Burst in general and the playstyle it enforces. Given that playstyle, though, SB and Fixated do synergise fairly well, so if you wanted to run all three together it could work.
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In what sense? I can see that something like Alert would probably give more of an advantage on a map with lots of pallets, but other than that, "very" map dependent seems like an overstatement, unless there's something I'm missing.
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But at least that's ultimately to the advantage of those who do, because no one is expecting to be tricked 😉
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I was more using Fixated for the ability to see scratch marks. So you could see where they would be, and because Fixated works with SB.
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Ah, I see. Well, if you were going to use that combo, I'd use it for the Sprint Burst synergy. Given that Poised removes scratch marks, I can't see Fixated giving you much use there. I guess it could give you a heads up for when the effect of Poised runs out, but you can get the same information just by watching the timer on the Poised icon and saving that slot for something more worthwhile.
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Well, it would round out a build. But that is why I am asking, since survivor is not my forté.
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I love using perks that aren't in the meta. I spent so many BP leveling up Laurie to get DS, and now I barely use it because when I bring it, I never need it, but when I don't bring it, I need it. So I'd rather just use perks that might get some use.
One perk that I LOVE running is We'll Make It, and I will chase down the person I unhooked to heal them speedy because it makes it SO FAST that even if the killer returns, I can usually finish and take the protection hit. For similar reasons, I love Resilience. I don't mind being a one-hit down for that 9% speed boost, and honestly if the killer has one-shot abilities anyway, it's silly to heal. (I run Iron Will with it for this reason.)
I've also been playing Tapp a lot recently, and I run his three teachables plus Borrowed Time (I just love it too much, and more often than not I need to use it), and it's such a different gameplay than usual. Detective's Hunch is a great counter to NOED, and it's like a built-in totem counter, and the number of times I've made the killer waste a little extra time with Tenacity is great. Even the benefits of great skill checks from Stake Out can really help in a pinch. I honestly just really love Tapp's teachables to the point I haven't wanted to really alter my build on him.
I may never rank up to reds or wtv, but that doesn't really bother me because it's more fun to me to test things out.
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I’ll be honest - this is more of a matchmaking issue. you shouldn’t have to go against high ranks as a green rank killer. BUT - it is because they’re high ranks that they are running meta perks.
A rank 1 killer WILL make you use DS (no DS - you’re tunneled twice, dead on hook, easy 3 v 1 for him), Unbreakable (no UB - you get slugged for the last survivor, then either bleed out or get moried, OR the killer will have your entire team slugged at 5 gens and UB could have helped, either way - much time wasted), and Borrowed Time (no BT - killer will slug unhooker, down unhooked. OR just camp and tunnel the unhooked, get ez sacrifice).
Dead Hard is whatever, I use it in every build, but you get dedicated way more than it actually works. Not an OP perk.
I play more killer than survivor, and IMO survivor meta is what it is because high rank killers made it that way. Sorry matchmaking sucks. I’m sure 3 green rank survivors would have less meta builds.
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Sure. As I said, Sprint Burst synergises with Poised, and Fixated synergises with Sprint Burst, so if you're going to use Sprint Burst, Fixated is a perfectly good complement. But I wouldn't use just Fixated on its own with Poised, unless you have no better options.
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I agree and disagree. I play Survivor with friends who don't use the meta, I don't use it in high ranks even solo and unless I am tunneled I do really well without it. At this point green rank killers are red rank. In almost a year of playing this game I have never gotten higher than rank 8 killer and this is how about 70% of my matches for rank and about 90% of my matches for survivor builds go. I'm so used to this matchmaking that I don't even look at the numbers on that side of the screen lol
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I'm so sure.
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That's a disgusting group of survivors. What would they do without those builds.
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They don't, those are just trash killers. Survivors who 'need' to run DS, DH, IW, BT every game are the same. If I can do all survivor adepts in 1 week at red ranks, they can win without resorting to using every meta perk under the sun.
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Probably lose. Because when I played that game I thought I was facing Rank 20s
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I switch it up, but the Tome challenges do help. I like to make builds based on the challenge I'm doing, but I like to mix it up with or without the Tome challenges too. The Tome challenges sometimes does force me to use perks I never use, like today I used Boil Over and its a very weak perk imo... I would most likely not use it if there wasn't a challenge it was good for
I honestly don't run a full meta build ever.
This is the order on what I use the most from the meta perks you mentioned
DH, BT, DS, Adrenaline, Unbreakable
DH is my go to Exhaust perk (I do use others) Doesn't always work tho
BT I use sometimes, more often than the others currently
DS I only use if I've been tunneled a lot that day, but I hate to use it because a lot if the time its not worth it; not able to be used
Adrenaline- Honestly I should use this perk more often because it has really saved my butt
Unbreakable- I don't use it...
Perks that are not those that I like to use are:
Resilience- I probably run this and DH the most of any perk, love it! This is probably my favorite survivor perk... its also my pic lol I just realized that
Spine Chill- It synergizes well with Resilience and there was I time when I felt naked when not using it, but I dont really use it anymore
Iron Will- very good perk and also synergizes well with Resilience
Quick and Quiet- It can really confuse the killer, I'm not a sneaky hider survior btw
Nancy's Locker Perk- clean a totem and jump in a locker to heal for I think 8 seconds (I'm thinking of these on the spot btw)
Bond- Lets you know what your teammates are up to... odds are not much...
Well, those are some perks that I like to use that are not in the meta you mentioned.
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I just use the DBD Randomizer app. It makes games more challenging and also creates unique playstyle and confusion in my opponents. Underused perks - such as Deja Vu - have caused Killers more problems than I have counted, and I also feel it encourages more inventive play and better skill.
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Wouldnt that apply for the opposite side, too? That "force me to use this build" is the same argument killers use to justify running NOED etc.
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Self care, botany, resilience, and spine chill will give you vault speed and fast heals. It's one of my favs
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Sure, I won't deny that. But then, once you get to higher ranks, doesn't NOED usage drop off? I've only ever made it to purple as survivor (grew bored), but in the last month, I've only seen NOED a handful of times. Take it with a grain of salt, since again, I don't have much interest in survivor play.
Alternatively, survivors from brown to red ranks usually run the same builds every time, with maybe one or two perks swapped out here and there for slightly less meta perks. I've got a growing collection of snaps I've been taking in my current run as a perkless Bubba, and it's rather depressing how many survivors run the same builds at red ranks, repeatedly.
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I get you, I always put effort into my builds, trying to swap them as much as possible, just to go against survivors that just run DS-Unbreakable-Dead hard-Self Care. But what can I do?
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Screw meta
Meme builds are the best builds
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This. It's why I dont go to higher ranks. Green is where I stay
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i honestly dont understand how people even have fun using 4 meta perks in one build. like, its just so boring being able to win every match because you’re carried by 4 perks
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Because they want to?
I mean you can attach all sorts of reasons, such as they have no skill, they are boring and just want to win, they want to bully you. At the end of the day none of it really matters because what it all boils down to is choice, and in most cases BOTH sides are going to choose the perks they think will help them win.
Personally my playstyle fits the non meta, but I'm not going to concern myself with what the other side has even if it becomes an annoyance. While i kind of agree with you that the same thing over and over is boring, at the end of the day it is a game, people want to win and will choose the best method, particularly any method that appears to work well, in order to achieve that.
Perhaps this is a good enough reason to take a look at perks, and if they are changed then hopefully it would be an actual balanced one rather than heading directly to nerf town.
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Honestly, few things in this game annoy me more than seeing 3 fellow survivors in the post game, 3 DS/Unbreakable, 3 DH's, and either Adrenaline or BT. It breaks my heart sometimes, especially if the killer is purple or lower. It's like they are entitled to do whatever they want but woe be unto any killer that wants to bring their own lazy stuff. Seriously, if someone plays survivor and they bring 4 second-chance perks they really don't have the right to complain about Freddy.
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One of my current favourite builds is Iron Will, Wake Up, Resilience and Spine Chill. This is such a great build that I’ve never seen anybody else use. If you’re injured and opening the exit gate, you’ll do it 24% faster. This has really helped me escape a lot during the EGC. I feel like I get paired with teammates who just die really fast so I needed something to at least let me escape.
I’m playing as Jeff a lot at the moment and on him i’m using Distortion, Aftercare, Spine Chill and Pharmacy. I try to stay away from DS, BT, Unbreakable and Dead Hard. They just feel like new starter perks to me.
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Survivors don't have specific powers, so there's a lot less synergy that they can create with perks. The meta are meta because they're powerful and because they work against things that killers have as basekit, such as slugging, tunneling, camping.
Fun builds are obviously possible, but they're just that: fun, not best.
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For me, personally, I like to change it up a lot because I also play as Killer, and since I have problems with my rank and matchmaking putting me with Survivors far beyond my skill level, I have moments after matches where I see nothing but red ranks and all the meta perks and I'm just like "...really? Was all that necessary?" so I have sympathy for the Killers I face lol. Also, I get really tired of using those perks. I've found that the most fun perk for me is Autodidact because it's more challenging to use and has more of a satisfying payoff when I do use it. At this point, I only really use perks like DS and BT when I play with my friends because I'm at red ranks usually and they are usually at yellow and gray ranks so there's a big chance that we get paired with a camping/tunneling Killer.
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I like to run deliverance especially if I solo queue it's pretty fun
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I don't use the meta perks.
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This confuses me. How? Do you double pip 1 game and then toss the next 2? Doesnt that get boring? Youre essentially throwing 2/3rds of your play time. 1/2 if youre only single pipping.
And if you only do just enough to safety in the greens you arent doing much
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Ngl, I run a meta build, but I've been running it since it WASN'T meta.
Resilience, Spine Chill, Lithe and Iron will. This used to be an off meta build, but after SC's healing got nerfed, this specific build became SUPER strong and is now meta. I don't switch it up because I'm not that confident anymore in my ability to survive without Resilience or to counter Stealth killers without Spine Chill (I did before my break all the time).
That being said, I should start getting used to the game without this tbh, would make it more fun.
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People aren't necessarily running those perks because they're the meta. Your gameplay experience is extremely affected by perk choice. Many people don't want to wait in a long survivor queue to get farmed off the hook without BT and put right back on the hook because they didn't bring DS.
I think DS can be extremely annoying when I play fair as killer and still get hit with it, but I 100% understand why nearly every survivor runs it because I play a lot of survivor as well. Survivors shouldn't have to rely on perks to avoid a miserable gameplay experience.
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