'Cruel Limits' Perk needs to change.

ItzNobody
ItzNobody Member Posts: 185
edited August 2020 in General Discussions

'Cruel Limits' is a killer perk belonging to The Demogorgon. Each time a Generator is repaired, all Windows and Vault Locations within a radius of 24 meters from the completed Generator are blocked for all Survivors for the next 20/25/30 seconds.

Cruel Limits is a unique concept in of itself, a perk which reacts to the Survivors completing their objectives rather than hindering their progress. Though the idea has been implemented in other perks, examples being Fire Up, Hex: No One Escapes Death, and Blood Warden, Cruel Limits offers its own response in blocking half of a Survivors defenses. A default Survivor stripped of perks and items is offered two means of defending themselves against the Killer, a Vault Location/Window and a Pallet to drop/vault over.

Unfortunately, Cruel Limits suffers from several flaws based on my experience.

The numbers.

By itself, Cruel Limits sounds appealing when you leave out the numbers detailing its range and lasting effect. One can argue that 24 meters is a wide enough range, close to the terror radius of an average Killer, and should remain in that form. However, maps such as The Game, Rotten Fields, and the Yamaoka Estate are a few examples of realms that offer very low numbers of windows and vault locations, therefore Cruel Limits may rarely come into effect at all. On the other side, maps like Lampkin Lane and Lรฉry's Memorial Institute offer a high number of windows and vault locations, so Cruel Limits will provide an outstanding effect on those maps as well, correct?

Well, in theory yes. That is when we come across the second flaw, it's usage.

Even if Cruel Limits were to block nearly a dozen windows/vault locations for 30 seconds, the Survivor(s) is still offered plenty of space to escape. A pallet if utilized correctly can postpone the Killer for close to or around 30 seconds, thus after the first attack the Survivor may use their increased speed effect from being damaged to escape the confined space and seek shelter elsewhere, where the perk has no effect. That is to say the Killer would be present at the completed Generator to savor the full 30 seconds of Cruel Limits, which again would only function in theory.

The awful truth I have learned from usage/experience from this perk is that Cruel Limits can only partially guarantee the promise of one hit attack to a Survivor, and that is strengthened when the perk is supported by Tinkerer so that you may utilize all 30 seconds of its blocking effect. Even then, the realm you have been given might not be in your favor, the selected Generator spawned in may not have windows/vault locations nearby, and the effect can only do so much to halfway promise you one hit on a Survivor or two.

In short, Cruel Limits does not offer much to promote its usage. So how do we fix this?

I have wondered if buffing its effects would be the correct solution to this, simply increasing the effect and range of the perk would not be enough in my opinion. A rework would be needed. A quick overview of The Demogorgon shows that it focuses on impacting both the environment and its inhabitants in unexpected ways, damaging nearby Generators through its attack in Surge and exhausting Survivors repairing Generators through Mindbreaker.

So, let's offer new ideas for Cruel Limits which affect either the environment or the Survivors.

My idea would be this.

Cruel Limits: Cruel Limits starts with 3 Tokens. When a Survivor uses a Vault Location during a chase, Cruel Limits activates and a Token is consumed. The Vault Location will be blocked off for survivors for 10/15/20 seconds. Auras of Blocked Vault Locations will be revealed to you in a Yellow Aura. Once the area is no longer blocked, the Token is returned to you.

This would allow Cruel Limits to be much more reliable for chases and offer it better perk synergy, while in theory remaining true to the Demogorgon's focus on impacting the environment and the Survivors in unexpected ways. The idea is that this perk lives up to its name, limiting the Survivor(s) from using the same vault twice while in a chase, forcing them to be on the move or make better use of any pallets nearby. To keep Cruel Limits from being too much, Tokens will be consumed which will take some time to retrieve passively. This way the perk would be balanced, at least in my opinion it would.

Do you agree or disagree with my proposed change for Cruel Limits? Support your thoughts and if you have other changes in mind, feel free to share your thoughts and share this idea in case the developers were to notice.

Edit: Credit for the Token system and Cruel Limits perk description goes to Dreamnomad, thank you for the improved description/ explanation! ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ

Post edited by ItzNobody on

Comments

  • Mazoobi
    Mazoobi Member Posts: 1,565

    Oh wow I actually like the rework. It's similar to Bamboozle, but this triggers when the survivor vaults instead of the killer. I'd actually take this over bamboozle actually hehe, but yeah cruel limits as of right now is too situational for it to be viable in a serious build. Perks like these where it requires gens to pop or very eh since gens pop randomly making perks like poised or cruel limits very awkward to use so this rework is definitely needed! I don't have an issue at all with this rework idea at all and it would actually make chases a lot more interesting! Great job!

  • OniWantsYourMacaroni
    OniWantsYourMacaroni Member Posts: 5,944

    Your idea for cruel limits is absolutely amazing.It would make this perk finally useable without making it too strong.

  • Kabu
    Kabu Member Posts: 926
  • NuclearBurrito
    NuclearBurrito Member Posts: 6,807

    I don't get it. How does this work exactly?

  • Dreamnomad
    Dreamnomad Member Posts: 3,927
    edited July 2020

    I would change the wording a little. Something like:

    Cruel Limits- Gain a token every 30 seconds to a maximum of 2/3/4 tokens. Whenever a survivor vaults during a chase lose a token. The location vaulted is blocked off for survivors for 25 seconds.

    Great idea for a rework btw. Totally playable and fair.

  • ItzNobody
    ItzNobody Member Posts: 185

    Perhaps I did not describe it well, my proposed rework for Cruel Limits would have any 3 vault locations that a Survivor were to use in a chase be blocked for 20 seconds, restricting them of using the same vault location in that time. For every vault location blocked by Cruel Limits, of which the maximum are 3, the perk will have a 20 second cooldown. If one vault was blocked for the chase, it would have a cooldown of 20 seconds, but if 2 vaults were blocked then the cooldown would be 40 seconds.

    Dreamnomad provided a better description or wording of my Cruel Limits rework concept under the responses, so that may improve your understanding of my idea. I hope that helps ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ

  • ItzNobody
    ItzNobody Member Posts: 185
    edited July 2020

    This helps make it easier to understand, thank you for that. I am glad my description was able to provide a good enough understanding of the effect I was aiming for.

    I have updated my post using your perk description instead, and left a shoutout/thank you note at the end. Very much appreciated! ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ

    Post edited by ItzNobody on
  • NuclearBurrito
    NuclearBurrito Member Posts: 6,807

    When does the cooldown start exactly. At the end of the chase?

  • NuclearBurrito
    NuclearBurrito Member Posts: 6,807

    TBH yeah, just go with Deams version. A token system makes a lot of sense here.

  • ItzNobody
    ItzNobody Member Posts: 185

    I updated the description so that understanding of the perk idea would be much improved. Thank you for the input, it was very much appreciated.

  • Mr_executioner
    Mr_executioner Member Posts: 40

    I had another idea for the perk hereโ€™s my version

    Everytime a Generator is completed, all windows and vault locations within a 24/32/40 meter radius from the completed generator are blocked for all survivors. This effect persists until another generator is completed.

    so what this means is if a survivor completes a gen that area will have its windows blocked until they complete another generator.

  • Dreamnomad
    Dreamnomad Member Posts: 3,927

    Glad to help. Though you did miss one important detail. "during a chase". It isn't really fair to either the survivor or the killer if tokens are being consumed outside of a chase if a survivor vaults a window on the other side of the map.

  • ItzNobody
    ItzNobody Member Posts: 185

    I did miss that detail, I forgot to add that when I edited the description. Once again, thank you for correcting that ๐Ÿ˜‚

  • TraitorousLeopard
    TraitorousLeopard Member Posts: 156

    As much as I support a buff/rework of Cruel Limits, I don't support this change. It just serves to take tiles and turn them into simplistic loops- a survivor vaults the shack window because it's their only option for extending the chase at shack? Now shack is just a braindead pallet loop- remove all opportunities for faking, predictions, moonwalking, just run around in circles till you have to drop the pallet. It goes from a worthless perk to a pretty strong perk- but a strong perk with no counterplay that only serves to lower the skill used in chases. Plus the limitations are laughable- a free token every 20 seconds just for waiting, and up to 3 tokens? You'd always have tokens.

  • ItzNobody
    ItzNobody Member Posts: 185

    The idea is to always have tokens for reliability, for example I feel Distortion is very valuable but being limited to only 3 tokens makes the perk useless after 3 turns. However, I would appreciate the ability to regain tokens through Safe Hook Rescues, that would encourage more people to use that perk.

    Perhaps if Cruel Limits were to be given the same treatment, what would you say if you had to earn the tokens back through a Hook? Would you feel it would be a fairer perk for Killer?