They in no way nerfed what made the Executioner strong. (long post)

Chewy102

Being unable to see the aura of cages is a minor nerf at best. And a cage being relocated when you are near isn't anything of note either, this can be a minor/random buff in fact.

The bulk of what makes the Executioner strong is his ranged attack, the time he saves not hooking or stalling Survivor pathing, and being able to bypass 2nd chance perks. NO PART of ANY OF THESE aspects of the Executioner was touched and he remains what Id call a viable Killer thanks to it. He is still by far a Killer worth playing and in my eyes still needs adjustments for tipping the scales a bit too far in his own favor.

Examples.

His ranged attack.

It, like Nurse's blink, can allow an Executioner to ignore the VAST majority of Survivor supposedly "safe" areas and tools they can use against the Killer. You almost can't loop a good Executioner at all. Loops even get weaker AFTER a pallet is dropped! Normally a dropped pallet means any decent Survivor is safe from the Killer. Some pallets are beyond 100% safe in fact. But an Executioner can land hits while you are locked in animation thanks to his ranged attack. There isn't anything a Survivor can do against it either. Bait the pallet vault? Exe can wait you out to land a M1. Commit to the vault? Exe commits as well hitting you in animation lock.

Dropped pallets are a DEATH SENTENCE against a Exe! I have seen VERY few that are good against him as a Exe can wait and react instead of predict the Survivor. A Exe knows the pallet is there and knows that all he has to do is wait and maybe hold M2 a moment beforehand. The Survivor almost has no choice but to take a hit when looping a downed pallet much, no, exactly like against a Nurse. And looping a standing pallet isn't much better.

Windows as well aren't much of a safety against Exe. They are faster than pallets, so less of an animation lock. But a good Exe can see them beforehand and react accordingly just like he can with pallets.

Time spent not hooking.

Cages got a nerf. Yes, but that nerf didn't touch what made cages good. That being just how much time you save putting someone in a cage.

Roughly speaking, it takes around 10-20 seconds to hook a Survivor. A few seconds to pick them up, around 2-15 seconds to walk to a hook, and a few more seconds to finally hook him/her. This isn't even a certain thing either. Another Survivor can save the downed person by doing a pallet stun, flashlight blind, sabotaging a hook, or simply body blocking long enough. And this is IF there is a hook close enough to start with. Then there are Survivor perks to deal with. Not just DS. But Breakout, Head On, or Boil Over that all makes hooking someone more of a risk.

Putting someone in a cage though? That takes like 5 seconds total. No risk of them being saved, no risk of them wiggling out, and no Survivor perks to deal with. That is an INSANE amount of risk prevented and time saved for a Killer! Even if you manage to put someone in a cage only a single time in an entire game, that is more time saved than almost anything else in the game offers for Killers by perk or add-on. So what if it can be an instant unhook or you can't see where the cage is. You already made you gains in time saved and are back to hunting.

This "nerf" also didn't effect the OTHER detail that makes cages good. Its 2nd stage. Someone in the struggle stage has to do ever harder skill checks or die. These skill checks aren't that hard, but it is harder than mashing spacebar. And odds are someone WILL miss one of them before their timer fully runs out and a SINGLE missed skill check is death. So not only do cages save time in multiple ways, they also kill Survivors faster to put even more pressure on the others to save them sooner rather than later.

The Executioner is still a viable Killer. This "nerf" is worthless and does nothing to harm him at all. Only the players using him wrong are effected by this "nerf". Here are a few ways I play the Executioner.

1- NEVER break pallets unless you need to! Treat playing an Exe like Nurse and don't bother breaking pallets. Use them, and windows, instead as bait for your ranged attack. The only pallets I can recall that need breaking are double pallets and those that have no ways around. The Game is likely the map with the most of these pallets. That basement is a perfect example. But normally god pallets like in Killer shack are only slightly annoying. You might want to break it if the Survivor is that good, but don't need to for the most part.

2- Leave trails in choke points and NEVER spend more than 1/2 of your power on a single trail. Exe saves a lot of time compared to other Killers, but that doesn't mean you can waste that time placing worthless trails all around the map. Drop a few blobs here or there at doors, pallets, windows, or common paths. Works best for indoor maps but outdoor maps are too open for choke points. So just stick to blobs as you walk past areas when outdoors. This forces Survivors to slow down, just a bit, giving you more time to hunt them. And if they step on a trail to get Torment? GREAT! You are setup for a cage when needed without needing to work for it.

3- Place trails mid looping. If a Survivor is looping you at a pallet, just drop a blob on it. You are only slowed to 110% move speed, so you will still make ground on them doing this. But it also makes certain the Survivor needs to either run away from said loop, allowing you to M1, or run through the trail to setup a cage for later. Do this even if they have Torment. It works as a mindgame around pallets/windows forcing the Survivor to react to you.

4- NEVER waste torment on a 1st hook!! Notice I put 2 exclamation marks on that. NEVER waste torment on a 1st hook. The only reason you should be putting someone in a cage on their 1st hook is if you instantly see someone else to chase or need to do so to prevent a flashlight/pallet save. Save Torment for 2nd hooks. This offers a LOT more pressure on other Survivors to save them before death, while also preventing ANY chance of being hit with DS from their 1st hook.

5- Work on your mindgames. Exe is a Killer Survivors need to react to mid chase more than most Killers. Use this. If you can force a Survivor to react to you without fully committing yourself. Then you just baited that Survivor and setup for a hit. Learn your Killer fundamentals well and they will make an Exe great.

6- DO NOT go for risky ranged attacks. Stick to using them at choke points and animation locks. Every time you miss a ranged attack it means the Survivor can gain quite the lead. If you think you will miss or that they can dodge it, just don't take that risk. This is more or less like playing Demogorgon. Your power is of much better use as bait or a mindgame than damage.

7- Change up your builds time to time! This one you should do for all Killers. Im currently running an anti healing build on Exe. Distressing for stealth (yes, I use Distressing as a stealth perk) to combo with his powers and other perks. Coulrophobia as the anti healing who combos with Distressing very well. Blood Echos to combo perks further and counter even more Survivor perks. And Deathbound as another anti healing, information gathering, and additional stealth.