Pyramid Head - Torment Trails

Adjatha

The recent Mid-Chapter update discussed looking back at the Silent Hill content, and mentioned that his Punishment of the Damned is up for review. While the merits of changing this ability may be discussed at length, the seemingly more pressing aspect of his kit that could use a thorough review is his core "Rites of Judgement" ability.

At present, the Rites of Judgement allows Pyramid Head to slow himself down to create trenches. Crossing these trenches at anything other than a crouch triggers Killer Instinct for 3 seconds and inflict Torment on the survivor. The killer gets a notification should this happen and the Torment status unlocks Pyramid Head's "Cages of Atonement" as well as a quick semi Memento Mori for Tormented survivors on their death-hook.

On paper, this seems to be a fairly expansive power that grants the killer information as well as providing an alternative to hooking that bypasses several popular hook-specific survivor perks. The problem, however, is threefold:

• Rites Trenches are high time investment for low game value: At base, you can apply up to 100 'trail elements'. Activating the power involves a large slow down animation, followed by a slight slow down and a severe turning radius limiter. You cannot apply all 100 elements in one use of the power, and it requires time to recharge the power before you can continue to set them down. Additionally, using the Punishment of the Damned consumes 20% of your Trail charge. The elements only last for 75 seconds by default, and will vanish if placed: Near generators, near exit gates, near hooks, near stairs, near the hatch, or in the basement.

That's a LOT of limitations on a power that doesn't make survivors slower, doesn't harm survivors, doesn't assist in chases, can't be used to guard objectives, are extremely visible in almost every map, and can by bypassed by a half-second crouch. Worse yet, these restrictions (especially the placement restrictions) do not exist for any other killer's in-game powers. Elements such as Freddy's Snares/Pallets, Hag's hexes, Trapper's beartraps, or Clown's clouds. While the Demogorgon's portals have similar distance limits for hooks and exit switches, they do not consume your resource in trying to place them and they are viable on the other map elements mentioned.

It seems strange that a non-damaging, non-slowing, non-stealthy power should have more limits than any of the others mentioned. In fact, the only actual value comes from the 3 second alert and the application of Torment. While the alert is useful, being unable to place the trenches in high traffic areas and with their extremely overt appearance, actually having survivors run over them only ever happens at extremely low skill levels or (possibly) in the middle of chases, where the alert provides no information at all. And while Torment unlocks the Cages, not only does sending a survivor to a cage remove Torment from them, but it also removes Torment from the rescuing survivor. This is not a weakness shared by similar conditions, such as the Doctor's "Snap Out Of It" at Madness III, or Freddy's "Wake Up" action (which requires the helping survivor to already be awake).

So, Pyramid Head can spend time digging small trenches as he moves, which will vanish a bit over a minute later. He can't put them anywhere they'd be useful, they're trivial to avoid, and walking on them inflicts a status which conveys nearly no in-game value. Why would killers slow themselves down again and again to set extremely temporary patches that don't actually help them with any part of the game?

• Nearly all of his Add Ons affect Rites of Torment: Pyramid Head has 20 add ons. 12 of these make minor improvements on Rites of Judgement, such as increasing duration of the trenches, the length of time you can make a single trench, and the speed at which your ability recharges. 3 affect the duration of the Killer Instinct which comes from walking on Rites of Torment. One adds a status to Torment, which is acquired through Rites of Torment and one gives you information when you send a survivor to a Cage of Atonement which - again - comes from Rites of Torment. In fact, there are only 3 add ons which do not rely on Trail of Torment (increasing the range of Punishment of the Damned instead).

As discussed above, Rites of Torment is not a strong power, and linking 85% of his add ons to this very flawed system essentially leaves the killer with exactly 3 options: the Punishment of the Damned range add ons. Obviously, Punishment is being rebalanced, which may increase or decrease the value of these three, but it in no way increases the value of the other 17 options.

I won't go through the bevvy of excellent add on options available to other killers which improve their various in-map power elements, but it should go without saying that a variety of builds hinge on clever combinations of certain add ons and certain perks. Nearly every Pyramid Head add on is a minor number increase; A band-aid to make the severely limited power slightly better without addressing any of its core deficiencies. Even the add ons that add status effects only apply ones that do not assist in chasing or downing survivors, and the tracking/stealth elements are so trivial as to be useless.

His Iridescent add ons deserve special mention as being two of the least useful add ons in the game. Obsidian Goblet grants Undetectable while standing in a trench, which might be helpful if he could create them indefinitely instead of in 5 second intervals with 20 second recharge timers. Undetectable does nothing about his tremendous height or the outrageously loud sound cue the survivors hear every time he starts to use a new instance of Trail of Torment, however, making any hopes for 'stealth' a joke. Seal of Metatron is only slightly better: as it is an add on version of the BBQ & Chili perk without the bonus Blood Points. However, like everything related to Trail of Torment, it is shackled with outrageous limitations: triggering only when you send a survivor to a cage, and only reporting the auras for other survivors ALSO suffering from Torment. This would be fine if Torment was permanent, like Madness I, or trivial to inflict, like the Dream World. But, as discussed above, Torment requires an unreasonable investment of time and effort to inflict, and is removed from up to 2 survivors with each Cage, making subsequent uses of this add on even less useful than the first one.

• Punishment of the Damned is really good. Or rather, it CAN be really good, if you are well practiced in landing it. Much like Huntress' hatchets or Plague's corrupt purge, this ranged attack can make up considerable distance during a chase, can damage or down survivors, and can punish survivors who rely on pallets, windows, or low terrain loops.

Does it seem odd for this to be listed as a failure of Trail of Torment? Well, it shouldn't. The strength of Punishment is, I think, justification for the weakness of Trail. Afterall, why should Trail help you chase a survivor via Hindered if you've got Punishment to reach out across pallets? Why should Trail inflict Deep Wounds or a similar gradual-damage mechanic when Punishment can just tag the survivor mid-chase? Why should Trail provide regular Killer Instinct notifications, permanent torment, speed boosts, repair/heal speed reductions, or any other game mechanic when Punishment is already so good?

The real problem is that Punishment is a well thought-out, studiously discussed, and regularly impactful mechanic and because of this, Trail never actually gets the attention it needs. Despite Trail being the gateway for Torment, Cages, and Execution, it is far less effective, powerful, useful, or discussed than its one-trick sister Punishment of the Damned. And while it remains unaddressed, Pyramid Head will continue to be a killer with essentially no Add Ons, no tracking, no slow-down, and no versatility. He will be good in chases, and that is all.

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So, that was a lot of feedback, how about some suggestions? Trail of Torment is severely lacking and I'm certainly not the person to give a mathematical solution to the problem, but I can at least offer some avenues that could be considered:

• Let Punishment of the Damned inflict Torment (or give it an Add On to do so). This doesn't really fix Trail of Torment, but it at least unlocks Pyramid Head's other, far less frequently seen tools.
• Make Torment permanent (or at least, stop Cages from removing it on the rescuer). While Torment has somewhat niche value that largely depend on survivor perks, punishing players who thoughtlessly run through the easy-to-avoid-hard-to-place trenches.
• Remove one or more of the Trail limits. Maybe Pyramid Head can make one big line (of up to 100 elements long). Maybe let trenches be placed around critical stage elements like every other killer mechanic. Maybe let the trails stay in play with no time limit, and only remove them when new trails past the 100 element limit are placed. Any of these would go a long way to making the time investment in setting them up more on par with similar, more powerful mechanics other killers have.
• Remove the slow down while setting Trail of Torment. One of the best feeling parts of playing new Freddy is the ability to drop snares and pallets at full movement speed, on the go.
• Roll all the Trail add ons into singular add ons. Why are there four different add on types for what should be a relatively simple mechanic. Remove all the minor gradations of improvement and just roll it into one. This would also help free up add on slots for far more useful or interesting options. Speaking of:
• Make add ons with useful powers. Maybe one that makes trenches harder to see (like Trapper) or gives him a speed boost after leaving it, like demogorgon. Maybe change the Seal of Metatron to make Pyramid Head invisible while in the trench, so he seems to step out of nowhere. Or maybe make tormented survivors pulse their Killer Instinct when Pyramid Head is within a short radius of them, so it can flush out hiding survivors. Maybe one that makes all survivors start out Tormented. There are any number of excellent options once you throw out (or roll together) all the existing, useless add ons.

Anyway, this was a whole lot of text, but I hope it raised some points we can all agree with. I myself got Dead by Daylight when Pyramid Head was announced as a new killer and I have enjoyed the game immensely, even persuading my friends and family to join in on the fun. It seems like such a shame that I've been enjoying nearly ever other killer more than poor Pyramid Head, though. Seeing that the team is working on re-balancing his Punishment is encouraging: it says that they're not content to simply leave him where he's at, and there's still hope to make those trails of blood barbed wire actually mean something.