http://dbd.game/killswitch
Broken + Skeleton keys: UI and gameplay improvements
I made this suggestion on reddit 3 months ago so I am aware that some of these ideas are already present on DBD mobile. Anyways my suggestion mainly revolves around making Broken keys a more important item in the game and creating that distinction between broken and hatch keys.
Link to the post:
Entirety of post for those too lazy:
TL;DR
Add an item icon in lobbies (either by rarity or default colour) so items aren’t hidden - distinguishes broken and normal keys (Present day edit - rarity can be maintained but if this and an add-on counter is found to be giving too much info for the killer, it can be reverted to just its default colour. The intent of this suggestion is to make the broken key and skeleton key visually different to avoid the tunnelling and moris)
Keys should be coloured by rarity in-game. At least broken key should be green in appearance.
Nerf duration skeleton key - 15 seconds OR 30s minus 1 add-on slot
Buff broken key - 30 seconds total duration
Right off the bat, the 2 big issues with these keys involve their visibility. In lobbies and during games (primarily when they are dropped), they are sometimes near impossible to see. Additionally, the difference between the broken key and the functional keys are not visibly outlined in terms of design.
My suggestion: adding an item icon (excluding add ons) above the survivors in lobbies will bring clarity to a lot of people, especially since items are sometimes hidden from view. This isn’t just with keys, items like medkits and toolboxes get hidden because the survivor model refuses to rotate. This UI overlay would display the items rarity or if this is too much information, simply show the default logo for the item. It would help distinguish between broken and standard keys without making you stare at the survivors hand until it comes into view.
As for the in game visibility, I think it would be a good idea to make the 3 rarity keys appear as the colours they are under. The current dark colour blends in with the ground and is sometimes barely visible in their hand (they’re also running so you won’t notice it sometimes). Medkits appear as red and toolboxes as white, so broken keys should appear in green. If you don’t agree with a distinction being made between the skeleton and dull key, it can be kept as 1 colour (not the current camouflage one) similar to medkits/boxes/flashlights/maps. Either way, the broken key and functional keys should be treated as different items.
For the gameplay aspect, broken keys currently seem completely pointless. It is much more effective to bring a skeleton key and use the add ons which give you aura reading. The broken key and skeleton key should be modified to further distinguish these items and make the broken key more important than it currently is. I understand it’s called a skeleton key, it should be stronger than the dull key but the difference in duration is astonishing. 30 seconds for a skeleton and 5 for dull? I think the dull is in a good spot though, the duration add ons don’t make it too strong and it serves its main purpose of opening the hatch. The skeleton key should be nerfed in duration. 30 seconds is certainly too long, I recommend 15 seconds is much more suitable. You can add 15 seconds with an add on but now the broken key can be made stronger. Don’t like it? The skeleton key can remain at 30s, but if it does it should lose 1 add on slot. Does pretty much the same thing as the first one but comes with a base 15s bead add on. 30 seconds with any aura reading add on is a lot of time, even with the killer reading one. It would keep the skeleton key ‘balanced’, but ensure you can’t capitalise on extended aura reading that otherwise makes the broken key redundant. I recommend the first change as a more suitable route to accomodate the broken key.
As for the broken key, it’s current duration of 10 seconds is laughable. You’re forced to use one of the add ons slots for duration, it doesn’t open black locks, and the only useful add-on on it (without duration) is the obsessions aura. The broken key could go through a name change or remain the same (I don’t care), but it should have a duration of 30 seconds - specialising in aura reading. This will make the broken key much more important and allow you to use the aura reading add ons more frequently (since u cant open the hatch). The only special add ons are survivor aura, killer aura, and obsession aura so the extra duration would definitely allow you to utilise more than 1 of these (probably the best one would be the 48m paired with obsession or the killer + survivor so you can utilise perk slots more efficiently). The ‘don’t lose the key’ add ons would see more presence among the black lock keys.
That about ends my suggestion, lemme know what you think