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Why the abundance of weak killer add-ons?

I think this is a serious problem that never gets talked about. There are so many add-ons for killer that do next to nothing for you, or that actively work against you. About half of a killer's many different add-ons are useless in my opinion (as well as others' opinions), which is pretty insulting to the killer players of this game. Many of them could be great add-ons if their numbers were tweaked a bit. But unfortunately most are either speed limiter level (useless) or iri hatchet level (busted). I'm mainly concerned with the weaker ones, because the state that they're in, which is unplayable, is what causes killers to use meta add-ons all the time. The joke add-ons like speed limiter should never be common, because every time you're forced to buy one of them in the bloodweb, that's wasted bp because we will never ever use them unless we're smurfing against rank 20s or something. The Hillbilly add-on that makes your overheat go down faster while a flashlight is on you is a complete joke. Deathslinger's iridescent, like most iridescents that aren't iri hatchet, sucks. Having to fire at almost max range just to get an instadown? Not worth it. There's just so much that I could go into regarding how bad most of these add-ons are, but I think I've made my point.

Comments

  • Terro
    Terro Member Posts: 1,171

    IDevs try to make a killer decently balanced base kit. Since the killer is balanced around base kit add-ons are really hard to do correctly.

  • CornHub
    CornHub Member Posts: 1,864

    Some of the killers are still great with no add-ons, I'd imagine if they buffed Freddy and PH's worst add-ons they'd be making an already strong killers even stronger. Imagine a Freddy ultra-rare that gave him dream snares and pallets or a PH that makes his trail of torment never disappear. They probably pull phrases out of a hat for some of these add-ons I'll admit.

  • TheClownIsKing
    TheClownIsKing Member Posts: 6,278

    Here I come again with my unpopular, controversial opinions.

    I actually think the complete opposite. I think MOST (other than the silly extra bp add ons) are seriously under appreciated.

    Few have the patience to persist with a lot of add ons to actually milk the advantage from rare, ultra rare, and iridescent add ons.

    Iridescent Coin can seem rubbish until you actually come across a Deathslinger that’s mastered using it. (I personally have, and it was an oppressive and hopeless match).

    BHVR are getting (mostly) smarter about the design of rare, ultra rare, and iridescent add ons. Rather than them being brainless: just equip and win, they provide an increasing level of advantage or payoff at the expense of either:

    • a trade off that needs to be considered
    • or an increase in difficulty or skill in order to be rewarded with the add on’s advantage
    • or needs to have some deliberate thought into how the killer plays or strategises in order to get use out of the add on.

    Another great example is Pyramid Head’s Obsidian Goblet. Undetectable when walking/standing on Rites of Judgement Trails seems weak until some deliberate thought is put into where trails are being pathed, and if the killer is being deliberate about frequently using the trails as a means of travel. It’s an add on that requires that the player actually THINK about how to use it rather than give the player easy, mindless, passive Undetectable without changing how they’d usually play.

  • Withered8
    Withered8 Member Posts: 1,241

    You may think it's controversial but I 100% agree with this. Add-ons shouldn't provide gamebreaking advantages for free, and if they do incredibly buff a killer they should require skill or change of playstyle on the killers part. Plus there are already plenty of addosn which provide insane effects for free atm, just looks t some of freddys stronger add-ons or spirits greens.

  • Sonzaishinai
    Sonzaishinai Member Posts: 7,976

    I wish the killers i played best addon where commons.

    Having to fish for specific green addons is a rng nightmare

  • RaSavage42
    RaSavage42 Member Posts: 5,566

    I second this...

    Before they were just thrown on and play

    Now the Devs have put more thought into how each (rare, vary rare and Iri addons work)

    So the Devs are going back and making those adjustments along with perks

    But honestly I think they should've started with Trapper and Wraith- cause they are the oldest killers and deserve to be updated

  • Warcrafter4
    Warcrafter4 Member Posts: 2,917

    You now also have to consider the following:

    Are these add-ons fun for the killer?

    If an add-on is balanced around 5 separate hard conditions its probably not going to be fun and won't be used.



    For as much as people bemoan the more powerful Pink/Red addons they are also the only ones used because they are fun to use.

    Iri coin isn't used due to its condition being too hard for it to be fun for the majority and thus sees very little to no play by most Slinger players.

  • DaKnight
    DaKnight Member Posts: 720

    The obsidian goblet is pretty terrible. It's basically insidious but you can move a little bit. The best use I have gotten out of it has been executing tormented people off hooks after hiding behind a nearby object. Kind of like wraith or ghostface with a mori, but as an add-on. The trails don't really last long enough to use it to move between generators undetected; you will only be in a position to set up those kinds of situations if the game is already won.

  • crow13312013
    crow13312013 Member Posts: 61

    Gotta find the right combo for your devs to work to your advantage Like my silent hill killer he gets it done most of the time

  • DragonMasterDarren
    DragonMasterDarren Member Posts: 2,873

    as a demo main this continues to be a annoyance, at least it's cheap to get i guess

  • Lufanati
    Lufanati Member Posts: 198

    I mostly play ghostface and it is honestly so annoying to have to always set one add-on slot aside for the chewed pen, and besides that, there's like 3 other add-ons you'll ever want to use. Ghostface's only redeeming add-on is the matchbook. It's pretty handy and common.

  • SnakeSound222
    SnakeSound222 Member Posts: 4,467
    edited November 2020

    It also means the Bloodweb is going to be full of junk most of the time. Having more good add-ons would mean that you don't feel like you're wasting your points on most of them. I don't want to spend 6,000 BP on an add-on that does almost nothing.

    What really upsets me is that most of Demo's add-ons just have really low numbers and that it only has three Shred add-ons. The numbers can easily be increased and Shred is also a part of Demo's power, so we shouldn't leave it in the dust when it comes to add-ons. I wouldn't mind seeing add-ons that effect both Shred and portals, kinda like Doctor's add-ons affecting both his shocks and Madness effect.

  • Because most decent to great killer add-ons are incredibly OP and if they were all THAT effective the game would be completely lopsided

  • notlonely
    notlonely Member Posts: 391

    The worst part is how the gap between killers with good add-ons and killers with crappy add-ons is so large. Demo is by far the weakest, and most of Huntress' and Freddy's add-ons could also use a rework. Then there's Plague who has arguably the best add-ons because of how much they change her playstyle, and Nurse and Spirit also have decently good add-ons (except nurse's red ones).

  • jerakal
    jerakal Member Posts: 246

    Killer add-ons are long overdue for an overhaul. Too much garbage, too many killers are dependent on add-ons. It's a mess. It makes me stressed to played certain killers because I feel like if I have a bad match then I've wasted those add-ons.

  • Primalux13576
    Primalux13576 Member Posts: 3

    For me hillbilly add ons are an example of bad addons. I would swear that all those engravings add ons harm you more than helps 😅

  • Creepa99
    Creepa99 Member Posts: 80

    Thing about it is though is survivors mains will be crybabies about it like always. I really feel like BHVR is scared to do most stuff to killers because of it being a 1v4 game. Would you rather lose 1 player or 4 players due to a change? And also the 4 players are crybabies the whole time can't forget about that.

  • Go_Go_Roboto
    Go_Go_Roboto Member Posts: 330

    If you put BPs into the bloodweb, you'll get add-ons you want eventually. That's how it is designed. There are enough add-ons that it's impossible to make all good ones without redundancies if balance is kept in mind since killer powers can only be modified in so many ways.

    The game is meant to be a grind in one way or another to max characters out and get everything you want on a regular basis.

    It's not meant to be insulting, it's just game design you don't prefer.

  • SunderMun
    SunderMun Member Posts: 2,789

    This. Honestly I think he should have an add-on that makes him more stealthy. Sure, one of his UR's technically does that, but it doesn't, because the numbers are too low.

  • SunderMun
    SunderMun Member Posts: 2,789

    This isn't helping; it's just plain insulting to a large portion of the player base. Get over yourself.

  • SunderMun
    SunderMun Member Posts: 2,789

    I quite like comboing the Pills with enduring, and lopro chains are fun, but yeah the rest of his add-ons are either pointless or have too much of a downside to be of any real value.

  • hillbillyclaudmain69
    hillbillyclaudmain69 Member Posts: 1,528

    80% of flashlight add-ons are useless.

    Glass and ring for keys don't help in the match at all.

    Map add-ons are all worthless for a rainbow map.

    Toolboxes are bad with and without add-ons.

  • Xbob42
    Xbob42 Member Posts: 1,117

    Yeah, but those are useless. Useless isn't meme-level bad. You want to see what meme add-ons do? Please enjoy my Adrenaline Vial/Placebo Tablet Blight match.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddnpYku6wYU

  • ZaKzan
    ZaKzan Member Posts: 544

    The devs do not legitimately play the game at a high enough skill level to be able to properly design addons or balance the game properly for that matter. They do not take advice from players that do play at a high skill level. So we get addons that are either useless or actually detrimental to killers, with rarity meaning absolutely nothing.

    I'll never forget the Billy rework addon that epitomized this. The one that increased your movespeed when someone was shining a flashlight on you. This showed that the devs do not even understand basic flashlight use, that the only time a survivor is going to flashlight you without giving you a free hit is when you are stuck in an animation or stunned. They did end up changing this addon, but the fact that this addon got greenlighted is amazing, as people were pointing out how stupid it was even before the PTB.

  • danielmaster87
    danielmaster87 Member Posts: 9,713

    That's not an excuse to make 2/3 of all killer add-ons garbage.