Are keys really that unbalanced/overpowered?
I don’t understand why the hate for keys. Usually 2-3 survivors will escape with it, the same number you’ll probably kill with a mori. They both end the game faster by the same amount, it seems. Also, you can’t use a key until a certain # of gens is done, probably around 60% usually, and can’t mori until certain # of hooks is reached, 67% per survivor. It seems like they would both end the game faster by approximately the same amount.
I've had one person say you can just hide in a locker until the hatch is spawned and then use your key. While that is possible, I find that unlikely. No one is actually sitting in a locker for 10 minutes. Even if that does happen, it would be only slightly harder for you to wait it out until the exit gates are powered since apparently your all-star team is handling everything else.
I don't know, I'd just like to get some other opinions on this one.
Answers
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Keys were always less earned than moris, as they do not have any form of being countered. Old moris were incredibly unfair and needed to be fixed, but at the end of the day, winning chases against a killer is still possible, it involved at least 2 interactions being won by a killer, per specific survivor. In this setting, potentially 4 survivors can escape, often while having lost to the killer already in any and every interaction. In other situations when a door is already open, a killer stopping to perform a mori gives plenty of time for everyone else to get past them and escape. In the instance of a key, it is instant, and create a third avenue for escape that the killer needs to be aware of, once again, with no interaction from the killer even possible.
There will be times where you are outlooped, or a survivor will pull off an incredible play using a key, but in most situations it is just granting them to be incredibly wreckless and resulting in a cheap and often unnecessary escape.
A great example was literally yesterday for me. A nancy, Nea and Bill were left when the gens powered. I hooked nancy at the far end of the map, as I did I saw bill trying to open a door, he got it 99ed before I hit him. He tried getting out, starting egc, but I downed and then hooked him. He was then dead, I went to patrol the hook and saw Nea's scratchmarks headed towards Nancy on hook, I head over to her and manage a hit on nea, pushing her into a central building. I happened to have BW, and knew hooking nea would lock nancy in. I keep the nea away from the door, she loses the chase badly, but this central building just happened to have hatch. She pops her key, nancy runs out and I couldnt do anything about it. I outplayed every person in this interaction, nea couldnt out loop me, Bill couldnt get out in time, Nancy was no where near the door and I could have chosen to just confirm the kill on the injured instead of going for the healthy Nea, but this key handed these two an escape, even during egc, with no setup or planning, it just sorta fell into their lap. It was an inconsistency that I as a killer had no counter to
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Yes, yes they are.
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Yes and no, depending on how you view it. Most people will equal Keys to Moris which is not a fair comparison. Keys are their own mechanic which, in my opinion, doesn't have a counter from the Killer's side, but also proves to be difficult task to accomplish by itself.
Hatch requires one of two conditions to be met before spawning somewhere in the map:
- Finish generators equal to number of current survivors alive plus one.
- There is only one remaining Survivor alive while the first condition was not fulfilled.
Moris were equal to old Brand New Parts add-ons in toolboxes which automatically fixed a whole generator in a couple of seconds. These were nerfed ages ago to repair up to 25% of a generator instead and Moris went untouched for the longest. Then, Moris required one hook and Killers began to compare them to Keys because of it.
There is no denying it is a strong mechanic that benefits Survivors and could probably use a change for balancing. It is especially broken when facing SWFs teams that defiantly aim for it. For me, a Key is not a game ending mechanic -- in my experience as both Killer and Survivor there has only been a handful for times when Keys proved to be useful.
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