Reworking Regression
So there's been some frustration about gen rushing and after playing Killer for a bit for some challenges, I can see why. Sometimes games close out just a bit too fast.
Playing as Pyramid Head with Trail of Torment, though, also drew my attention to another issue, which is that generator regression rarely works. For that reason, I started thinking about throwing the killer a bone when it comes to slowing down generator progression, and suggest a Regression rework.
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CURRENTLY
A killer can damage a generator to make it regress at 1/4th the speed with which it can be repaired. This action takes two seconds, and regression ends the moment a survivor works on the generator.
A survivor getting struck while working on a generator incurs no penalty.
Hex: Ruin makes generators regress the moment survivors stop working on them, at 1/1.5/2x the normal regression speed.
Oppression makes 3 random generators start regressing the moment the killer damages a generator. 120/100/80 second cooldown
Surge makes all generators within 32 meters start regressing when the killer downs a survivor with a basic attack.
Trail of Torment gives the killer the 'undetectable' status after damaging a generator, for as long as the generator is regressing.
Technician removes the loud noise notification on a failed skillcheck, in exchange for increasing the progression penalty by 5%.
Visionary reveals nearby generators. Incurs a 20 second cooldown when a generator is completed.
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PROPOSAL
Any generator that is left unattended for 5 seconds will enter -Passive Regression-, at 1/4th repair speed. Passive Regression stops the moment a survivor begins repairing it again.
A killer can damage a generator to bring it into -Active Regression-, at 1/4th repair speed, and immediately start Passive Regression, totalling a regression of 1/2 repair speed. When a survivor interacts with a generator in Active Regression, they must work on it for 2 seconds, uninterrupted, in order to stop its regression. Survivors will be faced with one skill check halfway through the two second repair activity, regaining .5% progress on a good check and 1% on a great check. Failing the check will set off a loud noise notification, but it will not remove progress.
A survivor getting struck while working on a generator will incur the same penalty as a failed skill check.
Hex: Ruin causes any generator that is not being worked on to immediately enter -Passive Regression-, and increases Passive Regression by 0/50/100%.
Oppression puts 3 random generators into Active Regression when the killer damages a generator. 140/120/100 second cooldown.
Surge makes all generators within 32 meters start passive regression when the killer downs a survivor with a basic attack.
Trail of Torment gives the killer the 'undetectable' status after damaging a generator, for as long as the generator is in active regression.
Technician removes the loud noise notification on a failed skillcheck, in exchange for increasing the progression penalty by 5%. Additionally, after working on a generator for at least 10 seconds, the next time it goes into active regression, the time required to pull it out of active regression is reduced by 100%.
Visionary reveals nearby generators. Incurs a 20 second cooldown when a generator is completed. Visionary will always show a generator in active regression within range. When repairing a generator in Active Regression, the value of the skill check is increased to 1% on a good check, and 2% on a great check.
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The reason behind all of this is that, while chases can take very long and that can certainly be a problem, it's hard to change this without breaking a fundamental part of what makes the game work. Chases need to be a bit lengthy in order to allow players to test their mettle against each other, and in my opinion, generators need to be slowed down a bit to make room for longer chase plays.
Currently, damaging a generator is not really a viable option unless you're camping it, and it is rarely worth the 2 seconds spent damaging it. I'm hoping to counter this by making active regression more punishing, so that it generally breaks even with the time invested under the worst conditions.
This also creates space for some underwhelming perks to get a new gameplay element to hook into, as there is currently no real interaction between survivors and damaged generators. Particularly Visionary could be given some work (The above is just one possible suggestion) to make it actually worth some consideration.
One last important element: Rather than a little electrical sizzle and some sparks, a killer damaging a generator should really make it blow up like a failed skillcheck does. It's just cosmetic, but giving the damaging animation a bit of oomph really can't hurt.