Bad Perk University: Lightborn

Timeman63

Hello class, welcome to Bad Perk University! I'll be your professor for today, and we'll be going over the worst perks The Entity has to offer and see how to make the most out of them. Today, we’re going to cover a rather situational perk that can safely be considered the anti bullying meme perk: Lightborn. Lightborn has a very straightforward effect. It makes you immune to blinding effects such as those from flashlights. In addition to that, the survivor who tried to blind you will have their aura revealed for 10 seconds.

So why is this perk bad? Simply put, the perk is completely dependent on survivors bringing a specific item, which is of course Flashlights. If they don’t have them, this perk does absolutely nothing for you. It’s a perk you have to bring when you see a flashlight in the lobby, or have the omniscience to know that a survivor is going to find a flashlight from a chest. The aura reveal part of the perk can be strong, 10 seconds is enough time to see the survivor run away and track them behind structures, but this only happens if the survivor attempts to blind you in the first place, after which they’ll stop trying to do after they realize you have this perk. Denying survivors of these items is strong, but once it happens, you’re essentially down a perk slot. It’s also worth noting that this perk does not help with Wraith’s and Nurse’s ancient mechanic of Lightburn, where shining a flashlight at Wraith’s body and Nurse’s eyes will stun Wraith out of invisibility and Nurse’s blink charge. Even then, that’s a somewhat niche interaction with Wraith, and when was the last time you Lightburned a Nurse?

So how do we make the most out of this perk? If this was the old version of Lightborn that only reduced the effect of blinding, I would have already binned this perk ages ago. But this is the new Lightborn in the current year, so there is still some merit in bringing the perk. We now have two survivor perks that revolve around blinding the Killer: Blast Mine and Flashbang. Lightborn soft counters Blast Mine and hard counters Flashbang. You’ll still be stunned by Blast Mine, but you can still see, and you’ll see the aura of the survivor that had the audacity to try and deny you of Pop Goes the Weasel. And I imagine you’ll really ruin the day of the survivor who tried to Flashbang you. These perks are common enough that if you see a survivor with a Flashlight in the lobby, chances are Blast Mine and/or Flashbang might also be in play. At the very least, bring Lightborn if you see a Jill or Leon in the lobby and they look new, I guarantee you will annoy them really fast. As far as synergies go, Lightborn unfortunately doesn’t have any, and if anything is weak about this perk, it’s that. Even the perk Nemesis doesn’t work since you need to actually be blinded for it to trigger, which Lightborn prevents. Starstruck might allow you to follow up a flashlight attempt with an instadown, but Starstruck itself heavily discourages survivors from trying such things, so probably not that either. This is a perk that is a lot like Franklin’s Demise, you use it when you see a particular item in the lobby that you don’t feel like dealing with, with the occasional opportunity to counter some perks as well.

Closing thoughts, how do we make this perk better? Trick question, we already have. I apologize that this lesson doesn’t really provide any new insight and revelations on using this perk effectively, but that’s only because this perk fills a particular niche and, honestly, does it pretty well. The current version of the perk may be a one time gimmick that smart survivors won’t try again once they know, but being unable to be blinded completely shuts down those options of altruism for survivors, which is at least something. I see it a bit like Deerstalker, not a common perk, but not necessarily bad at what it does. It’s just not a perk that everyone will use all the time, and that’s alright. So if the perk isn’t even that bad, why did I make a Bad Perk University post about it? Mostly because I didn’t want to make a separate series called “Underrated Perk University”, I already know which perks are underrated and should be given some love. This is about the BAD perks, the ones that most sensible players would avoid using at any cost. Perks like...Predator...oh god…

Thank you for coming to my lesson, see you next class!

PhantomChimera

Lightborne is one of the best perk options. It's amusing how long it take some survivors to realize you have it. Some keep using flashlights over and over even though they don't have any effect.

lauraa

I feel that Lightborn is greater than the sum of its parts. It offers peace of mind. I see it as a comfort perk akin to Shadowborn.

I personally don't use it whatsoever, but I don't blame anyone for doing so. Even when you're directly facing a wall, sometimes survivors still somehow blind you nearly instantly.

ShyPirate

I dislike being blinded in any situation, but absolutely HATE the flashlight bully squads that seem to be able to instantly blind you in every circumstance. Consequently I use lightborn 90% of the time.

I love it when a survivor tries to blind me and I just confidently walk right toward them without looking away. You can almost see the fear in their eyes as they realize what is happening.

PalletsAndHooks

https://forum.deadbydaylight.com/en/discussion/272257/bad-perk-university-lightborn

You forgot about flashbangs and blast mine, in the intro, sir. Excellent overall series pls do more.

UncleStabby

I love using Lightborn to bait flashlighters into a free hit.