Bad Perk University: Predator

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. Alright students, I’ve taught you about the tragedy of Huntress Lullaby, the martyrdom of No Mither, the duncish duo of Dead Man’s Switch and Furtive Chase, and the well intentions of Solidarity. But today, the freshman gloves are coming off, I think it’s time to cover a truly bad perk. We’re talking about Predator. There are many horrid things you can say about this perk, but perhaps most despicable of all is that this perk is yet another noob trap, a trick for those who are just new to the game and don’t know any better, falling victim to this perk in the promise of a beneficial effect. A serpent in our garden of perks...that admittedly have some rotten apples in them regardless, but still. Predator, on paper, sounds like a nice perk. Scratch marks that are left by survivors while running will cluster together closer to each other, with the effect increasing per tier. While there isn’t a numerical value to go off of, since the code for scratch marks is too technical for that, you can very clearly see the effect of the perk when using it yourself, not that you should.

So why is this perk bad? Scratch marks can already be difficult to see sometimes, especially in grass and cornfields (as a Blight player, Coldwind is my sworn enemy). So why wouldn’t a perk that makes scratch marks easier to see be good? The thing is about this perk, it’s a bit like Bloodhound. It makes those tracking tools easier to track with, but you could very well do without them if you don’t have visibility issues. At least in the case of Bloodhound, you could make that argument, but not so with Predator. In fact, this is the only perk in the game that I believe can actually be detrimental. Yes, even more so than Dying Light, and here’s why. Scratch marks are useful because it allows you to see where a survivor has run off to if you happen to lose them for a little bit during a chase, but perhaps just as importantly, it allows you to see where a survivor has run off to before you even chase them. In outdoor maps, scratch marks can show up on rocks and trees near a survivor’s running path. This can allow you to track down a survivor before they even realize you’re onto them. Of course, that doesn’t really matter if they have Spine Chill, but that’s beside the point. The point is, this is an option for tracking survivors. When you use Predator, this doesn’t happen anymore, or at the very least it will rarely happen. Because the scratch marks are more clumped together, they’ll show up on the ground more often, instead of the surrounding terrain. So not only does this perk only help you with tracking scratch marks a little bit easier, it actually removes a tracking option, which is why I consider the perk to be detrimental. At least with Dying Light, you can trick the Obsession into being more altruistic and heal more often, which buys you time. Predator does nothing of the sort. Blood only ever shows up on the ground, so with Bloodhound, the blood staying on the ground for longer is only to its benefit. By the way, this is the way Predator currently is. It actually used to have a different function previously which was somehow even more detrimental. It used to make scratch marks stay on the ground for longer, which also sounds good until you realize that the ground can get cluttered and make you lose track of the survivor that way.

So how do we make the most out of this perk? Should we just remove this perk and call it a day? As much as I want to say this perk is completely irredeemable, the effect it does provide is unfortunately a “”””benefit””””, which means there is a way to make the perk work...somehow. The key is to somehow circumvent the downside of not seeing scratch marks on rocks or trees or...walls...ah, I see. That’s right, it looks like indoor maps are going to be our friend here. Since indoor maps tend to have mazelike layouts, seeing scratch marks on the walls is not as important, due to the walls usually blocking line of sight anyway. So if you intend to use Predator for...some reason...the only thing you have left is to bring an indoor map offering. But this isn’t enough, not for a perk like this, we need to help it accentuate its intended purpose, which is tracking. Bloodhound, as weak as it is, can at least be complimentary to Predator to ensure that the survivor you injured can’t possibly get away from you. Unless they brought Lucky Break, in which case it sucks to be you. On killers that can benefit from tracking of this kind, such as Wraith, Spirit, or Nurse, it can be nice, but you’d also probably just do fine with Whispers. Oh that’s right, Whispers! If you run Whispers in a build like this, you can benefit from a form of tracking that survivors can’t hide from, to cover the weaknesses of both scratch marks and blood. But then again, if you were experienced enough to know how to use Whispers, you most likely didn’t need a perk like Predator in the first place. Again, at least it’s something.

Closing thoughts, how do we make this perk better? The thing is, this perk isn’t like other perks like Furtive Chase that have such a flawed concept that they likely need to be reworked from the ground up. The intended effect is a good effect, albeit rather uninspired. So there needs to be a way to have the effect of closer scratch marks on the ground while still having scratch marks show up on the surrounding terrain...actually, yeah, that’s how you fix Predator. Have the scratch marks closer together when they’re on the ground, in addition to normal scratch marks. That way, Predator is no longer detrimental. If you wanted another additional effect to help the perk, you could also have footsteps be louder. It’s not much, but at least it would be something. It’s unfortunate that this perk is as uninspired as it is, and there’s so little you can do with the concept, but it’s what we’ve got. It’s not going to make high level players start running it, but maybe new players won’t be victimized by it anymore. It’ll just be another perk that’ll be forgotten by history. Thank you for coming to my lesson, see you next class! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a way to remove Predator from my memory banks.

NoelleMina

What is this?

I like this. 🍿

I’m gonna read your past posts to catch up.