DLC Review: Hellraiser
Hey everyone, this post is going to be completely different from my usual Bad Perk University posts, but worry not, there will be another one soon. For now, I wanted to talk about the latest DLC and give my thoughts about it after playing around with Pinhead and his perks. My thoughts are subject to change in the future if anything happens, but anyway let's go.
First, Pinhead himself. At this point in time, he's quite a fun killer. His power feels unique and the little treasure hunt that goes on with the Lament Configuration is an interesting side objective for both sides. I do have some problems with the killer, naturally. First, his power feels rather lackluster without the help of addons. That's not really a huge deal since addons were meant to be used, but the addons themselves are a little strange. Some of them are okay, but others are counterintuitive to how best to use Pinhead's power. Both the addons that increase casting distance and Possessed Chain travel distance seem to suggest to go for long range chain shots, but playing Pinhead for a few matches, I've found the best way to use the Possessed Chain is to use it at midrange or close range, and it doesn't facilitate the need for such addons. I give the travel distance addons a pass, because hitting a survivor with a chain at least interrupts whatever action they are doing. I've used this to get survivors off my totems and it at least helps with situations such as those. Casting distance addons however, I see no use for except to pair with travel distance addons in order to pester survivors from sniping distance. His other addons are serviceable however, and some of them are borderline overpowered in the right circumstances.
While I enjoy the Lament Configuration and the Chain Hunt threat it poses, I still believe that it's sometimes too easy for survivors to disable Chain Hunt and too difficult for Pinhead to find the box. While the survivor that finds the Lament Configuration is in constant peril due to Chain Hunt not deactivating for them, it's sometimes not enough incentive to solve the box right away if they can help it, which leaves all the other survivors to do as they please. It's better than it was on the PTB at least, but I'll have to play against Pinhead more to really decide. One small change I'd like to see is to reveal the aura of the Lament Configuration to Pinhead when he's near it. As it is, it's often too difficult to see the box on the ground even with the blue sparks. I often find it's easier to down the survivor that found it and steal it off of them. That's just me personally though.
Now for Pinhead's perks:
Deadlock
This is a nice perk. It's very simple and it serves as information to know which generator is closest to being done next after one gets completed. It sort of prevents gen rushing, but only if two generators were close to being finished. I find it best paired with Tinkerer to know which generator is about to be finished and Pop Goes the Weasel to regress the generator blocked by Deadlock.
Hex:Plaything
I really like this perk! It's a unique hex perk in that it only becomes active when you hook a survivor for the first time, and it prevents other survivors cleansing the totems for 90 seconds unless it's their own totem. While I haven't gone up against the perk myself since other players seem hesitant to use hex perks nowadays, I've found that I've been able to confuse and get the drop on survivors quite often. Also, we finally have a perk that synergizes with Third Seal. Run these two perks together, and the survivors won't hear you coming for a while. This perk gets a solid approval from me as a perk to shake up matches!
Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain
This perk is probably the most interesting perk out of the trio. For going out of your way to hook survivors on specific hooks, you inflict Hemorrhage and Mangled on them after being unhooked and the slow down their healing and repair speeds if they heal up, with the effect only going away once you injure them again. I've found this perk to be useful when paired with Thanatophobia, ensuring that survivors will have slower action speeds whether they're injured or not, at least if you hook everyone on Scourge Hooks. Needless to say, Sloppy Butcher and Coulrophobia can make healing unbearable in many situations. So I think there are quite a few applications to be found with Gift of Pain. It's a perk I'd use in some particular builds, for certain.
And those are my thoughts on the DLC. Good killer, fun perks. Now all that's really left is for the developers to re-implement Pinhead's voice lines, and this will be a fantastic DLC.