Should Dead Hard be nerfed?
Dead Hard is the best exhaustion perk period. Playing as or against it... just proves it. There is no other exhaustion perks that resets the chase anew as reliably as dead hard. That's why i think the perk is too powerful... since any other exhaustion perk (even sprint burst) doesn't have the same ability to offer a second chance in chase (multiple times per match, and per survivor).
If you're against a nerf to dead hard, the only way to justify it would be to say that survivors need an exhaustion perk to do well in chases (what can be debattable)... and so that the other exhaustion perks should be buffed to make them interesting compared to dead hard.
Should Dead Hard be nerfed? 51 votes
42 votes
9 votes
Comments
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Yes
What makes it so much stronger and more frustrating to deal with than any other exhaustion perk is that it has 2 distinct options for use, and both are incredibly strong.
As a killer you can almost counterplay the perk by waiting it out, but this only really works if a survivor is antsy, as otherwise they'll just wait until you attack to trigger it, and because of validation this is pretty much foolproof now.
However, if a survivor knows you expect the perk, they simply activate it mid chase when you're out of range to attack and use its lunge to reach an otherwise out of reach pallet or window and extend the chase by a huge amount.
The fact that there's absolutely nothing the killer can do to play around "dead hard for distance" makes it incredibly frustrating to deal with, because people who should have gone down for poor positioning or judgement just get to keep going because their safety net caught them. It's incredible to see how poorly some players perform in chases as soon as you have some form of exhaustion as killer, because they're so used to Dead Hard fixing their mistakes.
I'm firmly of the belief that Dead Hard should have some sort of animation like the white flash from endurance to indicate its activation, and the lunge and distance should be completely removed. That would make other exhaustion perks actually compete for the slot as they provide you distance, where Dead Hard would remain in its niche for avoiding an attack when timed correctly.
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Yes
Considering that you can Dead Hard through a killer when they are in the middle of an animation, yes. Dead Hard has way too many upsides to it without any downsides aside from being injured. And the fact that it's practically an extra health state:
You misplayed a loop? Dead Hard away into the next window or pallet.
You messed up a play at a pallet? Dead Hard into the killer to avoid getting downed and throw down the pallet to stun them.
This perk should not be as strong as it is. There is no reason to use other exhaustion perks when Dead Hard exists.
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Yes
Literally just a free on demand free health state/chase extender.
A exhaustion perk you control with a mere button press should NOT be stronger than other exhaustion perks that have prerequisites, running, jumping from a high place, getting hit, all of which are objectively worse than the one perk that activates on demand with a button.
It also provides total invincibility, even against things like Doctor Shock or Trapper traps. This perk is not fair, and frankly if you removed it from the game entirely, it would be the sweetest change made in YEARS.
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Yes
When you face 4 good survivors with 4 dead hards... i think that's not the same as facing 4 good survivors with any other exhaustion perks each. Its not that dead hard guarantees a win... it is the amount of second chances/ resets of a chase that puts a toll on the killer.
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Yes
Dead Hard is one of those perks that is so powerful that you get value from it even when you arent running it. It's such a powerful tool that the Killer is forced to change how they play the game because a Survivor -might- have it. Just an utterly ridiculous perk all around.
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Yes
Dead Hard is already incredibly strong just with the dash part of the perk. The invincibility frames part is just BS, which got worse with hit validation and gave it a lot of really stupid moments. The perk should be only a dash to get some distance and extent the loop value, not a thing that counters literally every killer power In the game to some extent.
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Yes
I don’t think it’s “press to win” level of overpowered but it is definitely significantly better than almost all the other survivor perks. There’s a reason it’s by far the most popular exhaustion perk among skilled survivors.
Moreover since they fixed how Dead Hard responds to hit validation so it’s actually working correctly, it is now possible to literally dodge any attack with it by reaction to the swing animation. That has significantly boosted its value at high level as well since it is a free miss when it’s up if the survivor can time it.
So I don’t think it’s game breaking, but it could still probably stand a nerf to bring it down to the level of the other perks a bit. Either by reducing or eliminating the distance it moves the survivor (leaving the dodging aspect intact) or reducing the invulnerability duration.
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Yes
I have 5k hours. It is.
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Yes
Yes
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No
No, Dead Hard shouldn't be nerfed, but it does need to be fixed. It is, quite literally, broken in favor of survivors, since it is mechanically unfair on a solid 40% of the killer roster due to the hit validation.
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Dead hard can't be nerfed without losing the essence of what it is.
Either lose it or leave it alone.
Personally idc which.
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