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Should Nurse's attacks be Special attacks?

I know why they're not Special attacks, but with the advent of abominations such as Starstruck Nurse, I thought I'd hear what everyone else has to say.

When I asked, I was given 3 reasons why Nurse's attacks are basic.

1) She is so reliant on her blinks that she would otherwise functionally have no basic attack

2) While having some small differences, her post-blink lunges are otherwise nearly identical to a basic attack

3) She pre-dates the special/basic attack distinction. Going back to change it causes "issues." This is an assumption, but I THINK we saw a glimpse of this with how buggy her Post-Blink grab cancel was (to the point she got disabled even).

But should they go through the effort anyway? I look forward to seeing your reasoning down below.

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Comments

  • Murgleïs
    Murgleïs Member Posts: 1,093

    It’s funny because Starstruck is only good against low to mid MMR survivors. At high MMR, it would be throwing to play this perk : survivors are going to split and hide immediately. Also, it is played with Agitation and Infectious Fright most of the time, so you are basically playing with only 1 perk left when it’s countered.

    But let’s go, let’s nerf Nurse so she can’t play Starstruck (snowball build) or Noed (end game build) leaving us no choice to tunnel with a regression build at high MMR. I don’t really mind.

  • Murgleïs
    Murgleïs Member Posts: 1,093
  • GrimReaperJr1232
    GrimReaperJr1232 Member Posts: 1,703

    I... think I might've just pulled the pin on a grenade reading this thread. Oops.

  • Phasmamain
    Phasmamain Member Posts: 11,531

    Yet he’s still at the top anyway. Fact is stats don’t mean much in a game as inherently random as dbd and we shouldn’t use them when talking about balance

  • SuzuKR
    SuzuKR Member Posts: 3,910

    I’m not talking overall. That’s useless because it’s not controlled for any factors. I’m talking about specifically high levels of play, with evenly skilled players facing each other in an evenly balanced map. As in, actually controlling for relevant variables.

    Yes, good job stating the literal exact add-ons I already said were an exception. Also you are blatantly beyond wrong on the second point. Perks that are very good on her have been buffed just fine, like Hex: Retribution/No Way Out’s buff. Perks that are incredible on her have also been released just fine. Like No Way Out post-buff/Deadlock/Pain Resonance/Floods of Rage/etc.


    I wish people would actually do their research before making up points.

  • jesterkind
    jesterkind Member Posts: 7,797

    IF we did want to nerf Nurse, that would be the best possible choice. Much like the nerfs that Spirit got, it would still leave her with an incredibly strong kit that skilled players can leverage to unrivalled strength, but she'd have to work for each hit instead of being able to bypass it with Exposed perks- as well as a lot of perks being able to be tweaked without considering whether they'd become overpowered on Nurse.

    However, I'm not certain we should nerf Nurse. I think her kit is... probably fine, and the only real issue that it presents is that she has kind of a chokehold on the balance of a handful of perk types since they can never be too strong without making her overpowered. Even if we end up on the understanding that this makes her deserving of changes, I think a complete ground-up rework would be a more appropriate tactic, and we aren't at the point where that's an obvious necessity anyway, so... she's probably fine.

  • GannTM
    GannTM Member Posts: 10,886

    So it’s all about high level then. So since the Twins are “absolute monsters at high level play” I guess they deserve the nerf because high MMR is the only level we should be focused on.

  • SuzuKR
    SuzuKR Member Posts: 3,910

    ??? I don’t know why you blame balance for matchmaking issues. There are a small number of good players, and even fewer extremely good players. The absolute majority of players are average. For queues to not take hours, the good and amazing players are put with comparatively worse players. Obviously, that makes matches uneven/a definite win. If you paid attention to the Q&A stream, you’d realize BHVR said the exact same thing themselves for regular matches/MMR.

  • Brimp
    Brimp Member Posts: 2,982
    edited April 2022

    I mean if you want more dead mans switch and pain res nurses then I guess that's what you want because that's what you are inadvertently saying.

  • GrimReaperJr1232
    GrimReaperJr1232 Member Posts: 1,703

    Not to pick sides, but what M1 perk replaces that combo right there?

  • SuzuKR
    SuzuKR Member Posts: 3,910

    If there’s zero reason to use M1 perks, and most perks are crap, that leaves the only perks worth using to be full slowdown pretty much (outside of some stuff like totem Nurse/BBQ/Shadowborn/etc). Cause nothing else is worth using.

  • Brimp
    Brimp Member Posts: 2,982

    Its not a matter of replacing perks, its the matter of I don't want to use the strongest stuff all the time. By removing the possibility to apply sloppy, surge, third seal, etc for different builds in a time where people are complaining about variety is just not a good idea.

  • GannTM
    GannTM Member Posts: 10,886

    What killer player has fun with a build like that on Nurse though?

  • GrimReaperJr1232
    GrimReaperJr1232 Member Posts: 1,703

    Some people are very competitive and try their hardest to win because that's how they are. Not gonna judge them, though I think that's overkill, personally.

  • GannTM
    GannTM Member Posts: 10,886

    Yeah I’m not judging them either, I’m just trying to figure out how they find it fun.

  • sizzlingmario4
    sizzlingmario4 Member Posts: 6,897

    I respectfully disagree that Nurse is balanced. However, I do not think she is as much of a problem as some people say she is. But she does have her issues.

    Besides, there are already killers who don't benefit from basic attack perks much. Like who uses exposed perks on Huntress (barring Iron Maiden, but that's not why it's used on her)? Realistically I don't think this would really play out much differently than those kinds of killers if this change went through.

    There's also already perks which are simply not practical on her due to the nature of her power. For instance, bamboozle is great on chainsaw killers but Nurse vaulting windows is basically a myth. This change just adds basic attack perks to that list, and that's about it.

    Surge's basic attack requirement should be removed anyways.

  • Brimp
    Brimp Member Posts: 2,982

    Some people have fun winning and not messing around despite what type of game it is.

  • SuzuKR
    SuzuKR Member Posts: 3,910
    edited April 2022

    I wish people would bring some actual evidence for their claims. I've literally acknowledged myself that her distance add-ons and three blink add-on are unhealthy design, but people can't read I guess, cause they bring it up for some reason anyways. So far, everything that actually exists shows the contrary, for all other points.

    1. Winrates at high levels of play in even matchups? 2K average.
    2. Average match one-way stomps? MMR putting good players against worse players because there's not enough of the former - something BHVR explicitly addressed themselves in the Q&A stream.
    3. Prevents balance? Blatantly false, perks good or amazing for her have been buffed just fine (see Hex: Retribution, No Way Out, etc). Perks good or amazing for her have also been released just fine (see Deadlock, Pain Resonance, Floods of Rage, Starstruck, etc)
  • PlaysByShady
    PlaysByShady Member Posts: 590
    edited April 2022


    I think it's a very fair nerf to Nurse that does not destroy her at all.

    She. Literally. Has. No. Basic. Attack. Capability. Except. If. A. Survivor. Literally. Stands. Still!!

    Which means any perk that requires basic attack functionality would be completely useless on her.

    She already has to wait for blinks to be available, charge them up (with no option to cancel), blink (accurately), and then swing within a very short window, and then suffer fatigue. And you're still not happy with all these challenges because Nurse mains put the hours in to warrant the skill level required to play her??

    She's perfectly fine where she is. Survivor mains just need to learn to juke her instead of crying about everything that doesn't pander to their simplistic playstyle.

  • anarchy753
    anarchy753 Member Posts: 4,212
    edited April 2022

    I've never understood the categorisation of "basic attacks."

    If you want to make perks strong for M1 killers, but weaker on killers that have huge mobility power hits, then sure, but basic attacks have no consistency.

    Of the two top tier killers, every hit from Nurse is considered basic, yet power hits from Blight are not.

    Every hit from Spirit and Wraith, even those greatly amplified by their post-invis boosts are basic.

    No ranged attacks are basic from Huntress, Nemesis, Trickster or Plague, but every hit from Deathslinger is.

    A perk like Surge with a built in cooldown is basic attack only because letting people trigger it with power downs is unacceptable, but something like Infectious Fright is fine when it lets Billy and Oni chain 1-hit downs easily.

    In my opinion, "basic attacks" should be removed as a concept entirely, with the exception of the exposed status. As far as I can see the only downside in doing so would be Demogorgon having a harder time keeping StBFL stacks, and I've never been fond of that on him anyway.

  • SuzuKR
    SuzuKR Member Posts: 3,910

    Nurse is basic attack, because her power is exclusively movement. She does a regular attack after.

    Blight attack is special, because he attacks WITH the Lethal Rush.

    Spirit/Wraith also only move with their power, before doing a regular attack.

    Huntress/Nemesis/Trickster/Plague is attacking WITH the power. Deathslinger only pulls them in, and then does a regular attack. The harpoon itself is not an attack.

    Surge shouldn't have a basic attack cooldown. Infectious is balanced, including on killers that can chain-down easily.

    It has been nothing BUT consistent.

  • GrimReaperJr1232
    GrimReaperJr1232 Member Posts: 1,703

    Slinger literally reels you in for an M1. Breaking the chain is considered a special attack. Now, if you wanna talk about how odd it is that a basic attack can put you into Deep Wound, then you might have a point.

  • Hoodied
    Hoodied Member Posts: 13,020

    Perfect isn’t really a way to put it, she is not perfect balance wise and due to her design, she never will be

  • Salvador578
    Salvador578 Member Posts: 79

    I think it sets too much of a bad precedent, because if they make The Nurse's blink attacks special attacks there can be a serious discussion to be made on them making The Wraith's uncloak lunges into special attacks, or The Ghost Face's marked shots, etc.

  • Brokenbones
    Brokenbones Member Posts: 5,169
    edited April 2022

    I've wondered about this as well, it's an interesting question

    Worth remembering that it's not just exposed perks that are linked to basic attacks - stuff such as sloppy butcher for example would also be rendered unusable for nurse. Perk diversity on Nurse isn't exactly the most interesting out there, you usually see the same few playstyles but it'd still suck.

    My gripe with Nurse and Exposed perks is when you have an oppressive chasing power, your two health states (And DH) are usually all you have to work with. Instadown perks skip over this and I'm not gonna go as far as to call it unbalanced but it does feel cheap. I understand why people dislike it having been on the receiving end of it many times.

    Like the whole "just mindgame her" argument aside, it's the killer who is in control of the chase and that's why many people are so adamant to defend nurse because to them she's one of (arguably) two killers who are in control of the chase.

    What the game would look like if every killer could ignore pallets and windows as much as nurse can is up for debate.

  • Vlarian
    Vlarian Member Posts: 165

    As a nurse main, I don't think it's really necessary. If blink attacks were special attacks it wouldn't really change much, starstruck wouldn't be viable anymore so I mean, go for it

  • darkcloudlink
    darkcloudlink Member Posts: 326

    I think making blinks a special attack is a fair trade for the massive amount of power Nurse has. I mean, she literally invalidates most survivor defenses (pallets, walls, multi-floors, ect). It would definitely make her more balanced if you took away some of the exposed/basic attack perks that make her THAT much more powerful.

  • BenZ0
    BenZ0 Member Posts: 4,125

    Yes if any other Killer is not allowed to be able to make use of exposed for their powers why does the nurse then? Its not like it would hurt her anyway... she will still be the strongest Killer and still annoying to deal with.

  • Zozzy
    Zozzy Member Posts: 4,759

    They thought object was balanced and even said so in a stream.. The only reason they changed it was because they got massive backlash afterwards.

  • bjorksnas
    bjorksnas Member Posts: 5,606

    Problem, if m1 perks don't work on nurse there isn't much of an excuse to run most perks besides slowdown, there would be ~12 odd perks that are the only ones that would be viable on her and nurse would probably be mostly if not all slowdown since there isn't anything else to run,

  • Bwsted
    Bwsted Member Posts: 3,452

    It's not always consistent actually. It's just dictated by practical reasons, which is not a bad thing in and of itself.

    Spirit has a speed boost after reappearing with a duration which is dictated by her power. Add-ons can modify that and add-ons affect POWERS.

    Wraith, similarly, has a speed boost that is dictated by his power. He even slow downs below 115 when uncloaking and then accelerates BECAUSE of his power.

    The biggest offender is probably Myers, as he literally has a different lunge because of his T3.

    Nurse is an oddball, because otherwise she wouldn't be able to use basic attacks essentially. But in between blinks she's arguably in her power and she will eventually fatigue. She's almost as if a Blight could pull off a basic attack during a slam. It's not like a Hag, where she teleports and then she's done. I guess she's in one of those situations that could be interpreted either way.

  • egg_
    egg_ Member Posts: 1,933

    Same reason. Surge is my go to regression perk on her, it's free blood points and saves me the kicking time + it's not as oppressive as other perks while playing her. I'd hate to see it not working anymore.

  • egg_
    egg_ Member Posts: 1,933
    edited April 2022

    You'd be surprised. Last Saturday out of 7 solo queue games, 3 were blights, 2 were nurses. ALL of them had either corrupt/pop, PR/Pop, PR/DMS.

    I can't physically understand how this is fun for them - having short games with people giving up immediately (me for starters because I honestly can't be bothered). But if they want to play like that, there's nothing we can do about it. When I play nurse though, I really hate using strong stuff and my go-to perk is Surge so I can just avoid kicking gens and get free blood points. Honestly I would hate seeing it removed from my options

    However, I agree with what @Brokenbones said in his comment (I read it after replying to you)

    In general, I'd be ok with the change if they buffed Surge to not count for M1s only. Just don't take it away from me

  • Murgleïs
    Murgleïs Member Posts: 1,093

    On the contrary, we play PR/DMS to avoid having short games. See this very far gen you know 2 survivors are trying to repair asap, with PR/DMS you can block it and make it explode. With any other gen regression, you may not have the time to defend it.

    Also, my favorite part of DBD is chasing, and kicking a gen for pop or defending my ruin is annoying. With PR/DMS I don’t have much to do, it’s a passive.

  • GoshJosh
    GoshJosh Member Posts: 4,992

    No. You cannot make Nurse’s blink attacks considered special attacks without making several perks unviable on her. Leave her base kit alone.

  • Raptorrotas
    Raptorrotas Member Posts: 3,248

    I think all hits with a main weapon should procc on attack effects.

  • Zarathos
    Zarathos Member Posts: 1,911

    Thats a lot of dead perks in the bloodweb for nurse. The special attack clause is and still is a massive restriction on build options. Imtroducing into nurse will homongimise her builds. I d rather a nurse running two game delay perks and carrying starstruck agitation then just 4 game dealy perks.

    If you think special attack clause are good for dbd you need to play huntress and see just how many perks simply take up pointless space on the bloodweb. I ll come out and say it, balance is pointless to work towards if it kills build variety and expermentation. Nurse is the definition of excellent game design both sides have agency and counters with no clear answer or strategy to win.

    The games are always dynamic never the same mindless looping tripe that many dbd players believe is somehow exciting? Your always making reads on where she will blink and increasing the difficulty of those blinks by denying los. But hey go on push another awful change it worked so well for slinger after all.