Should you cleanse hex totems before you know any of the killer’s hexes?
Sure, ‘if it glows it goes’ has long been the mantra, but with the risk of Haunted Grounds, Retribution and Pentimento in a killer’s arsenal, is it wise to actually break hex totems before the game has informed you of any effects?
Obviously if you see the likes of Ruin, Huntress’s Lullaby or Blood Favor in play you’ll want to start cleansing, but Devour is the only hex that can really be a game-ender out of nowhere.
So long as you mark down any hexes you see and communicate such details with your team if you’re playing in a SWF, does it make more sense to leave them be until you see a hex in play?
Not sure if this has been discussed before at length, but it just popped into my mind.
Comments
-
I usually do. However, it's good to prepare ahead of time.
Retribution can be easily identified so survivors can warn each other via comms (if in SWF) if a hex is about to pop.
If you think Haunted Grounds is about to trigger, having an escape route and/or hiding spot is good and if in SWF, survivors can just warn each other that a hex is about to be cleansed.
But ideally, getting hexes out of the game as early as possible is very good.
6 -
I don’t usually bother risking devour and I just cleanse a lit totem if I see one, unless it’s very obviously a new Spirit player (since haunted is her perk) or I know for a fact there are two hex totems, or if it’s late enough in the game that I know it can’t be devour because if it was we would know by now.
Retribution gets revealed to everyone once any hex totem is cleansed (unless it’s Retribution itself), so if it ends up being the last hex active then I can know that and ignore it.
Pentimento doesn’t typically deter me from getting other hexes out of the match unless the killer is running plaything when it doesn’t make sense to (since plaything + pentimento is a popular combo). For example running plaything on wraith, and yes I have gone against someone who tried this before with pentimento and it did not work at all. We knew what was up and didn’t cleanse the playthings.
1 -
Yeah, traditionally my friends and I have always just cleansed hexes as soon as we see them, but I just started thinking about that alternate strat and whether or not it would be viable and/or possibly better.
Obviously not breaking hexes unnecessarily also then gives you unlimited self-revives when using Soul Guard (a part of the perk I’ve never really used before due to hexes typically being busted ASAP)
0 -
The sweaty play is to wait until someone gets injured to cleanse.
However, it's reasonable to cleanse immediately if you know there's Ruin, which generally is the case because survivor spawns are mostly near gens.
If Ruin is in play, it must be cleansed in 99% of cases. If the haunted or anything else is in play, you will just have to deal with it.
If you see more than one hex, if you decide to cleanse, pick a moment where will just go for them back to back.
0 -
I’ve never really worried about cleansing hexes as a Survivor, but then as a killer I love to run a Ruin + Undying + Haunted Grounds combo to get that sweet sweet double HG exposure.
0 -
Oh, and in reference to Haunted Grounds. There has been numerous times where it’s been the last hex in play and yet survivors have unnecessarily exposed themselves because they couldn’t resist its glow.
0 -
If it glows it goes
6 -
Always.
1 -
see bones. do bones. Early I try to not set off HG on a person being chased and unhit but it isn't always practical.
1 -
If it glows it goes
4 -
Statistically, yes. Maybe do it while the killer is in a chase with someone who is already hurt to minimize the risks.
1 -
Yes. Haunted popping later is a lot worse than popping early. Popping early MIGHT end the game near immediately, sure. But popping later in when people are death hook and whatnot will be an absolute disaster.
0 -
TBH depends. If you're in a full 4-man swf, you can leave some hexes untouched as long as it doesn't disturb your friends.
But if there's even a 1 random person in lobby, cleanse everything as soon as you see it, cuz it's better to activate Haunted Grounds early than get them activated late by the person you can't control.
But also there's Devour hope, which may not appear until too late. A lot of killers can keep it a secret until 5th stack. So if you don't have other hexes in sight (2nd hex totem for Haunted Grounds), didn't have a pop up about any ruin/lullaby/etc, it's better to cleanse it too
1 -
There is this saying in the trial
"if it glows, it goes."
0 -
It's a risk/reward situation,I did have Haunted give me 2 downs in the first minute of the game before
0 -
If it's a spirit I usually check if there's a ruin etc
And then it turns out the one totem I saw was a devour hope and I screwed our team over
0 -
"Devour is the only hex that can really be a game-ender out of nowhere."
2 -
If it glows it goes.
0 -
It depends on the killer and what you see in the game.
For instance, if it's Ruin and you guys are tackling gens pretty well - don't bother.
If it's a spirit or an Artist - Don't Bother.
If it's something like Crowd Control of Blood Favor - don't worry too much about it just yet.
Haunted Grounds or Pentimento at the wrong time can route your team - and it isn't worth the time to chew through an Undying or Ruin when your team already has things pretty well in hand.
0 -
Do bones! At the very least you get BPs from it. But if you have Bond or have other ways to know someone not injured is being chased you can wait a bit so you don't throw HG in their face.
0 -
I think it's almost always better to just break hexes. Maybe work on a gen until the Killer is chasing an injured survivor and then pop it if you have a bad feeling about it.
0 -
Always, unless I'm going against a Spirit and she isn't using Ruin
0 -
I'd rather risk a one-off exposed from Haunted Grounds, having to do an extra cleanse because of Pentimento, or oh no an aura reveal from Retribution than get into the situation where Devour is revealed and everyone has to drop everything to find it. Those situations never go well, and at times like that it's far easier for ther killer to defend their totem than it is early on when the game is progressing.
1
