Changes that would make Sadako more of an effective jump-scare killer that people want her to be

TechnoTheFirst

The following was a Reddit post, but someone suggested that I should post this on these forums, so I took that advice. If you want to see the original Reddit post, the link is here.

Otherwise, here's the post. https://www.reddit.com/r/deadbydaylight/comments/upoam8/changes_that_would_make_sadako_more_of_an/

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So... the latest killer, Sadako, requires a bunch of changes already. In the end, it's because of a lot of things:

Her stealth mechanic is a weaker version of Wraith's bell. As a killer that's supposed to "jumpscare" people, it's actually designed to make that itself difficult.

And her "Condemned" mechanic will only get you something if the survivors are lobotomized. The methods for gaining "Condemned" are mostly in the hands of the survivors, and even when they do gain it they just wipe it away easily with a tape. And if the Onryo in her current state tries to go for Condemned kills, she'll just end up with completed gens since she has to go out of her way to do so because she doesn't have much control over causing condemned.

And while her teleporting around the map is a good feeling, the impact of her TVs is hardly felt. Apart from condemning while projecting, they don't exactly help out the Onryo past that point.

In the end, Onryo is held back by her mechanics not doing what they're supposed to be doing. So these changes are meant to alter her power so that it becomes more effective at what it's supposed to do. Do I want Onryo to become an S-tier god that gets 4k's every match with ease? No. But I do want to make her design less of a hassle.

Disclaimer: While I do believe that my changes would make the Onryo experience better, I also know that such changes require a lot of refinement and thought. So if you have anything to say that could improve Onryo's gameplay, say it. The more ideas, the better.

Along with that, I may miss a few Onryo design choices such as ways to gain Condemned for example, because such information is hard to get on the wiki and I have not versed against this killer very often(she's like Twins, I've versed her that little). So if you have information about her design, share them down below.

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Demanifested

As a vengeful spirit, Onryo can Demanifest to become intermittently invisible to sneak up on people. It sounds great... but then she's got a lullaby while she's manifested. And from what I can tell, it's directional(so how is it a lullaby?). For a jump-scare killer, or even a stealth killer, this is not good. So here's my suggestion, which even ties in with her Condemned mechanic.

• - Survivors at 0-3 bars of condemned cannot hear Onryo's Demanifested Lullaby
• - The Lullaby is now omnidirectional instead of directional

This way, her early game will work for her as a stealth killer, and even when survivors are somewhat condemned, they will have difficulties locating the Onryo. At the same time, this would discourage survivors from completely removing their Condemned, since being less condemned gives the Onryo more stealth potential.

But then the question becomes: how will Onryo stealth around players that are above 3 bars of condemned? This is how we tie in the TVs to make them a bit more of a threat to survivors.

• - TVs now emit the Onryo's lullaby in a 24-meter radius

This way, TVs will prove to be a greater threat for somewhat condemned survivors nearby them. Because while TVs cannot spawn within 16 meters of a generator, they're usually close enough for 24 meters. This way, Onryo can sneak up on anyone while Demanifested regardless of how Condemned they are. Meaning that repairing generators will become more difficult as survivors will have a tougher time locating the Onryo by sound alone.

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Condemned Mechanic

The idea of Condemned is nice, pressuring survivors to cleanse and making them moriable if they don't cleanse in enough time. The problem is that Condemned is just a chore for the Onryo, and is easy to get rid of for Survivors. Of the four default ways survivors can be condemned, the Onryo controls only one method: projection. Otherwise, it's in the survivor's hands... like the tape that survivors can just insert right in front of the Onryo's face.

So these changes will add in a few ways for the Onryo to cause Condemned without becoming overwhelming, and also alter the one method survivors can get rid of their Condemned(the tape) so that it is treated as less of an inconsequential afterthought.

• - By default, the Onryo can now cause 1/10th of a bar of Condemned with her basic attacks that will slowly fill up to one full bar after 25 seconds(outside of chase, of course)
• - For a three-second period after manifesting, the Onryo's basic attacks cause a full bar of Condemned
• - When Projecting, survivors within 16-24 meters of the TV will also be Condemned by 1/10th of a bar that also fills up after 25 seconds

The first addition allows the Onryo to Condemn WHILE also playing her objectives of chasing survivors and patrolling gens. The second addition really doubles down on the idea of the Onryo as a jump-scare killer, as it rewards surprise attacks with more Condemned. The Projecting change makes TVs more threatening for survivors and, combined with the TV Lullaby, makes TV management essential for Survivors to handle their Condemned gain.

Now, for retrieving tapes. Of course, while a method for removing Condemned should exist(even though the thought of permanently Codemned survivors excites me), this method is too quick and effective. And when I mean quick, I don't mean that traveling across the map is too quick(that's dependent on the map). Instead, I mean that a survivor inserting a tape is too quick. 2 seconds, to be exact. This means that if you're full health and the Onryo hits you while near your TV, you can just take it and insert the tape. And just as well, it removes three bars of Condemned, which is just disheartening for an Onryo, especially with that quick insert time. So here are the changes to make tapes less powerful for survivors while keeping their status as a Condemned removal tool.

• - While retrieving a tape is still 2 seconds, inserting a tape is now 4 seconds long(from 2)
• - Tapes now remove only 2 bars of Condemned(from 3)
• - Inserting a tape now makes you immune from gaining Condemned for 30 seconds

1. This immunity will be represented by a white ring around the survivor icon that slowly counts down in time(like Freddy's alarm clocks)
2. The Onryo can also see this special white ring around the survivor's icon
3. The immunity period cannot stack, preventing chain tape-inserts for infinite immunity

This does two things: it no longer allows Survivors to just insert the tape in front of the killer, and it lessens the impact that tapes have on removing their Condemned effect. As a tradeoff, inserting tapes makes the Survivor immune to gaining Condemned so that their efforts can't be wasted so quickly.

Sidenote: Technically, this immunity means that Survivors can chain tape inserts together to avoid the automatic bar of Condemned caused by retrieving a tape. That is fine for a second tape-insert, but I will not allow multiple inserts to make Survivors immune from the Condemned status effect for too long. So that is why point number 3 was made. It will not prevent it entirely(survivors can still wait out the immunity and then refresh it after losing it), but it will make it more difficult.

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And those are all my suggested changes for the Onryo... so far. I think there may still be room for improvement, but what I have thought of so far has fixed a bunch of issues. If you see any flaws or have any suggestions, put them down below.

TL;DR: Onryo's early game stealth is improved, her TVs are more of a threat to survivors, she has more methods of Condemning that she can do while playing the main objectives of a Killer, tapes are less powerful for Survivors, and she is rewarded for "jump-scaring" survivors.

Edit 1: I misread the wiki about the TVs. Turns out that the 16-meter restraint only applies to the next TV. I already knew that TVs could be close to gens, I just didn't read the wiki fact right.

Valik

I LOVE THIS

More digest like this please - I love the creativity and thoughts. Some of these I'll have to steal for my own headcannon of needed changes!