Fill the Backpack with Forced Penance, Iron Grasp, or Starstruck

dugman

Here's the scenario - you're running a Backpack build that centers around doing nasty effects while simultaneously carrying survivors. The first three perks of your loadout are locked in as

• Agitation (move 108% survivor speed while carrying someone)
• Mad Grit (attacks while carrying survivors don't reduce the wiggle timer)
• Awakened Awareness (you can see auras of survivors within 20 meters while carrying someone)

To fill in the fourth slot, you've narrowed it down to three choices:

• Forced Penance - Any survivor who takes a Protection hit (which includes anybody you hit while carrying someone) becomes Broken and unhealable for 80 seconds.
• Iron Grasp - The distance you can carry someone is increase about 12% and your steering is essentially unaffected by wiggling (it's reduced 75% so unless they have Boil Over you probably won't notice the wiggles.)
• Starstruck - Anybody in your terror radius while you carry someone is Exposed and also remains Exposed an additional 30 seconds.

Note that each of the three perks above has their own pros and cons.

• Starstruck gets tremendous value if you down healthy survivors, but if you down an already injured survivor it doesn't do anything else. And survivors also get an Exposed condition icon on their HUD warning them they are at risk so may, if they're paying attention, run away before you can capitalize.
• Forced Penance doesn't instantly down survivors like Starstruck but it does make them unhealable for quite a while, and it even works if they are already injured when you hit them, meaning they are left dying on the ground and even if they get revived or rescued will still be Broken for a little while. And the perk has a side benefit that it punishes other types of bodyblocking or simply being too close to each other even when you're not carrying anybody.
• Iron Grasp has the least "impressive" effect, but getting extra distance when carrying someone could help you tactically by allowing you to hook much closer to the middle of the action where all the survivors are and also give you more time to actually chase a nearby survivor to land a hit if you have the opportunity. So even though it doesn't inflict a powerful condition it does make it more likely you'll get basic attack hits and good positioning during your carries.

So given all that, which of the three perks do you use to fill out the build? 😄

Elcopollo

Iron Grasp (can carry longer distances with more reliable steering)

If you want "backpacking" then Iron Grasp is the only choice out of these. With Starstruck anywhat smart survivors won't go near you. With Forced Penance anywhat smart survivors won't go near you as soon as you use it once. Both are counterproductive with Mad Grit in play, because with MG you actually want people to keep taking hits for a guy on shoulder. Iron Grasp is simply more reliable for this playstyle, plus it helps a ton against Boil Over, which could be annoying in tight spaces.

Brokenbones

Iron Grasp (can carry longer distances with more reliable steering)

Commit to the meme

Starstruck and Forced Penance will work once then survs will just not get involved. Mad grit is way more insidious of a perk and if you run these perks survivors will never consider taking hits