DBD Problems and Potential Fixes 10/10 Perks performing vastly below the norm
This is a series of recommendations to hopefully change the game for the better. I am posting each section separate, but a lot of them are connected and work much better understanding the other changes. Some are more Killer sided, and some are more Survivor sided, but overall I think it levels the playing field in a positive way.
If you want to read the draft I am posting the sections from you can follow this google doc link.
With that said, here is part 10, the final part.
Perks performing vastly below the norm
Some perks are just unusably bad, and some are fine as memes. Here are some potential buffs for all weaker perks that I have either read elsewhere or thought of myself.
Also with multiple perks being placed or activated on button press, there will be four buttons for perk activation, one for each perk slot if each could be used. A tooltip of the current button map would show above the perk slot when it is selected. So if you have 3 perks under one condition, then it tells you which perk is for which button in the lobby (eg. Blast Mine “E/A/Cross”, Wiretap “F/Y/Triangle”, Repressed Alliance “G/D-Pad Left”). They are freely re-mappable.
Survivor Perks
Ace in the Hole
In addition to the old benefits, when you die you still keep an item (without its add-ons). The priority would be: 1. Currently held on death 2. Last permanent item held (in case it was dropped for a flashbang/vaccine or in case of Franklin’s Demise) If you never touched an item then I’m sorry, but you get nothing.
Any Means Necessary
You can now also gather boards of broken pallets to rebuild old ones. Boards are shown with a white aura at broken pallet locations, and it takes 1 board token and 5s to rebuild an old one. Boards are consumed for a token once gathered (taking 5s as well), and pallets can only be rebuilt where boards currently exist (Making it effectively 2 boards per pallet). Once a pallet is rebuilt in a location the rebuilt pallet does not leave behind boards when broken (So you can only get 1 extra use from a God Pallet location). The rebuilt pallet has a different visual so survivors and killers know it was rebuilt. Doctor and Freddy fake pallets can appear as rebuilt pallets if someone in the lobby has this perk equipped. This buff could instead be a new perk, but I’d rather this perk get something.
Appraisal
Press the secondary action button while rummaging through a chest, and upon completing the rummaging, the current item being held is upgraded a rarity level instead of finding a new item. The charges are also replenished. Whatever add-ons that are equipped, remain.
Autodidact
Now also functions on non-medkit self-care with half the bonus, but the full penalty. (-25 +37.5 at max stacks, for a net +12.5%) Also increases the chance of altruistic skill checks on other survivors by 1.5 times the base value. (15->22.5)
Balanced Landing
Now also always suppresses Grunts of Exertion from falling. The Stagger reduction and speed boost are still tied to exhaustion.
Bite the Bullet
Now silences your grunts of pain and healing sounds when you are being healed as well, but does not grant the other effects of the perk for your healer.
Blood Pact
Now also still functions if you are the Obsession, and works on the first person you heal or are healed by until deactivated. Now also lingers 5s after being beyond 16m of each other, and can reactivate by closing the distance before the timer runs out.
Boil Over
Now also reduces the base wiggle timer by 1s, from 16s to 15s (Could start wiggle meter at 1/16th bonus completion if there are programming difficulties). Alternatively could improve Great Wiggle Skill Checks to a little over double, so that hitting every great reduces the total time to 14s.
Boon: Circle of Healing
Nerf/Rework: You can heal yourself at the self-care 35%, and the heal boost is now only 100% altruistic. When standing still for 4/3/2 seconds in the boon your aura is revealed to all other survivors with a loud noise notification for them as well if you are injured and unbroken. This loud noise will only occur once per injury to prevent spamming. This might still be fine with self-care at the 35% rate, because the team will know allied healing is still far faster.
Boon: Dark Theory
Now also converts all Medium Vaults while affected by the boon into Fast Vaults, it also makes an additional sound cue when converting a vault to indicate what caused it. (With a buff bar tooltip for hard of hearing/deaf killers)
Breakdown
Now also breaks the hook you unhook people from for 45s if you are within 24m or terror radius of the killer.
Breakout
Now also grants 33% current wiggle progress when taking a protection hit for a survivor carried by the killer.
Buckle Up
In addition to base effects, the distance limit is removed. Now grants invisibility, silences grunts of pain, hides aura, and hides scratch marks and pools of blood for the picked up survivor for the same duration of the killer aura reveal (same as Guardian effects on unhook).
Calm Spirit
Remove 30% penalty for silenced actions, and silences all killer unique forms of detection when affecting the survivor (Infection coughing/puking, Artist crows cawing, Pig reverse Bear Traps beeping/key retrieval, Clown gas coughing, Cenobite box solving, etc.) This does not prevent Killer instinct, Loud Noises, or auras, just the survivor sound effects of interacting with killer powers. This also doesn’t prevent the puking against plague for example, just the sound effect, so the Black Incense add-on still works to reveal the aura.
Counterforce
Additionally now reactivates the aura once for 2/3/4s when walking within 16m of the totem with a corresponding sound cue and perk activation for the timer (for hard of hearing/deaf players). Cleanse Speed Effect now stacks beyond 5, in case of pentimento totems.
Dance with Me
Scratch mark removal duration buffed to 5s OR halve the cooldown to 20s max rank.
Dark Sense
This now activates on approach of an undetectable killer, but delays the aura reveal until after the killer is no longer undetectable.
Dead Hard
Duration extended to .75s (to help compensate for latency). Can now be activated while healthy to remove the exposed status effect for the same duration of the endurance, causing exhaustion for the same duration. (See No Mither)
Deception
Buff scratch mark/pools of blood duration to 5s OR halve the cooldown to 20s max rank.
Decisive Strike
Also disables the killer’s power for 5s per gen needing to be completed (25s max). This also sets ammo and charges to 0, and cannot start to recover charges or ammo until the timer is up.
Desperate Measures
Also affects mending speed. Also doubles the unhook speed boost per qualified survivor. (10%/12%/14% -> 20%/24%/28%)
Empathic Connection
Also doubles base skillcheck rates on altruistic healing with or without a medkit. (15%->30%) (Stacks with autodidact for 37.5% total)
Fast Track
Gain 2/4/6 additional tokens on Survivor death up to a new maximum of 15/30/45.
Guardian
As mentioned above, this also extends the basekit 5s unhooked survivor invisibility, collision loss, silenced grunts of pain, and hidden scratch marks and pools of blood for 6/8/10 additional seconds. This also allows those effects to occur in endgame for only the additional duration. The Haste boost stacks with the basekit/perk BT Haste.
Head On
Now stuns for 4s if in the locker for 5s or more (still stuns for 3s after 3s), and highlights your locker’s aura to fellow survivors when active.
Inner Healing
This now functions on a token system, and silences your grunts of pain while a token is being consumed. The max limit is 2 tokens, that way you can take a deep wound hit, and heal to full in 16s at max rank. Hex Totems when cleansed give 2 tokens, dull give 1.
Iron Will
Remove the no Exhaustion pre-requisite OR bring the numbers back up to 50/75/100 with the no Exhaustion pre-req.
Kindred
As above, the killer is considered “camping” while their aura is revealed by this perk when the person on hook is the one with Kindred, even if the other conditions would disqualify camping. Alternatively this could allow Hook Teleports to 1 specific hook instead of randomed. If the “camping” concept above is not implemented then instead a killer’s aura is always revealed with this perk, even if undetectable.
Kinship
Kinship now has one use, and can be used even if you are not the one on hook. If you are not on hook you must press a button to activate it like Reassurance. This now lasts 35/40/45s. This can also be used to add time to the bleedout on the floor if you press the secondary action while healing the survivor. When used to add bleedout time it gives double the listed value above.
Leader
Now also affects boon speeds and mending speeds.
Left Behind
Now has no distance limit, but instead reveals it to you for 10s/15s/20s when first alone. Also reveals again permanently on hatch closing. Also allows the bonus key found in the bonus chest found in the basement to be gained when the only living survivor remaining, without qualifying it by completing all chests/gens/totems like normal.
No Mither
In addition to the other effects other than broken and injured, now you start the game healthy, but you are exposed when healthy. Combined with the new Dead Hard alteration you can still take 2 basic hits in one chase if you use both together accurately. You will gain the broken status effect when in the dying state to inform the other players. (This allows killers to still 1 hit down you, and skill makes that 2. This also allows for not feeding Oni blood and sabotaging your team, while also still informing the killer and your team on your first down in the case of a surprise exposed down.)
Object of Obsession
Vault speeds are now also affected. You gain the action speed boost effects in chase as well. If you are the Obsession then the increased action speeds linger an additional 7s after chase/aura read ends. (Spine Chill 6% was removed, and not placed anywhere else.)
Open-Handed
Now also increases timed aura effects for the survivors by 2s. (Similar to Lethal Pursuer, but for Survivors.)
Parental Guidance
Now blinds the killer for the duration of stuns as well, with a corresponding debuff tooltip/score event (effectively turning all stuns into blastmines with a different sound effect).
Plunderer’s Instinct
When searching or rummaging a chest, press the secondary action button to prevent the same type of item as previously searched from popping up. If searching 5 or more times it cycles back through the list, such that the 1st item found/blocked is guaranteed to be the 6th, the 2nd cycled to 7th, and so on. This cannot alter Residual Manifest’s guaranteed flashlight, or Pharmacy’s guaranteed Green Medkit, but Medkits and Flashlights are added to the list for subsequent non guaranteed searches.
Poised
Removes pools of blood and grunts of pain as well as scratch marks for the duration.
Premonition
Reveals the aura of the killer for 3s when activated, the cooldown is only refreshed when not in terror radius or chase.
Prove Thyself
As above, instead of the old version, Great Skill checks on a coop gen give an additional 1% progress, and have a little firework/alternative display to show off someone on the gen hitting the Great. The Coop BP gain stays for the perk owner.
Red Herring
Works similar to Blast Mine/Wiretap, where you place it on a gen instead of automatically activating on the most recent gen you worked on. Also if you activate it on a completed gen it moves the loud noise notification randomly within 6m of the gen (at the same height), to make it appear like a failed heal skill check instead.
Renewal
In addition to the default effects, this perk now “batches” the effect, so that if you are broken with a duration for whatever reason while the perk is activated, that broken status is instead extended for 28/24/20s, and you are healed after the total timer. This method can now activate even when not unhooked, and is only consumed once successfully activated.
Repressed Alliance
Once earned from doing gens, you can use this to toggle entity blocks on gens/gates. Placing the 30s current version, or reducing the timer on a block by 30s. This only affects that particular entity block, not the entire perk/source. So if used on a 60s No Way Out, it reduces the current gate to 30s and blocks the other gate for the full 60s still. This can also reduce Grim Embrace/Dead Man’s Switch/Deadlock/etc. individual gen blocks by 30s.
Saboteur
With the basekit killer attack cooldown the perk was not adjusted accordingly. This now takes 2.15s to sabotage using the perk. This gives .55s for the survivor to react after sabo-ing the hook, which is .05s longer than before. Also a shortened 15s cooldown is activated if you do not complete the action beyond 50% of the bar.
Slippery Meat
In addition to the original effects if you complete an attempt on at least 1 self unhook, the secondary part of this perk activates. If you make all skill checks during the struggle phase while the secondary part is activated, you unhook yourself automatically instead of being sacrificed when the timer runs out. There is a final DS sized bonus skill check that activates when you would be sacrificed, and you need to make that in order to unhook yourself. On being unhooked by any means when the secondary part is activated, you become the Obsession.
Small Game
Now additionally increases the ambient sound of totems by 50%, and an arrow appears over the proximity buff tooltip if standing still when the perk activates (to help hard of hearing/deaf players).
Smash Hit
In addition to the normal effects, if you get the pallet stun but still take damage that would put you into the dying state, you are put in deep wound instead, and only take the damage speed boost instead. This could be programmed by giving you endurance while dropping pallets, and if the endurance runs out and you stun the killer then you get the speed boost and consumes the exhaustion, but if you are injured it consumes the exhaustion without the extra speed boost. This also could just strictly give endurance during pallet drops, to add extra pallet counterplay against ranged killers.
Sole Survivor
Aura part now works with hook states instead of deaths. Each hook state is worth 1 token, and each death is worth 1 additional token. The old 1 token value is the new 4 tokens value. The numbers for aura reading per token are divided by 4. For each survivor death you get 1/3rd of the old secondary numbers. (25% gen speed per death, and 16.66% exit gate and hatch speed per death.)
Streetwise
Similar to the older change of Open-handed, the base value is doubled for non-toolboxes, but the perk can no longer stack. (Toolboxes might be an abuse case scenario, so they don’t get the doubled benefit.)
Technician
As above, in addition to current effects, this perk subtracts the additional survivor per gen noise distance by 5m (from 10m to 5m), and prevents coop Good skill checks on a gen from creating a loud noise notification.
Tenacity
Also doubles the Crawl speed boost over 30s of movement (30%/40%/50% -> 60%/80%/100%) and gives half the current speed boost to recovery speed when not moving. (The movement speed increases as you move, but doesn’t increase when staying still. You get reset to the starting amount when picked up by any means.)
This Is Not Happening
This now has a secondary bonus with the same numbers (10/20/30%) for either being within 16m of the killer or within their terror radius. This has an additional bonus when both are active for 25/50/75% total. If you are repairing a gen while the double bonus is active, your aura and the aura of the gen you are working are both revealed.
Unbreakable
As above, recovery speed boost is reduced to 15/20/25%, the 95-100% self pickup is not slowed down, and can always allow self-pickups.
Up the Ante
Changes the tokens from “Living Survivors = 1 token” to “Living Survivors = 1 token, Dead Survivors = 2 tokens”. Also if you are the first person to die in the trial, the remaining self-unhook attempts have a 100% chance of success.
Urban Evasion
In addition to the current effects you can now also prevent your aura from being read while crouching. You can build up to 10 tokens of aura blocking while crouching, if you progress generators. For every 7/6/5s on a gen you get 1 token, which can be used for 1s of Aura block while crouched. This is consumed while crouched regardless of whether your aura is read or not.
Visionary
The cooldown on generator completion is removed.
Wake Up
Gates you have touched have their aura revealed to allied survivors, even after you stop touching them.
Killer Perks
A Nurse’s Calling
Adds a lingering aura read for 2s after leaving the range or ending the healing.
Barbecue and Chilli
As above, this perk also reveals the aura of the survivor with the least hook states, (furthest in case of ties) that is at least 20m away, revealing their aura for 6s. (Also keep in mind the other basekit change where perks that hide your aura fail to work when you have less hook states than all other living survivors.)
Beast of Prey
The undetectable status is gained 15s after chasing a survivor, and persists for 15s after leaving a chase, cut short by any survivor injuries (other than For the People) or power use. (No longer is tied to bloodlust, still has the Hunter BP bonus.) The undetectable status now has a 60s cooldown after the undetectable granted by this perk ends.
Bloodhound
Now also reveals the auras of survivors standing in pools of blood within 16m of you.
Coup de Grace
You are refunded the token if you use half or less of the augmented lunge and hit.
Claustrophobia
This now also blocks pallets for half the duration, and this perk now functions centered around the killer and the gen, 24m each. (Slightly larger total size if no overlap, now works on pallets, and also can help you in chase.)
Dark Devotion
Now restarts the timer if currently active when hooking the obsession. (If you down the obsession and carry them to a hook, you still get the time back wasted from carrying and hooking them.)
Deathbound
Now also causes Oblivious (but no scream) on self healing, Oblivious caused by self healing cannot be removed other than waiting out the 60s timer. (The timer can still be shortened by Vigil) If this isn’t enough then perhaps adding the scream on self-healing also.
Discordance
As above, now also lists the highest number of survivors on the gen in the past timeframe, preferably in a cool font.
Distressing
Doubles the terror radius expansion percent for 15s when getting any Deviousness score event.
(The max terror radius is a doctor running the 2 best calm add-ons, with this perk as well as Agitation and Monitor and Abuse active for a 100.32m terror radius, or 82.08 without Agitation)
Dragon’s Grip
Halved the cooldown from 120/100/80s to 60/50/40s.
Dying Light
Hooking the Obsession now doubles the current penalties until the Obsession is unhooked, and once the Obsession is killed, the tokens are locked in at their current amount. (Not the doubled bonus.) Nerfed the Obsession bonus speed for healing and unhooking to 3% per token. (Buff for killer since it is 33% default, with a theoretical max of 11 tokens. Could also be removed entirely, but I like the meme idea of buffing 1 survivor.)
Forced Penance
Now additionally reveals the aura of survivors who are no longer broken for 5s after the effect wears out, regardless of the broken source. Also causes Deep Wound on protection hits.
Furtive Chase
Increased (in most circumstances) the Terror Radius reduction to 25% max terror radius per Token, and the effect and the entity claws around the Obsession still move as if being chased for 15s after chase ends with the Obsession. The effect lingers for 5s after the chase ends with a non-Obsession Survivor.
Gearhead
Now also generates a Loud Noise notification on gens for Great Skill Checks, in addition to the survivor aura reveal. It only reveals the aura of the first survivor to hit a Great, but the loud noise is on any gen, for the duration of the aura reveal as well as the instigating Great.
Grim Embrace
As above, can activate twice if each survivor reaches Stage 1 and Stage 2 in order. Also reveals all survivor auras if the Obsession activates the perk by being hooked. An alternative I have read was incapacitating survivors for half the duration instead.
Hangman’s Trick
Now the aura for stepping near a hook persists for the duration of carrying the survivor, and lingers 3s afterwards.
Hex: Huntress Lullaby
Now you get 1 token per unique survivor hooked, and 1 extra for the obsession (5 max as a result). The hex prevents the warning sound at the start. Each token permanently adds a 2/5% additional regression penalty on failed skill checks for Repair/Healing actions up to a max of 6/8/10% for repair, or 15/20/25% for Healing. Cleansing the Hex prevents the perk from gaining additional Tokens, halves the bonus regression penalties, and makes skill check warning sounds reappear. The perk tiers now limit max tokens to 3/4/5. (If this is too powerful for Doctor in lower skill brackets then the entire regression penalty can be removed, but I would test it first. I think players that fail skill checks that often will be threatened enough to cleanse the totem early, giving it no penalties if cleansed at 0 tokens.)
Hex: Thrill of the Hunt
As normal, but the totem BP bonus also applies to Brutality, as well as Hunter. Also the post hook speed boost is doubled. In addition when Hex: Thrill of the Hunt is cleansed or booned over, the killer gets a 10% haste boost for 15s. This cleanse haste boost pauses the timer while carrying a survivor.
Hoarder
Now also damages survivors on opening a chest or rummaging. Healthy to Injured, Injured to Deep Wounds, and Deep Wounds to Dying. (Like the old Legion Stab Wounds Study would remove Deep Wound timer) The damaging effect does not apply to killer unique chests like Nemesis’ Vaccine chests. This gives 500 Brutality points and 500 Devious points, and 500 bonus sacrifice points is a survivor downs themself from this.
I’m All Ears
The cooldown is now reset on hooking a survivor.
Insidious
The undetectable status now lingers for 5s after you start moving.
Iron Maiden
The exposed status effect now lasts 45s. (This might even be fine at 60s, as it is entirely up to survivors to enter lockers.)
Knock Out
As above, now additionally prevents basekit self-pickups by only allowing 95% recovery.
Lightborn
Now gives survivors the illusion of completing a blind with the narrowing of the flashlight, along with the corresponding score event. This would not trigger Residual Manifest on the killer if the survivor had the perk, but would activate the timer on the survivor’s perk icon as if it did work. (This might be too powerful on PTB Clowns, but it is a risk we as a community must take /s)
Mad Grit
Pressing the secondary action button while carrying a survivor will activate the alternate mode for Mad Grit. When in the alternate mode you go 4.6m/s base speed (with agitation still providing the same % increase), the survivor carried cannot be hooked, and when you drop them they will be guaranteed to fall off your shoulder into the injured state. Also the wiggle progress bar is visible to you. The wiggle progression is cut to 25% of normal, and when the survivor is dropped, your power is disabled for 15s/10s/5s and the survivor dropped gets the benefit of T3 Guardian survivor perk. Pallet stuns no longer drop the survivor off your shoulder, and instead grant 33% max wiggle progress. Also hitting a survivor grants 20% max wiggle progression while carrying a survivor in this alternate mode. This bonus progression applies after Breakout bonus progression.
Oppression
Halved the cooldown to 60s/50s/40s from 120s/100s/80s OR prioritizes most worked gens OR applies kick effects on the bonus gens (Pop would only apply on the first gen, but Call of Brine/Eruption/Overcharge would apply on all).
Overwhelming Presence
Now additionally depletes item charges while in terror radius by 0.166%/0.33%/0.5% max charges per second.
Pop Goes the Weasel
Changed from 20% current to 20% max regression.
Predator
You can now also see scratch marks through walls within 16m. Scratch marks seen through walls have “stink lines”, some form of wiggle effect rising above the scratch marks to indicate they are behind a wall instead of being on your side of the wall, as well as being a different color.
(The “stink lines” effect is intended more as QoL for colorblind users to differentiate.)
Remember Me
Numbers adjusted to 8s+1s/1.5s/2s per token. (Same max, more min) Also when the Obsession starts to open the gates for the first time, a 4.6 m/s phantom killer starts to run at them from 40m away, along with a corresponding phantom 32m terror radius, only visible and audible to the Obsession. When it reaches the Obsession it swings at them with a damaging swing and vanishes after the swing. The duration for the fake chase is the same duration as the longer gates for non-Obsession players. The phantom killer also vanishes if the Obsession takes damage by any means before it hits them. If the Obsession is engaged in an action they are set in the dying state upon being hit. (Whether it be healing, totem cleansing, or opening the gate.) Alternatively if the Phantom Killer is too difficult to implement then have it block the exit gates for the timer above when the Obsession isn’t the one to open the gate, this timer stacks with Freddy’s Black Box add-on.
Scourge Hook: Monstrous Shrine
As mentioned above, this also prevents the hook teleport feature while active.
Shadowborn
Now also reveals the aura of survivors crouching within 16m of you.
Shattered Hope
As mentioned above, this is buffed to reveal all dull totems in pink, and booned totems in blue when snuffing or smashing a boon for the same survivor reveal duration, in addition to the old survivor aura reveal benefit for the current snuffed boon radius. You also may smash a dull totem to reveal all other dull totems and boon totems with their corresponding color/symbol for 6/7/8s. If you do so then you create a loud noise notification for the Survivors and the smash location is revealed for 5s. This loud noise and reveal only applies to smashing a dull totem.
Spies from the Shadows
In addition to the current version, crows upon landing will face their body in a direction, which will be within 45 degrees of the current direction of the Survivor who startled them, as well as cawing three times loudly.
Surveillance
As above, this now increases the sound distance of coop gens by 5m per additional survivor. Additionally reveals the location of all survivors within 8/12/16m of a kicked gen similar to a rancor gen pop.
Territorial Imperative
The aura now lasts for the duration of the survivor’s basement stay, and persists for 5s after you reach within 32m of the Basement, or the survivor leaves the basement. There is no cooldown, but can only affect 1 survivor at a time. (This will reveal the aura of the hooked survivor if you have one hooked down there, unless a basement looter was hiding in there before the survivor got hooked.) This also has an additional aura reveal of all survivors beyond 32m of the basement when you enter the basement until you leave the basement, and lingers for 2s upon leaving. This secondary part starts available, but is only refreshed on hooking a survivor.
Thanatophobia
Numbers adjusted from 2/2/2/14% (2/4/6/20% Total) to 2/4/6/8% (2/6/12/20% Total) to scale more evenly across the number of injured survivors.
Thrilling Tremors
Now refreshes cooldown early on hooking a survivor.
Trail of Torment
You no longer lose the undetectable status if the gen regresses to 0%. It only ends on a survivor touching the gen, or a survivor is damaged by any means. The cooldown is reduced by 20s upon hooking a survivor.
Unnerving Presence
Now also reduces the Great Skill check size by the same % (multiplicative, that way Great larger size changes would get debuffed accordingly). Also increase the numbers by 50% if the survivor is also injured. (Remove the second part if too oppressive against lower skill brackets.)
Unrelenting
Buff the numbers to 30/40/50% from 20/25/30% for a missed basic attack cooldown.