Saboteur needs a buff
Saboteur (the perk, not the action) is in a really bad state rite now, and has been ever since they changed how it functions. I agree with the fact that Sabotage as a perk needed a cooldown, but the way it was implemented is pretty terrible.
If you are unaware Saboteur goes on cooldown the moment you let go of a hook, regardless of whether or not you actually completed the action. This makes it so that you can't really "fake" a sabo. This also makes it so that if the killer is able to interrupt your sabo (either by making you scream or by hitting you) it goes on cooldown. This is, as far as I am aware, the only perk in the game that can go on cooldown without doing the thing that it is designed to do. I might be incorrect there but even if I am that doesn't validate the reasoning.
Saboteur is also just, not great at what it does. In fact it could be argued that the only benefit it brings to the table is the ability to identify scourge hooks vs normal hooks, and even that is pretty mediocre. Identifying which hook is a scourge hook doesn't really benefit you all that much since more often than not you don't really have time to "decide" which hook to sabo while the killer is carrying someone, you simply sabo which ever one is in range of you.
If I had to suggest some changes for Saboteur they would be this:
- Do not put Saboteur on cooldown unless you actually finish sabotaging a hook. (its really silly the way it currently works, and leads to more frustration than anything else)
- Make it so that any hook that is sabotaged by Saboteur takes 30 seconds longer to regenerate similar to Breakdown. (I don't think it should be as long as Breakdown, 180 seconds with a 60 second cooldown would be problematic at best. Maybe and additional 15 seconds, for a total of 45 could be alright.)
- Make it so that you can identify Scourge Hooks without the need for someone to be carried by the killer. (as I said before the ability to identify which hook is a scourge hook the way it currently functions is fairly useless as you can't really "setup" for a sabo play with information that is only temporarily available to you. Being able to identify these hooks early would allow for that to change as you would be able to setup near the scourge hook before your teammate actually goes down).
Those are my thoughts at least. Its sad to see one of the perks that, once upon a time, defined a meta go unused for so long and I really think it needs some love.
Comments
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I agree that it going on cool down without actually getting to sabotage is silly at best.
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Your idea is good minus the extended break duration
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I also agree that it should not go on cooldown when it does not get completed.
I dunno about the duration of the hook being not on commission, but I like the buff about always being able to see hooks with Sabo on and not just when your teammate is being carried.
Definitely if 2 out of those 3 things got fixed I'd run it a lot more often tbh, as it is right now I feel like I get better value on other perks ans Sabo is too risky on solo.
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Sabo is not just risky. If survivor does not die in corner or in gate, killer will be able to hook survivor even if you sabo hook perfectly (because hooks are so close to each other). If killer downs someone nect to hook, then don't even bother. You can sabo 1 hook and there will be 4-5 more he can carry the survivor to even if you take 2 hits.
I mean I play the perk almost always, because it's so much fun when it works. But this perk is hands down THE worst one in my build. One thing that I would really love to see if devs ever wanted to actually buff the perk. Make it sabo the hook in 2.5s. that's the time in perk description. In reality it takes 3s and this is huge.
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I like sabo with toolbox although I don't run it often (I'm trying to get good with Flashbang for saves and it is quite fun anyway). It is risky in the sanse that most of the time you end up bodyblocking which means you lose a healthstate AND your sabo can be interrupted. I think being able to see hooks by default would be a nice buff as well as not go on cooldown if you down't complete the action.
And maybe your buff is also reasonable. I just think it would be a lot more reliable if some of those things were taken care of. I'd consider running it with flashbang for a sabo build, but as it stands now I prefer flashband with a fully blindness oriented build (Blast Mine and Residual Manifest for the aura reading denial and when gens are done changing to a flashlight). I'm still not good with it but it's fun none-the less (unless enemy has lightborn which makes all of that useless).
I'd run Sabo, Flashbang, Breakout and maybe an exhaustion perk if it got a little bit buffed. I mean now that I think about it I should really try this build although it does lack teammate aura reading which is useful imo.
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Try DH for exhaustion. I don't like the perk normally, but for sabo plays it gives you chance for one more body blocks.
Also flashlight is almost always better (sure lightborn or franklin exists, but so does iron grasp/agitation) if you can get the correct timing.
Seeing hook always is QOL update that I can always live without. If you have enough time to pick from that many hooks, you have enough time to spot them without aura (hooks have some spawn rules). With regards to how dev team operates, I don't want this buff (because in the end it does almost nothing, but dev team would consider it huge buff). It's like you also don't take visionary/dejavu after some playtine.
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I do use DH actually.
I'm not that good with flashlights but I'm trying. And they can run out of power, so I like to have Flashbangs and vice versa. It's just a fun build to be honest. I'm sure I'll find something more optimal in the future.
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Not the best perk but i think its fine as it is. Plus it perfectly fits jake anyways. Although you are far away working on a gen, you have to be mindful on the placements of scourge hooks. So next, if a teammate is downed there, you'll be ready ahead of time and be strategic. Its pretty fun to use
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The effectiveness of sabotage is going to be indirectly buffed anyways when base UB becomes a thing.
Saboteur should be changed to use active ability instead of M1 so you don’t accidentally trigger the cooldown when trying to heal under the hook, but otherwise the perk is fine as it is.
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