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Boons: Are they a failed design concept?
So boon totems have been a part of dbd for over a year now so I thought it was about time to have an overall discussion of their inclusion and how they have affected the game
There’s currently 4 boons in the game being Shadowstep, Circle of healing, exponential and dark theory. I can say that only 1/4 of these totems are a well designed perk so let’s go from best to worst
BOON: SHADOWSTEP
Shadowstep is the only boon I would consider well balanced. It gives a strong effect that has utility when close to and potentially far away from the killer but doesn’t feel oppressive from the killer’s perspective. 24m is a perfect range from it and it always feel useful to set up
Honestly nothing I would change about it
BOON: EXPONENTIAL
Exponential is where the problems begin. As a boon it already comes with the restrictions of having a set up time and limited range. When within that range it has a decent effect but in most matches it falls short. Killers don’t always slug and even if they do you have to make sure to die within its radius. If the killer notices this trend then they’ll simply listen out for boon audio and snuff it before you get up
Also worth noting that it makes twins almost unplayable as if they needed to be kicked down anymore
BOON: DARK THEORY
Boon dark theory is one of the worst designed perks in DBD if I’m being honest. When within boon range all survivors receive a 2% move speed bonus. Problem is this can’t be buffed as even 5% to 7% could be too much. Movement speed should be very rare for perks and adding it to a team wide totem is just not a good idea
This one just needs a full rework with a new effect
BOON: CIRCLE OF HEALING
Last but definitely not least is Circle of healing. COH’s problems begin in the very nature of the perk. It has 0 risk because it’s most effective when placed far away from the killer which is counter intuitive to how boons should work. It provides too much value to the whole team while lacking the risk it should inherently have
I’d argue that it also needs a full rework too. It’s the only boon that is meta and should not be how they are designed
So can boons even be fixed? To be honest I don’t really think so. There’s a lot of inherent issues to their balance and how they give their effects to everyone on your team. Not only that but having multiple meta boons would lead to 1 survivor in a 4 man running them for the whole team which would encourage tunnelling the boon user out of the match
What are your thoughts on boons and do you think they are good for the game as a whole?
Comments
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I like the idea of boon perks. I wish CoH is nerfed when using with medkits. Shadowstep is okay, while can be annoying in indoor maps, its usualy nothing game changing.
Exponential is only good for unaware slugging Killers or totaly broken againts Twins.
Dark Theory is in the corner with it's desing. If you buff it any more than 3+ % it could be broken in some maps againts some killers. But the 2% isn't that awesome either. So Its kinda stuck in the spot where it will either be bad as of now or be too good.
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I think boons are a good concept. Logically that was the next step with totems for interactions.
the execution is debatable, but the concept isn’t flawed in any way. It’s a part of the trial therefore both killers and survivors should have perks that utilize them. Boons are the counterpart to hexes. Of course there are still the “destroy all totems” survivor perks and the base kit of destroying totems. Killers being limited in that regard is an optional balance decision.
so nah i think it’s fine as a mechanic. Tweaking needed? Maybe. But the mechanic isn’t an issue.
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I’m not against any BHVR attempts to incorporate and use the totems, because for a very very long time, I thought they were a very ignored secondary objective.
I feel like Boons just need the smallest tweak to make it feel comfortable. The most glaring and annoying thing about them is the cost doesn’t match the reward and the solution for the Killer is very lackluster since survivors can freely relight a boon.
If the cost was higher on survivor side, it would be less annoying OR if the cost continued to favor the survivors but the Killers had a HARD STOP option, then it would also be more acceptable.
To me, the heart of the issue isn’t the Boons Powers or the inclusion of the Boon Power, but what very little a Killer can do to control a Boon strat or combat against a Boon strat. If the survivors want a Boon up, they will get it and they will continue to get it all game. What’s the Killer going to do? Camp the totem you keep Booning? Then what? Just go to one of the 4 other totems lol.
They gave Killers a band-aide fix in the shape of a perk called Shattered Hope (think that’s name) and left it at that. Very disappointing. Again, I’m a big avid fan of totem builds for both sides, I love totems, but this Boon thing really needs a touch up of some kind.
Personally, If something as small as totems cracking after every boon and then getting destroyed after the 2nd or 3rd snuff, it would be much more satisfying. Shattered Hope would just be the hard counter but you could also just muscle through a few boon set ups to counter it too.
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I can see a change like that working though I would like to see dark theory and exponential improved in some way while COH gets toned down
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Boon Perks are ok. But 90%, people use only COH thats the problems
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As I said in the post shadowstep is decent but dark theory and exponential just suck especially considering the set up required. COH is the only boon that has viable use each game so it’s the only one used each game
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Simple answer: yes they are a failure in every way. Survivor already had too much going for it.
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It has 0 risk because it’s most effective when placed far away from the killer
That's not true. CoH's value comes from making healing go faster. If you have to run across the map to benefit from it, CoH loses its value. It needs to be relatively close to the action to get value.
On the topic at hand though: I think there's some more potential to be had in boons, but one thing that needs to be done to free that potential up is getting rid of the rigidity in parameters. Dark Theory and CoH are not comparable in output value, but they share the same set-up time and the same radius.
Boons need to be changed so that individual perks use individual parameters, and stacking them should either set all of the effects to the same radius, or just layer the radii on top of one another.
Dark Theory and/or Exponential would be better already if they were 30 meter in radius, or 36. CoH might be better balanced if it was 18 meters, or took 18 seconds to set up instead of 14. There's just plenty of wiggle room, but the devs need to be willing to exploit it. You can make boons with weaker effects become more appealing by improving surrounding parameters (Having a boon that snuffs itself after a certain effect is used, but it can be set up fast. Having a boon with a weak effect over a large radius.) or make perks with stronger effects be balanced out by making the parameters surrounding it more restrictive.
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No they are not but they are treading on a thin line
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the problem with boons is that they act more like killer perks than survivor perks. that's saying that they can have a global impact on all survivors the same way killer perks have a global impact. it's what makes them stronger than other perks and in a sense makes you wonder if killers should have access to a 5th perk slot.
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When people say Boons need a nerf, they really mean Circle of Healing needs a nerf.
I think CoH should get a token system to prevent the overuse of it, and encourage survivors to be more tactical for when they place a boon. The rest of the Boon perks can keep their unlimited use because the effects aren't nearly as strong as team-wide self-care.
I used Boon: Exponential *a lot* for the past year while slowly and painfully grinding the "Bless You" achievement. It's wildly underpowered, because just like Unbreakable only getting big value in like 1/20 matches, it's even less when it's tied to a boon.
Like how different killers have varying terror radius distances, I think Boons could have different distances while still all being tied to the same totem. You only get CoH when moving closer, but a weaker effect like Dark Theory can cover a larger distance without being OP. Also they should make at least 1 universal perk that's a Boon so that newer players can be introduced to the mechanic better. Even Scourge Hooks got that when they changed Monstrous Shrine.
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Like the concetp, dont think CoH is fair.
Others boons are OK, i really enjoy shadowstep.
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Always found it strange why they didn't just make Botany Knowledge into a Boon instead of CoH. Makes more sense to me
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I agree with everything you said. They're a concept that should have never left the brain storming phase of perk design
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I thought they were a terrible concept and I still feel like they should not be a part of the game. It was around their insertion point that I started playing survivor more.
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It shouldn't be failed from fundamental, but in reality it's 99% net positive or 99% net negative and there is nearly zero in-between.
So yeah, it is.
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