Upcoming Hillbilly Heat changes
With the post-PTB feedback being implemented, Max Thompson Jr is getting tweaks to overheat- encouraging in-chase usage of the chainsaw- and increased heat buildup during sprinting. While I think this is the right direction, it doesn't address some issues that will remain with The Hillbilly.
The first, and the reason many run engravings in the first place, is his speed- his basekit sprint speed limits his ability to curve around corners and use the chainsaw outside of back revving. If they'd like to increase addons other than engravings usage, it's worth considering moving some of the speed from Engravings into his basekit, allowing more addon variety while still being able to execute curves and other exciting usage without being stuck using double engravings.
The second thing is that the increased heat while sprinting feels more like a balance change aimed at making sure that overheat stays relevant, despite making it effectively non-existent in chase (or camping). Using the chainsaw for mobility didn't cause Billy to be supremely overpowered in his current live state, and with the upcoming changes, it'll be a nerf to all of his addons and builds related to that- Boots, iri brick, Apex muffler + Tinkerer, etc. It feels like more of an excuse to keep the four overheat-related addons around rather than making overheat irrelevent or removing it altogether.
With regards to the second issue, it's worth mentioning these addons are already niche- given the popularity of double engravings and the gameplay they allow. With the upcoming sprint heat buildup, they'll be even more limited in usefulness, with even less reason to switch off of engravings-
Again, I don't want engravings to be nerfed. I tend to run green engravings because the extra speed and ability to curve around corners is a blast. But seeing items like boots and iri brick go from mid-tier to worse is a shame, due to overheat's continued existence-- which is only going to serve to increasingly limit an already B-tier killer with limited popularity and a kit that would be punishing even without said overheat.
I'd also like to note that the rest of his addons have excessively niche uses or minimal benefits for the difficulty of getting said benefits (pills and black grease, the off brand motor oil's volume change, leafy mash's 15s duration where 2.5s are taken up by the animation from hitting a survivor, etc). If they'd like Engravings to go down in usage, it's worth giving him an addon pass in general.
tl;dr,
Hillbilly is already punishing without overheat, and while the new changes will make his most popular playstyle less oppressive, the increased heat buildup while sprinting will serve to nerf already niche / weak playstyles and addons and seems to serve only as an excuse to keep overheat around.
In addition, weak addons getting weaker due to these changes, as well as the mediocre basekit speed, will mean Engravings will continue to be the only popular and significantly effective addons due to the existence of overheat.