How I'd buff Hillbilly (Long)
It's no secret that in current DBD Hillbilly is far from being the best killer out there. He's tough to learn, let alone to master, which leads to what feels like very few Hillbilly players being out there. So, while I'm aware this post probably won't lead to much, here is how I'd change Hillbilly.
This post will be split into three sections. How I'd change his power, how I'd rework his add ons and bugs/other changes that don't directly alter his power.
Power
After The Hillbilly was reworked a few years, back it's undeniable that some things were added to him that weren't needed. While I personally am under the impression that Overheat is mostly fine, there are other parts of his power that I feel need changing.
Hillbilly's Roar
To this day I still question the purpose of his roar, and it's my biggest gripe about the killer. It alerts the survivors that you're chasing that you've started your Chainsaw Sprint, and I feel like Hillbilly would be that much better if he didn't let out a loud roar every time he was rounding a corner. I feel his roar should be removed entirely, as it would lead to more mindgames being available with Hillbilly while also weakening survivors at certain loops where Hillbilly struggles.
Overheat
While I feel like overheat is unnecessary, it does teach newer Hillbilly's to not overuse their chainsaw. Despite this, I feel like sometimes it can be too restricting to some newer Hillbilly players. Therefore, I suggest that the Add - On Junkyard Air Filter (Increases the Chainsaw's overheat limit by 20%) be made base kit.
Finally, Overheating leaves you without your power for approximately 15 seconds, with your Chainsaw having a cool down of 6.6 charges per second (with Hillbilly having 100 charges). I'd suggest buffing this to 8.3 charges. This means if Hillbilly does overheat, he is only restricted for 12 seconds.
Chainsaw Sprint Speed
If you actually want to win consistently as Hillbilly, you'll most likely use at least one of his Engraving Add ons. The extra charge time doesn't effect Hillbilly all that much once you know how to use his chainsaw, especially due to the extra speed making up for it. There are many ways to approach this, however due to the value of his Death Engravings being quite balanced I'd suggest that being made basekit (opposed to his stronger yet still balanced Doom Engravings). This opens up more options for Hillbilly to use different add ons opposed to double Engravings. While Engravings usually add an extra 12% to charging the Chainsaw, I suggest this be. changed to 8% when made base kit
Death Engravings;
• Increase the Chainsaw Sprint movement speed by 15%
• Increase time required to charge the Chainsaw by 8% (Was 12%)
• Decrease heat generated while charging the Chainsaw by 14%
Ending a Sprint
Currently, there are four ways to end a Chainsaw Sprint. You can end one by downing a survivor, breaking a pallet/breakable wall, crashing into an object, or by manually ending it from ending your Sprint. Breaking a pallet or breakable wall takes one second, while the rest take three seconds each.
While I find breaking objects and hitting a survivor fine as they are, I'd suggest manually ending a dash be reduced to 2.5 seconds and crashing be increased to 3.5 seconds. This means Hillbilly can get into the chase quicker if he has been using his Sprint for running around the map, meanwhile makes it more punishing for crashing into any objects.
Add - Ons
Majority of Hillbilly's Add - Ons are either extremely niche, or extremely strong (looking at you Lo - Pro chains). While I don't believe they all need changes, some definitely need a rework. Those that have been changed are highlighted in bold, and will have a reason after it in brackets justifying my decision.
Common Add Ons
Steel Toe Boots;
• Decreases recovery time after hitting an object with your Chainsaw by 12%.
Speed Limiter;
• Survivors hit with the chainsaw are damaged for a single health state.
• Get 100% more Bloodpoints for Chainsaw Hit score events.
Junkyard Air Filter;
• While the Chainsaw is overheated, increase Chainsaw Sprint movement speed by 10%.
(Junkyard Air Filter made basekit, therefore needed full rework. Decided as a Common Add On it could have a niche but fun effect).
Heavy Clutch;
• Decreases the width of the Chainsaw's collsision zone by 30%.
Uncommon Add Ons
Pighouse gloves;
When the Chainsaw is 80% or closer to overheating:
• Increase action speed by 20% when breaking pallets or walls or damaging generators.
• Decreases duration of pallet stuns by 50%.
(Reduced rarity from Very Rare to Uncommon due to niche use of this add on, added 80% or closer so it's not stupidly niche).
Punctured Muffler;
• Increase the Chainsaw's rate of cooling by 30%.
(Reduced cooling rate from 50% to 30% due to extra base kit charges + this generally being one of Hillbilly's best add ons)
Off-Brand Motor Oil
• Increases Chainsaw Charge speed by 8%.
(Current Off-Brand Motor Oil is quite weak, this add on brings reverts the nerf in Hillbilly's base kit to his charge time that was brought with Death Engravings being made base kit, at the cost of an Add On slot).
Dad's Boots;
• Increase Chainsaw Sprint turn rate by 28%.
Big Buckle
• Any Survivors that are within 8 meters of you while a survivor is put into the dying state from a Chainsaw Dash has their aura revealed for 3 seconds.
(Current Big Buckle is one of Hillbilly's weakest add-ons. This new version of Big Buckle allows Hillbilly to snowball any nearby survivors while not having too great of a range to undermine the effects of perks like Infectious Fright).
Rare Add Ons
Mother's Helpers;
• Increases Chainsaw charge speed by 18% for 30 seconds after being stunned by a pallet.
Low Kickback Chains;
• Decreases recovery time after hitting an object with the Chainsaw by 28%.
Rusty Chains;
• Survivors hit by a Chainsaw Sprint suffer from the Hemorrhage and Mangled status effects.
(New Add On, encourages Snowballing as survivors will spend more time being healed from the injured state to the healthy state if the survivor is healed from the dying state)
Doom Engravings;
• Increases Chainsaw Sprint movement speed by 20%.
• Increase time required to charge the Chainsaw by 12%.
• Decreases heat generated while charging the Chainsaw by 14%.
Black Grease;
• After hitting a survivor with a Chainsaw Sprint, become immune to flashlights, firecrackers, flashbangs and blast mines for 15 seconds.
(Black Grease was previously another horrible Billy add on, this keeps the theme of it relating to being blinded while actually potentially giving it use)
Very Rare Add Ons
Tuned Carburetor;
• Increases Chainsaw Charge Speed by 25%
• Decreases base movement speed to 4.4 m/s.
Spiked boots;
• Increases Chainsaw Sprint turn speed by 44%.
(Removed penalty on hitting an object as it was unnecessary and made running Dad's Boots more optimal).
Apex Muffler;
• Chainsaw is silent for survivors outside the Terror Radius.
• After maintaining a Chainsaw Sprint for 2 seconds, grants Undetectable status effect.
• Gain the Undetectable status effect for 15 seconds after landing a Chainsaw hit.
(The combination of Apex Muffler, Iridescent Brick and Leafy Mash makes for a fun add on. While none of the effects are that strong alone, they could become strong together)
Lo Pro Chains
• Continue a Chainsaw Sprint after breaking a pallet or wall.
• Survivors hit with the Chainsaw within 5 seconds of breaking a pallet or a wall are damaged for a single health state.
• Injured Survivors hit with the Chainsaw within 0.5 seconds of breaking a pallet or a wall are inflicted with the deep wound status effect.
(Hillbilly's strongest add on receives a slight nerf to prevent lose lose situations)
Ultra Rare Add Ons
Iridescent Brick;
• Reveal the aura of all survivors during a Chainsaw Sprint while the Chainsaw is overheated.
• Reveal the aura of all survivors after a Chainsaw Sprint for 3 seconds when the Chainsaw is overheated.
• Increase heat generated during Chainsaw Sprint by 10%.
• Increase the Chainsaw's rate of cooling by 20% if Overheated.
(Iridescent add ons don't necessarily have to be strong, but rather change how the killer is played. This encourages Hillbilly to overheat while making it less punishing if he decides to do so)
Unloaded Pistol;
• Lose all overheat after landing a Chainsaw hit.
• Decrease the Chainsaw's Overheat limit by 40%.
• Decreases heat generated during a Chainsaw Sprint by 10%)
(Idea for Hillbilly's unloaded pistol comes from his archive entry, while potentially a tough add on to gain value from, heavily promotes Hillbilly to snowball with the cost of making his Chainsaw much riskier to use.)
Bugs/Other changes
This section is for bugs relating to Hillbilly or any changes that I believe are needed that don't involve changing Hillbilly himself.
Crouching at Shack
I don't know why or how, but crouching in the doorway at shack or crouching in a few similarly sized areas allows survivors to avoid being downed by Hillbillys chainsaw if he is Sprinting from a distance (Not sure if this applies when back revving).
This can be devastating to Hillbilly, especially if the survivor is healthy as in essence, they have to go through an extra chase that they wouldn't have had to do otherwise.
Chainsaw Sprint Ending Early
I'm guessing this is a server issue, but if grabs can be fixed than I'm curious if this can be fixed too.
On the occasion, when you're right about to land a Chainsaw hit on a survivor, the Sprint will end abruptly. This is quite frustrating, as you're right about to get a down but its robbed from you. While it's rare (and admittedly it's been a while since I've last had it occur due to me only playing DBD again recently) if this bug still occurs I'd hope it could be fixed.
Structure hitboxes
While most maps are completely fine when it comes to their hitboxes, Garden of Joy, both swamp maps and Boro all aren't great with Hillbilly's Chainsaw. If possible I would like these changes to better represent the hitboxes leading to smoother game play on these maps.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading all the changes I propose :3