A bunch of suggestions to make certain killers more viable at higher MMR (and maybe tunnel less).
A few killers fall into the mold of being strong in 1v1 with their killer power, but weak in a 1v4 matchup. If you've ever tried to play these killers in higher MMR matches or against a SWF, you are kind of forced to tunnel or proxy camp.You might do well in chases, but still get completely stomped in macro-play.
If you try to not camp and be nice, what happens is: You walk around with zero stealth or mobility, taking eons to traverse the map to generators away from the hook. The survivors call out your location, and by the time you arrive, they are long gone. Meanwhile someone saved the guy on hook with We'll make it, and now you have ZERO health states to show for it.
If we want killers to tunnel/camp less they need more options and to be better at map-macro. Paradoxically, to improve the survivor experience, certain killers need targeted buffs. Games are more fun when killers toy with multiple survivors instead of trying to eliminate one individual as fast as possible. Here are a few suggestions aimed at creating more variety in the playing experience:
Deathslinger:
Deathslinger wastes too much time with the reel-in mechanic. If you attempt to gain pressure by spreading around deep wounds with a hit and run strategy, you will just flat out fail. Coordinated survivors with teamwork will heal at a rate far faster than you can find them, catch them, and reel them in.
1a). Long ago Deathslinger was double nerfed in his ADS speed and given a standard terror radius. He ought to have a lower terror radius again (28m if not 24m?).
1b). I would even go a step further. Remove and make one of his lower terror radius addons when aiming down sights baseline. Thus he might have a 20m sights when aiming with the redeemer. I've played a stealthslinger build with double ADS terror radius addons + monitor-&-abuse before, dropping chase, and re-ambushing with nurse's calling. Survivors in post-game chat told me its most fun they ever had playing against deathslinger because it made the game tense and spread around the chase fun. And I think he'd be a lot more interesting to play as and to play against with this mechanic baseline in his kit.
2). If a reel timer ends, it applies deep wounds. If you successfully reel someone in AND M1 them, it also applies broken status effect for a modest 30 seconds. Right now on live, both scenarios do the exact same effect and it feels strange that you're not rewarded for skillfully getting the M1 also. This change also improves deathslinger's performance when he juggles multiple targets instead of just one survivor.
---These are subtle effects that don't do much by themselves, but would open up new build strategies with certain perks, and allow him to be stronger when he drops chase.
Pyramid Head:
Pyramid head is also a killer strong in 1v1, but weak in 1v4 with no special macro/stealth/mobility abilities other than a tiny chance to eliminate 1 survivor faster. A comparison to make is with Wesker: both can hit survivors from afar, but Pyramid Head's power is less reliable, and he doesn't have mobility. A lot of Pyramid heads choose to camp hooks with his power for easy multi-hits--the main reason for the old PTR buff of his range attack applying torment being reverted.
1). Instead, Pyramid head should be able to kick gens to "infect" them with "Torment Trail" for a certain duration like plague. The effects are identical but do not trigger killer instinct. This change gives him value as a reward for roaming the map and makes his power more consistent.
2). There should also be some kind of reward for managing to infect multiple survivors with torment trail to encourage him to spread pressure.Punishment of the damned might have tokens for each torment applied, and be slightly wider when used at range for example. In a sense, its kind of like nemesis.
3). I would even suggest that Obsidian Goblet be baseline in a weaker form: only affecting survivors under the effects of torment. This makes him much more likely to ambush survivors for that Mori-effect and encourages strategic placement of torment trails even after everyone is infected.
----For those who do not know, Obsidian Goblet makes you undetectable when standing over your torment trail.
Cannibal:
Bubba is the epitome of face camping. The facecamping infamy is so great, survivors in solo-q often DC if they go down early against him. Here is how we can weaken the hook camping playstyle, while compensating him in other areas:
1a-nerf). Leatherface's chainsaw has a fuel count. Each use of his power depletes 1 fuel. Its very generous (like 20+ charges), and to refill it, he must pick up gas cans around the map.
1b-nerf). Hooking a survivor causes him to go into a mini-tantrum where he holds the chainsaw above his head in celebration, revving it to the max. This depletes all fuel charges. This mini-tantrum is also lethal to nearby survivors, so an enemy team cannot hook rush while the mini-tantrum is occurring.
---This means a camping Leatherface who hooks someone will have to leave the hooked survivor for a while if he wants his insta-down power back.
With a big nerf, comes a big buff:
1-buff). If leatherface goes into a tantrum by bumping into a wall or the mini-tantrum from hooking survivors, he completely loses his terror radius for 10 seconds and becomes undetectable. Survivors who are close enough to hear your tantrum won't be surprised, but it might let him sneak up on distant survivors working on generators across the map.
--This is a HUGE incentive to roam the map and keep constant map pressure by trying to ambush people at generators. It also makes an accidental bump while in a chase be a reason to drop it, and try to find another survivor instead.
2-buff). He VERY badly needs an addon rework. For the sake of brevity, won't go into detail here--too much to cover.
Trapper:
Trapper is purposefully weak because he is the "new player" killer that a lot of beginners play against (highest pickrate). Here is my idea to make him more viable at high MMR without making him a menace at new player ranks:
Disclaimer). Giving him all his traps at the start (as is commonly suggested) would encourage him to be a 3-gen killer like skull merchant, only staying on 1-side of the map. A strong 3-gen killer being the beginner killer isn't an ideal situation. Traps around the map encourage him roam; this mechanic should not be changed in my humble opinion.
1). Like the wraith who is 100% invisible beyond 20 meters, bear traps should be 100% invisible beyond a certain distance (like 16 meters maybe?). This distance decreases with the addons that make his bear traps darker. This change makes it more difficult for SWF to call out traps from a distance and also is a failsafe on maps where there isn't a lot of grass (think eerie of crows map).
2). As a high-MMR only gimmick, he should get 5 perk slots. New players don't have access to a lot of teachable perks for powerful builds, so it won't change much at low MMR. But veterans with hundreds or thousands of hours could compile a dozen new strategies with him not possible on other killers. More perk slots means more ways to surprise survivors with rare builds.
****). Maybe hillbilly, if he has to stay in his current nerfed state for the sake of new players, should get this 5-perk slot treatment also?
Trickster:
To a lesser extent like cannibal, Trickster is also a good face camper. Here's some adjustments:
1-nerf). Knives thrown on a survivor in the unhooking animation or while under the effects of endurance do not contribute to main event progress. This change makes teams a lot less likely to lose multiple health states in rescuing against a camping trickster.
1-buff). 112.5% movespeed perhaps? As a compromise for being ranged, but requiring more time to apply damage than a huntress or deathslinger. This change would help mobility on larger maps and protect against god-loops enabled by "Made for this".
2a-buff). Laceration does not decay when a survivor is exhausted. This change allows him to gives up difficult chases while still saving some value for later. This change makes certain exhaustion perks VERY valuable on him opening up tons of new builds.
2b-buff). Survivors with stacks of laceration have a repair and healing speed of 0%. Working on a generator while lacerated removes 1 stack of laceration each second. This change allows trickster to use his power for a hit-and-run playstyle without having to commit to one survivor. He can pass by an area and try to spread stacks to buy some time or interrupt heals for a while (a pseudo broken status effect).
---The idea here is give his power a small amount of map pressure. Not the main focus, just a small bonus.
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Thoughts?
Comments
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I think the deathslinger should have a smaller terror radius other than that he really struggles to traverse the map so maybe he could be 4.6 instead of 4.4 while not in chase? I am not certain about the mobility proposal but he really shouldn't have that big of a terror radius which only introduces boring gameplay and causes frustration.
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He could have a "stance" where he uses his gun, the redeemer, like a crutch or a walking stick to help his injured leg. While in this stance, he moves like a regular killer, but can't use his power. Then he needs to take a few seconds to go back to shooting stance where he's ranged capable but slower moving.
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Yeah, that sounds interesting. His main issue imo is how long it takes before you have the chance to use his power, currently with many survivors playing smart and optimally he basically have to approach some distance before getting the chance to use the power, huntress will be less stressful dealing with this scenario. Then once you get the down your chasing pressure is lost if there aren't survivors nearby which is the typical strategy against 4.4 killers, at this point he really needs the map pressure i.e. mobility to keep in pace with the game. Otherwise camping maybe? So this change could incentivise a healthier gameplay. Based idea :)
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I entirely support giving Trapper 5 perk slots and keeping it exclusive to him as the poster boy of DbD. I also think it should be his P12 reward so new players don't start out dependent on it and dedicated players will be rewarded for playing/leveling him.
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