Distortion vs Object of Obsession: Two sides of the same coin?
I have been using Distortion a lot in the past years (since it was released in Dec 2018), but have been fond of Object for about 2 years now and basically glued it into my loadout. (Yes, I am insane.)
This is a simple discussion about two perks which might not be similar at first glance but share a lot of mechanics if you look closer. This post is my attempt to maybe make Object a little bit more popular, as it definitely is underrated in my opinion, but could be a true (and healthy) alternative to the more stealth based Distortion (even more so if some adjustments would be done).
First a quick explaination what both perks do:
Distortion (Jeff Johansen perk): Start with 3/3 tokens. Every time the killer would see your aura, you loose 1 token, are hidden and have no scratchmarks for 6/8/10s. For every 30s you spend hidden in the killer's TR you regain 1 token. Does not activate in the dying state.
Object of Obsession (Laurie Strode perk): Every time the killer sees your aura you also see theirs and the perk icon lights up. During that time healing, repairing and cleansing is 2/4/6% faster. If you are the Obsession, your aura is also automatically revealed for 3s every 30s (5s if the killer uses Lethal Pursuer!). Increases the chance to be the obsession.
But this is not it, as there is a lot more depth hidden in both perks that many people might not realise. I will point out the most obvious first.
- Both Object and Distortion tell you if and what aura perks the killer has, giving you a huge advantage over those who don't know.
- Distortion's ability to hide scratchmarks can help you get to a new location quickly without having to worry about leaving a trace (i.e. pre-running to a hook from far away when the killer has BBQ or running away if triggered by Nurse's Calling).
- Object shows you what the killer is doing when they see your aura, giving you time to react accordingly (i.e. does the killer come to me after they saw me with Lethal/BBQ/Nurses or not? Where is the killer coming from? etc.)
- Both Object and Distortion mess with aura reading addons, but on a different level. While Distortion let's you loose the killer by hiding you, Object will turn any aura reading addon into an UNO reverse card, as mindgames will be amost impossible for the killer to pull off. (I still have nightmares about old Object vs reworked Freddy...)
- Distortion has a limit on how often this can happen in one chase as there are only 3 tokens
- Object can do this an unlimited amount of times
- Object and Distortion both work against the aura addons of stealth killers
- Object is the only perk which will reliably warn you of an EWI Mirror Myers at any time as the perk's icon still lights up even if you don't see his aura
- Object is not immediately obvious to the killer as you have a cooldown at the start of the match and you can also hide your aura behind that of a gen. This is even more the case if you are not the Obsession and the killer has tons of aura reading. They usually don't realize you have the perk and might think you are cheating (yes, this happened to me more than once) until they see the end screen. Distortion is instantly obvious, especially when the killer is using Lethal.
- Object works while being on the hook and in dying state, but (obviously) not while being in a locker, having OTR, or while inside Boon: Shadow Step. (Obviously Distortion would make even less sense to use together with Object.
- Object can let you finish gens or heals if the aura reveal action speed buff comes in clutch and can even be used to get gens done faster in case of Gearhead and Undying (if the Totem is close enough)
You see, both perks are indeed quite similar but Distortion is still far more popular than Object. Why?
- Stealth is more popular (in mid range MMR) atm than an agressive playstyle, as most of the players in that segment are casual players who can loop ok-ish, but do not excel. The popular tunneling tactic also contributes to them not wanting to be found in the first place (the fact that this causes non Distortion players to get tunneled more is a discussion for another post).
- Object's auto-reveal literally betrays you in situations you don't want to be seen (waiting for a FL/pallet save, being the last survivor searching for hatch/getting the gate). This can be adjusted with slight buffs (see below).
- Object is more difficult to use than Distortion, as you need to be good in chase to get it's full value.
- Object's passive information gain can be "disabled" by another person using DS, FTP, MoM etc or the Killer swapping the Obsession with perks like Nemesis, Friends Till The End, Game Afoot or Furtive Chase. This renders the perk useless when the killer does not have any aura reading.
- Object fun fact: if the Killer is using both Rancor and Bitter Murmur, you will most likely only notice Rancor once all gens are done as both aura effects trigger at the same time. RIP.
Therefore those would be the adjustments I would make to level both perks out so that they are similar in strength.
- Object of Obsession:
- Changing the automatic reveal every 30s to a simple 30s cooldown. This way you can choose when to reveal your aura to the killer by looking in their direction. Looking away from the killer does not reveal your aura (similar to how the perk worked before its nerf). Additionally the perk deactivates once you are the last survivor standing, giving you the same chance at an escape as other survivors.
- Not being the obsession increases the cooldown from 30s to 60 (or even 90) seconds. As Object is more difficult to use, you should not be left with 3 perks in the worst case just because another player became the obsession.
- This way a killer with a lot of aura reading has still the chance to notice you having the perk, so they don't think you are cheating.
- Distortion:
- Start with only 1 token
- gain a token up to a maximum of 3 tokens for every 20s you are getting chased by the killer (instead of every 30s hiding in the TR)
- both changes might help to adress the "perma stealth" and resulting tunneling problem by forcing the players to actually interact with the killer to get some stealth in return.
Are you a Distortion/Object gamer? What do you think about the perks? I am happy to read your thoughts and constructive criticism.
And maybe even one of the Devs finds this post enlightening.
Edit: I forgot the action speed buff Object gives you when revealing your aura.
Comments
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“And maybe even one of the Devs finds this post enlightening”
Enlightening post, indeed…
Maybe Devs will be so enlightened they’ll even consider adding these two helpfully wonderful perks to the list of those being nerfed directly into the ground🙃
Do agree, these are two very useful perks that are still worthwhile and haven’t been completely butchered, yet. Object was skinned alive, and still holds relevance.
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The Distortion idea might be good, it definitely needs to be changed somehow. The current token system isn’t limiting enough (as in, in most matches you never run out) and it discourages interaction with the killer too much.
I mostly disagree with changing Object though. Deactivating it for the last survivor would be a good change, but other than that I like the perk the way it is. It’s a risk/reward perk that lets you keep tabs on the killer very often as well as figuring out parts of their build, and I feel like it should have the inherent risk factor that it does. I think giving the survivor more control over when the aura reading activates would take out too much of its inherent risk.
One other thing I also want to point out: Neither perk is ever wasted or useless, even if the killer has no aura reading. Knowing that the killer does not have certain perks or addons and knowing you don’t have to worry about them is also valuable information (and especially if you can relay that info to your teammates) that those perks give you even if they don’t activate a single time.
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My problem with current object is, that for some reason I always get the short end of the stick if someone else uses DS, MoM, FTP or worse: Sole Survivor. All those perks work at 100% regardless of you being the obsession or not. Object does not work at 100% if you are not the obsession, which is completely out of your control.
The way the obsession is chosen is also a bit weird. If you have 2 people using Object/DS the chance is 50% to be the obsession. But if someone has a perk/addon that makes your chance smaller to be the obsession, it seems to just give a multiplicator to everyone else as suddenly you are not guaranteed to be the obsession with Object.
I don't exactly know how it works but it is very annoying....
This is why I would like a buff that just makes the CD longer if you are not the obsession. Even without you being able to trigger the aura reading yourself.
I guess I could live without the reveal change but that is something that is very annoying at some point.
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I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that.....
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Your proposed changes would make Distortion weaker for mid-mmr survivors who rely on stealth and need the help, and make Object of Obsession easier for high-mmr survivors who already excel at being chased and don't need any help?
These changes would put me in perma-low-mmr hell, and I'd have to spend more time hiding in lockers. 😔
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Sorry to say that, but if you need stealth perks to be ok at the game, then you should learn how to loop instead.
I don't understand how you don't want to be stuck in low mmr, but refuse to get better in the first place.
One of my friends is OK in chase but likes the stealth. It would make no difference for her because she gets chased at some point. The only people who'd need to get out of their comfort zone are those who only hide, don't interact with the killer at all and let their team die just to get hatch.
Object is still high-risk high-reward, even with some of the buffs as the killer gets more information off you for free. I mainly use the perk for the information and because I get tunneled anyway. Sure it gives more value to those who know how to use it, but that is the same with SB. A new player will just walk or Urban Evading around to "save" it, but the experienced player will 99 it perfectly and know how to use it.
It is fine that some perks only shine when used by experienced players. Like some perks are new player friendly like Technician.
Edit: Also many high MMR killers complain that all they see are the same perks, so getting Object up to be a bit better could make for some nice changes in some loadouts.
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