Thank you SO MUCH for new Billy, BHVR!
Billy was one of my most rarely played killers, in the last 2-3 years before his buff I played maybe 5 games with him. I always skipped my daily with Billy, because i literally used to hate playing him. He was not fun to play as, had gigantic cooldowns, insanely high skill floor with mediocre and very predictable and dodgeable power. And that's why i was probably worst Billy player so far. I swear, i never thought that I would love this killer THIS much.
After his buff came out, i started to play him for a little bit, learned curves and some stuff, but i didn't really fall in love with him or something, just was glad i have another not bad killer i can play from time to time and Billy is actually worth learning now.
But +0,25 sec to curving at the start...It was emerald cherry on the top of the cake. I can't describe how much i enjoy him now. I probably didn't even have that much fun when I was learning Blight (and I had a ton of fun at that time, trust me). Did i have that much fun in my whole dbd history? I'm not sure. Billy stole my heart and i'm just constantly racing around looking for it.
I have literally never worried so little about winning or losing, all i want is curving. It's so pleasant to see how i become better and better with killer, which a month ago was of absolutely no interest to me and was an empty place.
I believe, this rework was by far your best, BHVR. And there are several reasons for this:
- His skill floor slightly decreased and it's amazing. I think he is still not beginner friendly killer at all, but average player with some experience can start learning him and it will be well rewarded through time.
- His skill ceiling insanely increased with +0,25 s to his start curving. And that's why i love this change so much, it's another layer in Billy gameplay. And this is not something that average player can benefit from. Things that Billy can do now in right hands are mindblowing and put him in a spot, where you can compete against good survivors with him.
- I believe he is most balanced killer right now in a line with Blight and Wesker. Strong A tier, map pressure and fast traverse, strong but counterable chase power. It's where every killer should be.
- He is still super fun to go against. And good Billys are even scarier now, and i miss this feeling in this game tbh.
- Most of his addons are good and he has no op ones. (I will continue this point below)
- All these cool Billy skins won't be lying idle now and Batman Billy from rift now can defend his house.
The only thing I would like to draw attention to are three absolutely useless addons:
Billy uses his chainsaw like 80% of his time in a match and when he doesn't, window between Overdrive meter starts deplete is already pretty big. He definately doesn't need THREE addons which do nothing 95% of match time. Please left yellow one, add to it "Overdrive Meter stops deplete when carry survivor", and rework green and purple in something fun. Pleaaaase, let's push a little bit and make for the first time in the history of dbd a killer who can have all addons useful. (Just remembered that Begrimed Chains now will be useless too because of Mangled and Hemo nerfed into the ground, but well, se la vie)
To sum up, I want to say that this rework breathed life into me inside the game again. I never expected to play for Billy at all. Thank you, BHVR, this is your biggest victory for me.
Comments
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I agree. This version of Billy feels absolutely amazing. He's less addon reliant than before, got some (much needed) complexity in his kit with the Overdrive mechanic and he also has a bunch of decent addons. His counterplay also became a lot more demanding. He finally does have the power to curve you around loops, if you don't play right and there are even some loops, where you need to know how to play around him or you will definitely go down.
His base kit feels pretty good and the only thing I would like to see removed is the sound to tell you when the chainsaw is ready to be used again. I know that on my own and this sound drives me mad. Especially when you use the chainsaw pretty much the entire game and have to listen to it over and over again.
The Discarded Airfilter, High-Speed Idler Screw, Ragged Engine and Thermal Casing addons are all pretty useless though. As is the Counterweight. None of them have any useful effects either because they fix issues that don't exist or in the case of Counterweight because it's just a flat out nerf. It's not even good for learning Billy because the jump from 30% turn rate to 100% turn rate is way too big. It used to be easier to learn him thanks to the controller sensitivity settings because you could increase it step by step until you felt comfortable and got used to it. The addon does not have that effect. So there are 2 options. Either give him multiple such addons to allow players to ease into the curving or just rework it completely.
Overall this might be the best rework for a killer the devs have done so far. Really good job.
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Glad to see that Billy main agrees <3
I thought that Counterweight is good for learning, but never tried it tbh. Will be glad to see its rework as well.
By the way, do you have any ideas on how rework these addons? I personally can't come up with something interesting and useful, except these:
I only come up with Driver's License copy addon on purple, like if survivors get chainsaw hit near the gen, it will lose 20%. Will be fun for sprint snipes, but don't know how useful it will be during usual game.
Also Idler Skrew could show auras of survivors in 32 (or 24) meters after survivor downed with chainsaw.
No idea for green one sadly.
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I think the High-Speed Idler Screw could grant extra Overdrive for breaking pallets and breakable walls. Maybe 10%-15%
Ragged Engine could shorten the turn window by 0.25 seconds (maybe even more) and instead grant a 50% higher turn rate in Overdrive.
I would be fine with the Counterweight simply deactivating Overdrive but granting bonus BP. This could be a nice addon for everyone that wants to get used to his base kit without worrying about Overdrive. It certainly took me a bit to get used to that kind of speed. And I already had a bit of practice with Engravings.
The Discarded Airfilter could work similar to Surge where in a radius around you gens explode whenever you get a down with the chainsaw. Make it a 7% penalty and I'd probably use it.
I also would love an addon that'd allow you to continue the chainsaw sprint after hitting a survivor. It would be pretty niche but I would so love to try and combine it with Spiked Boots on Rotten Fields to get all survivors in 1 sprint. It could also grant the Undectable status after a hit (like old Leafy Mash) to be a bit more versatile.
Information after a down is always a double edged blade. On one hand it's pretty nice to have and can help you out against cheeky flashlight or pallet saves but on the other it encourages slugging (especially on an insta down killer). So I'm kind of on the fence about this.
Honestly they could get real creative with his addons and experiment with different up- and downsides. Some of these could even completely change his play style.
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Feels like 10-15% isn't enough for purple one, Motor Oil could be simpler better in many situations. Btw, somehow no one use it on Billy, underrated addon imo.
Not sure if Billy should have 2 "nerf yourself" addons with this Counterweight change. I would love to see some small but helpful effect on it. Maybe +2-3% speed while holding m2 or something.
Nice idea on Discarded Airfilter, love it!
I also would love an addon that'd allow you to continue the chainsaw sprint after hitting a survivor.Fun idea, but seems too situational. Maybe Counterweight could have this effect and be semi-meme addon.
Information after a down is always a double edged blade. On one hand it's pretty nice to have and can help you out against cheeky flashlight or pallet saves but on the other it encourages slugging (especially on an insta down killer). So I'm kind of on the fence about this.Yeah, true, i think 32 or even 24 meters is too much after your words. 20 or maybe even 16 meters will get rid of slugging with this addon (simply not enough in most cases to find a new target instantly), but still can be useful i think.
Honestly they could get real creative with his addons and experiment with different up- and downsides. Some of these could even completely change his play style.Agree! One of suggestions i read is make Speed Limiter permanent overdrive with current downside. Current Billy definately has a big window for experiments with addons.
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I have seen some people use Off-Brand Motor Oil but it's not an addon that you can really play around, which is what many seem to have more interest in. You get overdrive a bit sooner but it's not like you can really decide when exactly you want to activate it. At least not much better than you could with just the base kit. Overdrive also is quite hard to control for many. It certainly was for me. So it would make sense for some players to have little interest in building overdrive even quicker.
The numbers for High-Speed Idler Screw aren't set in stone. They could be higher but since Billy is already plenty strong with just his base kit, I'd prefer them to be a bit careful. We don't need him to be the next Blight. 😉
Extra movement speed while revving could be fun indeed. Though it'd probably be a bit too much in Overdrive, so it would probably need to be deactivated when in Overdrive. Otherwise, his counterplay around a number of loops would be severely limited to the point where you would guarantee hits as long as you don't mess up.
Fun idea, but seems too situational. Maybe Counterweight could have this effect and be semi-meme addon.
It would definitely be quite situational but combined with the old Leafy Mash effect, that'd grant you the undectable effect after a chainsaw hit, I could see some really fun plays happening with this. The problem with Leafy Mash was always that it was way too predictable. This could fix this issue especially combined with the Apex Muffler.
One of suggestions i read is make Speed Limiter permanent overdrive with current downside.
I saw that too and honestly that'd be pretty nice. You could use it to master Overdrive, which definitely requires a bit of practice and extra BP is always nice.
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