Nerk Survivor Perk Type Idea with Justification for balance and game health

themirrortwin

The design of new perks is fairly difficult. You can't make them too strong or you risk changing the entire meta or creating degenerate strategies. However, they can't be too weak either or they won't be popular. Also, it can be difficult to balance perks designed for low MMR and high MMR respectively.

I have a suggestion for a survivor perk type that might avoid some of these issues while maintaining fun and a sense of drama and helping the team. Here are some examples of what I'm thinking:

Last Words: Fight to the end! - When you are sacrificed to the entity or moried, this perk activates as a permanent buff to all remaining survivors. The gen speed efficiency efficiency penalty no longer applies to survivors with this buff. (Flavor Text: With her last words she said to live on without her and never stop fighting back)

Last Words: the last laugh - When you are sacrificed to the entity or moried, this perk activates as a permanent debuff to the killer. The killer's power's cooldown is doubled. Only one instance of this debuff may be applied to the killer per match. (Flavor Text: You may have taken my life but I will have the last laugh - xxx)

The beauty of this type of perk is as follows: 1) It discourages tunneling and camping if not needed. If a killer tries to forceable kill off a survivor early then they will suffer a match wide survivor buff or killer debuff when it becomes a 1 v 3. The optimal strategy is to try to spread the hooks around until every person has one or two before you kill someone, lessening the impact of the buff or debuf. The risk of someone having this type of perk alone is enough to change killer behavior 2) High MMR survivor teams and solos won't run them because to get value a teammate or you has to be sacrificed. 3) New players are often sacrificed or moriied early because they don't know how to loop well. It softens the frustration of dying if they know they've significantly boosted their teammates or got a lick on the killer. 4) Hopefully, this perk is not oppressive to the killer because at a minimum it is a 1 v 3. A debuff might slow a killer down (for example a nurse might need to be even more precise with her blinks if the cooldown is doubled) but fundamentally the additional challenge won't be too oppresive while keeping the games close. Unfortunately, after the first kill, if there are more than 2 gens remaining it becomes extremely difficult for the survivor side.

The killer counterplay is to spread out their hooks and only sacrifice someone if they feel they must.

Ways to tweak them if they overperform: 1) Add timers to the buff (say 360 seconds) and debuff (240 second) 2) Give the killer a warning when they first hook a survivor with this perk (like a sound warning some arcane magic sound effect or something), so they know there will be a punishment for sacrificing or moriing the survivor too early.

Think about it! Could have potential to be healthy for the meta without dramatically changing it (as the perk type does not synergize with others by definition)

SoGo

This is a very creative idea.

I would love these perks as general, so we don't have another "DS pay to win" situation.

But yeah, it punishes tunneling really well, especially the "tunneling at 5/4 gens"

Very good job!

Feneroe

It also punishes killers by debuffing them even if they play with a handicap by 2 hooking everyone before killing someone by weakening them and giving survivors a boost to finishing the last generator to make their win even easier.

Ohyakno

If you double the cooldown for most killers you make them absolutely unplayable. Doctor with double shock delay wouldn't even be a killer anymore. And there's nothing to stop people from using this offensively.

I understand you don't like bad no good tunnelers. They are bad people and deserve to be punished, right? Untrue. You've gotta stop angling for punitive action for killers doing stuff you don't like. Try the carrot instead of the stick. Or a gun in this case.

StereoGang

I don't really see where it discourage tunneling or camping : the perk is going to work no matter if it's the hook n°3 or 9 in the game. As a killer, you'll have to tank threw these perks no matter what you did or how you played. And since it will buff the 3 remaining survivors, killer might as well kill someone early as it will give him more time to get the 3 others despite a debuff that will happen no matter what.

Also giving a gen buff to last survivors, why not. But decreasing the killer's power... you get punished for doing your objective, it's kinda rought.