Skull Merchant Adjustments Suggestions
Hello! In this post I aim to take a look at current Skull Merchant and, based on that, make suggestions on how to bring her to a healthier and more fun state!
Let's begin!
General thoughts on Skull Merchant:
- Overly hated;
- Most of the playerbase have no idea what she does;
- Has way too many elements that have no indicators and give no feedback to Survivors;
- Bloated kit with various unnecessary features;
- OK power-level wise.
So, why is SM so hated?
I firmly believe that much of the reason people hate her is because of the impressions her old 3 gen playstyle left.
While I agree that the old version of SM was absolute garbage and had no place in DBD, I find the new one "okay" and think it is rather sad that her old state left such an ugly mark.
Nowadays, I have seen many complaints (in-game and on social media) of Survivors against Skull Merchant that are just echoes of her old version, like, for example: exposed, basekit Dissolution and 3 genning (which she performs just like any other killer that is committed to this insufferable tactic). And, in my opinion, this shows that people have no interest in learning what she does or how to play against her.
But I don't think it is all on Survivors not wanting to learn, current Skull Merchant has MANY flaws, like: random movement speed fluctuations, pinpoint tracking with NO indication and excessive amounts of overly-complicated and unnecessary features in her kit.
Also, on top of that, she is the only killer in the game that you can't really learn everything she does by simply playing as or against her. You have to manually search to fully learn what she does because there are so many things that she gets/does that Survivors get no feedback, and are not well explained in the Killer lobby.
How to fix her?
Well, while I don't think most people will ever like Skully, I do believe that most of her issues can be diminished by doing small changes, shifting mechanics around, making QOL changes and removing unnecessary/unfun aspects of her kit.
These changes need to be made in ways that improve SIMPLICITY, CLARITY and SKILL EXPRESSION. This way SM can be a better rounded killer while keeping the same power level. I also believe that if the changes are made correctly it can also reinforce her identity as a "tracking/hunting killer", if you care about that.
I will go point-by-point, highlighting what I think the biggest issues are, and propose solutions to them.
- Movement speed fluctuations:
I find this to be the least healthy aspect of Skull Merchant. It is a remnant of her old version that shouldn't have been kept after her rework.
Having a killer that passively speeds up and slows down with no input from them is bad design. What makes it even worse is that, as a survivor, you get absolutely NO INDICATION of when this happens and it just gets you by surprise (or you don't even realize that it happened). This is an nonredeemable part of the killer, so my suggestion is:
→ The Skull Merchant no longer gets a stacking Haste status effect for each Tracked Survivor.
- Radar and tracking:
The radar is one of the key points of Skull Merchant's identity and it plays a big role in gameplay. It allows her to track tagged/Claw-Trapped survivors and control her Drones.
While it is in most ways fine, I have one issue with it:
Survivors get no feedback when they are being tracked after a Scan or when they have a Claw-Trap.
This mechanic is especially frustrating for newer players and those who don't fully understand SM's power, so my suggestion is:
→ The old "tracked" indicator should be reintroduced to the game (was in PTB, never made it to live).
It should work like this: whenever you are tracked and appear on the Skull Merchant's radar - the eye appears. (not only when she is actively looking at the radar)
- Undetectable:
Personally, I don't think that the stealth mechanic in Skull Merchant, as it is right now, is neither fitting to her or fun to go against.
The "short bursts of stealth" is not a bad mechanic, however, it usually comes with a warning, (e.g.: Chucky's footfalls and laughing, Demogorgon's screams, etc.) so it doesn't feel the best when Skull Merchant just pops out of nowhere.
Adding in a new sound effect that plays whenever the Skull Merchant deploys a drone nearby could be an easy fix, however, in my opinion, it would still feel "out of place" in her kit. Therefore, the change I found most fitting was moving the "stealth" aspect of SM to a different part of her kit while giving her a different bonus for deploying drones. My suggestions are:
→ The Skull Merchant no longer receives the Undetectable status effect for 8 seconds after deploying a drone.
→ Survivors hacking drones now receive the Oblivious status effect. This effect lingers for 1 second after either completing or abandoning the interaction.
→ Deploying a drone now grants the Skull Merchant a 5% Haste Status Effect for 5 seconds. This effect cannot be gained while in Chase and entering a Chase ends it prematurely.
- Drones in Scouting and Stealth mode:
Drones are what define the Skull Merchant, (duh) and while "Scouting Drones" work pretty well and are quite distinctive, I find that the "Stealth Drones" do not play their part too well.
In theory, you can set Stealth Drones in unexpected places to catch survivors off guard or place them as "traps" that Survivors in chase will run into. But since they constantly and slowly rotate, there is a chance that Survivors will just run trough them without getting tagged and, for that reason, most Skull Merchants use the same playstyle - drone spamming.
I believe that, if Stealth Drones acted more like "traps" and less like a weaker version of Scout Drones, it would incentivize players to start actually thinking about drone placement instead of just chucking them at every loop.
So, my suggestions are:
→ The Skull Merchant can now see the coverage of Laser Cones from drones in Stealth Mode. They appear in white.
→ Drones in Stealth Mode no longer rotate.
→ Drones in Scouting Mode return to Stealth Mode after 30 seconds. The timer resets every time a Survivor is scanned.
For better visualization, here are some examples of "trapping":
1. Groaning Storehouse:
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2. Treatment Theater
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3. Family Residence
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(On this last example, the laser actually goes over the window.)
- Locked-On Survivors and Claw-Traps:
After getting scanned 3 times, you get a Claw-Trap - that's pretty simple. However, there are more elements in play, (maybe too many) so I believe that simplifying the variables of Claw-Traps can make going against SM less confusing.
Also, the Hindered status effect applied by SM is one of the longest lasting in the game, and that does not feel nice. Reducing the duration and increasing the slow amount (in proportions that even out in the end) is a good and easy way of improving "the feel" of it.
So, my suggestions are:
→ Reduced the duration of the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 4 seconds. (was 6 seconds)
→ Increased the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 15%. (was 10%)
→ Increased the Killer Instinct effect that the Skull Merchant gets when Claw-Trapped Survivors are scanned by a Drone to 4 seconds. (was 3)
→ All Survivors that get Locked On now suffer from the Deep Wound status effect.
Notes:
- According to my math, with these numbers (4 seconds and 15% Hindered) and on a straight line, the distance that Survivors lose is still the same.
- According to my math, with these numbers (4 seconds and 15% Hindered) and on a straight line, the Skull Merchant reaches a hindered Survivor faster, making it a buff.
- With all of this in mind and considering the changes on the next segment, I don't think these changes make this ability too overwhelming.
- Lock-On stacks and Drone hacking:
Right now, it doesn't matter how or when you got Scanned - there is no going back. That leads to a situation that whenever SM finds a Survivor, if she gets even one scan, it is a "small win" with nothing a Survivor can do even if they win the chase.
With that in mind, I believe we can kill two birds with one stone: giving Survivors motives to interact with Drones (other than just disabling them) and adding a way for Survivors to avoid getting Locked-On if they escape a chase before getting a Claw-Trap.
My suggestion is:
→ Successfully hacking a Drone now removes -1 stack of Lock-On.
- Disabled Drones:
Disabled drones are fine, the suggestion I'm making about them is just a QOL change.
My suggestion is:
→ The Skull Merchant now sees disabled Drones auras in a different color.
Note:
- You can already tell when a Drone is disabled since it doesn't have a "change rotation" option.
TL;DR
→ The Skull Merchant no longer gets a stacking Haste status effect for each Tracked Survivor.
→ The old "tracked" indicator should be reintroduced to the game (was in PTB, never made it to live).
→ The Skull Merchant no longer receives the Undetectable status effect for 8 seconds after deploying a drone.
→ Survivors hacking drones now receive the Oblivious status effect. This effect lingers for 1 second after either completing or abandoning the interaction.
→ Deploying a drone now grants the Skull Merchant a 5% Haste Status Effect for 5 seconds. This effect cannot be gained while in Chase and entering a Chase ends it prematurely.
→ The Skull Merchant can now see the coverage of Laser Cones from drones in Stealth Mode. They appear in white.
→ Drones in Stealth Mode no longer rotate.
→ Drones in Scouting Mode return to Stealth Mode after 30 seconds. The timer resets every time a Survivor is scanned.
→ Reduced the duration of the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 4 seconds. (was 6 seconds)
→ Increased the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 15%. (was 10%)
→ Increased the Killer Instinct effect that the Skull Merchant gets when Claw-Trapped Survivors are scanned by a Drone to 4 seconds. (was 3)
→All Survivors that get Locked On now suffer from the Deep Wound status effect.
→ Successfully hacking a Drone now removes -1 stack of Lock-On.
→ The Skull Merchant now sees disabled Drones auras in a different color.
Aaaaand, that's all folks! Thank you very much for reading!
I will not be touching add-ons or perks right now, but if I change my mind, I will add them to this post!
Please, let's keep the discussions/comments civilized!
About me :
- Veteran DBD player, since December 2016;
- 2400+ hours;
- Casual player who plays about 60% survivor and 40% killer;
- Actually enjoyed the Skull Merchant rework.
Bye-bye! :D
Comments
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Congratulations, you've made the worst killer in the game.
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I feel like most of these suggestions just nerf her into the ground….
Successfully hacking a Drone now removes -1 stack of Lock-On. (I like this though)0 -
So I think, no matter what all of this together would be way too much, you'd be left with a killer that doesn't have a clear identity and whose power doesn't really do that much. However, I mostly want to call attention to one particular element that I think is a dramatically bad idea, and it's for a not-so-obvious reason so I think it bears talking about.
I'm referring to removing her Haste for scanning a survivor. I cannot object to this idea strenuously enough, and I'm going to try and articulate why because it isn't just that it makes her too weak.
When looking at Skull Merchant as a killer for discussions like this, there are a few important factors to consider, but the one we're chiefly concerned with here is mechanical identity. What does it feel like to play Skull Merchant, and what does it feel like to play against her? What makes her stand out and what, if anything, would make her feel Fun to play against from the survivor side?
To me, there is one clear answer for Merchant: Playing around drone beams. That specific little minigame, with all the nuance and skill expression it has (on both sides!), is The Thing that sets Skull Merchant apart from other killers… and it's only something you actually have to care about because a single scan makes her move faster. If the only thing a scan did is build you towards an injury and some Hindered, there would be a plethora of situations where the correct call is to just tank a scan and leave, ESPECIALLY if you can then remove that stack by hacking a drone — which is a change I think is a good one, in a vacuum, to be clear.
There are changes that can absolutely be made to make this more obvious and more clear so survivors can play around it correctly - you highlight showing the survivor when they're on the scanner, which is a great idea only if it's there to show the survivor that Merchant has Haste and for how long - but it needs to stay. It and the drone's rotating beams are the core elements of her power from an experience standpoint, and I don't think you're going to ingratiate her to anyone by taking away the elements of her that have the required skill expression and mechanical input to be considered potentially fun. People are going to find her way more boring if the drones are an annoyance you run through two thirds of the time.
There'd also be absolutely no reason to care about drones as traps, either. It'd flatten all of Merchant's 1v4 because trap drones only matter in chase, they don't do anything if they're tripped and she isn't there to stop you from disabling the drone. Any fun to be had from sneaking around drones is gone; why bother? Tripping a drone just tells her where you are, if she's already in a chase that's hardly a risk. Run at it, disable it, you're done.
All of this on top of the fact that removing it makes her power a significantly worse Clown slow, therefore making her substantially weaker than most others on the roster and especially compared to her current (only decent) strength. I just don't think it's a salvageable idea, the Haste has to stay and there isn't anything you can replace it with that preserves the reason it has to stay.
There is some good stuff in here! But I just think that decision, and any decision made because of it, just can't work out.
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Remove the free hit with drone!
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you get absolutely NO INDICATION of when this happens and it just gets you by surprise (or you don't even realize that it
happened). This is an nonredeemable part of the killer, so my suggestion is.Yes you do. your teammate or you get a lock-on stack.
Survivors get no feedback when they are being tracked after a Scan or when they have a Claw-Trap.
Acquire a claw trap is being tracked. it is like implicit to the ability. It is like saying, You don't know that wesker's infection is slowing you down at -8% when you red. This is a great excuse.
The "short bursts of stealth" is not a bad mechanic, however, it usually comes with a warning, (e.g.: Chucky's footfalls and laughing, Demogorgon's screams, etc.) so it doesn't feel the best when Skull Merchant just pops out of nowhere.
The whole point of stealth is to not know someone is stealth. Chucky's stealth and Demo are perfect examples of terribly designed stealth. Her stealth is how every stealth mechanic should work. the fact that it doesn't work that way is alarming.
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Someone wants freddy replaced as worst killer in DBD…
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So terrible changes:
→ The Skull Merchant no longer receives the Undetectable status effect for 8 seconds after deploying a drone.→ Survivors hacking drones now receive the Oblivious status effect. This effect lingers for 1 second after either completing or abandoning the interaction.
→ Deploying a drone now grants the Skull Merchant a 5% Haste Status Effect for 5 seconds. This effect cannot be gained while in Chase and entering a Chase ends it prematurely.
→ Drones in Stealth Mode no longer rotate.
→ Drones in Scouting Mode return to Stealth Mode after 30 seconds. The timer resets every time a Survivor is scanned.
→ Successfully hacking a Drone now removes -1 stack of Lock-On.
Sure:→ The old "tracked" indicator should be reintroduced to the game (was in PTB, never made it to live).
→ The Skull Merchant can now see the coverage of Laser Cones from drones in Stealth Mode. They appear in white.
→ Reduced the duration of the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 4 seconds. (was 6 seconds)
→ Increased the Hindered status effect that Claw-Trapped Survivors who are scanned by a Drone receive to 15%. (was 10%)
→ Increased the Killer Instinct effect that the Skull Merchant gets when Claw-Trapped Survivors are scanned by a Drone to 4 seconds. (was 3)
→All Survivors that get Locked On now suffer from the Deep Wound status effect.
→ The Skull Merchant now sees disabled Drones auras in a different color.
Other:
→ The Skull Merchant no longer gets a stacking Haste status effect for each Tracked Survivor.As I suggest with my changes. I would make it so you get 3% whenever is someone visible on your radar and 3% whenever someone has claw trap. That already makes it easy to track without making it useless.
Skull merchant is simply dead without haste and undetectable.
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