So, about the Skull Merchant nerfs...
In summary we have:
A buff that works opposite of the intended state.
A nerf that is buggy without running a specific add-on.
A nerf that feels worse due to lack of proper commitment to it *and* a pre-existing bug.
2 nerfs that end up making the Power be worse than Bloodlust.
"Drone scan lines are only visible within 16 meters."
Except, it only applies to Skull Merchant, not Survivors. So yes, Survivors can see the Scan Lines across the Map but she doesn't.
"Decrease the amount of scan lines to 1"
Well, you know how upon placing, the Drone starts emitting the Scan Lines from front and back? On PTB, it is random if you get either the front one or the back one upon placing. The only way to mitigate thatis to run Low Power Mode (one that decreases the amount of Rotation by 100%) in order to froce the Scan Line to be always the front one.
"Drones are always in their active state Scouting Mode"
Except, there's a bug where the Scan Lines are *sometimes* invisible for both sides meaning it's a bit pointless of a nerf in that case? Additionally, the Drone model doesn't even reflect the other nerf of a singular Scan Line so for both sides, that Scan Line can be wherever they want to be basically.
"The Skull Merchant no longer gains Haste from Survivors being scanned or having a Claw Trap" and "Decreased the Hinder penalty when scanned while having a Claw Trap to 5%"
Overall, it feels bad. There was a point in Hindered effect.
The Drones needed SOMETHING in order to affect Survivor who already has Claw Trap. Compared to Nightmare or Clown, at least you could still fast vault while having that Hindered. The Haste is a bit debatable overall but there are few things to keep in mind:
The Drones cannot be placed in certain areas where ceiling is too close to the ground. Meaning you cannot play directly with Drone, to apply Hindered, you have to rely on Haste to do anything.
Additionally, remember that if the Killer is under the Drone, the Drone flies up and doesn't Scan. Having Haste, however small, made it so you can leave the little area under the Drone a bit quicker making you able to more consistently apply Scans on Survivor and snowball a bit.
Maybe, as a suggestion, make Haste only from Claw Trapped Survivors to decrease the amount of "Teammate ran into Drone for her Haste", buff that Haste a bit as well?
I still think the nerfs should *at the very least* be delayed until next PTB because we are not even testing the intended state of nerfed Skull Merchant. We are testing a mini-Trapper basically.
Please, if you think the PTB Skull Merchant is fine, explain to me how. No biased take from previous trauma. Try to be at least a bit more reasonable.
Comments
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New skull merchant is one of the most buggy killers and simultaneously the worst in the game. at least the other bottom tiers are consistent.
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