The Big Hex Overhaul Pitch

jesterkind

I'll get right into it: Hexes need help, as a class. I'm going to talk about my suggestions for how to improve them overall, first looking at two universal changes I want to make to the overall system and then looking at individual perks to see how they'd be adjusted in light of those changes. For each, I'll list the change, then some explanation underneath where appropriate.

First, the universal changes:

• Number of dull totems increased to 7 (was 5)

This change has a few goals in mind. The first is quite simply to make totems more of a presence in the trial- the majority of these changes are aimed at killer perks, but this change would make some survivor totem perks more appealing as well, which in turn makes their counterpicks more appealing for killer.

In addition to that, though, this would allow killers to more freely mix hexes that spawn multiple totems with one another, and with other hex perks. Plaything, Haunted Grounds, and Devour Hope is a combination that doesn't really work currently, but with more totems you'd have a chance to use all three perks to their fullest with less risk of one just not working— and the same principle applies to other combinations.

• Hexes now spawn when they first take effect (was at the start of the trial)

This is the big one. One of the biggest issues with hexes at the moment is that their risk/reward ratio is skewed a little too far towards risk. We've all had matches where our Hexes are gone within a minute or two of spawning into the trial, and that just feels bad even accounting for the fact that Hexes being cleansed early is supposed to be a risk. With this change, survivors spawning directly next to totems is much less damaging because those totems are guaranteed to be dull, and even survivors deciding to cleanse those dulls doesn't mean your Hex can't spawn elsewhere.

Most of the individual perk changes down below are going to be clarifying on what causes them to spawn in, where applicable. Generally, though, if a survivor sees "Cursed" come up on their screen, that'd mean a totem just lit up.

Now, the individual perks:

• Blood Favour

Spawns when it first blocks a pallet.

Self explanatory.

• Crowd Control

Spawns when it first blocks a window.

Pretty straightforward so far, eh?

• Devour Hope

Spawns when it first gains a token.

This perk is intended to have "dead air" before it starts affecting things, so it ramps up in power over time, and I believe this change would still maintain that. The first two tokens have a negligible effect, leaving time for survivors to notice the totem and cleanse it before you reach the third.

• Face The Darkness

Unchanged.

As this perk already spawns after the start of the trial and separately doesn't really need any changes, there's nothing to alter.

• Haunted Grounds

New activation conditions: Another Hex lighting up, or the first generator being completed.

Here's one that actually has to change. Whichever of those two activation conditions happens first would spawn the lit totems in, meaning that this perk would still shine best as a support perk for other Hexes but could be used on its own if you really want to.

• Huntress Lullaby

Rework: When a survivor is hooked for the first time, a totem lights up associated with that survivor. For as long as the totem is standing, that survivor gets no audio warning before a skill check, and loses an extra 6% progress if a skill check is missed. Only the survivor affected by the totem can cleanse it for 90 seconds after it spawns.

The Plaything treatment. With more totems on the trial, there's more room for perks that work this way, though you'd still not want to run it alongside Plaything specifically. Now, this perk just functions instead of having the same "dead air" ramping up effect as Devour Hope for a tremendously weaker effect.

• No One Escapes Death

Unchanged.

Same as Face The Darkness. It already works this way and is already fine, strength wise. No changes needed.

• Pentimento

Effects of the first two tokens are swapped.
Relit totems can be cleansed 50% faster than default.
Five relit totems now slows chest opening speed by 30%.
Six relit totems now slows totem cleansing speed by 30%.
Seven lit totems now blocks all totems.

Hoo boy, this perk's a real monster standing menacingly between us and any worthwhile hex changes. My goals with this proposal are to make it so killers have to juggle two totems to get the coveted repair speed penalty while still getting something useful for one totem up, and to make its synergy with totem-slowing perks and action-interrupting perks/powers a little weaker. Additionally, the perk needed a few more effects now that there are more totems in the trial… but realistically you're not seeing these, it doesn't really matter what they do. They're hypothetically useful without being too nasty, but again, they're not likely to come into play

Honestly, this perk probably needs a fundamental rework, but I'm trying not to change any individual perks too much.

• Plaything

Unchanged.

You know the drill, it already works this way, etc.

• Retribution

Spawns when a survivor first touches a totem.

This is already a fine enough activation condition, as touching any totem for any reason inflicts the Oblivious status effect and therefore can be the effect that spawns in the totem.

• Ruin

Spawns when a survivor first lets go of a generator with progress.
Repair regression increased to 150% (was 100%)

I couldn't resist giving Ruin a small buff while I was in here. Otherwise, self explanatory.

• The Third Seal

Spawns when a survivor is first damaged by a basic or special attack.

I debated actually buffing this one, but it already has a niche, I think it can stand as it is for now. Otherwise, self explanatory.

• Thrill Of The Hunt

Partial rework: While standing, causes totem cleansing and buffing speed to be 50% slower.

This is a bit of a tricky one. If you just adjust the numbers down for the same overall end result, that's still technically a buff, since the penalty is lowered by a smaller amount with more totems in the trial. I decided to play it safe and give it a static number that could be adjusted more easily if it proves to be a problem, with the positive side being that now you're guaranteed to get that exact number for every cleanse until the perk itself is found.

• Two Can Play

Spawns when a survivor first stuns or blinds the killer (was after two stuns/blinds)
Blind duration increased to 2.5 seconds (was 1.5 seconds)

Fairly self explanatory. This perk needs a bit of a buff, but otherwise works the way it needs to for this change.

• Undying

Spawns when a survivor first cleanses another Hex, or when a survivor has their aura revealed close to a dull totem.

Self explanatory. If another Hex is cleansed first, Undying would then automatically become that Hex, just to preserve the way it's meant to work. It's effectively unchanged, don't worry about this one.

• Wretched Fate

Unchanged.

I don't much care for this perk, but it already works the way it needs to for this overhaul and it's not a BAD perk, so it gets no changes for now.

• Shattered Hope

New effect: Survivors who cleanse a dull totem have their aura revealed for 8 seconds.

This isn't a Hex perk but I figured I'd throw it in as a bonus. This perk still, with this change, relies on survivor actions for value, but at least it now has a higher chance of activating. It'd still function as an anti-Boon perk as that part is unchanged.

—

And that's it, that's my big Hex overhaul pitch. I'm sure some individual perks would still need adjustments after this, but I believe that the system changes detailed at the top of the post would provide a much healthier baseline to make those changes from.

frictionless

These are some really solid ideas that I would love to see added to the game. I feel like a lot of the issue with hexes at the moment, besides the general inconsistency from the quirks of their spawning, is that they're balanced around the killers that can defend them really easily instead of the general capabilities of killers as a whole, and these changes could stand to balance that out a bit. I have a few minor suggestions to throw into this:

• New spawns should be able to rekindle destroyed totems when there are none left, just to guarantee that even in extreme edge-cases where killers run a full build of hex perks that spawn multiple totems, they can all activate properly. Forcing survivors to deal with totems multiple times over in some games would be balanced out by the fact that in any match where every totem is destroyed, survivors already know where every totem is.
• Totem spawns should have more consistent rules for generation and standardized locations. It shouldn't be possible to roll every totem into slots on one side of the map, and those slots should be consistent in how concealed they are, since improving the early-game longevity of totems won't be super impactful if they can still get dropped out into the open on some maps. This also stands to benefit the consistency of boon perks.
• I have an alternate rework suggestion for thrill of the hunt: Making it work kind of like undying could be interesting, where it spawns its own hexed totem when any other hex is activated but is active as long as you have any hex totem up, if you make it a perk that lowers cleansing/blessing speed on all totems for each hex perk that gets cleansed or blessed away, only counting each perk's totems once (so perks like plaything would only count as one token after all four totems are cleansed). Setting that at something like 16% per token could be a fun dynamic for hex builds, where the totems being cleansed earlier on aren't protected, but as the game goes on it gets increasingly riskier to cleanse what few hex perks the killer might have, so the tension of trying to defend/cleanse one last hex perk could be felt by both sides.
• Finally, I know this is an old one, but giving killers the ability to see which perks are tied to which hexed totems would be a massive QoL improvement. It'd also do a lot to make hex builds feel more interesting for survivors, since killers having their decision making influenced by the location of specific hex perks would give survivors more info on potential locations for totems they haven't found and the value of totems that are being defended.

SoGo

I just want BHVR to make totems harder to find.

It that too much to ask for?

Is it THAT hard to just find some more discreet spots for them that aren't facing a gen 4 meters away from it?