Watching The Killer I Love Get Turned To Ash... (Demogorgon Posting)

Iron_Cutlass

Demo is a character that I love and that I have dedicated a lot of time into because I find their power fun but it feels like that as time has gone on my matches have become significantly more frustrating and annoying to deal with since this character has progressively gotten worse and worse as time has gone on.

Add-ons

Demogorgon has 20 add-ons; 4 add-ons are dedicated to Shred, 17 add-ons are dedicated to Portals, no this isnt a typo, Demo has 1 add-on that is a hybrid between the Shred/Portal.

Barb's Glasses, Black Heart, Rat Liver, and Mew's Guts all affect Shred, of these add-ons, Barb's Glasses and Black Heart are the only usable addons.

Rat Liver increases your movement speed while holding Shred by +3.5% which makes it so you move the same speed as a Survivor, but it only applies when Shred is fully charged and not when charging it. It USE to affect the speed that you moved while charging Shred but it was changed and also had the % nerfed. This add-on is outright useless nowadays.

Mew's Guts increases the speed at which you recover from missed Shreds by +11%. This add-on has the "Unrelenting" issue where the bonus only applies if you miss and do not hit an object, but since maps are insanely cluttered nowadays, this add-on does not do much.

The add-ons commonly referred to Portal Sealing Time (PST) add-ons (Upside Down Resin, Thorny Vines, Viscous Webbing) were nerfed when the Portal Teleport Speed was increased. The end result is while you save like 1 or 1.5 more seconds teleporting, your Portals are significantly more vulnerable, and these add-ons that were already niche were made worse and even more niche.

Leprose Lichen use to provide a map-wide Aura Reading whenever you would teleport through a Portal, but it was nerfed to only apply within 16-meters of a Portal. One of Demo's most unique add-ons was nerfed because apparently having on demand BBQ was too much of an issue… surely they wouldnt give Killers similar add-ons… Iridescent Company Banner (infinite Blood Warden and Bamboozle in a single addon), Yamori's Mask (Infectious Fright on hook), and Ghostface Caught On Camera (infinite BBQ on marked down) ALL EXIST.

Lifeguard Whistle was a busted add-on that 100% needed to be nerfed but it was among the last things that gave Demo some level of relevancy in the meta and was the main thing that was maintaining their killrates and pickrates. After it was nerfed, the Killer has dropped in the tierlists, killrates have dropped, and they have been overall performing worse.

Because Portal add-ons constantly get nerfed, it has become apparent to Demo players that playing into alternative playstyles is a no-go. Barb's Glasses and Black Heart have remained meta because their effects are decent and because unlike other addons, they have not been nerfed heavily. Why use Portal add-ons when they will just be nerfed or reworked into a useless husk of its former self.

Demogorgon DESPERATELY needs an add-on pass.

Shred

Shred is a decent chase tool but BHVR keeps implementing direct and indirect changes that make Shred less viable.

Shred itself moves in a straight line with slight room for deviation. Because of this, it comes with a lot of risk and reward for what it brings to the table, which is inherently good design if maps were designed with Shred in mind… Maps are not designed with Shred in mind… BHVR keeps introducing maps with weird geometry which they cannot play around as well as introducing more clutter to maps and more objects to get snagged on.

Keep in mind that BHVR has been releasing "multi-dash" Killers which have multiple dashes with the intent of making it easier to play around rounded or weird loops, but unfortunately Demogorgon does not have the benefit of any of that. Their turning is more restricted than Billy and Blight while also just generally having a weaker power to begin with.

DBD's servers have also been in shambles, and one of the most common things to see is having a Shred fully prepared only for the server to eat the input and not do anything. This has been a consistent issue but no Killer quite suffers as much as Demogorgon with this since sometimes it can even force an M1 which results in massive distance lost and many tears cried.

Crouch Tech

This deserves it's own dedicated section because this is among the stupidest things I have ever had to deal with…

This was changed in a way that made it so Survivors are SUPPOSE to be hit when they are on the same elevation as the Killer however it has become abundantly clear that the Crouch Tech has not been fixed and in fact has been made worse since Ive had many instances of hitting a Survivor DIRECTLY with Shred only to slide off of them like they are covered in butter.

You can make a case for Billy and Blight having the Crouch Tech, but there is no reason for Demo in 2025 to have this issue still. The fact that pressing a single button can completely negate my entire power, the power of a low-tier Killer, and I actively get punished for it is stupid. Im sorry, but it just is.

I can understand if the Survivor is crouching on an elevation lower than me, that is perfectly fine. But this issue still consistently happens when Survivors are on the same elevation and it is beyond frustrating to miss Shreds because of something entirely out of my control.

Perk Design

Demogorgon's power has been suffering recently, so it surely it would be a good idea to check recently released/changed perks and see how much they really benefit Demogorgon's power.

• Hex: Nothing But Misery; the 5% Hindered would be amazing for Demogorgon but unfortunately this effect only activates from Basic Attacks which means Demogorgon's Shred (their main way of attacking) does nothing.
• Knock Out; the 5% Hindered would be amazing for Demogorgon but unfortunately this effect cannot be used since Shred is often used to insta-break pallets before the effect can even activate.
• All Shaking Thunder; The increased lunge only applies to Basic Attack so Shred does not benefit.

Do you see a trend yet?

If you havent caught on, I might as well explain. BHVR is making perks that benefit M1 Killers, which is fine, the issue is that a lot of these perks would be amazing on Demogorgon and would put them in a much better position but unfortunately they cannot use. If they worked for Special Attacks, they could prove to be problematic on meta Killers.

So what does this leave us with?

Demo is basically weak enough to need the perks that M1 Killers use while also inherently not being able to benefit from them since they are an M2 Killer. These perks are not balance around M2 Killers either, nor are a lot of M2 Killers balanced enough to use them without being too overbearing.

The end result is that Demogorgon is struggling and cannot get access to the tools they need because BHVR refuses (or is unable to, since it isnt an easy feat) to actually address the state of perks and M2 Killers.

Closing Thoughts

Demogorgon is a character I love. And DBD is a game I love. I just really hate to see a character that Ive sunk so much time into be thrown into the dirt with even being given the tool necessary to pick themselves up by the bootstraps.

The least I can say is that Demogorgon needs an add-on pass.

Their add-ons are incredibly niche and boring, and with the state of the game and the way this Killer has been treated, most players will not bother touching most of these add-ons as a result. I think add-on a wider variety of add-ons and focus on making things effective but interesting will help improve Demo's pickrate and killrate.

I dont want to leave off on this being entirely negative, I just hope my Killer gets treated right, it's been a tough road but I dont think the journey is over just yet. <3