http://dbd.game/killswitch
Vigil Is Strong... But Sprint Burst And Lithe Are Stronger...
This might be a hot take but Ive seen an upsurge of players on social media complaining about Vigil being too strong since it got buffed recently. Vigil is a strong perk now, dont get me wrong, but I think people are pointing fingers at the wrong perk here.
The main cause for the complaints is when Vigil is stacked with Sprint Burst or Lithe because you effectively get insane distance on a 24-second cooldown as opposed to the usual 40-second cooldown. For reference, Smash Hit has a 20-second cooldown (without Vigil), and it has a significantly harder activation condition.
In my opinion, I dont think Vigil is as much of an issue as Sprint Burst and Lithe is. Sprint Burst and Lithe by default have a 40-second cooldown, and this is shared with many, many other Exhaustion perks that have harder activation conditions and/or risks associated with their usage but Sprint Burst and Lithe lack such activation conditions and/or risks. In 2025, I dont think there is any reason for Balanced Landing and Head On to share the same cooldown as Sprint Burst and Lithe.
Solution: Just increase the Exhaustion timers on Sprint Burst and Lithe.
And listen, I understand that these perks have remained unchanged forever and they have been meta staples for a long time but the fact that these perks are effectively just free distance with little thought being required to use them. Im also just tired of see Exhaustion perks that are unique and strong on their own right get overshadowed by Lithe and Sprint Burst solely just because they are that easy and mindless to use.
And I know what you are thinking, "what about 99% Sprint Burst, that takes skill" and you are right about that, managing Exhaustion can be a difficult task depending on the situation, and past a certain point I dont want to remove that micromanagement and skill required, but at the same time, mindless Sprint Bursts are just far more common to begin with.
I know this might not be seen as "a good opinion" or whatever, I dont care too much, I just wanted to talk about this or even hear the opinions of others on this topic just for a bit of perspective since there are two sides to every coin and I might be missing something here.
Comments
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In my opinion, Vigil itself isn't strong because it reduces the time of status effect. The problem is when it's stacked with three or two other Vigil. The duration of the status effects is very short, and in some cases (rare cases), it can be frustrating for a killer when the survivors have sprint burst or lithe every 10/15 seconds. Therefore, I think the best solution would be to let Vigil as is, but with the difference that it doesn't stack with other Vigil, so the effect would only apply once and not triple.
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vigil does more than decrease exhaustion timer it decreases every status effect and stacks so on top of enabling the broken exhaustion perks it invalidates a bunch of killer perks and add-ons and doesn't tell the killer
vigil is a op perk and it stacks
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Sprint, Burst, Lithe and Balanced need a speed reduction. They should be 125% like dramaturgy. 150% is just too much for too little input from the survivor. No killer perk gives killer that much haste and they all have more pre-requisites. Rapid Brutality removes bloodlust and only activates after hitting a survivor. Unbound requires you to hit the survivor and vault. Batteries only activates near completed gens, etc.
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I feel like Exhaustion are closer comparable to killer powers honestly. It's the closest thing we have to them aside from items.
there are plenty perks and builds to counter exhaustion, just most killers only run gen regression to ever think they could pressure better and perform better with chase perks.
If you're struggling in chase I recommend you try some builds to help you perform better where you fall short, or maybe the killer you are using doesn't suit your playstyle.
"Exhaustion OP" complaints are always a nothing burger.1 -
i had to start running SB+Vigil because stupid security doors spawn 3 feet from a gen. ridiculous
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The entire point of the exhaustion mechanic is so you can't use those specific perks more than once per chase (setting aside Blood Rush that resets exhaustion on death hook once, and is so rare we forget it exists).
Vigil doesn't change that. You'd have to have 24 seconds of walking or crouching, while being actively pursued by the killer, to have it bypass that effect. The additional 16 seconds doesn't matter in chase because the timer is paused entirely.
Which, at that point, if the killer isn't pursuing you, then that's the entire point of vigil, and when you get value.
So I guess I'm not sure what scenario you think sprint burst and lithe are being used outside of chase where this is a problem.
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If a perk is so strong that your suggestion is to run perks to counter that perk then that perk is clearly a problem. My real issue is less that they are strong and more that they are just mindless chase extenders. They are both easier to use and provide more benefit than killer haste perks do.
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There's a huge difference between "you have to run X to counter Y" (for example, you can't counter tunneling without bringing at least one perk designed for that)
And "if you struggle with X, you have the option to run Y". (For example, if you struggle with the situational awareness for flashlights, you can run lightborn to help with that)
You seem to be reading the first one.
Interestingly, the (recent) counter example to your way of thinking is "distortion was required to counter aura reading" and yet they nerfed distortion instead of aura reading.
Curious.
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Perks being used to counter oppressive strategies is one thing. Perks just being free value in chase for no skill or thought or risk involved is another and that is what lithe sprint burst and balanced are. They just give the survivor free distance for nothing. Those perks aren't hard to use. They aren't skillful. They aren't interactive. That was a problem with pre-nerf distortion too. It gave value without input on the survivor end and promoted an un-interactive playstyle.
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So I guess Im not sure what scenario you think Sprint Burst and Lithe are being used outside of a chase where this is a problem.
I dont think you understand what I am saying at all.
People forget that good loopers tend to rely on walking far more than your average Survivor since it removes Exhaustion and can serve to help end the Chase mechanics quicker (even if the Killer is still chasing you) for the sake of removing Bloodlust's impact on the chase. Against low-mid tier Killers, this has been a constant, it's something Im always doing, and it's something youll see experienced Survivors do often.
The additional 16-seconds doesnt matter in chase because the timer is paused entirely.
I actually walk a lot and have used Sprint Burst + Vigil and could consistently removed my Exhaustion during my chases which would always force the Killers to leave and drop chase with me. Better yet, the duration for Exhaustion is so short with Vigil that even sitting a check spots makes sizeable progress towards removing my Exhaustion; pair this with walking duration a chase like mentioned before, I can consistently remove my Exhaustion.
The 16-second difference is massive, it makes the difference between getting it or not, and the fact that I can consistently get it on Sprint Burst and Lithe is a problem since it affects chases too much.
Keep in mind as well that the perk stacks. Meaning the rate at which you get Exhaustion can be even faster.
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Not at all what I'm saying, I'm suggesting to use what's available to you if YOU PERSONALLY are struggling with the playstyle.
Much like how survivors use Exhaustion to help deal with killer powers, doesn't mean Killer Powers need nerfed?0 -
If killer haste perks were as strong as survivor haste perks we'd never hear the end of it. Every single perk that gives killers haste doesn't give them nearly as much and has far more requirements and limitations. Survivor exhaustion perks can be as simple as pressing a button and the only requirement is that they not be exhausted. Like how does that make any sense to you?
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