Small changes and buffs for The Wraith
Helloo! I hope you're having a good day/night and like Dbd as much as I do ❤️
I wanted to talk about a killer that is very simple, but nonetheless so much fun to play as: The Wraith. He's a non-lethal character with none to little map pressure and is very hard to play as in a more competitive matter, since he just falls too much behind other killers that can injure and down survivors with more ease, like The Spirit or Chucky. Wraith's movement speed isn't so bad (6 m/s while cloaked, or 6.64m/s with both speed add-ons), but his chase potential lacks the lethality to keep up with good, coordinated survivors. Having said that, and keeping in mind the skill ceiling available to this character, I have a few propositions to make regarding his power: buff his basekit and change his add-ons.
My ideas for these changes are concerning two main paths: Buffing his basekit slightly, changing some of his add-ons that are basically useless and buffing others. In first place, the add-ons " 'Swift Hunt' - Mud"; " 'Windstorm' - Mud"; " 'Blink' - Mud" and " 'Blink' - White" should be made basekit. If you're unfamiliar with these add-ons, they have these effects, respectively: Reduces the Uncloaking time by - 8% (Swift Hunt); Increases your Movement Speed by + 5% when Cloaked (Windstorm); Reduces the Cloaking time by - 40% (Blink - Mud); Reduces the Cloaking time by - 60% (Blink - White).
In order to understand why these changes would have to be made, I'm going to showcase a few numbers: 3 seconds to uncloak, 6 m/s while cloaked and 1.5 seconds to cloak. After the basekit buff, these numbers would be: 2.76 seconds to uncloak, 6.2 m/s while cloaked and 0.36 seconds to cloak. Wraith's power consists in transitioning between cloaked and uncloaked form (to travel faster, chase after a survivor, pick up a survivor from the ground, use a particular set of add-ons and more), but the numbers on his basekit don't allow this transition to be smooth. In fact, if you want to do something as Wraith, you need to be meticulously precise with your timing, position and distance from your objective. Playing Wraith right now against good survivors feels like you're seconds or instances away from achieving your goal, be that getting a hit on a pallet, on a window, getting a bodyblock or avoiding a one from the survivors. So, in order to change that, I think that including some of his weaker add-ons into his basekit would make him feel a lot better to play as, make way for more creative ideas for add-ons and it would allow some sort of counter play against good players. One example of this is a match in a competitive setting played by a very skilled killer main, SupaAlf, as Wraith against a good team of survivors.
In the first match, Alf does a great job of playing the killer's strengths and the few close calls chasing a survivor were balanced by the four really good slowdown perks he brought and managed to keep the team in check and eventually win the match. In the second one, however, by taking out the perk "Eruption" and changing it to a another one that isn't gen-delay related, "Bamboozle", the results of this match were significantly different, with the survivors not being pressured enough to crumble and eventually the team won, meaning that Wraith barely keeps up against good survivors (keep in mind that this group of players had restrictions regarding perks and items, meaning that Wraith falls further behind)
Having said that, let's move on to the next part of my proposed changes: add-on patches. Wraith's add-ons are either borderline useless or a must if a killer wants to play and not feel overwhelmed by the amount of "close calls" this character suffers from. Keeping in mind that some of his add-ons were made basekit, I'm going to propose a change for those as well.
- Change
"The Beast" - Soot 'seffect: As it is, this add-on's power is just negative to the Wraith's power, making a stealth killer not stealthy anymore. Instead, make it so that it extends the lunge duration after Uncloaking by + 0.1 seconds (Similarly to Legion's add-on "Friendship Bracelet").
- Improve
"The Ghost" - Soot's effect: This add-on's power is not bad, but it could be better by adding the fact that during the 6 seconds of suppressed terror radius and red stain it'd keep the Wraith invisible as if he's still Cloaked, but can catch survivors off-guard, which would make way for more stealth-based plays and make the game more exciting and scary.
- Change
"The Hound" - Soot 'seffect: This add-on was supposed to have the effect of one of Wraith's unique perks "Bloodhound", but the problem is that this perk and this add-on are USELESS, specially on Wraith, who has better tracking choices. So, instead, it could make the Wraith completely invisible as if he's standing still (if you didn't know, when the Wraith is standing still, he's totally unperceivable, not even having that warped air texture he usually has when he's cloaked)
- Change
"Blind Warrior" - Mud's effect: Blindness is not a good status effect, since it's not as impactful as other survivor debuffs and it's only good against solo queue players. As a substitute for it, make it so that survivors hit with a Surprise Attack scream the next time they do a conspicuous action, making the "hit and run" strategy more viable, since the killer will know what the recently hit survivor's actions will be.
"Blink" - Mud's new effect: Since this add-on was made basekit, its new power should be something in the lines of delaying the ringing of the Wailing Bell by - 66%, so it's only heard 1 second before the Wraith Uncloaks (I tried to making the effect in pair with the description of the add-on: "The Kratin symbol, representing quick passing...", meaning that the Wraith rings his bell so quick it surpasses the speed of sound 😅 Silly, I know)
"Swift Hunt" - Mud's new effect: Same thing with the last one, its new power could be something like the Post-Uncloak Boost movement speed is increased by + 2.5% (6.9 m/s + 0.1 m/s = 7.0 m/s). I used the same train of thought as the previous add-on, since the description of this one is: "The Kuntin-Takkho symbol, representing a rapid descent on a prey...".
"Windstorm" - Mud's new effect: Just like the the other two, this add-on's ability should be something like, when Cloaked, the survivors hear random loud ringing bells throughout the map every 7 seconds, scaring players into thinking the Wraith is Uncloaking nearby (Similarly to Chucky's random footsteps), since the add-on's description says: "The Ohuwe-Onmnea symbol, representing a howling storm...".
"Blink" - White's new effect: Making it an improved version of the other "Blink" add-on isn't a bad idea, but I'm sure I can do better. On top of delaying the ringing of the Wailing Bell by - 87% (so it's only heard 0.5 seconds before the Wraith uncloaks), it could also make the killer recover from stuns, missed and successful attacks 25% faster, meaning that the "quick passing" would be from the survivor into the Entity's realm (if the 25% successful hit recovery is too strong, make it so that only stuns and missed attacks are affected or change the numbers).
- Change
"Shadow Dance" - White's effect: Just like what they did to the Doom Engravings with the Hillbilly back in Patch 7.5.0, I think that weaker versions of add-ons should be included in the effects of stronger ones and the former should be reworked. Having said that, I think that this add-on's power could be something in the lines of hitting a survivor with a Surprise Attack and right afterwards (during a 10 second window) kicking a gen should block the following for 15 seconds. This would make sense with the add-on's description ("The Yiwarick symbol, representing dark synergy..."), since it'd mean that the killer's power and the Entity are closely bonded and it would work like one of Ghostface's add-on, the "Driver's Licence".
"Swift Hunt" - White's new effect: Using the same logic as the "'Blink' - White" add-on, this one's ability should be a stronger version of the "Mud" one, increasing the Post-Uncloak Boost movement speed by + 7,5% (6,9 m/s + 0,3 m/s = 7,2 m/s) and blocking pallets within a 10 meter radius after a Surprise Attack for 5 seconds. I might be overdoing it and making these add-ons too strong, but these are just ideas, so if you'd like to suggest other effects, feel free to do so 😉.
"Windstorm" - White's new effect: Just as the other two, this add-on's power should be that survivors hear random loud ringing bells throughout the map every 5 seconds and they randomly hear the "Whoosh" sound when the Wraith Cloaks himself also every 5 seconds, even if the killer didn't Cloak. This add-on would be good to make the survivors afraid and uneasy as to when or where the killer will show up (I really like the horror aspect of this game)
- Buff
"All Seeing" - Blood's effect: This add-on was really good, but now is not as reliable as it was, so making the Auras of survivors be revealed within 12 meters of the killer while Cloaked instead of 8 is a middle ground between the buffed version (16 meters) and the nerfed one.
- Buff
"Shadow Dance" - Blood's effect: Maybe changing the name of this add-on is a good idea, just like the Doom Engravings is now the Iridescent Engravings, so it wouldn't be mixed with the other "Shadow Dance" add-ons. Having said that, it's effect should be: Increases the Action speeds for breaking Breakable Walls and Pallets, damaging Generators, and vaulting Windows by + 75% when Cloaked. (It was +60% with just one "Shadow Dance" add-on and +76% with both, so I made it as if one add-on is both at the same time). Since he got a basekit buff as well, using the reduced Cloaking time to quickly shred through pallets, doors or vault through windows during chase just became a lot more viable and is also a buff for Wraith's chasing potential.
- Buff
"Swift Hunt" - Blood's effect: Changing the name is still a good idea and combining the powers of both current "Swift Hunt" add-ons would make this one more powerful : Reduces the Uncloaking time by - 20%. This change would allow the player to not require full commitment to one type of add-on combination just to get a certain result from the killer's power, broadening the variety of choices a player has to make.
- Buff
"Windstorm" - Blood's effect: Same idea with the previous add-on, allowing the killer to have more freedom to choose certain builds: Increases your movement speed by 15% when Cloaked.
- Buff
Coxcombed Clapper's effect: Since this effect is partially copied by both "Blink" add-ons, I proposed adding a secondary ability to silencing the Wailing Bell: Silences all of Wraith's noises. If you didn't know, the Wraith has a characteristic breathing sound, which sometimes help survivors to be aware of his presence even if they didn't see him. With this add-on, though, this sound and the bell ringing are now completely silent, providing no warning whatsoever to the Wraith's arrival, making way for scary builds and Undetectable plays.
That's it for the Wraith! If you read all the way through, consider dropping a comment of support, it helps me share more ideas about this game that I love so much and want to see get better! Have a nice day and see you again next time 💓
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