http://dbd.game/killswitch
Anti-Aura Improvement Suggestions
While I don't think killer aura reading is especially problematic at the moment, I do see a lot of people talking about it, and I think the tools survivors have to answer it can be a little lacking in some cases. So, here I'm going to suggest a few improvements to some perks that currently answer auras, plus a suggestion for exactly one perk that I would like to see reworked into an anti-aura perk.
To start, I don't think Boon: Shadow Step or Object of Obsession/Bound by Obsession need changes, really. OoO/BoO could definitely be streamlined a bit, but in terms of raw functionality it does its job. Similarly, Boons could do with some adjustments, but Shadow Step itself is completely fine outside of that.
We See You is too new to judge concretely (plus my PC is dead so I can't test it lol) but it also seems pretty good and not in need of adjustments.
Moving on, though…
Distortion
- Starts with two tokens (was one)
Notes: Distortion is currently in a pretty healthy spot, but can feel lacking against builds that include Lethal Pursuer. Starting with both tokens just makes the perk a little smoother and more accessible, which is the only thing it needs.
Off The Record
- Endurance timer is separated from the perk's other effects, and remains 40 seconds long + deactivated by Conspicuous Actions
- All other effects share a separate timer that is now 80 seconds long
Notes: Nerfing this perk's capacity to bodyblock is completely reasonable, but I'm not a fan of how the perk also had to be weakened as a post-unhook stealth perk to do it. Separating the timers lets us weaken the problematic part while retaining the healthy part.
Sole Survivor/Down To The Last
- Rework: Instead of gaining tokens through teammates dying, the perk now gains tokens as you gain hook states, up to two.
- The first token grants a 20m radius around you where the killer cannot read your aura
- The second token increases this to 72m
- The perk's secondary "last one standing" effect is unchanged
Notes: The uncontested bottom-one aura blocking perk, this one really needs an overhaul. Tying the radius to your own hook states retains what makes the perk thematic while also making it useful in any way whatsoever. As a note, the numbers there are just based on the perk's current first and last token, the specifics could be adjusted on a hypothetical PTB.
Spine Chill
- Rework: When the killer reads your aura, Spine Chill activates for as long as the aura read lasts with an associated audio cue. While Spine Chill is active, your grunts of pain are suppressed.
Notes: Here's the new one. Spine Chill hasn't been in a good spot ever since the visible terror radius was added, so fully changing it to a completely different niche seems pretty reasonable. It's worth noting that the grunts of pain effect is flavour + something to scale with perk tiers, it is not the main effect.
The main effect is knowing exactly when the killer can see you, and thus being able to discern what perks they're running. This lets it operate as a sidegrade to other options, available via the universal pool; it doesn't have Object's downside, it doesn't have Distortion's token system, and it's more precise than We See You + isn't behind a paywall.
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With these changes made, I think anti-aura would be much more robust without tipping the scales too unduly.
Comments
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really love this spine chill suggestion and it’s very kind to new players who aren’t “aggressive” enough to run Object
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I feel like the problem with Off The Record and post hook stealth in general is that mobility killers aren't as affected by it. You can quickly follow a possible path as a mobility killer and get line of sight of the unhooked survivor meanwhile most killers if they don't see anything at the hook, they have to go somewhere else. I think this is why Elusive off hook didn't get through, and why scratch marks were removed from Off The Record.
I think it's current iteration is pretty bad though, sadly. Since i don't feel like the game favours stealth currently, i don't know how this perk should be adjusted.1 -
imo, having your aura read by 90% of the roster isn't that much of an issue
It's Nurse, Blight, Ghoul and maybe to a certain extent Hillbilly and First/Henry who take it to the extremes.
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The point of post-unhook stealth isn't always to avoid someone trying to tunnel you.
One of the best use cases of old OTR's aura blocking, prior to the duration nerf, was to go reset and sit on a generator without getting sniped by a random BBQ or Gearhead proc. That combined with being able to more easily stealth away from gens because you don't leave scratch marks or make any grunts of pain combined to a pretty good stealth perk. Not crazy, there are better dedicated picks, but for a perk that's primarily anti-tunnel it's genuinely not bad.
OTR is definitely not weak at the moment, though. If nothing else it's a very serviceable anti-tunnel perk. I just think it could be better at its other job without making its more obnoxious tendencies any worse.
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Aura = less regression. No point in incentiving more regression perks. You can run fog vial, distortion, extraordinary perception or avoid auras in locker. There is enough fighting back and that's why aura perks are not very popular, to the point where i would make BBQ and nowhere to hide basekit.
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It's nice to have options, and aside from Spine Chill, all of the options I'm talking about already exist- I just don't think they're in the best place they can be.
It won't hurt killer aura reading too much for there to be options, as long as none of those options are too good individually. It just changes which kinds of auras are being answered and how.
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