Houndmaster / Portia – Feedback. Another attempt 🐕 ❤️🫶🏻
(Hi dork ❤️)
Detailed Inc!
Heya! I’ve been playing a lot of Houndmaster since her release and wanted to share some feedback and ideas. I really like playing as a pirate with her dog, but right now she often feels clunky and unrewarding compared to other killers.
Here’s some thoughts 💭 I wanted to point out and share for feedback.
The search command:
The Search Command struggles to lock onto key objectives like generators, totems, and exit gates. the reticle will ‘jiggle’ just above or below the object and refuse to snap to it, so you end up wasting time wiggling the cursor instead of actually playing. this feels especially bad in chase or when you’re trying to make a quick macro decision.
Suggestion: tighten or strengthen the lock-on for core interactables (gens, totems, gates, maybe chests) so it snaps confidently when you’re aiming near them, instead of hovering off the hitbox.
Houndsense Mechanic from the Search Command:
Houndsense feels too weak. Houndsense doesn’t feel impactful enough. For a killer with low presence when the dog is out, the info should feel more rewarding.
Suggestion: Increase the strength/clarity/duration of Houndsense, or let it provide slightly more meaningful info so it feels like a real payoff for managing Portia and Snug.
You could also make it so if snug does find a survivor at a gen he could snag them and attempt to bring them back to Portia. (He is a cane corse after all)
The biggest frustration - Snugs Pull Strength. ⚠️
- Snug’s pull and pathing. Snug’s pull often feels too weak and inconsistent. it doesn’t always feel like you’re being rewarded for landing the dog, especially compared to how much time you invest managing him.
Suggestion:
- Increase the pull strength so it’s more threatening when you actually land a successful grab in chase.
2. Have the pull drag survivors more clearly back toward Portia’s position, so good setups feel intentional and rewarding instead of random. (In the past the coordinates were where she last sent the dog out. (This was updated to where she GOT the grab.)
It should be changed and updated to where where the killer is at. Mark the coordinates or tie them to her.
Recall Button:
A Recall button for Snug when Snug is far away, it can feel bad being stuck waiting for him to path back or finish a search to where nobody is at. This would give Houndmaster more control and reduce downtime.
Suggestion: Add a recall button to call Snug back to Portia, even if it has a short cooldown or minor tradeoff, so the killer doesn’t feel ‘soft-afk’ when the dog is off in the distance.
General Polish:
There are various and janky interactions with Houndmaster (including with Portia’s Search lock-on mentioned above). It would be great to see her get some of that polished love so she doesn’t feel ignored just because shes not a popular killer. Some bugs have been fixed on her which is appreciated, but she has a lot more to address that would help make her cleaner to play as.
What I like about Houndmaster as I don’t want this to just sound negative, because there are things I genuinely enjoy:– the fantasy and visuals of hunting with Portia and Snug are really cool– when the dog pull does work and you set it up correctly, it feels satisfying and unique compared to other killers– her concept has a lot of potential; with some usability buffs and polish, I think more people would pick her up and stick with her.
She’s got everything a killer could ask for in a kit. A good chase power, intel, mobility. She just needs a tune up and a little love. 🐕❤️🫶🏻