Killer Tier List and Balance Discussion (In-depth opinions)
Introduction
With the proposed exhaustion changes and perk reworks coming, I think we might finally be approaching a point where neither killer or survivor is favored. At the very least, we can open up some new balance discussions about making all the killers feel just as strong as each other. First I want to lay out my opinion on a tier list for killers as well as state my biases.
Killer Tier List:
S - tier
Nurse:
This placement should come as no surprise to anyone. The nurse is the only killer in the game that can completely negate all survivor tools with exceptional play. This killer is by no means an easy killer to play and takes lots of practice to master. Once mastered, you will destroy even the strongest survivor teams.
Huntress:
I know a lot of people who would argue huntress is more A tier but I personally disagree. Her ranged power allows you to hit survivors doing loops, pallet throws, and window vaults. With bug fixes coming in reducing hitboxes on objects, she will be even stronger. I have had the pleasure of facing Scott Jund's Huntress and man, does he make you feel helpless. On top of her range, and the real reason I put her in S, is her built in machine gun build. She can hit you with a hatchet point blank and then swing almost immediately after. Dangerous at range and dangerous up close.
A-tier
HillBilly: (Bias warning, Billy main)
Some people might be surprised that Billy isn't S but he just doesn't compare to the advantages you get from Nurse and Huntress. In my opinion, Hillbilly is the most balanced killer in the game. This was only true for me after they fixed him gaining bloodlust while revving his chainsaw. That mechanic was a little dumb. Billy has map presence complimented with the capability of downing in one hit. He is terrifying when he catches you. Billy can still be looped though, keeping him out of S tier.
Doctor:
I think doc is very underrated. He can be the most annoying killer in the game with the right build. His shock therapy power can also counter some loops. Doctor eliminates one of the survivors biggest assets, stealth. It is a nightmare to get out of madness 3 especially if he enjoys tunneling. Just a solid killer all around.
The Clown: (maybe more like A- tier)
Although he is still very new, I think clown belongs here. Maybe more of an A- than an A but still a viable killer. His gas bottles can be used in several different ways. The disorienting effect alone can cause even experienced survivors to slip up. The main use I've found is for shortening looping time. Throwing a grenade in a pallet will greatly decrease the number of loops they can do or even force the pallet throw. The exposed effect add on is also horrifying.
B-tier
Freddy:
Freddy struggles with one major thing, gen rushing. I think the devs knew this was going to be the case because all of his perks deal with the end game. I don't think Freddy is a bad killer by any means, he just struggles. Most survivors treat Freddy like wraith in that they will start focusing on removing all totems to get rid of the incoming NOED. Freddy has to get survivors in the dream state, chase them down (likely getting looped a lot), then down them. Meanwhile all the other survivors can do whatever they please. You have to make the end game count if you want to beat a solid SWF team, leaving Freddy at B tier for me.
Hag:
Another killer I think is underrated. If you are smart with your trap placements, Hag can be one of the most rewarding killers in the game. Two words, MIND GAMES. Trap pallet loops, windows, hooked survivors, gens, trap everything. When tripped the survivor has to react and guess if you will teleport or not. This is especially true when you are also chasing them. If a survivor triggers a trap while running a loop, they have to guess if you will keep chasing or teleport. Depending on your add ons, you might even have enough time to react to their choice and punish both options. This killer is very situational though. If you don't place good traps or have a sneaky flashlight boi in your game, you will struggle.
Leatherface: (Bias, I hate him, B- at best)
I will admit, I struggled deciding between putting our favorite face skinner in B or C tier. I will openly state that I hate this killer. I hate how he plays and I hate that he is basically a worse Billy reskin. I feel that this killer was made for camping. If you get hooked in the basement, you are dead. The only way you live is if he lets you live. His power also works great for downing people once you catch up to them. If you play like a "scumbag", Leatherface is B tier for me. He is still one of the easiest killers to loop and you can outrun his chainsaw a lot of the time but if he camps, you die.
The Pig
For those of you who got in here fast, I almost forgot about her and had to put her in now. I have P3ed the pig and even considered maining her when she came out. I think she, like Freddy, has a much stronger end game presence then she does mid game. Her grunt lets any survivor with sprint burst get away relatively freely. Overall I think she is a decent killer but struggles against gen rushing and coordinated teams. Her power is still really cool though.
C-tier
Trapper:
I am really hoping that Trapper doesn't stay here after the mid chapter patch. The changes the devs are bringing seem very promising. Trapper is fun. I enjoy playing him a lot. SWF just bodies him. Communication can counter every trap he sets. That is really the only reason he is down here. His power is useless against coordinated teams or even just a stealthy boi with a map. SWF is a part of the game and needs to be taken into account when balancing (bc it is never going to go away).
Micheal:
Micheal is down here because he has nothing to help him with the chase outside of slightly faster vaults when in evil III. Sure he can down in one hit at evil III but that doesn't matter if he can't catch you. Micheal is just loops for days. There really isn't much else to say about him.
D-Tier
Wraith:
Without add-ons, this killer is a joke. With decent add-ons, this killer is average at best. With his best add-ons, the killer is maybe C tier. Windstorm will really only help you get one hit. After that, its loop city again. You can try to do mind games with cloaking and uncloaking multiple times during one chase but you ultimately waste too much time doing it.
Balance changes I would like to see
Overall I want every killer to feel equally powerful. In reality this isn't possible but we can make the worst better and the best balanced. Before the exhaustion changes and perk nerfs were announced, any discussion with Killer and nerf in the same sentence would get absolutely ripped apart, and for good reason. Nurse and Huntress are really the only killers that felt powerful in the latest patches. Now that pallet vacuum is gone and the nerfs are coming, survivor and killer can approach something resembling balance. Here are some of the killer specific changes I want to see happen in the future.
Nurse:
The only thing that makes nurse seem unfair is how often she can rapidly down you. You get hit once and it is a nightmare to get far enough away to avoid get hit immediately again. Good nurses won't miss. The only change I want to see is a very slight increase to the stun time after a successful blink hit. When I say slightly I mean less than 1 second slightly. The brief bug period of hit wipe stun was wayyy too much. I just want to see survivors have a better change getting far enough away to force a second blink. This opens up more mind games and more enjoyable gameplay.
Huntress:
The machine gun has to go. No other killer has it and she is the last person on the list to need it. It is also just silly when a huntress catches up to you only to hold a hatchet point blank and wait for you to make a move. I have brainstormed several fixes ranging from limited hatchet holding time before an automatic throw to decreased movement speed after hatchet hits. The one I felt would be the best solution would be to add a hatchet success animation to the game. This could be as simple as her raising her fist and letting out a war cry. This would function as the "weapon wipe" for hatchet hits. It would also fit in really nicely with her character and the idea that she is hunting you down. Getting nailed by a hatchet and turning around to see her shouting out battle cries would be almost cinematic.
Billy:
I wouldn't change a thing. Again he is my main so there is some bias here. I think the tinkerer changes will fix the only things about him that were kind of dumb. Instant chainsawing for example.
Clown:
I don't feel I have played him enough to touch on him yet. I don't think he needs and nerfs but not sure if he really needs buffs.
Hag and Trapper:
Both are getting significant buffs in the mid chapter patch so I won't touch on them just yet.
Freddy:
I think you should be punished a little harder for being in the dream state. Freddy's issue is slowing down the gens and tbh, being in the dream state doesn't seem that detrimental. I would make his dream state cause all your actions to be 1.5x slower than it already does. I would even toy with the idea that all progress in the dream world just doesn't happen. You have to fail that skill check to start doing anything again. This could create some interesting mechanics. For example, lets say you heal yourself in the dream world. You would gain your health state back BUT when you exit the dream world you would be injured again. Could be interesting but honestly I don't feel he needs that magnitude of a buff.
Leatherface:
As much as I hate the idea of making this killer any stronger, he needs it. Only change I would give is that his movement speed while swinging his chainsaw should be slightly faster. I have outrun that chainsaw so many times when I should have been dead. It doesn't feel threatening unless his is literally touching you when it starts.
The Pig
Only one minor change I would like to see. I want her grunt and terror radius to start the same time she starts physically lunging. Currently, she grunts slightly before the charge and her terror radius returns as you fill up the bar to lunge. I think she should be a little more startling and survivors should have a little less time to react.
Michael:
Easily the hardest killer to think about. How can you buff him? Here is my best idea. I think that instead of every survivor having a maximum amount you can stalk them, their stalk meter should be time based. The idea would be that you can't stalk one survivor too long without moving to another. The survivors "meter" would build up faster than it currently does but also go down slowly over time. This would mean Micheal can get evil and infinite number of times during the match and you couldn't run into situations where the only people alive can't be stalked. This change would also make his add-ons that require considerably to tremendously more stalking much more viable. Could be an interesting change to consider.
Wraith:
I think wraith should always have complete invisibility while cloaked. Maybe with flashlights you could see the current invisible state when shined on him. I really don't see why he has to have both an audio and visible que to where he is. The audio is enough imo and complete invisibility would make him scary again.
Conclusion:
Thank you to everyone who has read this far. I know this was a long journey. This is my take on how I would tighten the balance of killers and make everyone scary while keeping them fair. I'm curious what everyone thinks about both my tier list and my balance propositions. Let me know in the comments. Feel free to also tack on suggestions of your own. That's it for me. Good luck in the fog.