Hex Totems (Proposed Rework)
~~~ The Issue ~~~
Hex totems have been reworked a bit to make them better for killers, though they still remain survivor-sided. Hex: Ruin has become a permanent staple in the large majority of matches across all platforms. Hex: No One Escapes Death is constantly berated, despite how easily it can be countered.
In short, the hex totems were a good idea that are balanced in theory, but not in practice. Survivors can too easily (albeit there are some placements that are disgustingly difficult to find) find and break totems just within the first five minutes of a match. This renders them useless, and the game becomes more a matter of defending your totems until the survivors make enough mistakes.
~~~ The Solution ~~~
Rather than a perk being wiped when a hex totem is broken, attach the hex to the survivor that cleanses the totem (afflicting them with the hex). The hex still affects survivors as it normally does while attached to a survivor.
Upon the next time the afflicted survivor is hooked, the hex is cleansed (removed, as it is now when a totem breaks). To prevent the killer from simply leaving the afflicted survivor to be the last alive, a random afflicted survivor is cleansed of their hex whenever a survivor dies. A survivor that has been afflicted with multiple hex totems does not have them all cleansed at once.
Make survivors who have been afflicted glow with a dark red aura at their feet (not enough to be seen from a distance, like the lanterns from the event a while back). Also allow the survivors who have been afflicted to show what they have been afflicted with on their status icons.
~~~ Examples of Situations ~~~
Hex: Ruin - A survivor cleanses a Hex: Ruin totem. The affect still remains, but the killer now wants to leave that survivor alive so that the hex remains active. This survivor now has a sense of safety, and can pressure the killer by being far more altruistic.
Hex: No One Escapes Death - To please both sides, and because this rework would allow it to work, apply Hex: No One Escapes Death to a totem at the start of the match like all other hex perks - but do not make the effects active, the perk doesn't change (in that the effects of this totem only activate after the last generator has been completed). To compensate for survivors being able to find it very early, give Hex: No One Escapes Death a slight buffer against the rework's mechanics. It cannot be cleansed upon being hooked, but it still has a random chance to be cleansed upon a survivor dying. This allows killers that fall behind towards the end to keep a card up their sleeve (not that many of the killers have sleeves), but removes the ability for killers who are already ahead to be ahead^2.
Hex: Haunted Grounds - A survivor cleanses a Hex: Haunted Grounds totem. The killer, unlike with other hex totems, would like to hook this survivor or kill another so that this hex activates. Strategically, the killer would like to hook this survivor near objectives that are being worked on so that they can immediately jump to other survivors. A survivor that has been afflicted with Hex: Haunted Grounds may also consider finding the second totem so that one is essentially wasted, or even finding a totem like Hex: Ruin so that the killer is forced to either keep or remove it.
~~~ Conclusion ~~~
Apologies for the wall of text. As you can see, this system brings about a new level of strategy among survivors and the killer. It allows the killer to be sure that their hex totems won't ever be wiped within the first five minutes of a match, and it promotes more altruism and team work for survivors. It (except in the case of Hex: Haunted Grounds) absolutely punishes tunneling and camping, favoring survivors as well.
Overall, both sides benefit and once you get past the logistics of it, the rework isn't all that complicated.
Thank ye for the read if you managed to read the whole thing. Let me know what you think.
Comments
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Edit: I realized that more killers have sleeves than I thought. I retract my statement about most killers not having sleeves.
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"Hex: Ruin - A survivor cleanses a Hex: Ruin totem. The affect still remains, but the killer now wants to leave that survivor alive so that the hex remains active. This survivor now has a sense of safety, and can pressure the killer by being far more altruistic."
This would be a really fun situation to be in.
I like this.
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As a killer, it really discourages me from running any hex perks when they are constantly wasted within the first five minutes. Yet it is a priority to run Hex: Ruin on most killers.
As a survivor, I feel bad for the killer when their totems are broken so quickly. It doesn't mean I'll leave it, but I feel for them.
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theyre already improving the spots like, a lot .punishing someone for taking the time to find it sucks even if the effects end up going away
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They improved them by making them not visible from generators, and tucking them away a little better. Over the course of the match, assuming nobody is spending time intentionally looking for a totem, it's very likely one of the four survivors will run by it. If you have one or two survivors dedicated to sniffing one out, it will almost always be found relatively quickly.
Considering most maps aren't as big as Red Forest, and the fact that totem spawns are somewhat predictable after you have played enough, killers simply bring them and leave it to a coin toss as to whether or not the totem makes any sort of impact.
Nobody is being punished here, unless you mean the effects of a totem persist long enough to make a difference in more matches.
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The downside to hex perks is the risk that it can be destroyed right away, that's why they have powerful effects. This makes them too sticky. If anything the survivor who cleanses it should be the ONLY one who is still affected by it.
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Hex: Ruin is nearly required for most of the killers, outside of ranks below 12. The game is survivor sided - whether or not the killer gets more than one or two kills is solely based on whether or not the survivors are coordinating, and the mistakes they make.
Hex: Ruin and Hex: No One Escapes Death are the most powerful hex perks by far. Haunted Grounds and Devour Hope are next - the others aren't all that great. At least not enough to warrant the chance.
If anything, increase the stacks required for Huntress Lullaby and Devour Hope.
Survivors can have four of the same A-tier perks on their team if they wish, with no defense against it. That alone can absolutely ruin killers. This solves every issue proposed by both sides.
For survivors, it (at least while a hex is in play) helps deter tunneling and camping, which is essentially what the Steam forums are completely comprised of. For killers, it prevents one of our four perks from being wasted.
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Having your perk wasted because it got cleansed is the risk you run by having a hex totem. Some hex totem placements are less than ideal and should be fixed, but this is not a good solution.
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Lol, like if killers need more power.
Game went from very hard for killers to almost a nightmare for survivors.
-No more fast vaults unless its the right angle
-DS nerfed
-Sprint is not longer 4 minutes and a half
-Very few pallets when there use to be hundreds
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Forcing high ranking killers (excluding those that have absolutely mastered Nurse, Spirit, and Billy) to use a perk that is left to chance isn't any better of a solution.
If the perk isn't used, the rest of your perks need to be dedicated to generator progression. Surveillance, Pop Goes the Weasel, Discordance, and another perk of your choosing. Give or take a perk there. For most killers without high mobility and the ability to end chases quickly, their perks need to focus on detection and ending chases - not defending generators so hard.
If the perk is used, it'll get a good three to five minutes of use at most. You're then left with three perks for the rest of the match.
A nightmare for survivors is an extreme overstatement. If your team brings in perks and items that compliment each other, you can absolutely destroy a killer with a little bit of understanding of your composition. If your team brings in a couple common items without add-ons and throws out some bloodpoint offerings, your chances of survival plummet. More often than not, it's the latter situation and your team hasn't said a word to each other.
Survivors have some staple perks like Lithe, Dead Hard, Spine Chill, and Decisive Strike - but there is a whole world of flexibility compared to killers. Killers rely so heavily on add-ons and their perks, that their only choice is to initiate a couple encounters and capitalize on survivors' mistakes.
Considering so little of the killer roster is considered plausible at higher ranks shows how unfavorable the role is. This is why you see so many of the same killers (not just at high ranks, but throughout ranks 12+) - Nurse, Spirit, Billy, and Myers. If it's any of the other killers, they're likely running their best or nearly best add-ons to compensate. This solution absolutely helps with an issue that really needs some attention. Even if it means reworking the add-ons of the better killers (the Nurse and Spirit are good, but their add-ons are particularly good compared to other killers).
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Lol Debour Hope will be painful :')
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In one of my other posts here I suggested giving Devour Hope and Huntress Lullaby more stacks to achieve their results. Although it can't be many, because you can hook survivors a maximum of six times before hooking the survivor afflicted by the hex (without killing them).
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