Deathslinger needs a serious buff

For context in this discussion, I am a rank 1 killer on PS4.

Right now, and hopefully also in the future if things go right, I am a Deathslinger main. From the day he was announced, I started training with Huntress to get good at a 110% (movement speed), ranged killer. My games with, like with Deathslinger, were hit or miss all around. One match I'd get a 4k, and the next I'd get a 1k. That probably has more to do with the power variation of red rank survivors, but still.

I agree with the popular opinion that he's literally just a weaker Huntress. I have played them both a ton, at rank 1, so I know what I'm talking about. He's more fun for sure, but all killers are when they first come out, and I think he'll get less and less fun to play as people realize how truly weak he is (about as weak as Clown, I'd say).

First, his few upsides:

1. He can reload on the move.

2. He has a smaller terror radius.

3. He can land some shots that Huntress can't.

Now, I'll explain why these upsides aren't even that great:

1. He can reload on the move, but unlike Huntress and Clown, he can only shoot once before reloading. It doesn't waste as much time as Huntress where she has to effectively end the chase to reload (finding a locker), but it still wastes time and can only be helped with reload speed add-ons. With Huntress, you wouldn't go for that many shots unless you knew they were going to hit, because after you run out of hatchets, you have to find a locker. The Deathslinger's ability to reload while chasing gets rid of that fear, but brings on the more detrimental action of commiting too many missed shots to a chase. Since you think you reload fairly fast (compared to Huntress), it's basically instant gratification, causing you to overcommit and lose the game. Reload speed is meaningless if you never hit half your shots.

2. I don't know the exact measure, but Deathslinger's terror radius is smaller than most killers'. What does this do for him? Almost nothing. He's about as good as Trapper or Clown, and Monitor&Abuse on then isn't good so why would it be on him, even as part of his base kit? You might get in a little closer to survivors before they start running, but competent survivors will already know where a pallet is and just run to it anyway, especially if they have a heads up with Spine Chill. At best, his terror radius causes a survivor to be caught off guard and giving you a free hit. But it's unlikely to happen, speaking from a red rank perspective.

3. If you get good at Deathslinger, his small projectile will really come in handy. Its small size allows him to hit survivors more easily over loops than Huntress's big ole hatchets. It can also go through little holes (like the ones at killer shack) and hit survivors. But does that matter? In most cases, no. You can pull off crazy shots with Deathslinger and not get the survivor. Either they'll be too far away, or they'll break free before you can hit them. If either of those scenarios or a classic miss happens, you have to reload and try again, probably at a stronger position for the survivor. Huntress would have injured or downed that survivor but Deathslinger, despite your accuracy, couldn't. You could let the chain break and get an injured/deep wounded survivor, but you suffer from a long stun, long enough to allow the survivor to get to another strong position. You also have to reload again. So while Deathslinger can pull off shots that Huntress couldn't possibly hit, very few times will you actually be able to capitalize on it, especially if the survivors know how to hold left or right on the controls (T_T).

Deathslinger also has glaring downsides that I'll now touch up on:

1. Survivors have too much struggle power.

2. He's a 110% killer.

3. He has to 1v1.

Here's the expanded versions of these points:

1. Survivors have far, far too much struggle power with base Deathslinger. Therefore, he's an add-on dependent killer, as if we didn't have enough of those. If you harpoon a survivor in between yourself and a window or anything really, the chain burning combined with the survivor's struggling will cause it to break almost instantly, giving you zero capitalization on what was probably a pretty good shot. All the survivor has to do at a window to stop you from reeling them is hold left or right, and the chain breaks instantly. The survivor is in control there, not the killer. Sometimes it's the polar opposite where you're using STBFL or PWYF (therefore not trying to hit your obsession with your basic attack) or something, and they'll know it and they won't struggle. If you don't have an object to put between yourself and the survivor, and they don't struggle, you're at a standstill for like 20+ seconds (unless you attack, losing your stacks in the process). That is mind-blowing to me, and should not be a thing. I'd fix it by making the meter go much faster when the survivor is touching your body.

2. Deathslinger is a weaker Huntress yet moves at 110%. 110% movement speed is reserved for killers whose ability is so impactful, they're movement has to be nerfed as a balancing mechanic. Personally, I think every killer should be 115%, that way everyone would be at the same movement speed (it'll never happen, I know). But that's the thing: his ability is too weak to make him 110%. You can leave on his leg brace or whatever you want to do, but he needs to be 115%.

3. Deathslinger is a pretty good killer when it comes to 1v1. Sadly, that means nothing when you're above green ranks. Since the Ruin nerf, killers are no longer able to 1v1 in even the slightest degree (so "1v1-ing" is a negative term). Killers have to either do hit and run builds with Sloppy, or get downs extremely quick (we're talking less than 20s a chase). Deathslinger is too slow with either. He's is decent at 1v1 but unless you're outplaying survivors at every turn and getting those quick chases, he has too little pressure to 1v1 and still win. Even playing a hit and run style of play, survivors don't fear him even if they're injured. All they have to do is get between him and an obstacle, take the chain break, and heal deep wound so they can jump back on the gen. Chain breaking (a common occurrence while playing Deathslinger) is basically giving a survivor Borrowed Time, which takes only a little longer to heal, so it basically does nothing. With all that in mind, he's better off doing a playstyle that closer resembles 1v1 (which is still an inefficient way to play).

I love Deathslinger. He's probably the best killer from a design standpoint, but he's been horribly translated to a reality. DBD at red ranks is absolutely ruthless for killers. It's literally a case of "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" (lose because you played 'fair', or win because you had to slug/tunnel). There are exceptional players who win a lot more on than "average chumps" like me, without slugging or camping somehow. But trust me, they still lose a lot.

If this was a balanced game, Deathslinger would be almost fine where he's at, but it's not. Cool killers like him are tossed to the wayside in favor of stronger killers like Spirit or Wraith, simply because the survivor role is so incredibly strong compared to the killer on average. So this is as much a debate about how good Deathslinger is as it is about the overall balance of the game. Since we know our devs too well by this point, we know they're not going to do any comprehensive rebalancing (or they'll fail at it like with the "killer sided" mechanic of breakable walls). The least I expect is a buff to this awesome killer, instead of a nerf after (coincidentally) everyone has already paid for him and can't get a refund (like has happened with past killers).