I Have a “Kindred” Addiction [And a Big “Sorry” to SWF]

TL;DR. My solo arse adores Kindred so much and for so many different reasons that I feel naked without it – and it’s given me some sympathy and insight into SWF. Does anyone else feel this way about Kindred? Or SWF? Or maybe other perks?

I think it’s fair to say Kindred is the best solo survivor perk, but I actually don’t hear that said very often. I don’t know if that’s because solo is becoming less common or because what we put in those four perk slots is crazy competitive. But for me, at 1,200+ hours, Kindred is the only S-Tier survivor perk.

When a teammate gets hooked, I can determine who’s closest to the hook, and then I can make the correct decision of whether I should keep working on my gen or go for that save. Or maybe I see someone else going to the save, but suddenly they dart away [maybe I see that aura injured]. I now know for a fact that they were going for the save, but now can’t. So I get the save. And there are many variants of that scenario I can read with 99% accuracy. This makes one-hooking non-existent and two-hooking extremely rare.

But I loved this perk even before its buff. Kindred has always given me a great sense of confidence in my team when I’m the one hooked. I know they will coordinate around the intel Kindred gives them in the same way I would. I watch their three auras react appropriately. Every, single, time. It’s almost like, oh, IDK, I’m telling them to make the best possible play. [*looks innocuous*]

I know there’ll be no wasted time like someone running halfway to my hook, then seeing me unhooked, and then having to run back to their 70% gen by which time the killer may have found it. And time saves like that really add up – killers would agree.

Theoretically, Kindred should also be the supreme anti-camping perk, but camping is rare to the point of meaninglessness anyway. What does come up is the killer returning to the hook, but I can tell when they do and thus slow my approach, waiting for the time to dash for the unhook judging by how long the hooked player has before they “lose a life”.

But all of those things get talked about at least rarely. What doesn’t get talked about is bonus intel. Maybe there’s one gen left and someone gets hooked? I can see if someone else is already working on a gen and go to them if I don’t go for the save. There’s loads of little things like that.

Trappers, Hags and Demos that trap near the hook are compromised. If a Hillbilly, Nurse or Spirit turns directly to another survivor aura [that I can also see] and starts making a b-line, I know there’s a high probably they’re running BBQ & Chilli and got the same proc I did [to name three killers who notoriously use BBQ – Spirit would stand still and stare at them. Or me].

And then there’s the cheeky BBQ Huntress who thinks she can hit me across the map – think again. I know exactly where you’re aiming and if it’s at me, you will miss. And then there’s BBQ Freddy, who I can see face me and start channelling his Dream Projection before my gen starts spewing blood thus giving me a head start.

All of this gives me an edge – and it gives me an edge in the knowledge that Kindred isn’t something killer players give much thought to! The “Blindness” status ailment isn’t respected. I play killer 40% of the time so I know how they think – you could say I’m... “Kindred”.

But then I stopped running Kindred.

Holy.

Hell.

All of that is gone. I get two-hooked in multiple trials. I run to the unhook just to realise I wasted my time. Killers get the drop on me much easier. Swapping for Dead Hard, We’ll Make It, even Decisive Strike just isn’t worth it for a solo! I felt like I was playing the game blindfolded. And then I realise: Kindred’s my crutch. Just another sad dependency.

But then I think, SWF must have the same realisation. Maybe Kindred isn’t as powerful as SWF, and I need to sacrifice a perk slot for the pleasure, but maybe when SWF go solo they feel the same way – and thus stick to SWF – and thus contribute to the poison of DBD.

Hell, you could argue [bravely] that Kindred is better than SWF because Kindred gives you the information instantly, whereas with SWF a player would need to clearly and articulately say what is happening, possibly with a laggy vocal delay, and while competing with three other voices, who then need to process what they've just ben told.

I guess I owe SWF an apology. I looked down on them. I’m sorry.

But i still think killers should be buffed.

Also Kindred rules.

I don’t know if I made that clear enough.