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How exactly is Doctor “less frustrating” now?

In the developer update from the devs regarding Doctor’s rework, they said that he was a “polarising figure” and that they wanted to make it “less frustrating to play against him”. So why have so many of the changes made to Doc’s kit made him MORE (or equally as) frustrating, and not less?

Overall, I think his rework was fine and making him more powerful and viable was a positive thing. But they didn’t remove any of the frustrating elements of playing against a Doctor. You still scream constantly, which is loud and irritating. There’s still no ability to stealth against him. Skill checks are still messed up, which is annoying for new players. And now with this new visual change to his static effects, he’s likely to give people seizures or just lead to mass suicides on hook because it’s such an awful and disturbing visual effect.

So what did they change to make him less frustrating, exactly? Please note that I’m not complaining that he’s OP or asking for a nerf or anything like that, I have no problems with his anti-looping mechanic or anything like that. I just don’t understand how they made him less frustrating, if less frustration was their goal?

Comments

  • Aven_Fallen
    Aven_Fallen Member Posts: 16,343
    edited April 2020

    The difference is, with the Static Blast you will at least know why you are screaming. I guess this is the main point, before it was kinda confusing why you start screaming all of the sudden, now you have a big wind-up which results in you screaming, but at least you know why it happened.

    @Topic:

    The latest Buffs (with Chapter 16) were not needed. Maybe the Range Add-On Change, but not the rest.

    I hope that the Static Vision is a Bug, because you also get it on Doctor. It REALLY looks bad. (A friend of mine and myself were checking out the new Maps in KYF and I was using different Killers, just for fun and the Doctor visual is really disgusting)

    But except of this, I think he is less irritating to go against. But I never had a problem with Doc anyway, I hated him when I was a new player, but now I dont care that much anymore.

  • MegMain98
    MegMain98 Member Posts: 2,919
    edited April 2020

    I really hope the static vision on the PTB is a bug. That would be super annoying to face everytime you go against the Doctor...and I face Doctor quite a bit. Not only that but it hurts your eyes and some people are sensitive to flashing effects. The blurred vision you get with Clown already makes some people dizzy and sick, what makes anybody think the static vision was a good idea?

    The screams, backward skill checks, and current static effects are MORE than enough.

  • ClickyClicky
    ClickyClicky Member Posts: 3,536

    This baffles me too. I never had an issue with Doctor before. I never found him frustrating and in fact I found him fun.

    Now though? He’s a right pain in the backside. Just feels like you’re snapping out of it all the time, always has his fake terror radius on you. Often tends to absolutely stomp games unless you’re with pro survivors. Doctor is 10 times the noob stomper he was before.

  • Tactless_Ninja
    Tactless_Ninja Member Posts: 1,791

    Calm Spirit for face tanking the Static Blast and Quick and Quiet for diving into a locker to avoid it.

    That's two counters right there to maintain stealth.

  • Tactless_Ninja
    Tactless_Ninja Member Posts: 1,791
    edited April 2020

    "There's no ability to stealth against him"

    Unless you meant the ghosts which is valid. You'd pretty much have to force yourself into tier 3 to undo it.

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    Okay, rephrase: “there’s still limited ability to stealth against him unless you run an anti-Doctor build”. They didn’t make it any “less frustrating” to hide from his power, that was my point. Before the change you hid in lockers, post-change you hide in lockers. If you’re not near a locker you’re out of luck.

  • Tactless_Ninja
    Tactless_Ninja Member Posts: 1,791
    edited April 2020

    But the point was there is a counter present. It's like saying beartraps are op because not everyone runs Dead Hard or Slippery Meat.

    And locker mileage depends on the map.

    Calm Spirit works against several other killer perks as well. Infectious Fright and Spies from the Shadows are both countered as well. And Quick and Quick is often worked into sneaky juke builds. It's by no means a niche perk or specifically anti-doctor. That's silly.

    People say to just move outta the way when Billy chainsaws at you. I'd say the ability to down the entire team inside spawn is a bigger problem wouldn't you agree?

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    I’m not talking about Doctor being OP. Please reread my initial post and understand the point I’m trying to make. You’re arguing against a straw man.

  • FearedbytheGods
    FearedbytheGods Member Posts: 476

    Was a waste of resources.

    He's still an annoying killer.

    The D/C penalties have done more to keep survivors around in games, than the 'rework'.

  • Crazewtboy
    Crazewtboy Member Posts: 1,259

    Honestly this is true for me. Static blast is so annoying as he can trigger it at will and screw you. At least the terror radius proximity was passive so you had some time to react. I would take that over static blast any day.

  • EnderloganYT
    EnderloganYT Member Posts: 621

    I think the main thing is that he can't just walk around and find people

  • Mister_xD
    Mister_xD Member Posts: 7,669

    the static blast was added because many complained about his "no effort tracking ability", so instead of having a passive madness increase over time (= no skill), its now a one time thing with an instantanious madness increase and a long cooldown (= skill - apparently. well, its certainly more situational and less easy to use).

    for Doc himself they took away the switching between the two stances, so accessing the shock therapy became a lot easier and you didnt have to constantly switch modes.

  • Peace
    Peace Member Posts: 164

    Well, then the change was good if he was no threat before and now is. Noobs get stomped with every killer, if the killer is skilled.

    For me it actually is better to know, when he will use his tracking ability. The only thing hurting my backside is that the madness doesnt go down anymore. Only thing you can do is to get from tier 3 to tier 2 if you snap out, but it is doable outside a chase and while in a chase it isnt necessary.

  • Zeidoktor
    Zeidoktor Member Posts: 2,065

    Whenever I see someone say "There’s still no ability to stealth against [the Doctor]." I think "Isn't that the whole idea?"

    The Doctor's whole gimmick is that, for one reason or another, he's supposed to be difficult to stealth around, so that particular complaint always feels to me like it misses the point.

  • elvangulley
    elvangulley Member Posts: 569

    This is why i say survivors are entitled when ruin was nerfed they loved telling people to stop leaning on it and adapt but here we are doctors tracking can be stopped by using calm spirit bit its not one of the 4 meta perks so they refuse to use they refuse to adapt

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    I’m not trying to argue whether or not Doctor’s anti-stealth is good or bad. I don’t mind it personally because I don’t play immersed. But it’s a common complaint about Doctor from new players, one of many, none of which were really addressed by his rework in my opinion.

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    Who are you talking to? Nobody here has mentioned Ruin and this isn’t a discussion about counterplay or killer strength. Reread the first post.

  • Mrjuice
    Mrjuice Member Posts: 94

    Well itit's kkinda the same problem woth Spirit. They are both designed in a way that could be frustrating to survivors (no feedback when phasing/ unable to stealth). So it is difficult to change those parts of the killer while keeping the original concept/ identity of the killer.

  • Shocktober
    Shocktober Member Posts: 678

    Lmao. I just throw whispers on doc and auto-find survivors every match. And the new shock is borderline busted in the hands of a skilled player. You almost cannot throw pallets against a really good doctor. I had a bamboozle doctor the other day who didn't even bother to kick the shack pallet. That's how good he is now.

    "Doctor is frustrating to play against" was actually the worst excuse. He is way more annoying now.

  • ZoneDymo
    ZoneDymo Member Posts: 1,946

    idk how many times Im going to have to explain this but:

    The doctor used to passively make people crazy, this was seen by survivors as something given to the killer, requiring nothing of the player.

    Now its an active choice of the player when to use a blast to make people crazy.

  • Steel_Eyed
    Steel_Eyed Member Posts: 4,033

    He is monumentally less frustrating... to use now since the stances were removed.

  • katoptris
    katoptris Member Posts: 3,209

    The doctor hallucinations can be run through plus they can only point at the area the survivors are at.

  • PigMainClaudette
    PigMainClaudette Member Posts: 3,842

    Not gonna lie, it just feels better too. The stances were a cool idea when I first played Doctor, but switching them to attack felt tedious.

    It was also good for finding everyone at the start of a match normally, but that was it. The passive madness didn't do enough.


    Overall, I think that the Doctor rework is just better for all ranks and still rewards skillful play.


    As for the OP's main point, from what I can understand about his design is that he is DESIGNED to be annoying, and as a son of a medical professional, I can say that electroconvulsive therapy, or "shock" therapy is a) bloody painful and b) really, REALLY nasty to the body. But that's also irl, not in game. Less lights, less screaming, much more permanent damage.

    Seriously Almo, whoever had the idea to add this type of power into the game needs a holiday or some time off. ECT is brutal, even with today's kind methods.

    He is also known as a "Pressure" killer, meaning that you'll always feel his presence, be it through a large Terror Radius, constant screaming, and random hallucinations. Terrifying as a new player, annoying as a veteran due to the effects of over-exposure. Same with any horror element of the game, outside of not knowing who the killer is for the first two minutes of a match.

  • th3
    th3 Member Posts: 1,846

    The only irritating thing asides from addons giving good buffs with no negative side effects like charge time, is the vfx witnessed in the ptb.

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    Can you confirm whether the changes to the Doctor’s madness visuals on the PTB are intended?

  • Ghoste
    Ghoste Member Posts: 2,135

    Remember all those forum posts complaining about Doc being nerfed because Survivors complained? Then he got massive buffs and is stronger than ever lmao. Bamboozled.

  • Haku
    Haku Member Posts: 614

    Exactly my thoughts ... The doc is great now. That was exactly what I wanted for his skills. The constant changing between stances was so exhausting. Now it is much better. But he is trully even more annoying to play against. They made him worse in that aspect. Adding the reverse skill checks, the new aoe static blast and even the new music - all these things made him way more annoying. Not sure what was that statement they would make him less frustrating. Devs seems to be all over the place these months ...

  • immortalls96
    immortalls96 Member Posts: 4,652

    Because everything doctor does now is done by action, not passively..everything is ironed out and streamlined

  • DwightOP
    DwightOP Member Posts: 2,328

    Can you guys remove the screen flickering pls? This is so damn annoying.

  • elvangulley
    elvangulley Member Posts: 569

    Im talk about people complaining about the screams from static blast and madness calm spirit stops it but no screaming is annoying

  • Danky
    Danky Member Posts: 219

    The Dev on stream said it wasnt fun to play against. nice spin tho.