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Thoughts on SWF

At red ranks, I have noticed that a skilled killer rarely stands a chance against a 4 man SWF that is coordinated and communicating. And honestly it makes me want to quit this chance because killer is not viable. Gen speeds are still way too fast and SWF is OP. What are your thoughts?

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Answers

  • xGodSendDeath
    xGodSendDeath Member Posts: 320

    4-man SWF needs an action debuff or perk limiter (IE only 2 DSes, unbreakables, adrenalines, etc etc spread out over the four)

  • Mister_Holdout
    Mister_Holdout Member Posts: 3,144

    The devs balance around unskilled players. Always been that way.

  • Aven_Fallen
    Aven_Fallen Member Posts: 16,275

    ^ this.

    Like, people speak about coordination. Something like "He is chasing me, do Gens"... When I play Solo and I am not getting chased, I am on a Gen. I dont need a SWF-Mate to tell me that.

    People should stop using SWF as their excuse when they lose. Being in an SWF does not make someone a good player all of the sudden. And if 4 skilled players are in an SWF the result would have probably not been different when they would have been Solo.

  • KingOfBadRNG
    KingOfBadRNG Member Posts: 425

    Actually I got called out like this multiple times because I play very altruistic while doing around 2 gens (my standard for every game).

    Bond really help the team and understanding the situation

  • Rivyn
    Rivyn Member Posts: 3,022

    It'll never happen. You can't punish players for being grouped up, as much as I'd be fore it. You'll just push them away. A better idea would be to increase the rewards for everybody else. For every member inf a SWF, other solos and the killer gain increased rewards, the highest being a 4 man giving a substantial boost to the killer. Since devs refuse to balance SWF, the least that can be done is pay those going against it.

  • Nutty_Professor
    Nutty_Professor Member Posts: 621
    edited May 2020

    Not every SWF will be an optimal SWF group. A lot SWF groups are just people that want to play with their friends. Even it isn't wasn't for SWF I would not writing this post. As the only reason why I bought DBD was because my friend got me to get it, then she taught me how to play.

    However, four good solo survivors can be as effective, if not more as a SWF group.

    Although whilst playing against an optimal SWF group or four good solo survivors can be as fun as nails on a chalk board, it is possible to win. Even at red ranks it's rare that you'll go against four good loopers.

    If you see a survivor who you believe is a good looper, just leave them, at red ranks you can't afford to waste time trying to down a good looper. You'll probably be able to find another survivor who you will be able to down a lot quicker. Also don't be afraid to slug, it's a great way to provide pressure on the survivors. At the end of the day you're playing killer in 2020 where single miss swing can you cost you the game.

    You'll be able to get the good looper once the other weaker survivors are either out of the game or slugged.

    If you're unfortunate enough to be matched up against four good survivors, it's harder to give advice as it boils down to experience and game knowledge. When I'm up against four good survivors I try to drew out the game out as long as possible, slowly removing the survivors resources over time. Being constant hassle to their gen progress. Sometimes it works out and I get the 4k, sometimes all four survivors escape.

    Post edited by Nutty_Professor on
  • venom12784
    venom12784 Member Posts: 666

    Swf is fine. Now every group is sweaty try hards. If I suspect it's a sweaty swf I switch my build to counter them.

  • GrannyonAcid
    GrannyonAcid Member Posts: 476

    This is my opinion as well. SWF isn't really that broken. Communication is so overrated in the game. You don't need coms to be told to work on a generator or try to save teammates. I guess the one thing that solo's suffer from is being a little less optimal in saving against camping at EGC. But it still isn't that big of an issue.


    These forums are filled with toxic posts about how they play with really bad teammates. But in my experience I feel like I find myself laughing at how bad my random solo player is owning the killer. I actually do better playing solo then with the SWF teammates I play with most of the time. I told them the other night that I win more without them then when I'm with them. They got a little offended. But rank 1 solo players are actually so OP at this game haha. Makes it so easy. When I play SWF I never get accused of it. But when I play solo the killers always accuse us of being SWF.


    Guess what I'm saying to the OP. Don't worry about SWF teams. What really matters is the amount of hours a player has. There's survivor players with 5k hours in the game. They're going to own you regardless of their teammates.

  • xenotimebong
    xenotimebong Member Posts: 2,803

    Yeah, I think a lot of people scapegoat SWF when really, the biggest problem for killers is survivors knowing what they’re doing and playing decisively. You don’t need SWF to tell you when to pressure gens, when to save and how to take a hit for a teammate if you’re a decent survivor player. A ton of survivors are not great and will play scared and selfish in solo queue though so everyone assumes that any hint of team play = coordinated sweaty SWF, when you can easily have solos that aren’t afraid to play injured, be chased or go for risky saves.

    You don’t need SWF to play survivor well, it just makes it easier. You’re emboldened since you trust your friends to unhook you, heal you, take hits and be productive. You can’t guarantee that in solo queue.

  • Joao_Bandicoot
    Joao_Bandicoot Member Posts: 286

    Just curious, what is your thoughts on the Solo x SWF disparity ?

  • oxygen
    oxygen Member Posts: 3,327

    It's an advantage (even without comms you can know how the others play/their skill level and loadouts) but the only changes that have a snowball's chance in hell of even being considered are bonuses/incentives for killers (and solo survivor play even) and SWF indicators after a match.

    No sane modern developer would seriously consider implementing something that even feels like "punishment" or disincentivization based on party play. And they shouldn't do so either, as the expectation of being able to freely play with people without mechanical handicaps once a match starts exists on what is basically an industry level, straight up "above" balance concerns.

  • xGodSendDeath
    xGodSendDeath Member Posts: 320
    edited May 2020

    I don't understand the number of posts in this thread trying to downplay the impact 4-man SWF comms have on the game. Good luck catching somebody off guard with pig or ghostface after hooking someone when the guy on the hook just tells everyone where they're going. Try setting up head on plays without comms. How about telling your teammates which gen is almost done when it would take much longer for a solo not in your vicinity to figure that out and complete it. or telling everyone that the killer has spirit fury etc etc That's just a few examples. There are so many other ways that comms is busted.

  • hanniballecturer
    hanniballecturer Member Posts: 31
    edited May 2020

    The thing that bothers me about SWF isn't the efficiency that comes from communication. I don't mind losing against teams that do well, and I've been against SWFs that fall apart at the first hit and solos who cohere like an army unit. But with a decent Spirit build, I don't usually feel owned by either - the games are fine enough.

    What I do mind is the toxicity that flourishes when someone can show off to friends, can mock the killer in voice chat, can whip everyone into a frenzy. When you get a SWF player out of the game early, he is still invested - those prone to anger are often the angriest at that point. After I disabled messaging but before I disabled following on PS4, one player spent the rest of the match spamming follows. It must've been hundreds of clicks.

    Solo players are more likely to move on. Solo players can be better or worse at the game, but they're rarely as toxic. Solos receive less validation and need to get back into queue anyway. The group-think is stronger in SWFs than among solos and is the worst aspect of SWF. Solos will beat my ass, but SWFs often make me feel disgusted with humanity.

  • ermsy
    ermsy Member Posts: 580

    My friends suck at this game. I genuinely have a higher survival rate solo compared to when I'm in swf.

    But saying that, if there isn't a weak player on the group, killers will have a very bad time. I tend to do well as killer but only because there is on average two potatoes on a group of survivors.

    I have been bullied by swf head on crews though aswell but that is rare.