Cage of Atonement needs to change.

Recently we have received a hotfix for Dead by Daylight, in which Executioner's Cage of Atonement ability has been altered. Although I agree with the reason behind this change, I feel it should have been reasonable to compensate for this change and improve The Executioner's power.

Allow me to explain.

The Executioner is Dead by Daylight's spotlight killer in their most recent chapter, Silent Hill. He is a map-manipulation killer, able to torment Survivors with the hazards he creates. Affected Survivors will be vulnerable to his special hook, Cage of Atonement, and his special mori, Final Judgement.

A unique killer, being one of the few Killers able to mori a Survivor without perks or offerings. The Pig's Jigsaw Traps can mori a Survivor if they fail to remove the trap in time, and The Shape can mori a Survivor with unique add-ons at his disposal. Understandably so, players believed it to be frustrating to combat against the Cage of Atonement for its limited counter-play. Simply put, their is no way of escaping the Cage of Atonement, no lucky self unhooks, the Deliverance perk will not activate despite its condition of rescue being met, and without the aid of an ally you will die.

There is no way of fighting the Cage of Atonement, you can only avoid it. Avoid contact with the Rites of Judgement trail left behind by The Executioner, and avoid being spotted and captured at all costs.

On paper the idea is intriguing, but in display we have discovered a few weaknesses.

1- The Cage of Atonement is predictable.

Putting it mildly, The Cage of Atonement would spawn at the farthest distance away from The Executioner's position. Most players quickly learned of their specific spawn points, and began to take advantage of that. It may be a flaw or an oversight, but I do not think the developers placed much thought into how experienced players are quick to adapting, Hooking a Survivor was preferable, thereby rendering the Cage ability rather useless.

To be clear, Cage of Atonement has one clear benefit: All perk abilities relying on hooks were rendered ineffective by the cage. Decisive Strike, Borrowed Time, Deliverance, these are a few examples of strong Survivor perks which would lose their power when pit against the special hook. However this benefit was also a double-edged sword, rendering the hook perks for The Executioner to be ineffective as well. Barbecue and Chili, Make Your Choice, and Dying Light are examples of hook-reliant perks for Killers. Utilizing the cage would thus become a risk on your behalf, is it worth sending Tormented Survivors to the Cage, to be rid of unknown perks they may or may not be wielding in order to make the chase easier for yourself? Be wary that you have no control as to the direction of the Cage, and their is a high possibility that one of the remaining 3 Survivors is at the exact spawn point for the Cage at that moment.

2- The Cage of Atonement removes the Torment effect on Survivors.

The unique effect of Torment would be inflicted on Survivors who come into contact with the Rites of Judgement. Tormented Survivors would be easier to track as barbed wires would accompany the trail marks they would leave behind, and would leave them vulnerable to Final Judgement once they have reached the second stage of death. There is no way of removing this effect except in rescuing or being rescued from the Cage of Atonement. Doing so, you will come to notice that players often do their very best to avoid Rites of Judgement and with good reason, but I can tell you from my experience that it certainly isn't out of fear from being sent to the Cage.

3- Does this change benefit the Killer or the Survivors?

If the Cage of Atonement now spawns elsewhere due to the presence of the Killer, wouldn't the Killer be able to use this to their advantage? Say all 3 Survivors rush to rescue their ally, but the Killer arrives first. The Cage would then spawn further away from the Killer's position to avoid camping, thus resulting in a comedic chase between the Killer and the Survivors to rescue their ally. How does moving the victim fix this issue, won't their be other issues this change will bring as well? It won't be long now until Monto makes a video illustrating this comedic effect and how it could benefit The Executioner instead.

I understand with the decision to remove The Executioner's ability to track the Cage of Atonement.

I understand why Cage of Atonement will spawn elsewhere if the presence of The Executioner remains for too long.

My question is...

4- Why should I use Cage of Atonement?

It removes the Torment effect which would increase tracking and grant Final Judgement.

It predictably spawns the Survivor far away from me and possibly towards their allies, removing the time they need to rescue.

It leaves me with little progress in slowing their speed at accomplishing their objectives.

So why use Cage of Atonement now? What is the benefit, what is the result? The removal of hook-reliant perks goes both ways and isn't enough for most players to consider it a fair trade.

I sincerely hope Behavior gives this question some thought and consider adding or tinkering with Cage of Atonement so as to properly answer this question, as I believe I am not the only one who feels this way. I understand this post may be conflicting and most people will think of it as whining for having a Killer be nerfed. I hope my argument is enough to leave you asking the same question, this change in The Executioner by no means makes the Killer any weaker, he still has Punishment of the Damned and Final Judgement to rely on.

In Layman's terms, Cage of Atonement serves no purpose now. I hope Behavior addresses that what it does is not enough and will not be enough for most players.

Thank you for reading my dramatically long post. Do you agree or disagree? Support your thoughts and if you have other changes in mind, feel free to share your thoughts and share this idea in case the developers were to notice.

Also fingers crossed the Coconut from Space comes across this 🤞