Concerns With Buffing Solo Survivor

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I want to start out by saying I fully agree that solo survivor needs to be buffed to be closer in power to SWF. Then going ahead and buffing killer in response to keep power levels reasonable.

BUT

We need to be very careful about how much information we hand out to survivors. I really think people underestimate how incredibly powerful making something like Kindred baseline would be. Giving people free aura reading, which is really the biggest thing creating the gap between SWF and Solo imo, means we open up more slots for Solo survivors to run the more annoying and powerful perks like DS, Unbreakable, BT etc.

Do we really want to live in a world where more slots are available for the least fun perks to play against? As a solo survivor I exclusively use healing and aura reading perks like Kindred, WMI, Aftercare etc. If I'm handed Kindred, or other aura reading/info perks for free, I'll be happily able to run DS or Adrenaline with no downside.

If we buff solo survivor by giving them more information, we desperately need to nerf the heavy hitting perks to include downsides and caveats to their abilities. We should also consider buffing aura reading/information perks to include small boosts as to help power up solos. A totem counter on Small Game won't be helpful to a group, but will drastically improve a solo player's game. Getting a notification on Deliverance so your team knows you can unhook yourself will make solo life easier, but not improve the perk for SWF at all. Etc. Etc.

Comments

  • teamdehn
    teamdehn Member Posts: 222
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    exactly aura reading is a core game mechanic that the game is built around. there is no way to just make this base kit without fundamentally changing how the game works. further more having comms plus base kit aura reading will still leave SWF at a massive advantage. Queue up solo in a team game will always leave you at a disadvantage people really need to put this notion in the trash its unattainable.

  • terumisan
    terumisan Member Posts: 1,293
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    Well if you were to give killers all the aura buffs or bond/aftercare with kindred and make every survivor have obsession status (to let solos know when someone is being chased) what buffs would you give killers to keep up

  • RedditUser69
    RedditUser69 Member Posts: 193
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    I don't want that to happen, though. I specifically am saying we SHOULDN'T do all that.

  • apathyinc
    apathyinc Member Posts: 451
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    They shouldn't change the survivor base kit, this would take all the challenge out of the experience. Part of the fun for me is not knowing every little thing about what is going on in the match. If there is information I feel I really need, I can run a perk like Kindred or Detective's Hunch to compensate.

    We already have the HUD which provides a ton of info if you pay attention to it. Hexes, obsession status, injured and hooked status, oblivious status, how much more information is needed before all the surprises are taken out of play.

    I don't like the idea of a totem counter at all, at the most there should just be an audio queue when one is broken like when a hex totem is broken. Pay attention to the sounds and you'll know how many totems were broken.

    The game doesn't have a difficulty selector, but SWF turns the survivor experience into easy mode. Buffing solo to SWF level would be like never taking the training wheels off your bike.

  • terumisan
    terumisan Member Posts: 1,293
    edited July 2020
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    I'm just saying if you were to do it what buff could you even reasonably give killers the average survivor would just genrush since the survivor would know where the killer was

  • RedditUser69
    RedditUser69 Member Posts: 193
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    The issue is that the disparity between the two makes balancing killer a nightmare. If you make killer capable of vsing SWF consistently you're going to make Solo a nightmare and if you leave killer as is they're going to continue to get pushed around by groups. The reason buffing solo is prefered is because directly nerfing SWF feels gross, it's punishing people trying to play with their friends. Any solo buffing would require killer buffing as well.

    The point of this thread is to just make it clear that the people demanding things like totem counters and kindred being base are being short sighted imo.


    I don't know, but I'm also not asking for that so I'm not exactly sure why you're asking me that question to be honest. Giving them all what you listed would require some crazy buffs.

    I don't think buffing the MS of killers is the right call.


    I think nerfing very powerful survivor perks and buffing weaker information perks is a solid way to buff killers.

  • Zeus
    Zeus Member Posts: 2,112
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    I think the devs should focus in giving every survivor in the game considerable time looping the killer. The current state the game is in, you can rush gens and to keep up with it, killers tunnel and kill one survivor.

  • Clockso
    Clockso Member Posts: 853
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    you're kinda conflicting your points, you just said that survivors will be able to run more meta perks since they don't need aura perks anymore, then you said tht we should buff killers to compensate, so then meta perks won't be as strong if killers are buffed and there's nothing to worry about

  • notstarboard
    notstarboard Member Posts: 3,703
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    Kill rate is in the 65-70% ballpark as of the most recent stat drop, and that includes matches against SWF. Killers are not in a position where they need a movement speed buff if solo queue gets a bit stronger.

  • RedditUser69
    RedditUser69 Member Posts: 193
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    I don't believe I am.

    I'm saying that IF we buff solo with a bunch of free information, solo survivors will be less inclined to run information perks and instead run very powerful meta perks. Even if we buff killers, we're now in a world where even more people run all those unfun meta perks and you might even be FORCED to run them to be able to keep up with a largely buffed killer role.

    I believe the way to buff solo is to make weak perks good and strong perks worse.

  • StardustSpeedway
    StardustSpeedway Member Posts: 882
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    Making Kindred base kit is an awful suggestion and I say this as someone who exclusively plays solo. Instead of having kindred as base kit, maybe when someone gets hooked, it can act like the BBQ aura reading part of the perk where it shows everyone's aura (except the killer) for like 5 seconds and that's it.

  • RedditUser69
    RedditUser69 Member Posts: 193
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  • projecteulogy
    projecteulogy Member Posts: 671
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    Solo play should be rewarded more tbh. It's not only playing the game as it was meant to be, but its also a whole lot harder. Most games, playing solo isn't rewarding at all.

    First hook deaths, Farming Hook Divers, Suicides, DCs, etc will always be more of a cancer to solo players. That's just dealing with other survivors. Then you have the "Gilded Strategies" Killer's use. That's pretty much all the solo experience is. One good game within 40 bad ones. That shouldn't be a thing.

    Some Survivor Perks should grant an additional buff if you're alone but not so much its game breaking, while some killer perks should be buffed when facing a SWF. Buffing every killer's base will ruin the game for solo players and new players alike. BP Earnings for solo players needs to be buffed as well.

    If the killer face camps/tunnels, theres a vague opportunity to earn points beyond Objective. I don't care if i die every single game I play, but the community is too toxic to be given anything nice.. So its going to remain unbalanced.

  • Nos37
    Nos37 Member Posts: 4,095
    edited July 2020
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    If you are against letting solo survivors have more information because it would be too strong then ask the devs to remove SWF (because they get to have said information already and is the big reason why they are strong).

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    Let survivors who play with strangers without using voice chat relay/receive additional information about the match, just as those who use voice chat do.

    • Who is being chased
    • How many times have survivors been hooked / who's on "death-hook" (would be nice to see as the killer, too, though some killers would use it to tunnel more efficiently)
    • How many totems remain standing
    • Show the aura of Survivors in lockers (not to the killer) if they have Head On
    • An icon on the player picture (hidden to the killer) when a survivor is within 12 meters of:
      • The hatch
      • An exit gate
      • The basement
      • A Hex Totem
    • More shared perk icons for perks that don't give others a direct benefit, but others should still be aware of:
      • Wake Up! (8m range, once exit gates have been powered), so that a survivor opening the gate switch can choose to hop off and let the player with Wake Up! open it faster
      • Plunderer's Instinct / Ace in the Hole (map-wide, while unopened chests remain), so that survivors who find chests can choose to leave it for the player with Plunderer's/Ace to loot for better gear instead, in hopes that they can grab the leftover items later, if any
      • Camaraderie (map-wide, while hooked), so that survivors know they need to move close to the hook at some point during the struggle phase to trigger it, but also know that they don't have to rush the unhook during the struggle phase while it's active
      • Resilience (8m range, while injured), so that survivors know why you refuse to be healed beyond 95%, or at all

    This way, it won't matter who's in a SWF group or not; they'll all have similar shared knowledge about the match.

  • teamdehn
    teamdehn Member Posts: 222
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    queuing up solo in a team game will always put you at a disadvantage. all of these suggestions are absurdly over powered for the survivor side.

  • Nos37
    Nos37 Member Posts: 4,095
    edited July 2020
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    So what I hear you saying is that Survive With Friends is "absurdly over powered" and that the feature should be removed from the game for the game to be balanced?

  • teamdehn
    teamdehn Member Posts: 222
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    no people who queue solo should just accept that no matter what they will always be at a disadvantage.

  • Pawcelot
    Pawcelot Member Posts: 985
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    Any buff to solo survivors is a direct buff to SWF groups.

  • Nos37
    Nos37 Member Posts: 4,095
    edited July 2020
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    So what I hear you saying is that the devs should buff all of the killers to balance the killer's performance around SWF (and only SWF), and disregard its effect on solo-queue'ing survivors?

  • teamdehn
    teamdehn Member Posts: 222
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    im not so sure that killers need a buff to balance per se. but in essence yes the game should be balanced around a team of 4 survivors working as a team against one killer.