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Why do the Devs hate flashlights
In pretty much every recent patch, flashlights have received either direct or indirect nerfs and I'm honestly getting sick of it.
First, right around the Silent Hill Chapter, they "accidentally" lowered the angle at which the beam would come out, which was annoying, but not impossible to adapt to.
Next, they changed the aim of the flashlight from slightly off to the right to the direct center of the screen.
This simple change had the effect of eliminating the possibility of getting a flashlight blind from SO many different angles, so much so that unless you're pretty much facing the killer straight on, you're never gonna be able to get the angle you need.
The most recent nerf is that you can't stand anywhere near any props whatsoever otherwise your survivor's arm will bump into the prop and cause them to aim into the sky; clip for reference.
Also, I'm not sure what was done, but it feels as if the flashlight timing has gotten much more strict.
I'm not too upset over this change, as flashlights shouldn't be easy, but this makes saves that might've been possible from afar completely impossible.
Even if you somehow manage to pull off a flashlight save, they still haven't fixed the issue that causes killers to almost immediately recover from flashlights stuns.
What is even the point of bringing flashlights anymore...
Why couldn't they just leave flashlights alone as they've been for years now...
Comments
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There was a time when a certain dev thought flashlights were just fine. Then came a time when said person actually played the game and got stomped int the ground due to flashlights......
guess what happened shortly thereafter
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While the weird stuff is a problem ofc. why do so many care? when flashlights are, when working correctly a detriment to your team most of the time if not all the time?
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i made a post about this with a screenshot, i had to be looking up and couldnt even see the killer from the position i was looking yet ws the perfect blind angle. personally over the right shoulder was the best version and that was one of the first, i really dont like the new ones either due to the add angles etc. makes saves so very hard to do on the fly, but tbh frames are pretty terrible atm so saves arent my main issue atm lol
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I don't know what the devs were thinking when they changed it to center of screen.
Name any third-person shooter that blocks your crosshair/LOS with the character's body.
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I'm so glad someone else already mentioned this XD
@ascension , here's a video (tangentially related) of MCote vs flashlights if you haven't seen it yet:
Ahhhh...this video...
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You know who got literally stomped live and flashlights were nerfed right after.
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This video is a good representation of how far the game has come in terms of balance...
Now we need killers who mori MCote immediately after first hook three games in a row.
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Yeah, flashlights just aren't worth using right now, I will spend half of my flashlight getting one blind on the killer.
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They are mostly changes rather than direct nerfs. And so many survivors only use flashlights when killers are breaking pallets or vaulting so they should be able to get used to new flashlights quickly.
The problem is that so many changes are affecting survivors' performance in edge cases(flashlight angle and arm point up issue) and survivors taking risks to save teammates don't deserve suffering from these unnecessary changes.
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The sad truth is: Just holding M1 at a Generator is the best play.
They have to change the core Gameplay (like unhooked survivor repair slower while survivor who rescued another surv get a repair speed buff giving the Killer a good reason to chase the other dude and ignore the unhooked person).
I
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Why complain? Flashlights are the worst item in the game, discouraging gen repairs. This is more of a buff than anything as survivors that are aware of the problems won't use flashlights anymore.
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because flashlights are by far the most fun item in the game, playing a game without a flashlight makes you feel kinda empty in a way.
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Because when flashlights are easy or reliable to use, they destroy the balance of the game. It's already a tenuous time dynamic, it's not designed for having to down and pick people up 30 times because they can get off your shoulder multiple times a match.
There aren't head-height walls over the whole map, and there aren't always places you can face to avoid them, and the survivors can already manipulate that by choosing where they run when they're about to be hit, or by crawling while you blade wipe.
And again, fragile time dynamics don't pave the way for checking every single obstacle nearby for urban evading Claudettes after every down.
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This would require them to play the game....
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I'm an item hoarder so it doesn't bother me.
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Played this game where the flashlight was in the killer's face, didn't blind, and they didn't have Lightborn
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I wouldn't say that in regards to flashlights; they're horribly designed currently and only exist to blind when a killer is locked in animation. Additionally, dedicated servers have made any flashlight tricks based around not fully blinding the killer practically worthless because there is basically no hindrance to the "starting blind" visual because of how the servers treat flashlights.
It's an example of how something almost broken has been made into something not overpowered but worthless for any usage outside of blinds (not saying speed of blind in vid was justified).
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Am I the only one who feels flashlights make more sense now? I'm actually able to get an occasional blind!
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We also need a game where he goes against all sweaty meta builds.
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Flashlights almost always seem to be more of a detriment than helpful, and I believe they should just partially rework flashlights at this point.
Maybe give another use for flashlights outside of just blinding the killer, what on earth that would be I don't know.
Perhaps instead of giving them another mechanic, just make them useful outside of animation lock. Blinding the killer could be instant (or near instant) but remove the ability for them to make the killer drop a survivor, allowing for them to be used anytime during a chase for juking, while also stopping survivors from wasting time chasing the killer in an attempt to get a save.
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I have honestly gotten better with flashlights with the new changes somehow, I could never get saves before but now I can.
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The bug where you can't be next to something needs a fix. But new angles are fine.
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Yeah...no. The only fun thing about flashlights is to have a teammate get saved bc of it.
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If they have stretched res thats why.
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Mathieu Cote got violated by a swf with instablinds and nerfed em like a week later. That's why.
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I agree that removing flashlight saves would suck for those who do find it fun, but that was just an example of making flashlights work differently without introducing a new mechanic to them. It wasn't meant to be taken as an actual suggestion, although I do wish they were more useful outside of animation lock. Its why I also suggested the first option, which is to give them another use on top of what they already do.
I personally don't find flashlights fun to use, even considering the times when I do rarely get a save. Whats even less fun is playing solo survivor and seeing one of your teammates ignoring gens and just wasting time following killer around everywhere only to never actually get a save, which seems to be the outcome more often than not.
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Sorry your swf tryhard squad didn't do as well as you would've liked.
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As a killer main, there is nothing I love to see more than a survivor following me around with a torch. They aren’t doing a gen, they rarely get a save, and often fall for the fake pickup and allow me to slug and get 2 downs without having to search.
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That is the single most satisfying dbd video I have ever watched.
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Exactly it was pretty funny but rip my bb instablinds ;(
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I'm just sad they removed the insta complete bnp ;(
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God those slowmo hag traps *shudders*
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I do too it was way too balanced ;(
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A survivor that has the pickup blind timing memorised and knows when and when not to get baited by a fake pickup is still a force to be reckoned with.
In my opinion the hag trap counter and lightburn still need to go. Same with trap tracker maps.
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I love flashlights, because I can make so many plays with one. I dont follow people though.
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