Why the Flashlight hate?

Why having flashlight considered as toxic? And why killers hates it?

Comments

  • Mikeasaurus
    Mikeasaurus Member Posts: 2,327

    I don't consider it toxic if they're used fairly, but it is really annoying when survivors will literally follow you during a chase, just to flash in your face to save the downed. If they had done it when they SAW the survivor drop, sure, but when they follow for that one reason, that is toxic in my book.

  • Mert_MK
    Mert_MK Member Posts: 674

    Because they‘re bad at the game and would rather cry about it here instead of using the counters like facing a wall, bait the pick up, franklins etc.

    And flashlight clicking hurts their feelings too, i always love it when me or my friends just click a few times and one of us gets facecamped xD

  • Aura_babyy
    Aura_babyy Member Posts: 583

    Idk.

    Literally face a wall or a tree 4head, what's a flashlight gonna do against simple positioning change.

    I have ears, so using it on a pallet break is pretty pointless imo.

    The only people who suffer ig are Wraith and Hag mains but even then they know their workarounds of it

  • EvilJoshy
    EvilJoshy Member Posts: 5,295

    Flash light users also like to click it on and off multiple times. To piss you off and get you to chase them. Anyone who wants the killer to chase them feels like a wannabee streamer who is trying to get viewers. They are often some of the worst randoms to be teamed with. Instead of doing gens they are pissing off the killer to put on a show.

  • MigrantTheGreat
    MigrantTheGreat Member Posts: 1,379

    1. Survivors who literally do nothing but follow is around just to get saves

    2. I shouldn't face a wall and still get blinded out of the corner of my screen

    3. I shouldnt get blinded when I look up

    4. If I bring Franklin's Demise I'm the bad guy

  • Happy2Heal4You
    Happy2Heal4You Member Posts: 119

    Flashlights are probably the weakest types of items in the game. People who still think they are Op are probably people who played the game awhile ago but are just now coming back or are new to the game. I welcome any lobby with plenty of flashlights since that means survivors being altruistic over doing gens.

  • Name_Unavailable
    Name_Unavailable Member Posts: 519

    This. For me Toolboxes are the toxic not the flashlight.


    But isn't that better for you as killer? following you means 2 less people on gen (1 you chase and the 1 with flashlight)

  • Mikeasaurus
    Mikeasaurus Member Posts: 2,327

    True it does, but it's usually a SWF that does it, so no matter what, you're pretty much screwed out of getting any hooks before those gens get done. And even if I manage to get a hook, they then have BT, DS, Adrenaline. This is just my experience with these types of people. Most casuals that try fail hard with flashlights.

  • Xetoil
    Xetoil Member Posts: 94

    I never really understood the the opinion that flashlights are this evil toxic thing. A couple of days ago I went against a team where one of the guys switched to a flashlight at the last second. Presumably he was trying to hide the fact he was bringing one.

    I find this interesting because it assumes that I care enough about him bringing a flashlight that I'm going to do something in the pre-game lobby to counter it. In all honesty, I'm not going to sacrifice one of my perk slots for lightborn or franklin's (not to imply franklins is a bad perk, I quite like it, it just doesn't suit the way I like to play), because I like playing with my builds as they are.

    Flashlights aren't hard to play around either, once you get used to them they'll only work every now and again against you and not all the time like they might when you're less experienced.

    As an example, one common mistake I see killers make when someone tries to flashlight them mid chase is to look left and right to avoid it, which means you'll likely stop moving in a straight line, and won't catch up with the survivor easily. Other killers look down, which obscures their view of where the survivor is going. But if they look up they get to keep the downwards peripheral vision, and can duck their head down slightly every now and again to see around a bit better. This means they can continue running in a straight line, and get a hit where another player wouldn't have got one.

    I do appreciate that currently they are bugged and blind you way too fast, so there is an argument for the hate against them being valid right now. But at the same time I feel the opinion of flashlights being evil has predated that bug.

  • White_Owl
    White_Owl Member Posts: 3,786
    edited February 2020

    Saving people is the main use of flashlights and it needs perfect timing and positioning. Following the killer is just the best way to prepare for it, it has nothing to do with toxicity. On the contrary you should be happy they do that, it's one less survivor repairing generators.

  • Steel_Eyed
    Steel_Eyed Member Posts: 4,033

    Learned from the streamers to just let them chase you. It’s a huge handicap to the survivors team. Then you bait out them when you down another.

    The timing window for a save is so small that they basically have to run out in front of you. And close.

  • arslaN
    arslaN Member Posts: 1,936

    Because most killers don't even try to avoid them and then cry afterwards.

  • PfoxandtheHound
    PfoxandtheHound Member Posts: 49

    They honestly aren't strong anymore unless you get hit with two at once. I just have residual hate from the days of literal instablind red bulbs. If you want to be a bright light hero by all means go for it, but when you get baited into trying and end up dangling instead don't be upset.

  • OrangeJack
    OrangeJack Member Posts: 464

    Don't mind flashlights at all as a killer main.

  • TragicSolitude
    TragicSolitude Member, Alpha Surveyor Posts: 7,332

    Right now, flashlights are bugged. I have been seeing a lot more flashlights recently, so I have to assume it's because many survivors know they are bugged. This being the case, I go in with Doctor, I keep them in Madness tier 3 as much as possible, and I slug everyone until the flashlight holders are dead. If they ditch their flashlights mid-match, I return to my normal playstyle.

  • Divinitye9
    Divinitye9 Member Posts: 392

    Go against a full SWF, all armed with flashlights carrying the best Addons. I can guarantee that your opinion of flashlights will change quickly.

  • arslaN
    arslaN Member Posts: 1,936

    I really don't get what this bug is. Flashlight timings are identical as survivor and I didn't notice any difference as killer.

  • HellDescent
    HellDescent Member Posts: 4,883

    I don't find them toxic. If survivor wants to blind at the pallet - that's fine he's not making any distance while I'm braking it, saves - I might get caught off guard once in a blue moon, but that's on me. I've only seen flashlight used well as part of teamwork a couple of times during the entire time I've been playing. Clicking flashlight to try and annoy the killer means they want your attention and I usually give it to them the next time they are on the hook :)

  • TragicSolitude
    TragicSolitude Member, Alpha Surveyor Posts: 7,332

    It's been talked about on the forums before, so hopefully I'm not about to spur a bunch of people to go try this out... Killers can get blinded from the side by a survivor they can't even see; the survivor doesn't have to be in front of them. I watched a Laurie blind a killer from something like a 90 degree angle the other day.

  • Rivyn
    Rivyn Member Posts: 3,022

    Probably because half the time they aren't even used for saves. They're used for clicky clicky, to get your attention and pull you into a chase. It's not so much what they do, but what they symbolize. I always go into a match with the mindset to ignore them, since a good amount of time they're used to annoy me.

  • Name_Unavailable
    Name_Unavailable Member Posts: 519

    So if they survivor didn't do the 'clicky clicky' thing, thats fine for you?


    I played v 3 flashlights and tbh it was more fun game for me, Because i can get easy hits after downing one of them and also that means they don't gen rush me.

  • ALostPuppy
    ALostPuppy Member Posts: 3,398

    It's toxic for survivors wanting to save their teammates and do the one thing outside of getting chased that's skillful and fun? It's such an easy thing to counter or bait too lmao. Look at a wall or quickly flick around 180 degrees and pick the survivor up, or bait the flashlight save and hit them as they come running out to save. ######### you could even run lightborn and never have to worry about a single flashlight blind because I've never seen a survivor do the correct timing for flashlight saves with lightborn.

  • Cronk
    Cronk Member Posts: 283

    Because a lot of the time you can face a wall it still hits and almost every player I have seen with one only uses it when I'm stuck in pallet break animation

  • whammigobambam
    whammigobambam Member Posts: 1,201
    edited February 2020

    As a wraith you're forced to dodge or bring Franklin's but even then you're still going to get the uncloak bug because 90% of survivors know about it and want you to dc

  • Rivyn
    Rivyn Member Posts: 3,022

    @Name_Unavailable Getting a blind on me that isn't from a pallet is rare. I learned early on to face walls when picking up, looking up or to the side when carrying. So, flashlights themselves don't bother me. I'll admit, I used to get tilted over the clicky clicky, as amusing as it sounds. I would get annoyed pretty easily, and that was near the top.

    But, after a hundred hours or so invested, it finally dawned on me that when they're baiting for a chase, they aren't doing gens, rescuing, or healing. They're literally doing 1/4th of my job for me. That basically meant I only needed to deal with three survivors. Things settled into place after that. So, while I may bat an eye when I see a swarm of flashlights, I know how to deal with them. I prefer them over keys and toolboxes.

    Unless I'm playing Hag. Then I'll tunnel you into the dirt to keep my precious traps alive.

  • Sylthea
    Sylthea Member Posts: 5

    I know one time I was playing as Wraith and got absolutely wrecked by a flashlight holder in one round. I ended up dropping the survivors more than 7+ times that round because flashlight-pc was always just around the corner. I kept thinking that thing’s batteries would give out but NOPE. On a subsequent round with completely new players, I definitely got called out for tunneling one person in particular. I admit, I was maybe a bit more butt sore over it than I needed to be so to that player if they ever see this: I do apologize about that, my target of interest was that fiendishly undying flashlight of everburning agony you had.

    I’ve gotten a lot better at avoiding the beam in general these days, so while the flashlight hate isn’t as strong I will still probably prioritize chasing after the flashlight holder if I come across a group of survivors. From a logical standpoint, it’s best to have the most potentially troublesome factors taken care of first.

  • Irisora
    Irisora Member Posts: 1,442
    edited April 2021

    I don't have anything againts survivors that use flashlight, but flashlights are bugged and broken right now. Sometimes you will be blinded by a survivor that is flashing at 90º of you, and that shoudn't blind you at all, but it happens.

    And there is a huge ugly desync with flashlights, even if you are facing the other way you still get blinded. And that wasn't there a few updates ago i feel the devs shadowbuffed flashlights again and it really unfair.