Bad Perk University: Stake Out

Hello class, welcome to Bad Perk University! I'll be your professor for today, and we'll be going over the worst perks The Entity has to offer and see how to make the most out of them. Today, we’re going to cover the underdog perk, Stake Out. Stake Out is a very unique and fun idea of a perk, at least in my opinion. For every 15 seconds you remain in the Killer’s terror radius without being chased, you gain a token, up to 4 tokens. Whenever you perform a Good Skill Check, Stake Out will turn it into a Great Skill Check, grant an extra 1% bonus progression on top off the amount a Great Skill Check would give, and consume a token. If you perform a Great Skill Check, Stake Out does nothing.

So why is this perk bad? The effect itself is OK, I think. Great Skill Checks give a significant amount of progression, both in repairing generators and healing survivors. So a perk that basically guarantees you get Great Skill Checks sounds like a good idea, right? Unfortunately, there are a couple problems with this perk that make it rather unappealing to use. First of all, you need to remain in the terror radius for a total of 15 seconds to get a single token. That’s actually a rather long time to remain hidden for a benefit that’s rather middling for some. Time you spend hiding near the Killer is time spent not working on generators elsewhere, after all. Also, since you have to actually be in the terror radius, if you’re up against a Killer that has a small terror radius, or god forbid a stealth Killer, good luck getting any tokens. Second, if you’re already consistent at landing Great Skill Checks more often than not, Stake Out does nothing for you. You don’t get the extra 1% progression unless you purposely miss Great Skill Checks and get Good Skill Checks instead, so a lot of really good survivors just don’t bother with a perk like this. I know these things don’t really seem so bad, especially after seeing perks like Predator, Mettle of Man, and Furtive Chase, but sometimes these little things are enough to completely turn survivors away and they go back to the 5 or 6 perks they always use. Maybe that’s a player problem, but I know for a fact that since those meta perks are so strong and game-changing, a mediocre or even middle of the road perk doesn’t cut it for some people.

So how do we make the most out of this perk? This perk is pretty situational, so unfortunately you’ll have to just put up with it if you come across a stealth killer. Though I think the issue with Stake Out is mostly just a playstyle problem, in that you have the play a little differently to get use out of it. So let me address how you should play when using Stake Out before getting into perks that synergize with it. Much like other perks, don’t go out of your way to get tokens with Stake Out. Your primary concern as a survivor is to complete the objective as quickly as possible and keep your teammates alive while doing so. That being said, if you find yourself in a situation where remaining hidden will net you some tokens, do it. Wearing dark cosmetics is optional, but helpful. Personally, I find the most success at being stealthy as a pink Bunny Feng. Maybe it’s the rabbit’s feet. On a more serious note, the best situation to be in when using Stake Out is when you’re working on a generator and the Killer is looping a teammate nearby. You’re not really being stealthy per se, but you get to earn tokens and make progress toward the objective at the same time. Don’t be greedy of course, if you know the Killer has caught onto you, leave the generator and try your luck elsewhere. Let’s now talk about perks that work well with Stake Out. Stake Out sort of encourages a more stealthy playstyle, so perks that also encourage stealth or allow you to be stealthy work well with Stake Out. One perk that comes to mind is Iron Will. Chances are, you were using this perk already because you’ve gone up against one too many Spirits. Iron Will allows you to be silent when you’re injured, giving you a better chance of not getting caught. In that same element, Calm Spirit’s not a terrible idea either. Remember, Infectious Fright is a perk that exists, and Infectious Fright kind of puts a damper on Stake Out as it is. So Calm Spirit, as mediocre as it is, can counter that. Diversion is a perk that also plays into the stealth gameplay, but this one’s more supplementary than anything. Since you’re spending quite a bit of time staying hidden, you may as well have a perk whose effect is actually rather disorienting when used well. Do I even make a post about Diversion at this point? If anything I think it’s OK now, and most of the post would be theory crafting about how to use it more than anything. Back on topic. This one’s more of a personal preference, but I really like the synergy Stake Out has with Fast Track. Fast Track is another decent perk. It’s like compensation for when your team is getting wiped a little, but you can make a comeback. When you use a Stake Out token, it counts as a Great Skill Check, which triggers Fast Track and gives you a crazy amount of generator progress. Keep in mind, if you pair these perks together, you won’t really be able to save Fast Track tokens anymore. If you actually care about stockpiling them for whatever reason, then don’t do this. Personally, I don’t, generator progress is generator progress, right? I don’t need to save up 12 tokens of Fast Track when 3 is enough to get the generator done.

Closing thoughts, how do we make this perk better? Let me be clear that I’m not asking for Stake Out to be meta or anything (what a weird world we’d be living in if that were the case). Stake Out, to me, is a fun perk that I run when I just want to relax and not have to worry too much about hitting those Great Skill Checks, and still be a helpful member of my team. That being said, this perk is middling at best, and in the current perk meta where other perks have to compete with the likes of Dead Hard, Borrowed Time, and Adrenaline, having mediocre or even OK benefits seems to not be acceptable. So how about we give Stake Out the little boost it deserves? 15 seconds is just a little too long in my opinion, I think it wouldn’t be a crazy idea to make it 10 seconds or something. The other issue with Stake Out is that you have to purposely go for Good Skill Checks and spend a token, so it might not be a crazy idea either to have Stake Out grant that extra 1% progression even if you hit a Great Skill Check normally. One change or the other, but even if you did both, I doubt players would switch out their favorite perks just for Stake Out. These little tweaks make all the difference in a world of sameness. Thank you for coming to my lesson, see you next class!