Upcoming Ghostface Add-on Rework (Critical Essay)

I've been working on rework ideas for quite some time, gathering opinions from notable Ghostface mains for suggestions and ideas, as well as looking over the problems he faces. In light of the new patch upcoming, it has forced my hand to get these suggestions and critiques out the door in order to hopefully avoid some similar issues in the future. I am here to address the issues and hopefully impart some ideas to the developers, as well as spark conversation amongst the community. Feel free to skip to the section labeled "Changes to Nightshroud and Add-ons" if that's all you're interested in!

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Brief Overview and Goals of the Rework:

(The) Ghostface is a killer in one of the most unique positions in all of Dead by Daylight, being both licensed by Fun World and under the lore umbrella of Behaviour. This allows for a lot of flexibility when designing the killer, whether it be add-ons, cosmetics, or the lore itself. I won't get too deep into the actual writings, but will summarize the essence of what makes Jed Olson (Danny Johnson) who he is, and how that lore builds the foundation of not only his character, but his gameplay itself. The goal of this essay is to address the shortcomings from Ghostface in terms of his power and add-ons, and discuss a way to mitigate them while simultaneously tying this functionality to who he is as a person. The roadmap here will go through: his power in its current state, his add-ons and the gameplay encouraged by them, his essential character, and finally suggested changes to integrate them together in a way that promotes/rewards skill and understanding of his power.

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The Ghostface's Power: Nightshroud

To quickly touch on for those who don't know, Ghostface's power lends him the unique ability to instantaneously enter undetectable status, masking his terror radius and red stain. While cloaked, Ghostface can stalk survivors to expose them. Lending aid to this, Ghostface can lean on objects to peek out from beyond them, as well as crouch to remain hidden. When leaning, survivors are stalked at twice the rate they would be when not leaning. However, the caveat of his power is that a survivor that looks at him for 1 second will reveal him, causing his Nightshroud to go into a 30 second cooldown.

Essentially, the ideal flow of gameplay would be stalking survivors until they are 99'd on their meter without being revealed, and exposing them when a strong opportunity arises. This is what is traditionally accepted as the tactical and rewarding aspects of playing Ghostface, requiring knowledge, timing, and finesse to maximize the use of his power. Many say he's one of the most advanced killers in terms of a difficulty curve, and for good reason. However, there are improvements that can be made to bridge the gap between those learning him, and those who are skilled with him.

The issue with his power is the punishment for both using it correctly, and using it incorrectly. 30 seconds is a very long time in Dead by Daylight, comparatively close to half of a generator for a solo survivor, two totems, or a complete Self-Care action. This punishment can be devastating during normal gameplay, resulting in sub-optimal plays and use of perks. An example of this is marking and quickly downing a survivor, hooking them a few seconds later. Seeing other survivors on Barbecue and Chili, the player now knows where to go and routes their way there accordingly. But in this scenario, Nightshroud still has 17 seconds left of recovery time, meaning that moving at a rate of 4.6m/ps, Nightshroud would not be available before traveling 78.2 meters. This means that there is no opportunity to use his power effectively despite making sound plays. This leads to one of the two biggest factors why players almost exclusively use his recovery add-ons, as they let the player be flexible in their decision-making. To mitigate this over-reliance on these add-ons, many have suggested decreasing the base time for his recovery. Although, this can be improved upon further to add more depth to the character and the gameplay. More on this in the section discussing the integration of new add-ons.

Lastly, one of the main issues is that the player is not reward nor punished in terms of recovery per the use of his power. Earning a stealth hit is the same amount of recovery as being revealed, and getting a marked down is the same as being stunned by a pallet. No matter the circumstance, a player's recovery is constantly the same. This can be tweaked in order to promote remaining undetected, smart positioning, and patient planning. As it stands, the outcome is the same no matter how well or how poorly a player's execution is. Creating a divide between reward and punishment is the crux of what Ghostface's gameplay should be centered around. Survivors should be rewarded for awareness, positioning, looping, against him. Likewise, he should be given the same, emphasizing the unique positioning tug-of-war already present in current gameplay.

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Add-ons and Encouraged Gameplay:

Here, we'll be discussing Ghostface's current pool of add-ons, what they do, and how they convey to the player the way to use his power in order to make the most of them. Simply stated, Ghostface's add-ons are not just merely (for the most part) useless to the player, they encourage a playstyle that is actively detrimental to learning how to play him and effectively use his power. To illustrate this, we will be going over all of the add-on types in order from the least detrimental to the most in terms of how they discourage the learning of proper Nightshroud use.

Night Shroud Recovery Time - Best ability by far, and the most impactful. Allows for more frequent use of his power, and encourages more experimentation without as harsh of a punishment. With two add-ons, recovery time goes from 30 seconds to 16 seconds, almost half of the base. To those who are skilled with the killer, this allows focus on keeping tactical momentum and moving chess-pieces more consistently over the duration of the game. To those starting out with the killer, it allows for one of the most important things, experimentation. Being able to understand the angles and objects you can be revealed from, as well as lean on, is just as important as experimenting with his power in-chase. All in all, the add-ons are very healthy.

Marked Duration - The only other set of add-ons that have some sense of utility. The maximum time a survivor stays marked with both of the highest add-ons is increased by 15 seconds, totaling 45 seconds. Definitely not negligible, but falls into the category of being a bandage for using his power poorly, or worse, obstructing the player's path towards competency. The reason for this is, marking a fully 99'd survivor should be a quick and immediate action, happening right before the hit itself. This is because it ensures that the survivor will not be able to run to safety before being downed. If the player is having a chase that lasts more than 30 seconds while the survivor is marked, let alone 45 seconds, the player has essentially lost that chase, as well as the time they spent prepping that survivor. This isn't by any means the worst offender, but it is worth noting.

Movement Speed While Crouched - The effect is negligible, potentially useful only at tall loops for mind-games. Traditionally a player wouldn't want to traverse the realm while crouched, being that it is such a detriment to movement speed (going from 4.6m/ps to 3.6.) Using the two highest add-ons adds up to 104% movement speed, barely faster than survivors. Only one add-on of this type is necessary, three being far too many.

Killer Instinct Duration - Only useful in the scenario that a player doesn't know where they've been revealed from. Another bandage add-on, but slightly less-so in that it doesn't promote poor use of his power throughout the match, and is merely a little bonus. The effect is negligible at best, coming into effect in few ways that are actually useful.

Stalk Time when Not Leaning - The use for these add-ons is also quite negligible, the max combination taking 1.25 seconds off of stalking time while standing. In certain situations on certain realms, this number will show some value, going from 5 seconds until fully marked to 3.75. However, moments like this will be rare as the situations that arise from this often come from spontaneity, rather than through planning. The true drawback of these add-ons is quite simple, though, in that those seeking to make use of stalking while standing openly will be revealed and their Nightshroud broken.

Movement Speed While Stalking - Another prime example of an effect that encourages the player to willfully place themselves under the threat of being revealed for an effect that is negligible at best. The only time this could see much use with slightly less threat of being revealed is while a survivor is in chase. However this too is a detriment as it allows a survivor to gain a great deal of distance while being stalked. A skilled player will properly 99 a survivor in preparation before the chase, exposing them when in distance of landing a hit. Implications of the add-on's effect do not teach or reward learning the fundamentals of the killer.

Detection Range - Traditionally, Ghostface can stalk a survivor at 40m away, and can be revealed starting at 32m. With both range add-ons, the revealing distance goes down to 20m. One might argue that this is in favor for the killer. Although, when considering the scenario when this would be useful, its effect becomes another detriment to learning fundamentals. If a survivor is trying to break Nightshroud at 20m, they are aware of his presence. Whether 99'd or fully marked, the survivor now has 20m of distance at minimum to run to safety. It can be considered a lost chase in some ways, because even if Ghostface is not revealed in the time it would take to reach them, the survivor will play safely and not guarantee an easy hit. This, as stated many times, discourages proper use and skilled positioning.

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Who is Danny Johnson? (The Art of the Character)

Every excerpt from the lore surrounding Ghostface drips with not just personality, but with a silent thrill lurking beneath a calm and calculated reasoning. Danny Johnson is not a killer because he was misunderstood, he wasn't cursed to be this way, he isn't a scientist, or a monster. Actually, Danny Johnson is a well-adapted person you can expect to give you a pleasant smile and nod as you pass down the street. At a glance, he is a hard-working citizen, a professional, if you will. His profession is that of taking notes, analyzing facts, connecting dots, and finding just the right way to convey all of these aspects into capturing, concise words. Danny is a writer, a virtuoso of the pen that paints vivid imagery for his readers down to the detail. Yet, he remains personably to all, humble about his skills and carrying a charisma that is as disarming as his conversations are interesting. Even in small-talk, not a word goes to waste, carefully planned to elicit a smile or a sense of commonality.

One could say that this soothing demeanor is actually Danny's more important mask. That's because for all his relaxed and casual stances in conversation, every thought is carefully planned with pin-point accuracy, right down to his mistakes. But who plans mistakes? That would be silly to any other person. But to Danny, that's where the thrill lies. See, Danny Johnson is not a killer, he's a murderer. No, a killer seems a disingenuous word, having connotations of primal instincts and brute force, truly the opposite of how he operates. Danny's pen and his blade are one in the same, used to execute every planned moment as artfully and tastefully as possible down to the last detail. Neither is mightier than the other. Furthermore, it is not the act of murder itself that whets his insatiable palate, it is the looming threat of self-incrimination that sends adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Like a puppet master, he pulls every string. Like a poet, every word carefully chosen. There is not a detail that goes unrehearsed, not a inch of room for error, not a second that doesn't tick by according to his watch. The only thing more enticing than having complete control is losing it. Within Danny's wallet lies the basic things one would expect, things we all carry on us; Cash, a driver's license, membership cards, a picture of the first person we ever murdered-- yes, Olson carries a photograph of the victim that started a long string of unsolved murders. After such meticulous planning and scrutiny, this incriminating evidence is not a mere mistake, it's the next level. To call it a trophy would be reductionary. To Danny, it raises the stakes to heart-pounding intensity. Just one slip and it's over. It's not just the photo, it's his pen, his matches, his knife sheath, his address book, his camera. Nearly every item in his possession can sentence him to his own execution. He doesn't just dance with Death-- he leads the waltz. That is truly the thrill that drives him.

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Changes to Nightshroud and Add-ons:

To summarize the main issues with Ghostface's design for those skipping to the changes, they are as follows:

• Nightshroud recovery is long to the point as not to permit effective gameplay without add-ons.
• Recovery time is just as punishing whether making mistakes or executing smart plays.
• All add-ons except recovery discourage experimentation and actively promote detrimental use of his power in order to see effects.
• Most add-ons provide negligible effects that do not impact or alter gameplay.

The suggested solution to remedy this actually ties hand-in-hand with the in-game text about who Ghostface is. Here are the Nightshroud changes (numbers are a placeholder and are subject to fine-tuning):

• Reduced Nightshroud recovery time from 30 seconds to 18 seconds. This makes it much less punishing at base, allowing for those new to Ghostface to have some freedom to experiment without tying up both add-on slots. The 18s is subject to be raised or lowered depending upon how recovery add-ons are changed to compensate, if they still provide a recovery effect (more on that in the next paragraph.)
• Reduced Nightshroud recovery when hitting a survivor while cloaked. This is meant to reward a player for out-positioning and out-playing a survivor, incentivizing the learning of fundamentals.
• Increased Nightshroud recovery by being revealed by any other means. Being revealed from a distsance, being stunned by a pallet, or missing a basic attack should promote awareness as well as act as a reward system for the survivor.

The biggest changes come in the reworking of his add-ons. Put simply, the recovery time on Nightshroud is significantly lowered, and now the majority of add-ons now carry additional increases his recovery time. This bolsters the need to play effectively and with a plan, trying to minimize mistakes, but also rewards the player for precision and deliberate strikes. Likewise, a survivor is rewarded for winning an interraction for a back-and-forth of risk and reward. That said, group of add-on effects will be overwritten to new sets.

Many new categories of add-ons can be experimented with in the future. However, the most likely candidate to assist in the risk-reward gameplay between killer are survivor are add-ons that affect landing hits while cloaked. (Numbers are again placeholders and subject to tuning and discussion.) For example:

Add-ons that apply statuses upon getting stealth hits:

• Brown: Hitting a survivor while cloaked will apply the Blindness status effect for 30 seconds. +3 Seconds to Nightshroud recovery rate when revealed by other means.
• Yellow: Hitting a survivor while cloaked will apply the Mangled and Hemmorage status effects. +4
• Green: Hitting a survivor while cloaked will apply the Deep Wounds status effect. +5 Seconds to Nightshroud recovery rate when revealed by other means.

Add-ons that reduce recovery after a hit examples:

• Brown: Reduces Nightshroud Recovery by 1 seconds. Hitting a survivor while cloaked reduces nightshroud recovery by 2 seconds.
• Yellow: Nightshroud Recovery by 1 seconds. Hitting a survivor while cloaked reduces nightshroud recovery by 3 seconds.
• Green: Nightshroud Recovery by 2 seconds. Hitting a survivor while cloaked reduces nightshroud recovery by 4 seconds.

Add-ons that perform an effect after a marked down examples:

• Yellow: Downing a marked survivor reduces basic attack cooldown by 20%. +3 seconds to Nightshroud recovery time.
• Green: Downing a marked survivor causes explosions to generators within a 32m radius and begin regressing. Generators being worked on will recieve a tremendously difficult skillcheck. +4 seconds to Nightshroud recovery time.
• Purple: Downing a marked survivor transfers your terror radius to that survivor for the next 60 seconds.

Add-ons that affect the crouch power:

• Increasing recovery rate while crouched.
• Giving Insidious while crouched.
• Making singular crouch speed add-on (110%).

Add-ons that originally affected revealing distance:

• Being revealed by a survivor increases the size of your terror radius.
• Being revealed by a survivor replaces killer instinct with an aura.

Not every category was touched on or replaced yet, but it's important to lastly note the state of the Iridecent add-ons. As it stands, the Security Camera is in a good spot. It encourages skill, and punishes mistakes accordingly. However, the Ghostface Caught on Tape add-on buffs something that was already fast and adds a drawback that feels unnecessary. In the spirit of certain killers having iridescent add-ons that can combo together, here is the suggestion to change Ghostface Caught on Tape:

• Downing a survivor while cloaked will not reveal you. You cannot be revealed for the next (7) seconds. Nightshroud's base recovery time becomes 35 seconds.

What this does is encourage staying cloaked at all costs, due to an excessively long recovery. However, it promotes the timing and planning of a snowball while gaining momentum. Pairing this with the Security Camera ensures all other survivors will be revealed. However, the immunity to being revealed last only long enough to go through attack cooldown and reposition quickly away from the downed survivor. This ensures keeping constantly hidden and on the move as the player hops from person to person. While the effects of this add-on are by no means perfect and flawed in several ways, it could be refined to pair more comfortably with the Security Camera and emphasize darting in and out of sight.

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Closing Conclusions:

Every aspect of this meticulous murderer screams interaction and planning. Basing his power in the realm of his lore grounds him not just as a playable killer but a developed character. Studying a survivor and following them around let's him know right where to stab to know where it hurts most. Likewise, he's always on the edge of being punished for his mistakes, catching him in the open leading to having to sloppily clean up mistakes. There is so much potential in this killer, evolving far outside of a simple Halloween costume or the genre-defining franchise that popularized it. The Ghostface is in every way just a human being just as the people that donned the mask prior to him. But, what makes him unique is that he doesn't take from other writings of horror-- he writes his own.

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TL;DR: Ghostface's add-ons teach bad habits and don't add anything to his power. Lowering his recovery time significantly and balancing new add-ons to increase his recovery time instead creates a risk-reward system between killer and survivor. Add-ons that reward stealth hits and marked downs seem the most logical to add as they will push players to be sneaky and plan ahead. All in all, it ties together extremely well because Ghostface's lore pits his wit against others' in a bid of getting caught, and celebrates the meticulous detail that went into ensuring a plan (and victim) well-executed. 

EDIT: (Updated formatting and suggested add-on effects)