Devs, please be more creative [a perk discussion]

I am going to preface this topic by saying this is not intended to knock the developers on their current work. Although myself and everyone else has their opinion on Boon Totems, this is not a thread to discuss reworking or nerfing them directly. TLDR will be at the bottom.

Alright, so the developers introduced a new concept with the introduction of Boon Totems. I appreciate that BHVR is looking for ways to “shake things up” and create new ways to alter gameplay. However, instead of introducing cool new effects with Boons, the perk effects are just a simple rehash of existing perks and items (faster healing speed is already covered by stuff like medkits, self care, botany knowledge; and no scratch marks is already done by perks like lucky break or poised). Are the perks useful? Certainly, but it brings nothing new to the table other than the “blessing” mechanic itself. The effects themselves are just boring and don’t accomplish what I personally think the devs should be doing: getting creative.

Now, hold on - I am not saying that BHVR hasn’t been creative at all. Actually, they have been very creative in some of these add-on reworks for Killers. Pig’s new iridescent that starts all survivors with RBTs on their heads is actually a great idea and changes the strategies of both the killer and the survivors right from the start (regardless of your opinion on the strength of the add-on itself). Spirit’s new add-ons that let her recover her power immediately upon breaking a pallet or getting stunned can be pretty useful and allow her to catch Survivors off guard. However, perks on the survivor side have been relatively dull aside from a few exceptions.

Let’s use Boons as our Guinea Pig since they are the flavor of the month. Instead of a boring healing perk that can be re-lit, why not something such as:

”Boon: Circle of Darkness - When within the range of the Boon Totem, the killer’s FOV is reduced by 5 degrees (does not stack with Monitor & Abuse) and suffers from Fatigue (could be a new status effect that shrouds the edges of the killer’s screen similarly to when Legion exits Feral Frenzy but not as drastic).”

Or something like:

”Boon: Shadow Vault - After vaulting a window, the window cannot be vaulted by either the killer or another survivor for 5 seconds. If a pallet is vaulted, the pallet cannot be broken for 5 seconds (but it still can’t be re-vaulted by a survivor).” Just something that isn’t an existing effect. I still think Boons shouldn’t be able to get re-lit by survivors so they can retain strong effects (balance, who would’ve thought?).

As for non-Boon perks, there is potential for abilities that enhance survival despite appearing meme-y. Another example:

”Houdini - After being chased for 30 seconds, or getting unhooked (pick your ideal requirement) the perk activates. The next time you’re in a locker for at least 3 seconds, press the ability button to reappear in another random locker on the map.” This combined with a perk like quick and quiet can get a survivor out of sticky situation like being in the Killer Basement.

These are not meant to be perks I necessarily want in the game, they are just EXAMPLES of new effects that can be introduced via perk design. If you complain in the comments about the perk examples then you missed the point.

TLDR: Instead of giving perks that do the same thing but need different requirements (Ex: Circle of Healing is just Botany Knowledge that activates by blessing a totem), it would be cool to see perks that provide new effects and actually alter gameplay and strategy.

This is solely my personal preference but it’s something I hope BHVR can incorporate more often. Thanks for reading.