Pig Rework Suggestion

Many people consider Pig to be one of the most balanced killers. By this I mean that facing her isn’t like going against Nurse, Spirit or Billy, where the power is incredibly strong and learning it well often means escape hardly comes down to survivor abilities, but her power (mostly) isn’t considered a hindrance or severely situational like Freddy, Legion or Leatherface. However, I still believe that the Pig is one of the killers most in need of, not quite a “rework,” but a power and add on tune-up similar to that of Trapper, Hag and Wraith.

Pig suffers from a lot of add ons that do not provide much of a benefit to her. Due to her multifaceted power, she has many small add on effects which are rarely brought to a trial because their effects cannot often be seen within a match, have little to no effect on survivors, or encourage playstyles that don’t suit the Pig’s stalling ability, like making trapped targets easier to tunnel. Additionally, many of her rarer add ons suffer such high penalties that they feel more harmful than helpful.

Really ask yourself, when was the last time you came up against a Pig that wasn’t packing combat straps? If they weren’t, did they even use her crouch or ambush past the first minute of the match? When was the last time you saw someone using Pig’s Very Rares or Ultra Rares, besides the Jigsaw’s Sketch and Tampered Timer combination?

My biggest issues with Pig’s power and add ons:

• Too many useless/clutter add ons - Many add ons only serve as a worse version of an add on seen as alright. While many killers have generally not great common and uncommon add ons, Pig’s tend to stack up or change effects on tracks rather than improve upon their strength, meaning some early add ons (Shattered Syringe, Workshop Grease, Razor Wires) have a basically pointless effect.

• Stealth and ambush – The time it takes to crouch and uncrouch feels really long. The ambush noise and charge time provide too much warning for survivors to run, and causes it to often be countered out by Sprint Burst. The speed at which you move in stealth makes it inefficient to use for any extended time. All of these together mean people often choose to neglect it entirely.

• Bandaid add ons – While many killers have various builds to create various playstyles, Pig players often feel cornered into Combat Straps/Video Tape to cover the gaping weaknesses in Pig’s base kit.

• Add ons seem counterintuitive to the power – While Jigsaw’s Baptism is set up as a sort of set-it-and-forget-it stalling ability, designed to keep trapped players busy while you hunt down others, many add ons apply status effects to trapped survivors which serve no purpose except for making them easier prey to tunnel, including exhausted and mangled. Experienced Pigs often won’t go near these add ons as they don’t affect them in game because they don’t play that way, and those that do use them make the game feel very unfair for the survivors they’re against who become crippled once they’ve been caught once.

• Downsides on rare add ons – Many killers have downsides on their add ons, and often it’s to encourage a different playstyle, however Amanda’s Secret and Amanda’s Letter both cripple such important aspects of Pig’s power that the benefits they provide don’t ever feel worthwhile.

So, here is my intended tune up to the Pig’s power and suggestion for reworking her add ons:

Base Power changes:

• Decreased crouch/uncrouch time by 25%. - A general improvement to the quality of the power. Decreases peoples reliance on combat straps every game. It isn’t an effect that should be on an add on track of its own, with close to useless commons and potentially overpowered rares, but it’s something that should be a little bit improved across the board.

• Ambush attack ‘roar’ now plays at the end of the channel rather than during. No longer plays Insidious screech. – Lowers the amount of time survivors have to sprint burst away and build ground before you begin your ambush. Also the roar and the screech serve the same purpose, but the roar is more custom for Pig, there’s no need for both.

• Ideally, (possibly too strong but it’s often requested anyway) survivors cannot see Jigsaw box auras until their trap is active. If it’s too strong, possibly increase the base trap timer slightly. Traps are largely designed to keep survivors under pressure, and the ability to search multiple boxes and potentially remove the trap before it’s even on a timer often feels underwhelming.

• Improved Deviousness points. Each failed/successful ambush should grant points similar to most abilities used to cover some distance. Added score when an RBT is removed with increased points the longer it remained on, or active. Deviousness points for “Game Over.” It should be considered reasonable to max deviousness on ANY killer by using their power a decent amount, you should not be required to make EVERY hit an ambush just to cap it.

Removed add on effects:

• Utility Blades – Survivors caught in a Reverse Bear Trap suffer from the Haemmorhage status effect. For the same reason as Sloppy Butcher’s rework: HAEMMORHAGE IS TERRIBLE. It’s never worth an add on slot by itself. If anything it just works with Blood Hound, and it isn’t entirely necessary for that anyway.

• Amanda’s Secret – Disables Pig’s ability to see Jigsaw Boxes’ auras. Gain a notification when a survivor removes a Reverse Bear Trap. Auras of survivors removing a Reverse Bear Trap are revealed to you for 6 seconds. This add on is so weird and bad. You are discouraged from tunnelling a trapped survivor by preventing you knowing where their goals are, however the upside of the add on is to… encourage you to tunnel someone the second their trap is off? You get more clear information of where they remove their trap, but the odds that that information comes at a useful time are poor, and the end result is you probably don’t waste time going to a Jigsaw Box until you know where the survivor is, but it’s still so useless to bring into a trial.

• Workshop Grease/Razor Wires – Each makes it ever so slightly more likely you’ll get skill checks on Jigsaw Boxes. At most it’s like +1 skill check per box. Considering the skill checks are entirely default, these have so little impact on the game it’s not worth keeping the effect.

• Gears – Reduces the time it takes to place Reverse Bear Traps. I mean I suppose it could fit in somewhere, I just don’t feel that it’s meaningful enough to be kept.

New/Reworked version of add ons:

Common:

• Utility Blades – A modification to the Jigsaw Box: the addition of sharp blades makes it difficult and potentially painful to search them. - Slightly increase the time it takes a Survivor to search a Jigsaw Box. Slightly increase the penalty of failed Skill Checks on Jigsaw Boxes.

• There is very little value in increasing skill check odds on a Jigsaw Box. In most cases above rank 20 survivors can hit a basic skill check. By increasing the Jigsaw Box duration slightly you guarantee that a little bit of time is wasted for them regardless, and increase the odds slightly of getting a skill check as they must interact for longer anyway. Combining the jumble of Jigsaw Box add ons in this way (ignoring more skill checks, and incorporating effects from the Gears add ons and Interlocking Razor) also simplifies Pig’s add ons and gives her clearer progression, and more tangible effects than “maybe they get one extra skill check that I’ll never know about.”

• Replaces “Workshop Grease” simply because that was such a cop out of an add on, has no real grounding in the Saw universe.

• Shattered Syringe – A symbol of a broken life. Reminiscing about her past-self hardens her determination - Slightly increases the duration of the ambush.

• A more useful and reasonable effect for the Pig, increasing the duration of the ambush allows Pig to cover a little more ground. This allows better positioning to ambush, as well as reduces how hard the Pig is punished by Sprint Burst being a kneejerk reaction for survivors. This seems like an obvious, and not inherently broken add on effect and I don’t really know why it wasn’t an option already.

• Combat Straps – Leather straps that hold fabric in place for nimbler movement - Slightly decreases the time it takes to crouch.

• Now reduces the time to crouch/uncrouch by 33% instead of 50%. Coupled with the base reduction in crouch time, results in the same final crouch speed as before, but is a less significant change from the base kit to reduce player reliance on them.

• John’s Medical File – The medical file of a cancerous man. Fills the reader with dread and recklessness. - Slightly decreases the ambush attack charging time. Slightly decreases the ambush attack miss cool-down.

• There’s no reason for the miss cooldown to be a separate effect, on its own it is never a valuable effect that only works if you’re planning to fail an ambush. It therefore also isn’t worth the secondary Video Tape add on to combine these two common add ons, essentially people already treat John’s Medical File and the Video Tape as the same thing.

Uncommon:

• Razor Wires – A modification to the Jigsaw Box: the addition of razor sharp wires makes it extra difficult and potentially painful to search. - Moderately increase the time it takes a Survivor to search a Jigsaw Box. Moderately increase the penalty of failed Skill Checks on Jigsaw Boxes.

• Continues a clear add on track with increasing rarity, something Pig sorely lacks at the moment.

• Video Tape – A recording of Jigsaw, explaining the game’s rules to Amanda. Reminiscing about her past-self hardens her determination. – Moderately increases the duration of the ambush. Slighty increases the ambush attack miss cooldown.

• A direct upgrade to the new Shattered Syringe, a simple effect which improves what should be a staple part of the Pig’s kit, not something that should be used for the first hit of the game then neglected.

• Increasing the miss cooldown makes what could be a strong add on somewhat limited. It should also prevent spamming ambush being a mobility method to get around the map quickly.

• Last Will – A latched wooden box with a satin lining, offered as part of a last will. - Increases available Reverse Bear Traps by 1.

• No real issue with this one.

• Face Mask – A modification to the Reverse Bear Trap: the heavy cloth face mask, laced with sedative, partially suffocates the target, making it hard to concentrate. – Survivors caught in a Reverse Bear Trap suffer from the Blindness Status Effect.

• While this is not one of her most highly sought after add ons, it is used from time to time and exists in blindness builds for her. Unlike other status effects, being on the RBT instead of the ambush makes sense as it makes coordination difficult, but doesn’t really aid in a chase.

• Tripwire – A modification to the Jigsaw Box: Clear wire designed to hinder and punish inattentive victims. – Moderately reduces the time between the Skill Check warning noise and the Skill Check on Jigsaw Boxes.

• Something the Pig really lacks at the moment anything that makes skill checks more difficult on Jigsaw Boxes. Currently she has add ons to make them more common, or more punishing, but nothing except Unnerving Presence actually makes them more difficult than a regular check. It isn’t so strong an effect that it should be highly rare though.

Rare:

• Nail Bomb – A modification to the Jigsaw Box: a homemade bomb built from nails and C4 means extreme care must be taken when searching and mistakes could cause severe damage. - Considerably increase the time it takes a Survivor to search a Jigsaw Box. Considerably increase the penalty of failed Skill Checks on Jigsaw Boxes.

• Again, continuing the add on track rather than having a series of different effects scattered around rarities.

• Arrest Record - The detailed criminal history of Amanda Young. Reading it fills her with rage and a thirst for vengeance over the injustices it contains. – Considerably increases the duration of the ambush. Moderately increases the ambush miss cooldown.

• Again, continuing an add on track with a solid effect. Increasing the ambush both improves the viability of add ons which add debuffs to the ambush, and promote using it more in general.

• Again, scale the miss cooldown a little bit to prevent it being used to move hastily around the map, instead of as an ambush.

• Rusty Attachments – A modification to the Hidden Blade: Spikes, covered with crusty and volatile rust spots that make it particularly difficult to heal. - Survivors hit by the Ambush Attack suffer from the Haemmorhage and Mangled status effects.

• Two birds with one stone here. Firstly, haemorrhage should already have been deleted and just incorporated into mangled. Secondly, by moving the effect from the reverse bear traps to the ambush players are encouraged to use the ambush to get hits more often than just the first hit of the game. With small buffs to the ambush this would also be a simpler task. This also means that a target you’re going after is afflicted with status effects, (LIKE HOW EVERY OTHER KILLER WORKS) rather than punishing someone you’ve already caught and trapped. It encourages players to go for new targets rather than crippling already hooked survivors and making them easier to tunnel.

• Slow-Release Toxin – A modification to the Hidden Blade: A poison that is not fatal, but weakens the body and makes it nearly impossible to recover fully from any effort. - Survivors hit by the Ambush Attack suffer from the Exhausted status effect.

• Again, moving this to the ambush prevents effects like Lithe, Balanced Landing and Dead Hard when a survivor has been struck by the ambush, rather than limiting their chase potential AFTER they’ve already been caught, trapped, and are not contributing to the team’s progress.

• Jigsaw’s Sketch – A disturbing, yet brilliant, Trap design sketched in detail on a sheet of paper. – Increases available Jigsaw Boxes by 1. Moderately increases the Reverse Bear Trap death timer.

• Only change is swapping the name and flavour text with the Very Rare counterpart, as the “annotated plan” sounds like Jigsaw put much more effort into it.

• While it isn’t a great add on, it’s purpose is clear; removing traps wastes more time. They are similarly lethal as there is more time to search more boxes, but overall it should increase the time survivors are not progressing in the game.

Very Rare:

• Amanda’s Letter – A blackmailing letter for the attention of Amanda. Fills the reader with rage and focus. – While crouched, see the aura of Survivors within 12 meters of range.

• This is moved and reworked on par (if not still worse) than Wraith’s all seeing add on. He has stealth, IMPROVED MOBILITY and an ambush-esque attack, and just having aura reading is considered alright. Pig has stealth, decreased mobility and an ambush, so logically does not require penalties to RBTs and Jigsaw Boxes as a trade off. Yes, the intention is for add ons which shift her playstyle but “using crouch more while sacrificing a majority of her stalling power” doesn’t really work out.

• Jigsaw’s Annotated Plan – A disturbing, yet brilliant, Trap design laid down on paper and annotated by Jigsaw. – Increases available Jigsaw Boxes by 1.

• Same as “Jigsaw’s Sketch,” only the name and description are swapped.

• Tampered Timer – A timer that has been fiddled with. A spring in the mechanism forces the gears to turn faster. – Moderately reduces the Reverse Bear Trap death timer.

• No real issues with this, it’s a decent add on used to make several other add ons more potent.

• Would prefer it be a better reference. Amanda didn’t tamper with a timer, but in several cases fixed games by tampering with locks. (Both Allison Kerry’s Angel Trap, and Timothy Young’s Rack were saboutaged so that obtaining their keys would not free the victim. Also in the series, Seth Baxter’s Pendulum is saboutaged by Hoffman to not release the victim, though simply seems to have no shut-off mechanism.)

• Interlocking Razor – A modification to the Jigsaw Box: the addition of interlocking razor blades makes it impossible to escape the Jigsaw Box without slitting one’s wrists. – Successfully removing a Reverse Bear Trap will injure a survivor. Cannot put already injured survivors into the dying state.

• An alternative to Amanda’s Secret. Rather than revealing survivors when they remove the trap. (As discussed, situational, difficult to use information which generally only serves to allow you to tunnel someone slightly later than tunnelling a trapped survivor) the survivor is injured when they remove their trap. While it may serve to make them an easier target if they happen to do it near the Pig, it would instead guarantee that more time is wasted for the survivor. Especially in cases where a trap is removed on the first or second Jigsaw Box, it adds an element of stalling which is unhindered by RNG.

Ultra Rare:

• Rules Set No.2 – A tape player holding the instructions to one of Jigsaw’s games. However, the rules have changed; Amanda’s games are designed for punishment and vengeance, rather than a chance at rehabilitation. - Disables the survivor’s ability to see Jigsaw Boxes’ auras. Disables the Pig’s ability to see Jigsaw Boxes’ auras. Decreases available Jigsaw Boxes by 1. Decreases available Reverse Bear Traps by 2.

• Like an Ultra Rare should, this really shifts the gameplay and has an extreme effect. Firstly, less RBTs and less Jigsaw Boxes. The penalties are part of the current Amanda’s Letter but not as harsh, as well as that of Amanda’s Secret. 2 RBTs with a 1 in 3 chance of getting the right Jigsaw box. HOWEVER, neither the survivors nor the Pig can see the Jigsaw Box auras AT ANY TIME. This means it’s up to the survivor to search the map for the 3 boxes, but it is much harder for them to be caught out searching them by the Pig. Traps would be highly lethal, but there are only 2 (max of 3 with Last Will) and the odds are decent of removing them if you find Jigsaw Boxes efficiently (Can be made more difficult with the Plan/Sketch, which also throws a curve ball upon searching the third box as without auras, you couldn’t tell that there is an extra box until you need it.) I think this would be much more in line other Ultra Rare add ons that drastically shift up how the game plays out, (Tombstone, Fragrant Tuft, Iridescent Head, Coxcombed Clapper, the list goes on and on) really focusing the game onto the RBTs and turning them into a true down-to-the-wire stress test.

• Iridescent Key – The key to the Shotgun Collar, worn like a trophy around Amanda’s neck. Holding the fate of a victim fills the wearer with a sense of power and determination. – Increases available Reverse Bear Traps by 1. Become obsessed with a survivor. The obsession begins the trial wearing an active Reverse Bear Trap.

• Similar to Freddy’s Black Box add on, but less possible to do nothing. The obsession begins the match with a reverse bear trap already on a timer (possibly granted a longer timer than the other 4 RBTs for fairness.)

• This would accentuate Pig’s stalling ability by starting with one less survivor jumping straight onto gens.

• Possibly too strong, as finding the obsession early would make survival very difficult.

OR ALTERNATIVELY

• Iridescent Key – The key to the Shotgun Collar, worn like a trophy around Amanda’s neck. Holding the fate of a victim fills the wearer with a sense of power and determination. – Reverse Bear Traps placed on victims are active immediately.

• No delay waiting for a generator to go off, no extra breathing room for survivors. From the time they are unhooked (or healed from dying) their trap timer will start.

• Possibly requires “Moderately increases the Reverse Bear Trap death timer” as a downside, as paired with the tampered timer it would probably net multiple kills each game.

TL;DR:

• Improve the Pig’s base crouch time and ambush. These shouldn’t feel like default add ons to bring. Importantly the ambush should still be an initiation tool. As it is now it can be used tactically in chases as well, but it shouldn’t feel like Pig can just drop into crouch mid chase and catch you by ambushing while you sprint away.

• Improve deviousness gains

• Clear out add ons which provide little to no effect

• Condense many random but similar add on effects into clearer tracks that provide more tangible effects:

• Ie. “Dangerous Materials” – Uniformly increase the time it takes to search a Jigsaw Box and more harshly punish failed skill checks.

• Create add ons which improve her power more clearly and synergise with Jigsaw’s Baptism’s concept of “survivors who are trapped are not a high priority, and should waste their own time.”

• “Reminders of Past Self” – Improve the ambush duration, and make missing the ambush slightly more punishing

• Several debuffs moved from “trapped survivors” to “survivors hit by the ambush attack” – with small improvements to the ambush, as well as add ons affecting it… at all… debuffs being moved to the ambush should feel more natural to apply and more impactful.

• Ultra Rare add ons reworked entirely to match similar tier add ons of other killers, drastically altering how the game plays out, rather than the existing ones which only provide small effects, or cripple the Pig’s ability to stall for effects other killers get without downsides.