Freddy Krueger - A discussion-thread around The Nightmare (4.7.2)

Freddy is weak not because of his kit, which is pretty solid and versatile overall IMO, he's weak because he's just another M1 killer in a world filled with anti M1 measures, like pallets leading into tiles, godwindows, E, protection hits, Shift W on big maps... The list goes on. His addons in general don't help him much as you said, Dream World doesn't give Freddy any real advantage, in fact it hinders the usage of Terror Radius perks just so he can use his anti-loop, while other killers with a similar concept of zoning anti loop like Hag or Trapper don't need to give their Terror Radius up to achieve that.

His semi-invisibility while outside the Dream World is completely countered by his Terror Radius, while Sadako has a similar mechanic, but she's actually stealthy. In short, his semi invisibility should happen INSIDE the Dream World, so it has an actual use. Terror Radius for when he can be seen, Lullaby + Semi-Invis + Anti-loop for Dream World. About his Snares, they have 2 main weaknesses: They don't do much in HUGE loops (like main buildings), and they are redundant in very short loops, like debris tiles and Z walls. Realistically speaking, the info provided by the screaming won't help him at all, he'll be either too far to do anything about it (teleporting isn't instant), or already know the survivor's position.

Now, on the topic of his teleports, his map presence is awesome... In theory. Put it into practice, and you'll see that the more you lose, the weaker you become. Quick games hit Freddy pretty hard, as he loses map presence AND has no reliable way on getting quick downs. And no more teleporting at all once gens are done (Sadako keeps her teleports intact), which is pretty incoherent with the designs of his personal perks, especially Blood Warden, which are all perks that get stronger or activate during the endgame. And also with his "mini blood warden" addon. His teleport cannot be used repeatedly like Sadako's. And also, he announces his presence WAY before he's actually there.

On combo perks, we all know Pain Resonance + Dead Man's Switch is basically the best perk combo he can have, especially when paired with his addon that fakes teleports on every gen. But they both rely on consistently quick downs, which isn't Freddy's specialty. Corrupted Intervention is "basekit" for most killers, since it hinders genrushing strategies, but a SwF can just hide for 2 minutes and wait it out, essentially making this perk non-existant. Freddy cannot (?) and shouldn't be patrolling locked gens, or else he'll lose pressure on gens that can be actually worked on. Barbecue and Chili doesn't win games, but he can actually do something with the aura reading bonus. Tinkerer is another "basekit" for a lot of killers, and allows him to precisely aim his teleports on the right gens. Discordance serves the same purpose, but lets you know which gen you'll be flushing out multiple survivors. Pop goes the Weasel doesn't go well at all with DMS, it's either Pop or Pain + DMS. Lethal Pursuer doesn't help him like Blight or Nurse, he can't teleport from the go.

Sloppy Butcher would be really useful, but his addons suck so much that you can spare to put Hemorrhage addons and save the perk slot. Devour Hope would be amazing, if survivors didn't know the location of every totem spawn. Undying could be use to protect it, but at most it makes Devour (and other hexes) last a little bit longer. Now, No One Escapes Death, one of the strongest hex effects in the entire game, it sinergizes pretty well with his own Blood Warden, the "mini Blood Warden" addon, Trickster's No Way Out... And it speeds him up by a quite good amount, which becomes massive when paired with Snares. BUT, there's always a but, other killers can also pull it off their own ways. Wraith becomes an olympic athlete when under NOED, Hag gets to block 2 gates at once if they are close by, and if her totem is on the middle of these 2 gates, well, 4k. Trapper gets real time information (and even a free pick up on the very oblivious survivor) by locking his gates. Deathslinger can catch otherwise unreachable survivors running for the gates to have a more realiable way to get Blood Warden value.

It seems that Freddy can do a lot of stuff, but gets individually outclassed by other killers with similar abilities. Jack of All Trades, Master of None, they say.

TLDR: Dream World isn't menacing enough, terrible addons, incoherence betweer power and personal perks, a lot of killers outclass him on a bunch of his strongest perks.