Deathslinger Improvement Suggestions (Base Kit, Add-ons, Perks, etc.)

So with the impressive Legion and Ghostface improvements, I've got my fingers crossed our resident slack-jawed cowboy killer will be next on the list to receive some much-needed love. With that in mind, I have some ideas I'd like to share on how to help improve the Deathslinger, in regards to his power, his add-ons, and even a new ability or two.

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First off, for the sake of clarity, here's some info on Slinger and his Speargun:

- Base movement speed = 110%/4.4 m/s

- Terror radius = 32m (previously 24m)

- Reload speed = 2.75 secs

- Spear chain max range = 18m

- 100 charges per chain, 40 secs to break with no struggle, 6.667 if struggling, 5 with collision tension

- Broken chain stun duration = 3 secs

- Missed shot cooldown = 1.5 secs

- Movement speed while ADS = 3.74 m/s

- Movement speed while reloading = 2.06 m/s

- His perks are Gearhead (not great), Dead Man's Switch (actually decent) and Hex: Retribution (too weak for a Hex perk)

- Add-ons improve reload/reeling speed, missed shot cooldown, Mangled inflictions, decreased TR/increased movement speed when ADS, and increased Mending time

- Iridescent add-ons inflict Exposed on speared survivors when shooting from 12m away, and the other grants Undetectable during a spear and for 10 secs after

All in all, after playing many matches as him recently, in my own personal opinion, Deathslinger is a fairly weak killer nowadays, with a lot of caveats and hindrances that really hurt him overall. A 110% killer with a 32m terror radius is a major hindrance, his power is strangely lacking in power considering what it is (...a gun), his add-ons are just plain dull and/or useless with few exceptions, and his perks are a mixed bag.

So as mentioned, I'd like to propose some changes and additions to him to help improve him and inject a little more fun and variety into his kit. I've put a solid amount of time into these over the last couple of weeks but that in no way makes them perfect, so I'd love to hear some suggestions and improvements from you fellow Slingers too (constructive criticism welcome, hostility and insults are not).

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First off, I want to suggest a brand new passive ability, something that fits his vibe and aesthetic while also applying a little more pressure. I've gone through several versions of the idea with varying degrees of power, but have decided on the simplest form so as not to take away from his primary Speargun power:

- Hellshire Justice: four blank Wanted posters spawn at the beginning of the match on walls. Every 30 secs (or if Slinger finds and spears a survivor first), one random survivor is afflicted with 'Wanted' and one of those posters is updated with their mug shot. When Wanted, afflicted survivors become louder when performing physical acts (passive breathing, running, vaulting, locker actions, chest actions, and totem actions), and their scratch marks last slightly longer. Meanwhile, for every Wanted survivor in the trial, Slinger's movement speed is increased by 0.1 m/s (making it 115%/4.8 m/s if all survivors become Wanted simultaneously). Survivors will be able to rip up their respective poster to pause their Wanted status, but they'll eventually respawn again in different places. If Slinger finds a Wanted poster of any survivor, he can claim it and make the respective survivor Hunted. Any Hunted survivor becomes Exposed for 60 seconds. The afflicted survivor's aura is also shown to the Slinger for 4 seconds after claiming the poster. After a Wanted survivor is downed, progress towards their next Wanted affliction is paused until the survivor is unhooked or healed from downed to injured before resuming again. Downing a Hunted survivor who is on their final hook allows Slinger to instantly kill them, granting bonus bloodpoints for claiming their bounty.

Now I realise this is just a mish-mash of several killer abilities, the most obvious being Freddy, Ghostface and Pyramid Head, but when you've got a rootin' tootin' bounty hunter as a killer, how can you pass up the opportunity to have bounty posters?! There are stronger versions I have in mind for the Bounty Poster system, with intermittent survivor aura reveals, slower totem action speeds, and harder skill checks with bigger penalties being some of the possible effects, but I wouldn't want it to detract from his main power. Rather it should be something for survivors to bear in mind during the match while they're keeping an eye out for Slinger's Speargun.

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Another small but fun addition I'd like to give him is the ability to damage generators by shooting them with the Speargun, with add-ons that could help improve or modify that ability. Now yes, you could argue if Slinger gets to do that, so should other ranged killers. But you have to remember...Slinger has a gun! That fires a spear! Perfect for pulling out cogs and breaking wires and tubes! To that end, a dedicated animation of shooting the gen, yanking the spear out, and winding it back in would make it slightly longer than a traditional kick, but would give the Speargun a little more usage outside of chases.

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Outside of new features, I'd like to see the following changes and additions to Slinger's speeds and values;

- If a survivor who is already suffering from Deep Wound gets speared again, and manages to escape the chain, the timer for Deep Wound is halved. If it happens a third time, they go down when breaking free of the chain

- Base reload speed reduced to 2.5 secs from 2.75 secs

- Missed shot cooldown lowered to 1 sec from 1.5 secs

- Movement speed while reloading increased to 2.56 m/s, up from 2.06 m/s

- Terror radius lowered back down to 24m, however survivors will be able to hear an audio cue of clanking spurs when within 40m of Slinger

Chances are if you're spearing a survivor who's inflicted with Deep Wound, you're going to down them. But every now and again, you maybe shoot them over a pallet or the chain catches a tree or a rock, so they escape and you've just lost precious time. Reducing the Deep Wound timer every 10 secs per spear would at least make those moments feel a little more rewarding, and in the off-chance you spear the same survivor three times, your consistent good aim will pay off. Reload speed add-ons are frankly a necessity so making his common Modified Ammo Belt add-on basekit would be a welcome addition, while improving missed shot cooldown and movement speed while reloading overall should help lessen the punishing feel of missing and catching back up to your target. As for the terror radius reversal, in the spirit of other ranged killers like Huntress and Trickster, I'm suggesting he receives a 'lullaby', an audio cue to indicate he's nearby but not close enough to give away his element of surprise too soon. In this case, the audio cue would be the sound of spurs on cowboy boots clanking.

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Bearing all that in mind, his add-ons deserve some attention. In their current state, they're nothing exciting and are in dire need of some fun and interesting effects. Legion's newly updated add-ons are absolutely dripping with the kind of ideas I've had for Slinger over the last few weeks, so I feel much more confident with the suggestions I'm offering. Almost every add-on I suggest here will have brand new effects unless otherwise mentioned. Some of them will influence the proposed abilities I've already suggested, others will simply be better or simplified versions of existing ones, and there may even be a few that are completely new altogether:

- Iridescent Bullet (Ultra Rare, New): The Speargun can be fired twice before reloading. Reload speed takes 50% longer (3.75 secs).

- Possessed Spear (Ultra Rare, New): Shooting a generator with this add-on causes the Entity to block it until another generator is shot or a survivor is downed. The first survivor to touch an affected gen once the Entity relinquishes its grip on it screams and becomes Exposed for 30 secs.

- Barbed Wire (Very Rare) After spearing and hitting a survivor, they become Broken for the duration of Deep Wound before lasting 45 secs after Mending. Shooting a non-regressing generator with this add-on equipped instantly regresses it by 5% and then continues to regress at the usual speed.

- Jaw Smasher (Very Rare, upgraded from Uncommon): Equipping this add-on grants a 25% chance that spearing and hitting a healthy survivor will down them instantly. If the survivor is injured, the Speargun will instantly reload instead after spearing and downing them.

- Golden Creek Whiskey (Very Rare): Reduces TR by 6m when ADS and for 6 seconds after. Goes on cooldown for 20 seconds after firing a shot.

- Prison Chain (Very Rare): Speared survivors who are successfully hit become Hindered for the duration of Deep Wound. Increases the amount of charges in a chain by 10, and Mending takes 4 secs longer.

- Bayshore's Gold Tooth (Rare): Wanted survivors suffer from 25% decreased cleansing and blessing speed on all totems. If a survivor destroys a Hex totem, they become Hunted if they weren't already, and their aura remains for an additional 2 seconds each time it's shown to you.

- Honey Locust Thorn (Rare, combined with old Rusted Spike, plus new additional effect): Inflicts Mangled on speared survivors, lasting until they are healed. Shooting a non-regressing generator with this add-on equipped regresses it at the usual speed, and decreases repair and healing speeds of the first survivor who touches the gen by 10% for 45 secs.

- Tin Oil Can (Rare, combined with Spit Polished Rag): Reduces missed shot cooldown by 0.25 secs, and increases reeling speed by 7%.

- Wanted Poster (Rare): Increases Exposed time for Hunted survivors to 80 secs, and allows the Deathslinger to move 0.2m/s faster per Wanted survivor up from 0.1m/s.

- Warden's Keys (Rare, unchanged): Reduces reload time by 0.5 secs.

- Chewing Tobacco (Uncommon): Grants the Deathslinger a 10% Haste status effect for 5 seconds after reloading the Speargun.

- Bayshore's Cigar (Uncommon, downgraded from Very Rare): Reduces stun duration by 0.5 secs. Shooting a survivor over a pallet breaks it when the survivor escapes.

- Marshal's Badge (Uncommon, simplified): Increases the movement speed of the Deathslinger when ADS by 2%.

- Poison Oak Leaves (Uncommon): Inflicts Blindness on speared survivors until healed. Shooting a generator with this add-on equipped regresses it at the usual speed, and inflicts the next healthy survivor to touch the gen with Blindness for 60 secs.

- Rusted Spike (Uncommon): Survivors who are speared become 50% louder when injured, and Mending takes 2 secs longer.

- Modified Iron Sights (Common, New): Removes audio cue for survivors when Deathslinger is aiming down sights at them, max range of the Speargun is decreased by 4m.

- Rickity Chain (Common): Increases all Speargun related Score Events by 100%. Reduces the amount of charges in a chain to 75.

- Snake Oil (Common): Survivors become Wanted 5 seconds faster, and it takes them 3 seconds longer to rip up their Wanted poster.

- Spare Chain Links (Common, New): Increases the max range of the Speargun by 2m.

I've also had ideas for other add-ons that involve you becoming Undetectable after shooting a generator, moving at 4.8m/s when the Speargun is empty, a customary Exhaustion add-on, another that lets you block totems by shooting them, and one that inflicts Incapacitated after Mending for a short while. While I certainly wouldn't be apposed to any add-ons like those, I believe the ones I've listed are solid and have decent synergy with one another.

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Finally, while his perks aren't all bad in their current form, I'd like to make two of them a little more useful and fun:

Gearhead: For every generator you perform the Damage Generator action on for the first time, receive 1 token up to a maximum of 3/4/5. Each token grants 2% instant regression on any subsequent generators that are damaged manually. Gearhead goes on cooldown for 30 seconds when a generator is damaged, and is disabled once the exit gates are powered.

Dead Man's Switch: Personally think it's solid as is. Pretty good job so far.

Hex: Retribution: You see the locations of all unblessed totems on the map. All totems inflict survivors with Oblivious when they are within 8 meters, which lasts for 4/5/6 seconds once out of range. When a survivor cleanses or blesses a Dull totem, they remove Oblivious for everyone within range of that totem at the cost of inflicting it solely on themselves for 30 secs. Any survivor who cleanses or blesses a Hex totem, including this one, becomes Oblivious for 60 seconds, and all survivors have their auras revealed for 10 seconds.

Gearhead in its current form really doesn't do all that much to help. There's nothing wrong with knowing a survivor is on a gen and more importantly knowing WHICH gen they're on, but the fact it requires you to first injure a survivor, then for another survivor to hit a great skill check just to let you know a gen is being worked on (which is a given in this game) makes for a rather redundant perk. Making it token based that becomes more powerful the more gens you damage helps apply pressure, relates to Slinger's lore and character, and works well by itself or with other perks, not to mention it would give Slinger the exclusive benefit of being able to use his Speargun to damage generators at range.

Dead Man's Switch is honestly a really good perk in its current form so I don't think it needs changing right now.

As for Hex: Retribution, the clue is in the name. It's a Hex perk. Hex perks offer very powerful effects in exchange for possibly losing it completely if a survivor finds it. Currently, Retribution doesn't quite fulfill on the promise of powerful effects, and once survivors know you have it (by touching a Dull totem), they have even less incentive to touch one again outside of blessing. Therefore, I'm suggesting all totems give off a small Oblivious area of effect, preferably have them spawn closer to gens and chests too. Survivors can either attempt to complete objectives without any terror radius to warn them, or one of them can choose to remove the totem at the cost of directing the Oblivious effect solely onto themselves. If vanquishing a Hex, the aura reveal effect is useful as is but should also come with an even stronger Oblivious infliction for the perpetrator to really hammer home the fear factor of this Hex perk and to have it tie in to the perk's actual description ("A Hex that lashes out upon its destruction").

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And that's that! Hope you all enjoyed reading, I've had a surprising amount of fun coming up with these suggestions over the last few weeks. As mentioned above, these are in no way perfect suggestions, just merely some desired changes for a killer who I personally think needs some attention. Feel free to leave your feedback, good or bad, and any suggestions of your own or how to improve on mine. Thanks for reading!