The Shape Rework

Hello Friends and Foes of the fog and welcome to yet another "rework" post, I know that most people are tired of seeing these but I always find it fun to theory craft how they would work in the actual game and I like to throw out some of the nonsense that comes to my mind every now and then and who knows, maybe some of these ideas will make it into the ptb someday.

On todays agenda The Shape better known as Myers, Stalky boi or my personal favourite OH ######### MICHAEL. From what I have seen from the community there is a general agreement that Myers is a fun killer to play as and against but he is terribly outdated and needs changes.

Over the course of his time in dead by daylight he has received changes a whopping 6 times over the 41 patches there have been since his release in 2.1.0 he had his evil within 1 Movement speed increased by 0.06 and given normal carry speed in tier 1 and then 3.3.1 they made the new undetectable status effect a part of his power and made it so evil within 1 no longer made him immune to detection perks like spine chill.

so his power has been basically untouched since his addition to the game and thematically it makes sense as it fits his movie persona perfectly and remains to this day one of the best licenced adaptations in the game but just because he looks good doesn't mean he is good which is very unfortunate.

so I want to modernise his kit without losing what makes Myers, Myers. while also keeping the variety of different possible builds that his addons currently have whilst changing them all to fit the new kit. A lofty goal but I want to take a swing at it. I have seen every Halloween movie (except 3 but we don't talk about that one) and it is one of my favourite franchises and he is one of my main killers so I know how Myers should feel to play as and against thematically. the challenge is making it work in the current game.

Power: Evil Within

First I will be removing the tier system. Besides the stealth effect, evil within 1 is a detriment to Myers. He moves 10% slower and has a very short lunge range and whilst evil within 2 dose grant him a 16 meter terror radius and a 13% faster vault speed most survivors will try to deny him it as long as possible.

evil within 3 however can be intimidating with a 60 second duration, a larger than normal lunge range and 25% faster vault speed, if a survivor was caught in a bad position they will struggle to escape him. Emphasis on caught in a bad position as most survivors in mid to high mmr will always make sure to have an escape route or two ready and they will be aware that Myers has or will enter evil within 3 at any moment as there is a global sound warning whenever he tiers up putting all survivors on high alert.

And with the removal of tiers his base stats need to be changed

(New) base movement speed 4.6 (115%) meters per second

(New) terror radius 24 meters

these may seem drastic or unfitting but bare with me the other changes will explain my motivation behind them

Ability: Stalk

Current version

Press and hold the power button whilst looking at the survivors to Charge the Shapes evil meter.

(This is a simplified explanation on how stalking works I won't go into detail about the math behind stalk efficiency as its very headache inducing)

Myers will stalk the closes survivor in his line of sight between the ranges of 2.5 to around 40 meters and the farther away the survivor is the less efficient his stalk become so at around 18 meters he will be stalking 50% slower. The fastest possible time it takes Myers to gain a tier of evil within is 6 seconds at the closet possible range while his slowest is 60 seconds at his maximum range. Survivors have a limited amount of evil energy that Myers can gain from each survivor there aura becoming more red as they get closer to there limit but he can achieve evil with 3 7 times per match if he fully stalks every survivor.

(New version)

Press and hold the power button whilst looking at the survivors to Charge the Shapes evil meter.

Myers will stalk the closes survivor in his line of sight between the ranges of 2.5 to 40 meters and the farther away the survivor is the less efficient his stalk will become. Survivors have a limited amount of evil energy that Myers can gain by stalking them their aura becoming more red as they get closer to there limit and when that limit is reached Myers will stalk that survivor 50% slower for the rest of the match, however the obsession will have unlimited evil energy and if another survivor becomes the obsession during the match their evil energy will be replenished.

With this change Myers will no longer have an unnecessary limit to his power but will still be punished if he stalks the same survivor for to long in addition the obsession has been worked into his base kit which fits as the mechanic was added to the game along side him.

Ability: Evil Unleashed

When the Evil meter is fully charged press the power button to activate Evil Unleashed. Whilst Evil Unleashed is active the Evil meter will lose charges over the course of 60 seconds and once all charges are all consumed Evil Unleashed will deactivate.

Whilst active the Shape gains these effects

• Upon activation a global sound will play for all survivors
• Lose the ability to stalk whilst Evil Unleashed is active
• During Evil Unleashed all survivors will gain the exposed status effect
• The shapes terror radius increases to 32 meters
• The Shape can Vault 25% faster
• The Shape can break Pallets/walls/generators 15% faster
• The Shape gains a longer lunge

As there is no longer a tier system or a limit to his stalk, Myers will no longer immediately go into Evil Unleashed upon reaching the limit, players will no longer need to 99 his meter they just need to press the power button again whilst it is full. The effects of evil unleashed are basically the same as Tier 3 but without the need for more movement speed and I added the faster breaking speed to really nail home the unstoppable force that Myers is towards the end of the movies whilst helping his chase and gen control.

I also made it so Evil Unleashes duration is not based on a timer like in the live game but is resource base the reason is due to the next ability.

Ability: Suppressed Evil

Whilst having 25% or more of the total Evil meter press the alternate ability button to activate Suppressed Evil.

Upon activation the Shape gains the undetectable status effect for 15 seconds pressing the alternate ability button again whilst having sufficient Evil meter will refresh the duration.

this is will be the replacement for his old evil within 1 the main advantage for this change being in exchange for a duration on his undetectable he will be 0.2 meters faster and will have a normal lunge. the trick is to manage his evil meter resource, knowing when to use it to gain the upper hand in a chase or to just get closer to ether get a hit or grab as well as to get closer to stalk more efficiently.

And suppressed Evil can be used during Evil Unleased for terrifying mind games however as you consume 25% of the Evil meter you gain 15 seconds of undetectable at the cost of 15 seconds of Evil Unleashed so it becomes a game of managing your resources.

I hope these changes are at least interesting regardless of if they would actually be powerful in game but I hope my addons will improve you opinion on it.

Ability: Evil Incarnate

Whilst Evil Unleashed is active gain the ability to kill a survivor who would be sacrificed on their next hook while standing within 1 meter of them or when pulling them out of a locker, all the Evil meter is consumed and Evil Unleashed ends immediately you cannot kill a survivor while they are under the endurance status effect.

I have turned the tombstones addons into a built in mori system similar to pyramid head's but to make sure Myers cant just mori a survivor as soon as they are unhooked in his face they are protected by the endurance effect also those survivors who like hiding in lockers to prevent the Myers getting the achievement can not do it anymore. (IM LOOKING AT YOU >:/ )

Addons

Common:

• Blond hair: Reduces the penalty of stalking survivors who have reached there stalk limit by 10%.
• Boyfriend's Memo: Reduces the cost of Suppressed Evil by 3%.
• Memorial Flower: Increases the duration of Evil Unleashed by 5 seconds.
• Tacky Earrings: Stalking survivors will play the old Stalking sound effect that can be herd within 12 meters of of the Shape (suggested by Gahbage)  gain 100% bonus blood points in the deviousness category. because you know there has to be an addon like this ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Uncommon:

• Hair Brush: Reduces the penalty of stalking survivors who have reached there stalk limit by 20%
• Glass Fragment: The auras of survivors who have been staked for at least 1 second are revealed for 5 seconds.
• Dead Rabbit: A survivor put into the dying state While Suppressed Evil is active will have their aura hidden for 30 seconds and reduces the range that other survivors can hear them to 3 meters.
• Jewellery: Increases the duration of Suppressed Evil by 5 seconds.
• Reflective Fragment: Start the trial with the undetectable status effect for 30 seconds.

Rare:

• Hair Bow: Reduces the penalty of stalking survivors who have reached there stalk limit by 20%, increases stalk efficiency by 10%. (stalk faster at longer distances)
• Judith's Journal: Reduces the cost of Suppressed Evil by 7%.
• J. Myers Memorial: Increases the duration of Evil Unleashed by 10 seconds.
• Jewellery Box: Increases the duration of Suppressed Evil by 10 seconds.
• Mirror Shard: Start the trial with the undetectable status effect for 45 seconds.

Very Rare:

• Lock of Hair: Increases stalk efficiency by 20%. (stalk faster at longer distances)
• Tombstone Piece: Gain 40% of the Evil meter upon hitting a survivor during Evil Unleashed.
• (New) Dirty Clown Mask: Putting a survivor is into the dying state While Evil Unleashed is active will reveal the auras of all survivors within 24 meters for 5 seconds.
• Scratched Mirror: Upon activating or refreshing Suppressed evil reveal the auras of all survivors within 24 meters for 5 seconds.

Ultra Rare:

• Fragrant Tuft of Hair: Removes the penalty for stalking a survivor who has reached there stalk limit
• Iridescent Judith's Tombstone: when the end game collapse begins both exits are blocked by entity spikes for all survivors who have been fully stalked for 30 seconds, Killing a survivor with Evil Incarnate will fully replenish the evil within meter.

sorry for this long winded post what started of as a minor idea to remove the charge limit turned into a full rework and 5 hours of brainstorming its now 8:30am. I am so tired, I'm going to bed.