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Do you think recent new killers are just recycled powers?
I think the very last recent unique power was Pinhead. Now before someone will say "but hey, every killer is unique to some degree", yes, that is true. But what I mean is power that is so different and unique that has very little to do with other killer powers and it doesn't feel recycled. Let's take a look on the killers released after Pinhead:
- Artist - Another anti-loop killer. Her unique part is scouting the map with birds and very long map shots form time to time. She is a bit of range killer with strong anti-loop.
- Sadako - Another stealth killer that is something between Wraith and Freddy with it's own twist.
- Dredge - Another teleport killer that has at least very unique ability of debuffing every Survivor for a decent time once a while in the match, but the main gameplay that you will use are the teleports and his weaker version of anti-loop.
- Wesker - Devs a bit talked about the power during their stream and if you watch the trailer... yep, it looks like a Nemesis with different type of anti-loop power and bit different infection virus (but the gameplay around it will be probably the same - get hit with power --> get infected --> go find vaccine --> repeat until you run out of them).
I think every killer of course has to some degree their own unique twist to allready existing concepts of powers / playstyles but still if you really think about it, it kinda repeats itself. If you look at concept of killer powers / chapters from a fans of this game you can see so many unique ideas and I think there is so much space for unique killer powers we never saw before... But I don't know why we kinda keep repeating the same power themes. It's either:
- Anti-loop killer
- Teleport power / Movement speed power
- Stealth
- Some set up killer power (there are rare)
- Global ability effecting all Survivors
- Instadown ability
It would be great to try something really unique in the future, don't you think?
Comments
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Idk if I'd say it's all just recycled. There are some similarities here and there but for each similarity there is something to set them apart. I feel like the real issue lies in the variety and power that their add-ons offer.
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With how basic the concept of dbd and how it works is, it's not surprise that killers fit under certain categories. I'd say the last time all the killers were truly unique and didn't step over each other was Chapter I: The Last Breathe Chapter which brought us Nurse. Chapter 2 brought us Michael and since Hillbilly existed, that's 2 instadown killers.
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I do not think it, I know it.
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Yes. It's been obvious for a while now that they're just taking concepts they've already done and slapping them together in different combinations. The freshest idea they've had recently is "passive pressure" which typically translates to "the match occasionally grinds to a screeching halt and becomes really ######### annoying for a while".
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The majority of them are anti-loop which has been a reoccurring theme since Deathslinger's launch. Which sucks since killers back then felt as if they specialized in only one aspect, which made them more simpler and more enjoyable overall instead of being able to do everything or have their strong point be solely in chase. Which is a pattern a lot of the recent killers follow.
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I'm shocked that they've pushed it as far as they have with how simple the game is.
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I mean kinda obvious right?
It's a lot easier to make something original out of 3 killers then it is out of the 25+ we have now.
Honestly it's amazing how they are still able to make each killers feel fresh
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Of course they will have some of the same concepts come up with killers as its getting to the point that there is nothing else left.
OP mentions the following types of powers are being repeated but some of them arn't bad to be repeated.
- Anti-loop killer - Each killer has its own way of doing this. Don't know why so many people complain about it as each one is easily counterable from survivors and are often hard to get to grips with as the killer.
- Teleport power / Movement speed power - Unless your demogorgan these are very hard to play because it relies on good RNG of your teleport locations. I enjoy the teleport killers but i doubt any more will come out because there is nothing left to teleport to.
- Stealth - This is very rarely the main focus of a killers power. Wraith and ghostface are the only 2 that heavily relies on this mechanic for their general playstyles
- Some set up killer power (there are rare) - So trapper and hag only? Maybe freddy to some extent. Since then we haven't had another setup killer. Don't see this as it being repeated.
- Global ability effecting all Survivors - Whats wrong with this being repeated? as long as its unique in its own right
- Instadown ability - Not had an insta down killer since Oni back in 2019. Its time we got a new one to be honest (not including addons that give insta btw)
Honestly there doesnt seem to be much left to do. I think the problem is a lot of the playerbase look at a new killer, associate the power as a kinda but not really combo of 2 different killer powers then complain that its just the same ole same ole. Or you get the salty survivors that just moan when the killer has any form of power that can help them shut down loops.
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Yes and no.
Dredge for example, while having another teleport power, also has that darkness effect which in my opinion is super unique and cool. (Ofc some people call it annoying)
Pinhead also has one teleport option but also a unique ability with chains that you can control. I think that's super fun.
But overall, yes, a lot of killers just seem to have different combinations thrown together. I think it has to do with how little mechanics there are in DbD. Each year I expect them to refresh the game a bit more, something like League does with seasons, so they could break the current patterns. But these changes would have to be quite different. Like something to do with terrain, objectives etc. Maybe give the players another goal? Then from that they could create more powers.
However as for the current situation, I would love to see a killer that can crawl along the walls, ceiling, trees (My dream Xeno chapter) or a killer that can fly. For the later I know people are saying the killer would be hindered indoors, but maybe they could get a speed boost or something the lower they are. Idk just brainstorming.
I think there's a lot of options but BHVR needs to get out of their comfort zone.
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Absolutely not. I think y'all are projecting on the devs with this, "no imagination" talk. Maybe it's you who have no imagination if you think, "Oh, Freddy's snares? Same thing as Trapper's traps." "Deathslinger? Same thing as Huntress somehow." "Dredge? Same thing as Demogorgon somehow." You're so focused on classing all these unique abilities as teleport, ranged attack, map mobility, anti-loop, etc. that you turn your brain off to all the nuance and specific situations and game knowledge that has to do with that killer. Do Freddy's snares injure? No. Is Deathslinger guaranteed a down off of a good shot? No. Can Dredge's lockers give killer instinct just for holding out his power? No.
There are many good undiscovered killer designs yet to be implemented, of course. But to say "We haven't got a unique killer since Huntress" is so disingenuous, it's insane.
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I don't know if you can say Dredge is using a recycled power just because it's a teleport.
No other killer has used lockers anything like this before, and it's a power that's long been requested.
That's like saying 'walking' is a reused power, it's just a mode of transportation.
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Legion, Blight, Billy "walk" at high speed, yes.
Locker teleport is still a teleport. Just as Freddy tele to Gen, Sadako tele to TV, Demo & Hag tele to their own things with different condition.
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Do they feel fresh though? Artist felt like a direct address to the complaints of Trickster and was the direct next original killer after Trickster. Where Trickster was fine at 1v1, his power took the piss, and he had no map pressure, all things that Artist addresses directly through her perks and her power. Artist is just stronger Trickster, I think the Trickster only beats her at camping with main event.
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This might be me but artist and trickster don't feel alike at all
Not even slightly
With the exeption of them both being ranged they are completely different in almost every way
A adress to the complaints of a previous killer would be the complete opposite of a copy paste right?
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I don't know, that's kind of up to the individual. I feel because they share the same design philosophy that it doesn't matter that Artist isn't exactly the same. Making an improved version of something that exists, to me, is still unoriginal content.
That's just my feeling though. You're entitled to think they are entirely different.
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Is that supposed to be your take on Nightfall or something?
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I was disappointed when I read about Wesker and his power; he's essentially Nemesis 2.0.
Out of the more recent killers I'd say Dredge is the most unique. His teleportation is by far the most flexible as there are so many lockers, therefore he's not restricted to pre-generated spawns (like Sadako or Freddy), nor does he risk having his teleport spots removed by survivors (Demo).
Whilst changes to the environment aren't exactly 'new' (Freddy's Dreamworld, Pinhead's Chains), Nightfall feels by far the most oppressive and difficult to play against.
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Honestly surprised BHVR hasn't run out of ideas for new characters and perks yet.
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Not so sure man
You saying dredge is similar to wraith
Or Freddy Is similar to clown
Even saying Billy is close to oni
Is like trying to say an orange is similar to a mango they. Both grow on trees and are orange ish
But yet they taste different and that different taste is their gameplay most of them don't play the same
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No, not even slightly.
There's a giant difference between killer designs finding new and unique spins on the same base mechanics of the game, and killer powers being recycled. All the examples you gave may share similar elements with other killers, but they play completely differently. Let's look at your examples - Artist may have "anti-loop" capability, but that alone doesn't make her power recycled and it's also clearly not what the core design of her power is. There aren't any long-range sniper killers through walls in this game, the closest is something like a cross-map hatchet on Huntress and those two killers clearly play completely differently.
Sadako is definitely the closest to meaningful repetition, she shares a similar vibe with Freddy and to a much lesser degree Wraith, but she has the Condemned mechanic that both sets her apart from those two and ensures you'd play her differently to the way you'd play either. It may be weak, but we're talking about design, not strength.
Dredge shares a teleport function but that's literally it, the only other shared mechanic he has at all is that Spirit (and I think Nurse...?) have a gimmick addon nobody uses for the rubber-band snap back to a previous location. Nobody has anything like Nightfall, and nobody else gets to move between lockers. It is meaningfully and genuinely different to other killers, not a recycled power.
Wesker isn't out yet but he doesn't look anything like Nemesis from what we've seen. If anything, it looks more like a combo Demo Shred and Legion Frenzy? But even then, that's a loose association. Still, we can't comment on that until he's out.
Killers sharing generalised mechanics isn't lazy design or "recycled powers". There's only so many different things that can be done in this game, even your example of our last "unique" killer shares mechanics with others.
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More Pinhead and having to constantly babysit his box; or Nemesis and having zombies make it impossible to work on gens and occasionally ruining chases.
Nightfall is probably the only form of passive pressure they've come up with so far that isn't just hideously annoying and doesn't encourage really degenerate playstyles from killers.
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Some killers feel recycled for sure. Ofc they are different but there are certain categories that limit what they can do.
Trapping,Stealth/Stalking, Infection, Ranged, Teleporting not that much variety when considering a lot of killers do the same things but with some different flavor to them
I honestly just wish that all killers had more ways to play them. Myers for example may be so and so but with his addons there are multiple ways to actually play him.
Doctor too.
But they keep making throwaway addons that barely someone uses instead of letting the addons switch up the powers a little bit.
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Even those examples have plenty of counters. Solve Pinhead's box or simply hold onto it to take away everyone's chain hunts for free, and you're even shown its aura cross-mao at all times. Nemesis' zombies can be blinded, kited away, killed with pallets (with a hefty respawn time attached), sometimes Nemesis has to kill them to get his mutation up, and sometimes they sandbag him.
"Babysitting" the box, zombies making it "impossible" to do gens, and "annoying" mechanics. It's kind of dramatic, isn't it?
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Bad examples but yes some feel the same.I was however hoping they put nightfall on every killer when Dredge came out but have him be the master of it,
No highlight white aura for the others make this game more spooky.
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Pinhead has an addon to make it so you can't see where the box is until a hunt is active; and a lot of Pinhead players have adopted a Franklin's + Hoarder + Lethal playstyle to make it just a constant annoyance for the entire match. Even if they don't do that, having to constantly stop what you're doing, trek across the map, grab the box, and try to solve it in-between constant chain spam that resets the prompt every time you're hit, is annoying. Or you have teammates constantly dive bombing the box while injured and then dying with it.
Blinding zombies requires you brought a flashlight. Kiting them away is time consuming and annoying (because they will just immediately wander back over to the gen anyway). Killing them with a pallet is an enormous waste of resources. Nemesis killing them typically just makes them spawn next to a gen somewhere.
Being able to "counter" something doesn't mean it's not annoying.
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