TRICKSTER REWORK

A while ago, I did a poll to assess how much change people wanted for Trickster. Here's the first draft of a partial rework to make him more balanced and, hopefully, fun. Please give constructive feedback.

A.) THE BLADES

Trickster's power is designed in such a way that unless he commits to downing a Survivor while in a chase, any damage he inflicts is quickly irrelevant. This is because the laceration meter automatically decays after about 15 seconds or so. In short, it has no real impact. To rectify this, let's adjust a few things about his blades.

1.) Increase the number of blades needed to remove a health state, but make each successful blade attack inflict a penalty on Survivors, like Wesker (I need your help with exact numbers). The more blades Trickster hits a Survivor with, the greater the penalty (up to a maximum). The penalty will slow Survivors' speeds for any conspicuous action (healing, gen repair, cleansing a totem, etc.). This will make him less oppressive in the open (since more blades are needed for a down), but more viable throughout the map overall (since he doesn't need to get a down to get value for his power. Even one hit will have some impact.).

2.) Remove the automatic decay for the laceration meter. Whatever damage Trickster inflicts will stay (until the Survivor performs an action to undo it (more on that below). This will allow Trickster to have more flexibility and pressure. He can choose to hit a Survivor purely to inflict a penalty, and then move on to a different part of the map, or he can choose to commit to a down. It's his choice.

To remove the penalty, Survivors will have to perform an action to manually remove the blades. The more blades they pull out, the more their penalty and laceration meter decrease. If a Survivor stops removing blades, then whatever amount of blades still embedded will continue their proportionate effect. This might sound like a new animation for mending, but it's not. Mending is compulsory. With this new mechanic, Survivors have a choice. They can choose to stop and take the time to remove their blades, or they can choose to keep them embedded and play while penalized (and make themselves more vulnerable to a down). It's their choice. (Kind of like cleansing with Plague).

When Survivors choose to remove the blades, the blades will not magically disappear. They will be dropped wherever the Survivor stopped to remove them. Trickster will see the aura of any dropped blades (I'm debating if he should see them while the Survivor is performing the removal action). If he happens to be closer to the blades than a locker, he could choose to go there and collect them. This won't give him a full reload, but it could give him an opportunity to get more blades in a pinch, which could make chases a bit spicier. Because he'll be able to collect the blades, Survivors can choose to unload the blades in an area they think will be inconvenient for Trickster.

B.) REMOVE HIS LULLABY

Because he is currently so powerful in the open, it makes sense to give Survivors a warning to try to find a safer spot. With the above changes, it makes sense to remove the lullaby.

C.) GIVE TRICKSTER CONTROL OVER HIS MAIN EVENT

Like Oni, Trickster should be able to hold his power and choose to activate it at a time he sees fit.

(NOTE: This partial rework is kind of like the bones and tendons. Certainly, things need to be fleshed out (add-ons, movement speeds, exact figures, etc.) All of that is important, but I didn't want to go down that route if the "bones" still need work.)