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Predator discussion
Continuing a series of threads on the least used perks in the aggregate data on Nightlight, next up is Wraith’s perk Predator (0.33% usage)
Predator - Scratch Marks left by survivors will spawn slightly/moderately/considerably closer together.
In principle Predator is an effect that could be potentially useful in that it can hypothetically make it much, much easier to follow a trail of scratch marks straight to its source. In practice though the perk suffers from some flaws
- Because of the way it condenses the scratch marks, it mostly prevents the marks from appearing on walls and ceilings and other objects. That makes it more difficult to spot the marks at a distance, particularly on maps with a lot of grass and bushes and such. Yes the trail is clear when you are close to it, but spotting that trail can ironically be more difficult with this perk which offsets the benefit.
- Even when the trail is easy to see, the benefit isn’t that impressive because following a normal trail of scratches isn’t usually that hard. It can help, sure, but whether that help is worth the perk slot isn’t as obvious.
I can think of a couple of ways to possibly enhance this perk.
- Have it concentrate most, but not all, of the scratches at the feet of the survivor while still placing a few farther out and higher up. That would allow the killer to spot the marks at a distance just as easily with the perk as without it, but still make the actual trail itself stand out very clearly when you are following it.
- Make it so scratches last longer than normal when the killer has the perk, maybe lasting 3-5 seconds more. This would help killers see old trails that otherwise might have faded.
- An interesting change might be to add a slight animation where the scratches flicker or fade in an out in the direction of travel, so from oldest scratches to newest. Sometimes the direction one way or another can be tricky to discern and that animation would help.
- Another possible interesting change might be to make each survivor have different color scratches. That would allow the killer to tell which trail is which when multiple survivors cross paths.
Comments
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Neat ideas, I like them. As is, Predator is literally detrimental.
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These are good suggestions. I like the idea of it working sort of like Monitor and Abuse, where outside of chase the scratch marks last longer and are more easily identifiable from a distance, but during chase they close up and become easier to follow.
Could work as a sort of budget aura reading perk that isn't effected by anti-aura reading. Just let's you know someone passed through here in a rush recently, and then follow them to its source once found.
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Could also help alleviate the effect Lightweight has
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I actually did a rework/buff suggestion a while ago. Anyway here it is:
Predator: Scratch markes spawn considerably closer together.
Increases footstep volume by 50/75/100%.
Footstep volume is multiplicative (much like grunts of pain).
Also rearoking swamp would help a lot...
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I largely agree that Predator needs to do something to actually be worth a perk slot. Why burn a slot on Predator, when that slot could be filled by Deadlock, No Way Out, Overcharge, or even NOED?
Directional scratch marks would be awesome. So would longer lasting scratches. But it's hard to think of an effect strong enough to make Predator worth picking. Predator should be a trade-off compared to other tracking perks: higher consistency due to being a scratch mark related perk, but lower effectiveness compared to aura perks. Perhaps the scratch marks slowly move in the direction of the survivor that made them, pinpointing their location?
At the moment, the perk is strictly a downgrade from having zero perks. It's an active penalty. I would like to see more perks become viable options.
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Predator could be really easy to fix.
1) Have directional scratch marks / make them closer (opposite of lightweight and counters it).
2) Give the killer undetectable if you are following scratches while not in a chase.
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I could think of a few ideas for this perk. But first, its entire current effect I think needs to be scrapped.
Some ideas that haven't been mentioned:
survivors leave x% more scratch marks;
survivors leave scratch marks for X more seconds after they stop running;
a survivor becomes hindered by x% if they run on scratch marks they created while in the killer's terror radius (a small hindered value, like 2%, could make it a unique anti looping perk that could be fair if the survivors get a debuff notification telling them why they're hindered).
There are a lot of directions they could go with this perk.
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