Issues with Post 6.1.0 Ruin

Ruin has had quite a history in dbd, from its original skill check form causing generator regression unless you hit Great Skillchecks, to its previous state of causing generators to regress automatically and at 200% regression.

Currently, is a sad perk. I'm going to breakdown its issues and try to give possible solutions to the issues. I'm not trying to make Ruin an S-tier perk again. I just want it to be... well, good. Or decent, at least.

Self-cleansing

Now, this isn't the biggest issue with this perk. Not by a long shot. I will say, however, that this is the most insulting aspect of the perk.

If someone dies, the perk turns off. Is this more balanced? Maybe. The game becomes a 3v1, which is indisputably in favor of the killer. With generators automatically regressing and it being much easier to force all living survivors off generators, it makes sense that Ruin's effect could be overwhelming.

Here's the thing: It feels awful. It's the same issue that Current Thanatophobia has. If you do well, you feel as if you are punished. Even if you're winning, it doesn't feel good.

But what about Decisive Strike and Off The Record? Those are survivor perks and they are disabled in the endgame, when all the generators are done meaning they had completed their main objective. Is that not the same?

On the surface, yes. However, there's one key difference: One is a hex.

Hexes, by their very nature, are a gamble. Their effects are meant to be stronger than typically allowed for perks at the price of being able to be disabled by survivors.

The killer cannot disable OtR or DS. They can power through it, but they cannot outright disable it. They can't pop that last-gen or force you to do a conspicuous action. If it's disabled, it's purely the survivors' fault.

Downsides vs benefits

Ruin has many downsides, both old and new. The biggest, of course, is that it's a hex that can be turned off. It's a hex, so it's a gamble by its very nature.

What's the benefit? 100% automatic regression. Yeah... that's pretty bad. You don't even get the 2.5% regression for kicking a gen.

Let me explain: Generators take 90 seconds. Gens regress at a rate of 0.25c/s. So 4 secs of regression to undo 1 sec of progress. That means going from 99.99% to 0 would take 360 seconds. That's just... absurdly long.

But let's be realistic. You hop off a gen, go unhook someone, heal them, and run back. Let's throw out some random numbers. 20 secs of travel to, 16 to heal, and 20 to go back. That's 56 seconds of regression. How much time did Ruin add? Just 14.

The entire reason killers rely on regression perks is the commonly held belief that base regression is too slow and killers need to use perks to have a chance. In the olden days, those 14 seconds would be double at 28 seconds. Now, that is brutal.

And that's not to say 200% Ruin was perfect. You couldn't kick, so gen-kicking perks weren't useful. What people did was use it as a Plan A, Plan B scenario. Ruin at the start with Pop when it goes down. Not if---when it goes down.

But now, the effect is so mild that I honestly think that bringing is more of a hindrance. Sure, there are 2 perks that can hit through Ruin, but one is an RNG scourge hook (Pain Res) and the other is restricted to basic attacks (Surge/Jolt).

Its effect is mild, has the potential to be harmful, and is unreliable. There is literally no reason to ever use this perk.

Possible Solutions

I'm just going to spitball ideas. I'm not saying all should be done at once but they're things to consider.

150% regression

If 200% regression is too much, why not try going down the middle route? In the above scenario, instead of 14 seconds or 28, it'd be in the middle at 21 seconds.

Remove Self-Cleansing

I doubt this will happen but I think it should. Ruin is a hex. If the survivors die and they did not cleanse the hex, bring one of the many perks to find totems, bring a map, or go searching, I think that's on them.

Gradual Build-Up

A bit like Overcharge, Ruin could start small and build up. Heck, it could literally be PTB Overcharge where it starts at 100% and then gradually builds up to 400%. Okay, maybe that would be too much the idea is there. And since you can't kick the generator, you physically cannot stack it with CoB or Overcharge to prevent it from getting insane. The only possibility is Legion's Fuming Mixtape, but Legion can't frenzy and keep you off a generator that long.

Token Based Regression

Ruin could start at 100%, but add an additional 25% for every unique survivor hooked. You can get 200%, but only after hooking people. It encourages you to hook multiple survivors, gets stronger through gameplay, and can be countered by survivors by playing super-safe (or, you know, finding the totem).

I'm sure there are more ideas that people can come up with. I just want this perk to be good. I don't care if it's not the meta-dominating king that it used to be; I just want it to be a viable perk to use.