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Distortion/Shadowstep
Preface
Now, I try and play the game in a way that's fun for everybody. I tend to avoid tunneling or camping, because those just aren't very interesting ways to play the game for me. Chases are where the game is the most fun, because I'm actually able to interact with a survivor in a way which I can mind-game and out-skill them. Because of this, my builds on killers are usually designated to help find and chase survivors more effectively. Here is an example of my slot 1 build on Wesker and Billy.
As you can see, my entire build is dedicated to finding survivors, getting critical early info to get a down before the first gen pops with lethal, and feeling extra speedy when using double engravings with shadowborn.
The Problem
This might all seem well and good, the general gameplan of these perks being "get into a chase early with lethal, get an early down, get that survivor on a hook to proc bbq, go towards info obtained via bbq." Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. I've seen more distortion/shadowstep users in my games now than at any other point in my playtime. These perks, at their core, might seem fair at first glance. Against killers who only run maybe one aura-perk, it's a one for one perk tradeoff. It's when the killer runs multiple where the issue is brought up. In my build's case, it's a two for one tradeoff. Given the rest of my build (shadowborn and infectious) however, it's taking away all of my ways to actively find survivors via hooking. Especially with bbq as it is, where you're going to be lucky if you find more than 1 or 2 survivors (2 is generally cooping a gen), it can be difficult to find stealthing survivors.
The Solution?
It's literally that easy. Why would a killer run builds which can be countered easily by 1 perk, when they can use builds which work with 100% effectiveness, and make games impossible to lose. Distortion and shadowstep are problematic because at their core, they work to disincentivize the killer to run aura-reading perks. Further still, running Distortion (especially against bbq) lets the killer feel more comfortable camping a hook, because the killer doesn't know where else to go. Why would a Billy sprint to the other side of a map to check on a gen he has 0 info on?
Preliminary responses to counter-arguments
"Would you prefer them to run something stronger instead of distortion/shadowstep?"
Yes.
"But what about (x perk) on killer???!!!! Are you saying that's alright and needs no changes?"
No, I'm not saying that. I only really play killer, so that's where most of my experience lies. I think that looking at the game overall in this "killer vs survivor mains" way is dumb. There are things I'd like to see nerfed for killer and survivor, there are other things I'd like to see buffed as well. I think that gen-regression perks are equally as boring as gen-progression perks.
"You fool, just get rid of distortion stacks!"
If you've played killer, you know how hard that can be sometimes. Especially on smaller maps, getting stacks on distortion can be VERY easy.
There are definitely more, but my main point in this discussion is that perks which completely eliminate an aspect of the other sides game plan aren't very fun, and further incentivize running more meta-focused gen regression builds instead.
Comments
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I'd argue that this is a problem with gen slowdown and speed up perks being far too strong in comparison to other perks (except maybe current DH or SB), and not with the fact that perks can be countered by other perks. Because that's the risk you take with running perks, they can be countered by other things (which is why I wish Ruin wasn't nerfed as hard as it was- you had the risk of it being seen instantly or the survivors using Totem perks, vs the reward of really good passive regression allowing you to chase more).
Running chase oriented aura perks encourages aura blocking perks, which then encourages more slowdown perks, which then encourages more gen-speed perks, which then affords you the ability to return to chase-based aura perks, except for the fact that the slowdown and the speed up perks are far too strong in comparison. There's no reason to return, because you're only going to have gens smashed anyway.
This all comes down to an issue in the core gameplay of DBD, and aura blocking perks are simply a symptom of a larger, fundamental issue.
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If we just keep nerfing everything into the ground eventually nobody's going to have fun. Maybe the solution in this specific case is an increase of perks that give other forms of info like Tinkerer or Discordance or noise notifications like Spies from the Shadows and I'm All Ears. Speaking of Spies, have you tried running spies? You'd be surprised how effective it can be.
Although making a 100% aura based build on the killer with the largest terror radius is a lot like making a 100% blind based build on survivor and being angry the killer is running Lightborn.
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2 of the 3 most boring perks in the game.
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That's the risk you take if you go for a specialized build. Just like bringing a healing build and you happen to get Plague as your killer. It sucks but isn't a big deal.
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This whole thing reads like just a way to put the blame of gen regression on survivors.
Like, by the same coin you could argue that the constant fight killers have with the devs about reducing map size is the reason Distortion is so good and they themselves are the ones to blame about needing gen regression and tunneling.
Plus, you're parting from the assumption that people on average don't seek competitive advantages when playing videogames. "If survivors couldn't hide, gen regression wouldn't be a thing.". You know as well as I do that is not true. Every 1 game you play "fair" with your build, there's 20 other players going full meta, whatever that is at the time, meaning you just want an easier time with your build while still not adressing the main issue that's causing gen regression perks to be the meta in the first place.
You can justify the way you're playing as much as you want, but in the end you're just camping and using full regression perks and it's no one's fault. Camping is still a thing and currently gen regression is the best thing to run. You're doing it because you want to win. The end.
I will continue complaining about camping being an issue and maybe some day the devs will disinsentivize it so hard you'll start thinking "Well, standing face to face to a hooked survivor for 6 minutes for a grand total of a 1k and 0 bloodpoints perhaps is not the best way about this, maybe I do need to sprint across the map to actually try and find someone else.", but until then, and as much as I dislike it, you're free to do that.
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the sustainability of these perks are off the charts, is the problem. other than that i dont see that much of a balance/game health issue. they might run into a killer with 0 aura perks, a rock paper scissors kind of situation
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This whole thing reads like just a way to put the blame of gen regression on survivors.
That's because partly, it literally IS. It also goes the other way. It's a positive feedback loop that eventually ends with everybody running the meta, even if nobody finds it fun. Why play anything else if you're gonna get BM'd either way? I'm saying that the discrepancy between gen-regression perks and literally everything else is insanely wide, and part of that is because things like aura-reading builds are so easily counterable by equiping on one perk.
"If survivors couldn't hide, gen regression wouldn't be a thing."
^This is a quote feature, right next to where you're typing, click the paragraph symbol; you can use it to point directly to where I said that. Oh wait! I didn't! That's why you had to just make a quote up out of thin air! What I ACTUALLY said is that if perks like distortion/shadowstep didn't exist, there would be more breathing room for other perks to shine better than they currently do.
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Yeah, I could agree with that. I think they'd be much healthier if distortion didn't last as long as it does, or if shadowstep just reduced the overall time your aura could be read by a few seconds.
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And in between this arms race of counter picking, you got perks like Blood Warden that no one actually plays, yet get countered each and every game by the simplest of survivor tactic that in itself is like 99,9% safe and only itself leads to a sticky situation, yet alone a kill, a max of 1 in 20. The times I played blood warden, I had to down a survivor and then actually open the doors myself. I know that I am the only one who gets miffed by this, but this is one of this rare opportunities where I can rage about this, so humor me for a second. Thanks. :)
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I would argue that this is the problem that gen slowdown doesn't have a counter on the survivor side, except gen rushing.
I don't think either side should be able to run a full build of something, really dedicate themselves to one style without facing a possibility of a counter.
So my problem is that gen slowdown, especially the gen kick perks were way too safe, but they are thankfully getting nerfed and go back to regression needing to be earned again, i hope.
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The only boring perk I see there is Shadowborn.
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If you think hard enough about it, any specialized build can be countered by perks/strategies from your opponents.
It's just chance, like going full medkits against a Plague.
Distortion and Shadowstep are not overly strong or unfair, Distorsion especially can run out of tokens very quickly (Lethal takes 2 tokens right from the start). It can suck if you use several aura perks, but any build is at risk of being countered. That's part of the game.
Had you been playing Wraith or Ghostface, Distortion would have been practically useless. They also took a gamble with their build. That's how DbD is.
It sucks if your matchups are a bit unlucky right now, but I don't think two odd perks (that are not even that popular to begin with) are a solid ground to switch your usual builds to full regression.
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Lethal only takes one token. Distortion does something funny where it prevent your aura being read for longer. I am a regular distortion enjoyer and lethal only ever takes one token off me. The only time I ever lose multiple tokens at once with distortion is when I'm dealing with nurse's calling.
I very rarely run out of tokens with distortion tbh. Only time I do tends to be against darkness revealed builds or stuff that spams aura reads massively. Looking at OP's build they don't have enlugh aura read to counter distortion.
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My bad for the Lethal / Distortion interaction !
Doesn't change my overall opinion though.
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I mean a build should have counters. Especially an aura build. Granted hardcore regression is pretty much uncounterable. But aura reading needs a counter, it is an incredibly strong mechanic for killers.
Your build is very vulnerable to distortion so maybe tweak it. Lethal is straight up countered by it (but do you really see full teams all running distortion?) And bbq triggers too infrequently to get rid of the tokens. Spies from the shadows might be a good addition. People sleep on that perk a lot, I used it a lot early on and still slap it on builds regularly.
It gets round distortion and I have literally never seen anyone run calm spirit outside of adept attempts. Plus it highlights nearby survs and people don't see it enough to play around it.
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No worries. And tbh I agree with you, distortion is good but it's not game breaking. It's niche, if killer doesn't aura read you have a dead perk.
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Whenever a survivor perk or feature is nerfed, killer mains will compain about another one. It never ends until survivors start the game on hooks.
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So it’s bad if survivor’s run meta perks but it’s also bad if they don’t… It’s a never ending cycle with killers. You’re gonna get everything nerfed until there’s nothing left to nerf
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This isn’t a issue with distortion or shadowstep. This is a issue with regression perks
All killer perks are made in some way to reduce the time a killer needs whether finding survivors or resetting survivors time. Regression is the most consistently useful hence why there has been a regression meta since regression was introduced
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I said it multiple times but I'll say it again:
Distortion is a hidden gem and it's just way too easy to get stacks back compared to how slowly you burn them (even against a full aura build).
They should rework how you get stacks in some way (ex. instead of time spent in the TR, make it gen progress instead)
Nerf distortion? Nerf distortion.
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If you're running information perks I'd go with something that's not BBQ, it's a perk that survivors will counter by hopping in a locker or getting close while you hook. Unless you really need the extra couple seconds on aura reading or you're getting a quick down often thanks to Lethal I would switch it out for some other aura/tracking perk. There's other better aura and tracking perks for killer that will not only eat up Distortion tokens but are also less likely to be easily countered by survivors. Darkness Revealed and No Where to Hide eat up my Distortion tokens because there's no limit to how often the killer can use them, they also are much harder to counter to try and save my tokens. Spies from the Shadows is a slept on tracking perk - the only way to counter this is either urban evade around the map so you don't disturb crows or run Calm Spirit which since they nerfed it you rarely see it. Discordance will let you know the moment multiple survivors are on a gen - which if they're trying to get a gen done quickly at the start is where you want to go for early down and it helps throughout the game.
Wesker is the only killer that I rarely, if ever, need to worry about my Distortion tokens because his terror radius is so big. The times I don't get tokens back is when the Wesker runs a perk that removes the terror radius because I'm oblivious - like Hex Plaything. Hex Plaything is a great perk to counter Distortion because it removes the survivors ability to get back tokens until they find and destroy their hex totem.
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I mean yeah shadow borne is boring but so are many perks by that standard. Lucky break, shadowstep and distortion all deny/end potential chases which is just not fun for either side by my standard. If you happen to get away due to any of these perks then the chase is just over, neither party won.
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I consider not getting seen by the killer because my Distortion saved me to be an absolute win.
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Well the macro in this game isn't that crazy and chase is probably the only real skillful thing on survivor. So If I get out because the killer couldn't follow me through 4 LoS breakers and lucky break over come I wouldn't feel anything. It's why I hate gen kick meta, commit and kill me not hit me and kick gen. I want to improve at chase not have my skill suffer due to these perks on both sides.
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This mindset is only a problem if you are locked into the "chases are the only fun part of the game" rhetoric.
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There are definitely more, but my main point in this discussion is that perks which completely eliminate an aspect of the other sides game plan aren't very fun, and further incentivize running more meta-focused gen regression builds instead.
Dude... Stealth is part of the game. Nowhere to Hide removes that part pretty much in its entirety. Why are you directing your anger at Shadowstep/Distortion when they rectify the problem?
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