lets discuss skull merchant is good for dbd's health
dbd is a 4 vs 1 team based game correct?
skull merchant forces survivors to work as a team to win the game...the team has to coordinate to gen rush effectively(attacking the 3 gens strat immediately to apply pressure) and how to learn to actually loop to take up the killers time (not just predropping pallets and holding w).
For the survivors who call her boring, she plays anti looping almost identically to an artist/knight/dredge player so what is the main difference? artist has long distance projectiles, knight can have his guards chase the survivors, and dredge can use the remnant to force the survivor to leave the loop.
if the games are taking to long then don't blame the killer; the survivors are the ones who dictate how long a game takes...coordinate and take up the killers time (stay close enough to loop them and make them chase you while your teammates gen rush. why should the killer chase you to the safe building/killer shack if the survivor leaves the gen early or sprint bursts away? of course if the killer is smart then they will drop chase.
Survivors that actually want to learn to become better at the game should welcome the challenge...skull merchant weeds out the survivors who don't want to adapt and learn(m1 killer with no insta down most of the time and a laughable speed boost the rest of the time) by making them question their skill at the game and if not then they can go complain about the next "OP" killer)
I never understood how an m1 killer is seen as more oppresive than a slugging nurse/oni/twins or a tombstone myers or a facecamping bubba/trickster (all of these are broken beyond belief and promote less interactivity overall than a skull merchant game).
I play both sides and have been beat( and have beaten various skull merchants)...all it takes is adapting just as you would with any other killer. If you learn ,adapt, and overcome a skull merchant then you will become a better survivor player (actually feel good about earning that win and not curb stomping the killer). I love playing as and playing against this killer because it makes me work as a better teammate which is the foundation of playing survivor.
what are the communities thoughts?
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dbd is a 4 vs 1 team based game correct?That's debatable. I wish BHVR was clearer that it was a team game, but people are allowed to bring hatch focused builds, focus on archives, play for BP, etc.
if the games are taking to long then don't blame the killer; the survivors are the ones who dictate how long a game takesBlame BHVR.
People play to win on both sides. If winning becomes frustrating and tedious people won't change their playstyle, instead they'll just stop playing.
coordinate and take up the killers timeSure, if you're a SWF, coordination is easy. Doable as a soloq, just takes time.
I never understood how an m1 killer is seen as more oppresive than a slugging nurse/oni/twins or a tombstone myers or a facecamping bubba/tricksterNurse is broken balance wise. Design wise she fits the game theme, but in mechanics (once mastered) she is overpowering. If they were somehow able to balance her, I'd actually enjoy how different games against her feel.
Skull Merchant is not a balance issue, instead she has the ability to be tedious.
Tombstone Myers isn't fun to play against, but win or lose its usually a quick game.
Facecamping Bubba is the same.
Both also get complained about a lot, Skully is just new so there is more focus on her.
what are the communities thoughts?I don't have nearly as many problems with the Skull Merchant as I did pre-patch. I'll likely always have some dislike of her because of her initial release, but she isn't that bad anymore.
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why should the killer chase you to the safe building/killer shack if the survivor leaves the gen early or sprint bursts away?
Translation: let the killer kill you or enjoy 40min game pesky survivors 😡
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Ironic how you just described an hostage situation:
You (survivors) either comply with my request(let me hit you/down you) or I (hostage merchant) won't leave my generators (hostage)
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4 survivors and 1 killer
the killer can only be in 1 place
1 survivor repairs the generator 4 times faster than the killer's regression
3 survivors repair 12 times faster
I see absolutely no reason why the survivors are crying.
if the killer gives up the chase and follows another, then just return to the generator, do this until you fix the generator
or just use potential energy and destroy anyone who wants to do 3 gene tactics
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There are several issues with "DbD as a team game". It can't be both a true team game and also a game where survivors can't communicate, see each other's loadouts, or ping locations. And I'm not going to re-type the same novel I've already written multiple times about Skull Merchant, but it's not as simple as "break the 3 gen". Anyone saying that doesn't have high level experience. I'm quite confident in saying that. You need specific loadouts and perks across the entire team to break a good Skull Merchant's 3 gen on many maps, and that's simply not possible in solo queue. You almost always have someone going for adept, someone going for a totem build, etc.
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No, she isn't good for the health of the game.
Her most effective playstyle is to hold a game hostage until Survivors get bored. A really good team CAN beat a really good DullMerchant, the issue is that you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to waste 45 minutes to beat her.
The worst part about this is that besides totem defender and 3-gens, she sucks. She's awful without those strats but her kit is entirely focused around 3-genning, so if you buff her in any way, her 3-gens get stronger.
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The survivor side isn't entirely team based. The chances of survival are definitely higher when working together, but survivors don't technically have to work with one another.
Another problem is that even if survivors tend to survive more when working together, this still doesn't account for the lack of soloq communication with other survivors. It will always be tremendously difficult for people to work together without a form of communication as survivors can't just read each other's minds. You can't expect another survivor to be on the same wavelength of thinking as you. This is why swf tends to have more of a coordinated advantage compared to soloq.
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Not unless you want to provide soloq with the communication methods to put them on par with a 4 man SWF and advocate for survivors in general to come to every match with gen speed load outs (perks and toolboxes) with the rest of their perks well synergized and defined roles for each teammate. If that's what people want, sure, fine. But boy do I feel bad for any Killer player that isn't a semi-competent 3-genning SM. (Nurse and/or Blight might be okay here.)
The issues with SM's power and the old 'wisdom' of "just do gens" have already been discussed at length. It took an A+ comp team multiple matches to come up with a workable strategy to break the stalemate and not have a 30+ minute game.
Sorry, but I have no interest in becoming a comp level player just for the hope of having a chance to beat SM using this strategy.
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but using common sense why would the killer chase a survivor to a very safe loop?
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i never said to hit them or down them just that it is usually sprint burst away so the chase never technically begins...if there was a chance for a good start to the chase (to a loop with a mindgameable pallet) then yeah the game would be in a healthier state
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i agree with all your points...the only reason i bring up the team based game is because that is what the mentality seems to be for this game from the survivor hud to strengthen solo to swf levels to various comments made (the hockey meme were both sides are their own seperate team...my interpretation of the quote)
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in fairness the knight can do the exact same thing guarding one gen and sending a guard to chase someone yet he isnt complained about anymore...survivors adapted for the most part
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nothing is stopping survivors from bringing in gen rushing perks or items with good loadouts (it used to be a bp thing but bp is so plentiful right now there is no reason not to bring good items to the trial).
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so what changes do you want for solo players?
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Their is nothing healthy about her. She still has probably the best three gen in the game. You can't loop her is she drops a drone. You can't just hold W depending on her addons.
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she isnt to bad with her purple addons(haste/hindered) and working as an instadown killer (brutal strength or enduring/sprirt fury)
devour hope skull merchant is very fun though i will admit
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She gets a nah from me dawg
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That's maybe a fraction of all that I wrote and doesn't address the fact at all that soloQ survivors cannot achieve the communication necessary to coordinate the effort. Not to mention that 'just bring perks/items/addons' - whether its for Killer or Survivor - isn't a great answer to a glaring balance issue.
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Wasn’t SM introduced to be an alternative pick in the comp scene? If a strong swf needed to have a proper strategy and coordination to break this Killer’s 3 gen, then there is viability for her in a comp scenario. Granted the majority of the population does not play comp but if the devs wanted more variety in comps apart from Nurse/Blight, then SM fits their vision.
If you look at SM from a comp scene design perspective, she’s not that bad.
Instead of the usual slam 3 gens at the start of the game while one survivor runs across the whole map and pre drops pallets, the presence of SM means the team has to give up gen efficiency and focus on breaking the 3 gen first while there are still resources on the map. SM on the other hand has a good chance of winning if she can get a Survivor hooked in the middle of a 3 gen. How she is played is quite similar to how a comp game would work out. Both parties know what they are doing and will play strategically if needed to. It’s just that pub Survivors are either not equipped or willing to play against SM because of the time a game would take.
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everything about her is healthy i mean look at that walk ^_^
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she really feels like a killer that can't be bullied...she levels the playing field vs swf and i never thought i would say that about an m1 killer
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if solos cant figure out attack gens in pairs then that is on them especially with the new hud...when i play solo i make sure to team up with at least one other survivor even if i have to chase them to the next gen (unless its legion/plague/twins/doc for obvious reasons)
as for bringing good perk/items/addons i guess if you don't want to win then you don't bring them but you have to anticipate the most broken stuff being played especially as you move up in grades
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so which killer is healthy for the game in your opinion?
dbd is full of broken killer mechanics ( nurse/oni/twins slugging, tombstone myers, facecamping bubbas/tricksters, blight with the most busted addons, etc.) and skull merchant (and knight) seem pretty tame in comparison
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Killers that get value out of playstyles are one thing. Killers that can ONLY use a single playstyle to be effective is completely different.
None of those Killers hold you in games for an hour.
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Here's the issue.
Even with her 3-gen, she's beatable. You won't win against a good team.
However, nobody wants to waste an hour of their lives to beat a DM with an ego problem. And honestly? I don't blame them.
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totally agree a good team will beat any killer in this game at higher levels...if the matches are taking an hour then it is the survivor team not coordinating correctly.
the trial time limit really should be lowered to 30 minutes though.
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i have seen some knight games that have lasted an hour...an not just the video hen's put on his channel
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This is the only answer needed.
If i'm in a SM or Knight match (typically seems to be those two) and they've done nothing but hold a 3 gen, and are not even pursuing Survs (other than to push them off one of the three gens)...I won't play.
I will give it about ten minutes, and if the team (i'm SoloQ) can't seem to get it together to coordinate completing that last gen, and are just hiding..I find a hook, find the killer..and stand & point. I'm all set, I have an actual life and i'm not wasting 45 minutes of it stuck in a game.
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A killer that is hated with so much passion cannot be good for DBD's health.
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If really good SWF teams struggle a 40-45 minute match against this lady something is clearly wrong with her. I just say GG next when i see one. I won't waste my time anymore with her.
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