Who actually likes the trickster buffs?

I was always one of those Trickster players that loved the way he was in initial release. The recoil was awful and Main Event was borderline useless, but I loved the amount of Blades he had and the fact Survivors needed to loop every tile slightly differently in order to withstand the barrage he rained upon them.

Then they changed him to reduce his amount of Blades but increased number values for Main Event and damage output.

Now they have made his Main Event very spam-able, but all of the thrill of seeing Survivors duck and weave is gone because the recoil is gone too, so Survivors now drop very quickly in loops that they could have used for at least 5 or so seconds longer if they didn't dodge and weave enough. On top of that, it almost feels like you aren't encouraged to actually use his power much either. The low amount of Blades and the slow throw rate almost make it seem like the Devs want Survivors to be able to drag you to strong(ish) tiles and eat a Basic before the blades come out, which is contrary to what all Trickster players have ingrained into their muscle memory. Before we would always "spam" until the first hit and then try to close the distance with a Basic or keep spamming if need be.

Ultimately it feels like they removed all style and flexing with Trickster. It isn't worth trying to hit sly shots through gaps because you run out of Blades a lot by doing so, and the Laceration timer goes away so quickly that the only add-ons worth using are Laceration time extension. Which, surprise surprise, makes it so trying to use ricochet or piercing Blades, the add-ons that drastically alter the Trickster experience, are not gonna be seen or desired anymore.

Very disappointed by the way they have essentially gutted him. The Devs speak like they understand what Trickster players want but then you realise they think we just want quick damage with little effort via throw speed. And then after seeing how god awful of an experience that is as Survivor they change him to make him throw slower but Main Event be slightly more threatening. No, what Trickster players want is to know we can try to throw Blades in multiple different ways in a chase without fear of being crippled by missing one too many due to running out of Blades or Laceration decaying. If Trickster had 99 Blades, Survivors needed 8 Blades to be damaged and Laceration started to decay after 15 seconds of no Blades hitting them at 1 Blade every 2 seconds (so it would take 28 seconds at most of them not being hit by a Blade in order for Laceration expire), Then they could even make it where being healed accelerates Laceration decay too in order to add more depth to chase manipulation on the Survivor side, I would see that and think "yeah, this is a fun Trickster. Maintaining strength but also not feeling like he is gonna get you at every tile and there isn't a damn thing you can do aside from maybe avoid a couple of the Blades by crouching and hesitating your rotation.

This is a very long rant lol and I apologise for that @Vanishlord

I might make a post detailing my dream Trickster, but we'll see if I get around to it, since the Devs probably are done touching Trickster for a good few years now. This is most likely how our K-Pop star will remain sadly

@Raconteurminator My issue with Trickster, ever since the first tweaks and that carries over into current Trickster's state of play, is that the Devs saw Survivors issue vs him and thought "He needs to have less Blades" the throw speed is the issue imo. It's like I touched on in my rant, it's almost like Survivors have less input in the chases vs Trickster now. If they do manage to avoid his Blades (which good players will learn to do or are already doing) then they get about 5-10 seconds longer in a chase. When imo they should have more stuff available to them in order to hold their own against the onslaught of Blades. Getting the balance between Trickster being able to be a huge threat in chase while Survivors knowing there are things they can do to manipulate a chase on their end too, outside of the simple: wiggle side to side, hesitation at corners and gaps, crouching at small tiles every step or so etc. I'm aware my gripe with Trickster is a heavy bias from my vision of what the killer could be, but I also think that the point that Trickster has been gutted from the standpoint of "they traded his fun uniqueness for a Basic version of 1v1 strength" still holds merit.

@OrangeBear nah I haven't, I played the previous iteration and was actually unaware of Trickster adjustments this patch. I'll play as him and see if that changes anything about what I think about him from the as and vs perspective. Just for my own state of mind in this conversation, what is your build for Trickster, mine centre around detection and minimising time wastes with reloads and rotating pressure (Knock Out, Iron Maiden, Ultimate Weapon and Darkness Revealed atm)

@Vanishlord fair enough lol Trickster was definitely one of those chapters that really kept me drawn to dbd, so seeing all the different things that have happened to him makes it hard for me not to wish for bigger and better things with him lol