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Something has to change with Trickster

This killer has way too much chase control. Pallets do nothing to stop him. Running does nothing but slightly delay your down unless some kind of massive obstacle gets placed between you and this killer. He can spam throw knives so fast that you can't do anything to dodge them. Moving left or right while running does nothing. Do his knives even have fall off? It doesn't seem like it. This is yet another killer where their power far outweighs the use of their basic attack. Its way too much of a power advantage. The knives are thrown way too fast and you can do little to nothing to dodge them. I really do feel like the survivor experience is completely ignored when a new killer is being designed. This killer has been in the game for awhile now and never once have I been happy to play against them or enjoyed the match.

Either his knife throw needs to be greatly slowed or the amount of knives it takes to injure and down needs to be greatly increased. Either that or prevent the knives from being able to down survivors and only injure them.

Comments

  • KateMain86
    KateMain86 Member Posts: 2,374

    I figured people who play him feel pretty unstoppable because thats how I feel when I go against most tricksters. Its usually just the ones who don't use their power as often so I feel there needs to be some more balance there. Maybe its just an addon issue. I'm sure he has addons that make his power way better than default. Other killers have this problem too where their addons make it feel like they have a second power rather than a buffed power.

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566

    This is all you @FreeKnives

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566

    I personally have not had any issues going up against him. I think he’s a little on the weak side personally.

    He is in an awkward state right now until they correct it. Behavior already mentioned that they were going to fix him. His animations are off, his knife throwing speed is off, and they need to move his speed back to 4.4 and buff his knives allowing him to throw them faster to match his animation.

  • jonifire
    jonifire Member Posts: 1,437

    I actually thought he was alright and really strong before the rework (I can‘t quite understand, why they buffed him).

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566
    edited February 1

    I’m not entirely sure to be honest, my friend, truthfully, I don’t play this killer hardly at all. I can only tell my experience based off as a survivor when I’ve gone against him.


    before he was reworked, I could loop him for days, it was really easy. In his current state I can loop him for a little bit, but not nearly as long. (to be fair though I don’t use windows or any exhaustion perks. I’m a healer when I play Survivor.)

  • KateMain86
    KateMain86 Member Posts: 2,374

    Survivor movement in DBD doesn't really support the idea of dodging an attack like this. You'll have a few knives fly past you because the killer is spamming them, but from a distance this killer can still down you very fast. Moving left and right while running from this killer is not a viable dodge strategy.

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566

    Agreed. You need to toy with his FOV, obstacles are a must.

  • Revvium
    Revvium Member Posts: 97

    Ultimately if two or three people on the team don't pre-run or find strong tiles somewhere in their chase (which I'd quantify as disrespecting Tricksters chase) then the team will likely accidentally group up creating a snowball, not understand his range of threat which was his previous defining charactaristic but now as he moves much faster that threat area moves across the map more frequently.

    Huntress downs you WAY FASTER than trickster and has much stronger snowball pressure. Huntress is simply stronger in most circumstances but you know more clearly if you're in huntress danger zone because her terror radius within her lullaby is much smaller.

    Pre-running against Trickster and in fact any ranged killer is simply mandatory and I'm lost as to what to tell people besides playing against optimal survivors as this killer makes shack and main buildings feel like they're unbeatable without bamboozle, and killer should never imo be forced to never chase some tiles. Massive oversight because it feels bad to play, and bad to play against across all levels of play.

  • Revvium
    Revvium Member Posts: 97

    To add to this, Huntress doesn't have this same issue on Main Building and Shack as Trickster does, the reason being is because her value is guaranteed once landed- it cannot be snuffed out - You get the hatchet hit and you gained your value.

    Meanwhile Trickster has to spend much longer in getting his value to come to fruition, often resulting in gameplay against good survivors requiring perfect play or they will burn your laceration meter out on strong loops alike these two I mentioned. Keep in mind this killer isn't like Legion, Dredge, Deathslinger, or any other killer because the power has 0 utility, its damage or nothing and the only feasible way that they make a design like this feel rewarding and impactful is if it's effective in the only value it can provide: dealing damage.

    The only real comparison to be made on it is Huntress, and his range + spread pressure is supremely neutered comparatively, sad to say.

  • Revvium
    Revvium Member Posts: 97

    Here's a video I made giving a breakdown of the power and optimal play against it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGk2CeYIKeM&t

    With a lot of topics as complex as DBD counter-play I just like to clarify every point before making assumptions because the issue you're having could be soloq teammates, personal understanding of the power, or a heap of other variables of which I cannot grasp from a forum post, hope any of my comments helps and I'd be happy to provide more information, I play this killer nearly every day and obsess over the nuance, so please ask questions!

  • jonifire
    jonifire Member Posts: 1,437

    My experience was completely different. Most times he was already really oppressive, but I can‘t tell how it was to play him, I only played him 3 times before the rework.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    I hate these forums. It always deletes what I say if I go into edit mode.

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566

    It didn’t delete anything? I still see your original post.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    This is true for newer Trickster mains, and can be true for controller or console Tricksters...I would be wary of suggesting it to people, because you wont always be able to tell if someone is on controller or how new they are. I know 1 Trickster main on controller you cant even tell hes not on MnK. Hes that good. And even with me...I will just back up and continue throwing knives at you, and if I dont feel like practicing with knives, I'll bonk you with a bat. So if you are stuck and in a dead zone or caught in the open, definitely do this. Mess with FOV, but dont forget we have shadowborn baskit now.... And I see this all the time and laugh, DO NOT run back into a Trickster trying to mess with FOV if you could have made it to an LOS blocker, or tile. Even if you take the injure getting to an LOS blocker or tile, thats better to be injured in a tile, than in the open in Tricksters Face healthy. LOL

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82


    This is also true, what Mech said here. Mech used to loop me for days in custom matches when I was learning or when I was 4.4 Trickster. I've given tips to Mech for looping new trickster that has helped him too.

    Actually Mech is quite familiar with versing Tricksters as he is friends with 3 Trickster Mains and would have to suffer 3 Trickster matches back to back in our customs all the time :). We would lose a lot actually.

    We still do these matches on occasion. I still hold Trickster custom matches to help people learn how to play Trickster in a controlled environment, I know Endzej does on occasion. You could look either of us up on Twitch. Revvium who has also posted here would be happy to go over Trickster counterplay, hes also on Twitch. So even if you just wanted to learn how to verse a Trickster you could just play survivor in one of those custom matches, or go and find Trickster main on Twitch and talk to them, ask them questions. Here's a list of some that will be very knowledgeable on this character and have broken down this character into a science: Wacek134, Ayano_hm, Endzej, Revvium, Littleruguaard, Knifyyy36, Geugjigo

    The answer isn't nerf, its better understanding.

    (Which is why Im baffled by no updates or optimization for custom lobbies, they are so useful....)

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    If you are out of position for any long-range killer with decent aim, you are going to go down. Does that mean they should be nerfed?

    Can you say without a doubt, there was nothing you could have done better?

  • MechWarrior3
    MechWarrior3 Member Posts: 2,566

    I mean that’s fair, but it’s the only tactic that seems to work for me just fine lol.

    I understand it won’t work for everyone it’s not gonna work for every trickster based upon their skill level but it’s likely something that Kate hasn’t tried and it may help her a little bit, let’s be honest weaving back-and-forth left to right like on Fortnite is not gonna cut it lol.

  • EQWashu
    EQWashu Member Posts: 5,105

    Nothing was deleted, as noted above.

    We do have a Spam Filter on the Forum that will often catch messages from newer members, those with lower post counts, or those that make frequent edits. When these occur, we have to permit them manually until the user has a certain amount of posts, and they won't have to worry about the Spam Filter catching things after that.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    It did get deleted the first time. Unfortunately when you go to edit, if you didn't copy the entire thing before hitting save comment, the whole thing can get deleted. Its happen to others in another forum as well. They had to retype everything from memory. So I learned to save the whole thing before hitting save comment just incase. I posted it again, and got a mismatch error, and it wouldn't post, so I attempted again, and then thats when the spam filter activates. Which is where you came in.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Definitely, if you are out of position, definitely try, it may work. I just dont want survivors to choose run into the killer rather than taking the injure and get to a safe tile if they are in a bad spot. I see so many survivors do that and I end up scratching my head like, what just happened. Makes for good content though....

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Its cause I have been burned before by editing my posts LOL

    I just copied and pasted it when it deleted. The problem is trying to post it the second time, it gives an error and then the third attempt get flagged by spam filter.

  • KateMain86
    KateMain86 Member Posts: 2,374

    The problem I see and have with so many of the killer's we've gotten in the past year or so is that they aren't fun to engage with. When a killer can spam their power endlessly and down you with it especially at range then that isn't going to be a very fun experience. Survivors should have engagements with killers that involve more than just running to the nearest wall to block the killer's power for a moment. Lately its just overtuned killers that turn survivor chases into a slaughterfest.

  • adsads123123123123
    adsads123123123123 Member Posts: 1,132

    Trickster is still a B- tier killer. https://youtu.be/28Pgh-K2NjE?t=68

  • LeGranEmi
    LeGranEmi Member Posts: 80

    Do they really complain about him? He's in a good position but he's still weak. Just learn to play against moving from side to side. It still works but it seems like you don't know how to do it. Also, if you want him not to hit you, play in high loops in 80 percent of the maps. He has these structures

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82


  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Yeah. I would argue C+ in most Tricksters hands, but hes not close to A or S tier by any means. Maybe he should be... Hes too complicated to not be strong enough to go against people who are skillful survivors. If that makes sense. I dont care if he is S tier or C tier. I just care about whether or not he is fun to use and the experience I have with using his main event and power. I enjoyed playing him even as 4.4 Trickster. I just enjoy this character. So I really hope they focus on this characters feel and flair, and how it feels to use his knives and the reward for using them. Lets be honest, you dont pick maining Trickster if all you care about is winning. You'd pick learning Nurse or Blight if you did.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Yeah, Revvium gave them a video of a good example. Im even offering to take them into a custom.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Throwing around the word spam is becoming quite the popular buzzword, not just from you. And to be honest I doubt we agree on what spam is...Maybe baby Tricksters. Maybe you are in low mmr. Im not sure. I know some Tricksters that haven't gotten good with aiming will spam....but they run out of knives quickly and good survivors make fools of them. Ive watched a very good Huntress main and content creator miss 20 or more knives on one survivor.... Some survivors consider Main Event spamming, not even realizing that is his special power. It's his "Chainsaw" or his "rush", and it takes some skill to know when to pop it now because it's so short. Again, good survivors know how to make a Trickster waste it. Did you watch the video Revvium posted? Showcasing a Trickster main partied with other good survivors and a good random, going against a good Trickster. I encourage you to do so if you haven't. And thats on EU where everything is supposedly more sweatier.

    I am going to try and have Trickster community customs night on Twitch, if there is enough people. On Saturday. I welcome anyone including people who just want to play survivor to join. If you want to join, again offer still stands to help you learn to counter him. Learn about Trickster. Or even try him yourself.


    I understand that in your opinion this killer, and apparently, Billy too (you mentioned him in another forum) aren't fun. Im telling you...nerfing killers is what causes them to feel powerless to play with anything other than meta, use unfun tactics to win, and make them robotic and unfun to main. It doesn't help to nerf killers when survivors can't figure out how to counter them. What could help survivors is better indicators and Trickster's audio fixed, including his laceration lines on the survivor hud, but thats in another forum. Ive addressed that in a Tricksters Forum and bug report, maybe BHVR will take a look.

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Hopefully.... 3 pm EST. If everything works out. But it will probably go on throughout the night, cause usually we have to have a queue line for joining when all the Trickster mains I know are present, and I want everybody to get a chance to practice Trickster or go against him. Im starting early so that EU people can join if they want to.

  • RealLifeTrapper
    RealLifeTrapper Member Posts: 18

    Easily one of the most annoying to play against

  • FreeKnives
    FreeKnives Member Posts: 82

    Yes of course! Unfortunately, we have to move Trickster customs to next weekend. Hopefully, more people can join that way anyway with more notice. I'll update it in my Twitch schedule as well, but feel free to pm.