Distortion really does more harm than good to survivors

I don't like the would you rather game, it's a bland retort with no sustenance. It's really as simple as will this build help me this match or not. No two matches are identical, bc variety of perks, addons, and playstyles and choices on both sides. I run calm spirit sometimes not as a F you to my teammates but bc I'll get back to back matches where I'm screaming a lot and it's annoying to repeatedly hear, so obviously counter perk. If I'm tired of no gens getting done bc killers are taking everyone out super quick and want to up my chances of getting out(bc it's not a guarantee) I put on distortion to have some layer of protection of my location so I can contribute to gens. Look at that though now I'm not running adrenaline, decisive, an exhaustion perk, or something else that killers also dislike. You can't have it all ways in a variety game. You'll have weak spots on both sides in some way no matter what. Dems da breaks, respectfully.

But the game doesnt and shouldnt evolve around the chase exclusivly. So what good is a survivor that takes on a chase and goes down in 20 seconds (because all pallets are depleted for example) instead of hidding and have the killer search for him?

All I'm seeing here is a bunch of people attributing random things they don't like to Distortion with tenuous links at best.

1. Distortion does not make tunneling happen. Tunneling happens because it's the most efficient way to win and people are sweaty this has nothing to do with Distortion.

2. Distortion does not make someone a stealth god unable to be found. It only comes up IF the killer has an aura perk and let's be honest the two most common ones either only happens for a few seconds at the beginning of the game or was already easily countered by lockers. If the killer is too lazy to check the rock by the gen that's on them.

3. Distortion does not encourage selfish gameplay. This claim is the most baffling to me, how Distortion is the reason for soloQ potato's is incredibly ????. First off selfish stealth players have been around long before Distortion like the Claudette hiding in a bush and urban evasioning around the map so they can self-care in a corner later is a meme for a reason. They have literally always existed and always will regardless of whether they have access to Distortion or not. Even if you took Distortion away from them completely they're still not gonna do gens or unhook you, that's a player issue not a perk issue.

4. You'll force more slowdown builds if everyone is using Distortion. This one has a bit of merit but I would blame BHVR for this one, if only two types of perks are viable (slowdown and aura) that seems like a core design issue rather than something Distortion is solely responsible for.

BHVR also says 'lone wolf' is a totally viable playstyle. So none of this makes sense to me. Hiding is possible without these perks, but not really. Any aura killer will sniff them out pretty quick.

I can't get on board with this nerf speak. Distortion in particular needs to remain as is. Lone wolf or not, this will only hurt solo'Q by taking away a tool.

Especially for new players. My first time as survivor was freakishly terrifying. I was so nervous. Hiding is wonderful to learn and see whats happening for game information. .... And here I was going to say distortion helps players like this. But lets be honest, I don't think it would help. This new player will see what 'tunneling' is, and likely quit after a few games. Ah well.

Regardless, nerfing everything seems to be the culture here now. Let's keep it going!

"We dont talk about tunneling by itself anymore".

lol wut

What do you mean 'losing the game'? Where did I say that?

Who cares how people play if they want to hide in a corner I dont really care.

I think many people have been complaining to BHVR to help close the gap between solo q and SWF.

Part of this bridging process involved survivor buffs like the Survivor HUD. It makes sense that some of the bridging process could involve nerfs to problematic survivor behavior. Do people really expect the bridging process to be 100% survivor buffs, or 100% killer nerfs? Really?

People are so quick to demand nerfs for killer strategies.... but when the topic is survivor strategies it's "oh no, we shouldn't do that"?

Opinions don't need to last forever. BHVR can change their minds, and say "hey, we told everyone the gap between solo q and SWF is mostly solo q not working together as much, so we're going to throws some nerfs to lone wolf, to help out solo q"

Solo q would be better off if lone wolf was nerfed. Survivors should feel like a team, and it's really difficult to feel like a team, when one of the survivors has decided (even before the game has started) that they don't want to be a team player.

Although I agree with your endpoint (survivor should feel like a team), its also incredibly hard to nerf the 'lone wolf' playstyle since perks don't say the full story.

For example, I used to run Sole Survivor, Wake Up, Adrenaline & Fixated. Most people would look at that build and assume I was a stealthy player, didn't care about my team, etc. But the reason I really started running it is b/c back then, I was repeatedly the last or 2nd last survivor remaining and I wanted to give myself an actual chance of getting out (not by hatch), in a situation I'd otherwise be guaranteed dead in. I still played the match out as I always do, doing gens, going for saves, taking protection hits or bodyblocking the killer in chase if needed, etc. The build was for 1 situation IF it came to that. Otherwise I played completely normally and you wouldn't even know I was running it till in spectator or end-game lobby.

The same way, a lot of people don't use Distortion to JUST hide. They just want to mitigate the aura reading. And that isn't on them, if the other teammates aren't running Distortion. With how much aura reading there is today & how often its brought into matches, people are more to blame if anything for not running Distortion, than the other way around.

And as for the whole 'nerf killer strats' but ignore 'survivor strats'..I mean one strat essentially kills your team. The other rewards you with a ton of pressure & a W. Both scenarios, the killer gets reward from. I'm all for doing something to deter that lone wolf playstyle. I want survivors to play like a team & not have 1 person hiding out or doing nothing but totems and divebombing. We agree there. I just think tunneling is a far more important problem to address.

Dude did you even read his post? He brought those lone wolf perks to NOT play like a lone wolf. I've ran a similar build. My name is 'Spare them, Mori Me", You think Im lone wolfing also? I bring Sole Survivor for the situation of the killer ignoring my name. The often do the opposite and kill my team. I want to escape IF they kill my team.

I soloQ pretty much 90% of the time. Im often the last one standing since people hookicide or get tunneled. Its a blessing if Im the one tunneled. But to your example. Yes, a few players out of a LOT play with these perks this way. But not nearly enough to merit your genocide of stealth perks. Is this really your best perspective? I can't understand but I really do want too!

Are you seriously blaming Distortion users for picking Distortion? Really? I don't blame anyone for running or not running a perk (thats what this thread is trying to do, just using some of your thinkin against you haha. All in jest). I'll leave that to you and Fussy. However, aura reading is brought in almost every match. So its not a surprise if people decide to start bringing it, yea? Just like when people brought DS and still bring it to this day, with OTR. Would you be surprised?

I never said that. No I want to escape as a team, the more the merrier. I never said I didn't want my team to escape. If you bothered to read, I said IF the situation ever came to it. It was for one situation. When everyone DIED. I still played the match out, still did everything a normal player is expected to do. Gonna ignore the fact that those perks don't even come into play besides Fixated THROUGHOUT the match, as well huh? If I get forced into a situation like that, should I not be able to use the perks that are specifically for those situations? Everyone else is dead. The match is more or less over. Whats the big problem if I end up powering my gate and leaving?

& yes, all I play is solo que & killer. Got 2k hours in solo que alone. So believe me, I know what you are talking about. I see my teammates and what they do. But not everyone plays like that with those perks. I know matches like what you're describing happen, cause they happen to me too. But the difference between me and you is you want to nerf the perks b/c of these players using them in this lone wolf playstyle but its not that easy or straightforward.. I gave you a perfect example of perks not telling the full picture and you still didn't understand my point. I even said you wouldn't know I was even running that build till the end. B/c I play aggressive/risky regardless.

Lone wolf isn’t a perk problem though it’s a playstyle problem. As others pointed out, no matter what build or perks someone is running that survivor is still going to be behind a rock or in the corner or in a locker no matter what. Yeah distortion recharges, if you’re in the killers terror radius, which means in some way the player with tokens is engaging. If they’re not guess what, they get 3 aura hides. That’s how it works. Eventually that non contributing survivor is no longer being aura blocked. Nerfing distortion would only help killers, period. It changes nothing for survivor, bc at best if two people(and I never see more than 2 people running it) are running it and no where near the killer at any given time bc the killer is tunneling and not checking gens, that’s three hooks, nobody is dead(unless those three hooks went to one single person, which 2/3 of the matches do go that way anyways, and by no means is distortion even that popular) and now you can see everyone’s aura. Just say y’all want to be spoon fed and have survivors sit in one spot and not do anything. The person keeping up their tokens I want on the team, if ya’ll want to help soloQ go after the person who’s aura is now up after 3 hooks, bc they certainly weren’t engaging OR you couldn’t be bothered to leave the hook to check common survivor locations such as GENS(ya know bc gotta get back fast before they have a chance to heal and reset OR move to a location where you’d have to look for them). If a killer is out looking for survivors, and they’re not on gens what is the big deal, I’ve heard so many times that a person not on a gen is a person you’re not worried about, so odds are distortion nerf, killers are not going after them anyways. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve soloQ to end up being the person on gens while nobody else is in chase or it’s down to two and the killer can see I’m still trying to do objective and still chooses to kill me over the person hiding around the map not doing anything waiting on one of us to die(and I get it, looking for survivors is boring and I’ll probably single handedly finish those 2-3 gens by myself before you find them LOL, that’s satire). You don’t actually care about solo, just upset there’s a counter to your aura build. I wish distortion was more popular bc it’s a lot more helpful than the crappy exhaustion perks, decisive, if everyone hid their aura the killer would have no choice but to go out and look for others vs all the tunneling that happens no matter how the match is going in large majority. My distortion tokens don’t mean jack against a killer checking gens. If more survivors used distortion we might be in a better spot. Solo should run distortion bc if they’re not on comm then they need more protection vs where when I’m in duo I can be like take a hit, finish my gen it’s almost done but I’m in chase, ect. Distortion HELPS Solo mostly. If they can’t run I honestly don’t want them being found for a bit they’re more beneficial on a gen, or still being able to help save. If they’re crap at running you’re not going to have an issue at the end as killer getting them, and if they get hatch and did nothing they’re not pipping and I’m unconcerned as a survivor. It happens, it sucks, but that’s the game. There’s always going to be matches where you get out but someone else deserved to survivor more, or you die but someone else got out that deserved to die bc they’re a terrible team player and selfish. Killers will ALMOST always take the OPPORTUNITY to capitalize off selfish survivors screwing their team. Stealth is viable it’s just uncommon. There’s maybe 2/20 matches where killers will empathize with the person being sandbagged, or body blocked by their own teammate, or the survivor IN CHASE runs up and rips you off the hook even though there’s others who can come get you, to give killer an option me or them.

TLDR, no leave distortion alone it’s fine.

And imho as a survivor main that’s done swf sweat, duo, and solo the best thing for solos that can’t run for the team is to equip distortion and get on a gen, and let the team help them where they lack. Anything that requires a team is always going to have issues when there’s a random(s) be it you or them. No offense but you can be the best runner in dbd but if nobody is doing gens then you’re not getting very far. Nerfing distortion won’t fix that, it’s a player issue. My point is no matter what perk the person not helping is running, they’re not helping. I’m pipping they’re not, and more often get put with players that help in some way vs don’t bc shockingly you have to do things to pip and can’t just stand in a corner with a thumb up your bum.

I don't know what more they can add for solo that would help. The HUD basically gives you all the information you need. There's also always bond, empathy, and alert that give you a ton of information that you otherwise wouldn't get that you can use to help your team out ie not sandbagging, healing injured survs, and they work with altruism or stealth builds. Nerfing lone wolf perks is just shooting solo in the foot further. If they don't want to run information perks or perks that counter information perks playing solo that's on them. When I play solo if I see someone is being chased and one is on hook, and one is on a gen, the obvious thing for a solo would be an understood agreement amongst survivors in general the one with the least progressed gen go for a save. If you're not doing anything then get on a gen or go for the save. It even tells you if a survivor is recovering or not if they are downed. It tells you if someone is giving a heal be it on their self or a teammate. If people can't use common sense then idk what they can do for solo past the HUD (which believe it or not is a huge improvement for solos that play and don't stand in a corner being selfish) that wouldn't drastically imbalance the game in swf. Streamers when they play survivor could probably explain the HUD to viewers often so when new players watch content they learn what it means. DBD doesn't come with a handbook outside of the most basic tutorial for action mechanics. Have the FOG Whispers explain the small things. Tips and tricks for beginners.

Your problem is that you're approaching this with the intent to nerf survivors, not with the intent to fix the 'lone wolf' playstyle.

You're just using this 'lone wolf' excuse to squeeze out more survivor nerfs.

Seems the moral is that Distortion users and lone wolves are not always in the same group. Sure they may overlap at times, but you really can't control anything that happens in solo queue. As long as objectives are getting done, I don't care what other survivors run. Of course we also get some randoms that just throw themselves immediately at certain killers because they want out the match, but that's alright huh.

"Seems the moral is that Distortion users and lone wolves are not always in the same group. Sure they may overlap at times, but you really can't control anything that happens in solo queue. As long as objectives are getting done, I don't care what other survivors run. Of course we also get some randoms that just throw themselves immediately at certain killers because they want out the match, but that's alright huh"

When survivors play like that I just pray the killer shows me real mercy and let’s move on to my next match with better teammates. Solo is a mixed bag sometimes. I ain’t learning nothing just being sabotaged in a 3 v 2. Don’t even blame killers for what they do about it.