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How would a mimic killer even work?

LadyOwO
LadyOwO Member Posts: 390

While it's a cool concept SWF would render the killer useless. I don't really see anyway it would work tbh.

Comments

  • Bookern
    Bookern Member Posts: 319
    edited October 13

    i think it could Work a mimic killer let them copy survs fully with cosmetics it wouldnt be strong on its own however his secondary power we give him the ability to teleport to Chests, dropped pallets, Gens and dropped items (can see aura of dropped it) with a passive for increased chest spawns (+3) when the Mimic teleports to an item, gen, dropped pallet or chest he becomes the object which is in a trapped state he can either detach to apply pressure to survs and gens or wait for someone to interact with him when a surv interacts with the trapped object mimic does a jumpscare and damages the survivor when successfully getting a trap injure his power goes on cooldown for 20 seconds..

    He wouldn't be S or A tier but his max potential could be a Solid BTier against SoloQ and Noobs

  • HerInfernalMajesty
    HerInfernalMajesty Member Posts: 1,823

    I’m thinking what Seraphor said as well as a teleport ability where the Killer kind of hitches a ride invisibly on a Survivor and can travel to another survivor in proximity. The killer would be able to spawn in from the nearest locker kind of like a Dredge that can travel within the Survivors without them knowing it. It doesnt even have to be lockers it could be another spawn point just like the Unknown’s copies. Bhvr could make the teleport point like a bacteria basin or something.

  • squbax
    squbax Member Posts: 1,491

    Idk at least in my swf we dont tend to group up because thats throwing. Also thr soloQ hud can render the power useless, if you see dwight is doing a gen and then he run towards you, you have to be trolling to not prerun. Aldo in a swf we can just call out eachothers position and then there no telltale.

    Idk maybe bhvr will manage to do but I am part of the crowd that believe that a mimic killer is just not compatible with swfs.

  • IIITweedleIII
    IIITweedleIII Member Posts: 1,013

    Legion was promo'd as if they were another survivor but that was quickly dispatched. If any yous remember the adverts for Jeff running along side Frank as if they were friends, but in a dramatic turn, put on the mask and attacks Jeff.

    Albeit not a true mimic, it was trickery to show survivors beware of their surroundings.

    Later on though, Cote expressed that a mimic type killer would be too deceptive. And unfair to play against.

    And honestly with how aura perks work anymore. Survivors as players will find out who the killer is anyways.

  • KatsuhxP
    KatsuhxP Member Posts: 884
    edited October 14

    I'd make that you have to collect the looks of survivors before you can transform to them:

    You have one random look of a survivor at the start of the match to use, you sneak to survivors that doesn't look like you and down them. You collect their looks and get the ability to choose between them. While you're transformed you look like the survivor (of course with skin) but with a rope to wind up at the back and you run a tiny bit more stiff

    While you're transformed you're undetectable and have third person with the movementspeed of a normal survivor, you'd have the abiltity to start a sprint and make a attack out of it to hit survivors. After you hit a survivor you transform to your real form (maybe you also get kicked out if you miss but that could be too punishing).

    As passive he also spawns illusions of survivors (they look kind of like the ones from mirrowed illusion but they are moving) maybe with a sanity system that would also open some sort of pills as a side objective.

    As look for his real form I imagine a sadistic kind of puppet mage using illusion magic to torment his prey.

    ‐----------------

    That's just a idea I tinkered with while waiting before school starts, I admit this wouldn't work with swfs probably but for solo-queue it would be funny and his design should be more or less unique xD

  • edgarpoop
    edgarpoop Member Posts: 8,365
    edited October 14

    I think it would be really tough to maintain from a development perspective. Every cosmetic you add to the game on the survivor side would require an update to this one specific killer. It could cause licensing issues with license holders depending on how a contract is written. Lara Croft the killer is probably not included in their license agreement.

    EDIT: After thinking on it for a bit, the only way I could see it working is if the mimic aspect was more of a power indicator than a deception tool. The mimic could mimic some of the original survivors, and its power could tie in to the theme of those survivors. But it wouldn't be intended to fool anyone.

    Post edited by edgarpoop on
  • AssortedSorting
    AssortedSorting Member Posts: 1,347

    Well, most mimics are used in social deduction gameplay.

    DBD gameplay doesn't really promote that.

    And of course with comms it can complicate things if you're trying to conceal an identity.

    But social deduction is a bit watching for strange decisions/movement from a person, that deviates from the norm.

    So what if you approach it from the angle that: Survivors know who's the mimic, but until the mimic performs some off-putting action, it is considered "safe"?

    EG:

    • The Trial is populated with an additional 3 AI bots.
    • The actions of these bots perform no progress on any objective.
    • They aim to perform co-operative actions (they'll run to generators being worked on, or to survivors being healed/Injured and not moving, with a cooldown before they swap/update tasks, they will not attempt to repair generators no other survivor is working on, generally speaking they can be used as an information tool).
    • They will run from the Killer too, though they will never throw down pallets.
    • They will typically try to spread out.
    • The Killer can teleport to these bots/swap places with them, so long as the bots are "active"
    • Bots become active after enough time, which is accelerated by performing co-op actions. Bots can also be activated if the Killer hits them.
    • Once active, bots will twitch/contort unnaturally, periodically.
    • Survivors can find inoculations around the map, which when used on a bot that is active (after witnessing the twitch) will suppress activation on the bots (but when used on an inactive bot, instantly activates it).

    So basically: The Survivors know who is or isn't a bot (mimic). But what they're looking out for is strange behavior in the bots that indicates it's a point the Killer can now teleport from, and to run away or to inoculate the bot to suppress that effect. A state of tension even when presented with an otherwise normal looking survivor.

    Then adding a Primary chase power for the killer.

  • Seraphor
    Seraphor Member Posts: 9,396

    This is a neat idea, and it kinda swerves into the territory of another killer power I had way back.

    The killer is three distinct entities, however only one of them is 'controlled' at any given time. The killers power is to be able to switch between the three bodies at will.

    Give those bodies AI and it's pretty much this.

  • AssortedSorting
    AssortedSorting Member Posts: 1,347
    edited October 14

    Yep. Had a similar idea for the legion where it was basically using The Twins mechanics: you can swap between characters who populate and chill around the map while not being controlled (as that was back before they introduced any AI to the game).

  • PreorderBonus
    PreorderBonus Member Posts: 313

    VHS had a mimic killer, and it wasn’t great. The main issue is that while you’re ‘disguised’ as a survivor, running around and trying to trick someone, everyone else is working on gens. You're basically setting up each encounter as a fake survivor, which takes forever in match time, making it a worse version of being Undetectable.

    The ability to 'Mimic' sounds good in theory but would be very weak in practice. The only exception I can think of would be if multiple mimics spawned around the map, capable of injuring survivors. But at that point, you’re just a better Nemesis (assuming you also have a chase power.)

  • Shroompy
    Shroompy Member Posts: 6,666

    The trailer for Legion was exactly that, a trailer. It was first shown at the 2018 Game Awards and we were already well aware of what Legions power was since the PTB was already over.

    I also cant recall Coté saying anything of the sorts, could be wrong tho. After all its quite difficult to recall everything he says in 8 years of playing this game lol

  • drsoontm
    drsoontm Member Posts: 4,903

    Yes, you are perfectly right IMHO.

    I've often wondered how to make such a killer as this would be soooo fun.

    Maybe it should mimic also as another killer, minus the power, so the survivors would not immediately know what to expect.

    Or its "power" would be to have a fake killer moving around while he's busy backstabbing survivors.

    I'm thinking that maybe that mimic/hit power should be accompanied by some cooldown, or being teleported to the "fake killer" or something ….

  • SkeletonDance
    SkeletonDance Member Posts: 341

    What about a mimic killer that could change between all og killers?

  • IIITweedleIII
    IIITweedleIII Member Posts: 1,013

    Haha!.... Shang Tsung in DBD. "YOUR SOUL IS MINE!" takes Nurse's Soul

  • Akumakaji
    Akumakaji Member Posts: 5,450

    I mean, everyone is tlaking about how it wouldn't work with SWF, but you know how often I have repaired gens together with other survivors as a pig? I would say, lets give a Mimic killer a try ;D

  • IIITweedleIII
    IIITweedleIII Member Posts: 1,013

    Imagine A Killer who Mimics as a survivor working on a Gen. Then in a moment's notice, BOOM! It grabs the nearest survivor off it.

    Or like that illusionary perk from D&D survivor, a mimic trap set on a Gen or Totem, and then a nearby survivor is suddenly attacked. Taking one health state. (And to be a fair mimic power, if already injured state, it's attack does another type of hindrance, or deep wound)

  • ohheyitsbobcat
    ohheyitsbobcat Member Posts: 1,751

    I made a prototype Mimic killer thread a couple years back that I haven't updated in sometime but my idea was more a body-swap killer in order to get a Mimic-like effect.

    The killer would be something like The Mannequin and it'd have the power to body swap people with each other or itself. So you might go in the trial starting as Dwight and part way through end up as your teammate David using their perks. The Survivor would also be able to play in the killers body with unique options as they got swapped around. There'd be a bit more too it but that was my general idea for a Mimic-esque killer.

  • drsoontm
    drsoontm Member Posts: 4,903
    edited October 15

    Related to mimicry, I've just remembered a couple stories that happened to me.

    Long ago I was playing a female Legion. I had a white mask not unlike the white full-face one Meg recently got and my vest was about the same color too … I think. (If you remember when she got the skin, you'll know when it happened.)

    At some point I don't have a terror radius anymore (Dark Devotion or something) and I come to a survivor doing a gen. To my surprise she doesn't run and instead "salutes" me with a crouch. Then she goes back on the gen. I'm puzzled but then it hits me: she thought I was the meg with that similar skin.

    I wonder her reaction when I grabbed her. 😄

    And more recently, as survivor, I went against a Skull Merchant in Lery.

    Looking for a gen, I crossed the path of what looked to me like a human (no terror radius) and I saw, way too late, that I was running straight to the killer. 😅

    It didn't end well. 😏

    We need a mimic.

  • Garresh
    Garresh Member Posts: 50

    I've posted about this before. The way to make a mimic killer work is to give a power that lets you "infect" a survivor, without any visual cue that the survivor is infected. The "spy" survivor wouldn't know they were on your side. While infected, the killer would see their aura, as well as any survivors near them.The killer could activate the power again to "emerge" from the infected survivor, allowing them to ambush other players near the "spy". To prevent tunneling, the killer cannot injure the spy. Hitting the infected cancels the infection but doesn't damage the survivor.

    Tldr: Make a mimic killer work by having the "mimic" be an actual player who doesn't know they're the mimic. The only question is how to infect discretely. I suggest traps since they favor stealth anyways.

  • drsoontm
    drsoontm Member Posts: 4,903

    That's an idea.

    In a movie, the survivor himself would hit his teammates.

  • HerInfernalMajesty
    HerInfernalMajesty Member Posts: 1,823

    This is really similar to my thought process on how I think a mimic Killer should be.

    My main starting point is the scene in “The Thing” where they’re all strapped to chairs getting their blood tested. Do you know if you're The Thing or not? The idea of a Survivor being an unsuspecting host I think is one of the keystones in making a mimic Killer work.

  • Moonras2
    Moonras2 Member Posts: 380

    They could kind of go the route from the mimic movies. A large bug that can make itself look like a cloaked person from a distance. The closer it gets the less deceptive it looks. In the movie the bugs could then open their wings and fly at someone. Would be like a quick dash.

  • Azulra
    Azulra Member Posts: 504

    Tbh it could technically work if BHVR decided to go the same route as TCM did of just throwing their hands up and shouting "Screw it! No more pre-made squads!"

    (This ain't a joke btw because TCM legit did that by making a mode that prohibits the ability to make pre-made squads after getting fed up/frustrated with trying to balance the game around both solo que and pre-made squads at the same time.)

  • LadyOwO
    LadyOwO Member Posts: 390
  • AssortedSorting
    AssortedSorting Member Posts: 1,347

    Not really?

    The dynamic in guess who involves an actual person trying to mimic the mannerisms of NPCs, with natural human error being the thing that can expose them to the hunters.

    I'm suggesting that the survivors know who the imposters are from the get-go, and do not want to be around them for too long as it can give the Killer information on their location, and/or an easy mobility teleport into a potential chase. But the imposters will be very insistent on trying to be near other survivors and objectives. Though survivors can use an item to suppress the Killer's ability to teleport from the imposters/make the imposters lose interest in a certain area for a little while, but only when the imposters have reached a certain stage of "instability", that the survivors need to be on the lookout for: If the imposter starts twitching, you know it's time to inoculate them. Doing so earlier will just accelerate the "instability"/do nothing instead. So you want to keep an eye not only on your surroundings, but the mannerisms of the imposter survivors to figure out when you should inoculate them.

    To be more succinct:

    The survivor players are an "in-group", the imposter survivors (AI) are an "out-group", but the player survivors don't have the agency to really do anything to the "out-group" until those "fakes" start showing signs of instability, after which they can inoculate the imposter for a duration.

    They know who the infected are, but they can't do anything to them until they start showing symptoms the players need to be on the lookout for.

    The Killer is able to track the imposters through aura's (giving a sense of paranoia for the survivors that this other human looking creature is sinister, and that they're being watched), and once an imposter has starts to destabilize, the Killer can teleport to it.

    Possibly also allowing whatever infection to spread to the survivor players themselves?

    Still kinda a half-baked idea.

    More like the Thing, yeah, but needing to twist it around an understanding that the uninfected know who the infected are.

  • Dreamnomad
    Dreamnomad Member Posts: 3,934

    It wouldn't work in the standard format of the game. I do think there is potential in an alternate game mode. Kind of like an Among Us simulator in DBD. SWF would be disabled from this game mode. Each player has the same appearance except different colored shirts. 6 players per lobby. One player is randomly determined to be the killer. Killer moves at same rate as survivors.

    Killer has the same abilities as survivors (crouch, work gens, cleanse totems, heal survivors, emote, etc). Killer has 2 powers, change shirt (1 min cooldown) allows killer to change the color of their shirt to a random color (which can be the same as another survivor), and injure/heal self allowing killer to pretend to need healing from another survivor. Killer attack uses Spirit's weapon and can not lunge attack. Killer does not gain bloodlust and being stunned by a pallet will last 5 seconds. Killer needs to get their kills through deception, not chases.

    User interface doesn't show any survivor information. Survivors die with one hook. Generators take massively longer to complete unless 2 or more survivors are working a gen. The dynamic between allowing another survivor to work the same gen or getting healed will provide all the tension. Survivors can't bring items to the match but they can open chests. No med kits will be in chests though. The only way to heal is to have another survivor heal you.