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Underrated perks we actually enjoy

ChaosWam
ChaosWam Member Posts: 1,842

As the title says, do we have perks that aren't meta that we enjoy, or at least like how they function even if they're considered weak?

I myself like Game Afoot on killer for any sort of obsession-based builds I run. Whether it's for Furtive Chase or paired with Nemesis.

On survivor, I have a firm belief that Bite the Bullet is massively underrated and has saved me and a teammate few times.

Comments

  • TragicSolitude
    TragicSolitude Member, Alpha Surveyor Posts: 7,349

    Beast of Prey confuses survivors during chases. I enjoy that, even if I am running it for the BP.

  • GroßusSchmiedus
    GroßusSchmiedus Member Posts: 555
    edited October 16

    Its more builds than perks, but one loadout i used and won often with is Undying + Haunted grounds, its more of a prank than a good build.

    Hex: Wretched Fate, Gift of Pain, Hex: Undying and Hex: Haunted Grounds or Pentimento.

    Find the Obsession, hook them so they get that stacking massive repair penalty from Wretched Fate + Gift of Pain.

    Pentimento allows you to stack the penalty even further, Haunted Grounds + Undying but you gotta hope they aren't smart or patient enough because of Wretched Fates aura.

  • Aceislife
    Aceislife Member Posts: 434
    edited October 16

    Autodidact is a lot of fun when it actually works. Scene Partner is hilarious, in fact so are Dramaturgy and Plot Twist. Ace In The Hole is a fun perk to use with a chest build. Lightweight is such a good perk to lose the killer in a chase but barely anyone uses it.

    *Oh, and also Vigil. This perk is super useful.

    Post edited by Aceislife on
  • Seraphor
    Seraphor Member Posts: 9,420

    Second Wind is probably my favourite healing perk, although doesn't seem to be too common. Takes a little set up/investment but it's really satisfying getting that instant heal.

    Empathy is great too, not too popular compared to other aura perks but it allows me to ttack injured survivors (for charging Second Wind) and indicates where the chase and thus the killer is.

    A favourite killer perk combo is Make Your Choice with Floods of Rage. Istadowns are always satisfying and I can get ahead without camping or tunnelling.

    Haunted Grounds is likewise a riot when it pops at just the right time.

  • sanees
    sanees Member Posts: 615

    kindred I never see it on other survivors, but it has saved my games many times

  • HerInfernalMajesty
    HerInfernalMajesty Member Posts: 1,850

    I’m not sure where this perk stands but I can’t seem to stop building around Batteries Included.

  • Spirit_IsTheBest
    Spirit_IsTheBest Member Posts: 1,041

    I love Eyes of Belmont, even if it was released recently it seems that it was already quite forgotten, I love using it with other underrated perks like Scene Partner, Object of Obsession, Troubleshooter, Poised, or Alert.

    It allows for some really fun builds to help in chase or keep tabs on the killer. A 2 second buff to any aura reading seems small but it's so good in game. It's one of my favorite perks released recently.

  • TatsuiChiyo
    TatsuiChiyo Member Posts: 712

    I have 3 that I love.

    Wake Up- I really wish people would...wake up, Waka Waka, to this perk. It's not insane or broken, but all it does is let you open the exit gates faster and show your teammates where you are. I've gotten many a clutch escape, especially in a gate patrol scenario after Killer closed hatch.

    Clairvoyance- A Miquella perk, you cleanse or bless a totem and see auras of hooks, gens, chests, and even the hatch at 64 meters. You can't have an item while using it, and if you're not careful you can burn it, but it gives you a decent bit of info and can even let you find hatch very easily.

    Potential Energy- Probably my wildest take but man is this perk a great example of high risk high reward. Potentially carrying 20% of a gen around can be really strong, so having to gather the charges and not be injured is honestly a fair trade off, you just have to be smart about gathering them.

    I play SoloQ, so here's how I use it. If working on a gen solo, begin gathering Energy around 98% or so. That way I can gather the charges and than finish the gen, while if the Killer gets close I can just dump what I have and finish the gen. If someone is with me on the gen start gathering around 75%, same mentality.

    PE is also a great counter to Pain Resonance, as it takes 20 and you can immediately give it back

  • ReverseVelocity
    ReverseVelocity Member Posts: 4,555

    Honestly if it had a lingering effect of like 10-20 seconds after you lost bloodlust, it might be a pretty decent perk on some killers.

  • ChaosWam
    ChaosWam Member Posts: 1,842

    This list is basically an extended version of my own, especially on survivor side.

    I also love Unforseen for my stealth builds. I run it on Unknown alongside Insidious to position myself as a fake clone in open spaces with it once I've applied appropriate pressure.

  • PreorderBonus
    PreorderBonus Member Posts: 320

    The New Dead Man's Switch:

    The old version was a bit hit or miss because if a survivor triggered a gen block near the end of the ability's activation window, the generator would only be blocked for the remaining time, not the full duration. This has changed, and now every time Dead Man's Switch activates, it blocks the generator for the full 50 seconds. It works great with Pain Resonance and is especially effective for killers who can keep survivors off generators, like Nemesis with his zombies, Doctor with his blast, and Pinhead with his chain hunt. Almost every generator will end up being blocked for the full 50 seconds at some point.

  • Pit_Bull_Love
    Pit_Bull_Love Member Posts: 56

    In chaos shuffle, I got coup de Grace and bloodhound, and I was quite impressed. They have made their way into my rotation.

    As survivor there was a perk that gave you tokens for each survivor hooked that could be dumped on a gen. Interesting perk, but could be situational, and you can get more consistent value from other perks.

  • fussy
    fussy Member Posts: 1,638
    edited October 16

    Glad to hear we have so much common!
    Sadly I don't love playing Unknown too much, but I definately will give it a try on him, sounds really fun!
    UPD: I was right about to make a post to ask people's underrated builds, but you are on a step before me, hehe

  • Nazzzak
    Nazzzak Member Posts: 5,657

    I love Fast Track. You get value from the killer's progress (hooks), you don't lose tokens so can choose when to use them - preferably the last gen but if you're not going to survive that long then you can dump them earlier - not to mention it's really satisfying seeing that chunk of progress appear.

  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    Whats your build with Autodidact? I prefer We'll Make It or Botany for consistency.

  • TheArbiter
    TheArbiter Member Posts: 2,616

    I am addicted to Coup, nobody expects it, and it shuts down shack

  • bjorksnas
    bjorksnas Member Posts: 5,616

    Desperate measures

    Faster healing

    Faster self healing

    Faster unhooking

    On paper simple perk solid effects but something that people don't really account for is the faster unhooking, the ability to turn a hook trade into a unhook + protection hit from the unhooked survivor is extremely strong and having a bit of extra healing speed is nice when thanks to how much bp the game vomits at you means you can bring a medkit into every game

  • Chilli_man2400
    Chilli_man2400 Member Posts: 2,914

    I run autodidact and 3 perks of your choice

    I avoid increase healing cause you want skillchecks to appear so no Well make it or Botany.

    I usually run autodidact, inner focus and the rest are up to you.

  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    Yeah, I don't really use Autodidact in my build due to how RNG the skill checks are, but it was nice to play with it in Chaos Shuffle. ☠️

    I feel like if I was to play with Autodidact, I'd need an info perk like Empathy or Bond to get consistent healing but I respect your choice. It definitely comes in clutch when you have full stacks. 😊

  • SoGo
    SoGo Member Posts: 1,304

    Streetwise.

  • TWS001
    TWS001 Member Posts: 193

    Does that actually work? How often do survivors fall for it? I'm sat on the bus on the way to work and that made me chuckle!

  • Spare_Them_Mori_Me
    Spare_Them_Mori_Me Member Posts: 1,674
    edited October 17

    Killer side: Coup de Grace - One of the best perks to have fun with and get results. Become blight for a nano second around that corner and jump scare the crap outta them lol

    Survivor: Empathy - Empathy is one of the best info perks in the game imo. Know where injured survivors are and by proxy, if one is in chase, then you learn killer location. For one perk slot, it does a WHOLE lot.

  • radiantHero23
    radiantHero23 Member Posts: 4,238

    Hex: Huntress Lullaby 😎

  • Devil_hit11
    Devil_hit11 Member Posts: 8,817
  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    I love to pair Second Wind + We'll Make It, makes my Steve the babysitter of the survivor group. 😂

    Empathy is pretty good, I use it on my Claud + Botany Knowledge.

  • Dwight_Fairfield
    Dwight_Fairfield Member Posts: 7,031

    I love running Leader. I get healed by team mates quicker. In clutch situations we have gotten unhooks and exit gates open faster. Same for cleansing hexes.

    It's a nice perk.

  • radiantHero23
    radiantHero23 Member Posts: 4,238

    Doesn't work with the boxes. It also doesn't work with any other killer power related skill checks.

    I just like it because it is so bad. The most value I get out of lullaby is the cleansing time. When a survivor actually does miss a skill check with max. Lullaby its hilarious to the max. That's why I use it. It's bad and fun.

  • NarkoTri1er
    NarkoTri1er Member Posts: 541

    for killer, Agi is the most underrated perk that is slept on thanks by delusion of thinking Iron Grasp is better because it "slows wiggling progress by 75%", while the movement speed you get from Agi actually makes you cover larger distance than distance you would cover with Iron Grasp.

    for survivor, i would vote Object of Obsession since awfully big part of community doesn't know that it mirrors killer's aura reading perks (when inside Weave range for example, you will basically have perma aura reading on killer too until you leave the range)

  • ImWinston
    ImWinston Member Posts: 240

    surv perk: balance landing…situational but much stronger than lithe (my opinion)

    killer perk: remember me…. very situational but when it works it's very strong

  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    What is your usual build with it? Sorry, I'm just curious lol. Usually when I see Lullaby, it's mostly on Doctor for skill check type of builds. 😅

  • radiantHero23
    radiantHero23 Member Posts: 4,238

    Stbfl, that's it.

    I usually use lullaby where ever it fits. If I have a free perk slot then it goes there.

    Again, I don't use it because I think it's good. I use it because it's bad and fun.

  • notstarboard
    notstarboard Member Posts: 3,903

    If I'm doing a whole build around it I like Empathy, Solidarity, and Bite the Bullet. Empathy helps you find injured people, Solidarity raises your build's ceiling immensely by letting those those fast 5 token heals apply to you as well (and giving more value from a skill check near the very end of the heal), and Bite the Bullet to reduce the risk of healing someone while injured. I don't have Alan Wake, but Deadline sounds like it could be fun in this slot too!

    This build can allow for some absurdly fast resets and can be a powerful anti-snowball combination.

    I don't like running other healing speed perks with Autodidact because you need to maximize your healing time early in order to get skill checks and charge up your perk.

  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    Yeah, I know for Autodidact you need to pretty much only use it and only it for the skill checks to happen.

    It is interesting to see it, especially because it's so niche - it's quite rare when I see a random have it. 😅 I don't think I've ever personally used Solidarity, but I do like Bite The Bullet. I kinda stopped using it when it started having that bug where if you heal yourself, you're not quiet anymore (I don't know if they actually fixed that or not) 😔.

  • CautionaryMary
    CautionaryMary Member Posts: 159

    I see, once it gets stacks it's pretty good but most people usually pair it with another Hex totem or something to get more value out of the perk. Thanks for sharing. 😊

  • 100PercentBPMain
    100PercentBPMain Member Posts: 1,068

    It's tricky to pull off, but Second Winding after a Wicked play is very satisfying

  • notstarboard
    notstarboard Member Posts: 3,903

    Solidarity is a lovely companion for Autodidact - would recommend! The only tough part is your teammates don't see a buff icon to let them know you have it, so sometimes you have to battle them a bit to make sure you heal them first.

    I'm pretty sure that bug is fixed, as I've never encountered that and I only got Leon recently!

  • LapisInfernalis
    LapisInfernalis Member Posts: 4,218

    Object of Obsession. No questions asked.

  • MrRetsej
    MrRetsej Member Posts: 63

    Most of my favorite perks aren't going to win matches, and sure as HELL aren't meta, but I love them regardless.

    Killer side:
    Hex: Two Can Play
    . It doesn't often help much, but when it does, it always gets a laugh out of me watching the survivor haphazardly bump into things. Even more rare, though even better, is when it frustrates them enough that they go out of their way to try and cleanse it… only for it to get reactivated again. ☺️Crap perk but I love it.

    Alien Instinct. What can I say. I love pulling jumpscares.

    THWACK! Is it good? Ehhh. Is it better since 8.3.0? Definitely. It's also surprisingly effective on Pig for interrupting headtrap boxes.

    Oppression. Since it's buff it's a solid secondary gen regression perk that folks seem to be sleeping on. Plus I'm lazy. Who has time to walk around kicking gens all day?

    Monitor & Abuse. I did say I love pulling jumpscares.

    Whispers. Easily the most underrated tracking perk in the game in my opinion. Once you learn how to probe and triangulate with it, it's shockingly effective and uncounterable.

    Spies From the Shadows. The second most underrated tracking perk in the game as far as I'm concerned. Constant value in this one.

    Survivor Side:

    Empathy. As others have said, this is a MASSIVELY powerful info perk even when you aren't running a heal-bot build. It's range covers almost the entire map, it has no activation requirements, and between it and the player HUD you can pretty much pinpoint the killers location throughout the match with a bit of deductive reasoning.

    Lightweight. The value this gives in chase, especially when paired with Iron Will, is just bonkers, especially on maps with enough twists and turns.

    Light-Footed. Yeah, yeah, pair it with Breakout, Flashbang, blah blah blah. F that noise. I just enjoy running around silently. I just wish it still worked while walking the way it did when it first released.

    Strength in Shadows. Yeah, it's risky AF but paired with Botany Knowledge it provides one of the fastest self heals in the game, AND gives you a ridiculous amount of aura read each time you finish using it.

  • Fuzzycube
    Fuzzycube Member Posts: 262
    edited October 18

    Killer:

    Starstruck - This perk has multiple uses, the main one is to dissuade saves with flashlights or hook sabotages but you can also use it aggressively and try to hook the survivor near a generator you think other survivors are working on, very rarely if you hook a survivor in the basement and survivors are too altruistic it can cause the match to quickly fall apart for them.


    Survivor:

    Quick & Quiet - Good for sneakily escaping chases or to quickly hide from the killer, particularly useful during the end game collapse and there’s also lots of potential perk combos.

  • Firellius
    Firellius Member Posts: 4,387

    It's because until you get five skillchecks, the perk's purely negative. It's great if you get to heal often and get lucky with skillchecks, but if either of these factors are missing, you're gonna end up killing a teammate instead.

  • tjt85
    tjt85 Member Posts: 955

    I'm quite partial to Fire Up. I like multi purpose perks and it's the closest perk on the Killer side to Resilience / Vigil (two of my favourite Survivor perks).

    Plus, it's fun to use in a Legion vault build. I just wish the numbers were buffed a little.

  • UndeddJester
    UndeddJester Member Posts: 3,360
    edited October 19

    I literally threw some of my favourite perks into a build after this thread without a thought to synergy...

    And shockingly I keep getting insane value out of it 😶😶😶

    Lucky Star - is now an absolutely solid perk... gives you Iron Will on demand for 30s, allows you to find teammates on demand to help you heal/reset, actually good at hiding in lockers, helps you find gens on maps like Midwich... I liked it before its buff... and now it's just awesome 😶

    Empathic Connection - Loved building around this perk. Autodidact and Empathy was a buld I really enjoyed... but now it's heal is too good for Autodidact (dammit!), but it really helps SoloQ out, and with Lucky Star as nice 2 way aura reading.

    Borrowed Time - I swear everyone sleeps on this perk... it's insane the number of times I stall out a camp from the killer and unhook once it's costly for them to try and tunnel... only for the killer to come back anyway and eat a Borrowed Time... It's also really nice with Empathic Connection now, as you can usually heal without much fear.

    Quick and Quiet - Fun to mind game with, can come in pretty clutch at certain moments to fake out the killer. Also synergises nice with Lucky Star. I've been having a blast with this perk.

    Post edited by UndeddJester on
  • Chilli_man2400
    Chilli_man2400 Member Posts: 2,914

    I understand but most of the time your going to hit one skill check and once it’s hit the 4 other checks are all positive

    Plus it completely netuers sloppy, leverage and coulrophobia

  • bm33
    bm33 Member Posts: 8,244

    Wake Up. It's such a useful perk. Always know where the exits are, get a decent speed increase when opening, and you're teammates will know which door you're opening instead of trying to guess.

  • Firellius
    Firellius Member Posts: 4,387

    Oh yeah, I forgot that it got buffed. That does cut the requirement by quite a lot.

  • KerJuice
    KerJuice Member Posts: 1,907

    An OG perk like Dying Light is still pretty damn good in 2024, and I feel like it’s underrated. I like the consistency of the perk and how it gets stronger the better I play. Then there is the mindfulness needed to not kill the obsession but keep them incapacitated so DL stays in play.

    I’m in low-mid MMR, so I get a lot of value out of Overcharge. It helps me to get back in chase if I can’t find anyone close by that gen.

    Wake Up is underrated. Sometimes I may forget to pay attention to where the exit gates were, or I was in chase while they were powered on and missed the visual notification. But my favorite use of the Perk is opening the gates in time while on death hook, knowing for sure if I did not have it equipped- the killer would have stopped me from opening the gate.

    Bond is essential in Solo que, but funny enough it’s not Meta. You get a ton of information from that OG perk and like knowing when a survivor is headed my way while they are in chase, or pairing up with a teammate on a gen, or going over to heal a teammate who is injured or find one to heal me while I’m injured.