Houndmaster needs an update/rework in the future: AI shouldn't be part of the power

Hello there!

When I saw Houndmaster announced I was really hyped about her: her art design and story is one my favorite and one of the reasons why I love original DbD chapters. I love BHVR original creations and these motivate me at sticking around DbD.

I promised myself to take her to P 100 (and I'll still finish it, she's currently P 56), but after a month since her release and testing her in PTB (8.5.0) I feel that her power is not feeling rewarding, satisfying and in the worst scenario it's even frustrating.

I try to put a list of the main frustration points about playing as her:

- Dog Chase trajectory is too tricky to even figure it out mentally for some of the sharper movements: Differently from other powers you can "curve", the curving of Snug is too dependant on a single frame that in a real chase scenario is hard to instantly figure out. His hitboxes being small (even after last patch) for necessity of balancement make accuracy important, but the thing is that you're not actually able to "aim" in a traditional way. You can redirect, but the same logic is applied to the new trajectory.

- Search Trajectory is not in your control: Sometimes you want to reach a point B to cut off distance, but the thing is that the game goes for some routes that don't match the one you've in mind, sometimes even if it's a straight line, causing mainly to waste time and sending the dog in a long cooldown. It doesn't help that Chase has a better tracking thanks to the Killer Instinct triggered during redirectioning, so basically it makes Search mainly useful in short straight lines (if it's a bit too long you risk to hurt yourself with a "no sense" trajectory that can cause the dog to gets stuck far from you) or if you want to reach a far generator.

• Even in PTB the Dog gets stuck if there's an obstacle before launching the attack: It happened that I couldn't send the Chase command because Snug got stuck in an obstacle that wasn't in the Trajectory I visually had in front of me.
• Even in PTB, Snug brings survivors to pallets and allows them to free themselves: Getting a Snug grab to see it being pointless is the worst feeling possible, another thing that makes the power feeling not rewarding enough.

In general, it feels like the power is smooth only when it works, but you have no control on it actually working as you have it in mind. AI has too much control on Snug movement and position, influencing the starting point of your attacks or making these impossible in general. Houndmaster should get an update in the future that removes all the AI control on the dog and making it more in control of the player, maybe giving direct control since the first dash and making him spawn always close to HM whenever you start a command.

My suggestions are:

- Chase: Starting Chase command pushes the camera directly on Snug since first dash, also Snug spawns ALWAYS directly in front of you. Dash is kinda similar to a Demogorgon/Wolf dash, but he can still go over pallets, etc… and be redirected.
- Pallets Cannot Be Thrown while grabbed by Snug to stun him (locked as Deathslinger)
- Snug grabbing time reduced accordingly
- Snug doesn't try to take survivors to your position, but blocks them in the position where they got grabbed: Survivors can free themselves as they do with Pinhead Chains interaction for a limited set time (3-4 seconds).
- Search Rework: You can manually set the trajectory of Search (Similar to Knight trajectory, but you manually control Snug). The longer the trajectory, the bigger is the Haste bonus (till max of the current value and minimum to Dracula after getting Scent Orbs, Bloodlust is lost everytime you get the Haste search bonus, Haste Search Bonus starts from 16m trajectory and after walking for 4m in it) on Houndmaster to avoid abusing of it in chase (similar to Knight guards). Snug sits on the final point for a minimum of 5 seconds and indefinitely till manually recalled: Recalling him makes him spawn directly to HM position. While in Search, Snug can track survivors as he currently does with Chase Redirectioning, so getting killer instinct within an area that increases the longer the pathing is.
- Removed Killer Instinct tracking on Chase Redirectioning as the player is always in control of Snug now

All these changes would keep Houndmaster working similarly to what she is now, removing completely the AI grip on Snug actions to give the player more control and skill involved, addressing some of the points HM is currently hated for by survivors (free zoning) and making the HM players less frustrated at losing a chase for something they've limited control on. The changes also consider making Search more functional to what is the supposed function and limiting the free Haste in chase, but also giving real manual control about your patrolling/mobility tool.

I know it's hard and resources expensive, but I do really think that the less AI will have control on HM power, the more succesful this killer will be: Portia deserves the love the artists and writers put on her art and lore design and gameplay updates can make her shine.