http://dbd.game/killswitch
Hot take: The removal of flashlight spamming and fluidness caused more medkit and toolbox usage
When flashlights got nerfed around the Knights release, it caused more medkits and toolboxes. Survivors (myself included) loved the fluid and clean feeling of the old flashlight click speed. It used to allow players to do cool 360’s since your character would automatically move to the area in which your flashlight was shined at. It also removed a lot and I mean A LOT of skill expression when they added the blind buffer for flashlight saves. I understand the devs removed the ability to spam the flashlights to prevent cases of epilepsy but it still feels very janky and clunky using the flashlights to this day. I believe a lot of players that used to love the feeling of old flashlights switched over to medkits and toolboxes. Anyways that’s my take, do yall agree or disagree with this take? Let me know in the comments!
Comments
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"nerfed" flashlights have never been easier. 360's only worked on bad killers which conveniently people push in montages.
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If I remember correctly, the changes to Flashlight clicking and the timing of Flashlight Saves were done in separate Updates. The timing of Flashlight Saves was changed when they removed the possibility to save someone when they are grabbed out of a Locker by the Killer.
I also dont think that the clicking was removed due to epilepsy (there are still things in the game which can trigger it, e.g. you have flashing light bulbs), but simply because Killers complained about it. Remember, those are the people who brought BHVR to change "Entity displeased" to "The Entity Hungers"…
When it comes to usage, I would simply say that making Flashlight Saves easier is certainly an aspect, but I think the main reason is simply that Medkits and Toolboxes have always been better (Flashlights are a pretty weak Survivor-Item and I never got the complaints about them, because every Survivor who is bringing a Flashlight is not bringing a Medkit and therefore way better for the Killer if they pay a little bit attention…) and that the game shifted more towards Killers so if you want to win, you cannot just equip a Flashlight anymore and be basically idle and just follow the Killer to get a Flashlight Save. This might have been a thing years ago that one Survivor could completely ignore the Objective and the Survivors still had a good chance of winning, but this is not possible anymore. If you have a Dude with a Flashlight not doing Gens, you will lose the game in 2025.
Sure, there are still players who dont care, but most players also want to escape and are therefore forced to do the Objective. And since Toolboxes speed up the Objective and Medkits make the team overall more efficient, they are used more often than Flashlights.
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I understand how you feel. Lowering the skill ceiling is never good and flashlight have been hit a lot. Saving is also easier than before (although not the easiest it has even been.)
Macro flashlights did cause some people to feel dizzy. I know at least one person that could not play against macros due to that.
On top of it, it was an expression of bm that, in comparison to tbagging and "humping" was possible to be deleted by changing the item. I absolutely understand why and that they did it.
However as with everything in dbd (and in life) there are positives and negatives to it.
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Oh, I dont care why it was changed. I just think that their reasoning was not the main reason why they changed it. Because otherwise they would put more effort into making sure that their maps dont do the same as Flashlights did in the past.
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What map does flashing lights in the same intense way a macro did?
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Not in such an intense way, but you see sometimes Lightbulbs flickering. I dont know if they fixed it, but it can be really annoying in the House of Pain (I THINK the Badham-version) in the Room where the 4 Lockers are located. I have seen some examples in a video from Otz, but I cannot find it.
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Nothing in current DBD is anywhere near as bad as flashlights used to be.
People were binding flashlight clicking to their mouse scroll wheel, and the flashing lights were so rapid that the flashlights made a non stop BBBRRRRRRRRRBRBRBRBRBRBRBRBRRRRRRRRBRBRBRBRRRRRRRBRRBBRRBRRRRRRRBRBRBRBRBRBRRRRRR noise.
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The spamming flashlights behind these macros had the chance of crashing some people's games as well.
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Lightborn
Waste of a perk?
Maybe but I never leave home without it.
I love flashlight bully squads not being able to use flashlights in a toxic way.
I can't really comment on the nerf as I don't play survivor but I haven't really seen any issues other than that ridiculous ability to blind killer in a locked animation of pulling someone out of a locker.
That said no issues with flashlights. Use or don't use. Personal preference it's your game.
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If anything "nerfing" flashlights made life harder for killers as other items are simply better. Flashlights are only effective against newer players who haven't learned the counterplay, or if an entire SWF is trying to bully you. Sometimes.
I used to be tortured by flashlights when I was a baby killer, but once you figure it out, they become almost a total non-issue. A flashlight obsessed surv is essentially throwing against a killer with any experience. Give me a 3-4 flashlight lobby and I'll give you a 3-4K.
As far as the changes to the clicking, I feel like it wasn't as much to protect epileptics as it was just because it was just obnoxious. The sound, really, especially the people running macros just to be insufferable.
Of course Medkits and their add-ons were also nerfed, because they were actually kinda OP (remember when you could heal yourself in chase with a souped up green medkit? Or if you broke line of sight for like 8 seconds?). But even the current basic version is still miles more useful than a flashlight.
Yeah, not much in DBD has ever really bothered me, but the sound of those flashlight macros were like a cheese grater on the brain.
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I understand where your coming from, but I have to side with @Coffeecrashing on that one. Nothing in the game has or ever had the intensity of a flashlight macro. It got rightfully deleted in my personal opinion.
However I do agree, that some of those lightbulbs should be looked at.
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Correct. They've never been easier. You almost have to try to miss the timing, because that window and the angles are so generously wide.
But no, 360s worked on good killers as well, because they look like they clip through you as you're literally attacking them, and they don't get hit. The difference between survivor and killer speed should never allow that. It's part of what killed Friday The 13th for a lot of people. Spend all this time chasing someone, they spin their little joystick to get out of a deserved hit, and then keep running at full speed, literally gaining distance on you. There's different types, the regular 360 and the full 360, the latter of which still works on really good killers sometimes. It works hand in hand with the bogus aim dressing. If it didn't work, survivors wouldn't do it.
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That’s an interesting perspective. Honestly, hearing that it may have caused seizures for some people is really sad so im glad to hear that it’s been changed. Because being sensitive to people’s conditions or things like that Is very good, especially when it’s not necessary. I do feel that way about Plague, as many people start to vomit if they hear vomit. I’ve also heard some people have issues with Clown as well, due to the constant coughing or the effects the potions give them. It would be nice if people could toggle off the audio and visual effects in the same way they stopped flashlight spamming from people with light sensitivity. Maybe in a future update or something.
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Those are not the same people. The clicking was annoying to anyone with a functioning brain, and was super BM, so it was removed. Not all of those people were in favor of the "Entity Hungers..." name change. In fact, nobody was in favor of it. Killers just didn't like how the old Emblem system worked, to where you kill 4 survivors and still: Entity Displeased, because you lost 4 gens really quickly, or had to 1-hook everyone, or something. They shouldn't have replaced the name; they should have made it "Brutal Killer." No reason to make players feel like they lost when they clearly won.
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Epilepsy but they made the dredge, so it makes me think it's alot of lies. Killers just simply hated when you machine click them fast while making them wiff hits
I always pull up my vids from years ago for giggles when it use to be that way. Also the nerf is why I rather flashbangs to counter that look up strategy I feel flashlights has not even been working correctly since the 8.5 patch drop.
I will hear the burning happening no delay yet it dont register a blind and no they did not have lightborn or I had it where I connected it and blind the killer but the killer did not drop the survivor.
Anyways am sick of Franklin's and just run sable heal perk and flashbang, funny ill use a green key or brown tool boxand lol killer has franklins for that.
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Lightborn go brr
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Blind buffer makes saves too easy for them to be interesting. I think the general movement towards strong medkits/toolboxes has nothing to do with these changes though. It's because the average skill level has improved a lot over the last few years for both sides and bloodweb costs allowing you to bring said items consistently. People have that have consistently been playing have p100s with max level bloodwebs available to them always.
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