Houndsense Genuinely Does Nothing

Taken straight from the game, Houndsense does the following:

"Healthy Survivors affected by Houndsense receive Deep Wounds when injured. Injured Survivors affected by Houndsense suffer from louder Grunts of Pain and longer pools of blood when put into the dying state."

That's all she wrote. Now before I say exactly why it does nothing, I should mention: Houndsense is currently bugged. When a Survivor reaches a different Hook Stage, Houndsense is lost for everybody who has it. No idea why it does this, but... Picture In A Word Document.

Why It Does Nothing For Healthy Survivors

When playing Houndy, you're gonna be using Snug for Chases more often than Searches. Even when you do Search, you're probably not gonna get anyone unless you were going across the map and had line of sight blockers... and Snug didn't get stuck on a pebble.

All the effect does is apply Deep Wound when you M1. Anyway...

• Legion
• Deathslinger
• Doctor if you pretend Madness III is Deep Wound
• Kaneki
• Hitting somebody off the Hook

All of these are much better ways of applying Deep Wound. It's really not that strong of an effect, especially since you're probably gonna be chasing them anyway, so... screw Dead Hard I guess. Oh wait, Snug is already good at preventing Dead Hard! It's literally one of his best features.

If a Healthy one gets Houndsense, it's just the Killer Instinct and that's really it. Of course, the Killer Instinct is actually from the Search itself, fun fact, the Marlinspike Add-On that applies Houndsense to Survivors within 20 meters of a Snug Grab proves this.

Why It Does Nothing For Injured Survivors

It makes their Grunts of Pain and Pools of Blood louder and longer, respectively. One major asterisk after that, though, only in the Dying State! I've listened to Survivors on the floor after Houndsense was applied and guess what? It's negligible! It's practically nothing, and the only Perk you counter with it is Tenacity!

Now here's the real fun part! Injuring a Survivor removes Houndsense, so if you want to put a Survivor in Deep Wound from Houndsense into the dying state so their Grunts of Pain are louder, you have to apply it again or else they won't get the secondary effect. And no, you can't exactly Search mid-chase. Think like old Knight except for instead of getting a Guard to chase them, you're applying an effect that means nothing.

Yes, there are Add-Ons that work around Houndsense like Gunpowder Tin and Belaying Pins, but remember, this effect is not only bugged, but kind of difficult to apply, and honestly, they're not very great Add-Ons, especially since Smoked Snapper is right there, reducing your Power's cooldown.

Houndsense needs literally anything so it's not completely worthless. I'd have to say that, next to Luck, it's the most worthless mechanic in the entire game. Houndsense can be difficult to apply, is currently bugged, and the effects it gives is meaningless.