Changes to Legion (and some other killers)

I've been updating this discussion and trying to make it more balanced and I think I finally did it! Please chack it out if you care about Legion ♥️

(I'm making this post again because no one commented on the last one, so I'll see if now anyone sees it)

Good morning. I've played the game since 2018, watch Dbd content creators [with over 10.000 hours] on a daily basis (JRM, Ayrun, Hens333, Otzdarva, Tatariu, D3AD PLAYS) and I like both roles, killer and survivor, equally, which is why I never grow tired of playing it over these years. However, there are issues regarding the health of Dead by Daylight, regarding both survivor and killer sides, but today I want to focus on one specific character: The Legion. But before that, I want to show why this killer deserves more attention and reworks.

Legion is one of the most played killers (partly because of their low skill ceiling) in the game, coming in 5th place between all killers and in 2nd place between non-licensed ones, according to the site Nightlight.com, and is the character with the most skins, proving that they're a very important part of the videogame and gets a lot of dedication towards that part of the design. But, despite all of that effort put in making those skins and inciting players to play them, they're still a D tier killer which very little going for them against good survivors. They might be good against a group of survivors that doesn't play well, but that's only because of childish hate towards the Legion, since most of the players either give up or don't know how and don't want to know how to counter them. So, my proposal is to buff their basekit in order to make them more competitive at a higher level and make them more fun to play as and more rewarding to outplay against. That's why I propose three types of changes, including smaller patches, intermediate ones and more extensive modifications: Fundamental, Medium and Extensive changes. If you want to know how to counter the Legion, be aware that they have several counters to their ability, all of which are super simple to do, including as follows: Baiting the killer to miss their attack (by going into a locker, running into them to mess with their POV, vaulting after they just vaulted a window or a pallet, aka, window tech or using exhaustion perks); Pre-running to prevent being inside Legion's reach (this will allow the survivors to stay healthy and counter Legion's way of downing a player using their power); Stunning the killer out of their ability (whether it's by a pallet stun, Head-On or blinding the killer); Using any exhaustion perk to gain distance from the them (Right now, Legion moves at 5.2 m/s, while most exhaustion perks make survivors move at 6 m/s, meaning the player actually gains distance from the killer); Preventing the vault by vaulting back and forth the survivors themselves (This prevents, for instance, the usage of the addon Iridescent Button for breaking pallets); Bodyblocking for a non hit survivor. For more Legion's counters, please watch the following video by Otzdarva:

There are also more videos about countering Legion, like this one from the most skilled Legion main, Tatariu:

• Fundamental changes:

* Increase Legion's movement speed while using their power from 5.2 m/s to 6 m/s. Making Legion's base movement speed while using their power 6 m/s will allow you to use their ability more variously, for instance using their power to close the distance with a survivor after breaking a pallet, pressuring a generator on the other side of the map and, the most important reason, to be able to chain hits more consistently, which is a good thing for the game, since it encourages Legion's mains to bother multiple players instead of focusing on one specific survivor and killing them as fast as possible (aka tunneling). In order to balance this buff, my idea is to slow the turning rate of the killer's camera, make the lunge of a Feral Slash like Oni's Demon Dash attack (making it so harder to hit and easier to juke) and/or make the hitboxes of the survivors smaller as Legion gets more chained hits in order to improve the skill ceiling needed to use Legion's ability. Although this buff might sound strong, I need to remind you that Legion has the slowest killer ability among killers that can boost their speed, with lots of other characters boasting faster movement velocity while using their power (Vecna: 8 m/s; Oni: 8.3 m/s; Blight: 9.2 m/s; Chucky: 10 m/s; Hillbilly: 10-12 m/s; Wesker: 14 m/s; Kaneki 15 m/s)

PS: If there're complaints from survivor mains about the higher consistency of hitting feral downs, let me bring up that, if you and your teammates are giving the Legion consecutive hits even though there are several ways to counter them, maybe you must think back to yourself that maybe it's a skill issue. If you want to know how to counter Legion to their fullest, I'll invite you to check out my post of reviewing a Legion match from Tatariu and walking through everything the survivors did right to counter Legion and everything the should've done, with the respective time clips.

* Every action performed by The Legion during Feral frenzy (vaulting, kicking generators, opening lockers, closing the hatch, interacting with the gliff, snuffling boons, entering a portal and opening gates) should stop their power's gauge. Legion's ability has a very short duration, which is why is very important for them to use their time with caution and that's why this change is something a lot of Legion mains yearn for. If the power gauge were to stop during evey animation they do, they'd be able to multitask (kick a generator while chasing a survivor and still be able to get the hit, for example) and it wouldn't feel so punishing doing the objectives of the game while using their ability. In order to make this change more fair, every action performed by the Legion is 5% slower than the regular animation time.

* During Feral frenzy, Legion can see scratch marks and pools of blood. Allowing Legion to see where the survivor went, specially if it's the first hit and they can't see the killer's instinct, will make playing them more smooth and won't shoulder such a burden whenever the player is using their power. For the sake of understanding, The Lich has the ability to "Fly" in which he moves at 8 m/s (faster than Legion, even after the buff), can go through pallets and windows really quickly (just like Legion), doesn't have the drawback of not being able to see scratch marks and pools of blood and isn't even his full scope of abilities, so why should Legion have that downside? If they're gonna have that disadvantage, at least give them an upper hand at the same level (fox example, The Spirit has the same drawback as Legion while using the Mother-Daughter Ring, but she can move at 7.04 m/s. The argument that she can't see survivors is flawed because survivors can't see her either). These changes are mandatory and of extremely importance to Legion's QOL gameplay. The following modifications are just as necessary, but less urgent, so they can be put on hold after Legion gets the attention they deserve. Some arguments that I had in my previous post were that Legion doesn't need scratch marks, since they have killer detection, but I say they're wrong, since this one argument doesn't apply to other killers that also have killer instinct and can speed up - like: Wesker, Vecna, Spirit and Kaneki (with a certain addon) and Houndmaster - so why should it apply to Legion? Even if this change doesn't affect survivor gameplay as much as you'd might think, let me remind you that this change will make stealth perks have more uses, since powers like Lucky Break, Lightweight, Self-preservation, Deception and many others will work on this killer and confuse them into losing the survivor.

• Medium changes:

* Remove the black blur of the screen during the fatigue of the Feral frenzy. During the fatigue of Feral frenzy, Legion has their camera severely obstructed by a black blur, which is worse than Nurse's and Blight's (Legion's drawback is worse than the top 1 and top 2 killers in Dead by Daylight, without any positive rewards for it). This affects the killer's ability to concentrate on various parts of the screen at the same time because it prevents you from seeing what's happening on that part of the screen (PC and mobile players have it worse, since their screen are smaller than console players). Moreover, this disadvantage doesn't come with a benefit worthy of its effect, unlike Nurse or Blight who can, respectively, blink through objects and run really fast for a long period of time. This modification is mostly a QOL change, hence, will not affect if the killer is stronger or weaker, but it'll make playing Legion more comfortable and satisfying.

* Remove the pitch lock of the screen during the fatigue of Feral frenzy. Just like the black blur on the screen during the cooldown, Legion's camera is prevented from moving up or downwards, which is also a disability, since looking up or down is a major thing, specially in double floors, so being able to do so while wait for the fatigue to end is a timesaver. Similarly like the patch above, it'll make the gameplay with this killer feel smoother, but at the same time won't make them stronger in any way.

* Picking up a survivor shouldn't deplete the power's gauge. Depleting the whole power gauge when performing a pickup action means, right now, that the killer will have to wait 15 seconds, minus the time taken to hook the survivor, to use their power again, which can be critical at some occasions: Getting flashlight/pallet stunned after picking up and not being able to punish the survivors is the worst case; Hooking a player within less than 5 seconds and having to wait another 10 seconds is really punishing for a killer who doesn't have a lot of mobility without their ability. This is just a nice thing to have, but it's only an okay addition to have in specific cases, not likely to impact in the kill rate and Legion's position in the killer rank.

* Undetectable or the Oblivious status effect shouldn't affect the killer instinct detection. Because of this detail, Legion can't use undetectable perks properly, since it hinders their ability to detect a survivor's heart beat. If this is changed, it'll open a lot of possibilities for builds you can use with them, meaning that casual players can enjoy niche bulids instead of having to rely on the OP perks to play the game (Let's be honest, the only variety we have amongst Legion players is whether they'd like to use Enduring, Spirit Fury and Bamboozle or Enduring, Spirit Fury and Surge. Not much variety)

• Extensive changes:

* Decrease Legion's cooldown from 15 to 10 seconds. I'm very well aware that Legion just got a buff, but if I'm being honest, this buff isn't enough, not when there are killers * cof cof * (Chucky) * cof cof*, that have a 10 second cooldown power (faster than Legion) that can go under pallets and through windows quickly (just like Legion) and right afterwards down the chased survivor (Legion, but only after hitting 5 consecutive hits in Feral frenzy) or when there is a killer *cof cof * (Kaneki) * cof cof * who can move at 15 m/s after grabbing onto an object up to three times and has his power back after a 7.5 seconds of cooldown. Legion's buff? Not even close enough. To prevent the usage of the addon Scratched Ruler and have a 5 second cooldown power, nerf this addon to decrease 2.5 seconds instead of 5. Now, because their ability has a shorter cooldown, applying the old effect to Legion where their power gauge would be reduced everytime they hit a survivor would be reasonable, since their ability would have half of the recharging time as to when that effect was a thing (before Patch 5.7.0), so, parallel to this addition, make it so that everytime Legion hits a survivor with a M1 attack, the power gauge is reduced by 20% (= 2 seconds lost).

* Every time Legion hits a survivor during Feral frenzy, their cooldown and fatigue duration after canceling their power decreases by 1 and 0.1 seconds, respectively. This modification is not mandatory, but it encourages Legion's players to go after multiple hits and not just focus on one survivor. Also, it encourages the killers to hit as much survivors as they can, trying to achieve the 5th feral hit. Also, it wouldn't make their power more oppressive, it'd only make the killer feel smoother to play, since, if you get the 5th hit, you will probably hook the downed survivor, so having to wait only 2 seconds is nicer. Even if this patch isn't as game changing, it should still be balaced by the fact that missing an attack will backfire the effect, meaning that if the Legion gets one hit and misses the second one, their power now has a cooldown of 11 seconds (10 seconds basekit + 1) and has a fatigue duration of 2.6 seconds (2.5 basekit + 0.1 seconds). This will make it so that Legion's skill ceiling is enlarged and it'll make it so that their ability its has drawbacks and can't be used carelessly.

* Increase Legion's fatigue speed from 2.3 m/s to 3 m/s. The greatest weakness of Legion is their inability to chase survivors with their power. While The Ghoul has a walking speed of 3.68 m/s and can easily get on top of a survivor in a chase, even holding them in place while he vaults over a pallet or a window, Legion doesn't have the same ability, so making his fatigue movement speed close to Kaneki seems only fair. Since their fatigue is shorter, closing in to survivors would be easier, so, to counterpoise it, make it so that Legion's base movement speed after ending the fatigue would be 4.4m/s for 5 seconds, meaning that, for a short duration, survivors can make more distance and get away from the killer in situations that previously wouldn't be possible.

* Increase the vaulting speed from 0.9 to 0.5 seconds. Legion's power was unique when they came to Dead by Daylight, the ability to vault windows faster and vault pallets was unprecedented. However, in 2025, this power is not solely theirs, since there are other characters who can also do that (like The Mastermind, The Ghoul and The Good Guy), so it's only natural that this characteristic of Legion's power should be better than everyone else's, since it was the pioneer. Legion's power is not strong, so this change will make them a lot more threatening in chase as well, but it also should have it's drawbacks, like vaulting a window should increase the fatigue duration by 0.1 seconds (just like missing an attack). Also, remove the exploit that makes survivors get hit whenever they pass through a window while these killers are vaulting: Chucky, Wesker and Kaneki. It's only fair that a survivor would try to outplay the killer by any means (in this case, window teching) and this mechanic prevents this. Also, if Legion doesn't have that exploit, no one else should.

* Feral vaults counts as normal killer vaults and, hence, get influenced by vaulting perks. The majority of META (Most Effective Tactical Available) perks revolves around gen slow down perks, so why make other perks not work when the killer is in their power? I understand that Chucky, Kaneki and Wesker are strong killers, so making them stronger would be bad, but what about Legion? Make so that their power vault counts as a normal one and trigger perks that influence the vaulting speed like Superior Anatomy, Bamboozle, Dark Arrogance, Fire Up and a lot of others. Also, make so that Unbound triggers whenever Legion vaults a pallet or a window, just like Wesker (This effect was changed some time ago, but it still should work as of described, since it's a way more fun playstyle rather than 4 gen-slowdown perks).

* Change Smiley Face Pin's effect. Make it so that this addon has a bigger impact on Legion's power, since Blindness is not very good. My idea for a new effect, based on the rarity of the addon, is to reduce the cooldown after hitting a Feral slash, show the size of the hitbox of the current chased survivor. This effect is not very good, since the cooldown is already short, but it's better than what it is now and it serves like a training wheels for inexperienced players.

* Change Etched Ruler's effect. Same as Smiley Pin, this addon isn't very impactful, so instead of the 60 seconds of Obliviousness, make so that this addon increases the vaulting speed from 0.5 seconds to 0.4 during Feral frenzy. This will not only make some room for fun builds of perks, but it'll help newer survivors who often don't like the Oblivious effect.

* Change Mural Sketch's effect. After the Legion's buff, this addon felt mediocre, since it'd only gain 0.08m/s of speed boost per hit. So, my idea is that this addon affects players during chase, like, survivors that are in the mend state have a slower vaulting speed (maybe 1.5% slower) until they mend themselves. This will help Legion in chase and make them more threatening.

* Change Defaced Smiley Pin's effect. Its effect is pointless, since the Mangled debuff only works if you're healing, but, against Legion, you should practically NEVER heal, since they can injure you again and that's it, they're a normal M1 killer. In order to address that, its effect should be something in the lines of receiving an Undetectable status and their breathing is now completely silent after hitting a Feral Slash. This will make room for fun Undetectable builds and force survivors to have a good coordination to prevent consecutive hits and, consequently, the 5th hit down. Quick reminder that Legion will not be more oppressive with this addon, since all of their counters will still exist. (Quick tip: For solo queue survivors, make sure to keep in check how many hits Legion has via hud and do not mend while they are still in their power)

* Change Never-Sleep Pills' effect. This right now is mostly a meme addon since its drawback is worse than its buff. I still think that bringing a negative status for the killer is a good idea, but it should be more like this: Legion's base movement speed while using Feral frenzy is boosted to 6.5 m/s, but they lose 0.1 m/s after each hit (meaning they'll only gain 0.14 m/s per hit) and, at the end of Feral frenzy, their fatigue is now the original pre-buff 3 seconds and removes the reduced fatigue bonus after each successful Feral slash (the fatigue cooldown will be 3 seconds if they don't miss an attack and 3 seconds plus the time lost by missing an attack).

* Improve Julie's Mix Tape's effect. The recharge of the power gauge is a fine outcome, but it's really restricted. To fix that, make it so that every time the killer is stunned (by any means), the power gauge is completely restored. It could also trigger whenever Legion breaks a pallet.

* Change Joey's Mix Tape's effect. It's not an exaggeration to say that Joey's mix tape is Legion's worst addon. Hemorrhage is not a strong debuff, so instead of that, its reaction could be that every survivor being revealed by the killer instinct screams every 5 seconds and interrupts their actions. Also, since it's a rare addon, it could receive the secondary addition of increasing the detection radius of Feral frenzy by 10 meters. This might sound strong, specially with impossible-to-cleanse totem builds, but that won't be the case for Legion because they don't have enough map pressure to prevent survivor to either: power through the totems or cleanse them.

* Change Stolen Sketch Book's effect. This is not a bad addon, but it's not good either. In order to make it better, it should make it so that survivors hit will a Feral slash get the Hindered status until they're fully mended and, thus, make less distance then they would be able to. I think maybe 3.5% is good enough.

* Change Stylish Sunglasses' effect. It's reaction could be that Legion doesn't need to hit a survivor to reveal their killer instinct. While it's not a strong direct result in the in-game experience, it could change the way Legion uses their power, since it could be used to find hiding survivors.

* Change The Legion's Pin's effect. It's the same problem with Defaced Smiley Pin's outcome, survivors playing against Legion should NEVER heal, so it'd be pointless to make them Broken since they wouldn't heal anyways. This addon has some gimmicks, fox example paired with Thanatophobia, but that's it, not good for a rare addon. In other to fix that, it's result could be similar to Chucky's power, where he confuses survivors with random steps during Hidey-Ho mode, but, for Legion, it could trigger random heart beats sounds all over the map when they use Feral frenzy, confusing survivors and making them unaware of Legion's presence.

* Change Susie's Mix Tape's effect. While is not the worst addon, it's power is really lacking since it was supposed to be a blue addon. So, instead of increasing the detection radius of Feral frenzy by 20 meters (since Joey's mix tape does something similar), it should be a weaker version of Frank's mix tape, giving a 10% boost in every action performed during Feral frenzy. It wouldn't count vaulting, but if you, the developers, think it wouldn't be so strong, then it could influence vaulting.

* Improve Frank's Mix Tape's effect. The boost in kicking actions' speed is good, but it should be stronger, since it's a purple addon. So, make it so that the 20 % boost is included to all activities performed during Feral frenzy, just like Susie's, but with a stronger effect (it wouldn't affect vaulting speed, only if the devs find it balanced, since the fastest vaulting speed possible, pairing this addon with the Etched Ruler one, is 0.32 seconds)

* Improve BFF's effect. This addon is not completely bad, but is very underwhelming for a super rare addon. The haste status is a nice idea, just like the gaining stacks to activate it, but it's mostly unused throughout the game. So, first, make so that Legion gains stacks for each successful hit during Feral frenzy, making it so that the first hit gains 2 stacks, the second 3, the third 4, the forth 5 and the fifth 6. When Legion gets 5 stacks and a generator is completed, they get a permanent speed boost of 1.25% movement speed (0.05 m/s). To illustrate, if the Legion charges the addon with 5 stacks before the first generator is ready, when the gen pops, they move at 4.65 m/s at base movement speed and at 6.05 m/s during Feral frenzy and the 5 stacks are consumed. When the second generator is completed and they had another 5 stacks, they move at 4.7 m/s at base movement speed and 6.1 m/s during Feral frenzy. When all of the generators are finished and the killer managed to get the 5 stacks before each completed generator (25 stacks total), they now move at 4.85 m/s at base speed and 6.25 m/s during Feral frenzy. The top speed Legion can get, using BFFs and Never-Sleep Pills, after 5 consecutive hits and after all the gens popped, is 7.45 m/s (6.5 + 5*0.05 + 5*0.14), with 3 seconds of fatigue (due to Never-Sleep Pills' results). If you think that's overpowered, remember that Kaneki can move at almost double the speed and has a 2.5 seconds fatigue cooldown throughout the entirety of the match.

* Change Stab Wounds Study's effect. For a super rare addon, its power is not very impactful on the gameplay, so I'm proposing a massive change. Make it so that it has the combined and improved effects of both Mural Sketch's and Stolen Sketch Book's effect. It'd go probably like this: Survivors put in the mend state after a Feral slash have their vaulting speed reduced by 3% until they mend and players hit with a successful Feral slash have the Hindered status of 7% until they're fully mended. This will not only make Legion's power deadly in chase, but will open their possibilities of play styles and creative ways to use their ability.

That's all of the changes that I think will help improve Legion's performance and promote them to a C tier, maybe even bottom of B tier. They won't be a strong killer, not when there are characters that can teleport through objects, but they'd be at least an average killer. Thank you for you time and for further information about Legion, check @Tatariu 's videos and ideas for this beloved killer.

PS: For an extensive research of improvements for the both sides of the game, check the site otzdarva.com