Concerns About No-Terror-Radius Killers & Match Balance
I’d like to start a discussion about killers that have no Terror Radius (or can suppress it frequently).
It feels like in many matches, players are picking these killers because they offer very low counterplay in solo queue. Without audio warning, survivors don’t have enough time to react, especially on indoor maps.
I understand stealth is part of the design, but right now it feels disproportionately strong compared to other killer styles.
Some questions for discussion:
- Should there be stronger visual/audio indicators when a killer is Undetectable?
- Should stealth duration be shorter or require more setup?
- Is this more of a solo queue issue than a balance issue?
I’d like to hear both killer and survivor perspectives.
Comments
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This issue is about game design and dev's perspective/naiveness about how players should play and how they actually play (in discord e.g).
I really want to see what my teammates equip (their perks, items and add-ons).
Almost no one prefers to play as a team in dbd. SO with such "teammates" I wanna annoy my "team" and killer (if killer abuse sutuation) and get out as soon as possible to the next solo queue.
Yes I know examples such as Michael Myers with Devour Hope and mirror add-on in Hawkins is too much out of a sudden to survivors and frustrating. But it works really well against flies which populate solo queue DbD.
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I see allot of downvotes but none are saying why. I believe its because the strength of "stealth killers" is not that high in general. Nearly all the stealth killers in the game have no m2 attack, besides the pig, springtrap, and now myers.
This makes the stealth killers mostly rely on quick ambush downs to get any amount of pressure as they spend more time sneaking around trying to avoid being seen before an attack, because in chase without their ambush power active they are usualy one of the weakest killers to loop as a survivor. Most of the strongest killers in the game are all about high mobility, but even with wraith's high mobility + stealth, he is still not up in the highest tiers because his mobility comes with a long attack delay, and if his misses with that lunge then he is back to basic m1 killer or has to spend time going back in and out of stealth giving you time for better positioning.
Meanwhile springtrap has a very long cooldown to his m2 and almost cannot afford to miss, and pigs m2 cant break a pallet or go over windows/pallets making them not too hard to deal with.
Most of the stealth killers could even use a buff if not all of them but myers now that he has a full hardcore chase mode built in
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I think there should be a Survivor perk that lets you hear TR through undetectable caused by perks.
But Killers with undetectable in their power/addons should diffrent.
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Use your eyes?
Scan the area with your camera instead of staring at your survivor repairing the gen?
HEY LOOK AT THIS GIANT WARNING TELLING YOU THERES A STEALTH KILLER HERE. are you seriously asking for this nonsense?
What does soloq have to do with this? Due to lack of seriously convincing arguments, I'll just assume usage of buzzwords to summon shallow survs to defend a bad take.
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Playing killer and having to listen for the most minute step sounds to find survivors vs hey look its sadako's visual lullaby..
Stealth Isn't meta, pretty much never has been, the only thing it asks of survivors is for them to be on edge and pay attention to their surroundings.. like half the killers already have to play by default.
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Stealth is weak. You're asking them to be weaker which means youre asking for more people to just swap to blight and nurse. If youre asking for the weakest killers to be even weaker, people will simply stop playing them and youll be facing strong killers.
You can tell there is a stealth killer on most maps within the first 15 seconds of the match. Small to medium map and no chases happening and no terror radius? Youre dealing with a stealth killer. Keep eyes and ears open. All stealth killers have an audible tell, and a random crow flying off nearby means leave immediately in case it's not another survivor. High level play sometimes have survivors working on gens only when there's a chase going on or if someone has eyes on the killer's location.
The only stealth killers you have to worry about are ones with high mobility or otherwise are not actually stealth killers but are using stealth perks/addons.
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I agree that this is fundamentally a game design issue.
There’s a clear gap between how the developers seem to expect the game to be played and how it’s actually played. In coordinated groups (Discord/SWF), survivors share information constantly. In solo queue, there is almost zero coordination or reliable communication.
That’s why certain builds like The Shape with Devour Hope and mirror add-ons on indoor maps feel extremely oppressive in solo queue but much more manageable in coordinated teams.
The problem isn’t just the killer. It’s the information gap.
At minimum, we should be able to:
- See teammates’ perks in lobby.
- See their items and add-ons.
- Have better in-game communication tools. (Proximity Chat)
Right now, solo queue players are expected to perform like a team without having any team tools. That mismatch is where the frustration comes from.
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I do use my eyes. I scan constantly. Awareness is part of the game, and I’m not arguing against that.
The point is that stealth killers are designed to bypass standard warning systems. There isn’t a “giant warning” that tells you one is nearby. If you scan once and then resume repairing, the killer can appear during that small window where you’re not actively rotating your camera. That’s not lack of awareness that’s how stealth mechanics function.
Solo queue absolutely matters here.
In coordinated groups, if one survivor spots the killer, everyone immediately knows. In solo queue, that information dies with the person who saw it. That creates a fundamental difference in how strong stealth feels depending on communication.
I’m not saying stealth shouldn’t exist. I’m saying its impact is very different between coordinated play and solo queue and that’s a design discussion worth having.
Also, I play both sides. When I play high-mobility killers (like certain animatronic-style killers with strong map pressure), I can clearly feel how much control they have. That doesn’t mean they’re unbeatable but it does mean some mechanics scale very differently depending on the environment.
This isn’t about being mad. It’s about acknowledging that information asymmetry affects balance.
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When you say “stealth is weak,” that really depends on context
Against coordinated teams with communication, yes stealth loses a lot of power. But in solo queue, it’s far from weak. An experienced stealth player can snowball very quickly. You get the first down quietly, someone rushes for a save without full information, and suddenly the match collapses.
That’s not a skill issue that’s information asymmetry.
Early detection and subtle audio cues only work consistently for high-awareness players. Most matches aren’t tournament-level. In solo queue, information doesn’t spread, and that’s where stealth becomes significantly stronger.
I’m not saying stealth is top-tier everywhere I’m saying its strength scales heavily depending on coordination. And most matches aren’t coordinated.
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Keep in mind, the game isn't balanced around solo queue. Balanced discussions typically assume some semblance of teamwork. Balancing around solo queue would pretty much nuke the majority of killers out of existence with SWFs.
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