Concept for a Shrine of Secrets Overhaul
I've been playing DBD for a while now, and while I don't have that many hours and I'm relatively new to the game based on DBD's lifespan, the frequency which I play makes me see a lot of problems that the game is having right now, to both sides, and I also like to hear what the community says.
While some other topics of balancing are way more complex, I feel like the Shrine of Secrets can be easily reworked to be better to both Killers, Survivors and specially new and casual players, focusing in rewarding player retention and grind, with a more engaging and fair approach to all players.
As of right now, there are over 300+ perks in the game, with a lot of them not appearing for even years, based on some quick research here are some examples:
Distortion - Jeff Johansen: Last appearance in March 2022
Ace in the Hole - Ace Visconti: Last appearance in March 2023
Off the Record - Zarina Kassir: Last appearance in May 2023
Hex: Undying - The Blight: Last appearance in July 2023
Stake Out - David Tapp: Last appearance in July 2023
See more perks with long wait times
2023
Hex: Ruin - The Hag: September 2023
Blood Echo - The Oni: November 2023
2024
Breakout - Yui Kimura: March 2024
Scourge Hook: Hangman's Trick - The Pig: April 2024
Diversion - Adam Francis: May 2024
For the People - Zarina Kassir: May 2024
Visionary - Felix Richter: May 2024
Any Means Necessary - Yui Kimura: June 2024
Babysitter - Steve Harrington: June 2024
Blood Rush - Renato Lyra: June 2024
Clairvoyance - Mikaela Reid: June 2024
Deathbound - The Executioner: June 2024
Fire Up - The Nightmare: June 2024
Hyperfocus - Rebecca Chambers: June 2024
Knock Out - The Cannibal: June 2024
Light-Footed - Ellen Ripley: June 2024
Mad Grit - The Legion: June 2024
Smash Hit - Lee Yun-jin: June 2024
Technician - Feng Min: June 2024
Tenacity - David Tapp: June 2024
Blood Pact - Cheryl Mason: July 2024
Hex: Haunted Ground - The Spirit: July 2024
Hoarder - The Twins: July 2024
Power Struggle - Élodie Rakoto: July 2024
Scourge Hook: Pain Resonance - The Artist: July 2024
Wake Up! - Quentin Smith: August 2024
Teamwork: Collective Stealth - Renato Lyra: September 2024
Wicked - Sable Ward: September 2024
See even more perks with long times
2024
Discordance - The Legion: October 2024
Plot Twist - Nicolas Cage: October 2024
Resurgence - Jill Valentine: October 2024
Blood Warden - The Nightmare: November 2024
Coulrophobia - The Clown: November 2024
Specialist - Lara Croft: November 2024
Boon: Exponential - Jonah Vasquez: December 2024
Coup de Grâce - The Twins: December 2024
Desperate Measures - Felix Richter: December 2024
Exultation - Trevor Belmont: December 2024
Fogwise - Vittorio Toscano: December 2024
Head On - Jane Romero: December 2024
Oppression - The Twins: December 2024
2025
Batteries Included - The Good Guy: January 2025
Breakdown - Jeff Johansen: January 2025
Franklin's Demise - The Cannibal: January 2025
Strength in Shadows - Sable Ward: January 2025
Up the Ante - Ace Visconti: January 2025
Wiretap - Ada Wong: January 2025
Camaraderie - Steve Harrington: February 2025
Better than New - Rebecca Chambers: March 2025
Lucky Star - Ellen Ripley: March 2025
Ultimate Weapon - The Xenomorph: March 2025
Alien Instinct - The Xenomorph: April 2025
Awakened Awareness - The Mastermind: April 2025
Overwhelming Presence - The Doctor: April 2025
Spirit Fury - The Spirit: April 2025
Better Together - Nancy Wheeler: May 2025
Boon: Dark Theory - Yoichi Asakawa: May 2025
Friendly Competition - Thalita Lyra: May 2025
Hex: Retribution - The Deathslinger: May 2025
Infectious Fright - The Plague: May 2025
Make Your Choice - The Pig: May 2025
Pharmacy - Quentin Smith: May 2025
This is not fun or fair for any player, and adding up to that the Shrine is able to offer perks from free characters, which is total nonsense and people really complain about this specifically.
I've been going over it for a while with some ideas and here is a list of stuff that can be either added separately or as a whole for a complete overhaul of the Shrine of Secrets, making it, as I said, more engaging, fun, accessible and fair for everyone, while keeping it functional and profitable for BHVR.
REMOVE FREE PERKS
Exclude ALL perks from base/starter characters, both Killers and Survivors. This would only go for Dwight Fairfield, Meg Thomas, David King, Claudette Morel, Jake Park, William "Bill" Overbeck, The Trapper, The Wraith, The Hillbilly, The Nurse and The Huntress, which are the ones available for every player. This will allow for more useful room in the Shrine of Secrets, and less frustration from players.
EXPAND TO 6 SLOTS
With the amount of perks there are in the game and more to come, 4 slots is not enough to keep up. Expanding it to 6 Slots would make each Shrine of Secrets rotation feel more fresh and varied, obviously maintaining the balance between 3 perks for Killers and 3 perks for Survivors.
RANDOM 4 SLOTS AND PROBABILITIES
With the 6 Slots system, 4 slots would be for a total random selection of perks, each slot would have a 80% chance to offer an Original Perk and a 20% chance to offer a Licensed Perk.
LEGACY SLOTS
With the 6 Slots system, the remaining 2 slots would be for the Killer and Survivor perk with the longest time without appearing in the Shrine, regarding of being Original or Licensed. This would function as a protection for overall bad luck and perks not showing up for years.
PURCHASE LIMIT
With the 6 Slots system, players with enough resources could easily get all the perks if they want to, to prevent this, there would be a 4 purchase limit in the Shrine of Secrets, leaving the max purchases as it is already in the game. This limit wouldn't have any other restrictions, so players can buy whatever perks they want in the Shrine but with a 4 perk limit. (With the multiple currency option shown further down, the limit could be even lower as perks would be more accessible)
NON-REPEATING SYSTEM
To prevent perks from appearing very regularly and other getting left behind, perks that appear in the Shrine would have a cooldown before they can show up again, being 4 weeks for Original Perks and 6 weeks for Licensed Perks, this cooldown would start at the end of each rotation.
ALWAYS TIER I, STACKING AND MULTIPLE CURRENCY OPTION
New and casual players struggle to obtain Iridescent Shards for their playtime, so allowing players to have the possibility of buying perks in the Shrine of Secrets with Bloodpoints would give a refreshing approach on how people manage their grind and Bloodpoints in the game. This would also benefit retaining players that cannot afford to invest money in the game.
The Shrine only offering Tier I perks would make it for a better, more linear and smoother progression for players, allowing them to stack them, while keeping the prices as they are currently in the game, but with a little tweak and welcoming the Bloodpoints option:
(First Purchase) Tier I Perks | (Second Purchase) Tier II Perks | (Third Purchase) Tier III Perks | |
|---|---|---|---|
Original Perks Price | 2000 Shards OR 2M Bloodpoints | 4000 Shards OR 2.5M Bloodpoints | 6000 Shards OR 3M Bloodpoints |
Licensed Perks Price | 2000 Shards OR 3.5M Bloodpoints | 4000 Shards OR 4M Bloodpoints | 6000 Shards OR 4.5M Bloodpoints |
PREVIEW WINDOW
In order to have more engagement, playtime and planning from players, the next Shrine of Secrets rotation could be previewed with a 24-48 hours anticipation, allowing them to grind for perks they were looking to buy or just saving up Bloodpoints and Iridescent Shards if they ultimately decide to buy perks.
NEW CONTENT GRACE PERIOD
This is critical for the whole system to work and be beneficial for both the player base and the developers.
Perks from new DLC's, whether Original or Licensed, would be excluded from the Shrine of Secrets for 4 months, protecting initial sales and incentivizing some players to buy DLC's to skip the waiting, and also assuring that the perks from a DLC, wouldn't be in the Shrine of Secrets until a new DLC is already out and around for a while.
Please let me know what you all think of these changes and what stuff you would change, improve or remove.
Comments
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You've made a lot of good points. The sheer fact that there is only 4 slots with the massive amount of perks that are now available in the game compared to when the Shrine first got released, shows that it needs to be improved. Also, I have noticed the occurrence of some perks not being seen again for at least a year or longer, which sucks since it rotates every week and if we are getting duplicate perks with in just a few months, it really is bothersome for those who are waiting for a specific perk or such and end up waiting for what feels like eternity.
Now the multiple currency option is an idea, although I think it would ultimately take away from the current bonus of buying out a perk that you already have maxed out to get blood points in return. That's just my two sense.
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Thanks for the feedback, and yes, from all the points I made I'm sure the Buy with Bloodpoints option is the less likely to happen, but with the new cap at 5M and the way I see it, players can be rewarded because of their playtime by this system, while maintaining the mechanic to exchange Shards for Bloodpoints.
So this could work for players that want to grind a lot and save Bloodpoints to get or level up a perk, hence the high amount of Bloodpoints I chose, while other players can still benefit from exchanging Shards for Bloodpoints, this system would then come with some sort of restriction that, once you have a Tier III Perk, you can only get it with Shards, because it wouldn't make sense to spend millions of Bloodpoints to get 100K in return.
Also, a 2M+ purchase for a perk is quite a blow to the wallet but I see it as a good balance from Iridescent Shards, and also considering that players frequently spend Shards for characters or skins, Bloodpoints in the Bloodweb and also that players won't be trying to buy everything in the Shrine but rather the perks they want in their builds. And now that I mention it, maybe this system could also bring some room for more varied and original builds since people have more options.1 -
This is basically what I wanted them to do with the shrine.
Good work.
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Yeah we definitely some changes. Thank you.
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I'll be editing the post with information on how many days some perks spent out of rotation before appearing again in the ongoing shrine, and I'll keep updating it for future ones.
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this is exactly what they need to do. they need to stop the cash grabbing and actually improve their game.
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Now that I updated all the examples of perks with long times I see that zero perks from The Twins have been in the Shrine since 2024…
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