Killer Powers: What Makes a Good Power?

This write up is in no way meant to insult, belittle, or patronize the designers at Behavior. While I haven't been a huge fan with the direction the game has been going in the last few years, I've resolved to give constructive feedback one last try. What I will attempt here is a brief dissection on what makes a good killer power in this current, chase oriented meta of Dead by Daylight. That is to say, everything I write here is based on my understanding of it at red ranks as a killer player, primarily (60/40 in favor of killer, but I do play both roles).

I will set out a small list of rules that will better describe my mindset for determining what makes a good killer power. In order for a power to be considered viable, it must meet most of the following criteria:

• The killer power is strong without add-ons.
• The killer power is not under the control of the survivors.
• The killer power provides the ability to quickly down survivors or traverse the map at speeds beyond those of a standard killer (or both).
• The killer power ignores or mitigates survivor defenses.

What makes a killer power strong at the highest level of play?

In order for a killer to be viable at high levels of play, they must have the ability to cover ground quickly or secure downs in a timely manner before a survivor can get to their zone of control. The best killers in the game typically have either mobility or lethality (sometimes both; hillbilly is a good example), as time management is at the core of killer gameplay. A survivor is in control when near pallet heavy zones, certain structures/safe loops, etc. Thus, the ability to catch them outside of their zone of control is essential. Killers whose powers do not help them in a chase are not competitive, and will fail miserably against competent teams of solo survivors or coordinated SWF groups more often than not.

What I say next is unfortunate, but it is the truth of Dead by Daylight (and most games with a competitive element): not all killers are created equal. Your individual skill does matter, however, the way Dead by Daylight is designed, you are artificially limited by the design of every killer save for two: the nurse, and the spirit. Think of it this way: what is a higher threat to a group of competent survivors - a nurse played at maximum potential or a plague played at maximum potential? The answer, of course, is simple. While both players may have equal knowledge of the mechanics and fully grasp the fundamentals, only one killer has obvious limitations placed upon their power. In essence, one killer will scale tremendously with your skill, while the other has a built in stopper on your personal growth with their power, instead handing control over to your opponents.

Now, there are two things I would like to discuss here, albeit briefly - the difference between inbuilt counterplay and organically developed counterplay. Here are examples of both:

• The plague has counterplay built in to her power that hands control over to your opponents in its entirety (they choose not to cleanse, and thus, deprive you of your main power). Nothing needs to be developed in response to the plague, as this hindrance is attached to her power. This requires the survivors only follow the intended counterplay for the killer in question without the need for developing strategies of their own. This is needlessly frustrating for the killer and doesn't encourage the survivors to explore other avenues of action against the killer since there's an obvious, efficient method to counter her with little effort.
• The nurse has no built in counterplay, however, survivors have developed their own method of dealing with this powerful killer through their exposure to her. Breaking line of sight, certain structures/dead zones, and unpredictable movement are examples of tactics the survivors were forced to adopt in response to her ability to control the flow of a chase. This, in my opinion, is what is needed in Dead by Daylight.

To summarize my post (should anyone at BVHR even read this thread):

• Killer powers with in built counterplay are not fun nor healthy for Dead by Daylight.
• Survivors should be given a chance to develop their own tactics/strategies against certain killers using the core mechanics of the game. Building in unnecessary weaknesses to killer powers for the sake of survivors is both unfun for the killer and patronizing for survivors (they're a clever lot and will figure out the best tactics to use against their killer in time).
• Killers who are created in spite of the way the game is played are wasted resources and potential - Ghostface in his current state is a perfect example. Stealth killers are gimmicky and not viable at the highest level of play for very obvious reasons: the survivor camera and the general awareness most of them develop as a result of Wraith/Myers. Without a change in the core mechanics of Dead by Daylight, they will always remain underwhelming without ludicrously overpowered add-ons or powers.
• Every killer should come with at least one of the following should the meta of the game not shift; mobility, lethality (exposed, instant downs), or the ability to ignore survivor defenses. Ideally, at least two of those would be excellent, but it is possible to have a powerful killer that lacks one of these essential features.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Hopefully someone at BVHR will find this helpful. But hey, what do I know, I'm just some schmuck on the internet that plays this game way too much in his spare time.