The second iteration of 2v8 is now LIVE - find out more information here: https://forums.bhvr.com/dead-by-daylight/kb/articles/480-2v8-developer-update

Is The New Decisive Strike OverPowered?

I think before we can decide whether or not the new DS is overpowered we should look at what exactly the perk does, what it was meant to do, how well it is doing it and what might be some of the other reasons that people upset with it outside of just the perk being OP. Here's my breakdown of all of that but I'd love to hear your thoughts about whether or not the new DS should be changed.

What Is The Current DS Suppose To Do?

The New DS is Designed to prevent or deincentivize the killer from tunneling a player who was recently unhooked.

How Well is it doing that?

Currently extremely well, according to some people almost to well.

Is There Punishment for Misusing it?

To be honest, not really. considering that you have to be hooked in order for the perk even activate it's really hard to justify having a punishment for misusing it are even be able to misuse it really. That being said it's not impossible.

Is there counterplay To It?

There is some counter play today but generally that comes in the form of just slugging the survivor if you believe that they have decisive strike. It doesn't really remove them from the game but it does slow them down and prevent them from interacting with anything and force another player to have to save them as opposed to just them getting away for free.ultimately although there's counterplay to having to eat the stun there's nothing preventing the perk from doing its job which is forcing you to either wait or interact with other players rather than interact with the person who has DS.

What is the real thing people are having an issue with "In My Opinion?"

IMO the real issue Killers are having is not with DS itself but with the combo’s being run with DS. DS/Deliverance, DS/Unbreakable, DS/BT, and DS/Adrenaline, getting hit with 2 or more of these back to back and be really disheartening for a killer, and earth shattering, in terms of game play momentum, it could easily turn what might be a 4k into a 4 escape. That being said, the devs are intentionally designing these perks to be used together, whether it is these DS combos, Window of Opportunity/dance with me, iron will/calm spirit No Mither/Deadhard, Unbreakable/Tenacity, THEY WANT THESE PERKS TO BE USED TOGETHER!

A Second Opinion!

SO I talked to my friend who is mostly a Killer main to get his opinion on the matter and his take was this ...

“I disagree overall, at low level play it does its job, But at high level its used to harass killers. I’ve been playing Red ranks Ghostface for like two weeks this, literally only ghost face! Someone gets unhooked, they get BT, then they try to soak hits for their rescuer, then use their D strike, then their exhaustion, then their instaheals, and it’s just GG form there! Not to mention you have <Insert Popular Streamer here> running around telling everyone how fun it is to 14 second stun killers. All it takes is 2 or more people to coordinate at a high level. Its not at all people getting tunneled, its using DS to be in positions you shouldn’t be. Doing gens in the open, following the killer! High level DS use is just baiting the killer to waste their time. It is not a tool that balances the game. but that Because of the combos you talked about earlier.”

I think it was good to hear from the other side on this, but I would also love to hear from you guys here too. What do you think is the New DS OP or is it just where it should be?

TLDR: Peep the video for that https://youtu.be/gyUypVis9Vw


«1

Comments

  • Keanuqwerty
    Keanuqwerty Member Posts: 126

    since d.s got changed i have only got stunned once by it, even though many people run it, it seems,so meh, its not that good i guess. especially since it only took an extra 10 seconds to down them again.

  • Raccoon
    Raccoon Member Posts: 7,716

    DS is broken endgame.

    Oh, just get it out of the way early by tunneling? Survivors love that.

  • DaS_only
    DaS_only Member Posts: 656

    No.

  • BlueFang
    BlueFang Member Posts: 1,379
    edited August 2019

    Great anti-tunnel perk and I've wish I had equipped in quite a few games


    Pretty much loses it's purpose when survivors stop using it as such and learn to use it be essentially untouchable but of course "AnTi-TuNNeL perk bro"

    Yeah sure is great not being able to sacrifice the Kate with an ultra red key, when I found her on the other side of the map because I misjudged her DS-Strike Timer and could only watch as she escapes through the hatch with her friend too


    Great stuff.

  • Boosted_Dwight
    Boosted_Dwight Member Posts: 3,059

    Eh, new Ds is fine imo.

  • NMCKE
    NMCKE Member Posts: 8,243

    Make Your Choice is a good counter, it has a built in DS timer so you'll know when exactly to pick up the slugged survivor! :)


    It also has the bonus of hitting two birds with one stone, you can get the rescuer or the hooked survivor!

  • Mochan
    Mochan Member Posts: 2,886

    That's no surprise, because it's an anti-tunneling perk, and killers everywhere are tunneling. If you want to reduce the incidence of DS use, you have to reduce the number of killers tunneling.

  • Warlock_2020
    Warlock_2020 Member Posts: 1,867
    edited August 2019

    I rarely see DS run anymore. I have been hit with DS only twice since the change and I run approximately 20-30 matches a week easily. DS is a non-factor for most killers I would think. I can see there being an end game issue with FS, but not often.

  • Visionmaker
    Visionmaker Member Posts: 2,051
    edited August 2019

    Run MYC. Don't tunnel and go for the savior instead.

    The fact that you readily have behavioral changes as a counter is enough counterplay for any perk. What counterplay is there to NOED? The counterplay is cleansing totems. But "I don't want to" is what you are essentially telling me.

    Furthermore, DS does not make the list of top perks used even before its nerf. You are noticing it more because of confirmation bias. This is because you don't like to and won't counterplay against it, and thus, DS serves its purpose. I repeat: DS is effective against you because you refuse to counterplay. This is not a reason to nerf it.

  • Usui
    Usui Member Posts: 531

    News flash, that's exacty how the old DS worked as well. Nice one.

  • Theluckyboi
    Theluckyboi Member Posts: 1,113

    DS is fine and an excellent anti-tunneling perk, nuff said

    Said by someone who got stunned twice in the exit gates by 2 Decisives when playing bubba

  • Dwight_Fairfield
    Dwight_Fairfield Member Posts: 7,019

    It isn't April Fools day is it?

  • Raven014
    Raven014 Member Posts: 4,188

    I don't mind the new DS, because it's fair, but I do disagree with survivors jumping into lockers if they have it. It's dumb.

  • prettyf
    prettyf Member Posts: 442

    yes its mega op but it needs for balance

    what currently doesn't needs for balance are nurse and swf

  • prettyf
    prettyf Member Posts: 442

    i think its counterpart of noed so both should exist together or doesn't

  • savevatznick
    savevatznick Member Posts: 651

    Decisive Strike prevents being "tunneled" very well as is, so it fulfills its intended purpose. However, in doing that, it creates a ton of other problems.

    OP mentioned its synergy with other powerful perks that create windows of nigh-invulnerability for recently unhooked survivors. There is also the issue of survivors who have DS active forcing grabs from the killer (Hiding in a locker) in order to abuse their Decisive.

    To me, its duration (60 seconds) is the problem, because that window of time feels way too lenient. The issue is that if it was way too short, killers would simply prolong a chase until it wore off, and not feel the repercussions of "tunneling" someone, but right now, an efficient killer can hook an entirely different survivor, then still get Decisive'd by the person they hooked before, just because it lasts that long. DS acts, in some cases, as a crutch for people who are simply bad at surviving because regardless of whether or not they get to use their DS, the simple threat of it existing wastes a killer's time.

    If I were to change ANYTHING about Decisive, I would make it so if a different survivor is hooked while Decisive is active, it would turn Decisive inactive. This would still make it remain a "don't tunnel me" perk, while also preventing it from hindering killers that play within its bounds. Right now, it does its "job" but also way, way too much more.

  • edgarpoop
    edgarpoop Member Posts: 8,365

    It's absolutely broken in endgame situations. I intentionally eat DS early in games because it's so much worse when it comes up in an endgame situation. It's not used as an anti-tunnel perk in red rank play, nor do I think there should be anti-tunnel perks. It's on teammates to ensure safe unhooks. I block for unhooked teammates all the time. It's not hard. Why am I being penalized because the unhooker pulled a Houdini and isn't blocking, and the injured person is just crouching in a deadzone? Why do they get a second chance even though they did everything wrong? It's the dumbest thing I see from survivors. "We can only body block the killer once the exit gate is open."

  • edgarpoop
    edgarpoop Member Posts: 8,365

    This is a really good analysis. If they want it to be an anti-tunnel perk, it should actually have anti-tunnel stipulations. The duration should be slightly longer than BT and the perk should be inactive once they're fully healed or another survivor is hooked.

  • SnakeSound222
    SnakeSound222 Member Posts: 4,467
    edited August 2019

    It’s a hook immunity perk disguised as an anti-tunnel one. Imagine if you catch two Survivors trying to protect the recently unhooked one. You manage to down them all and hook two of them very quickly. You try to hook the third, but guess what? You get hit with DS because you’re playing too good. That’s not tunneling at all. Or if the unhooked Survivor fails at hiding or jumps in a locker, you can easily down them but lose some pressure when they escape because DS. I should not have to leave a Survivor in a locker just because I know they’ll get a free escape once I grab them.

    To combat this, the perk needs to deactivate immediately when the Survivor performs an action or another Survivor goes down. To truly punish Survivors throwing themselves at the Killer or hiding in dumb spots in hopes of getting to use their DS, the perk’s timer should be reduced after the Survivor has been within a certain distance of the Killer for a certain amount of time or the Killer was at least 40 meters away when the unhook happened.

  • MdsTheGriffin
    MdsTheGriffin Member Posts: 38

    It is fine as it is. It is literally only a one time use and a killer can still tunnel that survivor after they use DS. Dont tunnel and you wont encounter it. Simple as that. DS is fine and doesnt need a nerf. It is not OP.

  • cetruzzo
    cetruzzo Member Posts: 323

    Anti tunnel and 1 minute cooldown make no sense to me

  • Jago
    Jago Member Posts: 1,742

    DS should be disactivated if the survivor is fully healed.

  • Aven_Fallen
    Aven_Fallen Member Posts: 16,250

    @Kerbert

    I can only speak for myself, but I am using DS post-Nerf, just because it is way more balanced than before. I did not want to be that guy who makes the Killer hate him for using such a Bullshit Perk. (Dont know if I would think the same nowadays..)

    And I am pretty sure that also others can feel like that, because if people play both sides, they know how stupid old DS was.


    @topic:

    I dont think that it is overpowered. There is a legit counter to it, this would be slugging. Of course I also got hit by DS when I downed and hooked two other people before, but thats how it is. I mean, when you are in this situation that you are able to down and hook other people in a minute, you will most likely be fine by eating the DS of one guy.

    And when it comes to slugging, when it comes to Map Pressure, slugging is the same as Hooking someone: At least two people (the one on the ground and another one getting him up) are not working on Gens.

  • DBDbuildsYT
    DBDbuildsYT Member Posts: 1,042

    DS is the perk I use the most, I don't even remember a game where I didn't use it.

    So DS is NEEDED as an anti tunnelling perk, because tunnelling is a winning strategy when successful but annoying for the survivor when it does happen.

    What is wrong about DS? I think the length of DS should be looked into or at least DS should be disabled when someone else is hooked or when you start to work on a gen/totem.

    What I currently do after being unhooked is to jump on a gen right away and work on it as much as possible because you are essentially immune to the killer for 60 seconds.

    So DS should protect you from tunnelling like it does, but shouldn't work when you start doing actions which are different than running away from the killer

  • Alfred
    Alfred Member Posts: 272

    Anti-tunnel perk which works after you hooked another survival...

    Make sense...

  • Warlock_2020
    Warlock_2020 Member Posts: 1,867

    It has an absolute counter play with sluggi8. Furthermore, it is anti tunnel. If you have problems getting hit by it then perhaps you are tunneling a bit too much? In that case, it's working as intended.

  • RoKrueger
    RoKrueger Member Posts: 1,371

    It is fine. You should not tunnel the good looper anyway, tunnel the less skilled one or the one with the toolbox and get it out of the way.

  • PolarBear
    PolarBear Member Posts: 1,899

    If DS deactivated when gates get powered it would be better balanced.

  • CronaWins
    CronaWins Member Posts: 650

    No.

  • Judgement
    Judgement Member Posts: 955

    Decisive Strike isn't overpowered so much as overly safe. Once you get unhooked, you're completely safe for an entire minute, no ifs or buts about it - you are completely impervious to danger for sixty seconds.

    This could be fixed by having active Decisive Strike timers become deactivated once another Survivor gets hooked during the time period, and that's about it. That way, it really will serve as an anti-tunnel perk.

    Like people have said before, they have been able to hook another Survivor, or even two, and still get hit by Decisive Strike by the first one they hooked. No matter how you look at it, that is a sign that the perk is a bit flawed and just needs a little more polish to make it more fair and work properly as a true anti-tunnel, and not a temporary godmode.

  • noneofyourbusiness
    noneofyourbusiness Member Posts: 532

    Yes, i think not only DS need a nerf but most survivor stuff, DH, stupid immune to hit. Balance Landing, brain dead perk, also creating infinites, adrenaline, no comment, 4x can buy surivors a lot of minutes bc, they don't need to heal, instaheal and you get 5s SB, lifesaver in chase, BT need a little nerf, SB exploit, instaheals, another brain dead thing, press space to reapir your mistake, very NOICE, keys be like "we're bad but we have a cruth so go ** off killer, yea killers op btw, with thousands of pallets and windows on every map lul

  • HectorBrando
    HectorBrando Member Posts: 3,167

    Just slug the guy or chase someone else for a minute after the unhook.

  • Marcus
    Marcus Member Posts: 2,047

    I would reduce DS stun time to 3 seconds and make it so if you are grabbed from a gen or locker, you don't get the skill check from DS.

    I think that would make DS more fair and not as abusable as it is now.

  • Acromio
    Acromio Member Posts: 1,737
    edited August 2019

    It's been an overpowered perk since its day 1, and it'll probably always be.

    Post edited by Rizzo on
  • Andreyu44
    Andreyu44 Member Posts: 1,527

    Its fine,tbh.

    Its just a noob friendly perk .

  • DrVeloxcity
    DrVeloxcity Member Posts: 301

    I think a decent way to balance Decisive Strike would be to currently keep it as is, but I believe that if a survivor becomes fully healed within those 40/50/60 seconds, then DS should become inactive until the next time the survivor gets off a hook (unless DS was used already).

  • Carpemortum
    Carpemortum Member Posts: 4,506

    😆 [1] LOL!


    We need this button back badly.

  • Awakey
    Awakey Member Posts: 3,145

    I actually didn't think of that. Plus, MYC gives yet another reason not to tunnel.

  • Marcus
    Marcus Member Posts: 2,047
  • CoffengMin
    CoffengMin Member Posts: 862

    new ds is fine, just dont tunnel, its barely ever useful whenever you dont tunnel

  • GrootDude
    GrootDude Member Posts: 14,110

    I don’t think it is OP. Most survivors I face run it but I slug a lot in my killer games so I am rarely hit by it. I took it out of my survivor build because people would slug me anyway.

  • Raccoon
    Raccoon Member Posts: 7,716

    Except in the endgame, which high ranking survivors save it for >_>