New Hex: Ruin Critique

Now, I've seen a lot of controversy surrounding the updated Hex: Ruin. I'd like to give my opinion on the matter without the use of excessive all-caps and insults towards the devs. I truly understand why they want to change Ruin, but the way they did it baffles me.

Now, I'll focus on what they did right.

Non-Skillcheck Based -

This is a great change. It's now more consistent, while not bringing frustration against newer players. The power as well seems fairly strong. However, this is all I can say that is good about this new Hex: Ruin.

The Problem with Late Game Hex Perks -

"It is less useful in the early game, but very useful in the late game. Survivors now have a more interesting choice about when it is necessary to find and cleanse the Hex Totem."

This is... problematic. This shows a lack of understanding about Hex perks. By the time you'll get to a point where you'll get any real use out of Ruin, it's gone. For the rest of the match. This is why the majority of Hex perks flop. You don't see Huntress' Lullaby, Third Seal, Devour Hope, etc. because they take too long to get the use out of. And by the time they become useful, it's already gone. Hex totems are not hard to find, in fact they're quite easy to find with simple map memorization / game sense. This is why Ruin, despite being a Hex perk, was a part of the meta for years now. It was an early game Hex perk, with its risks and rewards. The only Hex perk to come close to Ruin is Haunted Grounds, which rewards you for them finding and breaking the totem.

The Risk of Ruin -

"The passive nature of the gameplay pressure it provides means that there is a huge amount of potential with very little effort or risk on behalf of The Killer."

This seems to completely forget the idea of why a perk is a perk. Perks have been designed around having a build with a limited selection of powerful powerups to give you more of an edge in a match. Since when were perks supposed to have effort or risk? (Might I add, Ruin does have a risk to it. It's a Hex perk, and having the chance to play with 3 perks all match is a pretty significant risk.) Also why are so many other perks designed to have 0 risk on the survivor side? For example:

Dead Hard - Can fix looping errors and extend a loop with the effort of pressing a button.

Sprint Burst - Can make any dead zone safe.

Decisive Strike - A full minute of practically invincibility.

Just to name a few. None of these have any risks involved, but can change the tide of the match as much if not more than Ruin, because you can deal with up to 4 of these perks, and they're reusable (except for DS). But survivor's have to deal with one Ruin, and once its gone, its gone.

Other Tidbits -

"We also looked carefully to see how it functions as part of a Killer's loadout. Beyond the obvious desire to slow down generator repair, Hex: Ruin functions as one of the very few perks effective as slowing generator repair in the first couple of minutes of the Trial. This is important to Killers' rankings because the Gatekeeper Emblem highly rewards keeping as many of the 7 generators incomplete as they can for as long as possible."

The early game is one of the most core parts of a DBD match. If you can see how effective a perk that slows down the game that early is, why choose to get rid of it? Gen times have been a massive complaint for months upon months, and instead of addressing it you take away one of the 2 perks that give killers enough time to think before a gen flies by? Even if gen times are balanced, it's stressful knowing if I don't play my early game right gens are going to fly by. It's my fault yes, but a video game shouldn't be that stressful.

"Its punishment of new players or those who can't hit Great Skill Checks. Newer players trying to help veterans with generator repairs tend to make the situation worse rather than better."

Don't you think that new players even being able to be in the same match as veterans is a problem in itself?

3 Gen Potential -

Now I take a look at the other side of the coin: defensive killers. Your Hags, Trappers, Demogorgons, etc. These killers can almost ensure a win with this perk. They can easily defend their totem, and their 3 gen potential is insane. This can make games last a lot longer than it should ever get to.

Basically, I get why this change was on the list. But, the design is flawed in multiple ways. If you're not playing a defensive killer, this perk will be underwhelming. If you are playing one, this perk almost ensures a win with the correct setup.