Huge Perk Overhaul; Skull Merchant F Tier; Billy Nerf | Dev Notes September

[@thefinaldovah9324]

i love how lately theyve been really bold with perk changes, it really keeps things interesting and fresh imo

[@suspecm6316]

It's very refreshing as well to see strong non-regression perks as well. Especially on the hexes. For the longest time the two viable hex builds were Devour hope and Ruin and Ruin got kicked into the dirt, even if it's still a fine perk.

[@Ghosta085]

None of them are going to be ran over corrupt pain res.

[@yoshineshinkaro9199]

Killed distortion

[@drunkengibberish1143]

⁠@@yoshineshinkaro9199not really, just made it more of an anti-tunnel or protection hit perk

[@fatnootz3466]

@@Ghosta085 There are many different kinds of people who play this game. Some people want to use meta because its the strongest, and others use meta because sometimes it feels like the only thing you can get by playing as. Just because these buffs don't instantly make said perks into some unholy even more annoying meta doesn't mean there aren't people like me who will immediately trash them.

[@Some_Idiot_Online]

the face cam ruins my emersion that its actually an alive pepe the blue frog speaking to us.

[@jarrett2460]

face cam jumpscare

[@Nassamest]

He does look like one tho

[@rossGrett]

@@Some_Idiot_Online jokes on you I honestly didn't even know there was a face cam I had it on in the background so I still see him as a blue pepe

[@MUSQUIZanimation]

lol. Now I can’t unimagine it.

[@adeptgopnik]

This is the first time Ive seen what Hens looks like on camera. Completely different than how I pictured him. Its so interesting how a voice can give such a different expectation than the truth.

[@IIIIIVEERATIIIII]

Yeah I thought he was a blue penguin frog.

[@beepboop3264]

He was Ace to me.

[@user-th6qy9nt4x]

I thought he looked like Ace😂

[@Spyro5500]

His last few videos has showed his face too

[@JaSupreme_]

Felt the same way, I expected a big beefy guy with a huge beard.

[@Trident_Gaming03]

It is VERY nice to see they're making the more complex perks simpler

[@Spyro5500]

I will actually try Machine Learning now :D

[@max-power1023]

@@Spyro5500 Machine learning been good since last buff

[@Trident_Gaming03]

Wraith finally has a semi-decent perk?!?

[@feathero3]

Blood Hound has always been great for me on M1 killers, especially when combined with Sloppy Butcher to create extra blood pools.

[@snow_inc]

​@@feathero3for majority of people bloodhound is pretty useless considering it isn't typically that hard to track blood stains without it

[@Sweetness_01]

It's got a cool down on it for basically no reason

[@jaida3377]

Dbd has needed a perk like this for a while. It seems like everyone from new players to veterans sometimes struggle with tracking because of how clapped audio is in this game as well as scratch marks being broken every other patch.

[@daichei6882]

@@feathero3 Bloodhound actually has a down side, which is that it makes old blood pool look fresh, confusing you on which one are the fresh ones and which one are the old ones

[@middox239]

imagine 2 people playing with corrective action and one misses the skill check, gets a great, activates hyperfocus, this triggers more skillchecks, both players keep thisloop up forever, gen done in 25 seconds no toolboxes

[@arthurlepy3203]

Wait, if corrective action does trigger corrective action gaining a token, you are right If that is true this perk will be insane

[@johnsteve3765]

I’m going next when I see swf if this goes live make a video tell hens, otz JRM anyone to abuse this in the ptb

[@feathero3]

Yeah I am a little scared of that perk now if specifically used by friend groups doing these kind of shenanigans.

[@Bigc1109]

you could just spam space at that point cause a great skill check would give yourself another token and with hyper and deadline it would go SO fast

[@MrDoit187]

Very fun. Especially for the Killer

[@DirtyDeedsDoneDirtCheapD4C]

Quick Gambit is actually good but not OP cuz 5% is about 4-5 seconds and that only if you last 90 seconds to truly have value, but it's a good perk because it basically screams "DO GENS I'M CHASED"

[@feathero3]

Was worried until I saw it's cool down on injury. If you're good enough to not even get hurt, I think that's a fair trade off to your team.

[@Czesnek]

The main thing of this perk is that you are able to see survivors when in a chase. It is actually a good info perk now.

[@twistedf_]

Now I only need a perk that allows you to kick farming "teammates" during unhook attempt from them that will cause a blind, oblivious and 90% hindred for the rest of the game

[@feathero3]

@@twistedf_ Really should be allowed to hold Run to prevent unhooks, similar to how you can do that to prevent heals.

[@DirtyDeedsDoneDirtCheapD4C]

@@Czesnek Yeah but not that strong, before I was running it with bond, now I can remove bond because when I'm in chase, if I'm not hit, I can have it, but the whole speed thing isn't that insane

[@MiserableMuon]

They did skull merchant absolutely dirty. instead of increasing her skill floor and making her more counterable, while providing QoL changes for her, they just pulled out the hammer and recked her into an oblivion. PixelBush is not gonna be happy with this one.

[@feathero3]

I absolutely hate Skull Merchant, and even I agree this was harsh to the character.

[@NewSirenSong]

I think while it may bum out some content creators and the small number of players who main her, this is a change a very large part of the community asked for, she made dbd miserable for the largest part of their player base for far longer than she should have been able to. Even after the rework they just made chase against her obnoxious. She was better clown, and nobody likes him as is.

[@Leonlonnyluv]

​@@NewSirenSong I'm probably one of the few people that "see potential in this nerf" I can how see a drone with 2 radiuses is annoying and removing 1 of them could be fine...BUT SHE GOT ZERO COMPENSATION BUFFS TO THE DRONES ABILITIES! They could have atleast increased the drones spin speed to 150 degrees from it's current 85 degrees and it wouldn't be so bad. Honestly this is objectively just poor game design, especially for a killer that I genuinely believe has the potential to be very fun and unique in chase (sounds crazy but I genuinely believe so).

[@jh22966]

⁠​⁠@@NewSirenSongthis is why the community sucks tbh. SM after was only being whinged about because she is annoying and tbh not a cool killer. Nothing to do with actual balance and how strong she is. Also maybe a nitpick but I do think clown was always stronger than her in chase.

[@thehamburglar2420]

Honestly I don't think she's dead. Skull Merchant's trap play style got gutted, but chase is gonna be stronger. The only kind of Bone Bargainer player the second scan line really helped with is people who just put down drones mindlessly, since survivors had to dodge two hitboxes. A good Cranium Trader would only have to use one of the scan lines to laser tag the survivor and then try and hit them by rotating the drone. If anything, they are increasing her skill floor. We shouldn't really assume anything until it's already happened.

[@derpasaurusrex8335]

Distortion. Keep tokens, but in order to recover them you need to be in chase for 15 seconds. It is a more balanced rework.

[@morbidlyabeast5462]

💯💯

[@giuseppejoseph8890]

My issue with that is that I tend to get matched with Killers that run 3-4 aura reading perks and camp on top of that. Most of the time when used correctly, Distortion has helped me out of impossible situations. I'm sure I can edit my build again but most of my Solo matches go south and it's helped a lot.

[@rayanvax3906]

Move aside, Freddy. Looks like you are not the worst killer in the game anymore :(

[@rossGrett]

Honestly skull merchant is still gonna be getting the attention for killer to nerf that's why I left dbd last month the community complains about shit that isn't even that bad it's just they're bad and they ruin a fine killer Did SM need some tweaks yes but literally every killer needs tweaks as the game evolves but no we have to completely nerf killers people don't like to the ground won't be shocked if knight is next

[@doug2555]

@@rossGrett See knight might be a defensive/campy style killer but his power is at least more dynamic. SM is literally to just make a section of the map hell and its super fucking easy. I don't see how you can create a killer with stationary drones but somehow make it not boring as fuck. Like, they literally don't move. That's as static and undynamic as it gets. Then if you make them able to be moved or set them to patrol paths, you're just making Knight 2.0. I think SM honestly needs a complete rework, even conceptually. Drones and DBD just don't go together.

[@jame8618]

⁠@@rossGrettissue with skull merchant is she’s just horrible to play into no matter what add ons. Doesn’t help the worst type of killers play her which ruins her image even more. SM just requires putting drones up randomly and it gets old quick. It’s just not an engaging killer and she’s not even super strong and I’d rather face stronger killers

[@The_Hunter_ig]

They literally killed her bruh 😢

[@Angeldemonhybrid172]

WOMP WOMP CALL THE WHAMBULANCE WITH A SIDE OF FRENCH CRIES 😂

[@thefinaldovah9324]

new inner focus and poised combined with the new Eyes of belmont perk sounds like it'll be really fun

[@balikoboy7635]

we got survivor lethal pursuer now theyre gonna need a killer distortion.

[@pugstriker]

​@@balikoboy7635there is a killer distortion its called undetectable 🤓

[@SS_Tier]

With Alert too

[@Foxynezz]

"Survivors arent left in the dying state often...." 😂😂😂

[@spicytoast6890]

The fact that we will be seeing a mori after every 4k is actually awesome.

[@feathero3]

Depends on the killer player and how they've been playing. Just going to add insult to injury if they were playing in an already perceived toxic way. I mean they can still just do the horrible slug and bleed out tactic to the final survivor, waiting 3 minutes and 59 seconds, but then mori so you don't even have a chance to Power Struggle, Flip Flop, or Boil Over away as a slight consultation prize... =/ However as a well earned reward to a killer that played well, or even to a survivor who wants to go out in style after a good game, it's a great addition!

[@pepethefrog6809]

@@feathero3 I'd rather that they just end it with a mori than have to run and get slugged again. Slug builds are really damn boring to deal with as Survivors but it's becoming a more and more viable strategy nowadays.

[@sapphicseas0451]

Disagree, you can no longer bring a mori and kill all 4 by your own hand

[@OKMBVideos]

​@sapphicseas0451 Which was only after hooking them twice.

[@wonderfulrose477]

Now killers will be even more sweaty for their precious 4k

[@realjimmycasket]

Teamwork perks NO LONGER deactivate when injured.

[@brunocaruso8992]

I’ve been looking for this He said it wrong both times!

[@dumblenutz5561]

Blood pact and power of two time

[@theq5350]

20:49 Either he was going to say "Has a high kill rate and was problematic." Or "Doesnt have a big player base, so this won't really affect them." The absolute pause in his voice is hilarious.

[@jaemisx._]

Haven’t watched the video and not going to, chad and handsome man in corner too distracting to focus on

[@antianti8616]

Now you can mori the loser of the slug race & red light green light.

[@SK-XMBCBH]

The best change on the list tbh

[@MissionControlDRG]

If they cheat they're put 100 miles away and then moried once the team is out

[@Grampa_Swood]

That Wikipedia bookmark for East Frisian Low Saxon is so real

[@ProfHens]

LMAO

[@Footballfan896]

Professor doctor Hens just casually enabling his facecam for this video was the most shocking thing that’s happened to me this year, but I love it. It’s like, waking up one day to learn that Quick Gambit will actually be usable.

[@MistarZtv]

At the very worse I was expecting a "rework" more in line of the knight. While they still remove the parts survivors gate but give the killer something else new to play with. But instead she got Freddy 3.0

[@feathero3]

darn

[@stacked4637]

The knight "rework" was just a straight up nerf what are you talking about?

[@GoldenDeer_]

They said her rework is in 2025. This seems to just be them gutting her so garbage survivors stop bitching

[@p2c331]

@@GoldenDeer_ Your right

[@bruteforce5550]

​@@GoldenDeer_ cry

[@oranbluethorn3956]

The haste and hindered changes were kind of needed, but man the other drone changes were not required. A spin speed reduction would have done the job better, one scan line is to brutal. However I'm loving the amount of good Eyes Of Belmont pairing aura perks I'm seeing here. Good and bad bits here

[@DoctorTheo]

I also dont see the point of making the scan lines invisible. In fact, seeing them at a distance was one of my favoritie parts of Skully. It made it so that it feels like she could be anywhere, and had eyes everywhere

[@arthaiser]

anything bad that happens to SM is required, needed and celebrated.

[@Zenzei842]

@@arthaiser🤡

[@MiserableMuon]

@@arthaiser You spend your time hating a poorly designed killer. get a life.

[@YiptinFlynn]

@@Zenzei842Ironic since you like that clown of a killer

[@El_crusoff420]

Twak is going to be usefull AF with nemesis Easy pallet break and zombie value for the noice

[@feathero3]

Good point!

[@thehamburglar2420]

Already has been for a while

[@nd6672]

I already used thwack on him a lot, this just makes it even better.

[@TheOnlyToblin]

Interesting. Skull Merchant isn't now officially hated by both survivors AND killers. RIP SM We will never see you again You're just dead.

[@amongstus4418]

Glad that Billy just got a fair nerf instead of being dumpstered again. RIP in piss Skully though.

[@catofdeath8177]

Maybe not dumpstered in balance, but I think it killed him for a lot of players solely because of that Overdrive speed nerf :(. They obliterated the single most fun part of his kit, which was the crazy Overdrive speed. A lottt of people aren't going to play him anymore just because he's not as much fun, regardless of his ultimate strength.

[@amongstus4418]

@@catofdeath8177 idk it's a small nerf to the move speed during OD

[@catofdeath8177]

@@amongstus4418 It's a huge nerf. Overdrive used to be 30% faster, now it's just 15%. They're halving the increase which will radically hurt the fun level.

[@OrdellRob]

@@catofdeath8177skill issue.

[@wjzav1971]

@@catofdeath8177 No offense but Billy was stupid strong since the blue chainsaw. That nerf is fair.

[@yokusai593]

I'm hoping these Skull Merchant changes are a temporary fix to make her more palatable to the general player base while BHVR focuses on reworking her. If not, then it'd be pretty disappointing if this is what BHVR considers a rework.

[@solaropposite5920]

This is it. They did the same thing to Freddy when survivor mains bitched about it. Play a different killer and save yourself the trouble.

[@itscinovel]

Predator feels like it's gonna be a huge counter to the shift tech; If a survivor breaks chase, their aura gets revealed and possibly leaves them open to get mindgamed or hit by powers like PH's punishment. Then again if you do that and break chase while the perk's on cooldown, they might not get value from it.

[@lbgames9202]

Let's be honest, they didn't really address billy properly. They should make him like Onryo where her TVs don't turn on for a set duration at the start of the match to prevent her from TPing to where survivors spawn. Make it so either billy cannot gain overdrive for a set duration at the start of the match, or make it so that he is prevented from using his chainsaw all together for say 10s for example. They should also rework the turning rate add-ons while they're at it especially since they buffed overdrive indirectly here by making it easier to control by reducing its speed.

[@CraigWarren-fj9ui]

That only solves part of the billy problem, but that's definitely a step in the right direction. Maybe turn his sprint off entirely for the first 30 seconds ? Give him like a single sweep, maybe even put the sprint on cd after he uses it every time, and the cd is determined by how long the sprint was

[@adamhuxley6127]

The issue with distortion was that it was super effect because there's just too many perks that how the killer exactly where someone is without them knowing. I don't mind this change, however there has to be the same effect we saw in 2vs8, where survivors are told they have been revealed. That's all I ask. Don't stop me being revealed every single time, but just tell me so I know to stop hiding in the bush right next to the killer. Killer perks that show them where a survivor is should be to stop hiding, but all it does it keeps the survivor hiding and become and easy target. Force rhe survivors to stop hiding but give them a chance and tell them "the killer can literally see you through walls right now so run b*tch runnnn"

[@feathero3]

Agree. Giving players on either side straight up wall hacks is powerful enough, but to have that strength in secret is another problem entirely. Though I admit I find it funny when I hide super well against a killer as they kick a gen, only to immediately get stabbed behind the wall or tree I was at because of Nowhere To Hide.

[@sandnoodles]

Object of obession is going to be the new distortion

[@zaer-ezart]

The amount of time I managed to finish a gen that a bubba was camping with nowhere to hide is too high to count. People keep saying "Oh poor you, you can't hide the whole game anymore" but I never used it to hide, I used it to stay near the gens and finish them when the killer couldn't find me

[@cold-wolf]

that will literally make aura perks pointless, and I don't even use them, I run 4 slowdown cause aura reading is already kinda trash on most killers, even on pyramid head cause people can still play of audio Qs ground indicator and their reaction even without seeing him.

[@hotheadvr7030]

As a nemesis scream build killer, thwak rework is going to be so exciting

[@Hellschwarz]

I like most of this, I have just 2 things that I don't like: 1. I think distortion still should have stacks, but you only gain them back from starting a chase. This will remove the ratting aspect, while still having reliable coutnerplay to all the aura reading killers have nowadays. 2. Skull merchant nerfs are a joke. No compensation at all gives us something I never considered possible - a killer weaker than freddy.

[@TheTuneAce]

No stacks on distortion makes it pretty useless now. It gets burned instantly on one random aura reading and requires the survivor to survive a chase *and* not have the reactivated distortion be burned during chase to see use again vs stuff like no where to hide and bbq

[@feathero3]

110% agree on the tokens for Distortion staying and being tied to chase. Rewards you for actually running the killer, and/or pays you back for when tokens eventually run out and you're found.

[@NewSirenSong]

Either recharging via chase time (although it would need to recharge faster than 30 seconds imo) or recharging via working generators, that way you have to progress the game to retain your stealth in one way or another. Doesn't reward stealth with more stealth. We need more reliable counters to aura reading that require game progression or more side objectives to provide it

[@Hellschwarz]

@@NewSirenSong I think recharging via started chases should be enough, you can often start a chase and drop it pretty quickly. It rewards risky play. I do not like another gen tied to gen progress, since distortion people often sit on Gens anyways.

[@413X13]

She had every status effect in the game, why would she need compensation?

[@curiousset3525]

In regards to Hex: Crowd Control. You don't need to be in chase just do a rushed vault, so go look for the closest Z-walls at the start of the game and waste the perk.

[@Antarctide]

It'll still do what it does now so it overall is a buff regardless.

[@rossGrett]

Didn't it say the last 3/4/5 vaults so if you vault the first 5 worst walls when someone else vaults a good wall it will lock that window still

[@curiousset3525]

@@rossGrett You're right, the last 5 vaults, so that won't work. Then it actually just is an insane perk.

[@rossGrett]

@@curiousset3525 I mean it is a hex perk so I think people are over exaggerating it I feel like it's ruin 2.0 will get cleansed right out of the gate and boom no value

[@JustinSimoneau]

Biggest problem is that if you bait newer player in the saloon you can take them hostage very easily in the small room

[@xgenfun]

Leverage is now a tunnelling perk...

[@feathero3]

Ugh, good point. I liked the idea of discouraging healing under hook, as I think that's a bad practice for survivors in general, but agree that killers could easily abuse the fact that their intended tunnel victim can't be healed by the rescuer as quickly anymore. Hope this doesn't get abused like that.

[@nicememes7570]

New death bound + plaything is about to make IT3 myers very spooky

[@johnfanjoy3469]

Crowd Control: adds some value to all those random Z walls around the borders of some maps, if you can use them to help unlock the good vaults like Shack.

[@madbombermedia3070]

16:18 Clarification: Blood Echo gives Hemmo and Exhaustion to injured survivors, not Hemmo and Mangled. As a Blood Echo enjoyer on Legion, I am SO HAPPY FOR THIS CHANGE!

[@Xenefor]

Same, been playing with blood echo and legion since always

[@feathero3]

Dang, smart to pair it with that killer. Probably good to combine with Plague as well. I should try that. The hemorrhage might not reduce healing, but could help in tracking survivors.

[@madbombermedia3070]

@feathero3 Mmm! You'd be surprised how useful Hemmo can be for tracking! My build isn't... exactly... the best. It's hyper aggressive and had no Gen slow down. I can't remember the names of everything, but it's Coup de Grace, Blood Echo, Battery's Not Included, and that Unknown perk that gives you haste when you vault windows after injuring a survivor. Add-ons are the yellow movement speed per Feral Frenzy stab, and the brown added time to your Feral Frenzy lunge. That brown add-on is frigging AWESOME the faster you go. You basically have Coup de Grace but in Feral Frenzy, and you can curve it around stuff and other survivors that might try and body block.

[@madbombermedia3070]

I should add a caveat to the build: it is actually possible to get running so fast that you fly over things while vaulting that you're supposed to land on... Giddion's Meat Plant, for instance, if you get running too fast in Feral Frenzy, it is actually impossible to go down the meat chute, and you will instead vault over the whole damned thing and land on the floor at the base of the meat chute stairs. ...let's just say voice of experience...

[@feathero3]

@@madbombermedia3070 That's kind of amazing that you can vault that fast lol Unbound is the Unknown perk you mentioned, and another amazing idea for Legion! Need to unlock that killer now to give that a try.

[@kitanat9944]

No more giving hatch ☠️

[@pugstriker]

killers wouldn't give hatch at high mmr anyway

[@mint5438]

​@@pugstriker You might just be very unlucky also

[@pugstriker]

@@mint5438 im sorry to say its not about luck I havent got hatch from a killer in months, also hatch is more like a petty escape you dont gain anything from it.

[@JustinSimoneau]

You can still it just basekit yellow but you can hook if you want

[@feathero3]

@@pugstriker Same, haven't been given hatch in a LONG time. Either escape, or get brutally killed without mercy. Rare to find anything in between. Last time I did get it was a sweet Vecna when that killer was released, who claimed they only gave it to me because I was playing Bill 😂appreciated it either way

[@1tsjustpasta]

Just to put it out there you can have two people with new corrective action and hyperfocus and just always miss skillchecks to get hyperfocus to 6 stacks very fast

[@JustinSimoneau]

Crowd control can literally take hostage survivor in the saloon. That just stupid

[@feathero3]

I mean they'd have to willingly go in there first. And a teammate could free them if the hex is found and cleansed.

[@JustinSimoneau]

@feathero3 still could be very stong if you down them their teammates have 4min before they bleedout and a lot of newer players trap themselves there in chase. Even more fucktop if the totem is there and you down them before they clense since they are force to die there (i know the last is almost impossible but still

[@feathero3]

@@JustinSimoneau Yeah that room in general is kind of problematic. Wouldn't be surprised if they remove that dead end soon like they did to the breakable walls leading to the ramp in Midwhich.

[@JustinSimoneau]

@feathero3 yeah hopefully they will question of time before someone make a video and show how toxic this can be use (probably coconut). Especially like trapper with purple adon to down and undying there a heavy chance to trap someone there

[@feathero3]

@@JustinSimoneau Theres already a video of Clown using Bamboozle there to trap survivors. Look up "Clown's Room of Death (AFK Clown)" by DBD Things

[@braydenmay2118]

I appreciate the devs trying to do some big changes to perks keeps the game interesting

[@dragonfir0199]

Both team work perks are getting the health state restriction removed btw

[@suspecm6316]

What a wild time when we are happy for Billy nerfs. Also goes to show how rushed most of the perks were at time of the release of Singularity and Skull Merchant. Half the reworks were on perks introduced in those chapters. On the Skull Merchant thing. I genuinely think that BHVR is doing a 5D chess move. Her last rework showed that the community will despise the killer no matter how oppressive she is. We know a large rework is coming for her so my theory is that they are Billy-fying her a bit by making her the worst killer to calm the community down on the hate before they rework her into a healthy killer.

[@thedutywarlord264]

Who's we ? You are the only one happy for the billy nerf

[@terraesram8269]

@@thedutywarlord264 Hens happy too, he find him too strong and not fun anymore 20:57

[@rossGrett]

​@@thedutywarlord264no he got way too much value for people who were bad with him he was good when you needed skill with him so the nerfs were defiently needed

[@siredquinn]

Who’s we? 💀

[@feathero3]

@@thedutywarlord264 Im part of the "we." Don't think he needed them exactly, but I'm genuinely happy about them to encourage more skilled game play from the character.

[@dwho422]

Distortion will just be the next perk in the gutted series. It follows mettle of man, made for this, and spine chill. The difference is that those 3 were way more commonly used. It needs a more in line nerf like longer time to gain a charge, or maybe a cd between when you lose a charge before you can start gaining charges. As it stands, it will become a 0 use perk. With this update 26 killer perks will read auras, 6 of which have no activation cooldown. 37 killers are in the game and lots of them also have aura reading perks. As is, distortion can be used up within 30 seconds of a match by some combos and the removal of the only reliable aura hiding perk will just lead to fewer aura reading perks needed, and killers stacking more Gen regression perks due to their increased game knowledge.

[@poissonsumac7922]

Ok, so when the devs said they were reworking Skull Merchant, I had assumed they would, you know, REWORK her!! This isn't a rework, this is just a complete nerf!! This is taking the character out back and shooting her!! I don't get why this is necessary. Even with Haste (3%) and Hinder (10%), the speed differential between a survivor and Skully is LESS than Clown's purple bottle Hinder (15%). The Skull Merchant can't do anything that Clown can do better than he can and the only thing she can do that he can't is track survivors stupid enough to run into scan lines outside of chase and go Undetectable for a short time. An ability neutered in terms of stealth potential by the fact it requires her to release a highly visible drone into the air for anyone to see. For fuck's sake, good survivors can duck Vecna's Skelly bois even before Vecna releases them but one bint putting up a drone is enough to send them into paroxysms and instantly disconnect! I had hoped that this rework would give Skull Merchant something unique to her, like her surveillance capabilities were prior to her first rework. I'd have even settled for making her drones more TRAP like, such as removing the gigantic circle on the ground and the visible scan lines and making them fly high enough so that survivors have to crane their necks up to see them, much like how Trapper forces them to crane their necks down to see his traps. Have the drones be much more effective traps to the point where survivors running into them isn't NECESSARILY the result of critical levels of inattentiveness at the cost of perhaps making them initially activate only if you're outside of chase, nerfing the "just press M2 at a loop" aspect that people criticized her for. But it seems the devs took the easy way out and just kneecapped her into irrelevance, meaning that anyone who bought this character wasted their money or time on an empty slot of a character. Look, I know people hate this character. But this isn't the way to fix that. If this goes through and is met with applause from the community, it will set up a dangerous precedent of the devs simply shotgunning aspects of the game out of existence.

[@ProfHens]

This is not the Rework, it's a temporary fix

[@smallferalgirl]

​@@ProfHens it kinda feels like they nerfed her into the ground so survivors would stop complaining until they figure out how to fix her for real

[@theurbanreanimator7244]

She should of gotten deleted completely and had her just made intona legendary skin for the oni

[@poomslayer2571]

good, no one likes skull merchant

[@rhymenoceros3303]

@@ProfHens fixing what, making her playable?

[@iliketea4443]

I love Leverage and Blood Echo changes cuz they are great thematically when you wanna get away from Gen Control builds but still have some map pressure (especially on slow M1 killers), also great thematically with Dracula and Oni, the 'Blood' Killers, gonna be hella fun

[@marcusbighouse]

A day will come where I will read "nurse real nerfs", but this, again and again, is not the day yet

[@pepethefrog6809]

Would be better if I see "Rework". LOL Then we'll only be reminiscing about the time when a killer was allowed to say "fuck that" to 80% of the game mechanics.

[@marcusbighouse]

@@pepethefrog6809 and new players be like "wait, nurse used to be that? How could people play this game back then?"

[@Wholepeacock123]

It’s crazy how they say old skull merchant was bad game design, which it wasn’t, but they give us this

[@user-xq2nu5fe5o]

Survivors get more handouts, killers get nerfed. Why nerf skull merchant I don't get it. She still has to m1 at the end of the day. It's been a trend of holding hands for survivors. Where's the love for controller players still not being able to strafe at all? This game was fun when the worste of it was rank 1 swfs. The need to "strategically" tunnel or camp has been increased and the ability to do so decreased. You get off the hook, free endurance, too long on the hook and too close, just hop off entirely, matter fact give them extra time to be on the hook. Give killers a 5th perk slot. An m1 killer gets hacked with no compensation at all. Listen to Scott and the same survivors who cry because everyone wasn't hooked twice, but teabagg at any chance, wait in the exit gates until the killer sees them again. It's kinda ridiculous

[@RowbyVids]

The Skull economy has hit a recession

[@erikderks4800]

Do we think that 2 corrective action perks on the same Gen will just give infinite great skill checks? Like miss gives you a great which gives a token and the other person a free miss/great.

[@zeo_here]

I play with buddies that jump on like once a week, and aren't good at dbd. Distortion was their perk that would help them relax a bit and help me try to figure out what aura reading abilities and add ons killers had. It was a strong perk but also helped 30 plus year olds with kids and a life haha. Now they are gonna be miserable when they play.😮‍💨

[@feathero3]

Really think they need to keep the token mechanic, but tie them getting recharged from chases instead of just being in the terror radius.

[@corvusaurem]

I am a 30 something who can only play once a week if that. I run distortion and tell my friends what aura perks the killer has. That way I can do gens while giving my team valuable info and relax. While my friends who play hours every day of the week can loop killers into oblivion as they're practiced to do. This new nerf will just ensure that I'll be tunneled out the only two matches I get to play in a week. And thus, my friends essentially get to play 3v1 immediately. Pretty much all soloq with casuals are wrecked too. This game, increasingly becomes for elitists who crap on casual players at every possible turn they can.

[@nickpolatas8433]

On DMS, even as an Artist main, I think this is super healthy. It’s still gonna be strong but not insanely frustrating to play against. The Distortion change seems good, but needlessly complicated, like I really think they should have just changed the token regain condition to not feed itself and it would have been fine, but this works too, probably.

[@santiagouc2364]

I'm gonna be honest, this is the first time i see Hens face and for some reason i imagined him a bit chunky with glasses. Friendly looking face and charming smile. My man is straight up DBD version of asmongold.

[@JRey1435]

Its really cool that they are looking at perks that have always been useless like Predator, but now all they did was make another insanely strong perk for S tier killers like Nurse, Blight, Spirit etc. While it will only be meh for M1 killers that arent very good like Legion and Meyers. On top of that, 5 blocked vaults with Crowd Control? Idk man hopefully they re evaluate these. Otherwise, solid patch, love to see them being more bold with perks than we have seen in the past, should be fun.

[@feathero3]

Agree, Predator change is a bit too strong. Would rather it do that bubble reveal mechanic, such as when Spies From The Shadows or a scream goes off. Gives a general idea of where to search without flat out wall hacks. Especially now that the one counter, Distortion, is getting nerfed.

[@pepethefrog6809]

@@feathero3 Distortion nerf kinda falls in line with the Predator change tho, it gives you a usage when you are chased and Predator works when a Survivor escapes a chase.

[@travissanders7894]

So instead of making SM balanced and focus more of a territorial chase killer, she gets the nerf from a doom hammer and is now unplayable. Survivor main whine and say "highest kill rate" but 70% of my stealth merchant games the first survivor i hook goes next because the community is in a echo chamber of hate against her.

[@thatfishguy4991]

They need to change it so that nurse can no longer see auras once she’s loaded a blink attack kind of like the spirit

[@ocolognesi]

imagine this, the nurse's first blink hit counts as a m1 hit (activating m1 perks), but the second blink counts as m2 PLUS your idea, pretty good right?

[@feathero3]

Lore accurate. The bag over her head should affect her vision.

[@NewSirenSong]

​@ocolognesi any attack achieved through the use of a power even if it is the primary means of movement should be considered an m2. It isn't a basic attack if it attained through anything but basic means, that inconsistency is a major problem in bhvr's design philosophy

[@pepethefrog6809]

@@NewSirenSong Well, Nurse itself is a major problem in BHVR's design. She's a killer with an ability that just shouldn't exist.

[@alpha-tomahawk532]

I fucking hate how they do the only thing that the perk needed to be decent AND THEN for no reason at all decide to add another effect worthy of a whole another perk to it, like, how much more are you going to openly say "we don't play our own game"? They're repeating Mft, buckle up and other stuff all over again with the gambit.

[@alpha-tomahawk532]

And leverage... is just rewarding survivors for not wasting their time healing under the hook so the killer won't come to a place where he knows there are people and ready to give free healthstates and downs. For most killers this is more downside than it is upside, strong killers stay strong, weak killers keep getting weaker...

[@alpha-tomahawk532]

Instead of using ptb as they should, they're just using it to know if people will outrage or not. Last meaningfull ptb was the mori/basekit unbreakable. You've got this platform to see what works or not, then do shit, experiment, make blight 110%, make nurse attack have less range, speed up or speed down someone's animation, see what works and what not, TEST shit already. Testing shit doesn't mean it has to be implemented, but if it's a welcome change - then you know what to implement, in any case there's no harm done as long as it's ptb.

[@vector_vector__]

Mate u don't look the wayi imagined at all , i feek betrayed 💀💀

[@Fearior]

My favorite perk distortion is nerfed :/ sad times.

[@rossGrett]

I mean it was really annoying to face against I love the change you can still get value but now survivors can't play like complete rats for the entire game not even getting seen once then just waiting til everyone dies so they can get hatch

[@siredquinn]

Good.

[@GG-kn2se]

Distortion nerf is lame. Hardly comes in useful, now it’s self-defeating.

[@GangsterGreg]

Blocking an entire class of perks, hiding your scratchmarks and allowing you/your SWF to deduce what perks the killer has, is far from hardly useful. That said, the nerf does seem too heavy-handed.

[@lordjiraiya6230]

@@GangsterGreg For solo q is was a damn necessity. Every SWF counter just hurts the solo q more and more.

[@DD3isking]

I feel like they should either add more ways to interrupt aura reading or rework aura reading

[@diogostw7286]

Hardly comes in useful is insanity

[@zackmash851]

its THE most useful perk... for throwing an entire match by being an awful teammate. so happy its getting gutted

[@avian1799]

I‘m gonna keep referring to the Facecam Era as New Hens+ until it catches on and nobody can stop me

[@ImThePerson0]

Clown mains in shambles after Zanshin rework

[@firelinksshrine1695]

skull merchant tier is realer than ever

[@holdfish6414]

DMS is probably going to be best pair with Pain Res. On it's own, survivors can let go of the least worked gen to proc DMS you wont ve able to pressure the more worked on gen

[@anettelma123]

btw Leverage will be tunnel perk

[@feathero3]

Yeah im worried about that too.

[@radiantabsoluteradiance3385]

I hope they change leverage because the only way to counterplay it is basically by running already meta antitunnel perks and just not healing after getting unhooked.

[@feathero3]

@@radiantabsoluteradiance3385 It can be countered by having 2 people go for rescue, or just having the unhooked survivor go to someone else, as they wouldn't be affected by the reduced heal affect. It also only slows healing, but botany knowledge, circle of healing, and or a good medkit can still fight against it. Also also, the unhooked survivor can heal themselves unimpeded with a medkit or specific perks. So while it's not great for the tunneled victim, there are at least some ways to counter it.

[@anettelma123]

@@feathero3 great combo with Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain, Pain resonance and deadlock ;_; tunnel perks

[@anettelma123]

@@feathero3 There will be no way to counteract it with your listed methods, because if someone decides to use a medkit on themselves, they will get hit and have another hook immediately. If 2 people run to unhook every time, the game will be lost anyway. This perk will be combined with Scourge Hook: Gift of Pain, which gives the effect of a sloppy butcher, so even 2 people will not quickly heal the one removed from the hook. The only counter is inner healing, a syringe or staying injured and a full anti tunnel build (which is already in the game and is the most boring playstyle for two sides in my opinion)

[@snakeknight2017]

im glad the teamwork perks get a buff, i always liked them, but effects were so easy to lose

[@lasko1828]

Skull Merchant didn't need any nerfs or even changes of any kind. Survivor mains just have to learn to suck it up, learn how to deal with an actual hazard in the game and not think that everything has to be beneficial for them. She really never was an issue at any level, and this is coming from someone who has played many matches as and against the Skull Merchant. More times against her than as her, might I add. But no, crybaby survivors who hate a challenge just had to complaint about an already unpopular killer and because of it, SM is now borderline unplayable due to how weak she is. Might as well create the first ever G-Tier in the history of video games and put the SM there.

[@ashestoashesTTV]

Wtf. Lucky star is the most useless perk in the game now. It’s literally a locker iron will. With no scratch marks. I used that perk a lot just so I can see my teammates and gens..

[@deadfish3789]

No blood pools is technically stronger than iron will for hiding

[@jaida3377]

I think it’s intended for niche head ons builds to get the effects of lucky break and iron will in one perk slot, but yeah they still gutted the perk for no reason.

[@DiamondsZ1973]

Agreed its just a worse parental guidance now and that perk isnt great either

[@jackdaniel3135]

Skull Merchant is like Ryze in League: -create a character with terribly busted game design -try to rework it, it's still disgusting -gut the entire character to Z tier -if you're lucky, they will try to rework it again like, a year or more down the line

[@moistymangus8649]

The machine learning change was absolutely needed. It was really annoying having to kick 2 generators just to have the chance of the perk activating

[@Yoshirama95]

Imagine crowd control in Haddonfield, all windows blocked 💀

[@dirktrash3455]

As a ghost face main, I am salivating at the new Predator perk.

[@eerasus945]

After 5,5 years they are finally updating Poised 🎉🎉 I love to see those perk changes because I like to play with random perks a lot and this way you don't get those boring perks as much anymore.

[@shadowshedinja6124]

I already like using Thwack!!, so giving it a boost is nice without being oppressive. Skull Merchant's nerfs are a bit heavy, but they've stated elsewhere that this is intentional, and are going to give her a proper rework later. Most of the issues with her, rather than the people playing her, will go away with the Haste/Hindered changes listed.

[@rafaelfreitas7799]

I love that bloodrush update, its now a chase perk that can extend chases. Lithe/sprint and dramaturgy are gona be op with this

[@spidermorgan03]

I'm imagining 3 survivors messing around in the saloon room and a fourth survivor rush-vaults into the saloon, making them all hostage thanks to crowd control 💀

[@milesgualdi1917]

RIP distortion, with the amount of aura reading by killers I have in my matches, survivors are constantly revealed and playing stealth (which at least gave you options for different playstyles) is just impossible

[@RiveraVvV-n2l]

I love how they destroy killers constantly

[@FFF813]

I love all the changes so far for survivors. Most of these perks were next to useless or too niche before and Distortion sounds healthier for both sides now.

[@NewSirenSong]

I think a big conversation that needs to be had across the community is why distortion as a perk is so popular, the abundance of killer aura reads with no warning and an inefficient base game method of denying aura (locker hiding) may become more and more problematic in the future. A distortion style auditory warning that your aura is being read would be a very welcome change so that solo survivors can position themselves best in a skillfull manner to deny aura reads, getting closer for bbq, distancing from lockers for darkness revealed etc etc. Some aura readings are too easy to access for the reward they give in my opinion. I would love to hear some other opinions though. Personally i wouldve kept distortion being on tokens but changing the recharge to either gen progression or chase time so that you have to progress the game

[@ICON-11-]

Computer crashes as soon as he hovers over the skull merchant 🤣

[@AdvanTijj]

I feel like you could counter the new crowd control by vaulting random useless windows lines the ones on the edge of certain maps

[@sinastir7688]

So they not only give Killers even MORE options for aura reading, but take away the ability to stealth almost completely with the huge nerf to Distortion. There's supposed to be a counter play to everything.

[@APopptart]

The problem with Distortion is it counters too many things for one perk slot. And it indirectly incentivizes killers to repeatedly chase the same people because they just can't find Distortion users. I unironically started using Spies in the Shadows because that's the one reliable tracking perk that's not completely countered by Distortion.

[@sinastir7688]

@@APopptart Calm Spirit for that. What do you suggest to cover counter Killers getting almost unlimited information with Aura reading?

[@APopptart]

@@sinastir7688 Yeah, Calm Spirit counters screams which realistically counters Doctor and a few niche perks that don't often get used, therefore you don't usually see Calm Spirit users. That has nothing to do with the point I was making. My point is no killer runs enough aura perks and add-ons (unless they are specifically doing an aura build) to warrant the strength of Distortion. Your average killer is running maybe 1 aura perk like BBQ in order to pressure survivors away from the hook. BBQ is only triggered roughly every 1 minute so Distortion gets activated once per minute to prevent the killer from seeing survivors away from the hook and chasing them instead of staying near the hook. Meanwhile, it has 3 stacks and charges passively without needing to interact with the killer in under a minute. It is completely overkill in the scenario of an average match. Also, in comparison to Calm Spirit, there's a small list of perks that Calm Spirit counters. The number of add-ons and perks Distortion counters is FAR too much for one perk slot. IMO, if Distortion had just one rechargeable stack, it would be fine, but the new rework will do nicely too.

[@sirvantanite1307]

@@APopptart .. You can burn through distortion so fast already with the amount of aura perks. If you bring distortion you are already weakening your chase potential so its only obvious that you'll be in chase less often. Its fine to rework it, but its basically useless with the amount of killer aura perks right now.

[@ryba_byba]

​@@sirvantanite1307 that's true, but what am i supposed to do if i'm playing a killer with a big terror radius? as Wesker main it pains me how often i stumble into distortion users and have to go for the same survivors over and over again or patrol gens. like sure, one or two distortion users will be safe, but their teammates will die on 2 gens, leaving me playing hide and seek, that's so boring for everyone involved

[@HOMOGRIMOIRE]

for crowd control, one thing survivors can do is rush vault locations away from an area the killer has locked down

[@LegendevonKira]

18:07 at the end this perk is a high reward high risk perk bc of the fact its a hex perk

[@oldpernilong0]

Oh no, not my beautiful zanshin tactics :( They should add a complementary effect instead of removing the previous one.

[@sebestein09]

that perk was not used by anyone except some Clown one-tricks. it needed a change

[@suspecm6316]

@@sebestein09 I'd still rather they rework other perks that are not used by literally anyone than to take it away from a niche but dedicated portion of the community.

[@GASSED2211]

@@sebestein09 agreed but the effect is had was great for killers like, unknown, clown, dracula, dredge vecna (granted more niece), and chucky all had pretty good uses for zanshin they could have added this new effect to old zanshin and slightly tuned this new effect down so it was more fair. As a clown player I'm genuinely in shambles because zanshin is actually amazing on clown, so removing it is quite a unnecessary kick in the balls.

[@Antarctide]

​@@sebestein09No need for plural. It was one (controller) streamer, that's it.

[@Klenner115]

​@@suspecm6316 "Perks that are not used by literally anyone" oh, you mean a perk like Zhanshin? lol

[@rexe30k]

I like most of the changes, they buff survivors aura reads and compensates it by nerfing distortion which is good.

[@tibcsikid5775]

These changes are utter madness. Survivors could technically get infinite wallhacks with unlimited range for gen repair bonus punishing killers for existing and doing their jobs of chasing ppl. On the other hand survivor players cant hide from aura detect abusing killers. Not all of these changes are bad but whoever made most of these change ideas were guaranteed high as a kite.

[@feathero3]

High as a kite dev: wat if... wat if we gave everyone wall hacks? n make sure survivors can't counter it as easily with the one and only option to even attempt to counter it. Yeah! dats such a gewd idea... where are the chips?

[@jaida3377]

Imo quick gambits buff is just trying to bring solo q closer to swf and it’s still not even close. Also 5% gen speed is literally nothing, it’s like 15-20 seconds saved at maximum. If you play killer efficiently and either get a hit in 15-30 seconds or drop chase then this perk shouldn’t be OP in any capacity.

[@tibcsikid5775]

@@jaida3377 I understand if they want solo q to be better but qg is most limely going to be used by swfs with even more gen perks. Qg, pt, whatever the dnd perk is called is already what? 25/28%? Now add toolboxes into the mix and you have the recipe for complete genrushing chaos.

[@jaida3377]

@@tibcsikid5775 If people are in a swf trying to gen rush then this perk is completely outclassed by loads of other perks. In solo q you will very rarely see a full team of people with all that, usually one person at most. I really can’t see a world where this perk is making a difference in games in solo q or swf on the basis of the gen speed alone, the info is the strongest part of it.

[@OutshineUwU]

Ruining skull merchant is such a healthy thing for the game, no one likes to play with or against that killer unless people that only get fun from ruining others fun. The right move would've been to completely remove her and refund those that spent money on her but this is acceptable too.

[@BuckBlaziken]

Pixelbush is fuming right now, seeing his two mains get nerfed

[@mushymcmushington7176]

As a Nurse enjoyer I am about to cause unending suffering with these Aura perk changes.

[@Intensedevil]

predator is a HUGE Counter on distortion

[@anettelma123]

I wish bhvr would give bonus points to weak perks before they decide to change them, it would shake the meta faster than reworking/buffing/nerfing every perk which is not played in the game right now.

[@nelprincipe]

Nana called you a Hensome young man

[@percygoodbeard4827]

the leverage rework is so nice and I'm saying that as a survivor main because if the killer plays it right, you can spend more time healing/getting healed off the hook than doing gens. If there's a way to discourage healing off the hook yes that's a disadvantage to have someone that can be insta-downed but it just keeps the overall game flowing

[@averagealice7369]

leverage and gift of pain is gonna be great

[@froztyfoxy9555]

What if .. Predator made the scratch marks of the escaped survivor seen through everything, grass, buildings, etc.

[@Kondziorek55]

This is the first time I'm ever seeing Hens' face and he literally looks like how his voice sounds like

[@bigsupremeguy4083]

this new mori thing just takes away an entire stage for saves away from survivors. that seems pretty insane. (unless its only last survivor )

[@TheTuneAce]

It's only when 1 survivor is alive

[@JustinSimoneau]

It only last survivor it just yellow mori basekit

[@cheeseman_jones]

It only applies to final survivor (basekit yellow mori) them adding this literally changes nothing other than that the killer gets a cool animation. Honestly nothing to worry about

[@balloonduelist5640]

from a quick gambit player since day 1 of it's release I love this change and I can feel more rewarded for using it. However I agree it is going to be pretty strong if you are able to hold the killer in a chase and I will not be shocked if it gets a nerf before making its way to the live servers.

[@anay44t4]

From one hens video to another! Let's goooo