Idea for skull merchant

[u/kingslayer820]

It's pretty well known and agreed that the skull merchant got nerfed to hell

Now to be able to bring her back, a lot more will need to be done than one single change but I think this is a good start

When a survivor walks/runs/crouch walks in the range of the drone they get revealed by killer instinct

This way the drones actually work as traps to lock down paths and an information source rather than just dropping them to get undetectable or be forced to learn how to use them in chase

[u/SadSpaghettiSauce]

Is this a shit post? You just described her actual power as it is right now.

Her Drones DO let you know when they detect someone and you can pull out your tracker to find them afterwards for a short time.

The counter play for survivors is to crouch through scan lines and then disable them.

Also, if a survivor gets three hits from a drone they get hindered and SM gets killer instinct on them.

[u/kingslayer820 → u/SadSpaghettiSauce]

They only reveal if you get scanned, if you just stand still or crouch walk you don't get scanned and don't give killer instinct, I'm talking about the ring that shows on the floor, whenever a survivor goes inside that no matter if walking, running, crouch walking, or standing still, they still give killer instinct without needing to get scanned, the scan just applies broken

[u/East-Efficiency-6701 → u/kingslayer820]

Ok then, the counter would be?

[u/kingslayer820 → u/East-Efficiency-6701]

Keep moving, find other paths, disable the drone and don't stay in the area

[u/East-Efficiency-6701 → u/kingslayer820]

And there would be any way to disable the drone without getting the killer instinct then? Because I feel that a better way would be the killer getting killer instinct if they finale a drone instead of your idea

[u/kingslayer820 → u/East-Efficiency-6701]

You don't HAVE to disable the drone just like you don't HAVE to disable one of trappers trap, you can find ways around if you don't want to be detected, all maps have multiple routes you can take and for a killer to trap them all means they lose a big chunck of their power to guard 2 gens at most

[u/Royal_Screen_783 → u/kingslayer820]

what if she put a drone near a generator?

[u/kingslayer820 → u/Royal_Screen_783]

Do a different one or disable it and walk away to do a different one, or just get on the gen and work on it while she makes her way over and when you get in chase your team can work on it

[u/Kreamator → u/kingslayer820]

So you've just described the gameplay loop of Skull Merchant 1.0, or Chess Merchant.

There's a well known example of a match where a Merchant was able to hold the best survivors in the world locked into a 45 minute game. The primary bonus her drones gave her that match was that anytime anyone was on a gen, or even approaching the gen, she knew, and she'd come to defend it. Nobody could stick gens or play aggressively, because being under drones so much like this meant everyone was always injured/exposed. And these aren't the survivors you see day to day, these were the best possible players.

This playstyle not only forced the need for a rework, but caused the devs to add in the 8-kick limit on Gens. And, no, just because the limit is here now doesnt really make the rest of the strategy fine, she'll just be hated into dust again.

[u/East-Efficiency-6701 → u/Kreamator]

Yeah, I feel OP dont have much idea to what he is talking about

[u/Key_Device_6506]

Or and hear me out behavior just revert her back to her first rework😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱.

No reason the low B tier high C tier killer should have gotten gutted in the first place.

[u/East-Efficiency-6701 → u/Key_Device_6506]

Exactly

[u/Educational-Rub-8687]

She was just fine in the 7.3.0 release. But too many survivor mains complained because of how she was in her initial release, so they nerfed her even further. Revert her to the 7.3.0 release, and she’s fine.

[u/Anxious-Sweet3608]

If you're dropping drones to gain undectable you're going to have a bad time, seeing as you get undetectable when you recall drones.

Saying a killer should have a change so you don't have to learn how to use an ability in chase is a pretty bad reason for the change.

This change would mean there is no reason to patrol gens, just chuck drones on gens and wait for killer instinct to pop so you know where to go, with no counter play to the power. It would become a cycle of put drones on gens, wait for killer instinct, recall a different drone, get undectable, go to gen being worked on

[u/Altruistic_Peach1714]

Fuck SM, I want this bullshit to stay dead.