Dead By Daylight: Doomed Course Review (GoopyGobVT@TTV)
Purchased on 11/29/2024.
The included killer in this DLC, the Houndmaster, was something I wanted for actual years and made many comments on until she was announced. I was looking forward to this character concept for a while, however, I don't understand why the concept they decided to go with for a Houndmaster, was a Caribbean Pirate Castaway. It seems like they took a different character entirely and just made them into the Houndmaster.
Her weapon is incredibly silly. The idea of a Caneblade is great! Or JUST a cane, would have been better! But a teency dagger with such a large figurehead as a pummel would be an awful and I mean AWFUL idea in reality. Just holding it would be uncomfortable, and it looks that way.
Her POWER, the reason anyone would WANT to purchase this character-- It is NOT finished. They released this character far too early. The dog has mobility issues, and refuses to sit still to allow you to pet it (most of the time.) To actually pet the dog, instead of having a dedicated 'pet' button, you need to get as close as possible to the dog without it moving away, and then hope you see the prompt to pet it.
When sending the dog out to chase, it acts like a projectile-- like the huntress. If goes in a straight line and does not track, home, follow, chase or any sort of the thing to the Survivor you would be using it against. I understand it as a balance thing, but they should have made the dog able to target a survivor and THEN chase them down, instead of running in a straight line. When sending the dog through windows or over pallets, the dog takes too long and is easily dodged by simply moving to the side of the window or pallet, at which, the Dog can then be controlled to move again... However, on your side, telling the dog to move again after doing so, is time consuming and just as easily dodged.
There is however a VERY SIMPLE, VERY EASY fix to make this killer much more playable without changing her power. Give the dog itself a radius, so when it gets NEAR a survivor after running or leaping through a window/over a pallet, it'll target them if they're within a meter or two. That's it. That's all the killer needs.
As it stands right now, I DO NOT and CANNOT recommend The Houndmaster for purchase. Should changes come in the next month (as it seems they are -very- much needed) I will again playtest the character and leave a review.
TL:DR - The Dog acts like a slow bullet and can be fixed by just making it target people like an actual animal.