My personal opinion on Willow update, without the dumpster fire.

[Vurusgard]

3 minutes ago, FreyaMaluk said:

If you LIKE a character more for quotes personality and such u can just stay with that character most of the time and changing from time when u want to experience something different or do certain task..

I can relate. I picked woodie up when i first started playing dst (he wasn't implemented at that time so through mods) and no other character feels the same  I even collected every single woodie outfit just because i love playing as him so much, despite him not being a S+ tier character.

[Zeklo]

3 minutes ago, FreyaMaluk said:

Nothing should "prevent" u from changing characters .. That's the whole point... If you LIKE a character more for quotes personality and such u can just stay with that character most of the time and changing from time when u want to experience something different or do certain task.. Like max for mining or logs

I disagree categorically with this hermetic idea on how should players use or not the Celestial Portal.. 

I think that's just a fundamental thing we disagree on. 

I don't think you should change characters in order to make a specific task easier. For me, changing characters is about changing how I wanna play. I'm getting tired of being combat focused? I'll swap off Wolfgang and change to Winona and build stuff. I'm not the type to switch to Wolfgang when I plan on tackling a boss, just because that would make it easier.

I find it a bit cheap, and counter intuitive, but I understand that other people do this and I understand why.

[exobunny]

I'm with Zeklo here. When I start a run with a character I do so bc I want to experience the game with that characters abilities and challenges, which includes boss fights and seasonal issues. Also, hi Zeklo! <3

[FreyaMaluk]

Just now, Ressayez said:

There’s definitely something to be said about trying to give people reasons to stay as a certain character. Wilson has his beard, Wolfgang has attack strength and speed, Wendy has reduced sanity drain from darkness and Abigail, WX has the highest stats in the game and the ability to be overcharged (speed, light, warmth), Woodie has Lucy and his Werebeaver form (both fell trees in fewer hits, and he has increased chop speed), Maxwell has his shadows and sanity gain, Wigfrid has damage resistance, attack strength and vampirism, Webber can befriend spiders and has his beard, Winona has faster crafting. As it stands Willow, Wickerbottom and Wes have very little in terms of innate perks as opposed to exclusive craftables. With Willow and Wes having no reason to pick them over any other character right now.

I agree that characters should be attractive on their own... I think the devs are working on Willow to make her stand put and they only gave us SOME features that will come in the update. Meaning there is more to come.. 

I think that Willow doesn't freeze while insane now is pretty cool... And she has a very small sanity poll that makes her now even more meta to bring insane all the time.. 

I want more particular perks to her but that doesn't mean that specific craftable should be dismissed outright for that reason.. I think one is not exclusive to each other..  

Wicker is a special case of more craftable than perks but I don't think that's a problem... Her books are limited to 2 characters in the game.. 

[Vurusgard]

5 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

I don't think you should change characters in order to make a specific task easier.

I guess this is similar to how some people are purists and some like having a few mods in their game. I don't see any problem with swapping to do a certain task if a character can accomplish it better. For instance, I like the idea of scouting with wortox, who has better mobility and less problems with staying alive (who also doesn't have any trouble with moon) before I settle down with Woodie, if i'm to play alone that is.

[FreyaMaluk]

4 minutes ago, Zeklo said:

I find it a bit cheap, and counter intuitive, but I understand that other people do this and I understand why.

If u mean cheap to stick to a character forever and not utilize fully what the fame offers under the false puritan idea of how people should play the game.. Then I guess u are right.. We disagree 

[Zeklo]

Just now, FreyaMaluk said:

If u mean cheap to stick to a character forever and not utilize fully what the fame offers under the false puritan idea of how people should play the game.. Then I guess u are right.. We disagree 

A bit harsh but yeah.

Feels weird playing Wendy whose downside is being weak in combat but switching to Wolfgang to handle all the combat instances.

Like I said, I don't really care if other people do it or not. They can do whatever they find fun. I just personally don't like meta-gaming.

[FreyaMaluk]

1 minute ago, Zeklo said:

A bit harsh but yeah.

Feels weird playing Wendy whose downside is being weak in combat but switching to Wolfgang to handle all the combat instances.

Like I said, I don't really care if other people do it or not. They can do whatever they find fun. I just personally don't like meta-gaming.

Well I think you were harsh in the first place calling it cheap.. 

U don't like it.. That's fine.. 

[Ressayez]

11 minutes ago, FreyaMaluk said:

I agree that characters should be attractive on their own... I think the devs are working on Willow to make her stand put and they only gave us SOME features that will come in the update. Meaning there is more to come.. 

I think that Willow doesn't freeze while insane now is pretty cool... And she has a very small sanity poll that makes her now even more meta to bring insane all the time.. 

I want more particular perks to her but that doesn't mean that specific craftable should be dismissed outright for that reason.. I think one is not exclusive to each other..  

Wicker is a special case of more craftable than perks but I don't think that's a problem... Her books are limited to 2 characters in the game.. 

I think so too, resistance to overheating damage and a Bernie that can be used by Willow for sanity and warmth and actively fights shadows when Willow is present is a step in the right direction. Me wanting innate perks isn’t to say she can’t have more exclusive craftables or that her current items can’t be given more team oriented qualities. 

And you are correct, Wickerbottom has access to science machine crafting on the go and science machines to her function like an alch engine. She is one of two characters with the reader tag, but I actually think Maxwell having it too kind of devalued what would have been an exclusive innate perk for her. This pains me so much to say, as I hate Maxwell and Maxwell players, but... The only reason to pick Wickerbottom over Maxwell as a reader is she has more health.

[FreyaMaluk]

1 hour ago, Ressayez said:

I think so too, resistance to overheating damage and a Bernie that can be used by Willow for sanity and warmth and actively fights shadows when Willow is present is a step in the right direction. Me wanting innate perks isn’t to say she can’t have more exclusive craftables or that her current items can’t be given more team oriented qualities. 

And you are correct, Wickerbottom has access to science machine crafting on the go and science machines to her function like an alch engine. She is one of two characters with the reader tag, but I actually think Maxwell having it too kind of devalued what would have been an exclusive innate perk for her. This pains me so much to say, as I hate Maxwell and Maxwell players, but... The only reason to pick Wickerbottom over Maxwell as a reader is she has more health.

I agree with your Wicker assessment.. but again.. there is always a choice.. and personal attachment to a character

I personally enjoy playing as wicker... even tho other players don't particularly like her quotes in general.. I like the variety of things she can do and her acute description of the world I find particularly cool..

early game wicker is actually awesome .. .IMO she can do ruins raiding pretty well if you think about it.. thanks to the pull of recipes she already has and the few resources to the crafting station she needs for high tech tier items in the game

check this out for a nice example on this neat vid by @dongianizoo 

I mean... there is always a "material" reasonable choice why people play a character or not as their main.. 

-------------------------

coming back to Willow... and specially to OP.. (I think we all derived pretty much from what OP intended)

I like these ideas for nice craftables.. craftables are a nice way to enrich the world but ofc she has to be a good reason why you want to use her as a character.. or why you like it...

I hope the devs can achieve both...

I personally see A LOT of potential in Bernie armies.. pretty exciting

let's just give the devs more time to come up with better perks.. for now... discouraging suggestions with craftables ideas from the get go seems counterproductive to me ...

[MondayNight]

The Celestial Portal's re-spawn mechanic via Moon Idol is a problem in its own right imo, atm being too.. permissive dare I say. Every character-change should have a cool-down of ~20 days and the Moon Rock Idol itself should be more costly, from 1 Purple Gem + 1 Moon Rock to let's say 1 Purple Moonlens + 5-10 Moonrocks + 1 Telltale Heart. If I were to go the try-hard risky way at this, I would additionally give a 1/4 chances of dying while attempting character-change via Celestial Portal.

 

Regarding the proposed special item for Willow, let's call it Scale-fiery Lantern (upgrade from regular Willow Lighter) - it surely can be made into a character-exclusive item usable by Willow alone with Dragon Eggs as "fuel", 1 such egg providing heat and light for.. let's say 5-10 consecutive days (having switch-off function ofc). This article can be a mid-to-end-game thing maybe balanced further for sufficiently accessibility and good performance to not become just another "useless item".

[FreyaMaluk]

3 hours ago, x0VERSUS1y said:

The Celestial Portal's re-spawn mechanic via Moon Idol is a problem in its own right imo, atm being too.. permissive dare I say. Every character-change should have a cool-down of ~20 days and the Moon Rock Idol itself should be more costly, from 1 Purple Gem + 1 Moon Rock to let's say 1 Purple Moonlens + 5-10 Moonrocks + 1 Telltale Heart. If I were to go the try-hard risky way at this, I would additionally give a 1/4 chances of dying while attempting character-change via Celestial Portal.

 

13 hours ago, FreyaMaluk said:

Nothing should "prevent" u from changing characters .. That's the whole point... If you LIKE a character more for quotes personality and such u can just stay with that character most of the time and changing from time when u want to experience something different or do certain task.. Like max for mining or logs

I disagree categorically with this hermetic idea on how should players use or not the Celestial Portal..