Walani, and why she's perfect for Return of Them

[GetNerfedOn]

11 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

If it takes crippling her to get her included in the game then I’m willing to take that sacrifice, who knows maybe after they cripple it they’ll later realize that was a horrible idea and reverse on it.

BUT She needs some Team-Based perks, And I am not sure what those should be just yet.

Like I said I like the Idea behind being able to craft Surfboards that she can give to others but because they are NOT Walani and not Expert Surfers they would have a limited amount of time before the Durability on their boards depleted and they Wipe Out. Meanwhile Walani Herself being an Expert Surfer would NOT have a Durability on her Surfboard. Just like Lucy’s Axe, Abigails Flower Or The Codex Umbra.

(Think Of it as like Walani having a Professional high grade Surfboard, While the Surfboards she crafts for Everyone else is just a plank of wood shaped like a Surfboard)

I also like the Idea Of giving her Craftable Beach Towels So that her Faster Drying Off Perk can be repurposed to benefit her entire Team.  For those of you who are confused about what a “Faster Drying Off perk” is- Everyone Who is NOT Walani had to fully fuel up a fire or stand under a tree holding an Umbrella to Dry their inventory after items start to gain Wetness, For Walani those items Dried Off Faster without needing to do any of that.

But Craftable Beach Towels would repurpose that perk as something she can benefit an entire team with.

Its not much... but we have to think of how would Walani be useful in a Team based setting.

The TL:DR She would already be more useful than Wes so who cares?  

Pre rework Willow and Woodie were also more useful than Wes, but see just how much despised they were. And we care because quite frankly we do not want to see disasters like them again. 

Your reasoning that "idc if my main is nerfed to the ground so long as they're in the game, they'll be changed in future updates anyways" is unrealistic. A character should be the best they can be from the start instead of the messes Pre rework Willow and Woodie were. It would be dumb to include poor content in game just for the sake of inclusion, only to fix it later. That's also too taxing on the part of devs and wastes valuable time and money.

It's also really short-sighted thinking that you're only looking at your satisfaction without considering that DST is supposed to also cater to other players than you who may not be satisfied that Walani is nerfed to the ground and may not play the game because of this. 

TL;DR, nerfing Walani's base perk to the ground will make players hate her. It's counterintuitive and we must seriously be looking for better solutions.

[Mike23Ua]

8 minutes ago, GetNerfedOn said:

Pre rework Willow and Woodie were also more useful than Wes, but see just how much despised they were. And we care, because quite frankly we do not want to see disasters like them again. 

Your reasoning that "idc if my main is nerfed to the ground so long as theyre in the game, they'll be changed in future updates anyways" is unrealistic. A character should be the best they can be from the start instead of the messes Pre rework Willow and Woodie were. It would be dumb to include poor content ingame just for the sake of inclusion, only to fix it later. Too taxing on the part of devs and wastes valuable time and money.

It's also really short-sighted thinking that you're only looking at your satisfaction without considering that DST is supposed to also cater to other players than you who may not be satisfied that Walani is nerfed to the ground and may not play the game because of this. 

Alright then, how would you (Personally) Nerf or even Buff Walani?

What changes would YOU want to see done to her that provides the following-

1- Makes her useful in a team based game (cause that’s probably most important to be honest..)

2- Makes it so that Surfboards Do not make the hard work Klei already put into the game with the Boat Cookies Completely Obsolete.

And 3- Makes her an overall Interesting and Unique Character to play with her Refresh so that we don’t feel like she is a straight up port from Shipwrecked with no Refresh love.

 

Those are the Three things Klei will have to look at when or If they ever bring over Walani.

[Canis]

1 minute ago, Mike23Ua said:

Alright then, how would you (Personally) Nerf or even Buff Walani?

On 2/7/2020 at 7:57 PM, Canis said:

However, I am not going to give ideas for said perks and stats, because ultimately she'd be based around the ocean, and only Klei can possibly know the end-result of the ocean, meaning only Klei can possibly know how to make Walani the most fun and balanced.

 

[Canis]

Just now, Mike23Ua said:

This only applies to the unfinished ocean But what about land?? 

(Not trying to be a jerk or anything, I’m just generally asking.. WHAT would you like to see Walani be able to do?)

Almost all of my personal ideas are listed in OP. The idea of a towel to dry off yourself and other survivors is neat, but can be *REALLY* niche.

[me real life]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

Even though this is an EXTREME example... here’s an Area (unfortunately a very small one)  

Where WALANI Surfboards would fit but Boat Cookies would Not.

 

But you can just put the boat here...

[frono]

like cthat character has suft board i like that one in shipwreck dont starve not together very much but favorite in that is wilbur monkey king of all monkeys think walni should be in dont starve togeter  so you dont have to make boat could put in woodleg sso you can have a super boat i never got him to hard

[GetNerfedOn]

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

snip

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

snip

Walani sees little use on land because she's built to be useful on the sea. Walani being the specialist of the sea is a role fit for any team as harvesting Salt and Cookie Shells and fighting Malbatross is tedious and will generally require less effort from Walani.

Her abilities on land will try to fit her personality as a laid-back-surfer - which will focus on the ocean and have little to do with land aside from the niche items like beach equipment we've already mentioned.

However, what I can suggest that would be most useful would be a portable cooler. We've already approached the aspect of portable cookware courtesy of Warly, and therefore we can also approach the idea of portable storage. 

I would envision Walani to start with it. It would have 4 inv slots, slows spoilage like an Icebox, and she'll be able to craft it with 1 cut stone, 3 nitre and 10 ice. She'd also be able to give it to other survivors to use, and it could have a function where it could be placed as a structure or picked up. 

[Mike23Ua]

Thank you @GetNerfedOn This is what we need, we need more brainstorming ideas like This.

Pretty sure we already have Water activity covered, so let’s focus on some fun things she can have that benefits her and her team on land.  

[Superlucas1231]

Long post*

Spoiler

On 2/9/2020 at 3:53 PM, Canis said:

1. Klei could probably just code it so you're "walking on water" or something similar, we're not asking for super extreme surfboard mechanics. Also I say this again like a broken record, Woodie's Goose form is really only reliable for getting to the Lunar Island. Walani on the other hand would be able to pick up and/or forage all of the current and future ocean goodies, as well as being able to locate the Lunar island. Woodie is a generalist, Walani is a specialist.

2. "Why even bother with this character when other characters are better" is not the best mindset for thinking who gets a rework. It's really likely that some people will be against Walani because they're a fan of someone else, but then really like Walani's playstyle when she comes out. It's not really a "don't knock it 'till you try it". Also, JoeW said pretty specifically that he doesn't think people will like them giving content that we already have (Im using this quote in the context of ports, but Im aware that the context was originally broader than this.)

3. Someone didn't read the OP.

4. Assuming that you want a port of Woodlegs, he'd be stupidly OP, as his treasure loot pool is allows you to have Thulecite gear before day 10, just by merely existing.

5. It's not even a nerf, really. Having Woodie use more meter over water would just require him to be more precise in locating the Lunar Island (which is no trouble for those that rush it day 1). It wouldn't really affect him in any other aspect of his playstyle. Think of it more like "making room for".

1. Walani is still just 1/3 of Woodie though. Being able to pick up items and equip some weapons wounldn\t suddenly make her interesting. You even said that her base kit isn't anything special

Quote

Where did *anyone* say that they want her base game kit to be directly ported. We all know it's garbage, hence why we're trying to come up with some ideas and hope for a rework.

2,3,4. My biggest gripe with your whole argument is that you treat Walani like she's the best character to interact with RoT when Woodlegs exist and is literally built around living in and exploring the sea while Walani is just a surfer. she just...surfs and pick stuff up. Like, you have a pirate who you can give so much in terms of possible content (a pirate ship that acts like a weaponized DST boat (with cannons, harpoons, and other goods),  a crow's nest that makes scouting the sea more easier, base building at the sea, etc,) vs. a surfer who...gives towels.

Something you also said was niche.

Quote

The idea of a towel to dry off yourself and other survivors is neat, but can be *REALLY* niche.

And the last 2 sentences of your second point could also be used against Walani so I don't why that applied to Woodlegs but not Walani. 

I re-read your first post but i still don't understand why you make an argument about adding in Walani now if we don't even know what direction Klei is going to make with RoT. Unless your point was your other ideas which are not really much to fully convince me of Walani being interesting (re-skin tent, expensive boats you can craft - which is also something you can add to Woodlegs character, and the towels and other beach stuff to counter off a niche mechanic that stops being relevant once you get the eyebrella). 

And what's stopping Klei from nerfing Woodleg's loot pool?

5. Nerfing, watering down, or making a character/object less viable in order to make another chacter/object more viable is a good way to know that the latter character/object is flawed

 

Tl;Dr

Walani can ride and craft boats, use tools while in a boat, and can survey the sea with ease

But Woodlegs exist and can already do that and more

Why should i care about Walani

 

Spoiler

On 2/9/2020 at 4:29 PM, JJ0264 said:

1. If Walani is coming to DST - she's going to be 7refreshed just look at Warly almost completely different

2. Isn't that a bit hypocritical to your first point, you said Walani is 1/3 of Woodie then immediately say Wilba/Wagstaff are better even if there more closer to the wood-chopping type character then Walani is

3. The only decent augment against Walani, but as I mentioned before on page 3 she could have new team-based land perks (beach towels and beach umbrellas)

4. When SW came out nobody liked Walani or Warly (perk-wise), plus it's more exciting and easier to refresh a bland terrible character then to nerf a OP pirate without fans complaining (he still cool, just doesn't need a refresh as badly)

1. Yes, she is going to be refreshed, but my point is why pick a character that doesn't have much to her when there is another character who can fulfill that same niche and be better at doing it? 

2. The point was the fact that Walani was a glorified version of Goose form and that was it. Wilba has her interaction with pigs and Wagstaff has his hats. Both characters have something else that makes them them while Walani doesn't really have anything that would drastically change the way you play. 

3. Already addressed

4. But why go through the effort of making a bland character who's defining trait is being lazy and a surfer when you can make a new interesting character from scratch? Joew said in Op's comment about how fans are more likely to complain about reused characters than brand new ones. 

 

I may not see what everyone else is seeing in Walnai, but I honestly feel that if Klei (or at least Joew) are too worried about adding in DS characters to DST because fan backlash, they're better off with starting from scratch with a new character and have them be the sea experts. 

[Canis]

3 minutes ago, Superlucas1231 said:

snip

I want Walani over Woodlegs because I like her personality more. There, I said it. Im biased.

The quotes of a character are important, dammit.

[Mike23Ua]

Don’t Starve Together WALANI-

(This is a collection of not just my own Ideas, but rather every Idea I’ve seen the community as a whole suggest for Walani that I agree strongly fits well within to her personality)

In the Shipwrecked DLC Walani’s Surfboards could lose durability and require a boat kit patch to be repaired (though doing this would be wasting Boat Kit Resources) So Here is the suggestion that I Purpose:

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“This Board is My Favorite!”

Repurpose Her Personal Surfboard as A Permanent Non-Perishable Item, in the Same way as Lucy’s Axe, Abigails Flower or the Codex Umbra. This would allow Walani to Be completely Unique & at the same time, not reduce her to the role of selfishly wasting Boat Kits to Fix her Surfboard Durability.

This is a Top Notch Professional High-Grade Surfboard with distinctive colors, and a trademark shark bite in the side.

No other Character can pick up this Surfboard, but it Can still be Burned, Lost or Destroyed.

—————————

“My Board is My Love!”

Walani’s Personal Surfboard can be “Planted” into the ground and she can rest against it to restore small portions of her Sanity, She gains extra Hunger Recovery if she eats while resting Propped up against her Surfboard.. (Because she’s Lazy it even says so in her Wikipedia page..)

———————————

“It’s not Professional but it’s gonna have to do”

In Addition to her own Surfboard Walani should Now be able to craft Makeshift Surfboards that other characters can use.

Makeshift Surfboards have a Durability and will Break after repeated use.

(Because no other character in the game is a Professional Surfer like WALANI They will not be able to remain on the Surfboard as long as Walani can.. therefore, once the Durability depletes they Wobble and Wipe Out into the depths of the ocean with the Makeshift Board sinking into the Ocean Depths with them)—————————————

“That Wave was tight, time to dry off!”

In the Shipwrecked DLC one of Walani’s personal traits was that she Dried off much faster than other characters from Wetness, This helped Reduce her Wet Meter & to Dry Wet Tools and Food significantly faster, Where as other characters would need to fully fuel a campfire or hold on Umbrella and Stand under a Tree to receive these same Results.

However this was a SINGLEPLAYER Gameplay Mechanic & did nothing in terms of a TOGETHER Environment.

So one of the absolute BEST Suggestions I Have seen for this are Craftable Beach Towels that she can give to other players so that this perk could be Repurposed for a Multiplayer use.

————————————

“Hey Guys Ya Want a Cold Soda?”

Walani can now craft her own unique Ice Cooler (Portable Icebox With significantly less Crafting Requirements but with limited storage of roughly 4 to 6 slots)

Like Warlys Portable Cookpot, the Cooler can be picked up and Moved after placement.. Items placed Inside the Cooler will remain inside the Cooler even when relocating it.————————————

“This Girl needs Her Nap”

Walani has her own Unique Craftable version of a Tent or Siesta-Lean-To

A Nice Little Hammock that’s Tied Between two (Fake) Tiny Plastic Palm Trees. Walani Refuses to sleep in a Regular Tent or Lean-To and must feel “at home” to Sleep. (She Can still use Sleeping Bags though)

The Hammock Will Restore her Health and Sanity at a Slightly Faster rate then a Normal Tent or Lean-To would have but at the cost of getting slightly Hungry faster.

(Anyone can use her Hammocks, but the Hunger Penalty still applies)————————————

“I’m not leaving Here Without it!”

As Mentioned Earlier Walani’s Professional Grade Surfboard would obviously be her MAIN Obsession, and when the board is in her Inventory it will show up in Character Animations while walking She will hold it in her Hand but it will NOT Actually take up the Hand Slot. 

However anytime Walani Takes Damage She will “Drop” Her Surfboard Having to take the time to either Recover it or be without it until she can craft a new one. She will lose more & more Sanity the further she is Away from her Surfboard.

(The Surfboard provides a Sanity Aurora for Walani)

She can only Have ONE Professional Surfboard at a time, so just like with how Woodie drops his Lucy axe and attempts to craft a Normal Axe the Normal Axe is replaced with Lucy. Walani’s Original Board, be it lost.. burned or destroyed by enemies attacking it Will be turned into a Makeshift Surfboard.

——————————

TL:DR

Perks- Personal Surfboard, Passive Drying off, Craftable Surfboards for Others, Craftable Towels for Others, Board Plant for very small & Slow Sanity Regeneration & Faster Food Recovery, Craftable 4 to 6 Slot Portable Ice Cooler, Craftable Sleeping Hammock.

Cons- Lazy, needs to rest against her Surfboard from time to time, Losses Sanity at a Much Faster Rate The further she is away from her Professional Surfboard. Obsessed with her Prize Surfboard needs to rest against it or surf occasionally, can only sleep when she feels at home.

———————————

Alright guys I think that’s all I’ve got hopefully you won’t feel like these suggestions completely ruin who Walani is I spent roughly 2 hours give or take putting this together.

[JJ0264]

On 2020-02-10 at 9:33 PM, Superlucas1231 said:

 

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2,3,4. My biggest gripe with your whole argument is that you treat Walani like she's the best character to interact with RoT when Woodlegs exist and is literally built around living in and exploring the sea while Walani is just a surfer. she just...surfs and pick stuff up. Like, you have a pirate who you can give so much in terms of possible content (a pirate ship that acts like a weaponized DST boat (with cannons, harpoons, and other goods),  a crow's nest that makes scouting the sea more easier, base building at the sea, etc,) vs. a surfer who...gives towels.

Something you also said was niche.

I re-read your first post but i still don't understand why you make an argument about adding in Walani now if we don't even know what direction Klei is going to make with RoT. Unless your point was your other ideas which are not really much to fully convince me of Walani being interesting (re-skin tent, expensive boats you can craft - which is also something you can add to Woodlegs character, and the towels and other beach stuff to counter off a niche mechanic that stops being relevant once you get the eyebrella). 

And what's stopping Klei from nerfing Woodleg's loot pool?

2,3,4. we treat her this way cuz she has potential to be refreshed better, Woodlegs having cannons, harpoons and lucky hats sounds like the best and worst thing to happen to any server (easy boss kills, 200 range weapon, late game loot on day 5, breaks PVP and also another toy for grievers)

I mean sure beach equipment is niche but so is fire immunity, end is nigh book, Wigfrids spears, Wurts abandon ship perk, Wilbur's free poop, chef pouch, beard hair, balloons, spider friends, 2x loyalty bonus, trusty tape, Wilba's free basic materials, Wagstaff's hats and that's not including basic things like touches or campfires (the point I'm trying to making is EVERYONE has a niche)

EYEBRELLA?!? - im mean sure it's better then towels but you do know you only get 1 eyeball every year in this 8 player game (excluding mods) and there's also 2nd recipe for deer-clops eye

Depends how much of a nerf, cuz if 9/10 you get basically nothing then I don't think anyone would really care for lucky hats

 

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1. Yes, she is going to be refreshed, but my point is why pick a character that doesn't have much to her when there is another character who can fulfill that same niche and be better at doing it? 

2. The point was the fact that Walani was a glorified version of Goose form and that was it. Wilba has her interaction with pigs and Wagstaff has his hats. Both characters have something else that makes them them while Walani doesn't really have anything that would drastically change the way you play. 

4. But why go through the effort of making a bland character who's defining trait is being lazy and a surfer when you can make a new interesting character from scratch? Joew said in Op's comment about how fans are more likely to complain about reused characters than brand new ones. 

1. gee do you remember that the longest time when Woodie was exactly what you described, I mean all we mostly got to his character was that he was Canadian (even his animation short had nothing on his backstory) and yet time & time again it almost seemed like every other character we got was trying copy or even excel what Woodie was doing...cough...DST Maxwell...hack...Wilba…koff...Wagstaff...ahem...Wurt

2. yeah Wilba's "interactions with pigs" aside from Hamlet this perk was useless (just a 2nd or I think 7th Woodie), Wagstaff's hats are just skins of other items (fryfocals = firestaff) (visor = helmet) (froggles = moggles) (thumper = bearger); Walani's surfboard alone does things far quicker and cheaper in RoT then others like shortcuts at all times, salt mining, kelp farms, fish farms, best/fastest boat in DST

Oh.. and by the way we have 3.5 characters focus on wood-chopping Woodie, Wurt, Maxwell and Warly so your whole argument about letting Wagstaff/Wilba in but not Walani cuz she a clone or not that unique is rather lackluster

4. Dude, this discussion is base around "IF THERE WAS" a 2nd wave of 1 SW and 1 HAM; I do agree about creating new characters like Wilton or Waverly but keep in mind there's only supposedly 1 slot left out of the 4, so just because Joew says fans are likely to complain now it doesn't mean there out for good next year.

edit: Mike23Ua pick up something I forgot to mention about the SW/HAM characters not being included into the 4 new character slots

[Mike23Ua]

3 hours ago, JJ0264 said:

 

 

For the record that one new character DOES NOT Include Walani, Wilbur, Woodlegs, Wilba, Wheeler Or Wagstaff.. when they said new character they mean brand new Exclusive to DST... not A SW or Hamlet port.

so in theory.. we could actually get all 6 of the ones listed above PLUS the final brand new DST Exclusive one.

But I would also like to remind everyone that the entire point of the character Refreshes hasn’t been to buff X character so they compare better to another character and are more viable options for Y End Game Content Results.

Every Character Rework has focused entirely on making them each unique, fun and engaging to play as.

So for the sake of everyone’s Sanity can we please stop comparing Walani to Were-Goose Woodie & Woodlegs?

Thanks.  

[JJ0264]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

so for the sake of everyone’s Sanity can we please stop comparing Walani to Were-Goose Woodie & Woodlegs?

but I thought the Don't starve guides told me insanity was a good thing

[zobm]

Walani doesn't fit the DST vibe.

[Canis]

51 minutes ago, zombbm said:

Walani doesn't fit the DST vibe.

Please describe what the "DST vibe" is and why Walani doesn't fit it.

[Yuuko]

hehe I like the idea of her being a slurper hehe

Definitely I want Walani in DST.  She was the main reason I played SW at all.  I like surfing, and seeing a surfing girl got me excited.  That and coffee were the only reasons I really booted up SW, and unfortunately the lack of other interesting things are why I never boot it up anymore ;p

I like your idea about the sanity aura, both positive and negative being weaker on her.  Its a great way of showing her "chill" side.  I also like the hammock idea, although besides appearance I'm not sure I'd use it.

[JJ0264]

other then beach equipment or being a pirate, Walani could have perks base around her culture like Woodie with Canada; Idk all I mostly got from Hawaiian stereotypes (aside from surfing) was tropical fruit/fish, hula, ukulele, flowers, spam and volcanos

although those pig touches kinda look like tikis so maybe Walani can craft her own pig touches

other Walani perks could be being able to be a half the fishing time, high benefits from sleeping, can catch butterflys without nets

[GetRektKids]

If I see one more Walani post I'm going to.........

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

SLAUGHTER

ALL

WES

MAINS

 

[Mike23Ua]

You enter a topic about Walani and expect not to see the word Walani, ehh I guess that makes sense.

Seriously though- A lot of people want Walani, and in the end NOT including any character (not just Walani) is preventing fans of that particular character from playing as and enjoying the game with them.

I am very hopeful that Walani, Wilbur, Woodlegs, Wilba, Wheeler and Wagstaff will all have their day in DST someday.. (I don’t know so much about Modded characters or Unimplemented scrapped Characters) but as far as the 6 Klei Official listed Above that already have people who play as and enjoy being those characters.. they ALL need to happen at some point.

 

Klei said that they didn’t want to add any new characters just for the sake of adding new Characters.. But I am also 90% certain when they said that.. they meant entirely BRAND NEW Characters..

(I wish someone at Klei would Clarify that for certain..  )

the 6 I just mentioned above should be an Exception to that Rule- because they already have a fan base and a following of people who WANT to play as them.

[Mike23Ua]

I got really lucky with World Biome Generation and I NOW have a perfect reason why Walani needs to be in the game.

Yes that is a Salt Stack Wedged in Between the island I’m standing in and the Edge of the Abyss.

a Boat Cookie would not fit here.. but for all you Walani Haters out there you know what would fit here Don’t you?

Thats right WALANI & Her Surfboard. #WeWantWalani

[Rma209]

t the end of the day we could use a Sailing character. One that helps with many on the water type thing. Weather that is Walani or a whole new one I think matters not.

[CameoAppearance]

Personally I don't think Walani using the Shipwrecked boating mechanics for her surfboard would be a problem if it was only her zipping around in a single-occupancy boat, not everybody; I know the devs weren't keen to put Shipwrecked-style boats in DST, but I don't think that's an absolute, I think they just didn't want everyone on a server to have their own one-person boat and if those mechanics were limited to a character perk it'd be more likely. And I know DST won't just explode on contact with Shipwrecked boats because the Island Adventures mod works pretty well.

Aside from the surfing aspect, I'd like to see Walani's water resistance beefed up. Losing less sanity from wet equipment, for instance. While it's not expanding a perk she already had, she could also be resistant to overheating because she's so chill.

[Maxposting]

On 17. 2. 2020 at 10:09 PM, Mike23Ua said:

 

You are literally holding a pickaxe.

[Lakurius]

nobody even likes walani