Maxwell's pre-revamp Resign

[Blu_Ni]

When Maxwell gets reworked, I believe he should be able to fit a more specific play-style than his current position, which is near-sub-par of Woodie. I feel like Maxwell should give up the idea on shadow puppets doing manual labor. He has access to the Codex Umbra, his last possession from the Shadow Throne. He one of the two characters that can read magic. He has the unique ability to fragment his mind... and he uses it to do some manual labor for him.

The fact that his shadow minions aren't the best choice in combat, in BOTH games, leaves something to be desired. In solo, Maxwell loses 15 HP - any lost HP is dangerous in battle - you're better off just not summoning any minions into battle at all. In Together, Maxwell needs to do several things: have spare nightmare fuel AND have the time between battle to craft a spear AND the shadow minion in the likely event that a shadow minion dies. There are handful of bosses take advantage of fleeing players!

If Klei wants Maxwell on par with the rest of the survivors, I would suggest removing the Maxwell's harvesting or combat abilities entirely. I would HIGHLY suggest removing the harvesting shadow minions. In place of this, Maxwell becomes a GLASS CANNON character - a design that was only seen in Wendy before it was quickly removed. Shadow minions can no longer be targeted or killed. Maxwell will have to feel the full brunt of any attack whilst fighting. On top of his lower max HP, Maxwell could even have -10% armor efficiency; instead of Night Armor having 95% resist on Maxwell, Night Armor gives only 85.5% resist!

Because of all of these nerfs & weaknesses, Maxwell can truly fit the mold of a glass cannon! As I said, shadow minions don't have to be killable or target-able thanks to the "glass cannon" concept. Shadow Duelists can do even more than just 40 DMG & maybe even a new AoE shadow minion could be created for frogs, spiders, tentapillars, & hounds!

[Dr. Safety]

Definitely a cool concept, but I personally think Maxwell and Wigfrid were the two characters fundamentally balanced and filled their roles nicely when compared to the rest of the cast (the exception being his duelist which is big manure emoji). I think on paper he was meant to be a summoner character of sorts, having him spawn helpers to do the work for him. This makes sense for his character since he isn't exactly one to get his hands dirty, and his low health means that he should generally stay out of the fray and have helpers do the fighting for him. I think all Maxwell needs to be on par with the reworked characters is an overhaul of the shadow duelists, and maybe give him some magic related perks since him and Wickerbottom are the two masters of magic in the group and he has no perks to show it besides maybe his sanity gain if you can count that.

[SoftHeartware]

In my opinion this is a horrendous idea. Concept is cool and all but you're misunderstanding the role that Maxwell fulfills. I've played him for a minimum of 500 hours and I love him. He's a great gatherer and the con is his low health pool and having to use resources that, in the beginning, are rare. Only things Klei should do for an eventual rework is do like they did with Wendy and allow Maxwell to use his book to either turn shadows active, so they'll fight, harvest etc. or inactive. I'd also add that somewhat buffing the shadow fighters would make them useful. 

[Blu_Ni]

On 9/10/2020 at 11:54 PM, Dr. Safety said:

Definitely a cool concept, but I personally think Maxwell and Wigfrid were the two characters fundamentally balanced and filled their roles nicely when compared to the rest of the cast (the exception being his duelist which is big manure emoji). I think on paper he was meant to be a summoner character of sorts, having him spawn helpers to do the work for him. This makes sense for his character since he isn't exactly one to get his hands dirty, and his low health means that he should generally stay out of the fray and have helpers do the fighting for him. I think all Maxwell needs to be on par with the reworked characters is an overhaul of the shadow duelists, and maybe give him some magic related perks since him and Wickerbottom are the two masters of magic in the group and he has no perks to show it besides maybe his sanity gain if you can count that.

I found your statement even more agreeable than mine. However, I am uneasy when Wendy already seems to fit the role of "I get summon a very useful ally (one that only needs Revenant Restorative & a little vigilance for Raid Bosses)". I would agree on giving Maxwell more shadow magic-related perks. I'm one to believe that he's a perfectly balanced character; he's just a character with his abilities in odd places like Walter (although Walter is in SERIOUS need of concentrating his abilities).

9 hours ago, SoftHeartware said:

In my opinion this is a horrendous idea. Concept is cool and all but you're misunderstanding the role that Maxwell fulfills. I've played him for a minimum of 500 hours and I love him. He's a great gatherer and the con is his low health pool and having to use resources that, in the beginning, are rare. Only things Klei should do for an eventual rework is do like they did with Wendy and allow Maxwell to use his book to either turn shadows active, so they'll fight, harvest etc. or inactive. I'd also add that somewhat buffing the shadow fighters would make them useful. 

I would agree. Allowing more control of one's minions is VERY powerful. But how could I forget?! UPGRADES! By adding upgrades, Wendy style, it can help remove the need for adding a serious weakness for Maxwell. Rare materials already exist in magic. Living Logs can be used to upgrade the shadow minions' tangibility, increasing HP or something. Thulecite, a solid & mineral form of Nightmare Fuel, can be used to "rage-mode" his minions or something.

 

I take it all back. Don't make Maxwell a DMG-oriented glass cannon, but a frail generalist (you can enforce the frail-ness as well as compensate the buff with -10% armor effectiveness or something).

[Miu3]

Suddenly I can see all Maxwell players constantly wear a bush hat while having a full army of invincible Shadow Duelists