Who would be better on a dedicated boat base/nomad world?

[JosePapp]

I was thinking a world with little mini bases scattered throughout the map without any "main" base so to speak would be fun! Which character would you guys pick and why? (Also feel free to suggest characters not on the list, like warly or maxwell)

[. . .]

walter because he has a gu- i mean slingshot also free chester

[FairyInABottle]

Wortox for the nomad life. Not having to worry about food as much is really freeing and the need for souls fits well with the constant moving around.

Wendy for boat base. Abigail is a big help against hounds and cookie cutters. Wurt probably second choice because she can eat kelp without downside and the whole not losing things on abandoning ship is a nice safety net.

[wigfrids hat]

of the ones listed woodie has been hands down the best. to be fair though i have not seen winona play so it is just what i have seen between woodie and walter players

[Cheggf]

Wait, boat base or nomad? If you mean boat base then by far the number one best character for that, no contest, is Maxwell. Second best sailor is Wendy, third best is Woodie. Wortox gets a special mention of being tied for the best sailor if you're on a public server.

And then for "nomad" and "mini bases" it also would depend on what exactly you mean. Maxwell is, once again, a very good character for being a cave dweller due to his ease of resource gathering and passive 6.7 sanity regen which counters the cave's -5 sanity drain, allowing him to regain 1.7 sanity per minute with no items instead of losing it. I haven't really played Walter but I hear he's also a good cave baser, not sure though because I haven't tried. Wendy loses a little less sanity from the caves and she's super OP, which still carries into the caves. Can kill a bunch of splumonkeys and such very easily.

For independent bases in general self-sufficient characters are better. Every character is self-sufficient, of course, but characters like Wigfrid who only fight a bit better and don't really have anything to help construct your base won't be as useful as characters like Maxwell, Woodie, or Wickerbottom. Of the three characters you listed only Woodie really has anything to help him be an independent baser.

For completely baseless nomads it doesn't really matter that much. I guess Wendy or Wortox.

[JosePapp]

It's a cave base nomad hybrid. I want to make little settlements throughout the map and have a little boat base I could move around in. I think a good challenge would be not to have settlements of more than 4 pitchforks in size and some sort of structure cap. Considered winona due to boat catapults and fast crafting, hadn't thought about maxwell, but Walter does have range which is needed at sea

[Notecja]

Dont pick Walter for boat. One mistake, one shark and you're losing health, sanity and boat, due to Wavey Jones.

Winona is definietly heavy base builder, she is most worth for stationery big base. Considering there is not much space to use her stuff or much crafting on boat, her hunger-penalty may be quite annoying.

Woodie is third or forth worthy character on sea, but only because of niche - quick discovering map or ability to quickly prepare for surprises like hounds attacks, but random nature of his transformations... As beaver he cannot steer and loses sanity. I would choose him from those three.

[Mysterious box]

I'd go with Walter since he's got on demand healing and sanity with his tent and will never truly be out of food so long as he has gold people often overlook the fact birds spawn almost everywhere and 1 gold round is enough to kill them.

[JosePapp]

1 hour ago, Notecja said:

Dont pick Walter for boat. One mistake, one shark and you're losing health, sanity and boat, due to Wavey Jones.

Winona is definietly heavy base builder, she is most worth for stationery big base. Considering there is not much space to use her stuff or much crafting on boat, her hunger-penalty may be quite annoying.

Woodie is third or forth worthy character on sea, but only because of niche - quick discovering map or ability to quickly prepare for surprises like hounds attacks, but random nature of his transformations... As beaver he cannot steer and loses sanity. I would choose him from those three.

 Wouldn't that also apply to maxwell with the health part?

[Notecja]

10 minutes ago, JosePapp said:

Wouldn't that also apply to maxwell with the health part?

Sanity in Walter case in more important. Any form of attack drops Walters sanity, and one shark can make him instantly insane - if you have a full boat-base, you might get stuck and be not able to avoid it. Also he loses it until get fully healed. I never played Maxwell, so I have no idea if he can survive this kind of event without armour, but I saw enough Walters to know what happen with him.

[Cheggf]

3 hours ago, JosePapp said:

Considered winona due to boat catapults and fast craftingWalter does have range which is needed at sea

There's no room for Winona stuff on boats. Technically there is, but at that point the boat isn't very inhabitable as a base and the use of a boat with a bunch of catapults on it is questionable.

3 hours ago, JosePapp said:

Walter does have range which is needed at sea

Why is Walter's range needed at sea? Whatever it is you're shooting it's not as important as Maxwell's upsides. A good boat base requires something along the lines of 51 rocks and 150-600 logs, both of which Maxwell is by far the best at gathering. Then once he's on the sea he won't really lose sanity since during the day he'll gain at least 6.7/m and during dusk / night he'll gain at least 1.7/m instead of losing 5, so Wavey Jones isn't a problem. His shadows also walk on water, so they will mine sea stacks and salt for you while you're still a good distance away. It allows you to gather salt much more easily, slowly sail straight through dense sea stacks (and then quickly sail through on any return trips), and just clear the ocean up so any frequently travelled paths are safer.

26 minutes ago, JosePapp said:

 Wouldn't that also apply to maxwell with the health part?

You need to be very careful when fighting rockjaws as anyone, but especially as Maxwell. They attack thrice dealing 30 damage each, so a single volley will kill an unarmored Maxwell, and if your armor breaks during their volley you'll take large amounts of damage from their attacks.

[sudoku]

Alot of people are suggesting characters that gather a lot of resources very quickly for the prepping of your boat and its maintenence, however if you don't mind the extra day or 2 it will take to chop trees/mine rocks these these characters fall off in terms of a nomadic playstyle.

Walter is THE nomadic character hands down. Woby allows you to map out the caves/land in record time during the early exploration days while being more useful than Woodies goose form in the mid to late game where Woby can be used as an additional 9 inventory slots, something that a nomad who is always on the go will greatly appreciate. 

He also makes caves and ocean travelling very safe and long-term options since he doesn't have to worry about sanity drain. Maxwell also shines too in this regard but 75 health for a  nomadic play style where you will constsntly be on the move and potentially running into enemies can add extra punishment to your run.

Walters slingshot is also very good for a nomadic play style, yes as a source of damage but more importantly as a food source. If you are truly going all in at being a nomad and don't plan on spending much time at a base, his slingshot provides easy morsels from birds allowing you to grab a bite to eat wherever you are, minus the caves. While exploring you can also collect marble and plant these at a marble farm location and upgrade your slingshot from gold rounds allowing you to be more of a threat. 

 

[Mysterious box]

5 hours ago, Notecja said:

Sanity in Walter case in more important. Any form of attack drops Walters sanity, and one shark can make him instantly insane - if you have a full boat-base, you might get stuck and be not able to avoid it. Also he loses it until get fully healed. I never played Maxwell, so I have no idea if he can survive this kind of event without armour, but I saw enough Walters to know what happen with him.

While this is true there's no reason for him not to he wearing armor when he doesn't gain sanity from clothing and even if his sanity is tanked it's easily recovered with his tent and his campfire stories. If he's going insane it's purely due to the player being inexperienced as the only reason he loses sanity in most cases is being hit which is only double the damage you take which both his hat and armor can mitigate alot or just not healing yourself which you have no excuse not to do while owning a portable tent.