Willow: The Good, the Bad, and the Tall, Dumb and Stinky bear.

[Dextops]

1 minute ago, Beeremy the III said:

no

i agree

[Theukon-dos]

Y'know what? I'm gonna say it.

 

Willow makes me ANGRY

Her character itself? Great. Fantastic even. She's fun, she's insane. She's a pyromaniac. What isn't there to love?

 

But her rework. Ooooohhhh her rework. It's legitimately just... why?

 

Bernie was first added to DST as, for all intents and purposes, an apology for gutting Willow in the transition from single player to multiplayer. Which was done in the name of "Griefing." But then, Klei did pretty much nothing to stop any other forms of griefing. Griefers can still do things such as, say

Burn Tallbird nests

craft a torch and burn bases with that

Drive Beefalo to extinction.

burn non-renewable resources like cactus or reeds

Spam the eat button from a fridge.

 

And it wasn't until last year that Klei added ways to get new Volt goat herds, or allow server owners to make players force-drop items when they leave. Because yeah, while Willow got her fire snuffed out to deter griefers, those who sought to cause Strife could do so just by LOGGING OUT with an inventory full of whatever. Willow (and to a lesser extent Woodie) Where basically just a couple of match boxes that Klei confiscated due to being a fire hazard. While at the same time, they completely ignored the dozens of tons of other, much more flammable substances right next to them.

 

And then came the announcement of character refreshes.  And people got excited, because Willow was so desperately in need of one. And the hype/tension leading up to the buildup was insane. People where speculating all over, wondering what fiery perks she might get. Would Willow finally regain her spark?

 

No. As it turns out, because Klei decided to focus her rework on that stupid bear. We got BERNIE!, overheat resistance, and cold vulnerability. Willow, Who the game dubs "The Firestarter", who's motto is "All will bathe in the prettiest of flames", who's entire personality is based around "haha fire go brrr". Has more emphasis on her childhood Teddy bear than they do actual fire. You want to know what fire perks she has?

>A glorified torch

>More fuel efficiency

>Sanity gain from fires

>Immunity to fire damage.

And that last one? Despite being a defining perk of hers in Don't Starve, the forums literally had to riot to get it added back. There's sooooo much Klei could have done with Willow's fire theming. But did they do any of it? no. They where too scared because Willow has this stigma of arson around her (despite; again. Literally just torches).

 

Heck, they could have even made it so that Willow's mastery of fire made it harder for her to grief players with. Make fires she lights not spread to nearby structures. Make mobs she burns not get their drops burnt. Heck, let her pull a Dumbledore and let her put out fires with ease.

 

And to those who have been saying "Willow's a Pyromaniac. Not a Pyrokinetic!" No. You're wrong. She 100% is.

For starters, even if things didn't get weird in the constant. The Willow short; which released right along side her refresh; confirms it.

The shadows where already hunter her from her youth. And with no clear influence from Maxwell at that. And on top of that, there's this scene where she blasts the closet to smithereens.

Even if we assumed that she was somehow able to get to and ignite the chemicals beside her in the time it took the terrorbeak to Lunge her. That explosion was strong enough to blast the door to smithereens, literally.

There is no conceivable explanation for how she could have survived that. Much less stand in the doorway right afterwards like a shadows-damned serial killer.

Not, unless. She was able to make the explosion herself through Pyrokinesis. Which makes her near-complete lack of fire perks all the more painful.

 

TL;DR Willow is a Pyromaniac and Pyrokinetic who's had her flame repeatedly snuffed out by Klei for downright hypocritical reasons.

 

 

[Falkenpelz]

Don't mind me, I'm just coming in with popcorn.

Willow is a nice, balanced, fun to play character with the ability to make you main her without even knowing why.

 

Now you may enter with the torches and pitchforks.

[Mike23Ua]

She still needed a fire to start that fire, regardless of the explosion afterwards- so she either can’t control fire and is only immune to it like I said, which means all that stuff in the closet with her exploded, OR she can only control a fire once one has already been started by normal fire starting methods (Aka the lighter) 

Think of it like how fire spitters in circus acts need to hold a Fire source to start a larger fire source.

Its also important to note that WILLOW isn’t the only one the shadows have been chasing outside of the Constant itself- They also have been chasing WANDA in her new short, which makes me question the Constant as a whole: Why if these things can get out into the real world.. what exactly is Charlie or even Wagstaff current Intentions???

Can only a “handful” leak out & escape to the real world and Charlie is trying to set them all out amongst humanity?

Does Willow have some Connection to Wanda if they’re BOTH being chased in the real world realm by nightmares?

Theres also Wagstaffs ability to pull spiders from the constant that created Webber… could it be possible that the same devices Wagstaff were using to bring spiders out and put WX78 in- Was also used by the monsters to break out into the physical realm?

What about poor Charlie and Maxwell? Who literally also get kidnapped while performing a stage show act utilizing the Codex Umbra? They were also pulled in by creatures in the physical realm.

The Wavey Jones emote icon seems highly appropriate for these Nightmare creatures manifesting themselves into the real world.

[Beeremy the III]

57 minutes ago, Theukon-dos said:

That's a lotta words.

Shame I didn't include them in the quote.

(epic guitar riff plays)

Honestly, Willow feels like she was meant to play as a "strongest when backed down into a corner" character, but I don't think they went about it very well.

You get backed into a corner (go at low sanity) and Big Bodacious B. comes out.

That's it.

No attack increase, no special flame ability, just pure bear gaming. I wouldn't even care if she wasn't a pyrokinetic, just give her something fire related that's useful.

Change Willow's lighter, at the very least, to, perhaps, produce a magic fire that doesn't spread and doesn't turn every item drop to ash when used to kill an enemy?

Make the fire look darker and have sparks come off it to show "No worries! This is controlled!"

Literally anything to get Willow being more "hoo hoo, fire!" instead of almost solely "go bear, get em!" would be great.

[Theukon-dos]

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

She still needed a fire to start that fire, regardless of the explosion afterwards- so she either can’t control fire and is only immune to it like I said, which means all that stuff in the closet with her exploded, OR she can only control a fire once one has already been started by normal fire starting methods (Aka the lighter) 

There was no fire in the room until the Terrorbeak lunged. As I said, that was assuming that Willow somehow had time to start a blaze in between the Terrorbeak Lunging and making contact. Which is already an assumption and a half. Also, Fire is only a part of an explosion. And frankly, the least dangerous part. There's also the matter of the shockwave that should have turned Willow's body to Jello.

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Think of it like how fire spitters in circus acts need to hold a Fire source to start a larger fire source.

Still Pyrokinesis

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Its also important to note that WILLOW isn’t the only one the shadows have been chasing outside of the Constant itself- They also have been chasing WANDA in her new short, which makes me question the Constant as a whole: Why if these things can get out into the real world.. what exactly is Charlie or even Wagstaff current Intentions???

Can only a “handful” leak out & escape to the real world and Charlie is trying to set them all out amongst humanity?

Does Willow have some Connection to Wanda if they’re BOTH being chased in the real world realm by nightmares?

Wanda's being hunted by the shadows because, like Maxwell, she's been exploiting them for her own purpose. Only instead of magical fame, it's outrunning her own fate. Theulicite is a key component in her clockwork mechanisms. And the very first shot we see in Wanda's short shows nightmare fuel emitting from one of her clock parts. A shot that takes place outside of the constant.

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

Theres also Wagstaffs ability to pull spiders from the constant that created Webber… could it be possible that the same devices Wagstaff were using to bring spiders out and put WX78 in- Was also used by the monsters to break out into the physical realm?

Maybe, But that doesn't change the fact that the nightmares seemed to be targeting Willow specifically. A character who, no matter how you cut it, seems to have a supernatural affinity for fire.

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

What about poor Charlie and Maxwell? Who literally also get kidnapped while performing a stage show act utilizing the Codex Umbra? They were also pulled in by creatures in the physical realm.

As I said. Maxwell was exploiting shadow magic for his own gains. Willow was just some orphan kid who the shadows decided to go after. This only makes sense if there was something about Willow that they wanted. Or something that got their attention.

21 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

The Wavey Jones emote icon seems highly appropriate for these Nightmare creatures manifesting themselves into the real world.

Can't argue with that.

[Szczuku]

3 hours ago, Theukon-dos said:

stigma

Spoiler

Stigma Balls haha gottem

In all seriousness, I agree that it is noticible that Klei turned Willow's gameplay away from fire and more into the Bearnie.

The aforementioned fire perks such us putting out fires with bare hands (or maybe a new craftable) or saving the loot from a burned mob wouldn't really require an entire fire mechanic rework but would spice up Willow's gameplay.

I suppose it is ultimately up to Klei if they feel like tweaking a character without announcing it a 2nd rework.

[Mike23Ua]

20 minutes ago, Szczuku said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Stigma Balls haha gottem

In all seriousness, I agree that it is noticible that Klei turned Willow's gameplay away from fire and more into the Bearnie.

The aforementioned fire perks such us putting out fires with bare hands (or maybe a new craftable) or saving the loot from a burned mob wouldn't really require an entire fire mechanic rework but would spice up Willow's gameplay.

I suppose it is ultimately up to Klei if they feel like tweaking a character without announcing it a 2nd rework.

Well I mean they didn’t announce Wurt, Wormwood, Walter or Wendy’s changes as getting a 2nd rework either but they got them.

Maybe Small tweaks doesn’t really qualify as full blown rework?

[Ohan]

• some kind of explosive fire perk at low sanity. a fiery shield of sorts? 
• burnt mobs dropping loot on fire instead of ashes 
• willow being able to put out raging fires not just smoldering:
  • perhaps in an aoe by right-clicking her lighter which would absorb nearby fires and recharge the durability.
• and small bernie qols like teleporting with willow etc, (maybe set BERNIE! on fire to heal him in combat? or deal dmg to attackers?)

these 3-4 things would realllllyy flesh out willow to perfection i think. shes already really fun to play she only lacks some oomf/uniqueness mostly related to her unfulfilled pyro fantasy. 

[Mike23Ua]

My personal theory about why Willow carries a lighter, has a Teddy Bear that grows and shrinks, and is able to survive a massive explosion and walk away unharmed won’t be a theory people wanting Willow to be some “Lilith from Borderlands 2” level Fire Goddess will be happy with.

Instead- my theory ties Willow, the Shadows that are seen chasing her, the size changing Teddy Bear, Her natural fire Immunity, the massive explosion in the closet, and the fact she STILL needs a lighter all into one nice little package that makes perfect sense.

(I’m a writer it’s my job to think like this..)

Okay so my thoughts are this- Willow is NOT a Pyrokinetic meaning: She can not just create massive fireballs out of thin air like shes from the fire clan of Avatar the last air bender.. But what she IS able to control is telekinetic power Meaning: When she was trapped in that closet and accidentally caught the closet on fire she was so scared that she threw up a forcefield around herself forcing the already started fire out and away from her in a large supernatural forced burst..

Now when you strip Willow away from “Fire” powers and you instead start thinking she has “Supernatural” ones instead- she has connections with other realms and therefore could see the nightmares manifesting themselves into the physical realm and that’s why they pursued after her, Shes also NOT able to create fires by herself.. but she IS Immune to them because when she threw up the forcefield to protect herself from that first very frightening fire, she coated her entire body in a forcefield that protects her & prevents fire damage.

This could also possibly explain away her downside of getting cold faster, she can’t feel the natural “heat” of a flame or the sun, unless she’s pretty much standing right in it & what would be considered deadly heat to others would feel just mildly warmer to her.

If we go with the logic of Kinetic “Forcefield like” powers that also explains away how she now has a stuffed Teddy Bear that can grow and shrink in size that is directly tied to the state of her own mind.

But that’s just the thing: She’s more akin to a Poltergeist- Seeing beings from another realm being able to manipulate her toy Bear, throwing up a permanent forcefield to prevent fire damage.. but what she most certainly is not: Is able to create any source of flame without having something that starts that flame first. (lighter, Torch, etc..)