[updated] Wormwood major rework ideas + perks

[Mortalbane]

Why rework?
I like Wormwood a lot, his concept, his mechanics, his looks, sounds. But it always felt bad that he is literal farm king (after Wickerbottom ^^), yet he can't enjoy the taste of a fresh dragonpie to its fullest. And since the arrival of the skill trees i've developed a slightly different vision of the plant boy, than Klei has. So, i want to share that and to know what you guys think.


Base kit

• Wormwood now also receives less hunger from food
• manure-based fertilizers now also restore some hunger, compost-based fertilizers restore more hunger but over time
• sanity drain/restoration from uprooting/planting is equal
• Wormwood restores sanity slowly when wetness is between 0 and 50%
• blooming removed from base kit
• added Plant Mode

Plant mode
When you don't move for a few seconds, you plant yourself in the ground, gaining some health regen under the sunlight. The regen doesn't work underground, in the evening and in winter.
If standing on a farm tile in this mode, you suck nutrients out of it. Increase the hunger gains from fertilizers when they are consumed that way.
This is like sleeping in a tent in the middle of your farm, but better.


Skill tree
Plant branch
This branch is all about plant mode, blooming and farming.

Perk examples:

• the first skill is Blooming - now being in the plant mode starts the blooming process, and full bloom is reached very fast
• ending the plant mode while in bloom drops petals
• tend to nearby crops while blooming -> increase the effect radius -> increase the crop's grow speed and yield if it was tended by you
• photosynthesis health regen is stronger when you are wet. You can gain wetness from the farm tiles or using watering can on yourself, in addition to all other means
• no crafting berry bushes and such, because while it seems cool, sooner or later you will go out into the world and dig all the plants that you want, making several spent skill points a waste and regret. Instead skills that allow replanting the non-replantable, increase those plants' grow speed and number of harvests between fertilizations, allow them to grow in winter at reduced speed, remove the need to fertilize after replanting, and so on
• skills that make bees friendly, and since you don't move while in bloom, they are attracted to you and pollinate you, increasing their honey production. The bee pollinating you "charges" its hive with that effect for some time, so that you don't have to stand near bees all the time
• "Lureplant friend" perk which allows to craft lureplants and open them like chests to retrieve items they ate but not yet digested, or use them as the trash bins that they are, but in a cool way
• there also could be skills that make your bramble traps and husk more expensive, but traps will now rearm themselves, and armor will regenerate durability at the cost of your health (or simply can be repaired with living logs, which is kinda the same)
   

Lunar mutation branch
This branch is about lunar mutation, mushrooms and combat.

Perk examples:

• first skill is Lunar Conduit - instead of blooming in the plant mode, you become a "lunar emitter", and there is an enlightenment aura around you
• perks that allow you to transform flora and fauna into their lunar forms if they stay near you long enough, but they are not your pets and they are not friendly, just neutral. This includes transforming any mushrooms/mushtrees into lunar ones, and pigs into werepigs
• mushroom-production perks, as well as sleep-inducing mushroom clouds are also here
• perk that transforms your bramble traps into angry lunar vines (which are like tentacles from the swamp), while you are in the lunar emitter mode. This could create an interesting fighting style, where you prepare a trap zone and have to stand near them, and if your enemy moves away, you have to quickly pick your traps up, set them up closer to the action and stand near them again to transform them into vines. There probably should be limit on how many vines can be active at the same time

Mastery branch
Note - character mastery skill branch is my concept, the main idea is that skill points are not saved between games, so you have to level up the main skill branches each time. But mastery branch is unlocked via "achievements", ranging from "survive 5 days" to "kill a boss without wearing armor". Perks in this branch are saved between games.
Examples:

• increased regeneration from all sources
• allows to restore health when eating mushrooms
• gain more sanity when wet
• gain more hunger from farm tile nutrients
• increase various timers and AoE effects radius
• "Butterfly friend" perk, which allows picking them up with bare hands, and they don't fly away from you. Gained by eating 50 butterfly wings. Because that is what friends do ^^

The list can go on, you get the idea.

Affinity branch
Note - affinity branch is also my concept, which says that perks in this branch aren't acquired via skill points, instead you have to complete quests for Wagstaff and Charlie. First perks in the chain are global, like Charlie not attacking you at night, shadow gear not draining sanity anymore, or gestalts no longer putting you to sleep. Then come character-specific perks, which enhance some of the character features.
Lunar-aligned characters like Wormwood can't get shadow perks and can't do quests for Charlie, instead they have more lunar perks to choose from.
Wormwood's affinity perks may include brightshade upgrades for his bramble trap and armor, upgrade to vines and so on.



My other Wormwood suggestions:

The "light" post with minor tweaks

The "medium" skill tree overhaul with more impactful perks

 

[Mortalbane]

I've updated the post, added some more perk concepts.

The goal of this rework idea was to emphasize the Wormwood's main playstyles. One - sit on the farm, be the plant, fertilize/water yourself, while supplying your team with all plant products they want. Like being able to sleep in the tent right in the middle of your farm, but better. Watch as the crops grow, be happy. The second skill branch tried to make more sense of the lunar and combat parts.
What do you think about this? Am i thinking in the right direction? Or all this is not needed, and what Klei does is fine as it is?
Feel free to share your opinion.

[ShadowbirdRH]

Considering how game changing plant crafting can be, I'm in favor of it being expensive. I'm also in favor of making it cost more of Wormwood's health, and possibly swapping out the rot for Compost Wrap. In exchange though, I'd really like for the plants, when first planted, to be free from the transplanted condition that causes plants to need to be fertilized after a number of harvests. If the new plants are dug up again at some point, that's one thing, but if the plant was never dug up in the first place, it should be free of that penalty.

I have two idea of how that could be better implemented. First, instead of plants being produced as items in the inventory, they could be built like structures, producing the new plant immediately at location upon crafting, with a preview like when building structures. The second idea, in which case should not have Compost Wrap among the material cost, is for Compost Wrap to be able to reverse the damage done by transplanting when used to fertilize the plant, making it so it won't require fertilizer again unless dug up again.

[Mortalbane]

18 hours ago, ShadowbirdRH said:

Considering how game changing plant crafting can be, I'm in favor of it being expensive. I'm also in favor of making it cost more of Wormwood's health

I think people overestimate plant crafting. I never found myself in a situation where i can't make a vast farm of any plant. And such skills only encourage you to sit in your base instead of going out to see the game content.

18 hours ago, ShadowbirdRH said:

possibly swapping out the rot for Compost Wrap

I also thought about the Compost Wrap, but my thought were why it doesn't require compost to craft and that it requires too much manure. And i'd also get rid of nitre.
In this post i don't have it, but the idea is in another post. I've added links to my other Wormwood posts at the bottom of this post above.

18 hours ago, ShadowbirdRH said:

I have two idea of how that could be better implemented. First, instead of plants being produced as items in the inventory, they could be built like structures, producing the new plant immediately at location upon crafting, with a preview like when building structures. The second idea, in which case should not have Compost Wrap among the material cost, is for Compost Wrap to be able to reverse the damage done by transplanting when used to fertilize the plant, making it so it won't require fertilizer again unless dug up again.

I think it's a bit too complicated. Check out my solutions for this mentioned in my other posts.