Walter Skill Tree Ideas

[MrMNWorm]

Thought I would take a "shot" at Walter's skill tree... please enjoy!

First up, Woby...

Currently Woby looks like this:
50 Hunger (loses 20 Hunger/Day) and 9 Storage Slots
50-35 Hunger = 10 Speed
34-16 Hunger = 9 Speed
15-1 Hunger = 8 Speed

Here is how we might "pimp" Woby up to be a better ride.

WOBY UPGRADES

1. Increase Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10, 49-25 = 9, 24-1 = 8)
2. Increase Max Speed +.5 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10.5, 49-25 = 9.5, 24-1 = 8.5)
3. Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 10.5, 66-33 = 9.5, 32-1 = 8.5)
4. Speed +.5  (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 11, 66-33 = 10, 32-1 = 9)
5. Adds 3 more inventory slots to Woby
6. Locks Speed at 11 so long as he’s transformed, no longer experiences Speed reductions from Hunger lose.

So now he would have the speed of a Rider Beefalo for 5 Days and some additional storage. I think new and veteran players would happily check off all these skills to get that kind of Woby performance and perks. If Woby were faster with no degradation in speed, it really makes for a better beast to ride into battle. We don't really need Woby to have health or the ability to attack IF he's really fast when fighting... especially if we upgrade Walter's Slingshot.

SLINGSHOT UPGRADES

Rapid Fire
1. Increase Rate of Fire
2. Increase Rate of Fire
3. Increase Rate of Fire

The only thing that bothers me with Walters Slingshot is the speed he shoots at... this would fix that. Some people have mentioned wanting Pellets to go further and faster but if Woby can run faster and Walter can shoot faster... I think that's all we need from the skill tree/developers' work load.

Pellet Production Proficiency
1. Increase Pellet Production to 15
2. Increase Pellet Production to 20
3. Increase Pellet Production to 30

If this branch section were maxed out, Walters could produce a full stack of pellets with just 2 required materials. Desirable for solo world Walters as well as those joining an open server. Considering that a stack of Marble Pellets only nets 3060 damage and costs 6 Marble... increasing his production proficiency would be really helpful/not OP in my mind.

Then, once a player unlocks 3 skill points between either branch, it will unlock two new options for pellet ammo, an AoE one and a Double-Shot one.

New Ammo Options
4. Pinecone Pellets: 17 damage + 8.5 AoE damage because the Pinecones explode on impact. Still stack to 40 but have the additional AoE damage. These would be a slightly better option to the Stone Pellets.
5. Hounds Tooth Pellets: 34 damage and fires 2 at once. Still stack to 40 and since they fire 2 at once, one stack = 20 shots. It would be nice to see the arc of the spread on these be pretty minimal so at close to medium range it's a guaranteed double-hit for 68 damage.

So this would make the Slingshot shoot faster, decrease cost of Pellets, and add two new ammo options, a never before seen AoE and Double-Shot option, neither of which require resources to produce... just some early game farming/hound hunting. Since Walter is fascinated by creatures, him wanting a Varg farm or seeking out the Hound Dens seems to fit his character profile... a super fast Woby with extra storage would definitely help out by the Hound Dens.

SUPER SCOUT SKILLS + CRAFTABLES

Storytelling Sanity Regen Buff
1. Increase Sanity Regen to 15/min
2. Increase Sanity Regen to 20/min
3. Increase Sanity Regen to 25/min

I REALLY like the Storytelling Ability... I just wish it worked a little better since the stories are kinda short.

Tree Sanity Regen Buff
1. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 3.0 tiles
2. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 4.0 tiles
3. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 5.5 tiles

This would really help Walter benefit from basing in the dense forests of the Dark Green Forest Biomes. I made a pretty sweet 2000 Day Walter base in one once... but could still barely get the sanity boost from the trees... this would help Walter players see that benefit and will make for some really cool Scout-style bases.

Super Scout Craftables (plus one more skill I didn't know where to put...)
1. Woby Treats: 2 Monster Meat + 2 Grass = a 50 Hunger, non-spoil-able treat for Woby. Right now it takes 4-5 MM to get him to transform into Big Woby, so basically looking for a way to reduce the cost of MM needed for the transformation. Since real doggie treats look like they are made from compressed grass and last a long time... that's what I was shooting for.
2. Pellet Pouch: 2 Silk + 2 Tentacle Spots + 1 Rope = a 6-slot pouch that only holds Pellets. Works like Maxwell's Top Hat and will be super handy to have a variety of Pellets in a pouch taking up one slot.
3. Merit Badge Sash: 4 Silk + 2 Papyrus = a body-slot gear that makes Sanity Loss equal to HP Damage Loss while fighting. For me personally, the Pioneer Hat needs a little QoL buff to a 75% reduction on Sanity Drain and then remove the Sanity Loss from Damage all together and give that to the Sash. Since most players wear Helmets, the Merit Badge Sash combos well with Head Armor. THEN a player puts on the Pioneer Hat while returning to base to heal up/while healing up. So like the Sash is for Battle Time to negate Sanity Loss (and you can still wear Head Gear), the Hat is for non-Battle Time to reduce Sanity Drain (and you can still wear your Backpack).

4. Then this last one is more of a skill... and I'm shooting out two options... either is fine with me. Either... buff Tent Roll uses to 15 OR buff Walters Health and Sanity Regen from the Tent Roll. Just something that makes the Tent Roll better is the point and it should probably go at the end of one of the other Sanity-related skill branches... I just couldn't decide where.

AFFINITIES

Lunar: Can craft Pure Brilliance Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and can bounce/ricochet 2 times, 4 times with the Brightshade Helmet. This would be like the Brightshade Staff but as a slightly better option for Walter to use because the pellets do better damage but bounce less.

Shadow: Can craft Dreadstone Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and does a Triple-Shot. These would stack to 60 but cost 3 pellets/shot so you only have 20 shots... and the arc of the spread might be wide enough that Walter needs to be pretty close to make sure all 3 hit his target.

So now a player has to chose between bounce-able big bang shots or max damage triple shots...

And there we have a 26-slot skill tree for Walter. Definitely have to give @kroban credit for his post on Walter's Skill Tree, which I just took a step further/piggybacked on.

Thoughts and feedback are appreciated and have a wonderful day!

[Creatorofswamps]

19 hours ago, MrMNWorm said:

Pinecone Pellets: 17 damage + 8.5 AoE damage because the Pinecones explode on impact. Still stack to 40 but have the additional AoE damage. These would be a slightly better option to the Stone Pellets.

this is a very funny idea. I like it!

[Creatorofswamps]

23 hours ago, MrMNWorm said:

Pellet Pouch: 2 Silk + 2 Tentacle Spots + 1 Rope = a 6-slot pouch that only holds Pellets. Works like Maxwell's Top Hat and will be super handy to have a variety of Pellets in a pouch taking up one slot.

also a cool thing

[Saladmanders]

Very In-depth & beautiful organization!

Going to comment on ideas I like or I find could be better, read them if you'd like.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

WOBY UPGRADES

1. Increase Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10, 49-25 = 9, 24-1 = 8)
2. Increase Max Speed +.5 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10.5, 49-25 = 9.5, 24-1 = 8.5)
3. Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 10.5, 66-33 = 9.5, 32-1 = 8.5)
4. Speed +.5  (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 11, 66-33 = 10, 32-1 = 9)
5. Adds 3 more inventory slots to Woby
6. Locks Speed at 11 so long as he’s transformed, no longer experiences Speed reductions from Hunger lose.

Definitely would love consistent speed & more storage. A skill to make Woby not buck off Walter when hurt would be nice but isn't neccesary. I find Walter to be more of an explorer & collector character so having more storage would definetly be a big plus for how I play Walter.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

New Ammo Options
4. Pinecone Pellets: 17 damage + 8.5 AoE damage because the Pinecones explode on impact. Still stack to 40 but have the additional AoE damage. These would be a slightly better option to the Stone Pellets.
5. Hounds Tooth Pellets: 34 damage and fires 2 at once. Still stack to 40 and since they fire 2 at once, one stack = 20 shots. It would be nice to see the arc of the spread on these be pretty minimal so at close to medium range it's a guaranteed double-hit for 68 damage.

I like the idea of AOE range damage for Walter, having a range AOE weapon that applies additional affects like slowing may be OP or annoying, but quite fun if nothing else.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

Storytelling Sanity Regen Buff
1. Increase Sanity Regen to 15/min
2. Increase Sanity Regen to 20/min
3. Increase Sanity Regen to 25/min

I REALLY like the Storytelling Ability... I just wish it worked a little better since the stories are kinda short.

A very charming but underutilised aspect of Walter. If Walter could also do animations depending on how many players are near him & what special items he's wearing/holding, I'd be very onboard.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

Super Scout Craftables (plus one more skill I didn't know where to put...)
1. Woby Treats: 2 Monster Meat + 2 Grass = a 50 Hunger, non-spoil-able treat for Woby. Right now it takes 4-5 MM to get him to transform into Big Woby, so basically looking for a way to reduce the cost of MM needed for the transformation. Since real doggie treats look like they are made from compressed grass and last a long time... that's what I was shooting for.
2. Pellet Pouch: 2 Silk + 2 Tentacle Spots + 1 Rope = a 6-slot pouch that only holds Pellets. Works like Maxwell's Top Hat and will be super handy to have a variety of Pellets in a pouch taking up one slot.
3. Merit Badge Sash: 4 Silk + 2 Papyrus = a body-slot gear that makes Sanity Loss equal to HP Damage Loss while fighting. For me personally, the Pioneer Hat needs a little QoL buff to a 75% reduction on Sanity Drain and then remove the Sanity Loss from Damage all together and give that to the Sash. Since most players wear Helmets, the Merit Badge Sash combos well with Head Armor. THEN a player puts on the Pioneer Hat while returning to base to heal up/while healing up. So like the Sash is for Battle Time to negate Sanity Loss (and you can still wear Head Gear), the Hat is for non-Battle Time to reduce Sanity Drain (and you can still wear your Backpack).

All these ideas would be pretty cool. Merit Badge Sash is my favourite as it adds more strategy than just wearing maxed out armor as Walter.

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

4. Then this last one is more of a skill... and I'm shooting out two options... either is fine with me. Either... buff Tent Roll uses to 15 OR buff Walters Health and Sanity Regen from the Tent Roll. Just something that makes the Tent Roll better is the point and it should probably go at the end of one of the other Sanity-related skill branches... I just couldn't decide where.

I'd say both combined in one but if I had to pick one, Buff Walter's Sanity & Health regen from Tents. I'd really like an exclusive tent craft for Walter where he recovers hunger & sanity in exchange for incense items like flowers, honey, grass & more! 

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

Lunar: Can craft Pure Brilliance Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and can bounce/ricochet 2 times, 4 times with the Brightshade Helmet. This would be like the Brightshade Staff but as a slightly better option for Walter to use because the pellets do better damage but bounce less.

Shadow: Can craft Dreadstone Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and does a Triple-Shot. These would stack to 60 but cost 3 pellets/shot so you only have 20 shots... and the arc of the spread might be wide enough that Walter needs to be pretty close to make sure all 3 hit his target.

I like big damage Shadow shots, shotguns but in DST. & how far would these pellets ricochet? Have the range of Walter's slingshot perhaps?

On 9/19/2023 at 4:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

And there we have a 26-slot skill tree for Walter. Definitely have to give @kroban credit for his post on Walter's Skill Tree, which I just took a step further/piggybacked on.

@kroban He is definitely quite cool. The post that made me make my own skilltrees. 

Take my rankings with a pinch of salt but I'd say around 8/10. Of course my opinions don't define the quality of your ideas, nor does anyone elses really.

Have a nice day & thanks for reading!

[Danila6300]

On 9/19/2023 at 8:26 PM, MrMNWorm said:

Shadow: Can craft Dreadstone Pellets.

I think it's worth making a different recipe, since these shells will be available before the rifts appear.

Overall, I liked everything. 

[Anthony_L3hr]

- The "Tree sanity regen" skill branch, I think it would be better if the first tier vastly increased range(a flat range increase to 5-6 tiles), second tier would increase the sanity regen from trees, and the final tier would allow Walter to 'perch' birds on trees, which in turn acts as a more natural "birdcage" and provides a small sanity regen aura. If the bird is left to starve, it will fly away rather than die. (Can be fed anything as per usual)

- A tent roll skill branch would be nice for the final set of the "super-scout" portion, upgrading the tent roll requiring flowers, grass, etc. like 'Saladmanders' said is cool. I was thinking the tent roll could use bunny puffs as a second tier and restore stats a hare better than the regular tent. And the fur tufts that drop passively from Bearger could be the final upgrade, restoring stats greatly and has more durability than the original tent roll. 

[Dr.Webber]

Woby should definitely get triumphant and moon bound skins 

[GelatinousCube]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:26 AM, MrMNWorm said:

Thought I would take a "shot" at Walter's skill tree... please enjoy!

First up, Woby...

Currently Woby looks like this:
50 Hunger (loses 20 Hunger/Day) and 9 Storage Slots
50-35 Hunger = 10 Speed
34-16 Hunger = 9 Speed
15-1 Hunger = 8 Speed

Here is how we might "pimp" Woby up to be a better ride.

WOBY UPGRADES

1. Increase Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10, 49-25 = 9, 24-1 = 8)
2. Increase Max Speed +.5 (Speed breaks down to 75-50 = 10.5, 49-25 = 9.5, 24-1 = 8.5)
3. Hunger +25 (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 10.5, 66-33 = 9.5, 32-1 = 8.5)
4. Speed +.5  (Speed breaks down to 100-67 = 11, 66-33 = 10, 32-1 = 9)
5. Adds 3 more inventory slots to Woby
6. Locks Speed at 11 so long as he’s transformed, no longer experiences Speed reductions from Hunger lose.

So now he would have the speed of a Rider Beefalo for 5 Days and some additional storage. I think new and veteran players would happily check off all these skills to get that kind of Woby performance and perks. If Woby were faster with no degradation in speed, it really makes for a better beast to ride into battle. We don't really need Woby to have health or the ability to attack IF he's really fast when fighting... especially if we upgrade Walter's Slingshot.

SLINGSHOT UPGRADES

Rapid Fire
1. Increase Rate of Fire
2. Increase Rate of Fire
3. Increase Rate of Fire

The only thing that bothers me with Walters Slingshot is the speed he shoots at... this would fix that. Some people have mentioned wanting Pellets to go further and faster but if Woby can run faster and Walter can shoot faster... I think that's all we need from the skill tree/developers' work load.

Pellet Production Proficiency
1. Increase Pellet Production to 15
2. Increase Pellet Production to 20
3. Increase Pellet Production to 30

If this branch section were maxed out, Walters could produce a full stack of pellets with just 2 required materials. Desirable for solo world Walters as well as those joining an open server. Considering that a stack of Marble Pellets only nets 3060 damage and costs 6 Marble... increasing his production proficiency would be really helpful/not OP in my mind.

Then, once a player unlocks 3 skill points between either branch, it will unlock two new options for pellet ammo, an AoE one and a Double-Shot one.

New Ammo Options
4. Pinecone Pellets: 17 damage + 8.5 AoE damage because the Pinecones explode on impact. Still stack to 40 but have the additional AoE damage. These would be a slightly better option to the Stone Pellets.
5. Hounds Tooth Pellets: 34 damage and fires 2 at once. Still stack to 40 and since they fire 2 at once, one stack = 20 shots. It would be nice to see the arc of the spread on these be pretty minimal so at close to medium range it's a guaranteed double-hit for 68 damage.

So this would make the Slingshot shoot faster, decrease cost of Pellets, and add two new ammo options, a never before seen AoE and Double-Shot option, neither of which require resources to produce... just some early game farming/hound hunting. Since Walter is fascinated by creatures, him wanting a Varg farm or seeking out the Hound Dens seems to fit his character profile... a super fast Woby with extra storage would definitely help out by the Hound Dens.

SUPER SCOUT SKILLS + CRAFTABLES

Storytelling Sanity Regen Buff
1. Increase Sanity Regen to 15/min
2. Increase Sanity Regen to 20/min
3. Increase Sanity Regen to 25/min

I REALLY like the Storytelling Ability... I just wish it worked a little better since the stories are kinda short.

Tree Sanity Regen Buff
1. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 3.0 tiles
2. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 4.0 tiles
3. Increase range for Tree Sanity Regen to 5.5 tiles

This would really help Walter benefit from basing in the dense forests of the Dark Green Forest Biomes. I made a pretty sweet 2000 Day Walter base in one once... but could still barely get the sanity boost from the trees... this would help Walter players see that benefit and will make for some really cool Scout-style bases.

Super Scout Craftables (plus one more skill I didn't know where to put...)
1. Woby Treats: 2 Monster Meat + 2 Grass = a 50 Hunger, non-spoil-able treat for Woby. Right now it takes 4-5 MM to get him to transform into Big Woby, so basically looking for a way to reduce the cost of MM needed for the transformation. Since real doggie treats look like they are made from compressed grass and last a long time... that's what I was shooting for.
2. Pellet Pouch: 2 Silk + 2 Tentacle Spots + 1 Rope = a 6-slot pouch that only holds Pellets. Works like Maxwell's Top Hat and will be super handy to have a variety of Pellets in a pouch taking up one slot.
3. Merit Badge Sash: 4 Silk + 2 Papyrus = a body-slot gear that makes Sanity Loss equal to HP Damage Loss while fighting. For me personally, the Pioneer Hat needs a little QoL buff to a 75% reduction on Sanity Drain and then remove the Sanity Loss from Damage all together and give that to the Sash. Since most players wear Helmets, the Merit Badge Sash combos well with Head Armor. THEN a player puts on the Pioneer Hat while returning to base to heal up/while healing up. So like the Sash is for Battle Time to negate Sanity Loss (and you can still wear Head Gear), the Hat is for non-Battle Time to reduce Sanity Drain (and you can still wear your Backpack).

4. Then this last one is more of a skill... and I'm shooting out two options... either is fine with me. Either... buff Tent Roll uses to 15 OR buff Walters Health and Sanity Regen from the Tent Roll. Just something that makes the Tent Roll better is the point and it should probably go at the end of one of the other Sanity-related skill branches... I just couldn't decide where.

AFFINITIES

Lunar: Can craft Pure Brilliance Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and can bounce/ricochet 2 times, 4 times with the Brightshade Helmet. This would be like the Brightshade Staff but as a slightly better option for Walter to use because the pellets do better damage but bounce less.

Shadow: Can craft Dreadstone Pellets. 51 Damage + 8.5 Planar Damage and does a Triple-Shot. These would stack to 60 but cost 3 pellets/shot so you only have 20 shots... and the arc of the spread might be wide enough that Walter needs to be pretty close to make sure all 3 hit his target.

So now a player has to chose between bounce-able big bang shots or max damage triple shots...

And there we have a 26-slot skill tree for Walter. Definitely have to give @kroban credit for his post on Walter's Skill Tree, which I just took a step further/piggybacked on.

Thoughts and feedback are appreciated and have a wonderful day!

Absolutely love this skill tree. Nice and simple and not overly complex but addresses most of his kit and existing perks. All the new pellet types are simple but clever and would be useful as well. Pellet pouch, again super simple but super useful - anything that helps with backpack/inventory management is a plus for me, I CANNOT wait until we one day get something like this for Wigfrids songs - at that point in time I will actually start using them frequently again - right now I use one or two and they live in chests next to the boss and are never carried around on my person). Dried biscuits that don't spoil as Woby Treats is another great idea. Storytelling being more useful would be great as well, would be interesting if you could get some skill that flips it on its head, makes the stories even scarier and actually reduces sanity rather than boost it - tell a story before fighting Fuelweaver to be on zero sanity for the Shadow Hands or simple for Nightmare creature farming or whatever. Might be too much griefing opportunity there making newer players who can't handle it insane all the time and much quicker so maybe not in the end..

The rate of fire skills would need to be extremely well balanced as too much would lead to ranged combat being WAY too strong and too little wouldn't change much and would make the slingshot remain fairly mediocre. Same goes for the Pellet production, great idea but if you can craft too many pellets per craft they'll be too cheap and again potentially way stronger than melee combat - like if you could make so many thul rounds for the same cost as multiple thul clubs AND you're firing them faster (maybe with spicy jellybeans to really ramp them up damage wise plus Enlightened Crown so gestalt damage) it could be a bit bananas. I do like both of these ideas they'd just need to be really careful balancing them to be useful but not way too good. 

[MrMNWorm]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Appreciate all the insightful comments and I'm sure this will give the Developers a few lightning bolts for their Walter brainstorming session.

[Jakepeng99]

I hope a Walter skill tree comes out this Thursday.