Wickerbottom Skill Tree Proposal

[MrMNWorm]

Hello Forums,

Put together a Wickerbottom Skill Tree that's more or less ready to share. I focused on enhancing her old books with some Book Buffers, gave her a few new Craftables (two that are inspired by other posts and one that I think megabasers will be pretty jazzed about), then there are handful of New Books that would emphasize her role as a summoner and synergize well with some other things in the game that could use a little love.

Without further ado... here is what the Skill Tree looks like.

BOOK BUFFERS

Speed Reader: increases the speed of her reading animation
- Faster Reading Animation I
- Faster Reading Animation II
- Faster Reading Animation III

A major issue with Wicker is how slow her reading animation is... this would help that... and will make using books much more fun/enjoyable. Right now, I'm not exactly sure what the time is on her reading animation, but the point would be to make it faster.

Hulk-iculture: increases the number of plants effected when using Horticulture, Expanded
- Increases plants effected to 18
- Increases plants effected to 21
- Increases plants effected to 27

At max level, this would allow 3 tiles worth of 3x3 farm plots to be effected with one reading, fun for the farming-focused Wickerbottoms.

De-Lux Aeterna Redux: increases the duration of light on Lux Aeterna Redux
- Light lasts for 3 days
- Light lasts for 4 days
- Light lasts for 5 days

Both Lux Aeterna and Lux Aeterna Redux are really awesome books in theory... and if they just lasted a little longer they would be great in application. This would do that but only for Lux Aeterna Redux.

With this setup Wickerbottom would have faster reading times, improved farming abilities, and a longer lasting light source... giving her a decent upper hand to Maxwell's ability to use her books.

CRAFTABLES

Book Bag: 2 Tentacle Spots + 2 Rope + 2 NMF = a backpack that will regen books and still hold other items.
- Being able to regen books on the go will really help make them more usable.
- Regens 1% durability every 4 seconds.

Goat Glasses: 2 Goat Horns + 2 Moon Glass Shards = Glasses that other characters can wear that allow them to read a book ONCE, then the glasses expire. Pretty sure ADM originally posted this one.
- With only one use and the high cost of resources, I think that would be a fair price for allowing other players to use her books once in a while.

Big Bucket o Goop: 4 Glommer Goop + 4 Palmcone Scales = a big bucket of goop that allows you to plant Mushtree Spores in so you can grow Mushtrees Topside.
- So these would function like a Festive Tree Planter. If you cut the tree down, it destroys the Bucket and the Tree.

NEW SKILLS

Mushtree Planting Skills
- Can plant Green Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Green Mushtrees
- Can plant Red Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Red Mushtrees
- Can plant Blue Spores in Big Bucket o Goop to grow Blue Mushtrees

For a while now players have wanted the ability to grow Mushtrees topside. At 4 Glommer Goop and 4 Palmcone Scales per Big Bucket of Goop, it's definitely not cheap, so you really gotta earn this special treat. The light source from Mushtrees is pretty nominal so they're mainly for decoration... and I think they will make for a really cool, really special decoration for late game megabasers.

WHY should Wickerbottom have such a luxury... becaaause... they're a fun light source for her to read books by (maybe?) and she's good at growing stuff. Might make more sense for Wormwood's Skill Tree but... that ship has sailed.

I also considered that maybe the Mushtrees could grow into lantern looking lights as noted in the concept art below.

Saw a post from Chirsg asking for Lanterns that look like the Blue Mushtree... thought it would be cool if we could grow lantern looking Mushtrees lamps like that.

NEW BOOKS

Between Two Thorns
- 1 Spiny Bindweed Root (which currently does not exist) + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons Spiny Bindweed thorn circles around nearby mobs.
- Works like Wormwood's skill tree perk but can hit and hold multiple targets.
- Costs 25% durability and -33 sanity per use.

A Brown Thumb's Guide to Gardening
- 2 Forget Me Lots + 2 Papyrus = a book that will turn all planted seeds into weeds, so long as they are not fully grown.
- Helpful for farming Forget Me Lots for the Tea, Tillweeds for the Salve, and the Spiny Bindweed Root for the aforementioned book. Plus I also made a Willow Skill Tree where she can make a heating salve from Fire Nettles... this would also be good for that too. Fire Nettles really deserves some sort of concoction...
- Costs 20% durability and -33 sanity per use.

Hare-oic Tails of Bunnymen
- 2 Bunnytails + 4 Carrots + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons 2 Bunnymen followers. They last for 2 days and then turn into normal bunnies when the timer runs out. Max of 6 can be summoned and you can only summon 2 per book without using it up (see stats below) or 3 with one whole book.
- Since Grumble Bees can be summoned but can't be used against the Bee Queen... this would be helpful for that... plus some other bosses.
- Cost 35% durability and -50 sanity per use.

The Lightning Thief or Gleaning MoonGleams
- 2 Infused Moon Shards + 2 Volt Goat horns + 2 Papyrus = a book that summons 2-3 lightning strikes that leave behind Charged Glassy Rock formations and summons a MoonGleam.
- This would help Wicker farm the CC fight materials without being inside the Moonstorm... so it will make dealing with the Moonstorm much easier (also... I have an idea for a new Hallowed Nights Potion that requires MoonGleams... but we can talk about that later). This also might be a good replacement for The End is Nigh... I seriously don't know what people use that book for now that WX doesn't have Overcharge.
- Cost 33% Sanity and -50 sanity per use.

Shadow Reaper
- 4 Pure Horror + 2 Papyrus = a book that, when read, deals 800 hp in damage to Shadow Creatures, Shadow Monkeys, Beardlords, or the Shadow Chess Pieces.
- Costs 66.6% durability and -50 sanity.

Okay... I know what you're thinking... too OP. But just imagine you're being chased down by a horde of Shadow Monkeys in the Caves/Ruins... you've got the Speed Reading Branch maxed out so all you need is one sliver of an opening to put them out of their misery. After miles/kilometers of running around in the dark, you see your opening, readtheShadowReaperbookandBOOM!! They all explode into bits and pieces of Nightmare Fuel. THAT... would be pretty satisfying... and if you had a Book Bag you could start regening the books durability but it will take awhile. It's high cost of durability makes it more of a "one-time use for emergencies" kind of thing but the Book Bag will help it be useful in the Caves/Ruins. I'm sure people will figure out some farming setup strats as well.

Then, if one were to use it against the Shadow Chess Pieces... it would kill the Bishop first... which kinda ruins the order most people would kill them in. And sure... will some players make like 20 copies of these in the late game and kill the Chess Trio that way? Ans: Probably... but by the time you get that many... I think it's fair (and fun) for them to be able to do so.

And then if someone tries to use it against the FuelWeaver... it explodes into fire (like when you kill a Fire Hound) and destroys the book... thought that would be fitting (and funny).

Then we come to the last book...

Fantasmical Beasts and How to Summon Them
- 1 Beefalo Horn + 4 Glowberries + 16 Malbatross Feathers + 2 Papyrus = a Summoner Spell Book that has a Spell Wheel like the Codex Umbra. The summons work a lot like the old school Final Fantasy Esper Summons that deal a lot of damage.
- The book starts with one summons spell and 3 more can be added. Beefalo Stampede, Depth Worm Trap, Malbatross Mayhem, then a fourth can be added by choosing one of the two Affinities.

Here are descriptions of the Summons Spells... plus some awful animations I made for them.

- BEEFALO STAMPEDE: This is the first summons that comes with the book once you unlock the skill in the branch, it works a little like the WereMoose charge attack. Wicker reads the book in her inventory, then the spell wheel pops up, and then there is an arrow on the ground that directs where the attack goes. The animation only shows 2 Beefalo, but I was imagining 12 Beefalo would charge through, I think that's how many are in a full herd. They charge through the frame and then disappear off screen, they don't stick around. I'm imagining that EACH ONE can do 50 damage (like an Ornery Beef) to any mob they hit in their path. They don't stop to hit mobs or bosses, they just charge through and anything that hits their hit box takes damage. So if all 12 could hit one enemy it would do up to 600 damage.
- Costs 20% durability and -20 sanity per use.

Here's an awful animation showing how it might work...

 

- DEPTH WORM TRAP: this works a lot like the Shadow Sneak... but with Depth Worms. You pick this spell and a circle forms on the ground that you can place anywhere. Once placed, a Glowberry pops up in the center, and when a mob/boss enters the circle 4 Depth Worms pop up and attack all at once. Each Depth Worm deals 75 damage, so against one creature, it would deal 300 damage. There COULD be 2 waves of 4 Depth Worms and then it would deal 600 damage. Just imagine a second set of 4 Depth Worms popping up after the first one.
- Costs 25% durability and 25 sanity per use.

Here's an awful animation to help visualize it better.

- MALBATROSS MAYHEM: for this one, we can summon a Malbatross that will attack ONE enemy and hit it a bunch of times. Like the Beefalo Stampede, when you pick this one, an arrow shows up. You aim it and fire it... and whatever is the FIRST thing the Malbatross hits THAT'S its target. So it swoops in for the initial attack, does that 3 more times by just swooping in from various directions... and then on the last attack it will fly in and hit the target with it's tail attack. After that last hit, it zooms up into the sky. The Malbatross can hit 150 to mobs so I'm thinking it can do that 4 times for 600 damage total to one mob or boss. Hits are guaranteed once it finds it's target.
- Costs 33% durability and -50 sanity

Here is a horrible animation showing that with just arrows because I couldn't find the sprite of the Malbatross flying, just the hovering one... and when I tried to draw it flying... but it looked so bad that my eyes bled a little staring at it. The arrows are the Malbatross's flight path...

*wipes away vomit after watching the GIF*

Probably won't be sending that one in to Pixar... but I hope you get the gist. On to the final branch...

AFFINITIES

OPTION 1: player can choose one more summons spell...

LUNAR: Meteor Strike = Summons 4-6 Meteors that deal 250 damage each. Using a circle as the target location for where they will land, it works similarly to the Shadow Prison circle, but instead of Shadow Pillars, 4-6 Meteors land inside the circle... gotta be quick and have a good lead on your target for it to work well.

SHADOW: Summons the Twins of Terror in the their second phase. I'm imagining that they both fly in, side by side, and hit a target like the Malbatross does when it's summoned. There's two of them and each one can do 250 damage to mobs (so let's just use that number for mobs and bosses), so if they were flying side by side, they could do 500 damage per hit and maybe take two to three passes for a total of 1000-1500 damage before they zip back up into the sky. This would be faster and more effective than the Malbatross summons... so maybe it could only be used at night.

OPTION 2: player can choose something less Fantasmical...

LUNAR: blesses Wickerbottom with the ability to sleep... which makes sense since Gestalts put stuff to asleep all the time.

SHADOW: You know what I'm thinking, right... you know what it is... you know... *whispers* Wicker can use the Codex Umbra... but maybe she can't have the Shadow Duelist Gear Upgrade ability.

I just had to throw out Option 2 as a backup plan in case Fantasmical Beasts and How to Summon Them was too big of an idea... but I think Fantasmical Beasts is a pretty fun and badass option for Wickerbottom.

That's the end, hope you enjoyed it! Comments, questions, and feedback are appreciated! (hope your eyes didn't bleed from watching those GIF animations!)

Sincerely,
MrWorm

[Jakepeng99]

There are some neat ideas in here like the Brown's thumb to gardening, and some others.

[jihuang1424]

读书召唤陨石很帅气