A Couple Bernie Suggestions

[Raven Idol]

So far I've been liking the skill tree for Willow, with a couple exceptions, but it seems everybody unanimously agrees that Bernie's tree is a little on the underwhelming side. A couple ideas came to mind for tweaks that may make him a bit more interesting and usable, which I would like to share.

Hot Headed: The consensus I've seen is that he should activate near shadow/lunar creatures regardless of sanity, and I have to agree that that's probably the best pick for the skill, or at least I don't have any ideas myself.

Patch Up: From what I understand, this skill is currently bugged and doesn't heal properly, but that aside I think it's healing is just a little too low. Maybe make it 1%-2% and also repair his durability if it doesn't already, so Bernie can be sustainable similarly to her lighter.

Bearly Sane: I like where this one is at now, increasing the sanity threshold up to 60 makes it much easier to activate Bernie without going too nuts, but there's one thing that could be nice to see: the mini Bernies. Typically you only see the mini Bernies when there are multiple active, but what if Bearly Sane or another similar perk allowed a normal Bernie to be active? Maybe at 100 sanity Bernie becomes active, but below the normal threshold becomes big Bernie. It'd just be nice to see the little lad more often. 

Burning Bernie: Just decrease the amount of skills you need for it, 6 or 7 would probably work best.

While I don't think Bernie could ever fully match what Willow's new lighter and spells can do, this would at least bring him more up to speed while giving a couple more unique attributes to the teddy. If there's any feedback, please let me know.

[HalfBigBang]

23 hours ago, Raven Idol said:

Hot Headed: The consensus I've seen is that he should activate near shadow/lunar creatures regardless of sanity, and I have to agree that that's probably the best pick for the skill, or at least I don't have any ideas myself.

not a big fan of the skill personally, especially since last I checked he attacks Glommer as he is lunar aligned

23 hours ago, Raven Idol said:

Patch Up: From what I understand, this skill is currently bugged and doesn't heal properly, but that aside I think it's healing is just a little too low. Maybe make it 1%-2% and also repair his durability if it doesn't already, so Bernie can be sustainable similarly to her lighter.

What about a skill where Bernie can be repaired with a sewing kit while he is big Bernie? I feel like that being an option to heal him could be good alongside the regen

23 hours ago, Raven Idol said:

Burning Bernie: Just decrease the amount of skills you need for it, 6 or 7 would probably work best.

ABSOLUTELY, the skill is cool but 8 is like almost the entire Bernie tree

[Raven Idol]

4 hours ago, HalfBigBang said:

not a big fan of the skill personally, especially since last I checked he attacks Glommer as he is lunar aligned

Yeah, that is definitely also an issue. Personally I don't really know how else Hotheaded could be changed, but it could definitely benefit from something.

4 hours ago, HalfBigBang said:

What about a skill where Bernie can be repaired with a sewing kit while he is big Bernie? I feel like that being an option to heal him could be good alongside the regen

I don't really think a sewing kit should be required for standard maintenance, which is why I suggested making it also regenerate durability alongside health, so a sewing kit would only be necessary in an emergency.

4 hours ago, HalfBigBang said:

ABSOLUTELY, the skill is cool but 8 is like almost the entire Bernie tree

I honestly didn't even realize how much 8 really meant, considering his tree has I think 9 skills in total, so you would have to unlock pretty much the entire tree to get it, which is definitely far too much.

[Sapientis]

There should be more synergies Between Bernie and other Willow Perks:

• Burn Duration should increase Burning Bernie fire time
• Fire Fighter should increase Burning Bernie damage
• Flame Cast should be a possible way to activate Burning Bernie (just like Combustion is)
• Combustion should be able to be casted targeting Burning Bernie as a center of the Combustion Blast
• Burning Frenzy should be able to target Burning Bernie as well, increasing his attacks frequency 

And lastly, Burning Bernie requirement of 8 Bernie skills is ridiculous. 6 is enough, 7 is far-fetched. I'd say 7 is rational if Hot-Headed was any good, ex. make him prioritize attacking over that stupid "taunt' animation or make him attack a little faster (btw Accelerant could do that as well).

[Raven Idol]

6 minutes ago, Sapientis said:

There should be more synergies Between Bernie and other Willow Perks

Absolutely agreed, and your suggestions for possible synergies would be very nice too. Bernie feels detached from Willow in terms of gameplay, when I feel they should be more intrinsically linked like how Wendy and Walter are with their respective companions. Imagine Bernie being a reliable combat companion like Abigail, or provide utility like Woby does with her storage and riding ability, just done in his own unique way that synergizes with Willow.