BEGONE, EMBER TENDER!

[BoloDeMacaco]

 So, the new Willow skill tree is out. And damn, its ******* fun! I am a huge fan of the fellow battle mages, and Willow now adds a lot to most fights.I love the summon meta, lol. But after trying out many combinations, I caught myself wondering; why aren't Ember Tender and Hungry Lighter just one skill?

 I present you guys Ember Bender. Willow is all about fire, so why not just give her a Avatar a inspired skill? "While using the lighter to store Embers, Willow can materialize her fiery dreams into reality! Bend the flames to your will!" The first part being about creating and storing embers, and the second of course, about using the spells and absorbing flames. The ability to restore the lighter should be skill-free, and be possible with other materials, or at least Phlegm and Slurtle Slime. Also, the idea of using one point to absorb fires, and then another point to have access to embers and flame cast kinda sucks. Flame cast isnt a strong spell, and even if u say "Its a beginner-friendly skill to get new players used to the mechanic", they would still take some days until they were able to use a decent spell with the embers they've been collecting. So unlocking both skills at once (Hungry Lighter and Ember Tender) would not only let the new players use the magics earlier, but also give them more freedom to choose between getting a Ember skill in the first days or using their points on bernie (cuz sane bernie 2 seems just better overall if u dont have the points to complete the skill tree).

 Ok, so let's say Ember Bender becomes reality. What other benefits would it bring to our builds?

First of all, Brighter Lighter. Its a skill we end up not using, cuz we need at least 6 points on Bernie for lunar bernie. It would bring the benefit of not needing a Lantern, and having a much cheaper option in the lighter for the same light radius. 

 

As for the Bernie skills, either Hot-Headed or Accelerant 1. Hot-Headed being the superior option as it gives waaay more protection against many mobs while sane, and Accelerant 1 being a really niche option as you can just pick Bernie up. 

 

As for the last, I recommend changing Lunar Fire- and Shadow Fire-Raiser skills to only cost 6 points to unlock, just like Lunar and Shadow Bernie. It would give us the freedom to invest that last point without compromising our Affinity

 

 If u read the whole post, thank you for your time . I hope you guys can share some ideas and discuss about the skill tree with me

 

[JJ0264]

I would trade fire-ball for firefighter skill, since there loads of light sources (including using embers to fuel lighter)

[WenericMember]

I would assume the skills are separated to increase the minimum investment for Willow's lighter skills, much like Wigfrids Shield - you must spend at least 4 specific insight on lighter perks to unlock the shield, as opposed to the total number skill check other survivors use.

[Evelo]

On 12/23/2023 at 5:42 PM, BoloDeMacaco said:

 I am a huge fan of the fellow battle mages

Grumbling

[BoloDeMacaco]

41 minutes ago, WenericMember said:

I would assume the skills are separated to increase the minimum investment for Willow's lighter skills, much like Wigfrids Shield - you must spend at least 4 specific insight on lighter perks to unlock the shield, as opposed to the total number skill check other survivors use.

The thing is that with Wigfrid, you can invest your points to learn how to craft the shield, Battle Helms, Battle saddles, Battle Call Canister, craft a bunch of them and then just swap back your skills in the character selection screen so you can use your spear... Same with wormwood and the plant-creation skills. But willow doesnt get any of it. 

[WenericMember]

1 hour ago, BoloDeMacaco said:

The thing is that with Wigfrid, you can invest your points to learn how to craft the shield, Battle Helms, Battle saddles, Battle Call Canister, craft a bunch of them and then just swap back your skills in the character selection screen so you can use your spear... Same with wormwood and the plant-creation skills. But willow doesnt get any of it. 

Fair Enough, though I don't think the trees were designed with that in mind.

[Yuuko]

Eh, I think the only problems are that the Bernie tree is lack luster, and that the cd sucks.  Aside from that I think the trees are pretty spot on.

The lighter tree is pretty well balanced - the cost and requirements all feel really natural - I wouldn't change anything there.  You can do a balanced build with the sacrifice of either Fire Fighter or one of the spells to hit both affinities, OR you can forgo double affinity and possibly other Bernie skills to get everything you'd want from the lighter tree - its the most useful stuff anyway so I think it is a fair choice to make.

You do not need alignment Bernie.  It makes him more tanky, but he's no wet paper without it.  Most of his skills are kinda redundant that way.  He's not Abigail, a damage steroid that you want to get out often.  Most of the time he's just in my inventory or waiting at base tbh.  I drop him sometimes to get a swarm off of me, but he already did that well enough before he got any skill points.

To be fair his tree isn't all bad.  Sanity I is essential b/c it lets Bernie grow in lunacy, and Hot Headed is great for him to aggro the Misshapen Birds and Moonblind Crows during lunar storm.  He can basically solo protect the experiment while you play with the tools.  Aside from that its all just... more stats that you probably don't actually need.  Don't feel pressured to hit double affinity.

On 12/23/2023 at 5:42 PM, BoloDeMacaco said:

 Accelerant 1 being a really niche option as you can just pick Bernie up. 

I believe Calm Bernie is an option without any skill points placed.  Can anyone confirm you need Accelerant I for this?  I clear all my points and I can still pick up Bernie.  This actually surprised me on release b/c it was not part of the beta, or any patch notes and wasn't tacked onto any skill the way lunacy Bernie is.

4 hours ago, BoloDeMacaco said:

The thing is that with Wigfrid, you can invest your points to learn how to craft the shield, Battle Helms, Battle saddles, Battle Call Canister, craft a bunch of them and then just swap back your skills in the character selection screen so you can use your spear... Same with wormwood and the plant-creation skills. But willow doesnt get any of it. 

You need to have the skill for the elding spear, commander helm, and shield to equip them.  You can craft and swap with the canister and saddle.

[GenomeSquirrel]

it does hurt to leave lighter skills behind

the fire fighter branch goes well with combustion, and the duration goes well with frenzy too

while brighter lighter and fire ball gives nice flexibility, keeps a leaner inventory and most importantly less weapons to menu through, compared to light and burn with torch, dps with spear equivalent, then absorb with lighter.

the bittersweet part about skill trees is that we can't have it all

[WenericMember]

2 hours ago, Yuuko said:

Eh, I think the only problems are that the Bernie tree is lack luster, and that the cd sucks.  Aside from that I think the trees are pretty spot on.

The lighter tree is pretty well balanced - the cost and requirements all feel really natural - I wouldn't change anything there.  You can do a balanced build with the sacrifice of either Fire Fighter or one of the spells to hit both affinities, OR you can forgo double affinity and possibly other Bernie skills to get everything you'd want from the lighter tree - its the most useful stuff anyway so I think it is a fair choice to make.

You do not need alignment Bernie.  It makes him more tanky, but he's no wet paper without it.  Most of his skills are kinda redundant that way.  He's not Abigail, a damage steroid that you want to get out often.  Most of the time he's just in my inventory or waiting at base tbh.  I drop him sometimes to get a swarm off of me, but he already did that well enough before he got any skill points.

To be fair his tree isn't all bad.  Sanity I is essential b/c it lets Bernie grow in lunacy, and Hot Headed is great for him to aggro the Misshapen Birds and Moonblind Crows during lunar storm.  He can basically solo protect the experiment while you play with the tools.  Aside from that its all just... more stats that you probably don't actually need.  Don't feel pressured to hit double affinity.

I believe Calm Bernie is an option without any skill points placed.  Can anyone confirm you need Accelerant I for this?  I clear all my points and I can still pick up Bernie.  This actually surprised me on release b/c it was not part of the beta, or any patch notes and wasn't tacked onto any skill the way lunacy Bernie is.

You need to have the skill for the elding spear, commander helm, and shield to equip them.  You can craft and swap with the canister and saddle.

You don't need skills to calm bernie, apparently it was something added at launch.

Counterpoint on aligned Bernie: It looks really, really cool, Especially on Ashley. (Infact, I'm only choosing shadow alignment bc Shadow Ashley looks as good as it does.

Other than that I fully agree on your thoughts about skill tree