Wigfrid Changes are not enough: My suggestions

[Masked Koopa]

Prelude Part One: The Goals of the Gods

Fancy schmancy post, as we can see. So the first part of this post is to create suggestions that even out Wigfrid's current songs to be more competitive with each other. But the main reason I'm making this post is because my friend mains Wigfrid, and she was really let down by the skill tree Klei added. This post is mainly as a favour to her, although the suggestions are my own.

Wigfrid's skill tree we both think has entirely missed the point of the character. To put it simply - Wigfrid is a character who has historically built her identity around sharing. Battle helms and spears have always been sharable, and her rework only played into this by letting her share health and sanity leech with her allies. The reason this works, and why characters like Winona do not, is that Wigfrid is like a drug dealer - you have to keep coming back to her because the things she provide either require her presence, or break too quickly to be practical. In my opinion items like the Battle Rönd make Wigfrid a worse character by trying to solve a problem Wigfrid simply doesn't suffer from - Wigfrid isn't a swap character, and has never had any issues with finding a niche even with the Celestial Portal.

The other part of the issues with her skill tree is that a lot of items violate the basic principle of Wigfrid's pre skill tree items, namely that her items are superior versions of existing items. You have a spear with more damage and uses, and a football helmet with more durability. In our opinion, items like the Commander's Helm and Battle Saddle do not follow this design concept.

Prelude Part Two: Melodies of the Present

I also want to give a breakdown on my assesment as to where the songs sit right now in terms of balance:

Good:

• Heartrending ballad
• Clear Minded Cadenza

These songs are helpful for regenerating basic stats and are much appreciated by her team. Cadenza used to be a little underwhelming but the enlightened crown has more than compensated for that.

OK:

• Weaponised Warble

While not bad, this song's effect is little more than a very minor convinence, not helped by a lot of weapons being repairable or very cheap to produce.

Bad songs:

• Fireproof falsetto

The amount of fire that you'll actually encounter is close to zero, not justifying the work of catching a spittlefish.

• Dark Lament
• Enlightened Lullaby

I seriously wonder what the point of these is. 5% is like placebo levels of difference.

• Bel Canto of Courage

Insanity auras are not anywhere near as common as one might think, and in such situations you'd probably be better off with clear minded cadenza. It doesn't help that the void robe and bee queen crown have a superior effect without the need to build up inspiration. Going to ruins is also a lot more difficult than taking a trip to lunar island.

 

Act One: The Songs of the Valkerie

I know a lot of these buffs will be controversial, but my focus here is moreso on making the songs useful compared to each other, not so much on general powercreep. At the very least, I hope the skilltree changes I suggested will make some of these songs useful without these buffs.

 

Weaponised Warble:

• Now also gives 25% damage to non-wigfrid players.
• Gives 12.5% damage to Wigfrid players.
• If we are concerned over multiplier creep then make it not stack with chili flakes(?).

While this is definitely a strong buff for a usable song, i've always felt it to be a shame that Wigfrid is not able to share more of her perks with her team, as health and sanity steal can already be shared. 25% is also not a massive buff for most characters, and it'd make the song useful with hambats, brightshade gear, etc.

 

Bel Canto of Courage:

• Now also gives 25% damage resist to non-wigfrid players.
• Gives 12.5% damage resist to Wigfrid players.
• Now makes armour now takes 25% less damage.

This may seem like a generous set of effects to grant a song that previously only had one, but the song requires ruins materials to create, and the primary effect of the song is currently very niche. This will make it somewhat of a counterpart to weaponised warble, and let Wigfrid share her sanity leech, hp leech, damage bonus and damage resist with other players, albeit not all at the same time.

 

Fireproof falsetto:

• I'm honestly not sure, the best I can come up with is perhaps this song prevents all smouldering around the player so a Wigfrid can act like a mobile flingo when mounted.
• Also add more bosses with lunar flames.
• Maybe give spazmatism a cursed flame attack?
• Either make way more fire based attacks or give this song more effects.

 

Dark Lament/Enlightened Lullaby:

• Either give these new effects, or make the numbers more like 15% or so.
• The effects of these songs should be greater than the nominal boost provided by allignment.

 

Act Two: The Tree of Skills

Commander helm:
Commander's Helm Enhancement I:

8 Planar defense -> Replaced with the following skill:

• You can now give a Restrained Static to a Commander's Helm to turn it into a charged Commander's Helm.
• The following stats are granted:
  • 15 Planar defense
  • All weapon enhancing effects of the Void Cowl and Brightshade Helmet, possibly requiring the respective body slot armour.
  • 10% planar protection against the allignment opposite to that of the player wearing it.
• Anyone can wear the charged helmet, not just Wigfrid.

As mentioned in the intro, I don't think the commander's helm is a worthy followup to the battle helm. This item should generally be superior to the basic planar equipment like the brightshade helm or the void cowl, but such an item would probably be too powerful for the basic cost. Thus I figured it could follow the Elding Spear's example, which would have the added bonus of making the planar stats feel more justified.

Commander's Helm Enhancement II:

• Heartrending ballads sung by the user will transfer this effect to anyone under the effects of the song.
• This will allow the user to let their allies also repair their helms.
• Whether or not a charged helm can be repaired is based on whether the Wigfrid singing the song has the skill unlocked (You can't just make a charged helm and then unequip the skill).
• Perhaps only charged helms can be repaired using ballad(?)

The goal of this change is to make the charged Commander's Helm worth sharing with other players, as they have to compete with the Brightshade Helm's easily repairable nature.

Bragi's Blessing:

Bragi's Blessing I:

• 25% increase -> 50% increase

Bragi's Blessing II:

• 50% increase -> 100% increase
• Nearby players using battle spears will also contribute to your inspiration at a lower efficiency.
• This could perhaps require Clear Minded Cadenza to mirror the other skills enhanced by songs.

The inspiration bonus is currently too small for it to be worth the effort switching to and from the Battle Spear in the mid-lategame, and in the earlygame the player is unlikely to have many songs available anyway. It'd also be nice if Wigfrid's allies were encouraged to use the Battle Spear as well, hence the teamplay aspect.

Elding Spear:
Elding Spear Enhancement II:

• Charged spear can now be equipped by non-Wigfrid players
• Wigfrids without this skill equipped cannot dash with a charged spear.

Elding Spear Enhancement I:

• Dash attacks will now repair charged spears held by other nearby players.
• Wigfrids with this skill equipped can share the ability to perform the dash using Weaponised Warble.

Given that the charged Elding Spear seems to be Wigfrid's answer to the basic planar weaponary, it's pretty silly that she cannot share the spear with her friends. Allowing other players to dash might seem uneeded, but I think it'd make the game more fun for everyone involved. The damage of the shared dash could perhaps be fixed to avoid Wolfgangs doing double damage dash attacks, or it could be seen as a fun and appropriate synergy.

Battle Rönd:

Battle Rönd I:

• Battle Rönd can now be used by other players.
• This skill is now required to use the block function.
• Wigfrids with this skill can share the ability to perform the block using Bel Canto of Courage.
• The qualities of this shared block depend on the skills of the Wigfrid singing the song (I.e whether they have enhancements or not).

Once again the goal is to make this item more similar to her songs and basic items in allowing sharing with other players.

Noble Mount:

Noble Mount I:

• Beefalo will now heal 25% more from food when fed by a user with this skill.

Noble Mount II:

• Beefalo can now also be mounted at 45% obedience instead of 50%.

These skills are both kind of useless once the beefalo is actually domesticated, so I thought up some useful bonus effects that can be helpful for domesticated beefalo. I tried to make them thematic with the icons, so the beefalo's trust lets it benefit more, and the beefalo's patience makes it more willing to let you mount.

Noble Mount III:

• Passive inspiration gain can be further increased by using emotes while riding.

While it freezing inspiration is kind of cool, the actual gain rate is pretty underwhelming, and it makes sense that a performance of sorts would raise her inspiration.

Battle Saddle:

• 30% movement speed -> 40% movement speed.

OR

• 5 bonus damage -> 16 bonus damage.

This attempts to bring the battle saddle more in line with the Battle Helm and Battle Spear in being a direct upgrade to another item. In this case, either the War Saddle or the Basic Saddle. I simply don't think there's a niche for this saddle if it focuses on damage resistance, as the glossamer saddle is going to be much better for simply avoiding damage. If it absolutely must  remain as-is, it should provide total knockback immunity to make tanking at least kind of viable.

Postlude: Melodies of the Future

Just add a couple more songs please, one or two more would be great.

If you need ideas, maybe one that makes enemies drop max loot when it varies (i.e 2-5 of a loot becomes 5) or adds a chance for bonus loot, or makes rare loot more likely (i.e stuff like the yellow gem from Malbatross, Krampus Sacks, Larvae Egg).

 

[Kubicska]

Spoiler

34 minutes ago, Masked Koopa said:

Wigfrid is like a drug dealer - you have to keep coming back to her because the things she provide either require her presence, or break too quickly to be practical

I see you have a lot of experience surrounding this topic, hehehe (don’t take this seriously)

These changes sound pretty great!

Especially the song, and mount ones (being able to feed the beefalo while mounted would still be cool though even if sounds pretty OP)

And I’ll basically take any and all buffs to the commander’s helm at this point, because it’s just so situational to use, like knockback resistance sounds cool but that’s it, at least it should prevent you from flying off the beefalo when hit by knockback attacks or something, strap Wigfrid to the beefalo with force or something 

[fpx007]

2 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Commander's Helm Enhancement II:

• Heartrending ballads sung by the user will transfer this effect to anyone under the effects of the song.
• This will allow the user to let their allies also repair their helms.
• Whether or not a charged helm can be repaired is based on whether the Wigfrid singing the song has the skill unlocked (You can't just make a charged helm and then unequip the skill).
• Perhaps only charged helms can be repaired using ballad(?)

The goal of this change is to make the charged Commander's Helm worth sharing with other players, as they have to compete with the Brightshade Helm's easily repairable nature.

I believe the most important isuue is that the healing number is too low. The description says "Wigfrid's natural healing ability will repair her Commander's Helm when she continues to fight at maximum health". So what are the helmets using for?

1. If no damage is taken (don't count special eqquipment like bone armor/Snurtle Shell armor), no armor/shield is needed for damage reduction, include this one. 
2. If only a little damage is taken that the healing can negate the damage to helmet, it is way better to use no armor, as it is already known to everyone that Wigfrid can heal herself. Wigfrid have a damage reduction factor of -25%, while with hard helm II, commander's helm has a durability increment factor of +20%, which translates to -16.67% damage reduction factor. (The original text only says battle helm. Here I assume this also work for commander's helm.) It is definitely wiser to let damage taken directly by Wigfrid player, as she has a greater damage reduction factor than the helm. (If as the description denotes, healing to repairing ratio is 1:1. )
3. If a lot of damage is taken, the helm is almost guaranteed to break, and player can't probably regenerate health to full. The repairing has little to no effect.

To keep the original design and make it useful, Scenario 2 is the one worth considering. Just increase the healing to reparing ratio (e.g. 1:4 as the armor value is 80%), so it is better to have helmet taking damage instead of Wigfrid players.

To overhaul the skill as OP proposed, give the commander's helmet a effect that all allys can deal extra damage. (The job a commander do!) This includes any players under the effect of Wigfrid's song, as well as recruited mobs and mostly important, the mounted beefalo. (So the skill tree gets a combo.)

2 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Elding Spear:
Elding Spear Enhancement II:

• Charged spear can now be equipped by non-Wigfrid players
• Wigfrids without this skill equipped cannot dash with a charged spear.

 The first one is hard to implement, because if there are 2 or more Wigfrid players and only part of them picked this, how do other players know whether the spear is made by a Wigfrid picked this or not? It should be the inherted property of Elding Spears.

Spoiler

But by the way, I have a interesting idea about Elding Spears. It can become a similar weapon as morning star, so it illuminates the user nearby. And similarly, its durability depletes over time. To repair it, you need to refuel it with nitre (ineffective, perhaps change the twig to nitre in recipe) or infused moon shard (very effective, only for charged ones). Enhancement I allows spears to dash. And for charged spears, dealing damage as well as dashing repairs the spear, while the latter is more effective.

The current issue for Elding Spears is that uncharged ones is not worth using, as it is expensive yet not repairable. Making it repairable will solve most isuue.

2 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Weaponised Warble:

• Now also gives 25% damage to non-wigfrid players.
• Gives 12.5% damage to Wigfrid players.
• If we are concerned over multiplier creep then make it not stack with chili flakes(?).

While this is definitely a strong buff for a usable song, i've always felt it to be a shame that Wigfrid is not able to share more of her perks with her team, as health and sanity steal can already be shared. 25% is also not a massive buff for most characters, and it'd make the song useful with hambats, brightshade gear, etc.

The OP's original proposal it self is OK, but since I proposed commander's helm increasing allys' damage, this can be given the effect of increased attack speed instead. The reduced durability cost negates the increased attack speed, so a synergy is formed. This effect is also helpful when fighting crab king or killing woven shadows fron fuelweaver.

Here I don't apply increased attack speed to commander's helm because allied mobs' AI may behave wierdly when their attack speed is changed, while songs only affect players.

Edited March 8 by fpx007

[Keigo]

Wigfrid is already strong, she doesnt need buffed skills, id rather have revisit to her skills thematically.That said a Storm song with wetness protection would be nice instead of the fire one. It synergizes with her spear and helps with  pearl quest.

[arubaro]

Free buffs that can be stored in a single slot should give extra damage or armor to a character with life steal, extra damage, extra armor, strong and cheap weapons and armor plus the entire kit of free to use songs

At that point just use god mode

[Masked Koopa]

2 hours ago, Keigo said:

Wigfrid is already strong, she doesnt need buffed skills, id rather have revisit to her skills thematically.That said a Storm song with wetness protection would be nice instead of the fire one. It synergizes with her spear and helps with  pearl quest.

1 hour ago, arubaro said:

Free buffs that can be stored in a single slot should give extra damage or armor to a character with life steal, extra damage, extra armor, strong and cheap weapons and armor plus the entire kit of free to use songs

At that point just use god mode

I tried to keep the self-buffs to a minimum to focus on the teamplay aspects of the character. As stated the primary goals of the song buffs is making them competitive with one another, not from an external "this sounds really OP". That having been said if ya'll have better ideas on how to address the worse performing songs I am all ears.

 

3 hours ago, fpx007 said:

I believe the most important isuue is that the healing number is too low. The description says "Wigfrid's natural healing ability will repair her Commander's Helm when she continues to fight at maximum health". So what are the helmets using for?

I do see your point, the helmets should probably heal at a greater efficiency than the player so the player is rewarded more for avoiding the hit.

 

3 hours ago, fpx007 said:

The OP's original proposal it self is OK, but since I proposed commander's helm increasing allys' damage, this can be given the effect of increased attack speed instead. The reduced durability cost negates the increased attack speed, so a synergy is formed. This effect is also helpful when fighting crab king or killing woven shadows fron fuelweaver.

Here I don't apply increased attack speed to commander's helm because allied mobs' AI may behave wierdly when their attack speed is changed, while songs only affect players.

While modifying attack speed sounds novel, I think it runs into risks regarding lag and animations looking proper.

[Jakepeng99]

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

• Bel Canto of Courage

Insanity auras are not anywhere near as common as one might think, and in such situations you'd probably be better off with clear minded cadenza. It doesn't help that the void robe and bee queen crown have a superior effect without the need to build up inspiration. Going to ruins is also a lot more difficult than taking a trip to lunar island.

No, bell canto of courage is good. You combine it with the sainity song and it is enough to withstand most boss sainity auras.

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

OR

• 5 bonus damage -> 16 bonus damage.

Outclasses the war saddle. I feel like the saddle needs a rework to fit a tank build.

 

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Noble Mount:

Noble Mount I:

• Beefalo will now heal 25% more from food when fed by a user with this skill.

Noble Mount II:

• Beefalo can now also be mounted at 45% obedience instead of 50%.

These skills are both kind of useless once the beefalo is actually domesticated, so I thought up some useful bonus effects that can be helpful for domesticated beefalo. I tried to make them thematic with the icons, so the beefalo's trust lets it benefit more, and the beefalo's patience makes it more willing to let you mount.

Noble Mount III:

• Passive inspiration gain can be further increased by using emotes while riding.

I don't like these changes though. It doesn't solve any of the beefalo problems with wigfrid, but adds weird stuff instead.

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Bragi's Blessing:

Bragi's Blessing I:

• 25% increase -> 50% increase

Bragi's Blessing II:

• 50% increase -> 100% increase
• Nearby players using battle spears will also contribute to your inspiration at a lower efficiency.
• This could perhaps require Clear Minded Cadenza to mirror the other skills enhanced by songs.

The inspiration bonus is currently too small for it to be worth the effort switching to and from the Battle Spear in the mid-lategame

The inspiration bonus applies to the elding spear too

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

Commander's Helm Enhancement II:

• Heartrending ballads sung by the user will transfer this effect to anyone under the effects of the song.
• This will allow the user to let their allies also repair their helms.
• Whether or not a charged helm can be repaired is based on whether the Wigfrid singing the song has the skill unlocked (You can't just make a charged helm and then unequip the skill).
• Perhaps only charged helms can be repaired using ballad(?)

Good changes i like this.

7 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

• You can now give a Restrained Static to a Commander's Helm to turn it into a charged Commander's Helm.
• The following stats are granted:
  • 15 Planar defense
  • All weapon enhancing effects of the Void Cowl and Brightshade Helmet, possibly requiring the respective body slot armour.
  • 10% planar protection against the allignment opposite to that of the player wearing it.
• Anyone can wear the charged helmet, not just Wigfrid.

It should offer something unique and different than the brightshade helm rather than being the same thing but better with mire perks.

[arubaro]

2 hours ago, Masked Koopa said:

I tried to keep the self-buffs to a minimum to focus on the teamplay aspects of the character. As stated the primary goals of the song buffs is making them competitive with one another, not from an external "this sounds really OP". That having been said if ya'll have better ideas on how to address the worse performing songs I am all ears.

 

I do see your point, the helmets should probably heal at a greater efficiency than the player so the player is rewarded more for avoiding the hit.

 

While modifying attack speed sounds novel, I think it runs into risks regarding lag and animations looking proper.

I dont think any song needs a buff (maybe the taunt and fear ones but didnt tried the new changes). Warly needs to grind to obtain the same buffs you are asking for and take more inventory space while wigfrid's are free once crsfted and tale just 1 inventory slot

They are a good free extra buff that scalates in MP

[Castiliano]

I just want to open a parenthesis to comment on how beautiful and organized your post is. Very long, but lots of good ideas and never a bad read.
It’s clear how fond you are of the character Wigfrid. I hope Klei pays attention here!

[chirsg]

I'll respond here because beta threads are far less combative and hostile compared to general. I'll say that what's strong on Wigfrid is VERY strong. 

On her skill tree, what's underwhelming honestly may as well not be chosen at all.

 

Her entire kit doesn't rely on stingers, even in a team. 

Falsetto now makes Wigfrid immune to fire, but there aren't many instances where you need to be fire proof to begin with. However, where she needs to be immune to fire is actually really useful. If you are fighting hundreds of fire hounds for whatever reason, you don't get instakilled by fire stacking and larvae bursting is a non issue. 

 

I don't know how much I agree with your prescriptions because they seem a little overtuned, but your diagnosis' are generally correct. 

Non Wigfrid players should have access to her special kit under condition that they don't access the powers and there is almost no reason to use commander helm after you get dreadstone, and by extension, brightshade helm

[HowlVoid]

Woah I applaud your dedication, I'm sure a lot of work went into this.

[Masked Koopa]

6 hours ago, arubaro said:

I dont think any song needs a buff (maybe the taunt and fear ones but didnt tried the new changes). Warly needs to grind to obtain the same buffs you are asking for and take more inventory space while wigfrid's are free once crsfted and tale just 1 inventory slot

They are a good free extra buff that scalates in MP

I'm really not sure I can agree with your take on songs not needing buffs in any capacity sorry, in my eyes songs like fireproof falsetto and the allignment songs are too niche and too weak respectively to be not needing a buff.

As for the buffs being shared, to me it is less so whether Warly has a niche and much more so whether Wigfrid would be overtuned with these changes, which in my opinion she would not. Sure, these buffs may sound super strong, but it'd take four players all getting the damage buff to equal the extra damage simply playing Wolfgang would have done, and five players is so many players that pretty much every boss will be a joke. Warly's spices honestly pale in comparison to his goat jelly, and I feel like Klei could get away with giving some buffs to them in Warly's skill tree.

 

5 hours ago, chirsg said:

Falsetto now makes Wigfrid immune to fire, but there aren't many instances where you need to be fire proof to begin with. However, where she needs to be immune to fire is actually really useful. If you are fighting hundreds of fire hounds for whatever reason, you don't get instakilled by fire stacking and larvae bursting is a non issue.

I think to me the primary issue is that Wigfrid barely has songs to begin with, so the songs that she does have should probably actually compete for her three slots.

 

7 hours ago, Jakepeng99 said:

No, bell canto of courage is good. You combine it with the sainity song and it is enough to withstand most boss sainity auras.

Similarly to what I said above, part of what I am aiming for is to get closer to parity between the songs in terms of how often they are useful. The number of bosses that actually have insanity auras really isn't that high, and I think it'd be good if this song did more than act as an assistant to Clear Minded Cadenza.

 

7 hours ago, Jakepeng99 said:

Outclasses the war saddle. I feel like the saddle needs a rework to fit a tank build.

I felt that the Battle saddle should outclass a saddle in the same way the Battle Helm outclasses the Football Helmet. It was just a question of whether it'd be more appropriate to outclass the basic one or the War Saddle. If you don't agree with that, that's fair enough, I just wanted to say that it outclassing was the point. I encourage you to suggest any ideas you have to make it better fit a tank build though.

 

7 hours ago, Jakepeng99 said:

The inspiration bonus applies to the elding spear too

Does it really? The wiki didn't say anything about that and I've never run tests.

 

7 hours ago, Jakepeng99 said:

I don't like these changes though. It doesn't solve any of the beefalo problems with wigfrid, but adds weird stuff instead.

It should offer something unique and different than the brightshade helm rather than being the same thing but better with mire perks.

Like the the Battle Saddle, it'd be neat if you could share any ideas you have since this was all I could come up with without it feeling unrealistic for Klei to consider adding.

[Jakepeng99]

5 minutes ago, Masked Koopa said:

I felt that the Battle saddle should outclass a saddle in the same way the Battle Helm outclasses the Football Helmet. It was just a question of whether it'd be more appropriate to outclass the basic one or the War Saddle. If you don't agree with that, that's fair enough, I just wanted to say that it outclassing was the point. I encourage you to suggest any ideas you have to make it better fit a tank build though.

It is not the same way, the only difference betwen the two helms is resources and durability. Saddles essentially have infinite durability, you dont need a wigfrid for upkeep.

Also, i find it weird how klei made the tank niche saddle is locked to wigfrid.

5 minutes ago, Masked Koopa said:

Like the the Battle Saddle, it'd be neat if you could share any ideas you have since this was all I could come up with without it feeling unrealistic for Klei to consider adding.

Maybe Beefalo becomes stronger with the more inspiration you have. As for the saddle idk. Maybe add a lifesteal to it?

Edited March 8 by Jakepeng99

[Keigo]

The saddle skill is kinda easy to upgrade, the best saddle for wigfrid will always be fastest one, so she needs a rudimentary one who doesnt need a alchemy engine to prototype so you can rush it with just science machine and gives close to no stats...or just let her ride a beefalo without a saddle.

[SSneaky]

Sees spear changes:

Oh Please, Volt goats are already incompetent with surviving anyways.

[Horsheen]

I appreciate the time and effort that you put into a post about Wigfrid, who really doesn't get discussed enough imo. Though I'm curious as to how much you yourself have played Wigfrid, because I feel like she's a character that needs some time investment before you can really get a good understanding of how she fits into a team (which can be said for any character truthfully)

That being said, I'm not a fan of some of the suggestions put forward. I think Wigfrid having things that only she can use is perfectly fine and I'm happy that she has it, she's not an equipment factory for the rest of the party, let her have her own fun.

Wigfrid's skill tree was a bit of a miss in some aspects i.e. alignment songs, but not everything she has needs to be shared with the party, she has more than enough group utility. Letting everyone dash with the Elding Spear or block with the Battle Rond is just silly. For the Elding Spear, I think others could use it as a simple melee weapon but the dash should stay exclusive to her.

As for your suggestions, they're the same "more damage/damage reduction" suggestions that we always see, with people thinking that everything needs to deal a ton of damage for a character to be good, it's silly. Group defense/attack bonuses already exists in the form of spiced dishes, and we don't need more powercreep in the game.

The only changes I'd give to Wigfrid right now is to change the alignment songs, add something to the commander's helm to let it compete with other planar-gear, tweak the beefalo tree and extra changes to songs (like making rude interlude actually functional and maybe a bit of extra duration on top of the 2 seconds we just got)

[ArtystaMalarz]

I'm big Wigfrid player and my opinion for this is just to make things more fun, more useful while using assets that are still in game not need big effort from devs.

commander helmet, beefaloo skill tree and "battle songs" that cost inspiration needs some buffs to make this character more accurate to role.
 

For Beefaloo its simple give wigfrid use of elder spear special attack riding beefalo without move effect  this will use asset that already exist ( what is really important for developers) and will make feeling like is really cavarly things going on, which is great feeling +, asset +, usage + those are three important things for changing anything to not make thing ridiculous overpowered. 

For Battle songs which use inspiration i'll go for just more songs couse 2 is not enough in my opinion, like:

chilling songs will gain 50% chill reducing action speed and on second use will freeze anything (including bosses) which will be great for some space for heal, positioning some time. feeling + asset + usage +

Sleeping song - no need panflute

Companion song - Like wolfgang whistle buffing compions like pigs beefalos cats ect. either attack speed, health,movement speed, damage reduction or dmg * choose your best

Undeniable song - Like beekeepers hat makes stagger (stunlocks from large amounts of mobs) not so impactfull

Falling Sky song - Make boulders/ earthquake spawn nearby - usefull for escape

Valhalla cry song - Make it increase world monasture by 20% ( chance for rain) like  2x effect of telelocator staff  - impactfull for elding spear buff and summer

Beefaloo song - Make beefalo regen his hp faster 2x times
 

Two in one song - Make beefaloo have wigfrid passive 25% dmg reduction

Songs don't really need any % dmg buff, they need to be usefull and make playing this character acting really do something with world this will give real feeling for this songs.

For commander helmet there is not much to change. Either go easy way to make it usefull making it 85 or 90% protection making cost a lot bigger or make durability increase in same speed as elding spear to be worth regenerating this helmet.

If we search for something more interesting i'll go for "commander" thing so we can make pigs using battle helmets and then make commander helmet commanding 1- 2 pigs( make them friendly)  not using resources like food to make it good for wood farming usage. Also we can make song that works like wolfgang whistle giving some buffs to those fellows. Feeling + asset + usage + 

I hope some dev will see these thread couse i see they try to do something with this songs but it's not that impactfull.

 

[CuteC]

I love everything here, I find it really fun playing support as Wigfrid and all of this plays into that, my only concern would be the radius for some of these perks that need a Wigfrid near since that reminded me of how warbis buff just dies if you so happened to accidentally go too far away.

[Survivalist83]

I really like this! The skill tree doesn't really affect team cooperation and it absolutely could.

My thoughts on the skill trees so far are that they are meant for rift content. It adds content which indirectly nerfs all characters, and the skill trees undo said nerfs. For instance, Wolfgang doesn't do double planar damage with the brightshade sword. To make up for this, he deals 25 more planar damage from his skill tree. Overall, I really like this method, but that also means we can't judge a character's performance in post-rift content if they don't have their skill tree yet. You didn't specify what character you were playing as, but I'm curious: do they have a skill tree? Because of this, I don't think it is fair to buff every character (by letting them use Wigfrid's gear) since most characters don't have their skill tree yet. My opinion might change once everyone has their skill tree, but we'll have to wait and see.

I think adding new songs, especially ones that fall into a specific niche and are only used for one or two boss fights, is a great idea. The meta of Cadenza+Ballad+Warble removes some of the fun in picking songs since those are the best 3 in the game for most bosses. Adding new songs, especially if they have synergy with each other, would be a very welcome addition.

Fireproof falsetto could stand to be more useful. I think making it not cost a spittlefish would go a long way. Adding more cases where it is useful would be nice, although I do also see value in it being a song only used for a few situations, as it encourages variety.

I agree that the commander helm needs a buff. A single character in the game having a good piece of armor that they can reliably use is a good thing; it adds more variety.

Since Wigfrid doesn't really benefit from an ornery beefalo, I don't really see the benefit of the beefalo changes. I'm not opposed to those buffs, but I almost exclusively use a rider beefalo, and so I actually prefer the faster domestication and ride timers, they're pretty nice the way they are.

As I was reading your post, I liked the themes you mentioned, but I would suggest modifications in two broad categories. None of this is intended to be negative, I just want to add more thoughts to the conversation:

Wigfrid is one of the most powerful combat characters in the game, even if you ignore the extra damage, because of the utility of the songs and the spear dash. If Klei doesn't ever buff her again, she would be perfectly fine. Some of your suggestions, like giving her flat extra damage with the affinity songs, further push her into S+ tier, which isn't needed. I think a way to accomplish the goal of making every song useful would be to move the flat 10% damage from selecting an affinity to the song. So, the affinity on its own does nothing, and instead you get 15% from the song. It achieves both the goal of buffing the songs, and the goal of not buffing Wigfrid as a whole. In addition, Wigfrid doesn't need more damage or defense that she has as she excels in both of those areas already. I don't think giving damage to Warble or defense to Bel Canto is a good idea.

Secondly, as mentioned above, giving every character access to Wigfrid's kit (elding spear, battle rond, etc) buffs them. However, they don't need this buff since they will have a skill tree of their own in time. Think about volt goat jelly: the "meta" thing to do is to swap to Warly, cook up some jelly, and swap back to any other character and eat it. This takes away from the fun of playing Warly and breaks the balance of the game by letting you deal 2.5x damage. I don't want to see another situation like this, which is why I'm mentioning it now.

Overall, really nice post! Thumbs up from me

[Masked Koopa]

10 hours ago, Survivalist83 said:

Think about volt goat jelly: the "meta" thing to do is to swap to Warly, cook up some jelly, and swap back to any other character and eat it. This takes away from the fun of playing Warly and breaks the balance of the game by letting you deal 2.5x damage. I don't want to see another situation like this, which is why I'm mentioning it now.

Thing is, the issue with warly isn't the granting buffs to other characters, the issue is allowing the swap. These changes would still require the Wigfrid to actually be present to use the special features of the gear.

[StitchesPlush]

I love that this changes encourage you more to help your teammates, while also not becoming a swap character.

[Evelo]

Not Enough? What on earth...

[Cruvimaster]

I completely disagree with other characters being able to use Wigfrid's exclusive items.

It's the same problem of everyone using the benefits of Warly's recipes and he is reduced to a portal character.

There are a lot of new weapons in the game, just use them.

Imagine Wolfgang with his exclusive bonuses using Wigfrid's best weapon. There's no way you can agree with that.

[Cruvimaster]

The change I would really like is for Elden Spear Enhancement II to give a 30% speed bonus, completely replacing the Walking Cane.

[CuteC]

12 hours ago, Cruvimaster said:

I completely disagree with other characters being able to use Wigfrid's exclusive items.

It's the same problem of everyone using the benefits of Warly's recipes and he is reduced to a portal character.

There are a lot of new weapons in the game, just use them.

Imagine Wolfgang with his exclusive bonuses using Wigfrid's best weapon. There's no way you can agree with that.

In the post it is explained that characters would only be able to use them to their full potential if there is a Wigfrid nearby with the correct perks, I find it strange how this is an issue now but it wasn't with battle helms and spears.