Maxwell Skill Tree Idea

[Turbanik]

So this is Maxwell's skill tree idea, as the title says.
I've put the numbers so I can write down everything related to them without any confusion.

1 - Now Maxwell can craft nightmare fuel in cost of his sanity. Maxwell cannot craft nighmare fuel if he has not enough of sanity. It will happen probably with special animation when Maxwell will open Codex Umbra and grab nightmare fuel out of it. 
2 - All spells (including shadow prison and shadow sneak) last 25% longer.
3 - All spells (including shadow prison and shadow sneak) last 50% longer.
4 - Shadow prison now deals AOE damage after it expires (probably 10 or so for each pillar)
5 - Now shadow sneak applies shadow-flame debuff that deals twice as more damage than regular fire, and attacks dealt to mobs with shadow sneak effect, have 25% more damage.
6 - New spell. Now Maxwell can summon a row of shadow spikes that deal AOE damage. There's a cooldown for this spell, for about 3-5 seconds.
7 - New spell. Now Maxwell can summon shadow cloud that he can use as a mount which increases his speed by 10%, it allows him to carry heavy objects and travel across the sea and void. Shadow cloud lasts for about 2 minutes and has a visual warning before disappearing.

8 - Shadow Affinity that opens after Ancient Fuelweaver has been defeated. Allows Maxwell to enhance his Codex Umbra. Now Codex Umbra casts all spells 50% faster and has 25% chance to not use its durability percentage. Codex Umbra will have additional reddish effect which will show its Pure Horror state. Similar to the one that the Trawl Net in DS shipwrecked has. The more expensive/strong spell you cast the more durability it will lose.

9 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. Now Maxwell can get additional 25-50 hp which will fill his normal health icon with pure horror. It will last untill a proper amount of damage is dealt to Maxwell.

10 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. Now Maxwell can use shadow shield spell to protect himself and others. You open your inventory, choose the spell and then Codex Umbra drops from your inventory. It will spawn a spherical shadow shield around the Codex itself. If it's being idle, it will last for 20 seconds, and if the damage is dealt to the shield, the Codex umbra will lose its percentage durability. The shield protects the player from any sources of damage. You cannot charge Codex Umbra when It's casting the shield but you can pick it up which will stop the spell from being casted. When Codex Umbra is about to lose its durability there will be a visual warning.

11 - Shadow Duelists buffed with Pure Horror with new reddish and black visual effects. They will deal additional planar damage, will have planar defence and more health.

12 - Maxwell and his Shadow Duelists will deal 10% damage to lunar aligned creatures.

13 - Shadow Duelists' damage is severly increased.

14 - Shadow Duelists' attack speed is severly increased.

15 - Shadow Duelists' damage is slightly increased.

16 - Shadow Duelists' attack speed is slightly increased.

17 - Shadow Servants buffed with Pure Horror will follow the cursor instead of working in a particular area, so you can use your full potential as a puppeteer. They work faster (their animation is fastened up like Woodie's one), have more inventory slots and will be picking up items even if your inventory is full, instead they will drop items nearby the player and won't pick them up anymore.

18 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. When you use the spell, Codex Umbra drops from your inventory and spawns shadow vortex under itself. The shadow vortex will start sucking items in, in particular area. When the spell is being casted, Codex Umbra will be losing its durability with small percentages but quickly while the spell is being active. After it collected all the items it could, player can open its inventory which will consist of 9 endless slots similar to the ones that elastispacer makes in a chest. You can't put anything in it but only take from. The Items will not disappear as long as they are in Codex Umbra. The spell will be active for 10 seconds.

19 - Shadow Servants' work radius is severly increased.

20 - Shadow Servants' efficiency is severly increased. They need to hit the tree or the rock less times to mine/chop it.

21 - Shadow Servants' work radius is slightly increased.

22 - Shadow Servants' efficiency is slightly increased. They need to hit the tree or the rock a bit less times to mine/chop it.

 

 

Feel free to comment on it, maybe add more ideas and change the current ones ^^

[mkemal23]

The ideas here are really cool and creative but I think these are a bit too much for a character thats already really strong.

Also, I would be cool if one of Maxwell's shadow alignements allowed his duelists to get planar bonus when equiped with planar gear.

I think this should have been in his base kit but klei treats skill trees as reworks anyway, lol

[Bumber64]

His skill tree should be in the shape of the Wavey hand reaction.

[NPCMaxwell]

43 minutes ago, Bumber64 said:

His skill tree should be in the shape of the Wavey hand reaction.

<3

[NPCMaxwell]

The idea of being able to craft nightmare fuel in exchange for sanity would have definitely made me more enthusiastic about playing DST's version of Maxwell. I also believe this should have been in his base-kit from the beginning. But a nice idea for the skill tree (Hmm...wonder if there is way to adapt skilltree-skills and add them to a custom character because this one would definitely be used by my custom Maxwell who is REALLY in need for nightmarefuel)

[Ratituee]

On 9/18/2024 at 1:14 AM, mkemal23 said:

The ideas here are really cool and creative but I think these are a bit too much for a character thats already really strong.

Also, I would be cool if one of Maxwell's shadow alignements allowed his duelists to get planar bonus when equiped with planar gear.

I think this should have been in his base kit but klei treats skill trees as reworks anyway, lol

yeah imo he's already the strongest character in the game (top 3 or so dps, doesn't have to kite, traps allow beequeen cheese, really fast resource gathering, near-infinite inventory, only downside is you have 75 max hp and have to use nightmare fuel for all of his abilities). that being said, it's kind of hard to make a skill tree that doesn't make a character significantly easier

[ZeRoboButler]

Im really hoping that the tree for maxwell will involve some sort of interaction with magic items, Im really REALLY hoping they take the warly approach, where when they decide to give him the skill tree, they change some of the magic systems we have in place. Some of the magic items are really cool, while others are just kinda... present, as if to hit marks on a checklist rather then do something particularly cool. (some magic items are showing their age a bit...)

9 hours ago, Ratituee said:

yeah imo he's already the strongest character in the game (top 3 or so dps, doesn't have to kite, traps allow beequeen cheese, really fast resource gathering, near-infinite inventory, only downside is you have 75 max hp and have to use nightmare fuel for all of his abilities). that being said, it's kind of hard to make a skill tree that doesn't make a character significantly easier

I won't lie, the skill tree will absolutely make maxwell stronger and people are going to go absolutely nuts about it. Feels like klei is trying to make the characters more interesting to play, but as a consequence of that, they do get tools or things that make the game way easier if used correctly (which may be intentional). 

I will absolutely just get a bag of popcorn and watch as the chaos unfolds, "NERF IT" just posted endlessly but with more words involved. Personally, as long as the gameplay loop is fun, and if maxwell gets more power oriented progression to encourage his collection of magic items, I will be happy. I would argue adding progression and growth in a organic way is awesome for characters design, Wx's scan targets, webbers cookie collection via spider feeding, it just feels great to play with.

[BB Marioni]

a lot of the ideas seem ok and creative. However, I would vote against the following as they are either unnecessary or makes him too strong:
1. duration increase on prison and sneak - will make him way too strong than those spells already are
2. additional hp - keeping maxwell as the low health character would be a better option imho
3. all the duelist buffs - this will spark chaos in the community. The duelists are already fine as they are, I am against giving the duelist planar damage and instead give him a new separate summon that has planar damage, but cannot be summoned at the same time as duelists (this will be his shadow affinity skill). I explained it further in my post:
maxwell skill ideas
4. shadow cloud - sounds like a cool idea, but I hope it's a shadow creature instead of a cloud. Although as much as I would love to have this, it might just overshadow other characters who have mount specialty. Although I can see the reasoning here given that most Maxwells use a beefalo (except me, I just don't have the patience and maxwell just looks more magician-y without a mount and with more hp risks).

[Hyperpsychic]

Although it needs some polish and balancement you have some cool ideas for the skiltree. The only thing I ask from Klei is that this time please doesn't focus on the duelists again, I remember very well that all Maxwell rework and discussions turned around the duelists not giving any space for other ideas, and Maxwell is a character with so much versatility potential, I would like him to receive new options and interactions, something more "Wickebottom style" and yes, I know that him can read all of her books, is not the question here (and I woudn't even complain if this feature was removed). Maxwell is a magician, shadowmancer, manipulator, ex admin, this can be so much more explored.
Only would like to add a note, I like him having only 75 HP, Maxwell is a glass cannon, his life points are what justify him being so powerful, I love this playstyle and I even think that he could gain even more drawbacks at cost of being even more powerful.

Edited October 8, 2024 by Hyperpsychic

[ShadowDuelist]

Kudos for the art and the designs, they show a lot of dedication and are pretty neat, but the balance suggested in many perks is IMO too overpowered for Maxwell.

For starters, Maxwell already has some of the easiest ways to farm fuel in the game, he certainly doesn’t need to simplify the process even further. I like the shield concept and the fact that he can power up his codex with pure horror, that certainly makes sense.

I think his skill tree will involve the duelists dealing planar damage somehow to deal better with late game enemies, maybe a few more utility based summon or spells, QOL fixes, small improvements like rowing/tilling minions, and that will be it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a bland skill tree, because he stays as one of the strongest characters to play as, even without a skill tree.

[Jakepeng99]

Cool concepts and ideas.

 

But way too op for already top teir character and maybe a little too much, even if the tree was just the first three skills.

Though, this is not your fault (to an extent, a lot of your stats are too high). Though this is still high quality work.

[Radicaljoe]

It would be cool if one of the servants skills allowed more actions, like tilling or hammering large crops(I hate hammering the big crops so much)

I think another cool idea could be "concentration breaking" instead of being forced to complete the book animation you could break out of it early but canceling the spell. I've personally taken most of my damage gambling that I can summon all my duelists before the enemy gets in hitting range.

I'd also like the pure horror codex to give the workers a higher tier tool, I know you put more efficient, but I mean I want to have them mine riftstals/ dreadstone outcrop  without getting the knock back effect.

But you have a lot of good ideas on here, I hope atleast a couple are used in the real tree.

[toshio.umeda]

I think adding an option to remove all shadows would already be a great improvement.

For example, when we’re gathering resources like wood and a Treeguard appears, how can we summon more duelists if most of them are busy collecting items? This waiting time feels quite unnecessary.

The most I’d like to see added would be a shadow creature summon, maybe like a shadow monster for riding or attacking in a different way—or even to cover the Beefalo in shadows. It could bring some benefits, like increased resilience or some protective feature, like thorns that damage attackers.

Another idea could be a resilience hit—imagine if we’re about to die in one hit; a shadow would take my place, but retain my life percentage, using sanity like a shadow form. Or maybe after allies die, they leave behind miasma that only affects rivals.

Giving Maxwell resistance to miasma or the ability to craft a helmet with effects specific to him, like how Winona has her unique gear, would be great too. Or, expanding a unique feature of the Shadow Thurible just for Maxwell, like granting the Beefalo increased protection or damage when it’s used.

[Turbanik]

Hello, people! I also thought about few more ideas that could be added:
For example Maxwell could use Night Light to communicate with Charlie in some way (to get some buffs for short amount of time), since we saw the communicating in a few cinematic shorts.
Or there could a be a skill that would make Shadow Creature not attack Maxwell when he's on low sanity, similar to the bone helmet effect. So we could really see Charlie and Maxwell cooperate and her helping him.

You can share more ideas and obv suggest changes to the current ones since this topic was unarchived and is visible for others again.

Edited March 26, 2025 by Turbanik

[Wawchik]

On 9/18/2024 at 3:35 AM, Turbanik said:

So this is Maxwell's skill tree idea, as the title says.
I've put the numbers so I can write down everything related to them without any confusion.

1 - Now Maxwell can craft nightmare fuel in cost of his sanity. Maxwell cannot craft nighmare fuel if he has not enough of sanity. It will happen probably with special animation when Maxwell will open Codex Umbra and grab nightmare fuel out of it. 
2 - All spells (including shadow prison and shadow sneak) last 25% longer.
3 - All spells (including shadow prison and shadow sneak) last 50% longer.
4 - Shadow prison now deals AOE damage after it expires (probably 10 or so for each pillar)
5 - Now shadow sneak applies shadow-flame debuff that deals twice as more damage than regular fire, and attacks dealt to mobs with shadow sneak effect, have 25% more damage.
6 - New spell. Now Maxwell can summon a row of shadow spikes that deal AOE damage. There's a cooldown for this spell, for about 3-5 seconds.
7 - New spell. Now Maxwell can summon shadow cloud that he can use as a mount which increases his speed by 10%, it allows him to carry heavy objects and travel across the sea and void. Shadow cloud lasts for about 2 minutes and has a visual warning before disappearing.

8 - Shadow Affinity that opens after Ancient Fuelweaver has been defeated. Allows Maxwell to enhance his Codex Umbra. Now Codex Umbra casts all spells 50% faster and has 25% chance to not use its durability percentage. Codex Umbra will have additional reddish effect which will show its Pure Horror state. Similar to the one that the Trawl Net in DS shipwrecked has. The more expensive/strong spell you cast the more durability it will lose.

9 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. Now Maxwell can get additional 25-50 hp which will fill his normal health icon with pure horror. It will last untill a proper amount of damage is dealt to Maxwell.

10 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. Now Maxwell can use shadow shield spell to protect himself and others. You open your inventory, choose the spell and then Codex Umbra drops from your inventory. It will spawn a spherical shadow shield around the Codex itself. If it's being idle, it will last for 20 seconds, and if the damage is dealt to the shield, the Codex umbra will lose its percentage durability. The shield protects the player from any sources of damage. You cannot charge Codex Umbra when It's casting the shield but you can pick it up which will stop the spell from being casted. When Codex Umbra is about to lose its durability there will be a visual warning.

11 - Shadow Duelists buffed with Pure Horror with new reddish and black visual effects. They will deal additional planar damage, will have planar defence and more health.

12 - Maxwell and his Shadow Duelists will deal 10% damage to lunar aligned creatures.

13 - Shadow Duelists' damage is severly increased.

14 - Shadow Duelists' attack speed is severly increased.

15 - Shadow Duelists' damage is slightly increased.

16 - Shadow Duelists' attack speed is slightly increased.

17 - Shadow Servants buffed with Pure Horror will follow the cursor instead of working in a particular area, so you can use your full potential as a puppeteer. They work faster (their animation is fastened up like Woodie's one), have more inventory slots and will be picking up items even if your inventory is full, instead they will drop items nearby the player and won't pick them up anymore.

18 - New spell with pure horror buffed Codex Umbra. When you use the spell, Codex Umbra drops from your inventory and spawns shadow vortex under itself. The shadow vortex will start sucking items in, in particular area. When the spell is being casted, Codex Umbra will be losing its durability with small percentages but quickly while the spell is being active. After it collected all the items it could, player can open its inventory which will consist of 9 endless slots similar to the ones that elastispacer makes in a chest. You can't put anything in it but only take from. The Items will not disappear as long as they are in Codex Umbra. The spell will be active for 10 seconds.

19 - Shadow Servants' work radius is severly increased.

20 - Shadow Servants' efficiency is severly increased. They need to hit the tree or the rock less times to mine/chop it.

21 - Shadow Servants' work radius is slightly increased.

22 - Shadow Servants' efficiency is slightly increased. They need to hit the tree or the rock a bit less times to mine/chop it.

 

 

Feel free to comment on it, maybe add more ideas and change the current ones ^^

Codex is a strong enough weapon, it doesn't need this many buffs and more combat spells, I think it needs 1 or 2 more spells like shadow sneak, that aren't entirely combat. Also no skills for the magician's hat, so you kinda just ignored everything else Maxwell has and just focused on codex

Edited March 21, 2025 by Wawchik

[chenxx]

Reason for this idea: Transforming the Shadow, and make Nightmare phase a Gold Rush for dreadstone.  A spending-resource way to Enable minion to deal with shadow creature for you

And beside this, I think Maxwell should have a Magic power to achieve this.

The dust Sprayer to spray the dust.

[Edible Coal]

3 hours ago, chenxx said:

Reason for this idea: Transforming the Shadow, and make Nightmare phase a Gold Rush for dreadstone.  A spending-resource way to Enable minion to deal with shadow creature for you

And beside this, I think Maxwell should have a Magic power to achieve this.

The dust Sprayer to spray the dust.

no i want this

[chenxx]

On 3/30/2025 at 8:11 PM, Edible Coal said:

no i want this

These tiny bubbles inspired me to conceive this--the Embryo of Shadow.

Edited April 2, 2025 by chenxx