Walter's skill tree is exceptionally boring for a character with so much in his kit.

[lowercase skye]

It's probably too late to make any major changes, but as a big fan of Walter and someone who has played him a lot, I wanted to give the feedback that I think his skill tree focusing entirely on Woby and the slingshot is incredibly remarkably boring compared to his base perks. So much of the skill tree is spent on upgrading Woby or the slingshot, with absolutely nothing related to his outdoorsy-ness, camping gear, unique sanity mechanics, his multiple campfire perks, etc... he's a variety character, with a ton of niche perks and downsides, yet his skill tree exclusively focuses on two of them. I think this is underwhelming and, frankly just boring.

It would be nice if there were perks for this stuff, like more efficient use of tents, better delivery of his campfire stories for more sanity, maybe shadow alignment could stop him from losing sanity from magic equipment? I don't know, just some ideas, they could even be slotted in as simple number/tuning bonuses to the existing perks. I just think Walter's current skill tree, unlike every other skill tree, feels entirely dedicated to "fixing" his kit for people who previously didn't like the character, rather than making him even more fun to play for people who already liked him. As someone who was drawn to him because of how many small perks he has, I can't see this skill tree changing much about how I play him outside of letting Woby dig stuff up for me, unlike characters like Woodie or Wigfrid who enhanced all the things I already loved about them.

[PhoeniXXTalon]

i do agree there should be more than just woby/slingshot for the skill tree

honestly i really like the current stuff that's there (although currently woby skill tree is underwhelming imo, but they said they're changing it) although some of the ammos are definitely redundant so maybe those could be condensed or replaced with other stuff

i think his sanity mechanics are especially interesting, maybe there could be a way to make trees giving him sanity more practical? either a flat buff to the amount of sanity it gives, bigger range, or some other bonus to make it worth it to stand next to trees instead of just having glommer

[maroonamanita]

I think because his base kit was so bloated is why he got a skill tree that did not give silly perks like pan flutes or beefalos. I actually like his skill tree a lot and has pretty much everything I would want. Modular slingshot oh man we got it, more and better ammo of man, and even woby got their own mini skill tree how fun is that. Honestly they knocked the walter skill tree so out of the park for me idk what they can even do to make the aliment ammo even better.

 

[Mike23Ua]

22 minutes ago, maroonamanita said:

I think because his base kit was so bloated is why he got a skill tree that did not give silly perks like pan flutes or beefalos. I actually like his skill tree a lot and has pretty much everything I would want. Modular slingshot oh man we got it, more and better ammo of man, and even woby got their own mini skill tree how fun is that. Honestly they knocked the walter skill tree so out of the park for me idk what they can even do to make the aliment ammo even better.

 

I think what the op is trying to say is that a lot of what you like as a skill tree, just seems to be fixing what you didn’t like about the character by improving it.

But a lot of this just feels like it should’ve been a character update QoL while reserving the skill tree for new and unique stuff. I don’t have any suggestions for Walter (hate him as a character both before & after his rework/skill tree) But I agree with the OP that his skill perks should not focus entirely on Better Slingshot or Better Woby.

Give the guy IDK maybe a campers emergency raft he can craft so that when boats “sink” all the would be lost supplies instead float ashore on a rubber emergency raft?

Thats just one “this dudes a forest scout camper” type of perk suggestion, out of billions of other neat things they could had come up with.

[Primalflower]

2 hours ago, maroonamanita said:

I think because his base kit was so bloated is why he got a skill tree that did not give silly perks like pan flutes or beefalos.

That's the thing. Walter as a character has always been pretty spread out, and that naturally sort of lends itself well to being able to spec into a few of the many branches of walters character. So it's weird that there only ended up being two, sort of leaving out a few other facets. It would have been interesting if he had a third branch alongside the ones we have now that, idk, let him craft stumps to sit on alongside the campfire to make his stories more effective, or maybe let him make a canoe that functioned as a sort of grass-raft sized boat that was a little more durable. I don't know, I never went to camp.

Don't get me wrong, I like what we have of walter's skill tree. It helps him remedy his shortcomings as you continue to play him. But I do think he could have had a bit more. It's not as fleshed out as it could have been.

[ShadowDuelist]

5 hours ago, finn from human said:

So much of the skill tree is spent on upgrading Woby or the slingshot, with absolutely nothing related to his outdoorsy-ness, camping gear, unique sanity mechanics, his multiple campfire perks, etc... he's a variety character, with a ton of niche perks and downsides, yet his skill tree exclusively focuses on two of them. I think this is underwhelming and, frankly just boring.

I get what you mean, but I still think Woby and his slingshot were always meant to be his main things, and all the rest of the perks are mostly side perks for flavor/lore. And the slingshot was for the most part terrible before, so it already felt like you had to "do your best" with the side perks instead of enjoying what should have been his true forte.
Not that the side perks are bad, but to all my gameplays with Walter, none of them felt like true gamechangers. The tent was helpful at some early ruins raids for easy stats recovery, after eating monster meat and lichen, and that was mostly it.

However, not using Woby or his slingshot is like "not having the good half of his character". Basically like if Maxwell's codex umbra sucked, and was never worth using other than to fuel a campfire in the first few days: yeah you'd be left with a character that regens his sanity, but is it enough? That's why I think the devs focused on Woby and the slingshot, and rightfully did so.

Of course they can do justice and improve these side perks as well, but I rather they focus on what's more important and requires more work to balance first. Improving his tents or adding more potent horror stories would be alright, but not really something that is broken right now (or ever was)

[DVGMedia]

IM more wondering what else would they do for his side perks anyway? I think the scouting part is boosted by wobys perks already.
His sanity stuff I think was his main perk but like how would you make that better? Make it how it was originally where magic items don't affect him?
There are some items i find strange like the sticky handle.  which would work for the full wetness walter build since he doesn't get affected by the sanity from that lol and well bearger and goose with their disarms.

[Dandefender]

5 hours ago, maroonamanita said:

5 hours ago, maroonamanita said:

 

 

 

Three things disappoint me

1- Even more rounds. He already has several ammo types and most of them are useless. Why not tweaking the old ones?

2- no round flexibility; considering he has even more round types now the usage becomes even more confusing.Fighting enemies with so many utilities is so clunky. I wish there could be a new key or skill tree to easily cycle between two pre-selected types of rounds.

3- No skill point to mitigate the gargantuan amount of sanity he loses when hit a couple of times. He only has one with Wobby