Why Wendy's Skill Tree Still Needs Significant Refinement Before Going Live

[renamoe]

Hi Klei and fellow players,

Thank you for the ongoing updates and for listening to our community feedback. As a dedicated Wendy main, I'd like to share some direct thoughts on the recent changes before the skill tree is finalized.

 

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1. Wendy's Current State and Timing

Wendy's skill tree requires significant refinement before its official release. While some players are eager for a quick rollout, Wendy's popularity and importance within the community highlight the necessity of taking the time to get it right. This isn't just about Wendy—it's about all characters, ensuring fairness and fun for everyone. Characters are a fundamental part of the game that must be carefully balanced. Overlooking defects or rushing the update compromises the overall experience.

A rushed release risks delivering an unsatisfying experience, undermining Wendy's unique appeal, and potentially disappointing her loyal fanbase. This isn't a threat, but a genuine concern based on my feelings each time I see the update. Ensuring Wendy's skill tree is well-balanced and thoughtfully designed will honor her distinct role in Don't Starve Together and maintain the trust and enthusiasm of her dedicated players.

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2. Mourning Glory and Related Mechanics

Expanded uses for Mourning Glory were initially promising, but transforming butterfly wings back into live butterflies feels too costly right now. If this mechanic is meant to support playstyles like Shadow Abigail builds, it should be more rewarding and balanced.

The Mourning Glory hat, which allows players to consume Elixirs, is an interesting idea. However, the Elixir effects for players seem underwhelming compared to Abigail's benefits. These tools should offer distinctive advantages that justify their cost, rather than feeling like weaker alternatives to existing options. For example, with so many healing methods available, why use Elixirs that primarily benefit Abigail? Abigail needs them more than the players do.

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3. Gestalt Abigail Adjustments

Toning down Gestalt Abigail's strength is understandable, but these reductions should be accompanied by compensatory improvements to maintain balance and engagement in Wendy's skill tree. Each skill path should offer meaningful utility, ensuring the gameplay remains fun, rewarding, and not overly limited. A cohesive and well-thought-out set of options would help these adjustments feel fair and keep the skill tree interesting for players.

While Gestalt Abigail can still handle certain bosses, her current state feels significantly weakened. The nerfs have taken away two key aspects: 1) Abigail's DPS and 2) her invincibility frames during dashing. Losing both has made her far more fragile, with limited tools to compensate for these changes. A better balance between survivability and functionality in future updates would go a long way in making Gestalt Abigail a viable and enjoyable choice for players.

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4. Community Feedback and Forum Atmosphere

It's good to see the forum returning to more constructive discussions. However, I'm concerned about the current atmosphere. After spending over a month tuning the characters, I'm not sure if Klei is fully committed to finalizing Wendy's skill tree. It feels like both the forum and the developers might be losing interest.

We need positive and constructive feedback to achieve our ultimate goal: a skill tree that's fun, fair, and true to Wendy's character. This can only be accomplished by valuing sincere, well-reasoned feedback. Despite feeling desperate, I must emphasize that some critical issues with Wendy—specifically dealing with shadow creatures and boss fights—are still not fully addressed.

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5. Acknowledging the Effort and Looking Ahead

I appreciate the ongoing work and the effort to address community concerns. As a regular player, it means a lot to feel seen and heard by Klei's team, even though I know I'm just one voice among many. With a bit more refinement, Wendy's skill tree has the potential to be balanced, satisfying, and thematically cohesive.

If things don't fully align, I trust that time will help players adjust—after all, Don't Starve Together is a vast game, and Wendy is just one part of it. That said, I truly hope we can get it right now, before it's too late to make meaningful changes. A well-polished Wendy skill tree would be a lasting testament to Klei's dedication to its players.

 

I'm looking forward to Wendy's continued evolution and hope the final result resonates with both longtime fans and newer players.

[WenericMember]

Hmm i agree that gesalt abby needs some compensation buffs, and that the cost of butterflies is too much, bit i think the flower crown is in a good state. While they are less powerful than some alternatives, theyre also infinitely more accesible. Jelly beans are locked behind a raid boss and probably stack, and Wendys new regen is only mildly worse. Night vision is night vision. Encumbered speed is good for people who dont want to tame beefalo. The shields are probably the most niche, but still are useful against strong slow bosses like the shadow pieces or fw. 

The only disappointments are alignment pots and distilled vengeance. Which would benefit from buffs but arent needed. 

On top of that, its all condensed into one skill. Any of these perks would be nice utlity in a vaccuum.

[renamoe]

11 minutes ago, WenericMember said:

On top of that, its all condensed into one skill. Any of these perks would be nice utlityin a vaccuum.

I agree—condensing all these perks into one skill definitely feels much better than having scattered fillers. Your perspective on the Flower Crown being accessible and versatile is a great point.

Thanks for pointing out the strengths—it's a reminder to focus on the positives while still advocating for thoughtful refinements.

[Lee lol]

我刚刚试了用格式塔打月亮熊和鹿，阿比的灵活性被大大削弱了，现在阿比基本受几次伤就会死，她打不了多少伤害，打地下三基佬和亮茄还可以。现在格式塔阿比要变得不那么脆只能上加速度的药，好像还稍微管点用。

我认为格式塔阿比现在的生存能力和战斗力都被严重削弱，这显然不太合理。她的战斗力可能只和普通阿比差不多。应该提升她的生存能力或战斗力，至少其中之一。

I just tried to hit the Moon Bear and the Deer with Gestalt, and Abi's flexibility has been greatly weakened, and now she will soon die after a few injuries, she can't do much damage, but it's okay to hit the Shadow Monsters and lunarplant. Now if Gestalt Abbi wants to become less brittle and can only use acceleration medicine, which seems to work a little.

I think that Gestalt Abi is now seriously weakened in terms of survivability and combat effectiveness, which is clearly not very reasonable. Her combat power may only be about the same as that of a normal Abi. Should boost her survivability or combat effectiveness, at least one of them.

[renamoe]

6 minutes ago, Lee lol said:

我认为格式塔阿比现在的生存能力和战斗力都被严重削弱，这显然不太合理。她的战斗力可能只和普通阿比差不多。应该提升她的生存能力或战斗力，至少其中之一。

 

Thanks for testing this out! It's good to hear that Gestalt Abigail can still handle some bosses, even if not all of them. However, it does feel like the nerfs might have gone a bit too far.

[Lee lol]

 

关于第二点，我认为花冠可能更多地服务于新手（这也是设计师对温蒂这一角色的定位），他们很可能无法获得糖豆和启迪头。可以说这个技能对于温蒂熟练玩家来说基本是没用的。
但是它是否真的对新手有用，这一点我也存疑，因为回血有方便的饺子，夜视有矿灯帽……加速也只有穿大理石甲有用？或许设计师想让我们穿大理石甲站撸？关键是你都穿大理石甲了为什么还需要走位？直接按住f不就行了

同意关于蝴蝶的部分。

On the second point, I think Corolla may be more for newbies (which is also the designer's positioning for Wendy's character), who will most likely not be able to get Jelly Beans and Enlightenment Heads. It can be said that this skill is basically useless for Wendy's skilled players.
But whether it is really useful for novices, I also have doubts, because there are convenient dumplings for blood return, and there are miner's lamp caps for night vision...... Acceleration is also only useful for wearing marble armor? Maybe the designer wants us to wear marble armor to stand off?The point is, you're wearing marble armor, why do you need to move? Just press and hold f

Agree with the butterfly part.

Finally, thank you to the designers for being willing to listen to Wendy's players, and thank you to every Wendy player who is willing to speak up.

[renamoe]

1 hour ago, Lee lol said:

关于第二点，我认为花冠可能更多地服务于新手（这也是设计师对温蒂这一角色的定位），他们很可能无法获得糖豆和启迪头。可以说这个技能对于温蒂熟练玩家来说基本是没用的。
但是它是否真的对新手有用，这一点我也存疑，因为回血有方便的饺子，夜视有矿灯帽……加速也只有穿大理石甲有用？或许设计师想让我们穿大理石甲站撸？

同意关于蝴蝶的部分。

As @WenericMember pointed out, at least Klei has condensed these abilities into a single skill point, which makes it feel less scattered. That said, I completely agree that some potions or abilities could be more geared toward later-stage gameplay to provide more meaningful utility for skilled players.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for contributing to making Wendy's skill tree better. Every bit of feedback helps!

[WenericMember]

9 minutes ago, renamoe said:

As @WenericMember pointed out, at least Klei has condensed these abilities into a single skill point, which makes it feel less scattered. That said, I completely agree that some potions or abilities could be more geared toward later-stage gameplay to provide more meaningful utility for skilled players.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for contributing to making Wendy's skill tree better. Every bit of feedback helps!

I think a good compromise is to make distilled vengeance andnthe alignment pots geared towards late game, maybe giving them their own skill if needbe. Their more expensive cost makes them harder to abuse, enabling them to be balanced and powerful.

[SilverSpoon]

Thank you for your always constructive and respectful comments.

 

2 hours ago, renamoe said:

necessity of taking the time to get it right. This isn't just about Wendy—it's about all characters, ensuring fairness and fun for everyone.

Totally agree. A late update is just late update, but a bad update will remain a bad update for so long. I think we should be tolerant about develop term because they is also struggling and trying their best.

2 hours ago, renamoe said:

2. Mourning Glory and Related Mechanics

I agree the cost of butterflies is too much, I think 2 would be just right for this.

Mourning wreath is my favorite addition of the entire beta. My idea is "to make Wendy the only one who can use elixirs on the wearer of the Mourning wreath, making each elixir stronger and more unique." This gives Wendy a new role as a "Potion master" and matches Wendy's existing elements really well. Wendy's low base damage can be mitigated by her having a role in buffing allies. Her regisht to insane allows her to show abillity when the whole party is in crisis. Not being able to give elixirs from on top of the Beefalo is  be balanced against cullent wendy heavy reliance on Beefalo. Other members can't consume elixirs so she doesn't have to collect as much Mourning Glory. This idea is based on a suggestion by you.

2 hours ago, renamoe said:

3. Gestalt Abigail Adjustments

As for the Gestalt Abigail Adjustment, I think we can wait until many player has actually used it and given us feedback. I don't know the current Gestabby is too weak or already just right.

2 hours ago, renamoe said:

4. Community Feedback and Forum Atmosphere

2 hours ago, renamoe said:

5. Acknowledging the Effort and Looking Ahead

On this one, we just have to trust Klei and wait, and I believe they make well it out in the end. I think you can trust the forum because also forum folk there has a strong love for Wendy.

 

4 minutes ago, renamoe said:

As @WenericMember pointed out,

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