Skill Ideas for Wickerbottom

[SpiderSister]

As we are getting closer to the end of the current beta, I thought I would come up with a few skill suggestions for everyone's favorite librarian Wickerbottom.

Currently, a problem with Wickerbottom is that Maxwell gets access to all of her kit. Some posts suggest fixing it by allowing Wickerbottom to have stronger effects from her books, but this requires a book-by-book treatment, and I don't work by the book. I do think that it would be overall better for Wickerbottom if Maxwell could not read her books, but I'll try to make suggestions that exist within the current situations.

Also, some suggestions I saw included lesser sanity drain from Wickerbottom's books, which would lower or remove Wickerbottom's main downside as I see it. I will not go in such direction.

I will not suggest a complete skill tree, but rather only a few skill ideas. Your opinions are welcome!

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• A Long Read: Wickerbottom can cast her spells farther away, focused around points within range.
  This would allow Wickerbottom to utilize her On Tentacles book more easily without having to use broken walls, while still having the downside of having to retrieve items from the tentacles. It could also help somewhat with some of the other books.
• Wickerbottom's Moving Bookcase (maybe part of Shadow Affinity): Wickerbottom's bookcases can grow legs and walk after her.
  This could be done by interacting with the bookcase in some way. Maybe she could craft some item, such as a bookmark, that can be used to make a bookcase follow it. This could help with carrying a lot of books for a task, and having to go back and forth in the case that more books are needed.
• Gaze of the Moon (maybe part of Lunar Affinity): Wickerbottom can craft a special map that allows her to see far-away parts of the world from the comfort of her home.
  I think a scrying ability could be cool. But I'm not entirely sure how it would be implemented to make it fun and sufficiently useful.
• Marionettes (maybe part of Shadow Affinity): Wickerbottom can craft a book that converts nearby mobs to followers.
  This would need some kind of limitation including but not necessarily limited to the number of mobs (but a specific number isn't meaningful for this discussion) and not working on giants. The limitation should not be (just) a large sanity cost because that would be overpowered in the case that Wickerbottom already has a Bone Helm.
  Because crafting skills can be seen as something you use and switch out, maybe this could only be used while you have the skill, as with the next book-crafting skills. Although this might not be ideal either.
• Book of Stars (possibly part of Lunar Affinity): Wickerbottom can craft a book that allows spawning meteors.
  This should probably be usable but not too strong in combat, but would have the utility of being able to destroy objects like trees and boulders, and possibly leaving some items from the meteors.
• Hasty Husbandry I: Wickerbottom can craft a book that quickens the growth of animals products.
  This could make Beefalos grow their fur, grow Tallbird eggs, grow honey in bee boxes (outside of Winter) and make Lureplants produce Leafy Meat. There's probably something else that I forgot.
• Hasty Husbandry II: Wickerbottom can craft a book that quickens the growth of animals.
  This could make Beefalos reproduce faster, spawn Marotters and spiders from their dens, merms, pigmen, bunnymen from their houses, rabbits from their holes, Tallbirds from their nests, etc.
• A Quick Read: Wickerbottom's bookcase restores books faster.
  This could probably have two levels for a "much faster" level.

 

 

[Yifei_]

 

I also wrote a similar post before. Like you, I think the skill tree needs to address the issue of Wickerbottom being completely replaced by Maxwell in the late game. In addition, I also hope that the skill tree will not further enhance Wickerbottom's already quite powerful resource production capabilities, but instead focus more on improving Wickerbottom's combat experience.

Additionally, I just hope that Wickerbottom can have more combat skills that are unique to her, rather than becoming a powerful combat character. Her role is not meant for combat in the first place. It's just that I feel there is too big a gap between her combat ability and her resource production or team-supporting capabilities.

[Pruinae]

A moving bookcase is VERY don't starve-y. The scrying seems like something Wickerbottom would do for sure, could be useful to check if BQ/Dfly has spawned and depending on how it works, could be used to trigger some effects remotely, like the Moon Quay portal; I also wouldn't mind if it could be used to reveal the map remotely. I like the husbandry effects, but wouldn't giving her new books just also give new books to Maxwell?

Wickerbottom mavens rally!

 

[GimplyGoose]

I like the moving bookcase and scrying ideas. I am not sure about the marionette/followers idea. One problem with the scrying is that it would become less valuable later into a world where you can afford ocuvigils and aren't needing to scout as much, but it would still be nice early on to help scout out ocean content.

A moving bookcase would have a lot more charm than a book bag, which is a popular suggestion I've seen.

I think if any new books are added with Wickerbottom's skill tree, they should require unlocking the skill to read them (Maxwell could never read them and). Existing books will probably stay as is.

[DegenerateFurry]

I still think they should make it so Maxwell doesn't cause the effects when he reads her books and just loses sanity. 

[Y0sH]

I think her more powerful books could be written in "Ancient Text" that only a Scholar would be able to decipher not allowing Maxwell to also read them. Wurt can read them still but of course without anything happening other than a couple sanity points for reading.

[Mr Giggio]

Removing the synergy with Maxwell gotta be the thing that irks me the most about how comunity perceives it.

Synergy is not bad.

The bad part is the fact that she aint having much good things going for her despite the books enough to make we stay as her in a gameplay.

Wanting Warly to be the only one capable of eating his own food is a example of how ridiculous this sounds.

Its mage support role and its nice, the matter is making her good to stay as her - for example proeficiency on her own books or a purse to regen the books while carrying with you would make her able to not only carry em around without inventory struggle but also use them more times. Special effects like:

- allowing her to place the tentacles where she wants;

-making the lightining strikes actually do damage on enemies if shes the one reading;

-Being able to retreat Gumble bees so they will lurk around ya in circles instead of aggroing by their own;

- Making her able to focus during the casts or fast cast after some uses of that same book cuz SleepTime stories gets overshadowd by panflutes due the animation being way faster and relyant.

its her books so if she  has more control of the magics she rune casted than the mages that are reading it is indeed a good thing

[Jimothywastaken]

i do think maxwell should keep the ability to read her current books removing that wont make anyone play wicker like how making catapults much more tedious to use for everyone else didnt make anyone play winona 

i'm not super certain for what'd make a good wickerbottom skilltree but making her drain less durability from books, a bookbag to hold them that also regens them and much faster reading is probably a solid start