Rambling About Walter's Update

[Chewabacca]

Just to start: this is an extremely good tree with only one skill that should get any changing IMO. Pretty much all my remaining issues are minor UI ones. If there’s any more time/focus to spare, Wortox and Wendy should get all of it.

For my build I went with Shattering Rounds (the AOE rounds), Lucky Rounds (gunpowder + dreadstone), Ammo Smith, Ammo Hoarder, Basic Customization, Advanced Grips, Advanced Bands, Pioneer’s Panache, Special Treat, Field Medic, Campfire Enthusiast, Endear-ance, Roaming Retriever, Hard-headed, and Scruffy Sprinter. This is an extremely customizable skill tree that will almost certainly look different from player to player. There’s something for everyone, even the folks who aren’t interested in the slingshot.

The ammo pouch handily deals with the inventory issue, thank you. Would be nice if it let you store ammo in it without first opening it up, but it’s fine as is.

I like the way Roaming Retriever has been implemented. I thought Fetch was garbage, so I’m not quite sure why my mind is changed on this. The decreased cool-down time is very nice, so that might be part of it. Dig is completely gone and I’m not mourning. Yeah, the free shiny stuff was cool, but the process of getting it was boring.

Woby’s insulation is VERY good. I don’t know the numbers, but just based off my playtime I would say she seems roughly as good as a winter hat. Maybe a little bit better. Not sure whether this will result in overheating more quickly on her in summer. If so, honestly, that’s a fair price. If you have her and a winter hat, you don’t need a thermal stone to comfortably get through winter anymore.

Pioneer’s Panache: The upgraded Pioneer Hat is pretty good as an all-arounder. Took 50 damage to a tallbird on day 1 (aren’t you glad you have bad players to test things?) and, while I still lost a good chunk of sanity, the drain didn’t affect me while I had the hat on. Also, don’t know the exact numbers, but with it on wetness seems to increase by 1 only every ~13 seconds.  I don’t know what that translates to in terms of resistance percentage but obviously better than 20%. I can see this being particularly useful to players who don’t feel confident fighting Deerclops. Might use some spools on skins for it now that it’s useful, because the default version looks derpy.

Special Treat: Just a must-pick. No more panicking in the ruins because my monster meat is going stale and I don’t know exactly how much hunger Woby has left before she shrinks. Stockpiles forever now. I imagine this goes pretty well with the skill that lets you carry drying racks on Woby.

Field Medic: Feels like one that not everyone will pick but that I quite like, since the ash cost for healing salves always niggles at me. I also like that this doesn’t just give you a new item but makes healing items in general more effective.

Campfire Enthusiast: Great. I appreciate that when it gets destroyed by a boss trampling on it, it doesn’t actually get destroyed, it just gets dismantled and remains intact for future reuse. Love that Walter is getting more nomad tools. I was skeptical when I saw the idea proposed because I thought it would just be a cheaper version of the campfire that already exists, but I’m a believer now.

Endear-ance: So good. We get both faster Woby and reduced hunger drain for her, for 1 skill point? It almost feels too good, without the training system to make it feel earned. And I don’t even care.

Hard-headed: This is the one skill that I do have a bit of a problem with. It intrudes on Woodie, Wurt, & Maxwell’s niche a little too much, to the point where I’m less motivated to play those characters (yes, I know that they can do other stuff, but the resource-gathering is where they curbstomp everyone else). The animation also looks kind of weird. Are we giving our dog brain damage? I can chop one tree in a small grove and Woby will deal with the rest even if I stop, and she’ll even pick them up afterwards. Sure, it’s murder on her hunger but we have ways to deal with that pretty handily now. If this skill is kept, I would prefer for Woby to only mine and chop while Walter is, so that it feels more like a collaboration and less like she’s our minion.

I’m kicking myself over not picking Twine Twirler. Screw Klei for making us choose between good options, this is hard.

Also wanted to say: I haven’t been hugely into Walter’s personality in the past. Not saying I have any major issues with it either, or dismissing the players who do like him for that. I’ve just been way more invested in other characters lorewise. This update changed that by fleshing out Walter’s bond with Woby more. All the little quotes where he praises her for doing tasks, the way that she’s always at our side helping…it really feels like this boy and his dog love each other, and as a boy who’s had a dog I’m a sucker for that. Are these the first quotes where Walter calls Woby "Wobes"? It's cute. And will hopefully get people to realize that her name rhymes with Toby, not with Robby. I’m not even one of those people that likes plushies usually, and yet if Klei ever decided that there was a large enough market to sell a Woby one, I’d probably be willing to pay around $30 for it. Just, y’know, if you’re listening, Klei. Would be happy to give you guys more money.

Minor UI thing: When Woby is given a non-mount command, the wheel stays open and the screen is focused on her until you select the “close” option, even if you move Walter around. This is kind of disconcerting and unnecessary, and I’d prefer it if the wheel automatically closed after any command.

Overall this whole skill tree feels like…dayenu, “it would have been enough”. It would have been enough, just to have a hunger meter. It would have been enough just to make Big Woby faster, or to decrease her hunger drain. It would have been enough just to give us food for her that never spoils. It would have been enough to give us a freaking infinitely reusable campfire that we can place anywhere (seriously, does this thing have durability? Feels way too good to be true). It would have been enough to fix the hat. To make it feel like Woby was truly part of the team. Any of those things on their own I think I would have been satisfied with. I was expecting two or three new Woby-related skills and 0 camping ones. Klei devs went above and beyond. Sorry if I ever implied that they weren't paying enough attention to Walter. The world is a beautiful place and life is good.

[_mylilsunshine_]

55 minutes ago, Chewabacca said:

Woby’s insulation is VERY good. I don’t know the numbers, but just based off my playtime I would say she seems roughly as good as a winter hat. Maybe a little bit better. Not sure whether this will result in overheating more quickly on her in summer. If so, honestly, that’s a fair price. If you have her and a winter hat, you don’t need a thermal stone to comfortably get through winter anymore.

which is GREAT, since I hate the look of the beefalo hat. winter hat is so much cuter and has more skins.

58 minutes ago, Chewabacca said:

Also wanted to say: I haven’t been hugely into Walter’s personality in the past. Not saying I have any major issues with it either, or dismissing the players who do like him for that. I’ve just been way more invested in other characters lorewise. This update changed that by fleshing out Walter’s bond with Woby more. All the little quotes where he praises her for doing tasks, the way that she’s always at our side helping…it really feels like this boy and his dog love each other, and as a boy who’s had a dog I’m a sucker for that. Are these the first quotes where Walter calls Woby "Wobes"? It's cute.

i believe beta's voicelines (?)/dialogues are not finalized, some are just placeholders, so we can even provide suggestions on that matter.

[BrixGoBrrr]

first thing i did when trying this latest set of new stuff, was spend a couple segments just petting Woby bc of the new lines Walter says  

[Mysterious box]

1 hour ago, Chewabacca said:

Pioneer’s Panache: The upgraded Pioneer Hat is pretty good as an all-arounder. Took 50 damage to a tallbird on day 1 (aren’t you glad you have bad players to test things?) and, while I still lost a good chunk of sanity, the drain didn’t affect me while I had the hat on. Also, don’t know the exact numbers, but with it on wetness seems to increase by 1 only every ~13 seconds.  I don’t know what that translates to in terms of resistance percentage but obviously better than 20%. I can see this being particularly useful to players who don’t feel confident fighting Deerclops. Might use some spools on skins for it now that it’s useful, because the default version looks derpy.

It boosts the hat's sanity reduction to 75% so for example if you get bit by a spider you lose 10 sanity instead of 20 without armor. I was told the hat also gives 120 summer insulation and that it's rain protection is 35%.

 

2 hours ago, Chewabacca said:

Woby’s insulation is VERY good. I don’t know the numbers, but just based off my playtime I would say she seems roughly as good as a winter hat. Maybe a little bit better. Not sure whether this will result in overheating more quickly on her in summer. If so, honestly, that’s a fair price. If you have her and a winter hat, you don’t need a thermal stone to comfortably get through winter anymore.

This is amazing I didn't know it was this good!!

[flamboyant wolf]

14 minutes ago, Mysterious box said:

This is amazing I didn't know it was this good!!

Yeah, it felt really good to use!