It's Time for a Wickerbottom Skill Tree

[MeowDao]

Hello everyone,

The introduction of the Boulderbough in the recent update is impressive, but it has further diminished Wickerbottom's niche in resource gathering.

It's widely understood that Wickerbottom's late-game utility is often overshadowed by Maxwell, primarily due to the shared Bookcase. The Bone Helm and Celestial Jewel effectively negate Maxwell's 2.5x Sanity cost penalty for reading. Furthermore, many books only need to be read once in the early game, and the Nightmare Fuel gained from low sanity is actually beneficial for Maxwell.

The Boulderbough exacerbates Wickerbottom's weaknesses. She lacks a cheap method to harvest it. Maxwell can easily clear underground Boulderboughs early on with his shadow servants, while the late-game harvesting is dominated by Winona. Her ability to teleport, move heavy objects, and her powerful Catapults are perfectly suited for the Boulderbough's characteristics: its yield is unaffected by Applied Silviculture, it must be planted in specific locations, and it grows extremely fast (ready in about three days). It seems almost tailor-made for Winona, who also has a constant need for Rocks.

Even Wurt can now operate independently of Wickerbottom. Planting Boulderboughs in the Marsh yields large amounts of Tentacle Spots, and Merms are expert miners. The substantial Flint output is also highly valuable for building Merm Flort-ifications. Previously, the Wickerbottom-Wurt duo was considered excellent: Wickerbottom provided materials for the Merm army, her books helped Wurt manage Sanity, and the Loyal Merm Guards compensated for Wickerbottom's combat weaknesses. Now, Wurt can become a self-sufficient army, while Wickerbottom remains largely the same – producing an abundance of resources that are often surplus to her own needs.

As a dedicated Wick main, I've keenly felt her advantages diminishing with almost every update. Her early-game playstyle is fine and doesn't need changes; the core issues lie in the mid to late-game.

 

· Birds of the World: After the bright-beaked bird and lunar hail updates, its use for farming specific resources is now limited to certain time windows.

· Horticulture, Abridged: Primarily used for farming stone fruit and bananas. Stone fruit has been partially overshadowed by Boulderboughs. Using it for rocks in the late-game generates excessive, useless Rot. Other resources are more efficiently farmed by Maxwell, whose shadow servants can harvest things like cactus flesh effortlessly.

· Sleepytime Stories: Once a powerful book, it's becoming less effective as more creatures are made immune to sleep. Its long cast animation is also a significant drawback.

· On Tentacles: In the late-game, it's less safe and efficient than Winona's Catapults. My friends have died to their own Tentacles more than once. The Tentacle Spike was once a great weapon, but now it's often just trash to be burned.

· Overcoming Arachnophobia: Its use is very narrow, almost exclusively for the Ancient Guardian. Its tiny range, short duration, and long cast time make it impractical elsewhere. Personally, slowing enemies feels inferior to increasing our own speed.

· Tempering Temperatures: Its application is even narrower. With only 3 uses and no effect-locking, it's highly situational. When I mentioned this book to friends, some didn't even know it could clear Wetness. The idea of forgoing a backpack and seasonal clothing to rely on a 3-use book for environmental protection seems impractical.

· Apicultural Notes: Has some niche use, but it's not impactful against new bosses. The 3-use limit means you can't summon Grumble Bees near-infinitely in combat like Maxwell can with his servants. Their stats are also quite poor—their health and damage are worse than a Pigman's, they can't wear helmets, and their only advantage is being "flying" units.

 

In conclusion, Wickerbottom urgently needs a skill tree. I don't want her to be just an early-game pick that becomes obsolete. I truly hope the development team can consider giving her the tools to remain relevant and unique throughout the entire game experience.

 

Thank you for reading.

[Ohan]

I agree with all ur points but im not very hopeful that her skill tree will fix them. Or rather i dont think 15 skill points are enough to fix all these issues. 

Also almost all these issues were already present during her refresh and they werent adressed then either. 
 

5 hours ago, MeowDao said:

I've keenly felt her advantages diminishing with almost every update

This really is so true.

——

As a start, maxwell reading her books has got to stop or wickerbottom as a character will always be diminished. Wicker generates resources but has no perk for harvesting them. Maxwell with her books can both generate and harvest resources. And he has  an actual use for the nightmare fuel generated from reading insanity unlike wicker. 

Edited September 28, 2025 by Ohan

[Cheggf]

I like the idea that the problem with Wickerbottom is that if somebody doesn't want to play as Wickerbottom, the character who is entirely based around mass-farming of resources or setting down lingering things that don't require her persistent presence, they're allowed to do that as Maxwell instead of swapping to Wickerbottom for 2 minutes to do it. Like that's the thing that's keeping her back, if people swapped to Wickerbottom for 2 minutes instead of swapping to Maxwell for 2 minutes then she'd be a great character. 

[Hungry French]

1 hour ago, Cheggf said:

Мне нравится идея о том, что проблема с Уикерботтом заключается в том, что если кто-то не хочет играть за Уикерботтом, персонажа, который занимается исключительно массовым сбором ресурсов или выполнением длительных задач, не требующих её постоянного присутствия, то он может делать это за Максвелла, а не переключаться на Уикерботтом на 2 минуты. Как будто именно это и сдерживает её. Если бы люди на 2 минуты переключались на Уикерботтом вместо того, чтобы переключаться на Максвелл, она была бы отличным персонажем.

This is literally Wilson's problem... Or a plus...

[Bumber64]

2 hours ago, Cheggf said:

I like the idea that the problem with Wickerbottom is that if somebody doesn't want to play as Wickerbottom, the character who is entirely based around mass-farming of resources or setting down lingering things that don't require her persistent presence, they're allowed to do that as Maxwell instead of swapping to Wickerbottom for 2 minutes to do it. Like that's the thing that's keeping her back, if people swapped to Wickerbottom for 2 minutes instead of swapping to Maxwell for 2 minutes then she'd be a great character. 

Wickerbottom can't harvest any better than Wilson. Maxwell has resource harvesting, so you'd want to swap to him anyway after Wicker. (If you're doing lots of Horticulture, you'd need a larger farm to avoid swapping back and forth.) He also has shadow prison if you want to easily kill a boss while you're at it.

Wicker's just got her books. Maxwell's also got her books. It's the Warly problem, except the bookshelves make her permanently obsolete.

P.S.: "the character who is entirely based around mass-farming of resources or setting down lingering things that don't require her persistent presence" also describes Winona. If other characters can't move her catapults, Maxwell shouldn't be allowed to touch Wicker's bookshelves.

Edited September 28, 2025 by Bumber64

[Hollow soul 3]

I think most at the character updates left are years overdue 

[Dingle]

I would like a branch in Wickerbottom's skill tree that lets her make better versions of her books that are Maxwell-only.

Perfect for briefly playing Wicker, so that you can make books and a bookcase, and then immediately swap back to Maxwell.

[Pruinae]

The constant is one of the harshest and most dangerous enviroments on the planet, where every creature must fight, adapt, and constantly evolve to survive.
The young Wickerbottom starts by crafting a backpack for everyone, and being oh so kind allowing others to craft their character specific items earlier with its Everything Encyclopedia. Then, it quickly enters adulthood, moving on into gathering what it needs to kill bosses such as Dragonfly, Bee Queen, and Fuelweaver. When the Wickerbottom is finished gathering its resources, everyone else already killed everything. But, that's okay... It still can be useful by making its gathering books! Unfortunately, by this point it is already decrepit; The elder Wickerbottom has already departed, and from its body a parasite emerges: Maxwell, having fully developed after the death of its host.

Anywaaaays.....
Wickerbottom to me feels like way too much effort for lukewarm results, most other characters get to go through the game's content faster and in a more relaxed manner, and that's without having the hassle of having to micromanage tentacles and grumble bees (that's when she CAN use her character """"specific"""" items, in late game fights she often is just Wilson with extra steps). Wickerbottom's setup is long, and the result is swapping to another character.

14 hours ago, MeowDao said:

As a dedicated Wick main, I've keenly felt her advantages diminishing with almost every update. Her early-game playstyle is fine and doesn't need changes; the core issues lie in the mid to late-game.

About her early-game, I'd argue it is not that great unless you are playing with other people using characters that want to rush a Shadow Manipulator, even then we have half the cast with a better (and imo more fun) early-game than her (this also comes into people's definition of what time frame "early-game" is, so can be subjective, but still).

1000% updates have been overtime diminishing her usefulness. Some unmentioned examples:
• During her refresh, the Applied book was cut in two, with the Horticulture part being heavily nerfed.
• Planar entities being added, and late-game bosses being immune to lightning damage: not-so-Indirect nerf to Practical Rain Rituals.
• Grass Geckos and Grass Gators: indirect nerf to her ability to gather grass and twigs en mass.
• Kelp was added: indirect nerf to her crockpot filler collecting capabilities.
• Tall Scotch Eggs was added: indirect nerf to every food option (so Horticulture and Angler's Survival Guide are somewhat affected).
• Fuelweaver kill reset ruins: indirect nerf to Sleepytime Stories.

I don't think those changes were necessarily bad for the the game, but they did affect Wickerbottom's usefulness.

I made a Wickerbottom Skill Tree concept some time ago, although I don't agree 100% with it anymore it can at least give some idea of what her skill tree could do for her.

Other users have also made skill tree concepts for her, but the forum seems to hide older posts (like, you can't find them with the provided search function) so it's hard to find them unless someone has the link.

Edited September 28, 2025 by Pruinae

[Cuernito.]

i think wicker would be an easy skill tree to make. Klei just need to make maxwell use more durability of the books and that problem is solved.

And about the skills, well is whatever, for example new books, better version of other books, wicker using less durability of the books or lossing less sanity per book read. maybe new magic stuff like an amulet she can make using her knowledge of secret formulas, idk i think wickerbottom is in a good place right now, she is pretty solid, strong and fun, she doesnt need a skill tree as bad as for example warly or even wanda.

[Hungry French]

2 hours ago, NekoSoulx said:

i think wicker would be an easy skill tree to make. Klei just need to make maxwell use more durability of the books and that problem is solved.

And about the skills, well is whatever, for example new books, better version of other books, wicker using less durability of the books or lossing less sanity per book read. maybe new magic stuff like an amulet she can make using her knowledge of secret formulas, idk i think wickerbottom is in a good place right now, she is pretty solid, strong and fun, she doesnt need a skill tree as bad as for example warly or even wanda.

The problem is that he can use them at all. Such assumptions have deprived characters of their uniqueness for many years. And the lunar portal is a really bad part of the game because of the ability to use other people's items.

 

[MeowDao]

5 hours ago, Pruinae said:

Other users have also made skill tree concepts for her, but the forum seems to hide older posts (like, you can't find them with the provided search function) so it's hard to find them unless someone has the link.

I see. I thought no one cared about Wickerbottom's situation. Especially those Maxwell players, who seem all too happy to continue monopolizing the privileges of new books that could have been part of Wickerbottom's skill tree.

[Maxil20]

6 hours ago, Pruinae said:

Other users have also made skill tree concepts for her, but the forum seems to hide older posts (like, you can't find them with the provided search function) so it's hard to find them unless someone has the link.

38 minutes ago, MeowDao said:

I see. I thought no one cared about Wickerbottom's situation.

The forums search function is so bad for this that when I need to find years old posts I have more success pulling a Google tm and searching for the phrase "Klei forums <insert post I am trying to look for here>", because at least that does consistently churn out results that are more than a few months old.





 

[Harrowick]

I do hope she gets one next year... i'm just kinda waiting for the year when every character has received a skill tree.   (i'm waiting for Warly's...) 

 

[MeowDao]

12 hours ago, NekoSoulx said:

i think wicker would be an easy skill tree to make. Klei just need to make maxwell use more durability of the books and that problem is solved.

she doesnt need a skill tree as bad as for example warly or even wanda.

Unless reading books as Maxwell becomes a one-time opportunity, people will still be able to bypass the 'low durability' issue by crafting tons of bookshelves.

I agree that Warly should be prioritized for a skill tree; his issues are far more severe.

[Leezardzil]

Swap characters shouldn't even be a thing. Warly and Wickerbottom are prime examples of this because their gimmicks can be used by other people, and they themselves aren't that strong on their own so people make their survivor crafts, then swap to another, stronger character.

Warly and Wickerbottom should both be high priority for a skill tree, next to Webber and WX

[Edible Coal]

i dont like the idea of nerfing wicker book on maxwell, because no matter how you nerf her books, people will always use maxwell to spam her books because hes good at gathering resources that the book produce much more then wicker can. As long as you cant solve that, people will never stick to wicker

[Hungry French]

2 hours ago, Edible Coal said:

Мне не нравится идея ослабить плетёную книгу Максвелла, потому что, как бы вы ни ослабляли её книги, люди всегда будут использовать Максвелла для спама её книгами, потому что он хорошо собирает ресурсы, а книга производит их гораздо больше, чем плетёная. Пока вы не решите эту проблему, люди не перейдут на плетёную

How to weaken it ? It's simple. No one except Wicker can use the books. That's it. Unique items must remain unique.

14 hours ago, Maxil20 said:

Функция поиска по форумам настолько плоха для этого, что когда мне нужно найти сообщения многолетней давности, я с большим успехом пользуюсь Google tm и ищу фразу "Klei forums <вставить сообщение, которое я пытаюсь найти здесь>", потому что, по крайней мере, это постоянно выдает результаты, которым больше нескольких месяцев.





 

The biggest drawback of the forum.

[Bumber64]

7 hours ago, MeowDao said:

Unless reading books as Maxwell becomes a one-time opportunity, people will still be able to bypass the 'low durability' issue by crafting tons of bookshelves.

Plus he has shadow storage to keep extra books on hand.

Possible solutions are not letting other characters put books back in the shelves (don't know Dewey Decimal system), or a severe nerf like slower cast time.

[Bellium]

2 hours ago, Bumber64 said:

Plus he has shadow storage to keep extra books on hand.

Possible solutions are not letting other characters put books back in the shelves (don't know Dewey Decimal system), or a severe nerf like slower cast time.

A cooldown could potentially work, like a 1/2 a day or more on reading all books after one is read, due to the strain of harnessing Wickerbottom's magics. Solves the majority of resources spamming potential but still allows him use for some specific books (like rain rituals) 

[MeowDao]

7 hours ago, Bumber64 said:

Plus he has shadow storage to keep extra books on hand.

Indeed. While Wickerbottom remarks "Lots of room for books" when inspecting a backpack, the one who truly possesses extra storage is someone else.

Consider this common scenario: You, as Wickerbottom, are away from base when it starts raining. Your teammates need you to stop the rain, but you say, "I'm out." Then, a teammate at base takes Practical Rain Rituals from the Bookcase, puts it into Shadow Chester, and sighs, "If only you were Maxwell right now."

Although seasoned Wickerbottom players make a habit of carrying potentially useful books, there will always be those occasional oversights.

[Edible Coal]

17 hours ago, Hungry French said:

How to weaken it ? It's simple. No one except Wicker can use the books. That's it. Unique items must remain unique.

DST is overall a cooperation game, taking the coop and interaction is always the last thing you want the dev to do.

Is like if they made warly food doesn't work on others, it comes across as a lazy fix to the players instead of looking closely why people dont stick to the character

Plus wicker book reading mechanic already feels really old when you compare to maxwell to flexible , all in one book , the Codex Umbra. able to support maxwell offensive / defensive / gathering needs whenever he needs it , wicker always need to carry multiple books if she wants their powers , and need to swap out books at base while maxwell just shoves nightmare fuel into his book.

plus not to mention, people might bully others into playing wicker so maxwell players can use her powers

[Hungry French]

18 minutes ago, Edible Coal said:

DST is overall a cooperation game, taking the coop and interaction is always the last thing you want the dev to do.

Is like if they made warly food doesn't work on others, it comes across as a lazy fix to the players instead of looking closely why people dont stick to the character

Plus wicker book reading mechanic already feels really old when you compare to maxwell to flexible , all in one book , the Codex Umbra. able to support maxwell offensive / defensive / gathering needs whenever he needs it , wicker always need to carry multiple books if she wants their powers , and need to swap out books at base while maxwell just shoves nightmare fuel into his book.

plus not to mention, people might bully others into playing wicker so maxwell players can use her powers

This is the problem of Maxwell's unnecessary rework. 
He has become abnormally strong in general. 
So he can also read OTHER PEOPLE's books, but no one can read his book.

Previously, a shadow warrior cost 2 times fuel, 55 sanity, and 15 hp, and was weaker.
Now they have 0.2 fuel and -15% maximum sanity, and they have become 10 times stronger. 
I wonder why no one uses Wickerbottom... Probably because her rework, at least in theory, can be called normal.

[Mr Giggio]

On 9/28/2025 at 12:31 AM, MeowDao said:

t's widely understood that Wickerbottom's late-game utility is often overshadowed by Maxwell, primarily due to the shared Bookcase

This argument is so old and so boring I swear to god

On 9/28/2025 at 12:31 AM, MeowDao said:

In conclusion, Wickerbottom urgently needs a skill tree. I don't want her to be just an early-game pick that becomes obsolete. I truly hope the development team can consider giving her the tools to remain relevant and unique throughout the entire game experience.

I agree with this part tho. Hoping she gets the next one is tricky tho I know for a fact the last one will be the best and she deserves the best, so

Edited September 30, 2025 by Mr Giggio

[Dwight34]

True, most of her books really don't feel that useful. Also the sound of bees and the fact there is no dismiss command makes them quite annoying, having to order them to kill each other one by one and then tracking down the running away last one is tedious. And this is going to be personal, but I find her lack of sleep really unfunny as I like to sleep in game even if it's not optimal (I know, she can grow food super fast so technically 10 years ago it would have been OP but after so many skill trees, come on, wicker being able to easily generate food to solve the tent consuming hunger is not game-breaking).

And this is completely outside the scope of her skill tree, but her quotes are BORING. Other characters have me inspecting a lot of things for the puns of interesting remarks, but whereas Wilson describes things with dad jokes or dry humor, Wicker is just dry. Almost every quote out of her feels so damn boring, it's a cut and dry "this is a canine specimen" for Hounds and "this is a valuable metal" for gold all over. Personality is important for people to get attached to characters, and Wicker just doesn't have any in my view ("but she cares for the kids sorta!" that's cool for cinematics but I'm playing a game, and I'm playing solo), she's just that dry librarian describing things in the purest factual possible manner. I've been playing her for a few hundred days in my latest world, but I'm feeling the itch to swap at this point and only don't to truly give her the fairest shot I can.

[loopuleasa]

The only thing I don't like about Wicker is the bee book.

It's not thematic. Doesn't fit her.

The book makes you look like a webber but for bees.

It's cool and all, but she's not fit to be bee queen at home.