So about those "bad skill trees"....

[qwp18]

I have a big source of frustrations in certain skill trees being "bad", not bad in a power sense, but bad in a design sense, where you'll ALWAYS be picking the same skills, and I wanted to run a pool to see if people felt the same way, or even wanted them to go back to touch previous skill trees. I personally really do but I am scared it could just lead to a never ending quest of changing things constantly, where things keep and keep getting outdated and not up to par with new content 

 

Also bonus question I'm really interested in: since ( allegedly ) different devs do different skill trees, if you wanted the future skill trees to be made by the same people that created previous ones, which would you want those to be? I'd personally really really want the people behind wortox's, willows, and ESPECIALLY Walters skill tree to be involved with/make future skull trees

[Pruinae]

On 2. and 3. you need to add options for when someone said they wanted the opposite previously.

I'll try to put it in a simple way what I'd like to be changed:

Wolfgang - More interesting gameplay, like throwing heavy objects and other players.

Woodie - Scaling into late game: Being able to use the inventory and equipment (magi, lazy forager) as goose. Beaver tail slam having the same destructive power as Winona's Planar Strike (like uprooting trees in one shot). Things like that, but he only gets to it after doing XYZ that could only be done in the mid/late-game.

Wigfrid - More interesting affinities. Buff her saddle, something like making it a battle saddle that benefits from Wigfrid's damage multiplier, or make so it lets you avoid getting knocked off the beefalo (with a cooldown or something).

Wormwood - Replace his plant crafting skills with something else, and add a new station every character can make that lets them craft plants (but this time it lets you craft everything, like grass tufts and regular saplings (or just give that functionality to the terra firma tamper...)) .

Wilson - Change to make so he isn't a swap character, give a good reason for people to play and stay as Wilson.

But I will not be holding my breath for these changes, if they stay the same as now till the end of time, I don't really particularly care; I have other characters I care more about lol

Edited December 28, 2025 by Pruinae

[Nikki Darks]

I just wish more skill trees were like Woodie's... Where certain paths lock you in, instead of it being a random skill soup.

Like, Willow is my favourite character and her skill tree made her VERY good and fun... However, her skill tree is not an actual skill tree, it's just a skill soup.

You shouldn't be able to get a Lunar/Shadow Bernie AND Lunar/Shadow fire... At this point what's the difference between having these buffs just be base abilities and just being all available in her skill tree?

Meanwhile Woodie's skill tree (not perfect, but very good IMO) lets you only spec into a single mutation's max potential. And this makes it feel more like a real skill tree than Willow's.

IMO: A good skill tree will let you spec into a single playstyle (or a single type of "buff" to your experience) while having you sacrifice other parts of the tree in exchange.

DST's skill trees (even the "good" ones) are only skill trees in the name, not in practice. They exist purely to adjust characters and help them adapt to the current version of the game.

Planar damage, buffing past characters who were weak (or downright worthless), or just fleshing out a character even further.

[mkemal23]

Major rework for Wilson and Wolfgangs skill tree. Both of the skill trees need a Walter skill tree treatment.

Minor rework for Wormwood and Woodie skill tree. Both skill trees need more polishing. Such as Visual changes for Wereforms and Blooming Wormwood when shadow/lunar aligned.

Rest of the trees could get some tweaks but these four are the root problem.

Edited December 28, 2025 by mkemal23

[flamboyant wolf]

Woodie: I'd like it if Weregoose 2&3 skills were improved, also quick picker and tree guard feller could be condensed and a few more lumberjack-side skills could be added.

Wormwood: I still dislike the plant-crafting branch.

Wolfgang: don't really play him, so can't say much.

[Nikki Darks]

I'd like for some skill trees to be adjusted.

Willow's skill tree should probably have its skills buffed, but only allow the use of either Bernie or "Fire" skills, much like Woodie's wereform skills being limited. There's no point in having a skill tree if everything that matters is available for you.

Wendy and Wolfgang should just get scrapped and redone completely... Wolfgang for obvious reasons, Wendy because it's a random skill soup. I mean, why does Wendy have 3 groups of skills all dedicated to getting mourning glory faster? There should only be one, and have the other 2 get changed for something more unique. Also, make potions drinkable without the useless garland.

And that's it, I guess.

[qwp18]

3 hours ago, Pruinae said:

On 2. and 3. you need to add options for when someone said they wanted the opposite previously.

Yea I realized, oopsies, I guess people can select "other" if they disagree. My bad lol

[Evelo]

Skill trees would be better removed.

[Milordo]

1 hour ago, Evelo said:

Skill trees would be better removed.

Or atleast remove "the box" but leave the content inside the game in a more organic and respectful way for Don't Starve, please. We had already the "better skill tree" before skill tree even appeared and they're much more fun and goated (Wendy's pipspook minigame, Wx scanning, Maxwell shadow equipments, Wigfrid songs, ecc...)

Edited December 28, 2025 by Milordo

[Nikki Darks]

1 hour ago, Evelo said:

Skill trees would be better removed.

Ah yes, bring back old Willow and Woodie, everyone's favourite characters!

I'd be up for removing skill trees if they turned every skill into just a base perk.

[Evelo]

4 minutes ago, Nikki Darks said:

I'd be up for removing skill trees if they turned every skill into just a base perk.

That works just fine with me. At least the important stuff that are full blown character re-refreshes (ie Willow, Wurt, Wendy).

[Ecriboy]

5 hours ago, mkemal23 said:

Major rework for Wilson and Wolfgangs skill tree. Both of the skill trees need a Walter skill tree treatment.

Walter Skill Tree is pretty bad, they focused too much on long distance combat, wobby is just a worse beefalo, i hate it.

They should have made Walter an better explorator since this is his personality, they could had buff his tales on campfires to make it regen tons of sanity in group, make him able to do a better boat, an better bag just as good as krampus sack but resourceful to do so, make this backpack refrigerates items maybe, better walking cane or making wobby just as good as rider/glossomer beefalo or at least a saddle/rider beefalo, being able to encourage allies to buff their damage and being able to create better healing items, there's so much ideas, but no, hold F gameplay 💀 Walter was never a fighter.

If Wilson skilltree be getting a rework i hope its from the same devs of Wendy and Woodie Skill Tree, they are almost perfect, Woodie lacks of scalation to the planar bosses, like the weredeer form won't work against Celestial Scion, and Wendy should always have the basket of elixir, it doesn't make sense for you to spend a Insight Point on it, also Shadow Abigail should be a toggle just like the Gestalt one, like just make it so whenever is a new moon you can toggle shadow abigail, i dont know why they thought catching 20 creatures every time you need to fight would be fun.

I think my overall resume of skilltrees is that they focus to much in combat when some characters are not meant for that, why doesn't wormwood make plants grow quickier or smth, i know his blossomed form makes the plants happy but couldnt they make him so it also grows quickier? why doesnt Wolfgang gain the capacity to carry structures, so you dont need to hammer or descontruct them to change its local?

This is obviously my opnion as a player and someone who uses the product and I'm not a professional game developer, so maybe my ideas are unbalanced or not healthy for the game as whole, but still my opnion and i would die on this.

[linabagel]

I hope Wilson's torches can be updated, such as new ones that use NightmareFuel, PureHorror or PureBrilliance as fuel. These torches are not for combat but to add some interaction with the environmental changes after the rift and Luna or Shadow creatures. Perhaps this can strengthen Wilson's image as a pioneer.

[Ohan]

I just dont know how a Wormwood slilltree can be considered complete without an (planar) upgrade to the bramble trap. its an iconic part of his kit. 

Luckily we eventually got the trap reset skill at least but i wouldve really liked to see a new trap that alleviates some of the original trap’s shortcomings like low durability and being uprooted (and not having Pdamage).  
 

His skilltree has many other issues some of which others have already mentioned. Ill just leave it at that. 
 

at least its not the 1.0 version we initially got in the beta. 

[Evelo]

1 hour ago, Ohan said:

i wouldve really liked to see a new trap

Or, yknow, just make craft items baseline for characters instead of locking crap behind a skill tree you can change whenever you want.

[qwp18]

7 hours ago, Ecriboy said:

wobby is just a worse beefalo, i hate it.

What makes you say that? Shes amazing for exploration, either her speed is insane via lunar affinity, or has a ton of utility via shadow affinity being able to teleport over gaps in terrain that could take quite a bit to traverse, aswell as an early drying rack being a great source of sanity, helping hand (i belive?) Letting you mine stuff much quicker, are all pretty great benefits exclusive to her (and you also dont have to do beefalo domestication I dont enjoy that lol)

I really wanna know what makes you say that because its a very intresting take, I feel like most of the things woby doesnt offer that beefalos do is BECAUSE Walter isnt a fighter, but otherwise she can be faster than a rider with a glommer saddle, day one at that 

[flamboyant wolf]

10 hours ago, Ecriboy said:

wobby is just a worse beefalo, i hate it.

not really

[reddocc]

It kinda sucks that most of Wormwood's regular skill trees configuration you always pick the almost all the top right brach, then the mushroom branch and then the lightbug and carrat criters, the remainder skill points usually go towards blooming or brightshade gear.

The reason for this to not be implemented is probably the same when Klei decided to remove Wormwood's ability to produce petals( which in my opinion it's still a skill that encourages variety in skill loadouts)

Spoiler

may the skills that use petals rest in peace, nobody will remember you petal production and floral shroud.

Wormwood gets the skill to grow a full twig sapling yet growing a single twig for a plant it's impossible.(by the point you craft 20 saplings or wasting 100 twigs you could have spent your time picking regular twigs or wait for twiggy trees to invade)

Your rewards as you progress that branch only get worse and more tedious.

Your final rewards for investing points in this branch is the quest to go grind materials for this craft. Embark on your personal quest to extinguish all the geckos or pray you find a waterlogged biome before someone fills a boat with natural spawning lureplants and proced to kill gators, also after this quest of yours waste your own personal healing and spend yet more health.

I believe that in order for the plant crafts to be viable wormwood should get an extra craft for the base ingredients at least or something else.

More alternatives could be the twig skill gives you the option to shave twigs of twiggy trees reducing their growth by one state.

Faster harvest of berries or chance for extras.

chance to not need to fertilize after harvesting monkey tails.

access to the lureplant's inventory at the cost of the lureplant/eyes damaging you.

The description could be just changed to also include "master the [I T E M] and [ O L D  D E S C R I P T I O N]"

Spoiler

Wormwood steals Wilson's skill tree formula and then this is his punishment for commiting the grave sin of outshining Wilson is that in upcoming skill trees;

Warly gets more harvests from crops.

Webber can sing to crops to tend them all in a big radius, instantly.

Wx designs a irrigation system that can water crops(this also reduces stress points from plants).

Wickerbottom designs plants that are sentient, more efficient, and can harvest themselves.

Wes somehow can eat rot and it actually restores hunger for him(he also doesn't lose sanity from poop thrown at him).

Maxwell can summon shadow clones of rats that can go though walls and are invulnerable.

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2025 by reddocc
Webber skill tree soon

[Ecriboy]

9 hours ago, qwp18 said:

I really wanna know what makes you say that because its a very intresting take, I feel like most of the things woby doesnt offer that beefalos do is BECAUSE Walter isnt a fighter, but otherwise she can be faster than a rider with a glommer saddle, day one at that 

First she's is slower than a rider glommer beef. Woby max speed is 10 in the best scenerio, Glossomer/Rider is 12.4, and a default/saddle beef isnt that slower either is like 9 or 9.5 speed.

Second you can't use her on combat because she flees from monsters, and this is actually ok since Walter was never meant to be a fighter, the problem is that you can't also use her as a quick storage in fights because whenever Walter is fighting something she also flees so you cant use her as chester to keep swaps or ammos.

Third the foraging skills are a good start but nowhere near Woodie/Maxwell level of resource gathering and also dont escalate to Winonna pure brilliance cats level.

Fourth and last her retrieving skill is just a pretty bad version of W.I.N.bots.

She has cool features like winter resistance, but she doesn't have a go to skill/feature that makes her appealing to make people play as Walter and keep playing him, everything she does, there are other characters that does the same but better, and Walter is the same thing as whole, the only thing exclusive to Walter is ranged combat, but ranged combat is boring, this game was not made thinking on long ranged combats, they should have thought more on this, like making a shotgun slingshot so you can throw more shots at once at the cost of more resources and less accurancy to get more damage or made something like a charge shot that deals lot of damage but you need charge it for 1s and be at a specific range so it does the most damage making the combat more engaging and keeping the core "kite and hit" mechanic, but that's an if for Walter as a Combat Character, but he should be a camper, he should be an character that makes your base/camp the most comfortable possible.

Anyway that's what I think, you don't need to agree with me, but I still think Walter could had so much more different approaches and better approaches.

[Queron81]

21 hours ago, Evelo said:

Skill trees would be better removed.

Why? They are optional. You can play every character without using their skill trees.

[demon3000]

The problem is that almost all character skills are highly specialized and enhance existing abilities rather than providing a different experience. For example, Willow won't benefit from using fire weapons and armor, as she would in the Forge. Only wortox's skills were well-implemented, allowing him to choose between a support or damage dealer role.

[BezKa]

All skill trees are bad

[Waywarbler]

6 hours ago, Queron81 said:

Why? They are optional. You can play every character without using their skill trees.

I think they'd rather a lot of those skills become base kit and skill trees be done away with entirely (perhaps like Winona's machines already having sleep mode + portability by default, Walter's ammo and slingshot upgrades being craftable off the bat, etc).

[qwp18]

12 hours ago, Ecriboy said:

Woby max speed is 10 in the best scenerio

Thats just the base value! buffed up to 11 via pep pup, and 12 Via sprinting or its activation via lunar alignment... IF that + 1 speed in the lunar alighment description is just reffering to the effect of activating sprinting, otherwise its even more 

[Milordo]

15 hours ago, Queron81 said:

Why? They are optional. You can play every character without using their skill trees.

WRONG.

You have the constant ad popping up and it's irrritatinggg urrrgghhhh. For sure made for marketing purpose to push you on playing with them. Since 2023 I searched immediately a mod to disable them and thank Alter I found it.