WX's design direction feedback

[FourthLess]

Apologies in advance if it's too messy or scattered, just trying to share my thoughts since the big patch is out. 

Hi, kinda WX fan here. "Kinda" because their character has always seemed underwhelming and not interesting to me (even gave my own jab at improving that with a rework mod). Most of the perks they have always boil down to some sort of "convince" + speed. 

They can survive easier by having more room for mistake with higher stats and consume less resources (hunger drain reduction, insanity aura reduction, damage resistance) or by having effects that are achieved with items to deal with passive issues you have in the game (light, temperature). 

But they always lacked some "oomph" other characters have. Their perks, as I said, are a collection of conveniences that make the game slightly easier rather than active tools that allow you to deal with the game's challenges yourself.

Now, that's not a bad thing necessarily! I think having "slightly better at everything character" is good! Especially when they have a clear gameplay progression during the session and the build variety! But does that position really warrant having their tools nerfed?

So that's kind of the point of my post. WX has circuits that offer some benefits but none of them are outlandish in any way to the point of deserving toning the character down. 5% damage reduction is nothing, light circuit getting nerfed for some reason, taser circuit getting nerfed out of nowhere. What's that all about?

Like others, I refrained from giving my full thoughts until gamma circuits came out. After all, 1/3 of their basekit perks is missing! So, like a few other people I expected active circuits to be said "oomph" with some flashy effects or whatever so it would make sense to have other small aspects of the character toned down. Except they ended being another variety of small convenient perks to add onto the list. 

Again, not a bad thing necessarily! But doesn't warrant nerfing the rest, no? (Also they're just kind of lame imo but that's another topic)

Let me know what your guys' stance on the whole WX's power level situation! 

As a last part I want to compile my thoughts and feedback on recent changes and just some ideas on what could be added:

- I don't really see a reason for all of the recent nerfs (although I'm really just find with hunger and sanity circuits getting toned down) 

- Health circuits are in an area where they're technically better than they used to be because they do *something* other than increasing the max stat but, like, **5%**? 

- I feel like for a character who is a combination of a small perks to be slightly above Wilson they're missing some potential areas they haven't covered. Like work efficiency! That effect could fit into additional perks for heat/cold circuits since current ones are pretty underwhelming. 

- And just to throw out some silly ideas for additional gamma circuits since current amount is really small: jumping circuit (remember frog webber?), some sort of laser (like I can't be the only one who expected some form of that to be in wx's tree?), rook charge inspired one,  dronemaster circuit that buffs allies for a duration. 

Edited April 3 by FourthLess

[KINOTAKO]

I originally thought the Gamma Circuit would be completely different from the Alpha and Beta ones, almost like an 'ultimate' ability. But as it is now, it's barely any different from the Beta Circuit, and there's honestly no reason for them to be separate.

[Jakepeng99]

1 minute ago, KINOTAKO said:

I originally thought the Gamma Circuit would be completely different from the Alpha and Beta ones, almost like an 'ultimate' ability. But as it is now, it's barely any different from the Beta Circuit, and there's honestly no reason for them to be separate.

Difference is they are active abilities instead of passives

[KINOTAKO]

It looks like the Re-digestion and Spin-Cycle Circuits act more like passives.

[fabin]

man, your wx rewired mod gave so much nuance in the gameplay with how the circuits worked out, especially the temperature circuits. i wish they'd take some inspiration, which i guess that they have because of the spin-cycle circuit, since it's super satisfying just doing things more effectively, with downsides or not

[FourthLess]

11 hours ago, fabin said:

man, your wx rewired mod gave so much nuance in the gameplay with how the circuits worked out, especially the temperature circuits. i wish they'd take some inspiration, which i guess that they have because of the spin-cycle circuit, since it's super satisfying just doing things more effectively, with downsides or not

Honored that you liked it :]

Yeah that's kind of a thing that is missing from WX I think. They're easier to play but don't feel more efficient, you know? Aside from speed, that is.

It was also a bit devastating seeing Klei do the same thing with hardy circuits that I did at some point and also realising it creates some gameplay problems but instead of trying a different approach that isn't inherent damage reduction percent they just nerfed the numbers to the degree where they just almost don't matter at all. 

Edited April 4 by FourthLess

[lovegrooove]

1 hour ago, FourthLess said:

It was also a bit devastating seeing Klei do the same thing with hardy circuits that I did at some point and also realising it creates some gameplay problems but instead of trying a different approach that isn't inherent damage reduction percent they just nerfed the numbers to the degree where they just almost don't matter at all. 

Almost don't matter? How do 40-100 hp not matter? Many characters only differ about 25 in hp. 2 measly circuit slots make a difference of 100hp, that's pretty huge. 

Only 3 out of 18 characters have 200 hp in the first place (plus wurt's 250 after king). I don't think it was too much, toning down the 600 max hp just a hair. 

[Kvetevk]

Well, the most fun circuits should be gamma circuits, but they are not complete yet, so we will have to wait.
About nerfing the alpha circuits, that was actually good change, because passivly you can have 200/200/240 (with 7 slots) + you get small benefits that make these stats act even better, even if they are a small %.
Also if the uncomp version would be implemented, then chassis would be weaker or completely changed, due to charge consuption.

[FourthLess]

4 hours ago, lovegrooove said:

Almost don't matter? How do 40-100 hp not matter? Many characters only differ about 25 in hp. 2 measly circuit slots make a difference of 100hp, that's pretty huge. 

Max HP is unfortunately a completely irrelevant stat to me (and a good amount of other players) because all it does is increase room for errors that is already really big with armor even if you're someone like Maxwell with 75 HP. You're still consuming the same amount of healing. 

A real purpose of using the circuit would be for damage reduction but unfortunately the number is so low right now the difference in hp loss after with armor is a really minuscule amount. 

There's another purpose to max hp in WX's case - percentage manipulation with different bodies but I'd rather have that be fixed than nerfing stat circuits. 

3 hours ago, Kvetevk said:

Also if the uncomp version would be implemented, then chassis would be weaker or completely changed, due to charge consuption.

Oh don't get me wrong even if I did mention it I never expected Klei to take the same direction with charges since it's a fundamentally different system in design approach.

I was mostly hoping for additional circuit effects to be something similar and even if health one was a miss, sanity circuit is pretty nice right now. (Still a bit unfortunate how boring seasonal circuits are) 

[lovegrooove]

8 hours ago, FourthLess said:

Max HP is unfortunately a completely irrelevant stat to me (and a good amount of other players) because all it does is increase room for errors that is already really big with armor even if you're someone like Maxwell with 75 HP. You're still consuming the same amount of healing. 

A real purpose of using the circuit would be for damage reduction but unfortunately the number is so low right now the difference in hp loss after with armor is a really minuscule amount. 

I totally agree about needing the hp. If you can play Max or Wes, you don't really need it. 

Where would you see a fair middle ground of armor value for the hardy circuit? Cause 20% per super-hardy was definitely too much, and I also agree that 2.5% and 5% don't feel very useful (even though 17.5% isn't super far off from Wigfrid's 25%, when you only equip hardy in alpha). 

I'm not sure if it's fair, to put it on Wigfrid's level. But maybe I'm wrong, and it would be totally fine. 

[Jussatoon]

10 minutes ago, lovegrooove said:

I totally agree about needing the hp. If you can play Max or Wes, you don't really need it. 

Where would you see a fair middle ground of armor value for the hardy circuit? Cause 20% per super-hardy was definitely too much, and I also agree that 2.5% and 5% don't feel very useful (even though 17.5% isn't super far off from Wigfrid's 25%, when you only equip hardy in alpha). 

I'm not sure if it's fair, to put it on Wigfrid's level. But maybe I'm wrong, and it would be totally fine. 

I keep seeing a "diminishing returns" suggestion for the super hardy circuits at least: first one gives 15%, second gives 10%, third one gives 5%.

It would ensure that you wouldn't be missing out on so much if you choose to use only one super hardy circuit.

[Radicaljoe]

11 minutes ago, Jussatoon said:

I keep seeing a "diminishing returns" suggestion for the super hardy circuits at least: first one gives 15%, second gives 10%, third one gives 5%.

It would ensure that you wouldn't be missing out on so much if you choose to use only one super hardy circuit.

Diminishing returns is a great idea, I think it's also how speed was balanced right? each additional super speed gives less than the last?

[Jussatoon]

15 minutes ago, Radicaljoe said:

Diminishing returns is a great idea, I think it's also how speed was balanced right? each additional super speed gives less than the last?

25%/15%/10% for Super Acceleration, yes.

[lovegrooove]

49 minutes ago, Jussatoon said:

I keep seeing a "diminishing returns" suggestion for the super hardy circuits at least: first one gives 15%, second gives 10%, third one gives 5%.

It would ensure that you wouldn't be missing out on so much if you choose to use only one super hardy circuit.

So 30% max for the super hardy. 

That gives a football helmet 86% armor, and a thulecite crown 93% armor. 

That actually does seem kinda balanced, considering the cost. 

[Cheggf]

10 hours ago, FourthLess said:

Max HP is unfortunately a completely irrelevant stat to me (and a good amount of other players) because all it does is increase room for errors that is already really big with armor even if you're someone like Maxwell with 75 HP. You're still consuming the same amount of healing. 

At 100 max HP he's like Maxwell where certain powerful attacks are really dangerous to you. Maybe if the health circuits were competing with the good circuits I could agree with you that they're too weak, but they're free. You can just put them on. Increasing your health from 100 to something in the range of 150 to 250 is a huge boon for preventing abrupt deaths. You get that for free. That's definitely on par with the hunger and sanity circuits. I'm using all three of those together. They're all great right now. 

[FourthLess]

4 hours ago, Cheggf said:

At 100 max HP he's like Maxwell where certain powerful attacks are really dangerous to you. Maybe if the health circuits were competing with the good circuits I could agree with you that they're too weak, but they're free. You can just put them on. Increasing your health from 100 to something in the range of 150 to 250 is a huge boon for preventing abrupt deaths. You get that for free. That's definitely on par with the hunger and sanity circuits. I'm using all three of those together. They're all great right now. 

The thing is, I use this circuit myself too in my general loadout. The choice to separate alpha and gamma circuits so they don't compete was an interesting one and definitely helped their usage (because what are you gonna do? Just leave your alpha bar empty?) But when it comes to health one specifically it's always the one that I use "because why not I guess".

There are only 4 circuits that fit that slot, one of which is an upgrade to the other. I personally never felt the need to have more than one hunger circuit (since I mostly want 150 hunger for stews and I tend to try to participate in fights a lot and I eat food/gears to the point slowing hunger drain for more than 20% isn't actually felt until pretty late in the game). I also never really bother with more than one sanity circuit until Celestial Crown since just one does its job until then imo. So I'm left with health that I plug in not because I think its benefits are good but because it's just the small area I haven't covered. 

So there isn't technically anything super wrong with the circuit in my opinion and it could stay the same and I would still use it because why wouldn't I but I wish the additional effect was a bit more appealing (10% was totally fine imo, could also use other effect like flat damage reduction before armor) 

[Cheggf]

22 minutes ago, FourthLess said:

The thing is, I use this circuit myself too in my general loadout. The choice to separate alpha and gamma circuits so they don't compete was an interesting one and definitely helped their usage (because what are you gonna do? Just leave your alpha bar empty?) But when it comes to health one specifically it's always the one that I use "because why not I guess".

There are only 4 circuits that fit that slot, one of which is an upgrade to the other. I personally never felt the need to have more than one hunger circuit (since I mostly want 150 hunger for stews and I tend to try to participate in fights a lot and I eat food/gears to the point slowing hunger drain for more than 20% isn't actually felt until pretty late in the game). I also never really bother with more than one sanity circuit until Celestial Crown since just one does its job until then imo. So I'm left with health that I plug in not because I think its benefits are good but because it's just the small area I haven't covered. 

So there isn't technically anything super wrong with the circuit in my opinion and it could stay the same and I would still use it because why wouldn't I but I wish the additional effect was a bit more appealing (10% was totally fine imo, could also use other effect like flat damage reduction before armor) 

The issue is that damage reduction is one of the strongest things in the entire game, and by far the strongest thing available for Alpha Circuits. If it had a good number like 10% per circuit the choice would be made for you: stack as many Hardy Circuits as you can fit, because that's way better than everything else. Large amounts of damage resistance is such a strong effect that it would make more sense as a Beta Circuit, competing with things like movement speed. So it needs to suck. It needs to be a little tiny baby amount of DR that's just a minor bonus, and the real reason you take the circuit is so you don't get owned from having 100 health. 

[Soul7k]

43 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

The issue is that damage reduction is one of the strongest things in the entire game, and by far the strongest thing available for Alpha Circuits. If it had a good number like 10% per circuit the choice would be made for you: stack as many Hardy Circuits as you can fit, because that's way better than everything else. Large amounts of damage resistance is such a strong effect that it would make more sense as a Beta Circuit, competing with things like movement speed. So it needs to suck. It needs to be a little tiny baby amount of DR that's just a minor bonus, and the real reason you take the circuit is so you don't get owned from having 100 health. 

at that point change it to literally anything else. saving 1 hp per 100 damage taken after it has been reduced by 80% armor or less at higher is a joke. nullify that amount by eating a flower

Edited April 5 by Soul7k

[marshyds]

On 4/3/2026 at 10:14 AM, FourthLess said:

And just to throw out some silly ideas for additional gamma circuits since current amount is really small: jumping circuit (remember frog webber?), some sort of laser (like I can't be the only one who expected some form of that to be in wx's tree?), rook charge inspired one,  dronemaster circuit that buffs allies for a duration. 

I believe a drone-master circuit suffers from the same issue as the rangebooster, where it would have a VERY niche use alone. i think a dronemaster circuit could be unlocked if you master ANY 2nd skill from the drones. as you "Master" said drone.

in general, every circuit should have a notable use seperate from any skills, atleast ones outside of the circuit skills themselves (and even then things like the chorusbox are pathetic without the skill that gives it the buff.)

Edited April 5 by marshyds

[Cheggf]

9 hours ago, Soul7k said:

at that point change it to literally anything else. saving 1 hp per 100 damage taken after it has been reduced by 80% armor or less at higher is a joke. nullify that amount by eating a flower

You're saving 1 hp per 20 damage taken. 

[Soul7k]

5 hours ago, Cheggf said:

You're saving 1 hp per 20 damage taken. 

thats what i said

[Radicaljoe]

5 hours ago, Cheggf said:

You're saving 1 hp per 20 damage taken. 

That's it? that's the "strongest things in the entire game"?  seems kinda like a very lame game if thats the pinnacle of power.