Wx-78’s Blocking and Sonic-Invoking circuits are fundamentally flawed

[CourierS]

Note: Wx-78 is canonically referred to as they/them, please be respectful when responding and refer to them as such.

 

Hello, I am writing this post to critique two of Wx-78’s circuits, their blocking circuit and their Sonic-Invoker Circuit.

 

This post is not an argument about the circuit’s strengths, nor will they argue from the perspective of a solo player, as they are clearly not designed with that in mind. Instead, the purpose of this post will discuss that even in a favorable multiplayer setting, these circuits are poorly and would be much better if they are reworked.

 

To put it bluntly: These circuits are unengaging. Specifically, they take away all of the agency the player has in combat, leaving the player with no options but to watch.

 

For context, using any of these two circuits consist of right-clicking or interacting with your character and watching as they root themselves in place and play their effects without any input from the player. You cannot direct these abilities in any way. You are not rewarded for using these abilities smartly. You have no options but to keep watching your character, or to cancel the animation; both of which have nothing to do with the circuit's effects.

 

Standing in place and doing nothing, only watching, is not engaging in the slightest. It's outright boring in most cases.

 

Yes, it is true that you can freely cancel both of these actives. However, the short panic time of the sonic circuit once it’s done performing, and the long cooldown of the blocking circuit show the devs intend these circuits to be used as long as possible; to stand still and do nothing as long as possible. 

 

Additionally, yes, you have the free option to use these circuits whenever, adding agency to the player, but it does not make up for how the function of these circuits, specifically how they take no input from the player and root them in place, make them fundamentally unengaging.

 

It doesn’t matter how strong these circuits are, or how many buffs they receive over time. Even in the most favorable conditions of a raid boss like Klaus or Bee queen where the panic is invaluable or the sudden taking ability is useful, you are still doing nothing on your end. As your teammates are fighting the boss and engaging with the gameplay, you are stuck watching your character play an animation out. 

 

To put in perspective, when you use these circuits, you have the exact same impact as a wall, unmoving and only there to serve their one binary function. It is a sacrifice of the players' fun for the sake of their teammates. Is that 

 

At the end of the day, the execution of these circuits with the lack of choice from the player is unhealthy for the character as it stands. However, I do not think it’s over for WX as this scenario occurred multiple times over DST’s development with the character being improved because of its removal.

 

Wolfgang used to have little, if any, ways to restore his mightiness outside of using his dumbbells or gym. Standing around and lifting your dumbbell wasn’t very engaging so he was updated to have much more ways to restore his mightiness. During Wendy’s skill tree beta, she used to be able to add temporary HP to Abigail at her sisturn. However, this only occured when having Abigail stand around the sisturn and waiting, which wasn't very engaging so this mechanic was removed when the live version dropped.

I believe it’s very possible to keep the identity of Wx-78’s blocking and Sonic circuits while also adding a fun and engaging method to do so. The spin cycle is a perfect example of this.

Have a wonderful day, and I hope these circuits change for the better.

 

Addendum: As I was writing this, an update dropped where the devs buffed the blocking and sonic circuit and plan to add a taunt feature to the blocking circuit. Despite the change being  positive as these circuits weren't the best, it doesn’t fix the core issue with the stances itself, where you stand still and do nothing, only makes it actually usable for multiplayer.

[CourierS]

For those who don't have to time to fully read this.

The crux of the argument I'm providing is that the current execution of the blocking and sonic circuits is done poorly. That no matter if these circuits are exceptional and are a must have, the concept of rooting yourself in place and having no input in what you do is uninteractive, unengaging and is overall unhealthy for the character.

Edited April 7 by CourierS

[Sofy Happy]

Absolutely, abilities that force you to stand still are just way too inflexible and not fun at all.

[Cheggf]

18 hours ago, CourierS said:

Note: Wx-78 is canonically referred to as they/them, please be respectful when responding and refer to them as such.

Speedrunning trying to get the thread locked 

[Radicaljoe]

19 hours ago, CourierS said:

The crux of the argument I'm providing is that the current execution of the blocking and sonic circuits is done poorly. That no matter if these circuits are exceptional and are a must have, the concept of rooting yourself in place and having no input in what you do is uninteractive, unengaging and is overall unhealthy for the character.

it's interesting to me that in a way, block (with the promised aggro pull) and screech both fill the same roll. Which is, just keeping your friends safe. But I agree, while the intention is good, I think that the execution of both circuits leaves something to be desired instead of standing still and watching stuff happen without your input.

[Ridley]

I presume the problem with panicking Klaus and Bee Queen is that they ignore Wx78 but their minions get shut down as a result? Maybe bosses should get taunted by the sonic circuit too.