(almost) final thoughts, WX's tree is messy

[aidancode]

WX's tree is a LOT like Walter's tree in the sense that both focus on a wide variety of perks rather than one or two gimmicks and a bunch of stat buffs. This is good, but WX has one critical flaw: their perks are really unrelated to WX's character fantasy at large, which to be honest is pretty undefined.

Walter's tree focuses entirely on things Walter could already do: craft cool ammos, use the slingshot, ride Woby, tell campfire stories, etc. Whereas WX pretty much is just "a few stat buffs, plus an entirely new mechanic in the form of the chassis." The lunar affinity is a step in the right direction for this tree, since it brings the focus onto circuit utility a bit more. I think that the chassis perks work fine in the context of lunar affinity, since it feels like now it's finally reached the point where the chassis meshes well with whatever else WX has going on. Unfortunately, shadow affinity is not at all like this.

I think this is a missed opportunity to make the shadow affinity about the drones. It's this random branch of the tree that was my favorite part at the start, and I was kinda expecting to be able to socket certain circuits on the drones while they work. Unfortunately, having good potential is worthless if it isn't capitalized, and the drones really feel like a side thing now. They pretty much haven't seen any love in terms of cool things you can do since that first version.

The shadow affinity itself makes no sense for WX as a character. There's not a single element of it that fits anything else they do or any of their other perks.

I think missed potential is really the name of the game on this one. Wendy had controversy over balancing, Walter made the game a press F simulator, Wilson isn't impactful enough, and Wolfgang is just... no. And now personally I'd throw WX on the pile of characters who really don't have satisfying skill trees in my opinion, since WX has so many cool nuggets and it really only pursues one of them.

Obviously, this is a lot of personal preference. Klei cannot please everyone and the skill trees are a bit doomed from the start in terms of pleasing me in particular. I'm making this post because I hope that skill trees in the future can do a better job at defining character identity rather than expanding it.

[Baark0]

I still think klei shouldve added lunar/shadow based circuits, considering thats kind of the only unique thing WX really has going for them.

Overall I don't think the skill tree is bad, it's just a bit underwhelming. The main thing doing all the heavy lifting is the differentiation of circuits now, and having multiple meters to fit these different circuits, and that's not even a skill tree thing.

[doritosdamafia]

9 minutes ago, Baark0 said:

I still think klei shouldve added lunar/shadow based circuits, considering thats kind of the only unique thing WX really has going for them.

Overall I don't think the skill tree is bad, it's just a bit underwhelming. The main thing doing all the heavy lifting is the differentiation of circuits now, and having multiple meters to fit these different circuits, and that's not even a skill tree thing.

yea 90% of the focus on this beta was the circuit, it is a surprise that the affinities are not related to them