skill tree I'm kind of curious but does anyone think skill trees offer too much but also take away from the experience of the game?

[Nikki Darks]

On 5/10/2026 at 11:15 PM, Well-met said:

simplest fix, just make tree progress tied to worlds.

Ah yes, having to play through pre skill tree Willow and Woodie until you get to be an actual character sounds very fun and engaging.

I am 100% up for them adding a "Reset Insight" button during character select for players who want to start over again.

[Mike23Ua]

I’m trying to play DST right now, keyword is TRYING.. because, it is very apparent that Klei does not play their own game.. if they did, they would know that Willow is currently EXTREMELY BROKEN on Xbox.

Pressing Right on your D-pad for whatever reason pulls up her dumb FireSpells Menu.

But do you know what else you need Right D-pad presses to do?

Switch between Weapon & Cane, or Equip/Unequip Helmets.

or to eat berries in your inventory.

For the time being, I’ve adapted to pressing right, and then pressing it again to close the dumb fire powers menu… but honestly- Fire Powers shouldn’t work until you scroll to the Embers in your inventory and press the “stroke embers” button prompt that appears over them.

For me skill trees are making a game that was actually playable at one time, more unplayable.

(it’s not that extreme. But Willow & Wendy both became less enjoyable thanks to Skill Trees)

at least make sure they work…. & don’t break something else that use to work… Please?

Edited May 11 by Mike23Ua

[Baark0]

14 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

I’m trying to play DST right now, keyword is TRYING.. because, it is very apparent that Klei does not play their own game.. if they did, they would know that Willow is currently EXTREMELY BROKEN on Xbox.

Pressing Right on your D-pad for whatever reason pulls up her dumb FireSpells Menu.

But do you know what else you need Right D-pad presses to do?

Switch between Weapon & Cane, or Equip/Unequip Helmets.

or to eat berries in your inventory.

For the time being, I’ve adapted to pressing right, and then pressing it again to close the dumb fire powers menu… but honestly- Fire Powers shouldn’t work until you scroll to the Embers in your inventory and press the “stroke embers” button prompt that appears over them.

For me skill trees are making a game that was actually playable at one time, more unplayable.

(it’s not that extreme. But Willow & Wendy both became less enjoyable thanks to Skill Trees)

at least make sure they work…. & don’t break something else that use to work… Please?

This isn't really a skill tree thing, more so poor testing/console jank. 

[YouKnowWho142]

1 hour ago, Mysterious box said:

Are the really different though? Like animation wise sure but how many truly unique abilities have skill trees introduced it's less skill trees made characters play differently and more so characters expanded on what they can do.

Even if characters do similar things, it doesn't mean that they do it the same way. At the end of the day DST is a really simple game, you just fight and survive. Not everything a character can do is ever going to be truly unique, but it doesn't mean they can't do it in a way that is unique to them. If you want to be reductive you can say that every ability that a character has to deal damage is just a roundabout damage multiplier or every method of traversal is effectively the same type of teleport. If you look at any game that way, not just DST, you're gonna have a really hard time enjoying it. Everything at the end of the day is just numbers from that perspective.

The fact that I can look at any boss and have almost every character have a unique method of killing that boss that no other character can do is more than enough for me. Not only that, but the fact that characters cannot be played in the same way is just as critical in having them feel fresh, when before everyone needed to use the same universal methods such as weather panes, pan flutes, or beefalo.

Edited May 11 by YouKnowWho142

[Mysterious box]

1 hour ago, YouKnowWho142 said:

Even if characters do similar things, it doesn't mean that they do it the same way. At the end of the day DST is a really simple game, you just fight and survive. Not everything a character can do is ever going to be truly unique, but it doesn't mean they can't do it in a way that is unique to them. If you want to be reductive you can say that every ability that a character has to deal damage is just a roundabout damage multiplier or every method of traversal is effectively the same type of teleport. If you look at any game that way, not just DST, you're gonna have a really hard time enjoying it. Everything at the end of the day is just numbers from that perspective.

The fact that I can look at any boss and have almost every character have a unique method of killing that boss that no other character can do is more than enough for me. Not only that, but the fact that characters cannot be played in the same way is just as critical in having them feel fresh, when before everyone needed to use the same universal methods such as weather panes, pan flutes, or beefalo.

The thing is it's very possible to have truly unique characters but that would require scaling back what they do in skill trees which is introduce a ton of bloat and the reason the characters are becoming pretty much different flavors of the same characters despite introducing so much content to them is because of that bloat. This isn't me being reductive this is how they've chosen to design the characters. No every character doesn't need a gathering ability, a damage modifier, or a teleport.

 

Just to give an example via Walter. You could remove all Woby's skills excluding those related to making her faster and her treats then give her a tracking ability that tells Walter where items you show to Woby can be found just so that Woby is still more active than pre skill tree. Suddenly there's no real overlap.

There's so many ways you could distinguish characters without them becoming different flavors of the same thing. Because there are small bits of truly unique abilities that do currently exist in skill trees. Like Winonas vine bridges for another example.

[Naifxoxo]

skilltrees didnt change anything, ppl speedrunning minecraft and other games alrdy , and ppl rushed ruins even before skills become a thing , 

 

trying to tryhard and play *optimally* has nothing to do with skilltrees 

[GamePlayer42]

On 5/11/2026 at 5:12 PM, Z5doubleAA said:

I just find it really strange in the case of wx that unlike any other survivor if you don't interact with the skill tree at all wx still plays quite a bit differently it's almost like they added a skill tree and did a soft rework which I do find a little bit off I don't mind the skill trees when they are purely optional content but with the new skill trees I feel like klei is doing a lot more then they need to

the change adding alpha beta gamma is honestly appreciated, i like basekit changes like them. saves having to spend a point just to make the whole skill tree work

[aidancode]

On 5/10/2026 at 12:38 PM, Mysterious box said:

as a whole they lean more so into more selfish playstyles rather than more cooperative

This is intentional. The DST forum community has made itself very clear that character perks should be as personal as possible. Keep in mind most players play solo and will use the Celestial portal whenever necessary. Character perks are designed around the idea that every character has to be totally self-sufficient and can't be exploited using the portal.

The average DST player here seems to prioritize balance and character fantasy over group play.

I personally disagree with this mindset, but this is the common opinion here. I also think you're exaggerating the problem a bit.

[HowlVoid]

Given wormwood is speedy wilson without his skilltree, no.

It was interesting going for bat bat instead of traditional healing the first 500 times, but sometimes getting a little extra healing via photosynthesis (not a great skill but it changes gameplay just a tiny bit) can be, eh, slight different pace. Not a good example but i wanted to point out one of the worst skills first, as even they do something.

Something more drastic like the bramble husk and traps skills feels like they make them actually usuable. (Before i would rush nightmare armor over using his own unique armor). 

I used to be harsh on ipecaca but oh man does it cut on the tedium of building mushroom planters which in turn makes playing the character feel more rewarding to play.

I essentially only play Wormwood at this point, and while i feel skill trees are intrusive, the major problem i have with them is the lack of consistency and polish.

[Mysterious box]

28 minutes ago, aidancode said:

This is intentional. The DST forum community has made itself very clear that character perks should be as personal as possible. Keep in mind most players play solo and will use the Celestial portal whenever necessary. Character perks are designed around the idea that every character has to be totally self-sufficient and can't be exploited using the portal.

The average DST player here seems to prioritize balance and character fantasy over group play.

I personally disagree with this mindset, but this is the common opinion here. I also think you're exaggerating the problem a bit.

Noone was against character synergizes they were against the concept of we got all your moves now get out i.e. Maxwell's design.

Regardless that's not the kind of selfish I'm referring to.

That being said I feel like the post is being interpreted wrong it's not a we should remove skill trees post it's one about the design of them taking away from the game due to how samey they are fundamentally. They introduced a lot of unnecessary bloat but that doesn't mean that the only conclusion is to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Edited May 12 by Mysterious box

[MrsBoris]

On 5/11/2026 at 4:34 PM, YouKnowWho142 said:

Now, I’m doing my fifth all boss run this year, and I’ve never had more fun with the game. For someone like me, I needed skill trees to rejuvenate the game and bring life into characters I never would’ve given a chance before.

1: true thats how i got into some characters, decide to replay with old mains and am currently having fun with the game, i wouldn't be playing if there were no skilltrees. 2: every reply you post is an absolute banger LOL congratulations on that