Again a Walani buff thread (yes, another one)

[DwerBomb]

Many threads (along with one I did some time ago) tend to focus on some buffs related to her surfboard/surfing abilities .

But what she needs is something to make her good in RoG too, and something simple and not too complex

-Since she's Hawaiian (?), and her skin is darker, she should have a minor overheating protection. 

-She's a surfer, so wetness shouldn't effect her sanity as much. She should loose less sanity from wet equipments.

 

 

it might seem like minor buffs but she would become a great character, being naturally protected for both spring and Summer, and amazing for Shipwrecked

[DwerBomb]

8 minutes ago, stl1234 said:

I think she's Wilson equivalent for Shipwrecked, some advantages, and no particular disadvantage.

I feel like this hits the spot right. And having overheat protection really makes her the SW Wilson (just like his beard protects him from cold)

[SapphireBullets]

Maybe, as a "relaxed" character, her feature could be that overall she takes less sanity, hunger and health damage.

I guess there's also potential to let her build a Skateboard (Runs even faster on roads) and a snow board (Runs faster on Snow) but that seems a bit cheesy.

Though to make her work in RoG we'll need to look at things that exist in RoG that don't/won't exist in SW.

[Luponius]

Quite the opposite outlook on the character than what I had, however it does make perfect sense and I would endorse these changes as well.  Still, some fundamental gameplay changes need to happen to Walani if she's to be made into a more unique DLC character, unless their intent is to keep her as the Wilson's Shipwrecked equivalent, in which case, your suggested changes should suffice.

[DwerBomb]

5 minutes ago, Luponius said:

Quite the opposite outlook on the character than what I had, however it does make perfect sense and I would endorse these changes as well.  Still, some fundamental gameplay changes need to happen to Walani if she's to be made into a more unique DLC character, unless their intent is to keep her as the Wilson's Shipwrecked equivalent, in which case, your suggested changes should suffice.

I really like your waves riding revamp btw

[SapphireBullets]

Hmm. An odd thought but, what if Walani retains the ability to surf on the ocean in RoG, opening up the potential for cheesy shortcuts.

There'd need to be some justification for why the other characters can't build boats (Perhaps any watercraft sitting unattended on the shore is chewed up by Them, which Walani could avert by retrieving the board to land) and some way of making surfboards in RoG. (Then again maybe if you lose the surfboard then, welp, you blew it kid. At least the maps are procedurally generated so you can walk home.)

[Russian]

For RotG, Walani might get an extra penalty for the "underground" living, I suppose. "Hates it when there is no sky"

And maybe some benefit for water-related activities, like fishing. Catching a fish = +5 for sanity, and maybe a bit faster catch rate.

Not sure why, but the fishing seems to be underused both in Shipwrecked and the vanilla Don't Starve (probably because its time-consuming, but with no reasonable benefits compared to other ways to obtain food). Making Walani not only a surfer but also a pro-fisher can possibly fix it.

Just a thought.

[zzKratoszz]

She really doesn't need any buffs. Her character is strong enough already. Its just that her character is really dull. She needs something fun to do.

[AnonymousKoala]

2 hours ago, zzKratoszz said:

She really doesn't need any buffs. Her character is strong enough already. Its just that her character is really dull. She needs something fun to do.

Strong enough? How? 

[zzKratoszz]

19 minutes ago, AnonymousKoala said:

Strong enough? How? 

Well compared to Wilson, She has a higher hunger cap, a slower sanity drain, starts with a pre made raft, and dries off faster. In exchange, she doesn't grow a beard and has a slight hunger drain (which is more than countered by the hunger increase). If I were to suggest anything balance wise it would be to nerf this character. But I don't care about balance if the character is boring to play in the first place.

[Luponius]

I do agree with Walani not being weak, no real effort required to play her, but as was also mentioned she's even more bland than Wilson since her surfing goes out the window with no interesting mechanics remaining.

Only things are the higher hunger cap with faster drain, lower health and some extra sanity endurance. Stats on their own, a unique character do not make!

[DwerBomb]

8 hours ago, zzKratoszz said:

Well compared to Wilson, She has a higher hunger cap, a slower sanity drain, starts with a pre made raft, and dries off faster. In exchange, she doesn't grow a beard and has a slight hunger drain (which is more than countered by the hunger increase). If I were to suggest anything balance wise it would be to nerf this character

Ok, how can you even think that she needs a nerf? Her "perks" balance each other: she loses and gains sanity slower, has more stomach but faster hunger rate, gets dry faster (10%) but has lower health.

? 

Where are her perks? Only the surfboard? It'll get useless later in the game

[Serph]

Please don't compare Walani to Wilson. He might look simple/bland but game design wise his perks are genius, his perks aren't even unique (everyone can get insulation and meat effigies) but it makes him easy to use and experiment before you try a harder character. He is exactly how a balanced protagonist should be.

Walani is only "good" in shipwrecked. I presume she was intended to be "easy to use" for SW newcomers but she takes 112 days to unlock so by the time play her you don't need her board. It feels like they tried to make her seem super original by giving her these unique stats but they're so small  you can't even tell the difference while playing. 1.1x hunger? 0.9x sanity? 10% faster drying? Really? How is that supposed to make her play different than other characters with standard stats again?

You can give her less sanity drain from wetness, overheat resistance and a super fast board, etc etc and she'll still play the same way. Boring with no reason to use her over another character with a boat. As i said in the other thread, Walani doesn't really need a buff, she needs a reason to surf after getting a boat (sanity isn't enough) and a reason to use her in RoG. 

My stupid idea made on spot: Give her a "Wave Meter" or something so when she surfs X waves  she gets the ability to do something very cool yet senseful like, i dunno, summon rain for half a day? Stop eruptions and strong winds for 1 day? Transform into the "WereBoard"?

[Luponius]

11 minutes ago, Serph said:

My stupid idea made on spot: Give her a "Wave Meter" or something so when she surfs X waves  she gets the ability to do something very cool yet senseful like, i dunno, summon rain for half a day? Stop eruptions and strong winds for 1 day? Transform into the "WereBoard"?

Well, I know realism doesn't matter in Don't Starve, but I honestly don't see how that would somehow relate.  I get what you're saying, but frankly you could just give her the ability to surf up and through big waves, and that would already be special enough.

As for incentives to surf, my sanity suggestion wasn't received well, and I have to agree that would completely break her for RoG... honestly I feel we should just let her surf, and let that be her thing.  If people want to surf they pick her, if not, they'll pick some other char specializing elsewhere.  It's the only way I see her being unique in a simple fashion, with an interesting mechanic that doesn't make her too hard or too easy.

[GiddyGuy]

22 minutes ago, Serph said:

My stupid idea made on spot: Give her a "Wave Meter" or something so when she surfs X waves  she gets the ability to do something very cool yet senseful like, i dunno, summon rain for half a day? Stop eruptions and strong winds for 1 day? Transform into the "WereBoard"?

Cool I didn't know Walani was a surf wizard, radical dude!

[Serph]

17 minutes ago, Luponius said:

Well, I know realism doesn't matter in Don't Starve, but I honestly don't see how that would somehow relate.  I get what you're saying, but frankly you could just give her the ability to surf up and through big waves, and that would already be special enough.

As for incentives to surf, my sanity suggestion wasn't received well, and I have to agree that would completely break her for RoG... honestly I feel we should just let her surf, and let that be her thing.  If people want to surf they pick her, if not, they'll pick some other char specializing elsewhere.  It's the only way I see her being unique in a simple fashion, with an interesting mechanic that doesn't make her too hard or too easy.

It doesn't have to be magic, the devs could improvise something like a hula hula rain dance or the volcano god liked her skills so much he decided to not kill her today.

Surfing makes her special on theory, but on practice she is just "messy stats and pocket early game boat". Like Warly is basically "Faster hunger and portable pot". I don't find these two interesting at all.

[GiddyGuy]

2 minutes ago, Serph said:

It doesn't have to be magic, the devs could improvise something like a hula hula rain dance or the volcano god liked her skills so much he decided to not kill her today.

Surfing makes her special on theory, but on practice she is just "messy stats and pocket early game boat". Like Warly is basically "Faster hunger and portable pot". I don't find these two interesting at all.

So she's a surf priest, righteous dude. :^)

4 minutes ago, Serph said:

Like Warly is basically "Faster hunger and portable pot". I don't find these two interesting at all.

They're not interesting, but boy is he the best character they added.

[Luponius]

Just now, Serph said:

It doesn't have to be magic, the devs could improvise something like a hula hula rain dance or the volcano god liked her skills so much he decided to not kill her today.

Surfing makes her special on theory, but on practice she is just "messy stats and pocket early game boat". Like Warly is basically "Faster hunger and portable pot". I don't find these two interesting at all.

Yeah as they are they're both very bland.  I personally wouldn't want her special to be able to negate a core survival mechanic like an eruption however, that's something I would like to be dealt in a direct and dirty fashion by all characters.

[Serph]

6 minutes ago, Luponius said:

Yeah as they are they're both very bland.  I personally wouldn't want her special to be able to negate a core survival mechanic like an eruption however, that's something I would like to be dealt in a direct and dirty fashion by all characters.

That's fair. I only thought about it because shipwrecked has a lot of focus in the weather so the idea was exactly to abuse that in her favor, the rain wouldn't be so bad thanks to her faster dry.

Either way, i don't think she would be negating a core survival mechanic. The altar is avaiable to everyone and you only need like, 10 doydoy feathers or 8 eggs every few days to neutralize the whole season. In RoG, Wilson and Webber have easy mode winter and a well prepared woodie can skip it entirely.