Maxwell discussion

[1v0]

I have no problems with his HP or sanity . In my eyes he has aways been the "mage" of DS (use the magic items ... I hope they add more of them) . I even think he is overpowered 2 chopper + 1 digger and you can get more woods than Woodie and do it faster than him ... Also his role is not a battle role if you want that play Wigfrid or Wolfgag so really I dont have a problem with his HP . Or sanity (I get tam o shanter every winter)

Please don't change him too much than the one we have seen in the stream .

[Mikeadatrix]

As Maxxy boy has been one of my favorites I agree with the post above me. Keep him weak, instead make new magic items! Make him the Wes at the start then have him be god after a 100 days. Total glass cannon. Can't wait for the 21st!

[Jebidijed]

I have an idea for Maxwell's shadow puppets; maybe if you click on them, it pulls up a menu and lets you choose what they interact with. For example, you could make a shadow logger only chop down large trees, or you could make a shadow duelist only fight when monsters attack Maxwell.

[Grunko64]

Almost there, can't wait!

Seeing as with the new maxwell sanity bonus is less valuable and he now focuses on puppets, I really hope that you will be able to equip warrior puppets with armor (and maybe different weapons?). The low health is really hurtful in DST, and he needs the puppets to be strong in the late game, Although I am very hyped about the kiting AI and infinite duration. Their AI in normal don't starve is just pathetic.

[Serph]

Bumping this since he was released and everyone can discuss him better now.

My thoughts on him:

Pros:

Spoiler

+Easily the best resource gatherer on early game, with 6 nightmare fuels, he can already start with a Axe/Mine/Shovel puppet and simply hold space bar while they do all the work.
+Helper puppets work without your commands, but this is also a double edged sword (see cons)
+Work puppets are ridiculously efficient. Axe puppet chops faster than normal, like the quick click trick (that i can't use cause i'm always laggy) and makes Woodie look even more useless. 
+They last forever and tools never break. I had a miner puppet with me for over 20 days and i never crafted a pickaxe again.
+Fighters are great for killing weaker mobs like spider or frogs. The kiting IA makes it better for then to no get stunlocked by everyone, provide some distraction for you to hit  time for them to regenerate.
+Dapper nerf ironically makes easier for him to get fuel.

Cons:

Spoiler

-lol no armor/sword/purple gem. Everything can kill you.
-Low hp makes much more difference in DST with the armor nerf and stronger mobs. I tired to facetank a Knight with log armor/spear and gave up almost dead because i remembered that thing has 900 hp now.
-Puppets work automatically so they do what you don't want to. This isn't much of a negative for miner/digger but chopper seems to always go for the least mature trees ever. They also chop mushroom trees which provide free light.
-They are very indecise for some reason. Unlike pigs who aim at a tree and never stop until they chop it, the puppets keep chaning their mind all the time. It starts chopping/mining something and changes targets when you take a random step.
-They are more suicidal than Abigail. Even if there are dozens of enemies close instead of running away, they will go closer to mine/chop something. So far i had:
1) Axer that keeps going near spider dens and agrooing spiders OR summons a treeguard/poison birch and dies.
2)Miner that keeps going near hound mounds and tallbirds nests to mine rocks and dies.
3)Digger that just spawned a ghost and dies. (Wow, just wasted 2 nightmare fuel for this?)
-They are all way too fragile. The workes get one shot by almost everything and the fighters are useless against bosses.
-Fighters still cannot be given attack orders and cost 70 sanity points for some insane reason.
-Maxwell dapperness isn't something you can trust. Green mushrooms take a long time to recover, wetness is a real issue, etc. I went diging graves and got insane, expected to be fine but the shadowcreatures sanity aura + night is stronger than Maxwell dapperness at night now so i almost died.
-Other players can easily kill your puppets. I know abiggail has the same issue but at least she won't die in 1 hit. It's stupid how anyone can simply make an axe and kill your works for the lolz. As of today, i already lost 2 puppets, one because a Wilson was trying to see what would happen and another because a Wigfrid clicked it by accident (i hope so).

Overall, i think Maxwell is an underwhelming and frustrating character. His work puppets are undeniably useful but chop/mining is literally the easiest thing in the game, it's not that game changing in the long term. His fighter puppets take a huge piece of his brain, are expensive and frail. His dapper bonus is welcome but not necessary., sanity isn't hard to manage  for experienced players. None of these are worth walking around with 75 hp, a very significant weakness. Gameplay-wise i consider him a very "love it or hate it" character. IMO, he is the hardest character to use effectively in DST. Either you're going to love working with your shadow buddies or you will hate their automatic IA.

Despite that he seems to be well liked by the new players. A lot of people seem to like his workers and his dapper bonus, i even saw someone saying "maxwell is more op than wigfrid" unironically. I fear that Klei might nerf him even more like they did in single player, like reducing his starting fuel to 4.

I don't know exactly what to change on him because because his low HP makes him very hard to balance. I think the priority should to be make his puppets untargetable by other players, i know from Wendy experience that this is very annoying and considering the workers die in 1 hit it's gonna be even worse for Maxwell players.

Oh wait, just realized that his puppets dance with him! Disregard everything i said, best character in the game here.