Character Rebalance Discussion thread

[Kevin]

Hey all,

I'm rebalancing the characters this update, and I thought I'd post the details here as I implement them. I'll update the OP as I get to more characters, so don't worry if you don't see your favourite yet. Also keep in mind that all of this stuff is tentative until the actual update comes out. We may have to adjust things if they are unbalanced or unfun.

Spoilers ahoy!

Wilson

I'm actually pretty happy with Wilson. He has baseline stats, and a weird little power with his beard growth. I'm not planning on changing him.

Willow

Positives:

[*]Gets a sanity bonus from being near fire

[*]Impervious to fire / heat damage (this is not too useful now, but wait for lava caves...)

[*]Gets a lighter - Can light things on fire, and be used like a torch. Has infinite fuel, but a very small light radius.

Negatives:

[*]Lower max sanity

[*]Lights random fires when low on sanity (like the night ones currently)

WX-78

Positives:

[*]Can eat spoiled food with no penalty (as before)

[*]Can eat gears to boost max stats (Hunger 100 -> 200, Health 100 -> 400, Sanity 100 -> 300). It takes 15 gears to fully upgrade yourself (they carry over between teleportates). (specific numbers subject to change, of course!)

Negatives:

[*]Sparks in the rain, causing damage (and flashes of light)

Lightning:

[*]If you are not near a lightning rod, and you are not using an umbrella, any lightning that happens will hit you and cause a SYSTEM OVERLOAD

[*]Lighting that hits you will catch your surroundings on fire.

[*]Lighting strikes heal you, and hurt your sanity

[*]While the overload lasts, you will glow in the dark, and run faster

[*]Overload currently lasts 4-8 minutes per lighting strike (again, pending tuning)

Wes

Negatives:

[*]Doesn't talk (less feedback)

[*]Stat penalties (as before)

Positives:

[*]Has an unlimited store of balloons in his pocket. He can blow them up to make balloon animals, for a small sanity cost. They are pretty, you can push them around, and monsters might attack them. Popping balloons cause nearby balloons to pop.

Wolfgang

Positives:

[*]Larger stomach capacity

Negatives:

[*]Faster sanity drain in darkness and near monsters

Mightiness:

[*]The more full his stomach is, the more health he has and the harder he hits. If it is low, however, there are negative penalties. Calories burn faster with increased mightiness. The current mightiness level is reflected in the the character art.

Wendy

Positives:

[*]Less sanity drain from night and monsters

Negative:

[*]Lower combat damage

Abigail:

[*]Wendy spawns with "Abigail's flower" in her inventory. After a cooldown period has expired, can place it on the ground. If something dies near it at that point, Abigail will spawn and wear the flower in her hair.

[*]The spawning takes some sanity.

[*]Abigail will follow you and protect you from threats / attack your targets until she falls in combat or you attack her.

[*]Abigail moves fast enough to keep up with you.

[*]Abigail will get along with other 'pets', and doesn't damage Wendy.

[*]Abigail causes more damage during the night than during the day.

[*]Abigail slowly regenerates health, and has a higher max than she used to.

[*]Abigail drops the flower when she de-spawns, so that you can pick it up again.

Wickerbottom

Positive:

[*]Gets a bonus tech level

[*]Has a higher max sanity

[*]Starts with some papyrus

Negative:

[*]Insomniac - can't sleep at night

[*]Picky eater - higher penalties for eating spoiled food

Books:

Has a unique crafting tab and create several consumable books (reading them costs some sanity):

[*]Birds of the World - call down a flock of birds

[*]Applied Horticulture - Makes nearby pickables, trees, and crops grow

[*]Bedtime Stories - puts everyone around you to sleep for a while

[*]Conflagration - Calls down a cluster of lighting.

[*]On Tentacles - Summons some tentacles from the deep.

Edited June 19, 2013 by Kevin

[Battal]

YES I have been waiting for a rework on Willow's perks a long time.

[Raccoon Superhero]

It sounds really awesome so far : D

[Subscriber01236]

Nice i might pretend Willow Exists after this :DI think WX-78 should be able to eat some food like monster meat for example without penalty as his stomach is just a chemical burner thingie so why should he lost health for eating some monster meat?Just an idea though :PI personally am glad you are leaving Wilson alone as i agree he is fine as he is :)I think Wes and Wolfgang is stay similar as they are hard/ easy mode

[TheHomeChicken]

It would be interesting if WX78 could eat anything, since his stomach is supposedly just blades of some sort.

Positives:

Eat anything.

Monster meat and spoiled food doesn't affect him

Negatives:

Certain items wouldn't restore nearly as much hunger, if more than 1 point.

Certain items deal damage to health and sanity(Gears could mess with his circuitry if eaten, and things like this)

Normal food items (including monster meat and spoiled food) don't provide as much of a hunger/health bonus

So basically, if you're starving, you may have to tear your base apart for food.

[All Blue]

Wendy should have abigail around more often, and have no sanity loss from grave dig

[SharpNomo]

Wolfgang: Keep him as is. Even I occasionally indulge in easy mode. I like playing easy mode.Wendy: loses sanity a 3.3 per second but has Abigail permanently(I don't know, I don't even play her much.Wickerbottom: Make it so that she can prototype items at a lower cost. Like the beefalo hat cost 1 beefalo horn and 4 beefalo wool instead of 8. She is already useful for people who hate the shadow manipulator, though (it is so expensive).WX-78 give him cool robot missiles and whatnot. An active ability that shoots robot missiles/lasers at an enemy. Does 500 damage and can be used once every few days.

[d3v1n96]

Love the changes to willow and the lack of changes to wilson. [MENTION=8]Kevin[/MENTION] Will you post the info on the new character without a name or just wait until after the update to put up is info?

[borrisb]

Thought: Could some characters be made for a short quick game, and some character be made for a long, drawn out game?Example Wickerbottom's current perk is awesome in a short game, but as days go to infinity, her trait becomes worthless.

[Luggs]

Glad that we get to see what the rebalances might be. Exciting.A thought on WX-78. Maybe the more rotten a food is, the better it is for hunger. I.E: eating a spoiled piece of meat is like eating a fresh one but fresh meat is like eating spoiled meat.I see Willow as more of a box of matches pyro but that's just me.

Edited June 12, 2013 by Luggs

[Alvhem]

Wow, this sounds amazing!Really looking forward to the next update.

[Crown_king]

Love the new changes to Willow might even use her :DWilson is good enough with his warm beard and easy to make Effigys

[ZeroGrim]

Does this mean willow is no longer going to be immune to the grue? (if im reading it right your removing her fires in the dark trait)I'd like to see more consistency with Wendy and Abigail, sometime you can really need Abigail but she doesn't show up that night.WX-78 needs something, as it stand you never run out of hunger with him so increasing the amount of things he can eat doesn't sound like the best approach.perhaps also a baby character for those of us who are terrible at adventure mode and really really want a dapper gentlemen.

[GuGonce]

Willow will be perfect with this rebalance.I think Wx85 needs some special care too. His perk is useful for me when i'm exploring,because i will not have an ice box nearby. But only on this situation.

[oCrapaCreeper]

I really hope Maxwell isn't changed (If anything, changes are small). He's actually a pretty balanced character for being an endgame reward.In my opinion, Maxwell is actually a good baseline for character balance. He specifies in something specific, like magic, while not ideal for combat unless the player wants to go through the extra effort to keep up on his sword and armor. Luckily, it seems you are incorporating actual downsides to characters. It was kinda strange that Maxwell was the only character with a downside (That's not Wes)

Edited June 12, 2013 by oCrapaCreeper

[Amkar]

Don't nerf Wolfgang too much... He's my favorite! Still, his buffs aren't that interesting at the moment, so I would be fine with somewhat of a nerf, as long as it's something more interesting that some higher damage and bigger stomach.

[AlbinoWyvern]

I like this, especially the sanity boost from a fire and starting fires from low sanity. (though to be fair I would like Willow even if she was perkless. ^^)

[Spazmatic]

Made up some perks for Wes :)Positive: Monsters lose interest in him quickerCan make a balloon animal to distract monsters(has a cooldown)Frog legs give slightly more hunger value than usualNegative:Less hunger,hp,sanity and damagedealingHunger decreases quickerFrogs attack Wes quicker (revenge for his love for frog legs)

[AlbinoWyvern]

Frog legs give slightly more hunger value than usual

[Crown_king]

Yay new picture for willows lighter amazing!

- - - Updated - - -

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indeed it is Edited June 12, 2013 by Crown_king

[Sarcosuchus]

I really hope Maxwell isn't changed (If anything, changes are small). He's actually a pretty balanced character for being an endgame reward.In my opinion, Maxwell is actually a good baseline for character balance. He specifies in something specific, like magic, while not ideal for combat unless the player wants to go through the extra effect to keep up on his sword and armor. Luckily, it seems you are incorporating actual downsides to characters. It was kinda strange that Maxwell was the only character with a downside (That's now Wes)

Agreed! I'm worried that people are going to want his sanity boost nerfed, since it essentially eliminates one of the three meters. But really, when you take his low heath into account (and the effort it takes to harvest nightmare fuel with limited health), he's quite balanced....so essentially, everything you already said.I really have nothing to add other than my agreement. Uh. As you were. Carry on.

[AlbinoWyvern]

Yay new picture for willows lighter amazing!

Oh wow, thanks for mentioning it! It looks very unusual. I guess it was based on some old kind of lighters?

[Cozyhut3]

That's amazing! Also, keepin' Wilson simple. I like your style.WX-78 is severely underpowered... could he be able to eat Monster Meat/Durians without negative effects? He is a robot...

[Gotheran]

Personally, I think Maxwell needs a slight nerf to his sanity regen but other than that he's good.I also feel that characters "abilities" like Willows lighter should be researchable or lost somewhere in the world, like maybe WX can get some upgrades that you have to research or look for in the world which increase various things about him, such as maybe an "optical upgrade" giving him a rechargeable ability to create an internal light source.Also maybe limit say Wolfgang's ability to do science, like he can't build a shadow manipulator at all. But he can "research" or find some dumbbells he can use to gain a temporary boost in attack power once or twice a day.And maybe make a 5th science tier special for Wickerbottom to make her special ability items.Wendy could maybe use a few shadow fuels to summon Abigail, with a cooldown on it.Wes, well I like [MENTION=3309]Spazmatic[/MENTION] 's idea of balloon animals as distractions, maybe he gets a slow recharging "handful of balloons" to make non moving balloon animals that will have a higher agro priority than Wes. But maybe he can only have so many out at one time and they pop after a day or two on their own.

As for William, if he's the next character, can use the top hat once a day to pull a rabbit out of his hat, and place it in his inventory.

[ShatteredSanity]

This seems really cool! Willow is my favorite character so it's nice to see her getting some love.These new things look good. Although I think it would be nice if she got a box of infinite matches, like the one she's carrying in her artwork.