Chester enhancement

[polygone]

Typed this out while providing feedback on balancing the multiplayer aspect of the upcoming DLC, but it was more a general suggestion so I decided to make a thread about it rather than tack it onto my already lengthy set of suggestions. (really to keep it neat I had to make two posts or I would've gone insane from disorganization >_<) Anyways without further ado, here's what I've got~

 

 

Chester

I propose a new system to chester: slotted enhancements. What this would be is that instead of nine (twelve with shadow chester) slots, chester will have 6(9...) slots for storing items, but also another three slots to place gems in. Depending on what gem you place in the slots, Chester will gain different effects that get stronger if the same gem is used repeatedly. If at any point you don't like the effects the gems add, you can simply take them back out or rearrange them to fit your needs.

 

Proposed effects:

• Red Gem lvl 1 - Total fire resistance, just like Willow.
• Red Gem lvl 2 - +5/min sanity aura. (life-giving amulet is +2, pigs are +25. Chester is more permenant than a pig, but amulets are directly given to the player rather than having to stand near a mob to gain the effect. Standing right on Chester should cancel out sanity lost from night time, but you have to be directly on him)
• Red Gem lvl 3 - Gives off light similar to an electrocuted lightning rod, but the glow is red.

 

• Blue Gem lvl 1 - Will keep food inside it cold for longer.
• Blue Gem lvl 2 - Chester is immune to freezing and will freeze mobs that try to attack it similar to a player wearing a chilled amulet.
• Blue Gem lvl 3 - Will greatly increase life of food stored inside it. Essentially this and the first upgrade will both double the time food take to spoil, and stack with each other. In the case of a snow chester, the first upgrade only stacks with his natural cooling power. A level 3 blue gem on a snow chester will completely stop items from spoiling while inside him. (note this would require 9 blue gems since it takes 6 to spawn a snow chester...possibly the devs could make it so Chester eats the gems in the enhancement slots to become snow chester, making it 12 total for this effect, but then there might be problems with shadow chester unless they make it require 3 purple gems as well as the nightmare fuel to spawn shadow chester)

 

• Purple Gem lvl 1 - Chester teleports away from attackers when struck, which if my other proposed changes to Chester come about he will continue to run away from his attacker until they stop being agro on him/he decides he's too far from the player and runs back to you. (based on telelocator staff)
• Purple Gem lvl 2 - Chester has a -5/min sanity aura, which is the same as night time. (based on nightmare amulet's effect)
• Purple Gem lvl 3 - Items that spoil inside Chester will turn into nightmare fuel... (this doesnt affect rot, so you can't just farm rot for nightmare fuel, the item has to actually spoil inside of Chester)

 

• Green Gem lvl 1 - +5/min sanity aura. (note all sanity aura bonusses stack, so 2 red gems and a green gem would be +10 sanity per minute)
• Green Gem lvl 2 - Chester gains an additional +10 sanity aura. (green gem=construction I wanted a gem to be used for mainly sanity gain, and green gems are rareish so here) (I'm also up for suggestions on how to impliment something construction-based to Chester that wouldn't be a nightmare for Klei to code)
• Green Gem lvl 3 - Chester gains an additional +10 sanity aura, effectively becoming a permanent pigman that can store stuff instead of help you chop trees and fight.

 

• Yellow Gem lvl 1 - Chester becomes faster, and has a +3/min sanity aura. (Magiluminescence increases walking speed and gives sanity)
• Yellow Gem lvl 2 - Chester emits light equal to that of the Magiluminescence or a torch. (Yes the tier 2 yellow gem is stronger than the tier 3 red gem, but yellow is a lot rarer than red)
• Yellow Gem lvl 3 - Chester will provide warmth to nearby players, about the same as a low to mid-tier fier would. (star-caller's staff provides heat when used)

 

• Orange Gem lvl 1 - Chester becomes faster, and has a +4/min sanity aura. (Lazy explorer/lazy forager, pretty sure the speed was from the walking cane in the lazy explorer but whatever xD)
• Orange Gem lvl 2 - Chester will automatically pick up items off the floor until his inventory is full. (should happen relatively quick considering he only has 6-9 slots...)
• Orange Gem lvl 3 - Chester will never be attacked by monsters...at least until you remove the gems.

 

 

The reason the orange gem is +4 sanity regen instead of +3 like the yellow gem is that the yellow gem upgrade path provides light, which effectively increases sanity at night by letting you avoid total darkness and the night monster. :3

 

The highest sanity regen by mix-matching gems with this setup is +12 with an orange, yellow, and green gem. Red gem is low-tier light/fire resistance, blue gem extends spoil times, purple is defensive/insanity, green is pure sanity gain, yellow is higher-tier light and warmth, and orange is a utility/defensive gem.

 

e/ It's been suggested instead of a constant light source, Chester becomes a walking campfire and need to be fueled in order to keep providing light. It's also been suggested to have Chester 'eat' the gems in some way over time to provide the effects.

[DevilXD]

I like this idea, but:

Having permanent sources of light in this game is OP...;

Sanity gain - 10-15/min. max;

This should be craftable upgrades, not only gems...;

I'n sugessting something like amulet slot for chester, but with refuellable amulets (with nightmare fuel)...

[LadyAzure]

How about an attack Chester? I could use one for fending off hounds or ware pigs. I think your ideas are all pretty good and can definitely be worked on. I think Chester can come in handy for more then just storing items..I know it might not agree with the game mechanics but I mean if we could possibly train him to do tasks such as herding Beefalo to the base or scaring off hounds that would be really cool. Then again I just love dogs and Chester reminds me of a cuddly puppy

[polygone]

I like this idea, but:

Having permanent sources of light in this game is OP...;

Sanity gain - 10-15/min. max;

This should be craftable upgrades, not only gems...;

I'n sugessting something like amulet slot for chester, but with refuellable amulets (with nightmare fuel)...

Perhaps instead of a permanent light source Chester could become a portable camp fire? That way you'd still need to fuel him with wood/charcoal/whatever in order to keep him lit, the only difference would be mobility and that it doesn't cost the 3 extra grass to start it. Of course, by default Chester's hopping motion tends to make him fall behind the player so you'd be running off into the darkness and will have to stop and wait for him every few steps in order to prevent the night terror from murdering you, so that's also a factor.

 

How about an attack Chester? I could use one for fending off hounds or ware pigs. I think your ideas are all pretty good and can definitely be worked on. I think Chester can come in handy for more then just storing items..I know it might not agree with the game mechanics but I mean if we could possibly train him to do tasks such as herding Beefalo to the base or scaring off hounds that would be really cool. Then again I just love dogs and Chester reminds me of a cuddly puppy

I kinda see Chester as a little puppy too. I'm not particularly fond of giving him an attack though. He's already a tiny little tank with regenerating health, so having him fight things for you would be kind of weird. After all, you wouldn't take a puppy hunting with you. They'd more likely run off than catch whatever it is you're hunting. That's why the only fighting bonuses I proposed were defensive like teleporting away or freezing attackers, he's more defensive of himself without attacking anything directly. He still needs your help to keep him safe, and in return he lets you store stuff. :3

[LadyAzure]

Yes that is understandable, maybe a fetching feature then?...also the ability to dodge away from your attacks better? I am sick of accidentally hitting him while trying to hit another mob and leaving him behind isn't always a good idea or productive. I would like if he was able to help raise sanity maybe by petting him? Not that I have a problem with it anymore because I play as Maxwell, but first starting out I want completely crazy haha.

[polygone]

Yes that is understandable, maybe a fetching feature then?...also the ability to dodge away from your attacks better? I am sick of accidentally hitting him while trying to hit another mob and leaving him behind isn't always a good idea or productive. I would like if he was able to help raise sanity maybe by petting him? Not that I have a problem with it anymore because I play as Maxwell, but first starting out I want completely crazy haha.

I've never had a problem with hitting Chester, but then again I use the mouse to click on enemies I want to attack and generally Chester is behind me so that isn't really an easy situation to accidentally thwak him. I did mention on another thread that he would run away whenever he was hit by something until he was either out of range of what hit him or he got too far from the player, so if you hit him with that system he'd just run off and come back when you're done fighting. Also the orange gem idea is kind of a fetch option in that he'll pick stuff up off the ground automatically.

[LadyAzure]

Oh you play on a PC? Yeah I play on the PS4 and it is not so easy working with him I am guessing, its a bit harder with the controller. Your ideas are really creative I like them, of course some are a bit OP but hey its always fun to have creative conversations and ideas. I love any talk of Chester  ^_^

[polygone]

Yes. Controllers are a lot more finnicky about what you're interacting with than a mouse+keyboard.

 

Also thanks, I do try to balance my ideas out though heh. Like how the red gem and yellow gem do basically the same types of things, but since yellow is rarer the boost to that is higher. And really thinking of ways to redo having Chester as a permenant light source, thinking a mobile campfire but then what would happen to flammable items inside of him?

[LadyAzure]

Maybe also besides that gem that you need to turn him into a campfire, you are required to fill him with wood so the wood is what keeps him going all night? So basically you have to plan ahead to use him as a fire source.

[polygone]

Maybe also besides that gem that you need to turn him into a campfire, you are required to fill him with wood so the wood is what keeps him going all night? So basically you have to plan ahead to use him as a fire source.

That's kind of what I mean by turning him into a campfire rather than just a static light source. xD

[AnonTheMouse]

What if Chester sometimes got hungry, and just sort of...digested...one of his upgrade gems? It might not happen often (or maybe it would be wholly random and luck based) but then you might have an effect for a while, but you'd have to pay attention to make sure he didn't swallow a gem and power down, and you'd always be needing new gems to re-power him. You know, sort of like his upgrades took batteries.

[polygone]

What if Chester sometimes got hungry, and just sort of...digested...one of his upgrade gems? It might not happen often (or maybe it would be wholly random and luck based) but then you might have an effect for a while, but you'd have to pay attention to make sure he didn't swallow a gem and power down, and you'd always be needing new gems to re-power him. You know, sort of like his upgrades took batteries.

Having it luck-based seems counterintuitive, but needing to keep finding gems could help balance this a little better, and let Chester keep the constant light effects rather than just turning into a campfire like previously thought up. Instead of him randomly eating them, what do you think of having a button next to the gems that you had to push, and it 'locks' the slots and gives Chester the bonusses. This'll only last for maybe three days or something and then the slots would unlock, and the gems would be gone.

[LadyAzure]

Omg...all this complication over one Chester! I know we are all creative minds, believe me I am too. However this is a lot of work for just one aspect of the game.....Snow Chester, Shadow Chester....I can't wait to get my hands on them because they are simple, direct. However I don't want to have to keep feeding my Chester or refill him because of past days....I have enough to worry about. 

[polygone]

Well originally the idea was to just stick the gems in the slots and get the bonusses for as long as you wanted them, but using that we'd have to change the gems turning him into a light source to balance it. Honestly I'd prefer not to lose gems upgrading him as well, just kind of listening to what everyone has to say to see what our options are.

[AnonTheMouse]

Having it luck-based seems counterintuitive, but needing to keep finding gems could help balance this a little better, and let Chester keep the constant light effects rather than just turning into a campfire like previously thought up. Instead of him randomly eating them, what do you think of having a button next to the gems that you had to push, and it 'locks' the slots and gives Chester the bonusses. This'll only last for maybe three days or something and then the slots would unlock, and the gems would be gone.

 

Maybe have the gems lost one at a time, so that if you have, say, three red gems, you'd not lose all the effects at once, they'd just get weaker. As long as you stayed on top of things, it would be less expensive to maintain the effect. Being careless or not keeping up your gem supply, though, could leave you in an uncomfortable position. Also, if doing it this way, maybe the upgraded Chesters could digest slower...or maybe Snow Chester would digest slower (as he takes gems to make), and Shadow Chester would digest faster (being a more "evil" version).

 

....

 

Edit: Another thought, either instead of or in addition to what I said before. What if Chester normally couldn't use gems? Instead, you would have to upgrade either Shadow, Snow, or Normal Chester into a "Magic" version, by filling them with living logs. Once magical, Chester would be unable to change to the other types (but would reset if he died). Each type of Chester, then, would have certain gems only it could use (such as Purple only working with Shadow Chester) and gems it could not use (like Red not working with Snow Chester. Try to use the wrong kind, and he'd just spit them out.

[Tamazacat]

I like some of the ideas like the increased speed and fire/freeze resistance, but I think the sanity aura and light emission seem a wee bit OP.

[orian34]

it reminds me my heat chester

[polygone]

it reminds me my heat chester

Heh. Yeah, after putting up this thread i've seen at least two Chester mods come up with similar things in them. :3

[orian34]

but it was whole different the why it provide heat, so your ideas are original!