Willow Rework details (updated)

[Dollmaker]

https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/105367-willow-refresh-info-and-roadmap-schedule-update/
Date: May 7th

Willow no longer gets cold from low sanity.

Willow takes more damage and loses sanity from freezing.

Willow takes less damage from overheating.

(OLD) Willow gets fire immunity for the first several seconds and then reduced damage thereafter.

Willow takes no burn damage while extinguishing fires and does it faster than others.

Adding fuel to fires is more effective for Willow.

Bernie can now be equipped by Willow for sanity and warmth at the cost of durability.

Bernie grows big and will taunt and fight most hostile creatures when Willow is nearby and insane.

Bernie will still taunt Shadow Creatures when any other player is nearby and insane.

In addition, Willow still gains sanity near fire and can still cook with her Lighter.


Update:

In the recent Dev Stream they revealed some stuff about the update

Bernie gives has much insolation has Earmuff and restores sanity faster than Garland but slower than Top Hat

Shes immune to fire

Adding fuel to fires is 50% more effective with her

Winter Clothes are less effective on her

"Monster Bernie" has 2k HP and deals 50 dmg per hit every 3 seconds

There can only be one "Monster Bernie" at the time

"Monster Bernie" will follow the nearest Insane Willow

"Monster Bernie" will turn back to normal if Willow gets too far away from him or uses a Wormhole (or if she recovers her Sanity)

Shes weaker to Ice attacks and will get Frozen faster than other characters

Heres an image of "Monster Bernie"

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dont-starve-game/images/7/7f/RWP_236_Bernie_Concept_Art_4.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190503011129

[Lady_Galadhiel]

Same as the people in the forum I think it's meh.
Nothing spectacular.

[ButterStuffed]

It kind of depends on how strong Bernie is. If he's actually able to hold his own against some nightmare monsters then I am quite happy. If not then I am a bit underwhelmed.

[Avenamen]

Meh

[.]

Nothing really different from before, though i like the fact that willow doesn't get cold when insane but they could've at least given her fire immunity

[Katitoff]

Willow will be a character for players having a hard time vs shadows and summer.
Its going to be a perfect character for friend I play with who can't fight at all and can't keep his sanity up despite playing the game for 4 years and still dies to overheating and freezing.......

Not much to offer for players with experience, but a good noob-friendly character.

[The Very Hungry Caterpillar]

Other characters should be able to cook with her lighter no restrictions. I am suprised that this isn't in the changes.

Rather underwhelming. More of a Bernie refresh than a Willow one.

Edit: Maybe these changes will make more sense once new content launches but right now they don't seem that amazing.

[Rumpus]

This new Bernie buff looks cool.
Kind of wish they'd buff that Willow thing though.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Dreamϟcape:

Other characters should be able to cook with her lighter no restrictions. I am suprised that this isn't in the changes.

Rather underwhelming. More of a Bernie refresh than a Willow one.

Edit: Maybe these changes will make more sense once new content launches but right now they don't seem that amazing.

I think they should slightly increase the Lighters range and being able to refuel it

[The Very Hungry Caterpillar]

Refueling is fine if only Willow can do it. If anyone can refuel it then once a lighter is made you never need a Willow again (Similarly to Bernie and I think Winona's generators. I don't play Winona much so this might be wrong.) and can just swap to a more useful or fun character.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Dreamϟcape:

Refueling is fine if only Willow can do it. If anyone can refuel it then once a lighter is made you never need a Willow again (Similarly to Bernie and I think Winona's generators. I don't play Winona much so this might be wrong.) and can just swap to a more useful or fun character.

Its because Winona stuff have self repair, i remember someone suggesting that they should be repaired by Winona´s tape only

[The Very Hungry Caterpillar]

That would help fix it yeah.

[lexilogo]

It's a good start, though I do doubt it'll be enough to make her great. (it's possible we're underestimating Bernie's potential, though if Bernie is REALLY good then that brings up the danger of Willow making Wendy + Abigail outdated)

I think if Willow is going to be really good, she should get another new perk (or a few) on top of all this. I would personally suggest giving Willow perks that incentivise using fire against enemies too, as currently even for Willow players it isn't an advisable strategy, which is kinda weird. Some potential ideas as to how I'd do this (just brainstorming of course):

• Allow Bernie to be used as an extinguishing item like Ice, maybe? (with some durability loss) Willow getting the ability to extinguish smoulders without health loss is neat but giving her a tool to extinguish actual flames would be potentially even better.
  
  
• Fire DoTs on enemies being faster or dealing more damage while close to Willow might fit her decently- Or maybe Willow deals more damage, recovers health, refreshes her fire immunity or similar whenever she attacks a burning enemy? The main goal with this one is to make Willow players want to keep bosses lit aflame, because currently most players just opt for straightforward combat.
  
  
• Potentially allowing Willow to transfer some level of fire immunity to her nearby allies (maybe passive, maybe Bernie gives off an aura of fire resistance?).
  
  
• This one would be really controversial (and require art assets), but allowing Willow to craft pinecone bombs (should require science, first) so her and her team can throw them for cheap, ranged firestarting could work out. Of course the main worry, as has always been with Willow in DST, is the griefing potential, so I'm not sure about this one.

IMO the best character designs in DST change the way the whole team plays to some level (such as Winona's inventions, Klei did a great job with her) so the best route for Willow would be changing the way the team views fire. I think having Willow encourage using fire as a weapon more would accomplish this.

I like a lot of the ideas shown so far but I don't believe it'll be quite enough to make Willow interesting enough or powerful enough for most players. From the sounds of it Bernie is in a good place but I still think Willow's firestarting capabilities aren't going to be seen as an upside.

[Harrowick]

She was in the girl scouts, according to her quote for a tent. Me and a few on the forums thought it would be cool if she had somewhat reduced costs for items in the survival tab.

It would be a very minor perk, though. Like Woodie and all his whatnots. (extra follower time, beard insulation, sanity from pinecones, etc.)

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Axelocke:

She was in the girl scouts, according to her quote for a tent. Me and a few on the forums thought it would be cool if she had somewhat reduced costs for items in the survival tab.

It would be a very minor perk, though. Like Woodie and all his whatnots. (extra follower time, beard insulation, sanity from pinecones, etc.)

I guess that the fire fuel being better might be related to that actually

[Klogg]

Bland, uninteresting and not what people had demanded.