Yes. Balance changes. If you are allergic, simply do not reply. There is no need to scream at it publicly and discourage improvement on the game.
Here is the reason, the character balance in this game is one of its greatest problems. Every character either has an outrageous strength that makes game-play absurdly more easy, has not enough strengths to justify their existence, or is just bland in general.
Wigfrid has multiple significant boons, which include being fifty percent stronger then Wilson, with no real downsides.
Wolfgang can become double as powerful as Wilson, simply by eating.
Wickerbottom can mass auto-grow crops, among the various other ridiculous advantages of her books.
WX-78 gains ridiculous base statistics towards the endgame, and can perpetually be overcharged for absurd efficiency.
Maxwell can gather resources at a morbidly faster speed then everybody else.
Webber can gather colossal amounts of resources with Spider Wars.
Wendy can massacre weaker mobs with ease using Abigail.
There are also blatant disadvantages.
Webber's spider befriending mechanic is useless, and the fact he does not trigger spiders when stepping on web makes fighting them needlessly more difficult and tedious for no real reason.
Wendy has to wait for specific time frames for Abigail to even be useful, and she constantly has to bear Abigail as a burden due to her sloppy and intrusive A.I.
Maxwell's duelists are quite useless past a certain danger level, and Maxwell's gatherers are absolute destructive hooligans.
Woodie gains no benefits from the Werebeaver form, and Woodie in general has very lackluster and unappealing gimmicks.
Willow has a large box full of worthless items and meaningless gimmicks left behind after a shoddy attempt to nerf her from popular demand.
The point is, every character but Wilson the Average Default and Wes the Challenge Mode could use a complete rework to iron out their overly negative or overly positive traits; which force them into certain min-max patterns like RPG classes. Balance is key, every sizable boon needs a sizable downside. Clever design choices help make this less of a boring scale of strength and weakness.
This thread is in general discussion because this should be a discussion among all players who main each character as to how that character could be changed for the better. Yes, some players are fine with Abigail; but Abigail still has blatant design flaws. Why not change her completely so that she is fine across the board, she does not have to be a nuisance. It may be easier to leave it that way, but to improve the game changes need to be made.
Otherwise, the current meta will remain.
Some worry that changing one meta character will just take away from the meta that is actually used, well there is an exceptionally easy solution to this; balance all of the characters so there is no longer such clear meta and every character is evenly enjoyable to use.
Nerf or buff is not the proper word for this process. Proper balance changing is not about simply cutting down or stacking up numbers. Doing this will just wipe away the colours of that characters profile. If changes need to be made, it is better to rebuild the character from the ground up; using the same themes as their original design but keeping in mind the problems that design had caused. Finding a way to keep their original themes, but reworking them to be fair and still enjoyable to play.
Have provided a template of possible new designs for each character, based off having used each of them for moderate amounts of time to gauge what was too good or too bad about them. The goal is to discuss any additional changes or other templates that could be used, not to argue whether Wigfrid is balanced because Wolfgang is more absurd by comparison. Every unique character is up for changes, because every character does have some manner of problem in the balance of their design.
Wigfrid :
150 Health
180 Hunger
120 Sanity
Wigfrid has 20% more attack power and 20% less defense power then the average character.
Wigfrid is able to craft a special Battle Spear, which has the same damage as an average Spear but with more durability. Using moonstone as an unique requirement to craft. She is also capable of crafting her special Battle Helmet, providing the same defense as a football helmet but with more durability as well. Using multiple marble as a unique ingredient.
Wigfrid loses additional sanity from everything from the darkness to picking evil flowers, however she loses less sanity then average while fighting or being near enemies. Wigfrid gradually gains sanity from combat.
Wigfrid will only eat meat, but has a larger stomach for storing hunger gained.
This new Wigfrid encourages a much more stylistic play-style. Her damage is balanced out by her weakness, encouraging players to kite. Rewarding players for it additionally. Wigfrid also has differently balanced variables for sanity, losing more from regular events but losing less from combat. This encouraging her to participate in stressful combat over stressful acts.
By gaining sanity in combat, this helps her to regenerate the additional sanity she loses normally. Even allowing her to regenerate autonomously by being actively violent.
Finally, reducing the power of the Battle Spear helps mitigate her damage potential. Having the additional ingredients changed to more obscure materials rewards players for finding moonstone and marble in the world to create superior base equipment.
Wolfgang :
200 Health
220 Hunger
150 Sanity
Wolfgang has 10% more defense power then the average character and 10% less attack.
Wolfgang becomes stronger and weaker based on his hunger. When his hunger is on the lower spectrum, he loses his defense bonus and loses an additional 15% attack power. When his hunger is maximum, he gains 15% more defense and loses his attack penalty. His hunger decrease slightly fluctuates based on how full he is, when over 150 hunger it drains 20% faster; when below 80 hunger it drains 20% slower.
Wolfgang loses more sanity while near the darkness and loses sanity passively while hungry, however he gains slightly more sanity then average from the daytime and eating food.
The new Wolfgang is centred around being a tank, who also has a unique play on hunger. Wolfgang has lower statistic bonuses then Wigfrid, but he gains more and loses his negative effects when he is well fed. Additionally, Wolfgang encourages hunger management in general. Allowing players to survive longer when they starve, while punishing them with weaker statistics, rewarding players for keeping him well fed; but he burns hunger faster.
Wolfgang also loses more sanity from the darkness, but this is offset by him gaining more in the day. He also gains more sanity from eating, which pairs with him losing sanity gradually while hungry. With lower polarities to each side of his hunger spectrum, there is less room for his power to be exploited and more room for him to suffer from being underfed.
WX-78 :
80 Health
80 Hunger
80 Sanity
WX-78 starts off very weak, however he can increase his basic statistics by consuming gears. This caps at 250 health, 250 hunger and 200 sanity. It requires twenty gears for WX-78 to reach his maximum statistics. Additionally, WX-78 regenerates 60 of every statistic when consuming gears. This effect decreases to 30 after he maximizes his statistics.
WX-78 loses health and sanity at 0.5 per second while it is raining, however WX-78 is also a magnet for lightning. When struck, he regains 100 of every statistic and gains a several minute speed boost. However successive lightning strikes will have the opposite effect.
WX-78 receives no penalties for eating spoiled food.
WX-78 starts off hard, but finishes strong as he consumes gears to improve. To help with the rough start, he also regenerates by eating gears while strengthening himself. But this effect is mitigated by the time he is maximized.
WX-78 suffers from the rain, but he is rejuvenated and empowered by lightning. He naturally attracts lightning to help increase this likelihood, but the effect does not stack. Because rain is more common then lightning, WX-78 also is resistant to spoiled food to help offset his weakness towards water.
Having repeated lightning strikes punished stops Wickerbottom from boosting WX-78 with rejuvenating lightning strikes.
Wickerbottom :
150 Health
150 Hunger
220 Sanity
Wickerbottom gains twenty five percent more sanity from prototyping new things, but starts off with the same knowledge as everybody else. She also loses less sanity from everything then other characters. However she has insomnia, and cannot sleep to restore herself.
Wickerbottom receives significantly greater penalties for eating spoiled food, but gains slightly more benefits then average for eating fresh food.
Wickerbottom is capable of crafting special books with unique effects. But, these books cost significant amounts of resources to craft and have very limited uses. Wickerbottom gains sanity from crafting each one.
Wickerbottom benefits from having a higher sanity pool and lower sanity drain then the average character, making her highly resistant. She even gains more sanity from prototyping and reading books. However she is incapable of sleeping, which means she is deprived of an extremely valuable method for regenerating health and sanity.
Wickerbottom incurs large penalties from eating spoiled food, but gains slightly more from healthy food. Because spoiled food is less common, the penalty is greater then the benefit of fresh food which is a more common resource.
Wickerbottom's books provide a massive potential boon, but they require significant amounts of resources to craft. They have very limited uses to avoid them being overused, but they rejuvenate some sanity each time they are crafted due to their rarity and limited uses.
Woodie :
150 Health
170 Hunger
150 Sanity
Woodie starts the game with his special axe Lucy, who has infinite durability but only seventy percent of the attack damage of an average axe. Woodie however chops trees at an average speed, but regenerates sanity while doing so.
Woodie has a special meter which decreases when he does not chop trees, it increases largely when he chops and somewhat if he eats wood. The lower the meter becomes, the faster Woodie's sanity drains when he is in stressful circumstances.
Woodie will morph into a Werebeaver if his special meter reaches zero, or a full moon occurs. During this state Woodie drops all his items and gains a significant amount of base attack, defense and insulation. While in his Werebeaver form he cannot interact with normal items save for munching them, but he also has limited nightvision. While in Werebeaver form Woodie loses sanity and hunger gradually, and can only return to normal if he chops and or eats a large amount of wood as the meter will continue draining while in this form.
Woodie gains some hunger, sanity and health from eating wood, twigs and the like. He also gains sanity from planting saplings.
Woodie revolves specifically around woodcutting. He has an additional meter which needs to be fulfilled by cutting wood, but he gains sanity from doing so and planting saplings. This also helps make up for his lower sanity. If the meter is not satisfied he will morph into a Werebeaver, which can be used as a combat advantage. However, he loses sanity and hunger while in this form and so it will make him suffer. Woodie needs to put effort into returning to normal when in this form as the meter will keep draining if he stops munching, but his hunger and sanity will keep draining. Meaning, the form cannot just be used for free combat power, it will drain from Woodie and requires effort to get out of so it cannot be easily used for drop-in-and-out combat power.
The insulation of the Werebeaver allows them to survive significantly long periods of time in the winter, but in the summer it is a drawback.
Woodie has an axe with infinite durability to help him chop, and she helps warn him of when he meter is getting too low. Woodie even can consume wood and similar items to slightly regenerate himself as a whole to help benefit his need to constantly chop wood. This also helps balance out his increased sanity drain as the special meter decreases.
Willow :
150 Health
140 Hunger
120 Sanity
Willow begins the game with a special lighter, which lasts moderately longer then a torch. The lighter is able to cook food without a fire, but this consumes a portion of its durability. It does however have a smaller field of illumination then a torch. The lighter regenerates durability while not in use, although the durability is only visible while holding it or hovering your cursor over it.
Willow begins the game with Bernie, her plush bear. When Bernie is set on the ground, he will taunt nearby enemies to distract them. Enemies will remain attracted to Bernie even if they are attacked. But Bernie has a very small health pool, and so he cannot distract enemies for long. Two uses of a sewing kit will repair him completely.
Willow regenerates small amounts of sanity and health while she is near fires, however the effect does not stack. She also loses sanity 10% faster then the average character, and gains significantly more regeneration from open fires. Campfires and stone fire pits regenerate much less. The size of the fire increases how much she regenerates from it.
Willow suffers significantly less damage from overheating, and has a much higher resistance to reaching overheating. However she has significantly less resistance to the cold, and takes more damage when freezing.
Willow is able to use Bernie as a special combat advantage, however he costs chunks of sewing kit durability to repair and has a low damage threshold. Willow also has a special lighter that can cook without fires, but it costs rechargeable durability. The lighter however has a very small range of view, and so it cannot be used for easy exploration at night. But it is a constant tool for lightning rogue fires.
Willow loses sanity slightly faster and has a smaller sanity pool then usual to make up for her unique ability to regenerate while near fires. Having her gain more from rogue fires started by setting random things aflame gives her an added benefit, at the cost of consuming natural resources. Having the regeneration change based on fire size also means that burning larger things is more beneficial, but potentially costly.
Willow also is more resilient to the summer due to her fascination with fire and thus heat, but she is in turn more susceptible to the cold. However her benefits from fire help compensate this as well.
Webber :
175 Health
140 Hunger
100 Sanity
Webber is viewed as a monster, and so normally friendly creatures like pigs and bunnies will be aggressive towards him. However spiders are friendly towards Webber.
Webber will not be slowed by webbed ground, but will still trigger spiders if he steps on it. Additionally, Webber can feed a spider meat to befriend it. Only one spider will be befriended, but they will follow Webber for a significant period of time. Up to five spiders can be befriended at one time. If Webber is attacked, any spiders in the area will become aggressive to the attacker as if they attacked one of their own. However, if Webber attacks a spider; any spiders he has befriended will turn against him. Webber can construct spider nests himself, and feed spider nests silk to increase their current tier.
Webber is able to eat monster meat and monster lasagna with no downsides, gaining more then average restoration from them. However, Webber gains slightly less from consuming normal foods.
Webber can also grow a beard of silk.
Webber is capable of amassing small groups of minions to support him in combat at the cost of meat, this replacing the ability to befriend pigs and bunnies. Spiders are also friendly to him and will support him if he is attacked nearby, making up for the fact that pigs and bunnies are extremely aggressive and persistent in pursuing him. But, Webber will still trigger spiders by walking on their web in order to still make them accessible opponents.
Having allied spiders turn against him if he attacks their own kind stops him from enacting Spider Wars, ridiculously efficient and without risk ways of massacring spiders.
Webber has lower sanity and hunger, but slightly higher health. He also is able to craft and improve spider nests himself and grow a beard of silk. Finally, Webber is not only able to eat monster meat without penalties but benefits more from it. While gaining slightly less from regular food, changing his eating priorities from the norm.
Wendy :
120 Health
120 Hunger
200 Sanity
Wendy is slightly weaker then the average survivor, with 10% less damage and defense, she also has a smaller pool of health and hunger. However Wendy loses 30% less sanity then the average character, and has a higher sanity pool.
Wendy starts off with Abigail's Flower, the flower blooming after several days. When Abigail's Flower is in bloom, Wendy can activate it manually at the cost of 80 sanity and 40 health. This will summon Abigail's spirit to fight for her.
Abigail has a total of 600 health, taking average damage from regular enemies and reduced damage from bosses. Abigail deals 40 damage during the day, 60 damage at dusk and 80 damage at night.
Abigail strikes single targets, but will occasionally activate a more powerful attack with higher damage and an area of effect. Abigail will actively disengage from combat if Wendy leaves the area, and Abigail will only fight for less then a few minutes before disappearing and returning 40 sanity to Wendy. Her flower will bloom again randomly between a day to several days at which point she can be summoned again.
Wendy is balanced by lower base power and thresholds, but a higher resilience to sanity. She also is able to spawn Abigail, an exceptionally powerful ally capable of tanking and dealing high amounts of damage. Abigail briefly consumes sanity and health, putting Wendy at risk, returning some of it afterwards while still taking a permanent deduction. Wendy's higher resilience to insanity making it easier for her to maintain higher amounts to afford this cost.
Wendy is meant to be a moderately below average fighter, who makes up for this by being able to spawn a profoundly powerful ally for brief periods of time at the cost of sanity and health.
Maxwell :
80 Health
140 Hunger
200 Sanity
Maxwell is significantly weaker then the other characters, with less health he also has 25% less damage and resource gathering speed when using tools such as axes. Maxwell however is naturally dapper, he loses significantly less sanity from all sources but also gains slightly less sanity from positive sources.
Maxwell is capable of summoning shadow puppets at will using his Codex Umbra, each shadow puppet is capable of switching to any tool to assist Maxwell in gathering resources. They each have the gather efficiency of 15% of a normal characters abilities. When in combat, their damage scales to be 15% of Maxwell's. The puppets will only engage in activities Maxwell first does.
The Codex Umbra can be upgraded with nightmare fuel, to increase the base values of the puppets by 0.5% for each one. This caps at twenty fuel.
For every puppet present Maxwell's sanity drains, but he is also capable of banishing them at will. A maximum of four puppets can exist at a time, and their sanity drain scales slightly as the Codex Umbra is upgraded.
Maxwell uses his puppets to compensate for his weakness. Additionally, Maxwell is significantly resilient to sanity drain so that he may consume his sanity to summon puppets. But, he also gains less sanity from performing restorative acts and so massively consuming sanity for puppets will make it harder to recover. Maxwell can use the puppets in mass to become even stronger in both combat and gathering then the average character, but this is offset by the sanity cost it will incur which is more difficult to recover from.