Shepherd useless?

Anyone else almost never bother with the shepherd? By the time I can upgrade to him I usually forget about it since im busy doing other stuff, and the trapper does basically the same thing only better. I think The shepherd should be a starting occupation, basically an alternative to the trapper so if you want to start in an area with less animals you have options. It also be cool to have the shepherd be able to herd goats up in the mountains, so If we want to be mountain folk we can have a reliable source of food.

3 Likes

I do use the shepherd. But I am always upgrading to him late in the game, mostly after the goblins are dead. This is not a bad thing, because that way he won’t wander in their camp and die. The main reason for the lesser use that I definitely think there is, is because their are very few things you need him for. He doesn’t bring in that much food and wool is not that much used as a resource, and you can buy it from a shop keeper.

3 Likes

I suspect the Shepherd is something that they added in just to have a test case for an advanced class and so they can put their fluffy sheep in the game. He isn’t very useful right now for gameplay, but he has plenty of room for fleshing out in the future.

3 Likes

This exactly. His perk tree isn’t at all done yet. :slight_smile: We’ve got some ideas, but are always happy to take suggestions!

10 Likes

And of course, someone needs to keep all those sheep company.

8 Likes

im refraining from the softball lobbed joke you provided here… re-frain-ing! :speak_no_evil: :laughing:

as for my own playthroughs, I have yet to promote anyone to this particular class… but I do love the class progression it represents… :+1:

1 Like

Perhaps give him an attribute where he can tame creatures for different uses? Such as Wolves for guard/attack dogs, Mammoths for war/transportation, etc. You could even give him a “change of heart” attribute where he can turn enemy creatures controlled by goblins into good ones. Perhaps even control zombies/skeletons to become an undead army/workforce.

4 Likes

Exactly. Those sheep need to be watched closely; I hear they used to have some pretty crazy parties.

10 Likes

Wool should see more use, at the moment why bother with sheep. The only use I have seen for wool is for the winter outfit. Silkweed should be a tier one product, wool being tier 2. Why not wool for most/all hearthling outfit upgrades even top tier armour, wasn’t padding worn under plate armour? Wool blanket for the bed or tier 3 beds, T1 Straw; T2 Silkweed; T3 Wool. Just because it has silk in its title doesn’t necessarily mean it feels like silk.

3 Likes

@coasterspaul: Yeah, those sheep parties tend to get pretty wild and wooly.

7 Likes

Wool works like Silkweed, since it can be turned into Thread. Though I do agree that it should see more use. Perhaps supplement the Cloth used in making Comfortable beds with Wool?

On a side note, perhaps the blacksmith/weaver could collaborate on making a flag and flag pole. The downward facing banners are nice, but I’d love to have a tall, flowing flag in the center of my town, as well as a way to customize the design on it. If it’s possible, could there be an editor at the start where you can create a design for your town’s banners/flags and they will appear with that design or something similar when placed? Such as if you create a design with a black dragon, a red background, and a gold trim, the smaller banners would just have the red and gold, while the flag and town banner would have the dragon.

4 Likes

My suggestion would be to have the shepherd as a starting professsion. Have him be able to find sheep in the mountains and on the plains. That way he can be an alternative to the trapper and allow players to create more viable mountain top towns. Just give the sheep some horns and call them mountain goats. Perhaps have him lead to another animal trainer class. Or have the trapper and shepherd be alternate prerequisites for a animal trainer class.

2 Likes

Who would not want this smexy outfit?
Smexy outfit

Using the love and wool generously donated by your sheep, here at Winter Worker Outfit Co we strive to design the most fashionable winter worker clothes possible. Our tripple wool lined jacket will keep you all warm and fluffy day and night (if you sleep with it too! We suggest it!). The boots look just like ordinary boots but have 20x the fashion buff added onto them! Each jacket comes complete with an unusable hood!

:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

10 Likes

Well, you can also make them fly and explode (please don’t forget the red mantle)

What if silk and wool gives crafts differents buffs and net value ?
(same for the others materials and crafts)

5 Likes

I personally like the Shepard because it is a controlled collection of wool. I still use the trapper even when I have the Shepard though sooo…

3 Likes

There ain’t nuttin’ like roast mutton!

I’m hoping mutton can be cooked into a lot of food - it seems wasteful/inefficient right now for a sheep to yield a single ‘piece of jerky’ - I’d definitely prefer the model to be a meaty leg on a plate to give it more psychological value to us, if anything.

Big +1 on wool being a requirement for finer items. Also love this idea:

5 Likes

i second your thought/entire post @phector2004 :smile:

1 Like

Yeah, I don’t really bother with the shepherd right now. Usually by the time I can make him, I have silkweed coming in that I don’t need the wool, and my settlement is usually doing so much work that I’d rather just have another worker to move stuff around.

It does seem like something they added to test the class upgrade system, so I’m glad to see @sdee confirm it. That means they will do more with the shepherd later (and I expect, more with every class later).

1 Like

omg insert worms reference here…awesome!!!
http://cdn2-www.playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/worms2-feature-1.jpg
forget the trapper, now sheep are way cooler.

2 Likes

Would be nice to see the Shepherd gaining some combat proficiency, especially with wolves in the game. Historically although yes often it was children and women watching animals, shepherds often had to be tough and resourceful to scare off predators!

Also having wolves favoring attacking sheep (and fearing lights/groups of people) would make for an interesting and more realistic scenario. Games are always more interesting when enemies have more complex and selective behaviors to observe and combat.

4 Likes