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Maxwell, The Puppet Mastermind

Maxwell, The Puppet Mastermind is a complete rework of Maxwell that aims to give him more control over his shadow puppets. True to his title, he should be commanding them from afar, not dirtying his hands with menial labor.

The key to Maxwell's control is his Codex Umbra- it can now be equipped, and while it is he can directly command his shadow puppets, allowing him to:

• Right click on one of his puppets to command them to wait, or resume following him.
  
  
  
  
• Right click an object to command his puppets of the appropriate type to work it. This action costs sanity- bending shadows to one's will puts a great burden on the mind. You can right click the object again to cancel the command, but you won't be refunded the sanity! All command sanity costs are configurable in the mod settings. Commanding Shadow Duelists, Guardians, and Sailors will cause a constant sanity drain on Maxwell for each puppet of that type instead of a flat cost. Hold ALT to force a dig command on a plant if you have a Shadow Servant and Shadow Digger following you at the same time.
  
  

Right-clicking the Codex while equipped opens a menu for managing shadow puppets (can also be opened by pressing Z). This menu shows the total number of shadow puppets that you have out of the max, the number of each type of shadow puppet, and has a number of commands that can be used:

• Command Wait commands all shadow puppets to wait, the same as right-clicking on them.
  
• Recall teleports all shadow puppets to you and makes them follow you.
  
• Imprison temporarily unsummons all shadow puppets until you release them again. Imprisoned shadow puppets still count towards your total number and will die with Maxwell.
  
• Release resummons all currently imprisoned shadow puppets.

Selecting a shadow puppet type on the minion menu will change the above commands to only apply to the currently selected type. Also, crafting shadow puppets no longer requires the Codex Umbra to be on the ground. Instead, they are now conjured directly from the minion menu by selecting a puppet type.




Maxwell can use his Codex to attack shadow creatures. This attack costs 5 sanity and spawns three shadow orbs around the immediate area- Maxwell must touch each of these shadow orbs to launch them at the target. Terrorbeaks split into three smaller ones, each shadow orb killing off one of them. Crawling Horrors instead grow faster and larger for each shadow orb absorbed, with the third causing them to rupture. If the shadow orbs are not collected in time (or the Codex is used to attack a different shadow creature) the remaining orbs will fade away and the previously targeted shadow creature will return to normal. Killing shadow creatures this way has a higher chance of dropping extra nightmare fuel.



Maxwell can also attack non-shadow creatures with the Codex, instead dealing 34 damage. The range is useful, but the cooldown and sanity cost make it impractical for battle.

Maxwell's mastery over shadow magic allows him to use the Codex Umbra to conjure magic items from the start of the game, crafting them with a hefty sanity fee that varies based on the item's tier.



By studying the Codex Umbra next to a Prestihatitator or Shadow Manipulator, Maxwell can permanently decrease the sanity and ingredient costs of conjuring. This can only be done twice, once per type of station.




Besides directly commanding them, this mod introduces a number of improvements and modifications to standard shadow puppets:

• Each type of shadow puppet has a unique personality and will talk occasionally.
  
• All shadow puppets now regenerate health like Shadow Duelists do (7.5 health/sec).
  
• Shadow Puppets can't take more than 50 damage from a single attack, to prevent instakills.
  
• Any speed buffs on Maxwell are also applied to his shadow puppets so that they don't fall behind.
  
• Shadow Duelists are now crafted using a Dark Sword, deal the same damage as one, and will kite more often to avoid damage in combat.
  
• Shadow puppets now only cost a flat amount of sanity. The maximum number of puppets that Maxwell can have at once is configurable in the mod settings.
  
• Shadow puppets will continue working no matter how far away Maxwell is from them, and you can see their location on the map. They will also keep the map updated like an Ocuvigil.
  
  

Maxwell, The Puppet Mastermind adds three new shadow puppet types that Maxwell can create: the Shadow Servant, the Shadow Guardian, and the Shadow Sailor.




Shadow Servants don't use tools, instead they act as Maxwell's hands from a distance. They can carry items like Chester and also pick them up off the ground.



They can even harvest plants like grass, twigs, and berries.



Each item carried by a Shadow Servant causes a passive sanity drain on Maxwell. Two Shadow Servants with items in each slot is enough to negate Maxwell's passive sanity gain.




The Shadow Guardian is an honorable defender of Maxwell and his other puppets that controls similarly to a Duelist. It has significantly more health and it is also able to taunt its commanded target, forcing them to attack it for a few seconds.






The Shadow Sailor is Maxwell's right hand at sea. Maxwell can command them to row towards a specified location, raise/lower sails and anchors, operate a fire pump, and even repair leaks without a patch. While sea fishing, Maxwell can attach a Codex to his fishing pole and it will serve as a float with very high accuracy but mediocre range. While attached as a lure, Maxwell is able to command his Shadow Sailors to row- even while fishing.




True to his dapperness, Maxwell's maximum sanity has been increased to 250 (optional in settings), his natural sanity regeneration has nearly doubled to +10 sanity/min, and he can consume nightmare fuel to restore sanity. Refreshing!



A true puppet master stays back while their minions do all of the dirty work though, and Maxwell embodies this. After all, while his mind is strong, his body is fairly frail. Besides, menial labor is what puppets are for, right?

• Maxwell's physical attacks are 25% weaker than other characters.
  
• Maxwell is especially slow at chopping trees and mining rocks- he's a dapper fellow and isn't suited for hard labor.
  
  
  
  
• Digging is something that he will flat out refuse to do, as groveling in the dirt is far too beneath him.

You can double right click when commanding to batch select/cancel all nearby objects of the same type.



You can also command a group of shadow puppets to wait or follow.