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Wastrels / Wastrellettes are Wellies who have reacted badly to a bad batch of Joy. They are the first enemies that the player encounters in the Garden District.

While Downers willingly choose not to take Joy, Wastrels have developed a permanent intolerance to the drug, and experience horrific side effects if they try to take it.

Buff EasilyForgotten Appearance[]

Wastrels and Wastrellettes are roughed up and dirty. They wear what's left of their torn stylish clothes from Hamlyn Village; some even have broken glasses or twigs in their hair.

Because of their inability to take Joy, they are constantly reminded of their past and the fact that they are starving. Not unlike the Wellies in Hamlyn Village, they appear to be anorexic.

Buff TypicallyBritish Overview[]

It's unclear when a Wellie first became a Wastrel, however, it's clear by the start of We Happy Few that the Wastrel population has recently boomed. During Dress for Success, Beryl Markham will explain: "People get a bad batch of Joy, and it like flips a switch, and they can't take Joy any more. So they get chased out of the Village. Been a lot of bad batches lately." More and more bad batches have been produced by Haworth Labs, and taking Joy from one of these batches seems to cause a complete intolerance to all flavours of Joy.

Anybody that then takes Joy again is likely to experience some horrific side effects. The most commonly reported side effect is seeing eyes everywhere; others report extreme insomnia and voices in their head. Much like Downers, the citizens of Wellington Wells are not friendly towards Wastrels. The Wastrels themselves are blamed for their intolerance to Joy, and the Executive Committee maintains that the rumours of bad batches are false. Wastrels are, as such, not welcome in the Village, and are forced to live in the Garden District.

Buff TippyToes Behaviour[]

General[]

Starting at 7am, the Wastrels will spend their day walking through streets if the Garden District, rummaging through rubble for scraps of rotten food, sitting on benches to cry, and simply doing their best to survive another day.

At 8pm, all Wastrels will vacate the streets and return to their run down homes to abide by the curfew imposed by the Headboys. From 9pm onwards, they will begin to go to sleep. Wastrels sleep until 7am, at which point they'll wake up and return to their routines.

Conformity[]

Before becoming Wastrels, they were Wellies who lived in Hamlyn Village. It's only after they had a bad reaction to Joy that they first became Downers and got chased out of the Village. This led to feelings of resentment among Wastrels; as such, they are liable to attack anybody that reminds them of their former life.

Anybody wearing clean, proper clothing or that is high on Joy is a potential target for Wastrels. If the player stays away from Joy and fine clothing, they will be left alone the most part, as long as they do not act suspiciously. However, a Wastrel who is high on a hallucinogen, or has caught the plague, will still go after the player even if they're conforming.

If greeted, the Wastrels will tell the player about their troubles, or give them tips for surviving.

Combat[]

When hostile, Wastrels wield various weapons, such as:

The quality of the weapon depends on the Act the player is in. In Act I, the Wastrels tend to wield Branches or Cricket Bats, but in Act III they'll wield Axes or Cleavers.

Suspicion[]

There are things that will direct a Wastrel's attention to the player. These include:

  • Attacking somebody
  • Breaking into and looting coin boxes from the phone booths
  • Carrying or searching a corpse
  • Picking locks with a Lockpick
  • Stealing items
  • Trespassing restricted areas
  • Using the Extractor to extract a car
  • Walking around in inappropriate clothes (or none at all)

AchievementIcon66 Variations[]

Headboys[]

Main article: Headboys

The self-proclaimed law of the Garden District, given the absence of the Bobbies, the Headboys are allowed free reign to effectively do as they please.

During the day, they can be found guarding resources such as water sources or cellars. At night, they will patrol the streets of the Garden District and fight any Plague victims that they come across. Because they are outside the law, they don't care if the player is allowed out past curfew, and will still give them a thrashing (even with the 'Nothing To See Here' skill).

Plague Wastrels[]

Main article: Plague

Some unfortunate Wastrels were unlucky enough to catch the Plague; most of them can be found in Lud's Holm. These Wastrels are rapidly spreading the Plague through biting, and as such they are much more dangerous than the average Wastrel.

Plague Wastrels are afraid of light, so the player can shine a flash-light at them to stun them. Due to their hatred of light, Plague Wastrels will only come out at night, however, they can often be encountered in the dark areas that they hide in during the day.

Buff Forager Loot[]

Below is a list of items the player will get when looting a Wastrel's corpses:

Buff SilverTongue Quotes[]

See Wastrel's Quotes

Buff Conformist Trivia[]

  • A "Wastrel" describes a person that is considered worthless or lousy.
  • The Wastrels are described as "sad, schizophrenic outcasts" in an old blog post.
    • Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that affects the brain. It may result in hallucinations, delusions, lack of emotional expression, and/or disorganized thinking, speech, and behaviour. The causes for Schizophrenia is believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
    • It's unlikely every single Wastrel has Schizophrenia, and that the 'Schizophrenic' description refers to how they all act generally; some definitely do show symptoms, however.
  • The face for some of the male Wastrels bears a striking resemblance to that of Guillaume Provost, the creative director behind Compulsion Games.
  • During Alpha, if the player got too close to Wastrels, they'd tell the player to rudely leave them be; this doesn't happen anymore.
    • Wastrels also used to run up to the player begging for certain items. When given their requested item, they would give the player something back. This, too, doesn't happen anymore.
  • Originally, Wastrels would act like normal citizens of Wellington Wells and would only attack the player if they were not on Joy. This has long since been changed.
  • It's worth noting that there are Downers who are hiding among Wastrels, such as Dottie Lloyd-Ramsay.

Buff Preservasionist Gallery[]

Concept Art[]

In Game[]

Animation[]

Old Content[]

Buff EasilyForgotten Appearance[]

During the 11219 build of We Happy Few, there was only one kind of Wastrel that roamed the streets, wearing a tattered green jacket and yellow pants. They all had black hair and green, bloodshot eyes.

In the 17956 build, Wastrels still wore the same green jacket and yellow pants, but they could now spawn with broken black glasses. Two new hair colours were also added; brown and red.

In the 21735 build, Wastrels could now wear a houndstooth jacket with green pants, a yellow jacket with red pants, or a completely blue, torn outfit. New accessories include; sunglasses, white flat caps, and round glasses. A new, blonde hair colour was added, and they could spawn with either a light or dark skin tone.

In the 22249 build, Wastrels could wear a brown jacket with yellow pants, and a boater hat that was either brown or black.

During the 11219 build of We Happy Few, there was only one kind of Wastrellette that roamed the streets, wearing a tattered pink dress. They all had black hair and green, bloodshot eyes.

In the 17956 build, Wastrellettes could now spawn wearing a yellow or blue dress. They also got new hair models; a messy bun without sticks and leaves stuck in it, and a messy bob. The hair colours could either be blonde, light/dark brown, or bright red.
Unlike Wastrels, Wastrellettes could spawn with either a light or dark skin tone.

In the 21735 build, Wastrellettes got a few new accessories; white sunglasses, damaged sun hats, and grey and white newsboy hats. A new grey dress was added, as well as a pink and white dotted dress.

Buff TippyToes Behaviour[]

Random groups of Wastrels would spawn and de-spawn as the player walked down the street, in which they'd walk around within that random spot, often bumping into and initiating brief "conversations" with each other. If the player got a little too close to any of the Wastrels, they'd be told to go away in a rude tone. It was not possible to talk to the Wastrels until the 11915 build.

Wastrels will only become suspicious of the player if they're wearing anything but the Torn Suit. They don't react to the player carrying a weapon or a corpse, but they do initiate combat when a corpse is thrown at them.

Wastrels will instantly get aggressive and enter combat if the player hits them, or searches a corpse. They usually only use their fists to attack the player, and are therefore incapable of blocking the player's strikes, though they can sometimes use a Branch as a weapon. As well as that, multiple Wastrels can attack the player at a time, which could make groups of 4-5 Wastrels very deadly.

Inside of Houses, they'll wander around and not care about the player's presence, even when their stuff gets stolen.

Very few Wastrels spawn into the area than previously, but it's much less noticeable and natural as they can sit on benches and do other activities than simply walking aimlessly. Getting too close to a Wastrel will still cause them to tell the player to back off.

Wastrels still don't react to the player carrying a weapon, but they will initiate combat when the player is carrying a corpse. Interestingly, talking to Wastrels will cause them to get suspicious of the player briefly before resuming their activities.

The aggression of Wastrels is pretty much the same as previous versions, they still mainly use their fists, but sometimes they use a Branch as their weapon. If the player is too far away, they can throw Rocks at them. Combat has changed slightly, as only one person will focus on attacking the player as others wait their turn to strike, instead of everyone trying to kill the player all at once.

They still don't care if the player is in their House, but they will initiate combat if they witness thievery.

More Wastrels spawn in an area compared to the 17956 build.

Wastrels finally get suspicious of the player carrying a weapon out in public.

Just like in the previous version, only one person will focus on attacking the player as others wait their turn to strike.

They still don't care if the player is in their House, but they will initiate combat if they witness thievery.

Buff Forager Loot[]

Buff Conformist Trivia[]

  • With the release of the 27755 Early Access build, unconscious NPCs would eventually wake up and start walking around again.
    • It took 2 minutes for the NPC to wake up again, so long as the player wasn't looking at them beyond that time frame.
  • The appearance of the Wastrellette and Wastrel in the Pre-Alpha stage greatly resembles their appearance from the concept art.
  • Between the 11219 and 14473 Pre-Alpha build, none of the NPCs had any names and would only be classified as "Corpse" upon death.

Buff Preservasionist Gallery[]

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