Overview
My name is J20Hawkz and this is my guide on how to survive in Don’t Starve. I have played this game, read almost there is to read on the wiki, asked for help and given help on the steam forums to further my knowledge and understanding of how things work in such an expansive world.The developers of Don’t Starve have created a game like no other on the current market of present. It does however combine elements from most familiar and successful games, producing a title that is highly intriguing and fun to play. If you loved playing games such as Harvest Moon, Lost in The Blue, Rune Factory and Animal Crossing, combine those elements with the anxious feeling to survive in a world filled with full of life, then this game is most certainly for you. There are so many things to cover, a lot is learned through experience of playing, but I’ll start from the basics then slowly lead to more complex things. If you haven’t gathered already, Don’t Starve is a horror survival game. You will spend many hours gathering items to get you through days where the players Health, Hunger and Sanity will be tested. Your ultimate goal is…well don’t starve.The most frequently asked question is “How to survive winter?” Well in order to survive winter, you first have to survive summer it’s as simple as that. Winter is truly unforgiving and if you haven’t managed to organise and prioritise during summer then surviving it will most definitely be a struggle. So stick along and read what I have to say, if you truly want to survive in Don’t Starve follow the Hawk and I will guide you through this treacherous world that is Don’t Starve.
Introduction
Edit: 05/01/2020. Wow I can’t believe the support I’ve got, this community has always been special. I know this guide is outdated, but the basic principles of surviving in the base game hasn’t changed. Its been a very long time since I played Don’t Starve and I’m not claiming to be an expert but I can help and answer any questions related to my guide.
My name is J20Hawkz and this is my guide on how to survive in Don’t Starve. I have played this game, read almost there is to read on the wiki, asked for help and given help on the steam forums to further my knowledge and understanding of how things work in such an expansive world.
The developers of Don’t Starve have created a game like no other on the current market of present. It does however combine elements from most familiar and successful games, producing a title that is highly intriguing and fun to play. If you loved playing games such as Harvest Moon, Lost in The Blue, Rune Factory and Animal Crossing, combine those elements with the anxious feeling to survive in a world filled with full of life, then this game is most certainly for you.
There are so many things to cover, a lot is learned through experience of playing, but I’ll start from the basics then slowly lead to more complex things. If you haven’t gathered already, Don’t Starve is a horror survival game. You will spend many hours gathering items to get you through days where the players Health, Hunger and Sanity will be tested. Your ultimate goal is…well don’t starve.
The most frequently asked question is “How to survive winter?” Well in order to survive winter, you first have to survive summer it’s as simple as that. Winter is truly unforgiving and if you haven’t managed to organise and prioritise during summer then surviving it will most definitely be a struggle.
So stick along and read what I have to say, if you truly want to survive in Don’t Starve follow the Hawk and I will guide you through this treacherous world that is Don’t Starve.
Meet The Survivors
The following are characters that are playable in Don’t Starve. If you wish to avoid spoilers, do not click on each characters name as it will send you the Don’t Starve Wiki page.
This Information was taking from the patch notes on Klei Forum. All characters except Wilson and Maxwell were given special perks and slight modifications. There is some talk about making changes to Maxwell, but this will most likely be seen in a future update. All rights go to Klei Forum notably Kevin for these notes.
Wilson[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Grows a beard (acts the same way a winter hat would in winter), can be shaved for beard hair.
Willow[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Gets a sanity bonus from being near fire
•Impervious to fire damage (and probably heat when that becomes a Thing)
•Gets a unique lighter that acts as an infinite torch with a very small radius
•Has a lower max sanity
•Lights fires at random when her sanity is low
WX-78[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Can eat spoiled food with no penalty
•Starts with very low stats, but can upgrade himself by eating gears.
•Takes damage in the rain, but creates light from the sparks
•Can get hit by lightning, causing a system overload that makes him run faster and glow in the dark
Wes[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Has pathetic, low stats
•Can make balloon animals
Wolfgang[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Has a large stomach
•Faster sanity drain in the dark and near scary things
•Gets damage and health bonuses when his belly is full (and penalties when it is empty!)
Wendy[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Lower combat damage
•Less afraid of the dark and monsters.
•Carries around abigail’s flower. When it is charged (it takes a couple of days), a blood sacrifice will summon Abigail!
•Abigail is a lot more useful now, and will last until she falls in battle
Wickerbottom[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Gets a bonus tech level
•Has a high max sanity
•Can craft books that can be read to cast powerful magic spells
•Insomniac – cannot sleep
•Picky eater – higher penalties for spoiled food
Woodie[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Has his own unique axe that can talk
•Chops trees down much faster than any other character
•Can turn into something monstrous if chopping too many trees and one time
Maxwell/Waxwell[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]
•Comes with his own sword and armor
•Lower health
•Sanity increases over time
Surviving Your First 10 Days
Ok, you started a new game for the first time as Wilson and left all game options as default. Let us begin.
The opening short clip will show the player lying on the ground and being told to find some food by a tall business man like character. As soon as you gain full control Start gathering everything you can see. Avoid flowers and mushrooms for now.
MAIN PRIORITY: Berries[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], Carrots[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], Seeds[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], Twigs[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], Grass[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], Flint[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] are all in the same area you spawned. Collect these and always make sure you carry maxed out supplies of Twigs, Grass and Logs[dont-starve-game.wikia.com].
TIP: I would suggest walking around close to the edge of every new surface/biome you find. Basically biomes[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] are areas that contain things that another biome might not have or have a very small supply of. To tell if you are entering a new biome, look at the type of surface. Each biome is roughly circular in shape so walking around the edge of a new biome; you will get to see its size, where other biomes are branching off and also if there are any dead ends.
Day 1-3 should be spent circling biomes and gathering as much as THE MAIN PRIORITY resources as you can. Remember to make an axe[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and pickaxe[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Use this to chop down trees to make and provide fuel for a campfire[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] or to mine for stone[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and gold[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] which will later be used to make a fire pit[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and alchemy[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]/science machine[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. As you are focusing on gathering for a few days its best to make a small camp fire near to resources like trees so you can chop them during the night. I recommend however if you are doing fine on hunger and health to use a torch when it turns night. You need to make the most of these precious early days. So as it goes dark equip a torch and carry on circling/exploring the biomes.
During the first 3 days and heading into Day 4, you are looking to find three very important biomes containing certain things. Savanna; containing beefalo[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], a pig village[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and Rockyland[dont-starve-game.wikia.com].
TIP: Finding a cobble stone road[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] will sometimes lead you to a pig village and/or a marsh[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] biome. Once you find these biomes and worked out roads leading close to them, you want to build your base camp in the middle of the three biomes close to the road.
TIP: Picture it like this. A flower has a middle part surrounded by petals. Your base camp is the middle part and all the useful biomes are the petals. Once you build a fire pit that will be your base. Here is an example of where I have my base.
It’s best to have a camp set up by Day 5-6. But sometimes it can be difficult to locate the important biomes, so leave it no later than day 10 or 12. Never rush into making a permanent base. If there is one thing I learnt playing this game its location. Also it’s a good idea to make an alchemy machine, science machine, crock pot[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and at least one chest[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] as soon as possible. So make sure you always have enough resources to build them.
Tip: Always cook your food for more bonuses. Having a crock pot as soon as you make a permanent base, will not only increase the bonus each food item gives you individually, it will also allow you to leave and store cooked food on the crock pot.
With your base built and resources plentiful, build a shovel[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Spend around 3 days digging up berry bushes[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] further away from camp, and plant them close to base. I recommend 12 berry bushes will be enough for now and get you through the upcoming winter[dont-starve-game.wikia.com].
You want to spend the rest of summer collecting manure[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] from the beefalo and mine for gold. Use the manure to build at least 3-4 improved farm plots[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Plant the seeds that you found and leave them to grow. Also expect your first hound[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] attack during this time also.
TIP: For every hound attack, the first time you character says “Did you hear that?” stop what you are doing and go to where the pigs are. Most pigs[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] have berry bushes and plenty of trees close to them. Gather these while you wait for the hounds to come. As they come simply circle around the pigs and wait for the hounds to fight them. Once they start to fight each other, you can help out, but be quick to pick up any monster meat[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] or pig skin[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] left after the showdown.
Your main food source will come from berries and carrots. Until you manage to make a crock pot. Thereafter don’t be shy on killing a rabbit or two each day and using berries as fillers to make meatballs. You will also get ample opportunity to collect monster meat later on in game so use that as well and fill with three berries to make meatballs.
Summary
Day 1-3: Gather berries, carrots, twigs, logs, flint, grass. Carry no more than MAX amount of twigs, grass and logs. Always keep them MAX’d out.
Day 3-4: Carry on gathering but start looking out for the important biomes I mentioned.
Day 4-6: If you have found the important biomes set up main base. If not carry on searching and gathering. DON’T waste time and DON’T take longer to set up a main base by days 10-12.
Day 6-10: If main base is set, go to section “Surviving Summer.”
Day 6-10: If main base is NOT set, carry on searching for those important biomes and gathering food. You should have at least found a pig village by now or beefalo herd.
Day 10+: Hound attack is going to come, go to section “Basic Tips #2” on how to deal with hound attacks.
Main Food source will come from berries and carrots, when you get a crock pot main food source will be meatballs. See “surviving summer” for more advanced food items and tips.
That’s all there is to it. This is a basic guide to get anyone started. As long as you organise and prioritise using all the time you have, surviving will become a lot less daunting. See section on Surviving Summer and Surviving Winter for some more advanced survival tips. Every item I say to use is the best possible item in the game so I recommend using them.
Surviving Summer
Summer[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] is one of two seasons in Don’t Starve. As you start the game it is summer by default. As the days are longer make the most of the time you have gathering supplies, digging up berry bushes and twigs then planting them near your base. Good idea to gather but not dig up resources that are close to your base, as during winter it becomes difficult to stay warm and full while straying too far.
Having at least two chests full of logs at your base, is a good idea, as they will provide suitable fuel to camp fires when you refine them into wooden boards[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], especially during winter. Gathering and storing a few chests of rabbits[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] will also help. Don’t kill them however, just leave them alive in the chests and only ever use them for crock pot recipes when you “really” need to.
Your main food source should come from gathering honey[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], berries, monster meat and fish[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. During summer build a few bee boxes[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and improved farms. In your first summer it may be difficult to build bee boxes early on, so your main food source should come from berries, monster meat or morsel[dont-starve-game.wikia.com].
A bird cage[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] will help double or even triple your seed counts, resulting in loads of vegetables grown from the improved farms.
TIP: when picking flowers[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] save the petals. Let them become rot[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. These are best used to fertilise berry bushes and grass as they only need one rot to fertilise. If you have a bee farm, plant picked flowers to spawn butterflies[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. The more flowers you have the faster bees will make honey.
Monster meat should build up relatively fast. On top of the countless hound attacks, you will find spider dens[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and marsh biomes all of which contains enemies that once killed will drop monster meat along with other valuable resources.
If you have a beefalo herd close by, collect manure, save these to fertilise improved farm plots.
TIP: don’t use manure to speed up growing seeds. During summer plant seeds, let them grow over time then feed the vegetables to birds in your bird cage, then replant and repeat.
As soon as possible try to make an ice box[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] to store berries, meat, honey etc. Don’t go looking for clockwork[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] enemies until your second summer. They are not easy to kill alone and you should focus on gathering as much resources during your first summer for your first winter.
Creating two or more crock pots is also a useful thing to do. The two most resource effective and stat boosting foods to create using crock pots are honey ham[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and dragon pie[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Obtaining dragon fruit seeds is made easier if you pick up seeds every time you see them. Plant them and eventually one will grow. Once it does feed it to the bird for more seeds and only focus on planning and re-growing them. To ensure you have a high chance of producing honey ham you need to add a meat value of 2 along with at least one honey. So 1 honey, 1 monster meat and 2 morsel will get you Honey hame.
Meatballs[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] are also a very good food item to make and give a big boost in hunger. All you need is one monster meat and fill the rest with berries. If you want a boost in hunger and health, it’s best to stick with honey ham or dragon pie if you have the seeds. Fish sticks[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] is also viable if you have no honey or dragon fruits. The best thing about fish sticks is that you need one fish[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], one stick and two berries. All these recipes are made using a crock pot.
TIP: Fishing[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] does not increase your naughtiness level[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] so eat all the fish you want.
Overall top priorities for summer include gathering as much resources as possible, exploring, and improving your base by creating farm plots, bird cages, ice boxes, crock pots.
Surviving Winter
Winter is the 2nd season in Don’t Starve and so follows directly after summer. By default it lasts 15 in game days and hits you at day 21. This is probably the hardest time you will have staying alive. Not only will you have to have enough food sources to get you through it, the player may encounter the formidable creature Deerclops[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. However you need not worry about him until much later.
With winter comes a massive drop in temperature. So making sure you don’t freeze to death is another thing of high priorities. This is one of the reasons why gathering as many resources as you can during summer is very important, as without a heat source trying to gather resources away from base, during snow will cause you to freeze much quicker.
Making a heat stone[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], winter hat[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and a dapper vest[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] are essential. However I have survived winter solely using a winter hat, heat stone and a fully grown beard[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Both the winter hat and dapper vest have a durability of 10 days (meaning you may need to make two to last the remaining five days). However they provide good boosts to sanity compared to other winter clothing and the resources required to make them are far easier to obtain. However during your first winter crfatinga dapper vest won’t be easy as you need eight hounds teeth. This isn’t possible to obtain such an amount of teeth so soon. So making a dapper vest can wait. Winter hat is a more viable option and easy to make earily on.
As food goes, if you haven’t stocked up on honey, berries, and other fruits and vegetables, you may have to rely on killing rabbits. As its winter bees[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] won’t come out so no honey will be made.
During winter farm plots do not grow anything and berry bushes won’t spawn new berries once picked. Killing many rabbits in a short space of time isn’t a good idea as you may have Krampus coming for you, so keep that in mind.
As before Honey Ham is the best food source in game until you have a good supply of dragon fruit. Fish Sticks are also very good. These two should be stocked up well enough to last you countless days. Storing them in an ice box is the best way to go. If you are in your first winter and have yet to make an ice box, don’t worry. Only cook food when you really have to and always cook one extra to leave on a crock pot as they never rot when left there.
If you find that you’re running low on ingredients to make honey ham or dragon fruit, then I would suggest using rabbits to make meatballs as a good alternative. Using one rabbit and three berries as fillers is better than using 2 or more rabbits in the same crock pot. As I mentioned before, make sure you have a good supply of berries and you have access to berry bushes.
TIP: Berries take 3-5 days to grow back on a berry bush. It’s best then to not pick any berries from close by berry bushes at least 5 days before winter. Once winter comes, it’s best to go out and start picking as many berries as you can, every other day or so, from not too distant bushes.
You also don’t want to have to worry about wood. As its winter you will have to have a continuous heat source when you notice you start to freeze. Wooden Boards are a good item to keep refining. So having plenty of wood stocked up in chests is also essential. Keeping a torch[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] with you is also a good idea as that also provides heat, however during snowing it will not provide enough heat to prevent freezing.
If you’re playing as Wilson it’s best to let his beard grow during summer, so that when winter comes he will have something to keep him warm. Shave beard 1st day of summer.
NOTE: During winter you will find a walrus camp. It’s a good idea to take 3 or more pigs with you to kill the hounds and the walrus for extra resources. Walrus camp[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] will spawn enemies every 2-5 days.
Overall top priorities during winter include collecting manure, grass, twigs, berries, honey and rabbits. Anything else you do is bonus.
Basic Tips #1
Throught my guide you will notice small “Tip” sections. I sometimes mention something in game and then revert to a handy tip that I normally do to utilise that “something” even better. In this section I will dedicate it to “Basic Tips” that are general and can be used in any situation, however for convinience I’ll add those tips mentioned throughout my guide here also. These are methods that have worked for me and I find them to be very effective. Every method I share with you, will involve using the fewest if not no resources at all. Simply use CTRL + F to search a word or phrase you would like a tip on. If its not here please leave a comment in the comment section of my guide, and I will do a tip on it.
How to INCREASE SANITY?
Best way by far to increase your sanity[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] in terms of resources and time is to befriend pigs. What I do is feed around 2-4 pigs monster meat and make them follow you to a large area of trees. Then by hitting a tree once with an axe it will cause all friendly pigs to start chopping the trees. By standing right behind them you gain a massive boost in sanity. I recommend doing this as soon as the day starts to take full advantage and also by this way, not only will your sanity increase you will have tonnes of logs littered on the floor. There are ingame items such as the Top hat[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] that provides a nice boost in sanity over time, but many people are always short on resources. Another way is to make a tent[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], this will give you a massive boost in sanity. A tent has 6 uses. So what I do is each time I use it I place a marker (using a log) on the right of the tent each new day. Remember to have meatballs in your inventory to restore your hunger.
How to DECREASE SANITY?
I have found that the fastest way to lower your sanity is to stand next to a boss type monster. Tree guards[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] are probably the best and easiest way, as long as you know what you are doing. What you need is a good supply of pine corns[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and an axe. Simply start chopping away at trees until one spawns.
When it does spawn. start planting pine corns close by, this will cause the tree guard to calm down and idly start to walk around. Now simply stand next to it and watch as your sanity drops. Once you have a tree guard spawned this is by far the best method. However you do run the risk of wasting time if one does not spawn, but in my experience yes it will take some time maybe 2-3 days of chopping trees, but it does spawn and once it does you have a permanent method of having the choice to reduce your sanity.
Here is an example
The most easiest way would be to find some evil flowers[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and just stand near them. This is the safest way but in my opinion boring, still the outcome is the same but it takes longer.
There are methods that involve running in and out of the dark, but this is tedious and risky. I would not recommend it.
How to get LOTS of SILK?
One of the most over used method of “farming” silk is using the spider den trap method. I personally am not a huge fan of this as it uses up resources. Firstly the trap method, involves placing a spider den some distance away from your base then placing a number of traps around it or in a line leading away from it. What happens is that spiders[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] will come out at dusk/night and get “trapped.” Once you pick a trap the spider is automatically killed and you get its drops. This is a good method but I don’t use it.
My way either involves killing them with a spear[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] or using a lure plant[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Killing a tier 1 spider den is simple and fun, simply walk up to any spider den in the early part of the day and walk over the spider webbing. This will cause the spiders to come out from hiding. Then simply start fighting them. More advance players will take little to no damage in health, those new to the game should use the following method if possible.
Lure plants can be found throughout your world where ever you have been, killing them and getting a bulb is simply. All you have to do is hit one of its eye plants once with a spear to make it disappear, once you are in striking distance of the lure plant just beat it until you get the lure plant bulb. Next you will need to have a spider den located in a suitable place normally a “choke point.” The only way to get your own spider den is by destroying a tier 3 spider den or killing a spider queen[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. This won’t be easy. Next relocate your spider den to a place where, once spiders spawn they will have to move in one direction, in our case it will be towards a lure plant. Every morning, using the same method as above simply drive the spiders out and run through a safe path between the eye bulbs. Let the spiders and lure plant fight. Once all spiders are taken care of, kill the lure plant again to collect everything it took then replant close to the spider den again. I normally get quite a few silk this way so personally I find this method to be the best.
Setting up a PIG VILLAGE
One of the most frequently asked question on the steam forum is “is it safe to have your own pig village close to your own base?” The answer is yes and here is how. What I do is every time I come across a pig house[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] or a pig head[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], using a hammer[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] I destroy it and collect the drops. I then construct pig houses near to my base.
What I have done however, and I know some of you guys like to make pig homes very close to base, sometimes visible on the same screen in your base, is place the house less than an in game hour away, basically they off my screen and a bit away from my base. This is better because, not only does it give you the chance to move out and away from your base when a hound attack comes, it also prevents pigs from either eating anything you happen to leave on the ground in terms of food and reduces the risk of a pig getting trapped and not making it back in time at night when a full moon is out, turning them into werepigs[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Therefore it prevents any damage done to my base. I would say build as many pig homes as you can, I currently have 15, the more pigs you have the faster any threat is taken care of.
Here is an example of my pig village
How to get MORE PIG SKIN?
My one and only method is to actually wait for hounds to attack and let them and my pigs fight. This will obviously kill some of your pigs but also you get the chance of a pig skin dropping. You need to be quick to pick up the drops as both hounds and pigs will eat anything that is edible. They spawn 4 days after being killed. Also you won’t raise your naughtiness this way as you are not killing them yourself. Killing werepigs is another way and drops more loot but it’s risky for new players.
Basic Tips #2
How to best utilise Roads?
Roads are very important in this game, not only do they lead a player to new biomes, they also speed up the player when you walk on them. This allows you to get to places faster and run away from hostile monsters. Finding a cobble stone road will sometimes lead you to a pig village and/or a marsh[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] biome. Once you find these biomes and worked out roads leading close to them, you want to build your base camp in the middle of the three biomes close to the road. This will make life much easier by getting you to valuable resources quicker. Picture it like this. A flower has a middle part surrounded by petals. Your base camp is the middle part and all the useful biomes are the petals. Once you build a fire pit that will be your base. Here is an example of where I have my base.
How to deal with HOUND ATTACKS?
For every hound attack, the first time your character says “Did you hear that?” stop what you are doing and go to where the pigs are. Most pigs have berry bushes and plenty of trees close to them. Gather these while you wait for the hounds to come. As they come simply circle around the pigs and wait for the hounds to fight them. Once they start to fight each other, you can help out, but be quick to pick up any monster meat or pig skin left after the showdown. I still use this method even late in game. It allows me to save on resources and gets me the odd pig skin as well.
Another method is setting up “choke points” or placing a large patch of tooth traps. There are many ways. I use a tooth trap patch sometimes, if I know my pigs are low on number and have no chance of surviving another hound attack. Standing in the middle of a large patch of tooth traps it’s fun and satisfying watching every hound get wasted. Then all you do is collect the drops and reset your traps. The amount of teeth you get later from hounds will be ridiculous so don’t be shy using your tooth traps as you will have more than enough resource later on to build tonnes of these traps.
Do WALLS provide protection, and are they necessary?
This is a common question that crops on the steam forum. The best and only wall[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] to make are stone. Wood and grass walls can be used as a sort of divider or to just “change” it up a little in terms of decoration. Stone provides the best protection and keeps a lot of the in game monster from crossing over. Batilisks[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] won’t be affected by walls.
In general the most common monsters that will threaten you are hounds and spiders, both of which will have to wall around your maze of stone walls to get to you. I would say if you have been following all my tips, the use of walls is not really necessary. In most situations that require you to gain protection will come from pigs and beefalo. Note that if a monster becomes stuck or just stops it will start to attack and destroy your walls. Deerclops and Krampus will naturally start destroying your base just because they can. If you prefer to remain safe and prevent your base from being destroyed I always advise to let pigs and beefalo deal with hostile situations away from base.
Explore and save time
I would suggest walking around close to the edge of every new surface/biome you find. Basically biomes are areas that contain things that another biome might not have or have a very small supply of. To tell if you are entering a new biome, look at the type of surface. Each biome is roughly circular in shape so walking around the edge of a new biome; you will get to see its size, where other biomes are branching off and also if there are any dead ends. Whenever you circle but see something that needs to be picked up, notably berries, flint, stone or carrots, then venture into the biome and collect. If you are maxed out on these resources I advise to keep exploring.
I also recommend using a torch at night rather than making a campfire. Especially during the early days one torch will get you through the night, so use all the time you have trying to find those important biomes we talked about earlier.
Avoid as many hostile monsters as possible. You should always be focusing on searching and gathering. A lot of people don’t use the most of thier early days, if you want to survive you must use all the time you have of each day.
How to make your own Beefalo pen
I would recommend using hounds to attack a beefalo[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] herd. The reason is simple, not only will the hounds be taken care of saving you from taking damage and also saving the durability of your weapons and armour, it will also have the added benefit of increased drops as more than 1-2 beefalo will hopefully be killed. If you don’t get a beefalo horn[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], then try again on your next hound attack. It took me two attempts waiting on hounds to attack my beefalo herd until I was rewarded. Once you get a beefalo horn you simply use it near at least 5 beefalo, they will then follow you to a closed off place of your choice. Here is an example of how what my beefalo pen looks like.
Dragonfruit Seed Farming
There is only one to farm dragon fruit seeds. As you start the game, always pick up seeds, every time you see a seed pick it up. Never eat or cook seeds. By the time you make improved farms, I recommend at least 4 improved farms to speed this process up, basically the more improved farms you have the faster the chance of getting a dragon fruit. Also make sure you have a bird cage with a bird trapped in it. Now all you do is plant the seeds you have collected.
Once they grow, if you don’t get a dragon fruit it doesn’t matter, cook the vegetables/fruit you grew or store for use later. Then plant more of the seeds. Do this until you get a dragon fruit. Once you do DON’T eat it or cook it. Give it to the bird in the bird cage. This will double the dragon fruit seeds and give you one extra. Now plant both dragon fruit seeds in the improved farm plot and any extra seeds you have. Once the dragon fruit seeds have grown again feed it to the bird get the double seeds and replant. Keep doing this until you feel you have enough.
Remember even always save your seeds and always pick up seeds when ever you see them on the ground, you never know one of them will be a dragon fruit seed!
How to use LIGHTNING RODS effectively
Many people seem to believe that having a positioned next to every single patch of flammable item is the best and only way to stop a lightning bolt from setting everything on fire. This is not true however. Not only does it waste precious resources it is also a big waste of time. ONE lightning rod positioned cleverly so that it is visible at all times on your screen when you are in your base will protect your items/resources from a lightning bolt. Here is an example where my lightning rod is positioned
Basic Hints #3
How to Kill a DEERCLOPS
During winter you have the chance of a Deerclops spawning. This potentially, is the hardest boss in game and many people panic or are not fully prepared, allowing the Deerclops to waste your base and kill you. Your first encounter won’t be till very late on, it will most likely not be your first winter or second winter, but that does not mean you should not prepare.
Make sure you have a football helmet[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], log suit[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] and spear[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], a decent size pig village and a decent patch size of tooth traps, 2-4 dragon pie and a straw roll[dont-starve-game.wikia.com]. Straw roll will be used to restore sanity and dragon pie to restore health and hunger all which will be lost during this fight.
I have mentioned many times that a base located near to a pig village is very important. These pigs will be your first line of defence if you are not confident of using the kiting method of attack. Make sure you have a lot of pigs I recommend at least 10+ pig houses in order to give you a chance. Your pigs will all die but at least you know they took a huge amount of HP out of the Deerclops. Have a fairly large patch of tooth traps set up. We already discussed this in the “How To Deal With Hound Attacks” section.
Once the pigs have dealt their damage, then lead the Deerclops to the tooth traps. If the Deerclops still stands then now would be a good time to go in and attack it yourself. His health will be low by now so it won’t take long. Once the Deerclops is dead, use the straw roll and eat the dragon pie first thing when you wake.
If you are confident, and think you can kill the Deerclops by kiting I would highly recommend this way. By first Deerclops I soloed it fairly easily without getting hit too many times. Attack 2-3 times then run away before it swings, then attack 2-3 times and repeat, your sanity will take a massive hit and carrying pumpkin cookies and straw roll is very important.
Setting up a BEE farm
Getting your own bee[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] farm is going to be very important later on if you want to make a base that will provide you with unlimited resources and make a self-sustaining base. Setting up a few bee boxes[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] is not hard but will take some effort. While you explored your world you should have come across bee hives[dont-starve-game.wikia.com], I would recommend taking around 2 pigs to help destroy the hives. Wear a beekeeper hat[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] at all times, this will help absorb a lot of the damage these bees throw at you. Once you destroy the hive make sure to quickly pick up the honey comb and also use a bug net[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] to capture as many bees as you can. Next all you need to do is construct your own bee box near to base. You will also need a lot of flowers[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] to speed up the process of these bees making honey. Using a bug net, capture at least 10-15 butterflies[dont-starve-game.wikia.com] then plant them all directly around your bee boxes. When they spawn butterflies you can capture them and replant for even more flowers to speed up the process of more flowers spawning already.
Here is an example of my bee farm
Finally
This guide will serve you well. Everything that I have done to survive has been carefully condensed into this guide. It is my experience through enjoying everything this game has to offer that I now give to those who need it. Anyone wanting to ask any question specific to don’t starve can either add me as friend or post on my profile page. You can also leave a comment below my guide. I’ll answer them as best I can. Also when I have more time, I’ll start to add hints and tips within the guide. Any changes I will be sure to leave a comment so you guys know.
Thankyou for taking the time to read my guide.
I leave you with screen pictures that I have captured on my default world.
