Pro-Tips for Don’t Starve

Overview

A collection of useful tips to help you Never Starve.

Make the most of your fire

You heard me, never be caught at night without light.
First thing you need to know: Fireflies are your best friend.
At night and even dusk fireflies appear. These are static tiles and do not dissapear unless harvested by a bug net. When night comes it is possible to survive the entire night with just one firefly. When it goes dark, find the nearest firefly. Run up to it, you will notice that your player may say something like “I can see again!“. When you walk over a firefly they provide just enough light to keep Grue/Charlie/Boogyman/EvilScaryDarknessMonster away. However, as soon as you do the fireflies will dissapear. What you need to do then is run away from them. In a short period of time they will re-appear. When they re-appear, run back to them and the timer that damages you in the dark will be reset. If you continue to do this it is possible to survive the entire night without taking any damage. However, you will loose a decent amount of sanity due to the fact that you are in complete darkness for most of the night.

Also, if you use a bug net you can capture fireflies. If you release them they will be placed in the spot that you are standing. You can fill your base with these and have your own nightlight!
(Above picture is from Alpha version but still works in current one)

TL;DR? Here you go!

1. Run towards fireflies
2. They dissapear
3. Run away
4. They reappear
5. Run Back
6. Rinse&Repeat

If you need light or quick heat you can always equip your torch. But if your torch is dying, you might be in trouble. Here are some useful things to extend the life of your torch.

• Flash the torch. Put it out and when you hear Grue getting closer pull it out and then put it away.
• Drop a flamable on the ground and ignite it. This is very useful for heat while traveling durring the winter. Remember to pick up the ash for making healing items.
• Torches burn 150% faster while raining. Firepits 200%. Campfires 250%.

Plants do not grow at night. However if you place a fire next to them they will continue to grow even during the night! Building a firepit is reccomended so you don’t set your farm on fire.
-Tip from Wyat

Mobs

Ever try and chop down a tree and then all of a sudden now you have it chasing you? Well this section is for you!

The best way to get rid of tree guards is to plant pinecones near it. Every time you plant a pinecone there is a chance that it will pacify the tree guard. Once the treegaurd is pacified it will stop chasing you and may roam around a bit before turning back into a “normal” tree. Just make sure not to chop any trees while its on the screen or it will start persuing you again.

Tree guards are also useful against giants! If you gather all the treeguards in one location you can pacify them and keep them there until a giant shows up. Then if a giant destroys a tree all the treeguards will become aggressive towards it and fight it for you!

You can also use it to farm meat and pig skin by luring it into pigs and having them fight it. Tentacles and Beefalo (in heat) can also be farmed using this method.

Additional Information

I will update this guide continually for a while so check back later for additional content!

Here’s a guide I made a while back to help players survive winter! If you’re having trouble making it to the next season then this guide might be able to help you!
[link]
If you have any other advanced tips that you feel belong on this guide feel free to comment below or send me a message!

Happy Don’t Starving!