Overview
So, I’ve decided that after seeing quite a few of these guides, I should do my own. Come here for tips and tricks on everything from surviving your first night, to surviving winter, or even thriving in your magnificent base on day 200. Also here are some suggestions on things like which character is best, and whether you should go down into the caves. Here is where you’ll learn the basics, and all those helpful little hints.
1. Introduction
Before we get started, I’d like to inform you that this is not the kind of guide to hold your hand from day 1 to 600. No, this guide helps you survive, though some things you need to figure out for yourself. Also note that there may and probably will be some spoilers in this guide, though none to do with the story, just the characters, even the not-so-secret-anymore final character. One final thing is that this guide is meant for all players, not just new players.
2. Surviving Your First Day (And Night)
So, you just started playing, or perhaps just updated the game, and created a new world. Now, you probably left the settings default, and are playing as Wilson. Now, although you are playing as the most well balanced character, you don’t really have any advantages besides the power of facial hair, which unfortunately will not help you in the very beginning of your game. This means you’re going to need all the help you can get.
First thing you’ll need to do is get some flint, which also reminds me of a very important piece of information; You can never have enough of anything, ever. What this means is that if you see something, you should probably collect it, if you have room. Literally everything you can pick up is useful sometime or another, from petals making garlands to stave off insanity, all the way to stones to fortify your base with walls. You won’t have to worry about those two things immediately, of course, but it’s better to be prepared than not.
Besides that flint, you’ll need some twigs, which you can get from saplings. Don’t worry, it grows back. Now you’ll be able to make the two most basic, yet most important tools in the game; A pick, and an axe. Now you can equip one or another, and chop or mine to your heart’s content, though you should stop at dusk. Now, I recommend that when it becomes dusk, you should search for a rockyland biome, which has a lot of rocks, and rocky ground. You should build your base near there.
Now, you need to look at the crafting area, specifically the one with the picture of the flame. You will probably see a picture of a torch, campfire, and fire pit, hopefully the last two each in green. Another useful tip: Always start with the best possible option. What this means is that, although the torch is cheap, it should be considered a last resort. The campfire is slightly more expensive, though should only be used if either you can’t make a fire pit, or you are traveling a place that’s a while away, as it does not stay. This means that if you can make a fire pit, do it.
You should also build a Science Machine if possible, though it is not completely necessary on your first day. With these tips and tricks, you should survive your first day. You can eat berries and carrots, if you picked them up, which you should have. Just don’t try killing anything at all on your first day as well, and you should be fine. These tips and tricks should sustain you for a while, if not as long as possible. A good tip: Be a pacifist, unless you are attacked. Remembering these tips should take you far.
3. Surviving Until Winter
Now, Winter is a whole different section, but this is surviving after your first day, but before Winter. A few things that should be built as soon as possible, besides the Science Machine, are the Shovel, the Alchemy Engine, the Logsuit, and the Spear. The Football helmet is also helpful, though not required to survive a fight. With these tools, weapons, and machines, you should be set to survive long term, provided you don’t dig up too many graves, and a ghost doesn’t pop out. There are a lot of other necessary things, but you should be able to figure out what you need.
After a while you’ll most likely begin hearing snarling and growling. You can’t avoid it, it will happen. A few tips on surviving what’s coming. Get near a lot of friendly mobs, or neutral mobs, like pigs, or beefalo. They will attack these creatures and probably die. If they start chasing you before this is possible, you should not attack them. It is not a good idea. You can instead run through a swamp, or near Tallbirds. The tentacles in the swamp will attack them, and the tallbirds probably will. Spiders will not help, and should be used as a last resort. What I’m trying to say is Use the environment and its inhabitants to your advantage. This is especially useful with them. I’ll let you figure out what they are, as it’s more fun with the surprise.
Something you should do by the way, is Don’t take unnecessary risks. This is the golden rule of Don’t Starve, and possibly every game ever that you can die in. The one exception to this rule is going into the caves. The caves ratio of risk/reward is slightly in your favor, very often. Even then you should prepare very thoroughly before going down into the caves.
You should build a Rainometer, and an umbrella, to ward off insanity. Sanity is what you need to keep Them away, though a different them then the them talked about above. They are attracted to people who are insane, and will kill you if you are insane, and unprepared. A few things you should do to keep Them away, is not eating flowers, not eating uncooked meat, and not eating certain mushrooms. Also, try to get a good night’s sleep when you can.
You’re going to want to build a Winterometer to know when you need to start preparing for Winter, which is a different section than surviving winter. Try to build a farm as well, so you don’t have to hunt down your food. It won’t help in Winter, but it will in Summer, the season that isn’t Winter. There is not Spring and Fall in this game. One thing that you may or may not have already discovered, is that Death IS permanent. As in, you lose your save and your world unless you have a method of revival, which you must figure out on your own. I’m afraid this is the end of your Non-Winter and Non-Cave survival tutorial. You will need to figure out the rest for yourself.
4. Preparing For Winter
Yes, Winter is so difficult it requires two sections, provided you don’t take the easy way out, which is also difficult and requires its own section. Now, this section infers you built the Winterometer we mentioned before, and realized Winter is coming soon. If not, well the first winter starts around day 20, give or take a few days. I recommend beginning preparations some time between day 10 and day 15. Here, Procrastination will likely kill you. Winter is hard, and will probably always be hard, but preparing is necessary.
You will probably need to hunt down the Koalefant, which in the Summer will help you make a good coat to survive Winter, or in Winter will make you a Great Coat that definitely increases your chances of survival. Besides that, you should make a Heat Stone, which will help you leave your fire in the Winter. Besides this, you may require many traps for hunting rabbits, and farms will not help during the cold season. Also helpful is the Winter Hat, meaning you’ll probably want to kill some Beefalo, or at least shave them while they sleep.
Now, you’re going to want to plant a rather large forest in close proximity of your Fire Pit, as you will probably need to keep the fire going the entire season. It lasts around 20 days, so you’ll probably have to do some replanting often. If you don’t have any of this stuff, you will literally freeze to death, and Revival methods will almost always end badly. As in, during the Winter, you’ll probably freeze to death almost before you can reach your fire.
Make a lot of torches, as they help you keep warm, and can be used in emergency situations. Grow your beard out if you’re playing as Wilson, as it will help you somewhat, though you’ll still freeze to death without at least some of this other stuff. Besides this, there isn’t much else you can do to prepare for Winter, though I recommend making a fire staff, and I will tell you why in the Surviving Winter section. Just make sure to have a fire pit if you don’t have one already, as well as an alternative fuel source besides wood, just in case.
5. Surviving Winter
Surviving Winter is no easy feat, though the most important thing you can remember is to Stay by your fire at all costs, and keep it going. The only reason you should leave your fire is to collect from traps, or hunt Koalefants. At worst, you may need to dig up rabbit holes to lure them out. Each Winter is more difficult than the last, and may even last longer. Winter brings with it new monsters, and less ways to get food, and the necessity of warmth.
If you’ve read the section about preparing for Winter, you know there is a way to avoid Winter entirely, though what you have to do you may find is more challenging. What you can do to avoid Winter is stay in the caves. The Surviving in the Caves section will detail more of that, but for now, all you need to know is you can destroy a sinkhole plug, and climb down into the caves. You won’t need to be warm down there.
To survive Winter, you need to have prepared for Winter, and have all of the necessary things. You can use torches and fire staffs to set things on fire in emergency situations, though you should have a torch and a hot Heat Stone with you at all times. You should equip your Winter Hat, and one of the two coats at all or most times. If you are Willow, you may find that Winter is easier, but Willow does not start fires in the cold, only in the dark. Still, you may be able to use her lighter instead of the aforementioned fire staff and torch.
You may find a hunters’ camp, which is the home of the MacTusks. They have Ice Hounds and blowdarts at their disposal, so be wary when trying to kill them. The Tam O’ Shanter is actually better than the Winter Hat, though it does not come without a price. Set up traps over Rabbit holes, and if hungry enough, dig up said holes, and cause the rabbit to become trapped, thus so you can eat it. The Koalefant also has a large bounty of meat, though is a difficult catch, so either blowdarts or a boomerang are definitely recommended.
Eventually, near the end of Winter, a huge beast dubbed the Deerclops will come. The Deerclops apparently hates civilization, and destroys structures. If led to a pig village or Spider Den, he may be apprehended, though not killed. With your help he may be able to be killed, though he is very strong, and he leaves when Summer comes anyway. It is said eating his eyeball ends Winter, though this is a myth, with no truth whatsoever to it.
6. Surviving Within The Caves
So, you’ve destroyed a plugged sinkhole, and come down into the caves. Perhaps you were trying to get away from Winter, or the hounds. Maybe you just want to check it out. Well, the golden rule of spelunking is Always bring a portable light source, and as many as possible. Another thing you should do is bring Pinecones, saplings, and Berry Bushes. They are scarce down here, and may come in handy. In the caves, it is basically eternal night, with few natural light sources. Fortunately, with a Miner Hat or a Lantern, they are refuelable, most said fuels being in the caves.
Now, you’ll want to build a Fire Pit. Build an Alchemy Engine as well, so you have access to most recipes. You may want to build a Shadow Manipulator as well. Plant most of those pinecones, bushes, and saplings very nearby. This will be your base, so you may want to build a few chests there as well. Depending on how long you’ll want to stay, you may need to build more. You may want a backpack, though you should travel lightly, as there is much in the caves.
Remember how I said the golden rule of the caves was that you should bring a portable light source. Well, another rule is Never carry meat at all. Down here, you will be killed for having meat. Let’s just say the Bunnymen are very… strict about their vegetarianism. Now, if you came down here to escape the hounds, I have some bad news. There is something similar to the hounds down here. They are called Depth Worms, and like to use your instinct of picking everything you see to their advantage. They’re like anglers, and they have a lure. Think twice before picking some things in the cave. You’ll hear rumbling before they come, though that may just be an earthquake also.
Deeper down in the caves are the Ruins, which were built by an ancient civilization. They have Thulecite, which makes some pretty cool useful things, provided you’re near their version of a Science Machine. There are many spiders down in the cave, so you must be wary. Slurpers are monsters that jump onto your head, and decrease hunger, though they can be used as a light source, so they are somewhat useful. This is about all you need to know to survive in the caves, the rest you can discover on your own. Just remember what’s been said, and you should live.
7. Thriving Late Game
Now, you’ve survived for a long time, and it’s somewhere around day 200. The game’s been getting more and more difficult, and you don’t know how to combat it. Well, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place! First thing’s first, you may want to relocate to an area around a sinkhole, for easy cave access, You’re going to want a lot of farms, and perhaps a walled in herd of Beefalo, to pick off when you’re hungry. Besides that, you’re going to want either Stone, Marble, or Thulecite walls, and lots of them. Make a rather large area around the sinkhole, and surround it with the walls.
You should have your base divided into sections, for example, a farming section, a magic section, a weather section, a prototyping section, etc. I also recommend surrounding the walls of your base with Tooth Traps, and perhaps building Pig houses as well. Then you can break down a wall, and exit to collect what’s left of the attackers. You should have a lot of Bee Boxes and Crock pots, that way you are able to make many meals at once. You may want many Ice boxes and Chests as well, for keeping food from spoiling, and storage.
Try to have the best armor and weapons possible, just in case your defenses are somehow breached. I recommend having quite a few Fire Pits, possibly one per section, so you can be productive at Night as well. Perhaps use some Lure Plants, to harvest things for you. Use these sparingly, as there is a risk of losing your things, or eyeplant overgrowth. You may want to grow a forest inside your walls, so you don’t have to leave. Move Berry Bushes, Saplings, and Grass as well, so you aren’t at risk outside your base. You may even want to build your base around a rock biome, or perhaps connect it to one.
Last but not least, try to maintain a status quo. Have umbrellas and flower patches to keep sanity up, a lake to collect mosquito sacs, etc. You may want to do exciting dangerous things as well though, to keep the excitement of the game going. Just remember that you should build Meat Effigies and revival amulets just in case death is at your doorstep and you are killed. You may want to make a similar base underground near your sink hole, with Bunnyman Hutches instead of Pig Houses, or something to fend off the Depth Worms.
8. Surviving Adventure Mode
Now, while surviving Adventure Mode may seem like the same as the rest on this list, it’s actually a whole different process. Firstly, when going through the gate, you should bring what you suspect you’ll most need. You can’t bring very much at all, so it may be a rather hard decision. Usually the title of each chapter can usually give you a good idea of what will happen, and what you’ll need to do to prepare. What Maxwell says may also give you a good idea of what will happen so read it thoroughly.
Make sure to devote most of your time to finding the next Wooden Thing, to go to the next world. There isn’t really anything that you can’t find in Survival Mode, so try not to spend too much time gathering resources. The Divining Rod should be equipped at almost all times, as it is very helpful. The recipes you learn will be carried over when you go through to the next world, so it’s easier to get started.
You should never build a fire pit, as it’s a waste of resources. Campfires are much more efficient when you plan to move around a lot. Torches are useful things, and are easy to make, though you can’t use them with the Divining Rod, so it is recommended that you take the Miner Hat, which you equip on your head, leaving your hands free. Your Clockwork foes may become a problem, so you should probably take armor and weapons through, as it will help you. You cannot take the Eyebone or the Divining Rod through, so be warned. Each world has a gimmick that makes them difficult.
Try to sleep through the night, if you don’t plan on searching while it’s dark, or you don’t have the Miner Hat. Another very important thing is that you should remember the tips from the other sections, some worlds may require them more than others. When in doubt of a world’s gimmick, you should probably go to the next Wooden Thing as soon as possible, as ignorance is a very dangerous thing here, and you may be in danger.
A good suggestion on the four things to bring to the next worlds are something for battle, something for night, something for sanity, and something for winter. Resources are usually easy to get, and you only have to prototype recipes once in one world. Even if you die in Adventure Mode, you’ll only be taken back to your original world, and you have to start Adventure Mode over.
9. Character Analysis
WARNING: There will be spoilers, so if you don’t want to know all of the characters and want to learn about them yourself, stop reading now! Alright, now that I have that out of the way, we can begin analyzing the characters, and discovering their talents. This section will not be like the other sections, as it will be more… opinionated than the others, though it it based on fact.
Wilson: Wilson is the starting character, and easily the most well balanced character in the game. His only special ability is his ability to grow a beard, which isn’t very helpful until later in the game, when, for example you want to be revived. Even then, there are other methods for survival. Still, there are some other uses for Beard Hair. Though even with his lack of the extraordinary, he is at least my second favorite character, and the best character for beginners. I’d rate him 7/10, in terms of usefulness.
Willow: Willow is the second character you unlock, although she is the first character with ‘powers’. She starts the game with a lighter, which you can burn things with. Other than that, she starts fires in the darkness, and when insane. Her ability is rather useful, and pretty much renders Charlie (The Night Monster) completely ineffective. So, her rating, at least in terms of usefulness would probably be 6/10. She isn’t very balanced, as she can set entire bases on fire when she’s insane.
Wolfgang: Wolfgang is the third character you unlock. He’s not very balanced at all, as most playthroughs with him end up being much too difficult, or much too easy, depending on how it’s played. He’s the strongest character with the most health and hunger. He has a few stages of mightiness, which depend on how full his stomach is. It affects how much damage he does. Overall, in usefulness, I’d rate him a 6/10.
Wendy: Wendy is the fourth character you unlock, and my third favorite character. Her powers revolve around her dead sister, Abigail. Wendy begins the game with Abigail’s Flower, which can be set down. After that, you must kill an animal or monster in the vicinity to summon Abigail. Abigail kills monsters, and actually counts as a light source, though a difficult to use one. Abigail herself is very strong, and only despawns when killed. In usefulness, I could easily rate Wendy an 8.5/10.
WX-78 WX-78 is an automaton, and the fifth unlockable character. Food spoilage doesn’t affect him, as long as the food hasn’t become rot. When hit by lightning, he is supercharged, though rain damages him and creates sparks, even when not supercharged. The Sparks illuminate the area, as he does as well when supercharged. He can be upgraded with gears, to eventually become stronger than even Wolfgang, though he starts out weaker. I would rate him 7/10 in usefulness.
Wickerbottom: Wickerbottom can create books that do magical things, though she is unable to sleep. Eating spoiled food restores less hunger, health, and sanity than it does for other characters. She is unable to sleep, though does not require a Science Machine. She is the sixth character to be unlocked, and I’d rate her an 8/10, as she’s well balanced.
Woodie: Woodie is the seventh, and last character to be unlocked, at least through experience. He is my favorite character, and has a talking axe that never breaks, and chops wood faster than a normal axe. If he chops too much wood, he turns into a Werebeaver, which combines all meters into the log meter, and causes him to drop his inventory. He reverts back to himself when his log meter runs out. The one way to refill the log meter is to eat things like logs, grass, twigs, etc. Overall, I’d rate him 8.5/10 in usefulness, the only thing keeping him from 10 is he’s somewhat unbalanced.
Wes: Wes is unlockable through adventure mode, and is basically hard mode. He can’t talk, so he doesn’t give the player hints, and he has the lowest health, hunger, and sanity of all the characters. He does the least damage. His only ‘helpful’ perk is making balloon animals, which doesn’t do much of anything. I’d rate him 5/10 in usefulness, though 8/10 in concept, as he was designed to be hard mode.
Maxwell: Yeah, now this is why I put a spoiler alert up top. Maxwell starts the game with the Codex Umbra, latin for Book of Shadows. He is unlocked in Adventure Mode. He also starts with a Dark Sword, Night Armor, Purple Gem, and 4 Nightmare Fuel. He has less health than most characters, though naturally gains sanity over time. The Codex Umbra helps him summon Shadow puppets, which costs 2 Nightmare Fuel, and 15 health. It decreases maximum sanity by 55. A Shadow dies after 2.5 days, and restores the 55 sanity back. Overall I’d rate Maxwell 9/10, in usefulness.