So you’ve collected resources all Autumn, made and expanded your base during Winter, caught up on everything else you missed in Spring, but what do you do in Summer?
Summer is prevalent in all versions of Don’t Starve (DS, RoG & DST) and lasts 20 Days in the single-player base version of Don’t Starve, but lasts only 16 days in Reign of Giants (single-player) and Don’t Starve Together.
Although many folks consider Summer to be the toughest season to survive in while playing RoG and DST, I personally find Summer to be extremely manageable, especially if you spend it in the caves or the right biomes.
Similar to Winter and Spring, Summer comes with its own set of world changes, though unlike Spring and Winter, all food resources are available during Summer.
The following guide will take you through all the changes that take place during Summer and some of the most ideal strategies players may want to take during this season.
HOW DO YOU TELL IF IT IS SUMMER IN DON’T STARVE?
It can be difficult to tell what season you are in when you do not have client mods running while playing Don’t Starve or Don’t Starve Together.
Since there are only two seasons in the base game of Don’t Starve it is fairly easy to tell whether you are in Summer or Winter, simply due to the lack of snow! However, if players are playing Don’t Starve Reign of Giants or Don’t Starve Together they will have to take notice of the sepia tone their world will take on.
In Summer, days are going to be longest, dusk will be the shortest and night will remain similar. Due to the shortened dusk phases, Sanity should be less of a problem.
OVERHEATING (DON’T STARVE, REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
Similar to Freezing in Winter, players will be at risk of Overheating in Summer. Also similar to how players deal with Winter, the best method of keeping cool is by using a Thermal Stone.
Some characters are more prone to Overheating, such as Wilson and Webber when they have their beards, as well as Woodie.
Unfortunately, Wormwood is also prone to Overheating and fire damage, so be extra careful with him in Summer.
On the flip side, characters like Willow have 30 Insulation from heat. So, enjoy those extra few seconds of staying cool!
Were Wilba, and Woodie in his Were Beaver form are both immune from Overheating.
Overheating will cause players to take damage, so make sure that you have yourself protected by one of the following resources/Structures:
ENDOTHERMIC FIRES
As you may have already guessed, players will not be able to cool off by chilling next to a regular Campfires or Fire Pits. Instead, players will have to build either Endothermic Fires (3 Cut Grass and 2 Nitre), which act very similar to Campfires, or Endothermic Fire Pits (4 Cut Stone, 2 Nitre and 2 Electrical Doodads), which are similar to regular Fire Pits.
I would recommend building Endothermic Fire Pits in your bases and avoid building Endothermic Fires as they are not permanent Structures.
Endothermic Fire (Pits) will reduce a player’s temperature and cool down Thermal Stones, allowing players to travel throughout The Constant without the fear of overheating.
Note: Players will not be able to cook on an Endothermic Fire or Endothermic Fire Pit, instead players should spark a small Fire in their regular Fire Pit to quickly cook and return standing by the Endothermic Fire.
DRESS/CLOTHING
There are a few pieces of dress players can use to avoid Overheating The following are the Dress Items you can use to cool down:
Eyebrella (15 Twigs, 4 Bone Shards and 1 Deerclops Eyeball). I absolutely love the Eyebrella as it can be fairly game-breaking for both Spring and Summer. The Eyebrella provides 240 points of Heat Protection, which should keep you safe from Overheating for a full day if the player is completely cooled down by an Endothermic Fire.
Ice Cube (10 Ice, 4 Ropes and 2 Electrical Doodads). Lasting for 8 days, this DST exclusive item helps prevent Overheating for 240 points of Heat Protection, reducing the player’s body temperature by 40°C, increasing the players’ Wetness to a maximum of 50 and reducing a player’s walking speed by 10%. Players can replenish the Ice Cube by using Ice, making it one of the easiest ways to cool off. Placing the Ice Cube in an Ice Box will stop it from melting. Maxwell is the character who benefits the most from Ice Cubes as Maxwell does not lose any Sanity from its Wetness.
Fashion Melon (3 Twigs and 1 Watermelon). Similar to the Ice Cube the Fashion Melon will rot within 3 days, reduces a player’s Sanity by 2 per minute and raises a player’s wetness up to a maximum of 33. WX-78 should not use a Fashion Melon as they will take 6-10 damage per minute.
Chilled Amulet (3 Gold Nuggets and 1 Blue Gem). The Chilled Amulet requires an Ancient Pseudoscience Station to prototype and provides players with 2 Sanity per minute and will lower a player’s temperature to -20°C, lasting for a maximum of 6 minutes. If Mobs attack players wearing the Chilled Amulet it will freeze them for the cost of 3% durability. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of using it.
EATING FOOD
Players can use food to help them cool off to 1°C for a short period of time. These foods include:
Watermelon: 5 seconds
Fruit Medley: 5 seconds
Ice: 7.5 seconds
Melonsicle: 10 seconds
- Recipe: 1 Water Melon, 1 Ice, 1 Twig and 1 Filler. Cannot contain Meat, Vegetables or Eggs.
Ice Cream: 15 seconds
- Recipe: 1 Ice, 1 Dairy Product, 1 Sweetener and 1 Filler. Cannot contain Meats, Vegetables, Eggs or Twigs.
ICE BOXES
If players do not have the resources required to construct Endothermic Fires they can use Ice Boxes to help cool down Thermal Stones. In my opinion, Ice Boxes are the worst way to cool down your temperature.
I only use Ice Boxes for Thermal Stone cooling in bases that are far away from where I currently am. That way I can trade out the Thermal Stone I’m currently using, which would be warm(er) by the time I reach the satellite base.
At the end of the day, Endothermic Fires are still the fastest way to cool down both Thermal Stones and the player.
Players can quickly use Ice to cool themselves down for the trade-off of Wetness.
SNOW CHESTER
The only other option when it comes to cooling down Thermal Stones is by using Snow Chester, which requires 9 Blue Gems.
Although Snow Chester is an expensive investment, he is shockingly useful in Summer, providing a slower rot speed on food and also allowing players to always store an extra cold Thermal Stone.
Players can rotate Thermal Stones over and over again, making it pretty impossible to Overheat.
Snow Chester virtually makes Endothermic Fires, Ice Boxes and clothing unnecessary in Summer.
If you don’t know about Chester’s transformations, I definitely recommend giving my Chester guide a quick read to make use of his invaluable perks.
MOON CALLER’S STAFF (DST)
Players can use a Moon Caller’s Staff to help cool them down, but in reality, you’re not going to be doing this during your first Summer.
Players must first prototype a Star Caller’s Staff and place it in a Moon Stone during a Full Moon. At this time Werepigs and Hounds will be summoned and must be killed before they stop the transformation.
Players will only need one Moon Caller’s Staff for 6 Summers but will lose 20 Sanity per each Polar Light it summons. Each Polar Light will last 2 days before it is extinguished.
Players can keep the Moon Caller’s Staff in the Moon Stone to create a permanent Polar Light. Leaving the Moon Caller’s Staff in the Moon Stone will not use any durability.
Be aware, if you are using Polar Lights to cool down that you are still at risk of Freezing, so watch your temperature.
USING A FAN
Players can quickly use a Luxury Fan, or a Lucky Fan (DST) to drop their body temperature quickly, but I would recommend saving these for fires.
Ignore the Whirly Fan, as cute as it is… it’s not going to do you much good. If you’re overly desperate use a Whirly Fan while running under Trees as shade will help you cool off a bit. In my opinion, this is a waste of time, but it can obviously be a lifesaver.
WELCOME THE RED HOUNDS (DON’T STARVE, REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
During Summer players will have access to Red Hound waves which will occasionally drop Red Gems.
Red Hounds, also called Hellhounds, Flame Hounds or Fire Hounds, are less vulnerable to Ice Staffs and upon death will start 3 large fires that burn for a minimum of two 5 seconds. Due to how quickly Red Hounds burst into flames, players are at risk of losing all the loot dropped by said Hounds.
I would recommend having a Walking Cane on hand when dealing with Red Hounds as it will raise the chances of avoiding the fires caused by the Hounds and will also help you grab items quickly before they turn to Ashes.
Red Hounds will always drop 1 Monster Meat and 1 Hound’s Tooth, the latter being useful for the Dapper Vest, Tooth Traps, Blow Darts, and most notably Sewing Kits.
Red Hounds are completely immune to Fire Staffs and Fire Darts, so don’t waste your time using these mid-tier items.
WHAT DO YOU USE RED GEMS FOR?
If players are lucky enough to get a Red Gem drop they can easily craft a Fire Staff, Night Light, Life-Giving Amulet and Scaled Furnaces.
Wickerbottom players can also craft The End is Nigh, which is a book that will summon 16 Lightning bolts upon use. I would recommend crafting this book and using it in conjunction with Wickerbottom’s Birds of the World.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN (DON’T STARVE, REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
Although all seasons in Don’t Starve (RoG & DST), except for Winter, have the chance of rain, Summer is the only season that has the chance of rain in the base version of Don’t Starve.
During Summer rainfalls, similar to Spring, crops will grow faster. The reality is, even if it’s not raining during Summer, crops tend to grow faster, simply due to the amount of daytime there is.
If you’re playing the base game of Don’t Starve chances are you’re going to want an Umbrella and Lightning Rods to avoid losing Sanity or wildfires from Lightning Strikes.
RED BIRDS ARE AVAILABLE IN SUMMER (DON’T STARVE, REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
Summer is the only season in which Redbirds appear. Redbirds have a 50% chance to drop a Crimson Feather which can be used for Fire Darts, Feather Hats, Summer Frests (DST), or Crimson Quill Floats (DST).
IS THE SUMMER FREST USEFUL?
In my opinion, a Summer Frest (3 Crimson Feathers, 2 Pig Skins and 1 Rope) is the most interesting use for Crimson Feathers as it provides players with 120 points of Heat Protection.
Although a Summer Frest is not the best way to protect yourself from the scorching effects of Summer, it is fairly cheap/easy to prototype and can be a useful start for new players.
IS THE FEATHER HAT USEFUL?
If you are not playing Wickerbottom or do not have a Wickerbottom on your server, players may want to prototype themselves a Feather Hat (3 Jet Feathers, 2 Crimson Feathers and 2 Tentacle Spots) which will attract more birds to land on the ground.
According to the Fandom Wiki, 7 Birds may land within a 2-10 second period. In reality, players will want to pair this up with a Lureplant/Eyeplants or may want to simply use it to summon the Critter, Giblet.
ARE FIRE DARTS USEFUL?
It can be tempting to craft Fire Darts (2 Cut Reeds, 1 Charcoal and 1 Crimson Feather) in hopes of using them against Mobs, though I personally stay away from using them. Fire Darts deal 0 initial damage but can cause a maximum of 120 fire damage.
If Mobs are killed by fire damage they will drop a cooked version of their Meat, but the majority of their other drops will be turned to Ash. In my opinion, using Fire Darts is risky, unless attacking a Mob who has extremely high health.
I would recommend focussing on building Blow Darts instead, which can only be crafted with Snowbirds in Winter.
PLANTS WITHER & WILT IN SUMMER (REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
During Summer, Saplings, Berry Bushes, and any other plants will require players to either fertilize them with Manure or Rot or with an Ice Flingomatic.
In my opinion, using Ice Flingomatics is by far the best way to deal with wilted plants as Ice Flingomatics can rehydrate wilted plants with less resource wasted.
Basic Farms and Improved Farms are unaffected by Summer and are considered to be one of the best ways to get fillers or the most ideal food Dragon Pies.
Plants will automatically rehydrate themselves a few days into Autumn, so don’t feel obliged to fertilize any leftover plants, especially if they are not part of your main resource farm.
In many cases, players will have enough resources and food to survive the whole Summer or may need to rehydrate/fertilize plants a single time. Again, players who are using Wickerbottom will have no problem at all with resources.
STAY OUT OF THE TENT! (DON’T STARVE TOGETHER & REIGN OF GIANTS)
While Tents can be extremely useful in Winter, players will want to stick to using a Siesta Lean-to (4 Planks, 3 Ropes and 2 Silk) in Summer as it will reduce a player’s temperature to a breezy 15 °C if the player’s body temperature is above 35°C (RoG) or 40°C (DST). Unlike Tents, players must sleep in a Siesta Lean-to during the day.
The Siesta Lean-to will restore 60 Health and 50 Sanity for the cost of 25 Hunger in single-player Reign of Giants. Alternatively, players will receive 2 Health and 1 Sanity per second for the cost of 0.33 Hunger per second.
As a precaution, it’s a good idea to have a few Siesta Lean-tos pre-built around the world to ensure that you do not die from Overheating.
Just like the Tent, Wickerbottom will be unable to sleep in a Siesta Lean-to.
WILDFIRES (DON’T STARVE TOGETHER & REIGN OF GIANTS)
Get ready for one of the most annoying aspects of Summer, Wildfires! Due to how hot and dry Summer is, players will experience bouts of Wildfires that will set plants, Structures, and Mobs of fire. Nothing is really safe during Summer unless players build Ice Flingomatics to protect their base.
Ice Flingomatics can be built using 15 Ice, 2 Gears and 2 Electrical Doodads (4 Gold and 2 Cut Stone) and must be fueled every 5 days. The Ice Flingomatic can be fueled with Nitre, Logs, Rot, Manure, and Beefalo Wool. To be honest, there isn’t much the Ice Flingomatic can’t be fueled with.
Turning off Ice Flingomatics, or putting them in Emergency Mode, will help conserve fuel. Watch out, because in single-player RoG, turning off an Ice Flingomatic will leave your base vulnerable, while in DST Emergency Mode will cause the Ice Flingomatic to only turn on when there is a fire threat to your base.
Otherwise, the Ice Flingomatic will attack birds, will rehydrate withered plants and sometimes even attack Birds.
To be honest, the issue with Wildfires isn’t usually the base, it’s usually when players are in unprotected areas, such as forests or biomes that require them to travel to collect a certain resource, like the Swamp biome.
The only area in The Constant that is immune to Wildfires is the Oasis Desert biome. Players can hunker down in the whole Oasis Desert and don’t have to just stay by the Oasis itself. So get to building a megabase! It’s extremely safe and comes with no fire-starting penalties!
I highly recommend camping out in the Oasis Desert, especially because the first Summer will require you to fish in the Oasis to get the Blueprints for Desert Goggles and Fashion Goggles, which are a necessity for killing the Antlion. Unfortunately, the Oasis’ Lake is only filled during Summer, making an Oasis megabase even more appealing.
Smouldering can also be stopped by using Ice, Fertilizers, an Ice Staff, a Luxury Fan (5 Down Feathers, 2 Cut Reeds and 2 Ropes), Water Balloons (DST) or manually by hand. The mentioned methods to stop Smouldering, except your hands, can also be used to turn off Fires.
FOOD ROTS FASTER IN SUMMER (DON’T STARVE TOGETHER & REIGN OF GIANTS)
Although it’s not much, food rots 25% faster in Summer, though this can be easily combatted with Snow Chester, Ice Boxes, or even Bundling Wrap.
I would recommend only taking a few pieces of unbundled food at a time while travelling around in Summer and doing the majority of your extended exploration during calmer seasons like Autumn. The other option, if you have a plethora of Gears, is to set up multiple bases with Ice Boxes, Pig Houses and other resources to ensure that you always have a way to cook food nearby.
At the end of the day, many foods have a long decay time, so players shouldn’t run into any problems with starving, especially by the time Summer rolls around.
CACTUSES BLOOM IN SUMMER (REIGN OF GIANTS & DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
Cactuses are arguably one of the most useful resources in Don’t Starve unless you’re playing Wigfrid.
CACTUS FLOWERS
While players will benefit from the Sanity from Cooked Cactus Flesh, players can also collect Cactus Flowers in Summer. Cactus Flowers give 12.5 Hunger, 5 Sanity and 8 Health when consumed raw.
Players can also combine 4 Cactus Flowers in a Crockpot to receive a Flower Salad that provides 40 Health, though Flower Salad will still only provide 12.5 Hunger and 5 Sanity.
Flower Salads are great for quick Healing, but I would recommend eating raw Cactus Flowers if you want to benefit in all ways.
THE FLORAL SHIRT (FOR OVERHEATING)
Players can also use Cactus Flowers to prototype a Floral Shirt (5 Cactus Flowers, 3 Silk, 3 Papyrus) to receive 240 points of Heat Protection. Unlike many other outfits, Floral Shirts cannot be repaired with Sewing Kits and will rot after 15 days (or 12 days in Summer.)
TYPES OF CACTI/CACTUSES (DST)
There are two different types of Cacti/Cactuses in DST. The first type of Cactus is round and can be found in a regular Desert biome and are often a sign that the Dragonfly is near. The second type of Cactus looks like a typical depiction of a Cactus, including a few arms, these Cactuses symbolize that you are in the Oasis Desert biome, which is also the home of the Antlion.
Both types of Cactus provide the same resources, however, as mentioned they can be helpful when trying to differentiate between the two bosses.
THE DRAGONFLY (SUMMER GIANT IN REIGN OF GIANTS)
While the Dragonfly is a boss that appears all year round in Don’t Starve Together, it only appears during Summer while playing Reign of Giants.
There’s a lot to killing the Dragonfly and I would recommend reading this guide before attempting it.
THE ANTLION (SUMMER SEASONAL BOSS IN DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
Arguably the easiest of all the seasonal boss is the Antlion. The Antlion will rise up from the desert sands on the second day of Summer and will summon a Sandstorm to signify that it has arisen.
The Sandstorm will only affect the Oasis Desert biome, however, it can be dealt with by prototyping Desert Goggles.
HOW TO “PREVENT” SANDSTORMS
Players will be required to fish in the Oasis in hopes of receiving the blueprints for Fashion Goggles and Desert Goggles. Both blueprints are necessary as Fashion Goggles are required to prototype Desert Goggles.
Upon prototyping Desert Goggles, players will be able to avoid all debuffs from the Sandstorm. Players can also choose to make their way around the Oasis Desert without Desert Goggles, though they will move 60% slower and will have a limited field of vision.
Sandstorms will also cease during rainfall, which will also cause the Antlion to burrow itself into the ground.
SINKHOLES & CAVE-INS
The Antlion is an angry beast who becomes displeased every 6 days unless appeased. When the timer runs out the Antlion will create between 2-5 Sinkholes on the surface world or 6-10 boulders in the Caves. The first enrage timer will take place on the 4th day of Summer and a maximum of 2 players will be targetted by the enrage.
Sinkholes are craters that destroy Structures and damage players whenever they are formed. When Sinkholes are walked over, players will walk slowly on them and players will not be able to build another Structure on them until they are fully repaired.
Sinkholes will begin to self-repair after 21 or 22 days and will take up to 11 full days to repair. There is no way to help increase the speed of Sinkhole repair.
Cave-ins will happen at the same time as Sinkholes, though players must be in the Caves for them to take place. Cave-ins will drop Boulders in various locations, also destroying Structures and damaging players if Boulders land on them.
Players can either move Boulders by carrying them or by breaking them with a Pickaxe.
APPEASING THE ANTLION
The Antlion can be appeased by feeding it a series of Trinkets or Gravedigger items. Upon feeding the Antlion a Trinket the Antlion will provide the player with a Desert Stone as well as will delay the time it will take for Sinkholes to appear on the surface or for Cave-ins to happen in the Caves.
Players can continuously appease the Antlion for the whole Summer if they do not want to deal with it or are not ready to battle it.
Other than Trinkets, players can also appease the Antlion by feeding it Rocks, Eggs, Cut Stone or Thermal Stones that are in stage 2 or 3. Players will not receive Desert Stones if they appease the Antlion with Rocks or Cut Stone.
Players can only delay the enrage timer by 6 days, though they can return to the Antlion to continue to appease the Antlion.
HOW TO ENRAGE THE ANTLION
Unlike other seasonal bosses, the Antlion must be enraged before players are able to attack or defeat it. To enrage the Antlion players must surrender a Thermal Stone that is in stage 1, 4 or 5. Depending on what stage the Thermal Stone is in, the Antlion with either Smoulder or Freeze.
Once the Antlion is enraged it will begin to trap players between Sand Castles and will summon Sand Spikes, which deal between 50-100 damage per hit, depending on their size.
During the battle, the Antlion can heal itself by 200 if it has a chance to eat rocks. Players can interrupt the Antlion from eating by attacking it.
SHOULD I USE MOBS TO FIGHT THE ANTLION?
In my opinion, I would avoid using Mobs to help assist you in the battle against the Antlion as they have difficulty kiting the Sand Spikes and will take double the damage from them.
In reality, players shouldn’t even need the help of Mobs because of how easy it is to dodge Sand Spikes.
If you’re having difficulty killing the Antlion, I would recommend using Gunpowder since the Antlion will not be able to move away from the explosions. Set up the Gunpowder before enraging the Antlion.
WHAT DO I GET FOR KILLING THE ANTLION?
Once a player has killed the Antlion, they will receive 6-8 Desert Stones, 4 Meat, 2-4 Rocks, some Trinkets and a Lazy Deserter Blueprint.
WHAT IS THE LAZY DESERTER?
The Lazy Deserter can be prototyped with 3 Cut Stone, 1 Desert Stone and 1 Orange Moonlens.
Lazy Deserters can be used to help teleport players to other players. Teleporting can be initiated in two ways, by using multiple Lazy Deserters or by consuming a Desert Stone.
To initiate teleportation, have a player activate The Lazy Deserter which you’d like to teleport to. Upon activating The Lazy Deserter, players will lose 15 Sanity and will continue to drain 50 Sanity per minute until the second person either activates a separate Lazy Deserter or right-clicks a Desert Stone in their inventory.
Upon completing the channelling process, players who teleport will lose 50 Sanity and will join the player who first engaged with The Lazy Deserter.
I would recommend building a Lazy Deserter at each base you set up to ensure that you can easily teleport between them. Avoid using Desert Stones to teleport, unless you do not have enough Orange Gems to set up Lazy Deserters or because you have a surplus of Desert Stones.
Every Summer I would recommend trading a good amount of Trinkets with the Antlion to ensure that your supply of Desert Stones stays full. It’s a good idea to have at least a stack or two of Desert Stones, especially if you have more than 4 players on your server.
ALTERNATE WAYS OF RECEIVING THE LAZY DESERTER BLUEPRINT
If players hand over a Beach Toy to the Antlion, it will surrender the Blueprints for the Lazy Deserter, making it unnecessary to defeat the Antlion.
The only other way to receive the Lazy Deserter Blueprint is by receiving it from a Loot Stash after killing Klaus during Winter.
GLASS CASTLES & GLASS SPIKES
As a hidden secret, players can attack the Sand Spikes or Sand Castles with a torch or Willow’s Lighter to turn them into glass. Glass Castles and Glass Spikes have no purpose other than decoration.
Similar to Suspicious Marble Pieces or Chess Pieces, Glass Castles and Glass Spikes can only be carried and cannot be placed in the player’s inventory.
Glass Castles and Glass Spikes will reduce the player’s speed once picked up and will require the player’s Chest slot.
I have to admit, the Glass Castles are really cute, but I would recommend waiting until you have a Beefalo trained before you move these heavy structures.
Warning: Glass Castles and Glass Spikes can be destroyed if the Antlion summons another set or with a Hammer. If you’re trying to farm Glass Castles or Glass Spikes make sure you move them shortly out of the summoning radius. Friends can come in extra handy since can help you farm a great deal of them by moving them as soon as you “melt” them.
Finn.ng says
Nice post. For me, caves are always the best way to survive the summer. No more hounds, overheating =)))