Wurt is undeniably one of the cutest characters in Don’t Starve Together (DST). Yes, you heard me, Wurt is only in Don’t Starve Together!
Players can unlock Wurt for free by using 2700 Spools. Wurt is also free for players who purchase the Don’t Starve Megapack Bundle, Starter Pack or players can directly purchase Wurt in the Wurt Chest or Wurt Deluxe Chest.
So why waste your time on Wurt when she looks so much like a Webber wannabe? Well, Wurt comes with a bunch of perks that affect swamp gameplay as well as gameplay that affects Merms. But let’s get to chatting about why I prefer Wurt gameplay to Webber gameplay.
WURT’S STATS
Hunger: 200 to 250
Sanity: 150 or 200
Health: 150 or 250
Speed Modifier: 1x or 1.3x
WURT IS A VEGETARIAN
Having a character with a limited diet can suck, especially if that diet messes with your favourite way of healing. While Wurt isn’t as difficult to feed as Wormwood or Wigfrid who, in reality, aren’t that difficult to maintain, Wurt is a grade-A vegetarian.
Wurt will gain 33% extra Hunger from any Fruits, Vegetables or Butterfly Wings (since I guess they’re “Flowers”) Wurt can also eat Durians and all forms of Kelp Fronds with no Health or Sanity loss. Durians will also receive a 60% Hunger boost, feeding Wurt by 40.
Foods that I like eating as Wurt are Pumpkins, Fist Full of Jam, Dragon Pies Ratatouille and obviously Durians, since no other players should eat them, will other than Wormwood.
Butter Muffins and Trail Mix are one of the best forms of healing for Wurt as they are considered vegetarian and provide players with 20 and 30 Health.
If you have a surplus of Meat, I recommend building yourself a Bird Cage to convert the Meat into Eggs.
WURT SHOULDN’T STRUGGLE FROM SANITY
Certain characters like Maxwell shouldn’t suffer from Sanity loss, and Wurt is right there with him! Wurt can keep a Fish, Eel or Ocean Fish in her inventory to gain 3.3 Sanity per minute. It’s important to note that Wurt does not receive extra Sanity for having multiple live fish in her inventory.
On the flip side, Wurt will lose 4.4 Sanity if she is holding Fish Meat, Fish Morsels or Spoiled Fish.
Wurt can also read Wickerbottom’s books to manage her Sanity. Though reading books will not activate the spell associated the book will consume a use. The following is the Sanity gain or loss books will cause Wurt:
Book Title | Sanity Change |
Birds of the World | +50 Sanity |
On Tentacles | +50 Sanity |
Sleepytime Stories | +33 Sanity |
The End is Nigh! | -33 Sanity |
Applied Horticulture | -33 Sanity |
WURT HAS ACCESS TO THE KING OF THE MERMS
Any Don’t Starve Together player is going to tell you that you should take advantage of the Pig King in any way that you can, but can the same thing be said about the King of the Merms?
Wurt players, similar to Wigfrid, Winona, Willow, and Webber players, have access to new crafting recipes, though Wurt does not receive a new crafting tab. Instead, Wurt players can craft the DIY Royalty Kit and Royal Tapestry in the Structures Tab. Unlike many other character exclusive crafting recipes, Wurt must have a Science Machine to initially prototype these builds.
WURT CAN CRAFT MARSH TURF
As many of Wurt’s structures will require placement on Marsh Turf, Wurt has access to the crafting recipe for this terrain.
Players will require an Alchemy Engine, 2 Rot and 1 Cut Reed to craft the Marsh Tuft.
HOW TO SPAWN THE KING OF THE MERMS
First, Wurt players must surrender 5 Boards (total of 20 Logs) and 5 Ropes (15 Cut Grass) to craft the DIY Royalty Kit. Players will only be able to place the DIY Royalty Kit on MarshTurf, which can also be made by Wurt using 2 Rot and 1 Cut Reed.
The DIY Royalty Kity is utterly useless to Wurt players if it is not upgraded to the Royal Tapestry. The Royal Tapestry requires 20 Kelp Fronds, which are harvested from Bull Kelp Plants in the Ocean or the Rocky Beach Biome. Unfortunately, Kelp Fronds alone cause the Royal Tapestry to become more of a mid-to-late-game item. Players will also need 15 Beefalo Wool and 10 Pig Skin to complete the Royal Tapestry. Players can throw said items on the DIY Royalty Kit to activate the Royal Tapestry
Upon crafting the Royal Tapestry, players must locate or craft a Merm who will sit on the Royal Tapestry. Once a player feeds the Merm a food or foods that are equal to 40 Hunger, the Merm will transform into the King of the Merms.
Since players will need high amounts of Kelp Fronds, I recommend heading to the Lunar Island to grab some Bull Kelp Stalks so you can plant them in your base. Use these as a regular supply of Kelp Fronds, especially as you’re just getting set up.
THE KING OF THE MERMS & LOYAL MERM GUARD STATS
The King of the Merms has a total of 1000 Health and regenerates 2 Health per second when attacked. Although the King of the Merms doesn’t attack enemies, he will spawn a maximum of 4 Loyal Merm Guards when he is attacked. Loyal Merm Guards will disappear once the hostile mob is out of range or has been killed. If a Loyal Merm Guard is killed, it will take one day to respawn.
Loyal Merm Guards have 660 Health and cause 50 damage when the King of the Merms is alive; however, if the King of the Merms is killed while Loyal Merm Guards are still active their Health will be reduced to 200 and damage will be reduced to 20. Moral of the story? Try to keep the King of the Merms alive!
When the King of the Merms is alive, all regular Merms will also receive a stat boost. Merms will go from having 500 Health to 560 and from 30 damage to 40. There is no range limit on this buff; however, if the King of the Merms is killed all Merms will return back to normal.
HOW TO STAY SAFE AROUND MERMS
All Merms and Loyal Merm Guards will be neutral to all characters in Don’t Starve Together if the King of the Merms is alive. Non-Wurt players can also use a Clever Disguise to stay safe from Merms. Clever Disguises require 2 Twigs, 1 Freshwater Fish and 1 Cut Reed. Wurt is the only character who can craft a Clever Disguise and it can be found in the Dress Tab. Clever Disguises will also keep players safe from Bunnymen.
WURT GAINS STATS FROM THE KING OF THE MERMS
As you might have guessed, Mobs aren’t the only things buffed while the King of the Merms is alive as Wurt also gains 50 Hunger, 50 Sanity and 100 Health.
While having extra Sanity and Hunger isn’t the most crucial buff players can receive, getting a bonus 100 Health comes in very helpful in Don’t Starve Together. Although Wurt technically doesn’t have the highest Health in DST, 250 Health is above the average character’s health.
While Wurt is empowered she will change her appearance as below:
KEEP THE KING OF THE MERM FED OR HE DIES
The King of the Merms has a total of 200 Hunger and starves after 4 Days. At that point, the King of the Merms’ Health will deplete after 2 days. Players can see how hungry the King of the Merms is from the following text dialogues:
Hunger | Dialogue |
190+ | Have done well. Now go. |
100-190 | King feeling a bit peckish… |
50-99 | King desires food! |
12-49 | What take so long? Make offerings to your King! |
1-19 | Treachery… villainy! To let King waste away like this… |
0 | Hungry… HUNGRY! HUNGRYYYY!!! |
YOU CAN TRADE WITH THE KING OF THE MERMS
It can be annoying not being able to trade with the Pig King as a Monster like Webber and Wortox, but it seems like Wurt gets the best of both worlds. While Wurt cannot trade with the Pig King, she can trade with the King of Merms who can provide Wurt with Trinkets to trade to the Pig King. If you want to take advantage of this make sure that someone on your server is not a Monster or else you’re just going to have extra garbage lying around!
Wurt or players wearing a Clever Disguise can give the King of the Merms different types of fish (Freshwater Fish, Live Eels or Ocean Fishes) for the following resources:
Items | Drop Chance | Number of Drops | Filler Drop Chance |
Kelp Fronds | 29% | 2-4 | No |
Seeds | 14% | 4-6 | No |
Rot | 14% | 2-4 | No |
Tentacle Spots | 14% | 1 | Yes |
Trinkets (Air Unfreshener, Bent Spork, Desiccated Tentacle, Gord’s Knot, or Gnome) | 14% | 1 | Yes |
Durian Seeds, Eggplant Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Garlic Seeds or Onion Seeds | 14% | 1-2 | Yes |
In regards to the “Filler Drop Chance” column, some gifts can also include between 2-4 extra items. Items include Seeds (67%), Kelp Fronds (16%) and Rot (16%).
WURT CAN CRAFT A TEAM OF MERMS
Being a bit of a Merm queen herself, Wurt has access to the Craftsmerm House which can be accessed in the Structures Tab. Craftsmerm Houses can only house one merm, unlike Mermhouses/Leaky Shacks which house up to four Merms.
A Craftsmerm House can only be placed on Marsh Turf, just like the Royal Tapestry and DIY Royalty Kit. To craft Craftsmerm Houses players will need 4 Planks (16 Logs), 3 Cut Reed and 2 Freshwater Fish.
The biggest downfall to Craftsmerm Houses is that they do not spawn Merms in Winter.
WURT CAN ALSO CRAFT A TEAM OF LOYAL MERM GUARDS
While the King of the Merms can spawn up to four Loyal Merm Guards, Wurt can make that team bigger by crafting herself a Merm Flort-ifications Merm Flort-ifications can be prototyped in the Structures Tab by using 5 Boards (20 Logs), 2 Spears, and 1 Tentacle Spots.
Wurt will need an Alchemy Machine to craft the Merm Flort-ifications and will spawn one Loyal Merm Guard. If a Loyal Merm Guard is killed it will respawn after 4 real-life minutes, but in the Winter they will respawn every 6 days.
WURT CAN BEFRIEND MERMS
As you probably guessed, Wurt can befriend Merms by feeding them. Merms can help players chop trees, mine boulders and fight. Players wearing the Clever Disguise are also able to befriend Merms.
WURT MOVES REALLY FAST IN THE SWAMP
While players can enjoy improved movement speed while holding a Walking Cane, Wurt players can enjoy a 1.3x speed modifier while walking on Marsh Turf.
Walking Canes will stack with this speed modifier; however, players will not receive an additional speed buff while walking on Marsh Turf and on roads.
WURT CAN SEE TENTACLES
One of the most beneficial perks of playing Wurt is knowing where Tentacles are hiding. Tentacle locations are signified by a ring on the floor and Wurt players will also be able to see the Tentacles that are spawned by Wickerbottom’s on Tentacles.
DROWNING SUCKS LESS
For those of you who are at the point of building boats and sailing to the ocean, you’re going to be happy to know that Wurt only receives 50% Wetness when back on land. Wurt will also keep all of her inventory, however, she will not keep the item in her hand slot.
FROGS ARE NEUTRAL TO WURT
For those of you who hate Frog Rain, guess who you should be playing? Wurt. While players can go hide in the Caves until the rain stops, for players who still want to get things done, Wurt is going to be your best bet.
Now, Wurt players can still find themselves in danger if they attack a single Frog, so best be careful if you’re hopping down Trees or performing any tasks that may make you swing a tool at a Frog.
The main reason being Neutral to Frogs is important for Wurt is the fact that the swamps become a lot more inhabitable by her, meaning that she can easily start a Merm base there with no worries of being killed.
While players were always able to find safe pockets in the Swamp, this allows for more survivability and options for Wurt players.
WURT DOES NOT DROP TOOLS IN THE RAIN
It can be annoying when your items and tools collect too much Wetness. While you can dry out your various items by a Fire Pit or Campfire, Wurt players can continue mining throughout Spring with no fear of dropping their tools.
It’s not the biggest buff that Wurt receives, but it sure is nice!
WHO TO PAIR WITH WURT IN DON’T STARVE TOGETHER (DST)
In all honesty, the only character I can see being useful with Wurt is Wormwood. Simply put, Wormwood is a great supply of fruits and veggies, making Wurt’s diet easy to handle. Wormwood can also supply Wurt players with an endless supply of Living Logs for Mushrooms.
WURT’S FAVOURITE FOOD (DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
If players are looking for more stats from food when it comes to Wurt, they should really feed her Durian or Extra Smelly Durian.
Instead of providing 25 Hunger, they will provide Wurt with 40 Hunger.
OVERALL THOUGHTS ON WURT
Wurt is a great addition to the Don’t Starve Together team and quite frankly I prefer her quite a bit more than Webber. Webber feels outdated, in my opinion, though I might just be biased…
Wurt isn’t an overpowered character, but her followers are more useful than overworld Spiders and it’s nice to be able to boost your stats!
So, I’m curious, what are your thoughts on the adorable Wurt? Do you like her as much as I do, or is the feeling not mutual? Let me know in the comments below!
Alice says
Thank you for the blog, I love Wurt as well <3
Zandon 16 says
Can Wurts merms attack shadow monsters?
Johnny Salib says
Unfortunately not.
Zandon 16 says
FYI frogs are now neutral to Wurt
Johnny Salib / FlamingGaymer says
oh nice! I’ll have to update this, thank you!