Don’t Starve Surviving Winter on Monster Meat Guide

Don’t Starve Surviving Winter on Monster Meat Guide by Butler of Hope

Introduction

Hello there Wilson. What’s wrong? Tried? Hurt? Hungry? And Freezing?

Has all your farms frozen over, your traps no longer catching bunnies because the rabbits are all sleeping, your newly planted berry bushes no longer growing berries?

Well then let me cook you something delicious and nutruous from everyone favourite food, Monster Meat!

Wait? What’s that Wilson? You think that Monster meat is… bad? Toxic? Poisonous even! Good for nothing! Poppycock!

While it is true that monster meat is dangerous when it isn’t properly prepared if treated right it can be a proper source of food that can fill you up in no time. The problem with monster meat, besides the fact that it does damage to both the mind and body, is that since most people don’t really know how to prepare it they usually end up giving it to their friendly neighbours the Pigs… that is until they start turning into those mean old Werepigs that is. But did you know there was a way to eat as much monster meat as you’d like without taking even the slightest bit of damage? It’s quite true Wilson, let me show you.

For this to work Wilson we need three things, a crock pot, a bird cage and of course a fresh source of monster meat.

Step 1: Getting the Crock Pot

To make this all important cooking tool we will need our good old friend the science machine! Because civilised Cooking is a science Wilson… what you didn’t know that?

Just gather up you pickaxe and your axe and go find 1 gold nugget, 4 logs and 4 rocks to build this invaluable machine. Then all you need is to go craft 3 cut stones and gather 6 twigs and 5 charcoal to make the crock pot.

Wait? What’s that? How do I find charcoal? Oh Wilson… you silly sop. All you need is to craft a simple torch and use that to set a tree on fire! Just be careful where you start your fire Wilson, otherwise it will be you that will end up getting cooked!

Step 2: Getting the meat

Now that we have our Crock Pot all we now need is some meat to put in it. Try and set up your base in an ideal spot, generally nearby a pig village as the forests nearby are always ripe with spider nests to feed our hungry belles. But wait you might ask! If we are already setting up near to a fresh source of tasty and not to mention untainted meat then why don’t we just simply eat the pigs? Why Wilson that is utterly nasty of you. Friends don’t eat friends! That’s a very Maxwell like thing to go about doing!

The reason why we want to set up near to as many Pig houses as possible my dear Wilson is so that when it comes time to hunt our meals our dear friends the pigs will lead us a… hoof. Simply approach a spider den which will spawn some of the nasty spiders, no matter what hour of the day it happens to be, who will then attempt to try and eat you! Simply run back to your piggy friends who will gladly show those mean old spiders what’s what until you’re ready to beat those nasty spiders all on your own.

When you finally feel ready to beat down the spiders all by yourself then head out and equip myself with some log armour and a spear at the very least. Two very important things you should know is that in a one on one battle Wilson, is that you can keep that mean old spider stunned by bashing him over and over but if he has friends with him you better watch out! Hitting even a single spider angers any spider who happens to catch you doing that and the bigger the nest gets the more spiders they will send out to punish you for your trespassing on their webs! And while a single spider isn’t that much of a challenge when you have a nice spear in your hands, two or more might be much more of a problem for you to handle Wilson. So when the spiders get too much for you to handle just make some nice traps and set them up so you can lead them into it or simply run away. All it takes is some grass and twigs to make them.

Healing!

Oh what’s the matter Wilson. All those spiders beating you up? Well then we can’t have that now can we?! You need our newest item the healing salve! Which thankfully we can thank our dear friends the spiders for dropping! To make this wondrous healing item we need a rock, a spider gland from killing a spider and two piles of ash. Just use the Science Machine to craft the prototype and then you can make it whenever you need it!

But what you say? How do I get Ash? Why Wilson you silly man! Just find a large stack of something burnable and easy to replace, pinecones preferably, and use the CTRl key to lay them down on the ground one at a time without actually planting them in the ground and sprouting trees. Then take your torch and set one alight! If they’re all close enough together then they should all light up and leave you some nice Ash to use for your medicinal needs. Just be careful not to simply light a full stack as that is just wasteful and be careful near those exposed flames! Also remember that Ash will blow away if left out in the wind for too long so you better go gather them quick Wilson!

Step 3: Basics of Monster Meat cooking

Now that we have our monster meat and our crock pot we can get started with some of the more basic cooking. Just place only one piece of monster meat, cooked or uncooked, into the pot with three other food like berries or carrots or possibly even mushrooms now (Thanks go to gnarlytreeman for this suggestion) and in mere moments you will have a tasty set of Meatballs to dine on. Yum, yum! A staple food source that will fill up even the hungryest Wolfgang in only two or three servings!

Step 4: Finding a bird

But wait I hear you cry! Didn’t I say that you could survive on ONLY monster meat? Why yes! Yes I did. But for that we will be needing our last item the Bird cage! This item however is the hardest of all to craft and that’s no lie! The recipe itself calls for Six gold nuggets, two sheets of Papyrus and two seeds! Papyrus you say, what’s that? Why it is an item crafted by combining Reeds found in one of the most dangerous places of all!!! The dreaded Swamps!

All manner of nasty things will be trying to kill you in the swamp my dear Wilson! Evil Tentacles! Nasty Merms! And hordes of spiders too! So be sure to wear your protective log suit before you set foot in there and don’t stop to fight anything! Just get in there and gather up the necessary 8 pieces of cut reeds you need to make your papyrus and get out of there. And if you’re lucky the horrible monsters will end up killing each other and leave for you a nice Tentacle spike for you to use.

Well now that we’ve used our mighty machines to build ourselves a nice bird cage we need to get a bird to fill that cage. Just use that large supply of silk you’ve been gathering to craft a bird trap. Then just get some seeds and head out to catch your bird. Now remember while the Pigs are nice neighbours who will gladly help fight your battles for you they also tend to eat just about anything edible left out on the floor. So it might be a good idea to set up our trap a far bit away from them to keep them from devouring the seeds we’re using to bait it. Just simply place down the trap, put some seeds in and wait for your new friend to come find you!

As soon as you’ve caught your newest friend put place him or her into the bird cage and you’re all set to survive the winter with a full belly!

Step 5: Profit!!

But how you might ask, how can a mere bird help us survive all of winter? Well here’s the secret. When you feed a bird some meat the bird will in turn lay a nice normal egg for you to eat. Any meat at all will do, even monster meat! That’s right there is no consequences whatsoever just feed you newest best friend as much monster meat as you can get your hands on to have a full supply of eggs. Just give him one meat and you will get one egg… it’s as simple as that!

But what can I make with my new supply of eggs you might ask? Well for a start you can always make your favourite meal… Meat balls! Just throw three eggs and one monster meat into your crock pot and bingo! Instant Meat Balls!

Now you have everything you need to survive winter with a full belly now Wilson.
Oh what’s that loud crashing sound coming this way? Ah… got to go! I promised to help Nice Wendy girl find her sister Abigail!

Additional tips: 

Pig houses that are too far from your base can be broken down using the hammer without angering the pigs. Use this to gather up pig skin for Football helmets or just to increase the number of Pig houses near your home. Generally you can make one house by breaking down two that you find.
Pig kings can be a great source of gold if you dig up graves.

Use ten silk to make a fancy hat, sorts out most/all sanity problems while you wear it.

Ice boxes are a great way to store monster meat to make it last longer. But it requires you to find gears to build. Clockwork knights or graves are the only source of this rare material.

Kiting an army of spiders is possible but I wouldn’t try it against warrior spiders, they can jump at you.

I’m not sure all the recipes you can make with just normal eggs so you might want to experiment to see. Worst case scenario you can get by just cooking the eggs normally.

You might want to consider making traps using gunpowder. Just make a trail leading to it using pinecones or something and light it when the enemy boss monster stands near the explosives. Remember you need rotten eggs to make it.

Beware of werepigs. Friends don’t let friends turn into monsters.

Don’t attack spider nests. Even when it seems empty. Warrior spiders don’t mind if you stand on the webs but will attack if you hurt the nest. Besides nest respawn spiders quite fast and it is wasteful if you destroy them. (Warrior spiders don’t seem to exist in sandbox mode right now)

Be careful when the first winter is over, it is generally at this point the spider nests will all turn into spider queens! Make sure to have a large enough army of pigs or rig the nests with enough gunpowder to blow them to kingdom come!

Remember if you have enough food and silk you can always make a tent and sleep out a few days in it before it breaks. Good way to get exp.

The size of the nest will determine how many spiders will go out to attack you when you set foot on their web, one for the smallest nest and three for the largest.