In a difficult game like Don't Starve, everything has consequences and stress deeply affects your characters. Sanity is one of the main survival mechanics of the game and is represented by the brain in the upper right corner of the screen. This score drops in the presence of monsters, at night or simply by eating spoiled food. If it goes too low, you will have to face several creeping shadows, extremely dangerous enemies, which can easily kill players who are not sufficiently prepared. As a result, it's always best to keep your sanity high in Don't Starve.
Steps
Part 1 of 6: Prepare the Necessary
Step 1. Build the tools
At least a pickaxe and an ax are needed to collect some of the necessary materials. Both are available on the Tools tab (the icon with a crossed ax and pickaxe). Axes cost 1 twig each (you can pick them up from dry bushes around the world) and 1 flint (a sharp rock you can find almost anywhere), while picks cost 2 units of both materials.
To use the tools, select them by right clicking (PC) or by scrolling to their icon with the right analog stick and pressing right on the directional pad (PS4). Approach a tree (ax) or stone (pickaxe) and hold left mouse button (PC) or X button (PS4) to break them and collect materials
Step 2. Get the necessary materials
Now that you have your tools, get busy and start using them. Make sure you cut down some trees and get the logs, which are essential for creating a science machine. Collecting stones is also a priority, to build the science machine and many other items. Finally, the tufts of grass you see coming out of the ground are needed to create torches and bonfires.
Step 3. Create your lab
In addition to the science machine, you will also need the alchemy machine to get what you need. You can build both from the Science tab, represented by the atom icon, but you'll need the science machine to create the alchemy machine.
- The science machine costs 1 gold nugget, 4 logs and 4 stones, while the alchemy machine costs 4 wooden planks, 2 stone blocks and 6 gold nuggets. You can create planks and stone blocks with the science machine from the Refinement tab, represented by the diamond icon.
- You can get gold nuggets by trading meat with the Pig King (if available in your world), breaking yellow-striped stones (found mostly in rocky areas) with the pickaxe, or by searching graveyards.
Part 2 of 6: Sleeping
Step 1. Stock up on food
Since sleeping allows you to regain health and sanity by sacrificing a great deal of hunger, make sure you have plenty of food on hand. Even a simple supply of berries and carrots should be enough to avoid starving.
Cooking food on the campfire is an effective way to increase the hunger points you will earn by eating. To cook the food, simply select it, approach the bonfire and click with the left mouse button or press X
Step 2. Go to a safe place
Since you want to sleep, it's always a good idea to find a relaxing spot to camp. Look for an area free from spider nests, herds of buffalo and ponds of frogs. Nests and ponds are places where many monsters are created, while buffaloes can become hostile and attack you during mating season when their hindquarters turn red.
Note that you can't sleep in dangerous areas or when your hunger is too low, so only do so if you need to quickly gain sanity and are willing to suffer penalties or if you have enough food on hand
Step 3. Prepare the bed
Almost any character, except Wickerbottom, can sleep by building a sleeping bag (of straw or fur), a tent, or, if you have the Reign of Giants DLC, a hut. You can build the straw sleeping bag, which you can only use once, as soon as you have access to the science machine. For fur sleeping bags and tents, you need the alchemy machine, the second crafting station available in the game.
- If you want to create a tent, a semi-permanent object (it cannot be collected without destroying it with a hammer, it wears out after 6 uses), you should place it in your main camp. Tents take up a lot of space and when combined with a bonfire they are really bulky.
- The straw sleeping bag is the easiest to make - it requires 6 units of cut grass and a rope, plus access to the science machine.
- Fur sleeping bags can be carried, but tents are cheaper, as the former cost 1 straw sleeping bag and 2 units of a rather rare item (rabbit tuft) found underground. The tent instead requires only 6 cobwebs, 4 twigs and 3 ropes, materials that you can easily find on the surface.
Part 3 of 6: Upgrading the Wardrobe
Step 1. Find the Clothing tab
Sanity decreases as you stay away from civilization, and the best way to simulate civilized behavior is to wear smart clothes.
Near the bottom of the crafting bar (on the left side of the screen), you'll see the green hat icon. This is the Clothing tab, which allows you to create clothes with different effects
Step 2. Collect the flowers
It may seem silly to you, but picking flowers is an excellent way to maintain your sanity, especially in the early stages of the game. Each flower earns you 5 health points and when you have 12 petals, you can build a wreath, an accessory that gradually increases your sanity until it fades after six days.
Although most of the clothes can only be made with the science machine and the alchemy machine, the wreath is available from the start of the game
Step 3. Consider other clothing options
In addition to wreaths, you can make other outfits when you have the necessary materials. One of the simplest clothes to obtain in the early stages of the game is the top hat, which requires 6 cobwebs and the science machine.
Some outfits, while not earning health, have other functions. The straw hats are used to create other headdresses, the buffalo hats are used to keep warm during the winter and allow you to walk among these animals during the mating season without being attacked, while the beekeeper's hat makes you immune against all types of bees
Part 4 of 6: Eating
Step 1. Choose your favorite food
Eating is always a good idea to regain hunger, health and sanity, unless you decide to get some monster meat in your teeth. In the early stages of the game, your main food source will be trapped rabbits, berries picked from bushes and naturally growing carrots; all of these foods can be cooked on a campfire and eaten to recover hunger. However, to get foods that can regenerate sanity, you have to use more complex methods.
- You can find spontaneously grown carrots and berry bushes scattered around the world. You can pick them up with left click or by pressing X.
- To catch rabbits, create a trap with 6 units of cut grass and two twigs. You can build it from the Survival tab, represented by the lasso icon. Once created, place it on top of a rabbit hole, a small hole in the ground you will find in grasslands and savannahs, then wait to catch your prey. The trap trembles and hops when full; by collecting it, you will retrieve it and get a rabbit. You can reuse traps 7 times before they wear out. However, you must "kill" the rabbit before you can use its meat. Just click with the right mouse button (PC) or press the right arrow (PS4) after selecting it.
- Thanks to the science machine, you can build a bird trap with three twigs and 4 cobwebs from the Survival tab. They work in a similar way to other traps, but they allow you to catch small birds.
- To plant a garden for growing, you need the science machine. You can build it from the Food tab, represented by the buried carrot icon, with 8 units of cut grass, 4 units of manure and 4 stumps. You can collect manure from buffaloes, which regularly produce it at random intervals and are found in the savannah. You can also get it by feeding vegetarian foods (berries, carrots, bananas) to pigs, which you can find in random places on the map or in large villages at the end of the roads. Once you have created the basic vegetable garden, you can plant a seed inside it by equipping it and interacting with the soil. You can wait for it to grow on its own or use manure to speed up ripening. Once grown, simply interact with the crop to transfer it to the inventory; congratulations! Now you have to eat!
Step 2. Make some dried meat
Dry meat (large and small) is a long-life food that restores a good amount of all three bars. To make it, you need a dryer, which you can build from the science machine with 3 ropes, 3 twigs and 2 units of coal.
- You can get charcoal by setting trees on fire. To do this, create a torch, equip it, then right click on a tree. Knock it down with an ax to get coal.
- Once the dryer is created, you can put meat inside, including monster meat, frog legs and bat wings; just get close to it and press the left mouse button or the X button. After a few days the dried meat will be ready!
Step 3. Cook with your stove
The stove is another way to cook food and you can build it with the science machine; you need 6 units of coal, 6 twigs and 3 stone blocks. This crafting station allows you to combine four foods into a recipe, which will be ready after about a minute. Most meals restore a lot of sanity when prepared with the right recipe.
- You can use the twigs to complete the recipe and thus save more valuable ingredients.
- Be careful when adding monster meat and durian. If you use too many units of those foods without adding a twig, you'll get monster lasagna, an extremely toxic food that inflicts severe penalties to health and sanity.
Part 5 of 6: Make friends
Step 1. Find the pigs
In some cases, as you explore the world, you will encounter giant pigs, usually next to a hut or a small village. It is the dominant sentient species in the game world. You can befriend these strange monsters and gain sanity in their company!
Step 2. Feed the pigs
You can befriend one of them by giving them meat; at that point, it will begin to follow you, help you fight and cut down trees. On top of that, by staying close to a pig you continually regain sanity. The different meats have different values; the most precious ones convince the pigs to be your friend longer!
- Feed them regularly as long as you can, with all kinds of meat at your disposal, so that they remain your friends.
- Be careful with monster meat! Feeding a pig with 4 units of that food will turn it into a werewolf, which will attack you and suck your sanity upon contact!
Step 3. Stay close
As long as your pig friends are close to you, you will gain sanity, but to truly benefit from their company, you have to stand side by side. As long as you keep them close, your sanity will gradually increase.
Step 4. Feed the rabbits
Later in the game, you will encounter giant rabbits underground, called rabbit-men. Unlike pigs, rabbits will attack you if you have meat with you, but you can easily befriend them with carrots, which you can find on the surface. The function of these monsters is similar to that of pigs; they will help you and allow you to recover sanity.
Part 6 of 6: Repairing the Relics
Step 1. Explore the ruins
From time to time, you will encounter objects and piles of rocks called relics. The relics (intact and broken) are the remains of the ancient civilization that ruled the lands you are exploring. While for some people these objects are an archaeological treasure, for someone like you who is trapped and just trying to survive, they are just a nuisance or a blessing.
Step 2. Collect some stones
Don't be afraid, they are abundant and grow back underground! Collect as many as possible, as they are a valuable resource.
Step 3. Repair the relics
When you find one, you will have the option to break it or restore it. By destroying them with a hammer you will get rare and perhaps very useful resources, while repairing them with stones will recover 20 points of health. For players nearing the end of the game, both options are tempting, depending on the amount of resources at their disposal and their sanity. Choose wisely, because relics are not renewable.
Advice
- Curtains can heal the player's health and keep monsters away at night.
- Before bed, remove all items and clothing that lose durability when you use them, so they don't wear out overnight.
- Some characters have specific ways to regain sanity: Wilson does this by shaving, Willow when she's near the fire, WX-78 when she eats gears, and Maxwell constantly recovers her thanks to her beautiful outfits.
