need some help with caves

[Flame1]

i need to collect a bunch of rocks and winter is coming up, so this is the perfect time to go into caves since theres nothing else to do, but i need some help, havent gone into caves in a while

 

1. i want to know everything i should take, resource wise and food wise, a miners hat is obvious, but i would appreciate it if someone can just list every single stack of material, or thing i should be taking, makes life much easier, id like to be taking my backpack with me aswell if possible to hold extra stuff

2. is there anything important i should know in general about the caves? i know bunnymen will attack you if you have meat

3. can i still freeze in the caves?

4. can i survive off the food and stuff i scavange in the caves? or do i need to bring my own? if so what do i bring?

 

im probably forgetting to ask something but please, just treat me as if im a noob and i know nothing about caves, because i basically forget everything, all your tips, tricks and survival advice is much appreciated

 

ONE THING TO NOTE HOWEVER IS IM NOT PLAYING RoG, IM PLAYING NORMAL STANDARD DONT STARVE

[Zillvr]

I'm not by any means a veteran spelunker, but I've died enough times in there and deeper to be able to give a few tips.

• Make sure you have Meat Effigies ready and set up in your base with basic items before diving in the caves, those effigies would be your last safety net.
• For food, dragon pie would be the most logical option.
• Unless I'm entirely wrong, yes you can still freeze in the caves. 
• If your world preset is only on default settings then, you probably cannot entirely sate your hunger needs with scavenging food in the caves. There are berry bushes and carrots every so often, but it's not enough to sustain a whole mining trip.
• Bring a few jerkies too just in case you run out of health and sanity. Also bring along chester, he can carry any meat you bring and the Bunnymen will not be aggro'd in any way. Be careful not to pick up any meat on the floor with Bunnymen around. 
• Pre-building a campire beforehand is always preferrable.
• If you prefer the miner hat, another option would be to bring a Tam'o'Shanter for sanity purposes and a lantern instead/also. Staying in the caves for too long will bring your sanity down if you don't take care of it interim.
• Oh and don't bring up Rock Lobsters to the surface, they'll infest it. (Klei could've changed that already though, I haven't played DS in a long while.)

That's all I can think of right now, so good luck I hope that helps. Cheers.

[Derpime]

i think you can freeze in caves

And you just need to have taffy or somekind of sanity increase food items,then you are good to go.

[NotStarvnMarvn]

You are gonna need rocks, flint, grass, twigs, rocks, gold. You should always bring at least a top hat and roughly 2-5 jerky. You can survive on the food in caves alone, but since you are a noob, bring lots. You also should set up a little base, the standard fire pit and some chests, a crock pot, etc. Never eat redcaps, cooked OR raw, just, No. Only eat green mushrooms when they are COOKED. Blue mushrooms are kinda tricky. Get as much as you can and if you need hp, eat 2 raw and 3-4 cooked for sanity. If you find bunnymen hammer their houses and make a little village of your own, about 5 second walk from base. You can freeze and overheat in caves. Personally I go as Woodie in caves because of this pine cone planting sanity gain, but thats me. Congrats, you read all of this.

[Edebadi]

This is mine.

*A piggy back.

* Chester if possible

*20 crock pot meal (bacon and eggs if possible)

*miner hat with 10-20 fireflies in stack

*golden tools

*2-3 tentacle spike

* full stacks of twigs,grass

*some pig skins to make football helmets

*tam o shanter if possible for sanity regain.

[NotStarvnMarvn]

This is mine.

*A piggy back.

* Chester if possible

*20 crock pot meal (bacon and eggs if possible)

*miner hat with 10-20 fireflies in stack

*golden tools

*2-3 tentacle spike

* full stacks of twigs,grass

*some pig skins to make football helmets

*tam o shanter if possible for sanity regain.

Everyone uses piggyback and I have yet to figure out why. Yes, more space but it just slows you down!

[TemporaryMan]

I'm now exploring my sixth cave, so here's the system I use:

 

Food: 5-8 jerky, 0-2 meatballs.  If you aren't using Wigfrid, you have more options: taffy or pumpkin cookies for sanity, etc.  However, I strongly recommend jerky anyway, since it restores more health and sanity than dragon pie.  Ultimately it comes down to whatever you can produce in bulk; green mushrooms, cactus flesh, perogies, fish sticks, there's a variety of good options.  Take enough for 3-4 days; I have a krampus sack and it fills up around the same time I run out of food.  More food if you're going to the ruins.

 

Structures: I build a chest and fire pit right under the entrance.  The fire pit allows me a source of light so I can put the moggles & lanterns away and return to the surface without them even at night and it's useful for cooking food before returning to the surface.  The chest serves two purposes: when I leave the cave, it holds a miner hat, moggles, and two lanterns so I don't need to remember to bring them with me into the caves.  Two rocks, in case the depths worms attack as soon as I enter the cave and I need a bribe for rock lobsters.  A tallbird egg so if I stay down too long and run out of food I don't have to worry about taking starvation damage when I go topside.  Seriously, I've made that mistake and immediately had to kill a bearger with 0 hunger.  That leaves 3 spaces for a little slurtle slime or spare armor or whatever other emergency supplies.  Blood sacks for healing moles, maybe?  When I'm exploring the caves I take the miner hat, moggles and lanterns out and put my torch, seeds and rot in their place.  Probably a good idea to leave the axe and shovel behind if you don't intend to chop trees or mushtrees.

 

Tools and supplies: sticks, grass, and a little gold for emergency torches, gold tools and battle helmets.  If you're not using Wigfrid you may want pig skin for football helmets.  Chester, at least 1.5  helmets and 1.5 log suits, make it 2.5 if you're going to the ruins.  Honey poultices, ideally 40 but even 6 will do; these are for both emergencies underground and insurance against bearger & hounds when you return above.  For weapons I prefer a mostly-fresh ham bat, otherwise you'll need 3 or more tentacle spikes or better and that takes a lot of space.  You do not want to run out of weapons in the ruins, and I cannot repeat enough there's always the possibility of bearger and/or hounds when you return to the surface.  Pickaxe or opulent pickaxe is a must.  I also recommend a hammer if you can spare the room, although you don't need to bring it every time.  Moleworms fall from the ceiling during earthquakes, so now and again it's a good idea to collect them and set them free above.  If they're injured you'll need to heal them before whacking, although you'll need a mod to know if they're injured.  In spring it's a good idea to bring an umbrella or eyebrella, maybe both if you've used more space-efficient options elsewhere in the list.  Rain coat is neither armor nor a backpack, so I don't recommend it.  If you don't have a krampus sack then I suggest a waterproof piggy back, especially if you use log suits for armor during spring.  That's also part of why I suggest two lanterns.  You don't want wet clothes taking a toll on sanity.  Two lanterns can also light up a large area for battle.

 

You should always have a fire and fire pit pre-built, just in case.  Bearger.

 

And obviously on your first trip underground you'll only have torches and a miner hat or two.  Your only goal the first time is to find those light bulbs and bring 4 back to camp for lanterns.  Similarly, you won't have moggles until after the first worm attack.  I mostly use the moggles as a way to find loot after an earthquake, but the extended range of vision will help spot clockworks from a distance in the ruins.  I'm stockpiling blow darts for the rooks and bishops.

 

Edit: I forgot the Tam.  You'll want a Tam for sanity.  I mostly use it on my way out of the cave, when my inventory's full and it's been a day and a half since I ran out of jerky.  Its importance will depend on what food you bring & how much, though, so you can do without if you have an abundance of sanity restorers.  You will want maximum sanity when bearger arrives so you don't have to fight terrorbeak at the same time.  Not if but when bearger ambushes you on your way out of the cave you will see the wisdom of all this obsessive preparation. 

[blaaaat]

Choose a nice spot to make base as quickly as possible. You'll want to be nearby bunnymen or rock lobsters for protection against the depths worms. The rock lobsters are preferable in my opinion because they are stronger, more herdable due to not having a home, not interested in glow berries, and not anti-meat. Be careful not to accidentally set up a base near a fissure and while having a Slurtle Mound nearby is excellent to gather the three items exclusively gained from its inhabitants (see if you can get depth worms over once in a while), you'll want to have it a few screens away or else they'll come for your mineral supplies. A cave base has about the same needs as a surface base - and yes, freezing does effect you in the caves.

 

I don't think the food in the caves is enough to support you. My favored food to bring is honey because of its slow spoilage and sanity boosts, combined with the occasional dragon pie. I don't like relying on Chester, but he does get meat past the bunnymen if you want access to, say, jerky. Snow Chester is preferable for this purpose.

 

The Tam-o-Shanter is an ideal hat for the caves and not that hard to get. It'll keep you perfectly sane - a sewing kit to support its usage could be useful to bring along too. It's a good combination with glow berries if you can get them. Alternatively, the miner hat and walking cane are a good combo.

[Edebadi]

Everyone uses piggyback and I have yet to figure out why. Yes, more space but it just slows you down!

 

I'm usually Wolfgang and use a walking cane. It's speed disadvantage is nothing.

[TemporaryMan]

How did I forget the walking cane?

[NotStarvnMarvn]

I'm usually Wolfgang and use a walking cane. It's speed disadvantage is nothing.

Ah, i understand now.

[Flame1]

I'm now exploring my sixth cave, so here's the system I use:

 

Food: 5-8 jerky, 0-2 meatballs.  If you aren't using Wigfrid, you have more options: taffy or pumpkin cookies for sanity, etc.  However, I strongly recommend jerky anyway, since it restores more health and sanity than dragon pie.  Ultimately it comes down to whatever you can produce in bulk; green mushrooms, cactus flesh, perogies, fish sticks, there's a variety of good options.  Take enough for 3-4 days; I have a krampus sack and it fills up around the same time I run out of food.  More food if you're going to the ruins.

 

Structures: I build a chest and fire pit right under the entrance.  The fire pit allows me a source of light so I can put the moggles & lanterns away and return to the surface without them even at night and it's useful for cooking food before returning to the surface.  The chest serves two purposes: when I leave the cave, it holds a miner hat, moggles, and two lanterns so I don't need to remember to bring them with me into the caves.  Two rocks, in case the depths worms attack as soon as I enter the cave and I need a bribe for rock lobsters.  A tallbird egg so if I stay down too long and run out of food I don't have to worry about taking starvation damage when I go topside.  Seriously, I've made that mistake and immediately had to kill a bearger with 0 hunger.  That leaves 3 spaces for a little slurtle slime or spare armor or whatever other emergency supplies.  Blood sacks for healing moles, maybe?  When I'm exploring the caves I take the miner hat, moggles and lanterns out and put my torch, seeds and rot in their place.  Probably a good idea to leave the axe and shovel behind if you don't intend to chop trees or mushtrees.

 

Tools and supplies: sticks, grass, and a little gold for emergency torches, gold tools and battle helmets.  If you're not using Wigfrid you may want pig skin for football helmets.  Chester, at least 1.5  helmets and 1.5 log suits, make it 2.5 if you're going to the ruins.  Honey poultices, ideally 40 but even 6 will do; these are for both emergencies underground and insurance against bearger & hounds when you return above.  For weapons I prefer a mostly-fresh ham bat, otherwise you'll need 3 or more tentacle spikes or better and that takes a lot of space.  You do not want to run out of weapons in the ruins, and I cannot repeat enough there's always the possibility of bearger and/or hounds when you return to the surface.  Pickaxe or opulent pickaxe is a must.  I also recommend a hammer if you can spare the room, although you don't need to bring it every time.  Moleworms fall from the ceiling during earthquakes, so now and again it's a good idea to collect them and set them free above.  If they're injured you'll need to heal them before whacking, although you'll need a mod to know if they're injured.  In spring it's a good idea to bring an umbrella or eyebrella, maybe both if you've used more space-efficient options elsewhere in the list.  Rain coat is neither armor nor a backpack, so I don't recommend it.  If you don't have a krampus sack then I suggest a waterproof piggy back, especially if you use log suits for armor during spring.  That's also part of why I suggest two lanterns.  You don't want wet clothes taking a toll on sanity.  Two lanterns can also light up a large area for battle.

 

You should always have a fire and fire pit pre-built, just in case.  Bearger.

 

And obviously on your first trip underground you'll only have torches and a miner hat or two.  Your only goal the first time is to find those light bulbs and bring 4 back to camp for lanterns.  Similarly, you won't have moggles until after the first worm attack.  I mostly use the moggles as a way to find loot after an earthquake, but the extended range of vision will help spot clockworks from a distance in the ruins.  I'm stockpiling blow darts for the rooks and bishops.

 

Edit: I forgot the Tam.  You'll want a Tam for sanity.  I mostly use it on my way out of the cave, when my inventory's full and it's been a day and a half since I ran out of jerky.  Its importance will depend on what food you bring & how much, though, so you can do without if you have an abundance of sanity restorers.  You will want maximum sanity when bearger arrives so you don't have to fight terrorbeak at the same time.  Not if but when bearger ambushes you on your way out of the cave you will see the wisdom of all this obsessive preparation. 

i dont play RoG....

[TemporaryMan]

So no moggles, then?  That's unfortunate.  At least you won't need an umbrella or hammer.  Piggyback's a worse option because it's -20% speed instead of -10% and there's no waterproofing nor need for it anyway.  And the ham bat's an even better option because its damage doesn't decrease.  Deerclops and/or hounds can be a concern when returning to the surface, but it's not quite as bad as bearger.  Otherwise, about the same.

[NotStarvnMarvn]

So no moggles, then?  That's unfortunate.  At least you won't need an umbrella or hammer.  Piggyback's a worse option because it's -20% speed instead of -10% and there's no waterproofing nor need for it anyway.  And the ham bat's an even better option because its damage doesn't decrease.  Deerclops and/or hounds can be a concern when returning to the surface, but it's not quite as bad as bearger.  Otherwise, about the same.

nothing can be worse than deerclops

[emerphish]

I generally just kill myself instead of doing the caves. I mean, there's no point if you will just got jumped by hounds and a deerclops when you exit the caves anyways. OMG YOU CAN USE THE PURPLE STAFF TO ESCAPE I JUST REALIZED

 

in that case, having 10 or so honey nuggets/ham and some panic gears to eat, plus basic tools and a miner hat+lanters, I am fine. I try to have as much empty space as possible for cave loot. This is especially important if you want to go to the ruins because there is a piggyback-ful of items you will be lugging around down there.

[Flame1]

i took a few dragon pies with me and 15 piece of big jerky, i ended up staying for a few days and ate all 3 of my dragon pies and 8 pieces of jerky, food wasnt really a problem and neither was sanity because of the jerky, there was also a set piece or something near my entrance because there was a chest, fridge and tent there, all next to a pond. i also got a **** ton of light bulbs and ended up making 10 lanterns when I got back home. also eneded up killing some bunnies and hammering their homes, now i have 5 bunny houses at the surface and i have them fight 2 spider nests every night because i planted them close to each other.  some questions though, what do you guys end up going in caves for? id only go there for rocks i guess since i got all the bunnies i need, should i go back there for some super epic treasures? also if i go into a second sinkhole, is it the same original cave or a totally new one?

[Lumina]

If i'm not wrong, you could freeze in cave in the RoG version, not in the standard version. But it's old so i'm not perfectly sure...

 

And each sinkhole is for a different cave in DS.

[blaaaat]

some questions though, what do you guys end up going in caves for? id only go there for rocks i guess since i got all the bunnies i need, should i go back there for some super epic treasures? also if i go into a second sinkhole, is it the same original cave or a totally new one?

 

The caves give access to the ruins, so if you want the ruins, you'll have to take the caves with it. On their own, the caves offer a completely different landscape than the surface, so it's a good way to keep the experience of a world lively. Mind, I do think the caves are severely lacking compared to the surface and could do with an update (cave-specific base structures, a new backpack to get meat past the bunnies perhaps, depths worms - hounds co-timing, better depth worms reward-difficulty balance, renewable cave spider hideouts, etc.), but if you view them as an addition to the surface rather than a stand-alone experience, they do. Also, there's four separate ones per world, so that's a lot of extra content per world.

 

I'm a pretty big fan of the slurtles and snurtles. They're not that fun when they come after your minerals, but overall they're very manageable creatures. Slurtle slime is one of my favorite resources because of its fuel use (lantern and miner helmet) and its alternative purpose to gunpowder (it's about three times as weak, though). If you've dealt with a lot of hound waves and have more gems than you need, they make excellent slurtle food. Slurtle and snurtles also have a chance to drop a pretty nifty helmet and hiding armor respectively and you can manipulate depth worms to deal with them. (It might be possible to use the slime they drop against them by setting it aflame while they eat, but I've never tried that and don't know if it harms the loot.)

[absimiliard]

 also if i go into a second sinkhole, is it the same original cave or a totally new one?

 

In DST the cave entrances lead to different portions of the same cave world.  (there are some caveats in that statement, I'm assuming a fairly typical setup and current tech-architecture)

 

Just one difference between caves in DS and DST.

[Flame1]

forgot to mention that in the set pirce that was close to me, i found a slurtle or snurtle whatever it is, body armour with 68% left

[CarrieMein]

How far are you going down? To the ruins? If it's just cave, set up your base near rock lobsters and mush tree forest as its a reliable source of light, in terms of safety because light flowers tend to grow near bunny men village or in the swamp most of the times. Try to find a cave camp set piece in the mush tree forest and go on from there. If you can't find any, just set up a fire pit, crock pot, ice box, and chests. Don't do things hastily and build your stuff one by one, resurfacing and going back. Stuffs that I would bring on my first trip down there: basic exploration gears such as walking sticks, grass, logs, twigs, taffy, and dragon pie/jerky. Gathers some light bulbs on the way to refuel your miner hat. Once you find a good place to settle down, comeback up, prototype a lantern(essential!) and go back down with ingredients to build a tent, fire pit, crock pot, ice box, and chests. Also, because sanity will be a constant problem, bring tam o shanter with you, or a top hat if you're playing as Wendy.

Now, ruins is a different from the classic old cave because you'll get periodically attacked by something worse than depth worms-nightmare creatures. On the pro, it means you will be able to get numerous amount of nightmare fuels assuming you make it through the cycle. Food source is, believe it or not, abundant down there(cave banana, monkeys). Once you've found a village biome, you now only have to worry about those pesky monkeys. To prepare for the ruins trip, bring a sanity restoring gears, jerky(no bunny men down there), lantern, miner hat, walking stick, fire staff, and about 7-10 rock lobsters(your future guardian angels against depth worms and monkeys). Go to the village biome with your rock lobsters and SLAUGHTER EVERY SINGLE MONKEYS AND PODS, but leave 2 pods alone because it's an easy morsel. Set up your base somewhere far away from those 2 mokey pods and you can survive under there for a long period of times(in RoG, 100 days my record:)). Hope it helped! (also, my experience may vary from person to person so don't gurantee your safety just by reading what I posted)

[Flame1]

How far are you going down? To the ruins? If it's just cave, set up your base near rock lobsters and mush tree forest as its a reliable source of light, in terms of safety because light flowers tend to grow near bunny men village or in the swamp most of the times.

since I made this post, I've gone into 2 caves. The first time I went down there, I gathered an outrageous amount of light bulbs, and easily made 10 lanterns when I got back to the surface, with a bunch of light bulbs as leftover.Also, the first time I went I also hammered down the bunny houses so I can make them again on the surface, and I mined rocks as usual. the second time, I went into a new cave, besides collecting rocks as usual, the main purpose of this trip was to hammer down more bunny houses to add to the ones I have on the surface. 

 

You speak of setting up a base for protection and all that, but my question is, what are you going into the caves for? because when I went down there and saw a depth worm, I just ran away and it stopped following me, never had a problem with them. also I never really saw the need to set up an actual base down there because I was only spending a few days there collecting rocks and hammering bunny houses. is there something I'm missing though? the only reason id revisit the caves I've already been in is to collect reeds from the swamp and to take the loot from the spiders and tentacles that fight in the swamps down there. but besides that I don't really have a reason to stick around in the caves and make a base, unless there is some really good loot worth getting? 

 

Ruins for sure I am eventually going to go in, but for now I'm just talking about caves, what's the point of setting up a base down there?

[CarrieMein]

It's useful for a long term stay, as well as skipping winter. Also, don't hammer their houses but use deconstruction staff and rebuild it using construction amulet(if you manage to gather a lot of green gems). Also, don't over harvest light bulbs becuase they spoil fast. Cave has been a major part of my life in Don't Starve. I personally like caves better because of its enhanced difficulties and the fun of exploring. Setting up a small camp down there is definitely worth it unless you have a better solution to fight against sanity drain, hunger loss, etc.

[Flame1]

dont have the deconstruction staff and construction amulet cause i havent gone to the ruins, and even so, i think you should use that on rarer materials instead of bunny houses... also a base imo is not needed at all since you wont really be staying put most of the time, and the ultimate cave food is jerky, lasts long, is great for hp and sanity, hunger wise not bad either, and if you really do go insane, green mushrooms are an easy fix and then jerky will heal you right up. most id make in a cave is maybe a chest or 2 if im gonna stay along time and need to store a bunch of stuff

[CarrieMein]

I know but as I said, I had 40 green gems with me