Any tips to get better at playing Wanda?

[YoJniy]

Recently i started playing with Wanda, but i don't know how to utilize her abilities for best efficiency, and just some tips about her gameplay.

[Random Guy000]

Just play her, eventually you'll figure it out, thats the fun way

[Zerobillion]

The alarming clock is the best part of her kit. You spawn with just enough time pieces to make it, if you're willing to sacrifice that, you can make other clocks, however the teleportation watch can't be made until winter anyway, and by that time you can get more time pieces.

The ancient archive is an easy way to get them as you can hammer the thulecite walls. It is connected to the lunar grotto. Which in itself can be found near a blue mushtree forest.

 

The alarming clock is the only weapon you will ever need to look at once you get it. It has extra reach and can be refueled by nightmare fuel, which the alarming clock itself makes extremely easy to farm.

[lakhnish]

2 hours ago, YoJniy said:

Recently i started playing with Wanda, but i don't know how to utilize her abilities for best efficiency, and just some tips about her gameplay.

Here are my tips as I've been playing Wanda a lot recently:

1. Get a 2nd Ageless Watch. It's your only way to heal and having two makes healing super easy. It's an infinite source of healing and it's better than food imo, which you can't even use for healing as Wanda. Whatever food you gather, just use it to focus on hunger.
2. Get the Alarming Clock as soon as you can. It's the best weapon in the game, better than what the Twins of Terror gives and that's a hard boss to beat!
3. Get good armor. Night armor works well for Wanda but Thulecite Crowns and suits are really good too.
4. Stay middle-aged. You don't need to old to maximize damage since it's very risky and you can die. Being middle-aged gives WAY more than enough damage.
5. Use the watch once a day when you're at 43 years old. If you use the watch at 43, you'll turn 36, which is still middle-aged. (I could be wrong on if it's 43 or 44, I'm always messing that up).
6. Gather Tusks to setup teleportation points. This hands down is one of the best things about Wanda. You save so much time in the long run with the perk and it so much fun to use.

[DajeKotlyar]

Always be insane (after getting her alarm clock)

 

I also prefer be old always

[Zerobillion]

1 hour ago, DajeKotlyar said:

Always be insane (after getting her alarm clock)

 

I also prefer be old always

This right here is why pubs are full of people dying to terrorbeaks.

 

You never have to be insane 24/7, even Wanda doesn't need THAT much nightmare fuel and when you do it's not hard to simply jump back and forth between a wormhole. No reason to constantly be at risk of dying because you looked away from the screen for half a second to swat a fly out of your face.

[Waynel]

2 hours ago, Zerobillion said:

This right here is why pubs are full of people dying to terrorbeaks.

Wrong. That's because they tank terrorbeaks, which means the moment their grass suit/log suit/football helmet breaks, they're dead.

[Cheggf]

1 hour ago, Waynel said:

Wrong. That's because they tank terrorbeaks, which means the moment their grass suit/log suit/football helmet breaks, they're dead.

You are incorrect. 

[Zerobillion]

1 hour ago, Waynel said:

Wrong. That's because they tank terrorbeaks, which means the moment their grass suit/log suit/football helmet breaks, they're dead.

They wouldn't be "tanking terrorbeaks" if they weren't insane to begin with. Sure, a lot of it may be due to new players not knowing what they're doing, but there are plenty of "pro" players dieing stupid deaths due to their Edgy Rick syndrome.

My eyes roll all the way to the back of my head whenever I join a pub and see talk in the chat about rushing ruins and minutes later seeing "player has become a spooky ghost"

[Mike23Ua]

Don’t get hit when at low health?

that’s pretty much the only tip you need for any character, Wanda is pretty great though, and if your playing with others her second chance clock can be used to endlessly revive them at no cost to you.

Infinity health human controlled minions? Yes please!

[Waynel]

3 hours ago, Zerobillion said:

They wouldn't be "tanking terrorbeaks" if they weren't insane to begin with. Sure, a lot of it may be due to new players not knowing what they're doing, but there are plenty of "pro" players dieing stupid deaths due to their Edgy Rick syndrome.

My eyes roll all the way to the back of my head whenever I join a pub and see talk in the chat about rushing ruins and minutes later seeing "player has become a spooky ghost"

Bringing up pub ruins rushes is fallacious since they contain many more dangers than just insanity monsters (nightmare lights/fissures shadows, splumonkeys, broken clockworks, and a general darkness which amplifies all the above threats).

Not to mention that “rushing the ruins” doesn’t necessarily equate “pro status” especially if it’s on pub.
Correlation doesn’t imply causation. I’ve seen many pub ruins rushers who had no idea about the existence of the nightmare cycle, ruins shadows, and some of them would even build crockpots in the wilds biome before clearing the ruins (although the latter is no real issue, these were players who were novices at ruins rushing and wanted to do it safely, being honest about their current skill level).

The only inconveniency pros get from being insane 24/7 (literally, at all stages of the game), is a waste of time, not dying.

But there are exceptions of course, and Wanda is one of them. That’s why DajeKotlyar’s advice is too vague and misleading; for instance, I wouldn’t recommend the average Wanda to be always insane when travelling in the caves, especially when old (unless you’re on a tamed beef).

 

And let's be clear, Edgy Rick was an advanced player at best, never a “pro”; dying to bq because you did the whole fight insane on purpose doesn’t make you pro; same applies for recommending people to tank df with 12 helmets instead of using a few helmets coupled with marble suits.

It just so happened that the most overrated dst content creator was also the biggest loudmouth of the community.. sigh

[Starlogy]

Something I don't see a lot of people suggesting (and something I often do when playing Wanda) is using the fact that she can regain her HP at every point in playthroughs.

Take advantage of that. Don't be afraid to pick Cactus or even take some mild damage to mobs. You'll know when you need to be more cautious when she gets old. A second Ageless Watch makes this even more viable and safe to do.

Also like everyone else said, rush Alarming Clock. An Eye Mask would be amazing to get early as well.

[Zerobillion]

1 hour ago, Waynel said:

Bringing up pub ruins rushes is fallacious since they contain many more dangers than just insanity monsters (nightmare lights/fissures shadows, splumonkeys, broken clockworks, and a general darkness which amplifies all the above threats).

Not to mention that “rushing the ruins” doesn’t necessarily equate “pro status” especially if it’s on pub.
Correlation doesn’t imply causation. I’ve seen many pub ruins rushers who had no idea about the existence of the nightmare cycle, ruins shadows, and some of them would even build crockpots in the wilds biome before clearing the ruins (although the latter is no real issue, these were players who were novices at ruins rushing and wanted to do it safely, being honest about their current skill level).

The only inconveniency pros get from being insane 24/7 (literally, at all stages of the game), is a waste of time, not dying.

But there are exceptions of course, and Wanda is one of them. That’s why DajeKotlyar’s advice is too vague and misleading; for instance, I wouldn’t recommend the average Wanda to be always insane when travelling in the caves, especially when old (unless you’re on a tamed beef).

 

And let's be clear, Edgy Rick was an advanced player at best, never a “pro”; dying to bq because you did the whole fight insane on purpose doesn’t make you pro; same applies for recommending people to tank df with 12 helmets instead of using a few helmets coupled with marble suits.

It just so happened that the most overrated dst content creator was also the biggest loudmouth of the community.. sigh

Errr... What?

I wasn't correlating ruins rushers to people dying to terrorbeaks at all. I put "pro" in quotes to signify sarcasm, these people aren't pros, they are idiots wanting to call themselves as such. I was giving an example of what I have seen such idiots do.

This isn't about being pro enough to survive being insane all the time, it's the fact that it literally isn't necessary to even do so. I don't play the game being insane all the time, and I don't ever run out of the necessary nightmare fuel to accomplish the things I need to do, be it as Wanda or any other character. The only thing constant insanity accomplishes is, as you say, just wasting time. Anyone who uses that as legitimate advice is far from a pro. Surely a true pro knows to do everything in the most efficient way yes? Not needlessly waste time?

 

Anywho, this topic is about tips to get better at playing a character. Not about people being idiots. (You can find plenty of that elsewhere on these very forums.) So let's not derail this further.

(And btw, I was certainly not calling Edgy Rick a pro player lmao. I was literally mocking him, and everyone who thinks like him.)

[Owlrust]

If you want more clock pieces early on but don't want to go to the Ruins or swap with the portal, consider going to the Archives instead. Much safer and loaded with thulecite walls waiting to be hammered for fragments.

[Duck986]

Connect Backtrek Watches wherever you can - base, cave base, ruins, lunar island, lunar platform, mob farms, reed setpiece, archive, doesn't matter, because faster travel speed is always good AND you can activate them from a storage (open chest and activate watches from it to not waste precious inventory space).

You can even connect several watches because they have a recharge time of 1 game day.

[Guille6785]

7 hours ago, Waynel said:

And let's be clear, Edgy Rick was an advanced intermediate player at best

ftfy

[Third Porkus]

20 hours ago, YoJniy said:

Recently i started playing with Wanda, but i don't know how to utilize her abilities for best efficiency, and just some tips about her gameplay.

Use teleports to the max, don't use the purple gem one for the wormhole its like never worth it. Set them up in hot spots like center of map, lunar island, ruins, and base. Wear armor when fighting cause age clock is like fast and slow so don't hop the skotch, and use alarming clock to your advantage by keeping away from enemies. Two benefits of Wanda are her attack clock and like her teleportato, the others aren't super useful so just like don't hoop the skoop and your good !

[Cheggf]

10 minutes ago, Third Porkus said:

don't use the purple gem one for the wormhole its like never worth it

What? That is one of the strongest items in the game and purple gems are so easy to get. Why would you not use it? 

[Waynel]

2 hours ago, Guille6785 said:

ftfy

Come on Guille show some leniency, your standards are too high !

2 hours ago, Cheggf said:

What? That is one of the strongest items in the game and purple gems are so easy to get. Why would you not use it? 

Beefalo is still better for transporting pieces (especially shadow pieces, ig you can debate which method is ideal for assembling the lunar altars but I still believe beef is superior in that regard).

But if you’re bored with beefalo, sure, try the rift watch out to get a Star Trek wormhole vibe.

Other than that, it only shines in coop play when people don’t feel like reaching fw arena or the lunar island by foot.

[LiamAshvinn001]

Dont Starve

[b l a n k]

7 hours ago, LiamAshvinn001 said:

Dont Starve

This is it boys, topic closed

[Gi-Go]

I'd say the most important tip would be to not die. You can do this by wearing armor at all times. If your low on hp and all your heal clocks are on cooldown, then calm down and stop fighting. don't push yourself and you will never die. 

Marble or night armors have 95% defence meaning they are twice as good as thulevite armor and 4 times as good as football helmet. What that means is at the age of 75 she can still tank 12 hound bites with these armors. Just carry them on yourself and use in a pinch. Very OP. 

Touch stones give 2 marble so you can kill yourself to get alarm clock or heal clocks in a world where marble is stolen. Or lure ghost players to it. 

I don't know if that's true or not but my friend told me walrus respawns in 2 and a half days or in 3 if you kill his child. So don't kill kids, because tusks matter. Also, I suggest not to play on worlds without 4 walruses in them as Wanda unless you intend to be there for a short while. 

Backstep watch can be used to reset Charlie agression if you care. Also, it's a very good clock against dragonfly. Just dodge her early and make her chase you. It will be a lot easier to time the dodge if she attacks you while moving. 

 

 

Now for my personal teleport experience (I don't talk to people nor watch guides or wiki so there might be better way to manage travel. I'm clueless):

Teleport watch from tusks can be deconstructed with wanda tools to get you all resources back for free and change portal position. 

You can carry one that takes you to base where you store the rest of your teleports.

You can carry one "clean" clock (that has no teleport point) on yourself to activate anywhere and thus do a back and forth trip to the base in an instant.

You can store these clocks in chests to activate them but not take them with you.

"Base" and "clean" should have at least 1 replica each. 

So here is how I do it: I am walking somewhere and realize I wanna go to base just to grab something. I activate my "clean" clock, teleport with my "base" clock, immediately put them both in chest, do whatever I need at base, then I grab my second "base" clock instead of the one on cooldown, and I also grab another "clean" clock, and teleport to where I was at the beginning with the not clean anymore clock while keeping it in the chest. Then I'll repeat this process whenever I want, by making a new clean clock out of the not so clean one by reassembling it. 

I like to have at least 4 "base" clocks and i also store additional clocks at base that take me to important locations. I do not deconstruct them usually. 

 

 

I hope this made some sence. 

 

[Cheggf]

56 minutes ago, Gi-Go said:

I don't know if that's true or not but my friend told me walrus respawns in 2 and a half days or in 3 if you kill his child. So don't kill kids, because tusks matter.

This is not true. I believe they respawn after 2.5 days but can either only spawn at the start of a new day or only during the day segments so it's basically 3. Either way I know for certain that killing wee tusk does nothing.

57 minutes ago, Gi-Go said:

Also, I suggest not to play on worlds without 4 walruses in them as Wanda unless you intend to be there for a short while. 

You will never make up for the time you lose scouting the entire world out, figuring out there's one mactusk, then resetting until you get four. Even if you get it on the second attempt that's like an hour completely wasted.

[Gi-Go]

Just now, Cheggf said:

This is not true. I believe they respawn after 2.5 days but can either only spawn at the start of a new day or only during the day segments so it's basically 3. Either way I know for certain that killing wee tusk does nothing.

Thanks for debunking! I was really confused why walrus always spawns after 3 days even tho people say its 2.5. 

 

Just now, Cheggf said:

You will never make up for the time you lose scouting the entire world out, figuring out there's one mactusk, then resetting until you get four. Even if you get it on the second attempt that's like an hour completely wasted.

I donno, finding all biomes seems natural to me. I guess some people are okay with 1 walrus, but personally i never am if I'm Wanda. 

[Cheggf]

20 minutes ago, Gi-Go said:

I donno, finding all biomes seems natural to me. I guess some people are okay with 1 walrus, but personally i never am if I'm Wanda. 

Finding all the biomes is natural, but should take about 5-10 days (40-80 minutes). Even ignoring the fact that this forces a playstyle of scouting the overworld early and even assuming you get the triple tusk in the next world you make which is only a 50% chance that's still an hour you completely wasted because you reset the world.

Every time you use a clock you save only a couple of minutes. Think about how much time you spend going to mactusk, fighting him, and going back every time. How up until a bare minimum of day 21 you aren't saving a single second and your clocks can only ever actually start saving you time after you find at minimum 1+1*playercount tusks. Already even without resetting the world it takes a long time to break even on the potential time investment of the watches. Adding an hour if not multiple from scouting and resetting worlds is just a big loss of time. Think about how much you can warp with 1 camp and compare it to with multiple camps. If you are teleporting a hundred times a day you might make the time up over 10,000 years but also over the course of 10,000 years you can get more tusks. You might be able to save a few minutes (compared to the hour(s) it took to reset the world) with a few extra teleports in the first year, but what about the second? Or the third? Are you really making such a big network that you are infinitely expanding it and also constantly using every single watch in the network so extensively that they all pay for themselves?

You can overvalue the watch and what extents you do to get it but I wouldn't recommend it as advice to others.