your top 4 seasons which starve together from easiest to hardest

[Janubanu]

for me obviously the simplest is autumn

then I would say winter even if at the beginning of the game this season can be complicated

then summer

and spring for me and the worst the rain is so boring in this game

[lenship2]

autumn - literally nothing seasonal happens but bearger (who can be completely ignored

spring - lots of rain but that shouldn't be too big of an issue with the existence of umbrellas, also the moose goose fight is pretty fun

summer - if you know how it works its pretty easy to stay cool during summer, antlion is a pretty fun (and easy) boss and from my experience wildfires really aren't as bad as people make them out to be

winter - honestly i feel like its harder to stay warm in winter and a majority of common resources are disabled for an entire 15 days. deerclops is a complete pushover at this point but mactusk can be quite the challenge if you're underprepped

[Brago-sama]

Nothing really grinds my gears more then multi-day frog rains. Oh, it stopped? Get ready for round 3. At least i get dinner and a show when i lead them to moose goose

[Well-met]

autumn

spring

winter

summer

[DinsdaleP]

autumn, summer, winter, spring.

Autumn is autumn, no explanation need. Summer becomes a second autumn once you have the mooncaller's staff, while before, you can just live in the caves for 11-13 days (no wildfires on last and first 2 days, no/very little overheating in the first and last day), and wildfires are way overblown anyway. Winter is just dull and boring, though at least you have things to kill, while spring in downright deadly and annoying with the non-stop rain, and even more so if it contains a few frogs.

[Well-met]

if a season forces you to stay in caves then it's probably not easy.

[Cheggf]

Summer is the hardest non-autumn season for new players who don't know how to cool themselves off, and the easiest non-autumn season for those who do. Winter & Spring's difficulty depends on your playstyle & character choice. 

[GenomeSquirrel]

Autumn

Summer in Caves

Winter

Summer on surface

Spring (I think the double threat of coldness and insanity monsters gives this season the edge)

 

This is assuming you are just entering a world, don't have a fridge already loaded, and few resources are being provided by other players

[Juanasdf]

4 hours ago, Brago-sama said:

At least i get dinner and a show when i lead them to moose goose

[cybers2001]

Spring is such an annoying season, lol. It continues the threat of freezing for a solid 5 days in, unlike autumn where overheating stops immediately. Day-to-day is more sporadic, as rain is about a 50% chance, and you can end up with multiple consecutive frog rains that span days. It's the only season that can't be solved with just a thermal stone.

[Cheggf]

Gluing yourself to fires for all of Winter because you're using a thermal stone is a thousand times more obnoxious than just sporadically wearing a single piece of rain gear.

[D_Good_Fellow]

Play styles will vary from player to player, but for me...

Autumn is obviously the easiest. 

Winter is the next easiest for me. Food spoilage is one of the more stressful features of the game for me, so having it halved is a big plus. Also getting a ham bat that lasts longer makes me more keen to fight since I don't break the weapon, so I end up hunting way more in the winter. I've never really liked the farming feature much and I already hate bees, so those things going away are just bonuses for me. I find avoiding freezing to be pretty easy, especially since I often play as Wilson with beard buffs or Willow who can heat up very quickly. But even as other characters the winter hat + thermal stone covers most of my temperature needs. I also don't mind hanging around the base more for warmth, since maintaining my base is one of my favorite parts of the game. Also Deerclops is a really fun boss that's manageable for casual players while still being pretty dynamic. Klaus is a different story, but the fight is entirely optional so idk if I'd count it toward winter's "difficulty."

I find spring harder than winter. I often depend on rabbits for sustenance so suddenly losing that food source frequently catches me off guard. The increased plant growth doesn't feel very helpful, since I barely like farming anyway and this just makes it require more attention. The rain always slows me down more than the cold, since giving up a walking cane for an umbrella (unless Deerclops spawned in winter) ultimately adds more time than periodic pauses to heat up.  Although honestly, the rain is just enough of a pain that it feels incredibly satisfying to use an Eyebrella and make it a non-issue. The Moose/Goose is a fun non-intrusive boss that has fun interactions with other mobs, but never feels particularly threatening. The frog rain though... The frog rain is a kick in the pants every time. Whenever it starts I know it's going to be, like, two full in-game days of dealing with them. I don't hate it; setting up traps and stuff is even kinda fun, but frog rain is singlehandedly more difficult to deal with than anything in winter imo. 

Summer is the hardest by far. Cooling off at a moment's notice is much harder than heating up, since the materials for doing so are so rare by comparison (lighting a tree on fire requires only a torch). Fire hounds are a really fun mechanic in terms of how they challenge typical player approach to hound waves; the panic that sets in when you see one near something important is intense. Wildfires are the absolute worst in multiplayer, especially if players are traveling to and from locations frequently.  Antlion's tougher than the other seasonal bosses (barring Klaus), but its manageable and fun if you plan accordingly or have at least 1 ally.

Although I'm not sure how to factor "fleeing to the caves" into this analysis, since it fundamentally changes how you play summer. I think summer in the caves is easier than winter on the surface, for example. It's definitely easier than the caves in winter/spring. So in that sense, summer is an "easier" season for someone who spends the entirety of it underground, even if that's arguably not "playing summer." I guess it just comes down to whether spending the summer underground counts as playing in summer for the sake of this discussion.

[chirsg]

The answer is complicated.
For mega basers who strive to protect builds, Autumn is the 2nd hardest season. Fire hounds
Summer is the hardest.
I think winter is 2nd easiest because you need to deal with pengulls griefing walls.
Spring can be easiest...
But I could also argue that winter is the easiest if we assume you don't have celestial crown with a very established world. Thermal stone in winter glows for a VERY long time.

 

For people who are willing to let their worlds burn, autumn is the easiest. Fire hounds are arguably easier than ice hounds in this circumstance, as you can spam kill fire hounds without them freezing you.
Spring is 2nd easiest.... But summer isn't that far behind. You keep ice chester around and you have a permanent means to cooling on demand. You also don't even need a thermal to begin with. Just cool down with luxury fan and stay cool with eyebrella.
Winter is hardest because heating up takes longer than cooling down. 

[Cheggf]

1 hour ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

Food spoilage is one of the more stressful features of the game for me, so having it halved is a big plus.

It spoils 25% slower, lasting 33% longer.

1 hour ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

even as other characters the winter hat + thermal stone covers most of my temperature needs.

Thermal stone doesn't stack with insulation. You can unequip the winter hat for no loss.

1 hour ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

unless Deerclops spawned in winter

Deerclops always spawns in winter, as long as someone is on the mainland surface on the 30th night (or whenever he's scheduled to on subsequent years). You could also use a rain coat, which has the bonus of giving some insulation which can help with those cold early spring nights.

1 hour ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

The frog rain though... The frog rain is a kick in the pants every time. Whenever it starts I know it's going to be, like, two full in-game days of dealing with them. I don't hate it; setting up traps and stuff is even kinda fun, but frog rain is singlehandedly more difficult to deal with than anything in winter imo. 

It's a bit cheesy, but DST made it so that frog rain frogs despawn if you just walk away from them.

[lenship2]

15 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

Thermal stone doesn't stack with insulation

wait, really? does insulation do anything if you have a thermal already then?

[Cheggf]

16 minutes ago, lenship2 said:

wait, really? does insulation do anything if you have a thermal already then?

Either the insulation is stronger and the stone does nothing, or the stone is stronger and the insulation does nothing (which is the case if you only have a winter hat). Technically if the stone wears off first the hat could give you a few seconds before you start taking damage, but it's essentially unnoticeable.

[astroapyr]

On the surface: Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer.

Underground: Summer, Autumn, Spring and Winter.

[Cr4zyFl4mes]

top 4 out of 4? or are you asking for Hamlet and Shipwrecked too?

[D_Good_Fellow]

6 hours ago, Cheggf said:

Thermal stone doesn't stack with insulation. You can unequip the winter hat for no loss.

Huh. I guess because as long as the thermal stone is giving off heat, you're not losing heat, so the insulation never takes effect? At least not until the thermal stone runs out.

6 hours ago, Cheggf said:

Deerclops always spawns in winter, as long as someone is on the mainland surface on the 30th night (or whenever he's scheduled to on subsequent years). You could also use a rain coat, which has the bonus of giving some insulation which can help with those cold early spring nights.

More than once I've gone all the way through winter on standard settings without seeing Deerclops or even getting its warning. Idk if it's a glitch or its spawning just off screen without me seeing it, but I've definitely had to go without an Eyebrella on account of Deerclops not showing up.

Backpack tends to be more valuable to me than football helmet/headlamp, so Eyebrella is still preferable tot he rain coat if I can manage it. Though having a backup option does sound nice.

6 hours ago, Cheggf said:

It's a bit cheesy, but DST made it so that frog rain frogs despawn if you just walk away from them.

Oh wow I never noticed. That seems to completely defeat the point of frog rain. They're like, you know, a plague. One that lingers and that you have to deal with. I guess the chaos added by having multiple players attracting aggro kinda makes up for it.

[Cheggf]

29 minutes ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

Huh. I guess because as long as the thermal stone is giving off heat, you're not losing heat, so the insulation never takes effect? At least not until the thermal stone runs out.

Yes. The thermal stone has its own temperature that degrades at its own rate, and you have your own temperature that degrades at its own rate. The thermal stone will try to improve your temperature until it matches its own (warming you in Winter), but it will not slow the rate at your temperature worsens or make your own temperature better than its own. Once the stone becomes gray it takes durability damage and stops doing anything, and leaves your temperature so close to taking damage that any insulation you have will do essentially nothing (in addition to doing literally nothing to stop the stone from taking durability damage).

36 minutes ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

More than once I've gone all the way through winter on standard settings without seeing Deerclops or even getting its warning. Idk if it's a glitch or its spawning just off screen without me seeing it, but I've definitely had to go without an Eyebrella on account of Deerclops not showing up.

On day 30.7 Deerclops will start growling if you are on the mainland surface. 60 seconds after he starts growling he will spawn somewhere near a randomly selected player, and will aggro onto the nearest structure. If there are no structures he wanders aimlessly. If all players are in the caves or on the character select screen when he tries to spawn it will buffer his spawning until a player is available, immediately trying to spawn as soon as conditions are possible. If all players are on a boat when he tries to spawn it will bug his spawn out. If all players are on the lunar island when he tries to spawn I forgot what happens.

38 minutes ago, D_Good_Fellow said:

Backpack tends to be more valuable to me than football helmet/headlamp, so Eyebrella is still preferable tot he rain coat if I can manage it. Though having a backup option does sound nice.

If you try it I think you will love to see the versatility you're offered by having your hand slot free. There's a bit of a learning curve where you figure out what items you really need to bring along with you, and what items aren't so necessary to bring.

[goatt]

autumn easiest,

winter, solvable by thermal stone

summer, solvable by thermal stone but also wildfire, plus antlion sinkholes if some new players are not careful around my base.

spring, rain requires handslot or headslot, which are annoying. Frog rain also annoying. So spring is the "hardest" to me.

[D_Good_Fellow]

10 hours ago, Cheggf said:

On day 30.7 Deerclops will start growling if you are on the mainland surface. 60 seconds after he starts growling he will spawn somewhere near a randomly selected player, and will aggro onto the nearest structure. If there are no structures he wanders aimlessly. If all players are in the caves or on the character select screen when he tries to spawn it will buffer his spawning until a player is available, immediately trying to spawn as soon as conditions are possible. If all players are on a boat when he tries to spawn it will bug his spawn out. If all players are on the lunar island when he tries to spawn I forgot what happens.

That all makes sense, but I've definitely had Deerclops spawn before Day 30, as late as day 34, and sometimes not at all. So however the system is supposed to work, that has not been my experience. Deerclops spawning has always been very inconsistent for me. (I play on Switch for what that's worth.)

10 hours ago, Cheggf said:

If you try it I think you will love to see the versatility you're offered by having your hand slot free. There's a bit of a learning curve where you figure out what items you really need to bring along with you, and what items aren't so necessary to bring.

Yeah the raincoat definitely seems like an improvement over the umbrella for the warmth and lightning protection. Using a walking stick is usually more valuable to me than carrying a few extra items, so the raincoat beats out the umbrella even with the inventory loss. Eyebrella is still the most convenient for me though.