Beefalo and The New Updates

[Makai Yumeko]

I know beefalo are powerful in most pre-rift content and are easier than ever now to tame, but can I give my opinion on basically every single update for the past two years ever since the Wilson skilltree update? Specifically how knockback being given to nearly every boss ever since then to make using them brutally punishing and functionally unusable is the most frustrating way to make them less viable, when the mere implementation of Planar defense was already far and away enough of a nerf when compared to damage potential on foot with proper Planar weapons to begin with. I’m NOT even asking for beefalo to be OP in rift content too, but can beefalo ever get knockback immunity or have knockback work differently instead of knocking you off and basically making you unable to play while you try to remount and get knocked off helplessly again and again?? Like maybe knockback attacks could instead stun you longer on beefalo to leave you vulnerable to more damage or push you back so you can’t keep dealing damage, or have a knockback meter that needs to fill from multiple knockback attacks instead. Honestly I’d seriously even take knockback resistance/rework on the Nightmare Saddle’s over Planar defense. What I’m saying here is basically I’m fine with beefalo being more balanced in rift content with less damage potential and being hit for meaningful, threatening damage. But can it please be actually PLAYABLE? As far as things go now, you get hit once by any single knockback-heavy boss attack and it’s impossible to remount and you watch in utter frustration as your beefalo and then you are shredded. It’s like we’re being punished for the sin of using an alternate playstyle that was made too powerful earlier on so we need to be harshly treated for it. Even for bosses in pre-rifts that shut down beefalo use the design isn’t absolutely infuriating. Like Bee Queen, she shuts beefalo down by being nigh unkitable with too much health and damage to reasonably tank with beefalo, but she doesn’t force you to watch in despair as you’re helplessly slaughtered for making 1 mistake and using knockback to make it irrecoverable and unplayable. If this is too much of an ask then maybe you can also balance beefalo in different aspects, like forcing people to actually keep their hunger up use them instead of using cheap stuff like lightbulbs. I see some people say the Gloom Bell is somehow a "fix" to this issue— it absolutely IS NOT, it’s basically just there to prevent your beefalo progress being lost in a public server over any little mistake AFTER combat which is not a fix for DURING combat, which is where most issues in post-rift content and beefalo arise. Obviously based on what I said earlier you’ll also know why the Nightmare Saddle is far from a fix too. DST has been one of my favorite games to play for years and I hate that anytime new content and bosses come out it’s like the design with the knockback is designed to maximize my frustration and unplayability. Planar Defense on enemies is already enough of a nerf especially since we only have shadow-aligned damage with beefalo so far (please add a Lunar equivalent too?), knockback is seriously unnecessary and too prevalent for beefalo to be functional nowadays too and it’s frustrating.

 

Tldr; seriously Klei, PLEASE change how knockback works with beefalo or give us resistance I’m seriously willing to sacrifice Nightmare Saddle Planar defense for knockback immunity at this point. Every new boss is always just a knockback hellscape that punishes getting hit a single time with being unable to play at all while watching yourself die with no way to stop it no matter how hard you try. I’m far from wanting beefalo to be OP you can keep their max damage potential less than Planar weapons on foot I don’t care, I don’t mind making taking hits on beefalo more impactful or threatening but could the punishment not come in the form of being completely unable to play the game and watching in helpless frustration as me and my beefalo sustain endless unavoidable damage just trying to get back into the base tempo please?

[Well-met]

nope, time to learn how to play without a free +1000 health

[JJ0264]

I just want all 4 beefalo good and not just speedy or warrior (buff pudgy and normal)

[Sacco]

nah, beefalos can’t be the best way to play the game from the start to the end of it.

[Edible Coal]

knock back isnt the end of the world once you learn to cancel the animation with pressing c

16 hours ago, JJ0264 said:

I just want all 4 beefalo good and not just speedy or warrior (buff pudgy and normal)

normal is pretty good, only pudgy is stright bad

[A.P.Erson]

I want a new saddle that has inventory slots but lowers the beefalos speed by a little bit for each slot filled (exactly like the piggyback) and lowers their damage by like -10 so you can use the beefalo as a pack animal instead of just a ride. THEN make it so the pudgy beefalo is better at carrying things and doesn't have the lower speed when using the new saddle, making it slightly faster than the rider when wearing the storage saddle.

There needs to be other uses for beefalo to keep them from just being an extra 1000 health and an infinite use weapon. Another idea I have is for a "plow attachment" that you can use while on a beefalo that makes the beefalo like 70% slower but when you walk over farmland it automatically makes a perfect farming grid.

[Beetrice]

On 8/27/2025 at 12:31 PM, A.P.Erson said:

Another idea I have is for a "plow attachment" that you can use while on a beefalo that makes the beefalo like 70% slower but when you walk over farmland it automatically makes a perfect farming grid.

Having beefalo plow the fields is actually amazing for big farms. Klei, please add this!

[cyberwarlord]

11 hours ago, Beetrice said:

Having beefalo plow the fields is actually amazing for big farms. Klei, please add this!

This.