Raid Bosses vs Wolfgang (x2) & Boss scaling controversy

[Mike23Ua]

Wolfgang deals 2x damage just for simply being Wolfgang, so a boss fight for Wolfgang is automatically Half Health. A 10,000 hp boss is 5,000hp for Wolfgang. But when Two players are playing as Wolfgang a 5,000hp boss is a 2,500hp boss. Why is this game designed like this??? Why can we not have proper boss scaling? It’s been a controversial topic on these forums to the point that JoeW locks most conversations about it. But WHY IS IT LIKE THIS?! Why is a boss fight when fought alone (and not as Wolfgang) a long drag out battle, but when there’s two players both playing Wolfgang the (otherwise long) fight is over in seconds?

Why is content scaling such a controversial topic when 2 Wolfgang’s just existing is crazily busted..? I’m sorry.. I just don’t get it. 😂

[DinsdaleP]

This might have had some basis in reality a few years ago, but now... not so much. With the skill trees, everybody's damage potential went completely off the rails.

Just a few examples:

• Wigfrid with her Charged Elding Spear comes pretty close to Wolfgang, and outdamages him with an Enlightened Crown... which she can keep active forever
• Wortox can deal double damage OR AoE with his endgame weapon, while shrugging off hits
• Willow either does hilariously high damage against bosses, or has AoE to completely delete minions
• Wendy can supercharge Abigail multiple ways, including adding damage to every character hitting the same target
• WX-78 has SPIIIIN

Double damage Wolfgang and how he facerolls over the game isn't really relevant by this point, many characters can do that and so much more.

[Maxil20]

1 hour ago, DinsdaleP said:

Double damage Wolfgang and how he facerolls over the game isn't really relevant by this point, many characters can do that and so much more.

I feel like people forget that boss fighting isn’t the main aspect of the game far too often when it comes to discussions like this. Boss fights are a fragment of the total days of a playtime unless you are deadset on speedrunning the game. Wolfgang’s 2X damage will speed up boss fights, but the rest of his kit doesn’t make as significant of an impact in the long run. So many other character perks will significantly improve your overall efficiency, especially once you take boons like resource harvesting and overall mobility into account, let alone bringing external sources of damage like followers to speed up repeat kills in your favor.

[Tranoze]

4 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

But when Two players are playing as Wolfgang a 5,000hp boss is a 2,500hp boss. Why is this game designed like this??? 

But when Two bosses are playing vs each other, two 10000hp bosses is two 0hp bosses. Why is this game designed like this???

[Cheggf]

You already know the answers to these questions since I've seen you in the million threads talking about scaling and explaining why it's not in the game. 

[Cruvimaster]

And Wilson manages to defeat all the bosses solo, and the devs always adjust the bosses to this pattern (1x damage) during the beta, as was the case with Warbot/Scion.

I've seen live streams where a solo player defeats a boss without major problems, and I've also seen live streams where six players team up against the same boss and everyone dies and uses the "rollback" command.

[Mysterious box]

Honestly I think Wes is the problem that sadistic mime uses dark magic to extend the suffering of his foes we need to do something about this!

[Schneid_101]

12 hours ago, Mike23Ua said:

Why is a boss fight when fought alone (and not as Wolfgang) a long drag out battle, but when there’s two players both playing Wolfgang the (otherwise long) fight is over in seconds?

I mean, obviously.

[Mike23Ua]

4 hours ago, Mysterious box said:

Honestly I think Wes is the problem that sadistic mime uses dark magic to extend the suffering of his foes we need to do something about this!

Best comment on the internet for 2026 award goes to this. Thanks for the laugh. 🤣

[hyoton123]

There’s a lot of things I don’t agree with in this post, but I guess I would start by asking what specific bosses you think need scaling. 

[Mike23Ua]

35 minutes ago, hyoton123 said:

There’s a lot of things I don’t agree with in this post, but I guess I would start by asking what specific bosses you think need scaling. 

All of them??? They need to be easier Solo, (scaled down..) while harder when there’s 2+ Wolfgang’s hitting it (scaled up) this isn’t just about DST, it’s about the balance of the franchise as a whole.. Don’t Starve, Reign of Giants, Shipwrecked, Hamlet, Together, and Soon: Elsewhere.

[Mysterious box]

37 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

All of them??? They need to be easier Solo, (scaled down..) while harder when there’s 2+ Wolfgang’s hitting it (scaled up) this isn’t just about DST, it’s about the balance of the franchise as a whole.. Don’t Starve, Reign of Giants, Shipwrecked, Hamlet, Together, and Soon: Elsewhere.

Survivors are powerful enough that this isn't necessary anymore if practice isn't cutting it consider leaning on survivors with abilities geared towards easing the burden.

[hyoton123]

42 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

All of them??? 

I see. Do you find the bosses being too easy for 2+ wolfgangs to be a regular problem in your game experiences?

[Maxil20]

59 minutes ago, Mike23Ua said:

...while harder when there’s 2+ Wolfgang’s hitting it (scaled up)

Why should players be punished by picking the definitive damage character? All this would do is encourage players to pick other characters that do less damage but have better non combat perks to avoid a damage penalty while still retaining great versatility.

[Wawchik]

Thanks for the daily dose of nonsense Mike

[AliceShiki]

I would be fine with an optional setting that is disabled by default that increases boss HP if you're playing with multiple people.

As in, a setting that would let bosses not be melted by friends who know what they are doing, want a bigger challenge, and are playing together.

Players shouldn't be punished for wanting to play with their friends though, hence why it should be optional and off by default.

[Cheggf]

1 hour ago, Mike23Ua said:

All of them??? They need to be easier Solo, (scaled down..) while harder when there’s 2+ Wolfgang’s hitting it (scaled up) this isn’t just about DST, it’s about the balance of the franchise as a whole.. Don’t Starve, Reign of Giants, Shipwrecked, Hamlet, Together, and Soon: Elsewhere.

They most definitely do not need to be easier solo. Since you said "All of them???" like it's obvious, you must also mean the bosses which if anything should be scaled up like Deerclops who, without even doing anything special, dies in only about two dozen hits. Two dozen hits when the player character attacks more than twice a second. 

[Mike23Ua]

1 hour ago, Cheggf said:

They most definitely do not need to be easier solo. Since you said "All of them???" like it's obvious, you must also mean the bosses which if anything should be scaled up like Deerclops who, without even doing anything special, dies in only about two dozen hits. Two dozen hits when the player character attacks more than twice a second. 

Ironically, that’s sort of the entire point. Deerclops is easy to solo and kill quickly (assuming you actually want to kill it) but if it’s that quick to kill Solo, it doesn’t even exist when Multiple people hit it. Crystal Deerclops fairs out a bit better..

but the Math of this thread is that just by having two Wolfgang’s (in a game world that supports up to 6 players) that a bosses health is by default, Half of Half. Of course there are other characters you can pick and play as.. but 27,500 + 1 Wolfgang = 13,750 + 1 more Wolfgang = 6,875 this doesn’t even factor in the built in Mechanic where the boss collapses to the ground and faints if enough people smack at it at once.