That's how i survive my first winter...

[Wilson Mcborn]

My biggest number of days i survive is 287 days but that's before when this game was on the beta phase... I was looking once upon a time the updating news... There was no winter in the beginning...Im sort of...helpless...now.  Now the longest i survive is 28 days!

 

My topic title is not for me but for all other who pass throught it and wants to share to everyone their main objectives to survive the first winter cause i imagine if you survive the first one it must be a good sign of a good start.

 

As myself, i try to get a good map in the first 2 days i walk around and see if i feel it... Then i spot the swamp, the beefaloo and the pig base. I gather two/three pigs and salvage some spider nest for gland -> salves. Then i try the fastest as i can to hunter the élophant for the hot clothes. Meanwhile i try to gather the much as i can berry plants... Somehow it's the strategy that i get.

 

By the way, in some map there's a wooden base in the middle of beefaloo's area. When you open the chest everythings goes bursting... I try to hammer it but no chance everything go to ashes. Is there a way to get the fire stave without burning the base? 

 

Thx for advises!

[FDru]

All you need to successfully survive for a long time is a bunny field. People go all nuts with bee boxes, excessive drying racks and crock pots...

 

My base is a 3x3 squares of wood floors, fire pit in the middle, alchemy engine, bird cage, crock pot and prestihatitator which I basically don't even use (I really.. never use it, I don't even know why I build it most of the time, probably just for the satisfaction of being able to prototype purple gems and nightmare fuel which I also never use).

 

So you have your crock pot which you can turn monster meat into good food with combination of your birdcage and bunny meat, and what else do you need really? Collect grass and berries if you want convenience, but those things aren't needed... I easily last through the first winter with these but I get really bored and run off and die fighting huge herds of tallbirds or whatever. Boredom = your worst enemy.

[aredshroom]

When I played without setting the game on long summer, or if I play on default now, my strategy's still similar. First 5 days or so, find a place to settle comfortably + start making armor/weapons and moving twigs/bushes. Because Beefalo are priority for me (even now), I end up in savannah for a permanent base more often than not. Take note of where gears are, or graves, swampland, pig king, all those highlights while exploring.

 

I farm rabbits, mushrooms (when I see them), logs/grass/twigs, all kinds of resources before winter. Make at least two crockpots and two drying racks, so food problem is solved. Remember those Beefalos? I shave them all asap, then kill them one by one to get a horn. If I'm down to my last 3 Beefalo, I try my best to protect them from danger until they repopulate. Make a Beefalo Hat to protect against cold! Or until I manage to get a Tam.

 

(I think that's it. Brain's not working well atm so may have forgotten stuff.)

 

Short version: Food + Warmth + Staying out of danger (with exceptions). I tend to tank Deerclops when he does come, just make sure you're ready with armor, healing, weapons. Hunting snowbirds and krampii are winter pasttimes.

[gummie]

First Winter (5th game try before actually reaching winter)? I almost never survived.  I only know how to cook meatballs which is good on stomach but does not have good healing. I survived that way till I first heard of deerclops, I'm like this sound is new then I get stunned to see that humongous freak, I ran and ran till I lost site of it but when I came back, my camp is not what it looks like when I left it. I survived winter though I was killed by a beefalo on heat, I never knew they have that till I googled why they killed me.

[Cynical Cynicist]

If you don't have the insulation and you begin to freeze out in the wilderness, just drop a single twig or grass or something and light it on fire with a torch. Anything expendable that's also flammable will do. Winter just got a whole lot less menacing.

[TeoSS69]

Short version: Food + Warmth + Staying out of danger (with exceptions). I tend to tank Deerclops when he does come, just make sure you're ready with armor, healing, weapons. Hunting snowbirds and krampii are winter pasttimes.

You still lurk the forums! Yay!

So pretty much this is what i do to. Just make a schedule for yourself.

First 5 days : Collect Grass, Twigs, Flint, Gold, Rocks and Logs for last and settle when you find the Beefalo -Bunny savanna.

Make the Science Machine (and immediately the Alchemy Engine after it -.- ) and prototype the shovel. Makes yourself some Crock Pots and Drying Racks. Hunt a Koalefant to make some meatballs.

Days 6-8 : Dig up 36 Grass, 36 Saplings and 20 Berry Bushes and the

Days 8-10 : Collect Silk for bug nets (i usually make 4 of them. 16 Bees and 24 Butterflies) and other clothes or tent.

Days 10-15 : Get materials for bee boxes and go find the Wooden Thing if you haven't already to get a gear for the ice box.

Days 15-20 : Kill beefalo until you get a horn and venture in the Swamp to get 8 reeds to make the bird cage.

With a Beefalo Hat and Heat Stone you'll be warm for around a day. For food you'll be able to make Honey Ham with berries (or morsels if you're out of berries), honey, monster meat (farm a Spider Den nearby with traps) and meat (Koalefant). Use beefalo for protection until you get some Tooth Traps.

As long as your camp has these things you should be good.

[the truthseeker]

Edit: Was Ninjaed by Teo as I was writing this verbose thing. His is short and simple. Mine is more detailed. Both are great.

 

 

(Please be forewarned the wiki links included in this entry may or may not contain spoiler information and should be read at the player's discretion.)

 

 

What's important to understand in winter is (and yeah I know you all likely know this but we need to hammer it home for those not used to their consequences:)

 

 

1. Food takes a lot longer to regrow (eg, wild-growing berry bushes,) or food (farm plots) and transplanted items (grass, twigs, transplanted berry bushes) stops growing altogether.
2. The cold makes you freeze and (eventually) lose health unless you are next to a fire. While warm clothing helps, it (overall,) only delays this until winter is over.  (If there is any question as to what "tiers" in winter warmth clothing mean, there are three clothing groups with their insulation values for each clothing in that group; you can look that info up in Insulators under Game Mechanics at the Freezing entry in the Don't Starve Wiki.)

Both the food and freezing conditions remain (potentially, such as avoiding them on the first and last days of winter or going into the caves when it is active,) until winter-a sixteen day cycle-is over.

 

This means a lot of players are stuck with what they can eat at their base or what they can collect before they have to make a fire or burn something with a torch/return to base and make a fire.

 

The trick not only is to make sure you have an operational base with plenty of things to help stockpile food BEFORE day 21, but also to have items that keep you warm for travel when you do get supplies (as well as getting over the fear of traveling without freezing.) 

 

 

 

Now, the question by many who don't know how to (easily) do this of course is HOW?

 

 

Honestly, the time and order the things are done in varies from player to player (and may even change based on the character you are playing. After all, gathering reeds in a swamp as Wilson is pretty straightforward, but you can have a lot of enemy grief if you are trying to simply get reeds as Wendy and have your Sister-Ghost Abigail with you.)

 

But I can offer tips (that have been posted by me and others before on other threads,) as well as a "do by" window (which means do by this absolute day or it may be too late, not necessarily it's suggested to do it on this day, and often is suggested to do it earlier to much earlier.)

 

 

 

 

So, in suggested order of accomplishment (but your styles and days to do them by may vary:)

 

1. Collect as much/many grass, and rocks as you can and a suggested one to two stacks of twigs immediately.  (But when you are starting out at the first few days, you may stop at two stacks of rocks if space is an issue.) This is a snap to do (except sometimes for rocks) when you spawn in or next to a green-turfed grasslands.     
2. Consider collecting at least 12-18 logs by your first night (if not more logs if you have the room.)  Replenish logs as needed. This should average out to at least 4-6 campfires before having to chop down more trees  While not 100% absolutely vital-since technically, you can use torches at night and eat the collected berries, seeds and/or carrots uncooked-these foods will give more hunger filled (and give health) when cooked compared to when uncooked. But to cook them, you need fires. And fires use two logs and three grass each time. So, it makes sense to have a reserve of logs with that pile of grass you just got so you're ready to immediately make a fire to start cooking (and prevent the Night Monster.)   Feel free to use fires to cook your food and torches afterwards to stay nomadic with any remaining night time to increase your exploration time, materials permitting. And you'll need up to 32+ logs when you are going to do the next steps very soon.
3. Get a science machine running by days 3-4 This is vital. Until you do, you can't make a backpack (for that critical extra space,) or make a shovel (for getting the stumps and transplanting twigs/grass/berry bushes and dig up graves for your possible magic items/gravedigger gold items/potential rare gears and nightmare fuel.) A science machine only needs 4 logs, 4 stones, and one gold. It's this last one that can delay things for a while, but finding only one gold rock to mine, trading in one morsel to the discovered pig king and/or picking up a nugget from the graveyard (almost) always discovered on every world means it should be obtainable within the suggested days. (A) Make the following items immediately to one day after crafting the science machine: A backpack, a shovel, a log suit a spear and a hammer. Technically, it's easier once you have made your science machine to make a backpack and shovel and then (if needed) get the rest of the materials to make the rest of the items here. For example: The 8 logs needed for the log suit when using an axe then a shovel on a fully grown tree  means only needing to chop down two trees (at four logs per) than three and this additional log does add up over time.  If you wish (as if you can make it but haven't found a good spot for a permanent base yet,) feed free to hammer the science machine to take back half of the components (and one gold especially if its the only one you have,) until you're ready to need to make it again. It's always a good idea if you find something when searching and don't have a base to make a science machine to prototype it (if it's a vital item like spider glands) then demolish the science machine as temporary or treat it as a secondary base area and not a permanent settlement location (or just another secondary base with a science machine.) if you have no use for the machine in the area except as a one shot for the prototype you created, don't hesitate to hammer that sucker and reclaim half your resources!  (B) Optional items to make in the same time period are: the pitchfork, the razor and the sign. (They may be not immediately necessary if you're not needing them right then, but can be useful if you find areas where you can use them later without having to make another science machine in that spot. The sign is a great thing to make when you find stuff like boons or set-pieces you can use later but don't need now and don't have the inventory space to pick up; marking them for future pickups makes them a snap to find on the map, especially when you're exploring to find your base location!) It is quicker for all these optional items if you gather the (pre-refined basic) materials first before making the science machine 
4. (A) Make an alchemy machine ASAP (even if you don't place it) by days 5-7. The resources of 6 gold available  are often the hardest (and technically you need seven minimum as you need to have created a science machine and crafted  an alchemy engine what at a science machine) but easiest when finding a quarry. Or else, you can find gold at a graveyard, trading meat through the pig king, and/or through several stray gold boulders. The necessary three cut stone (6 rocks) and 4 boards (16 wood) are easily obtained most anywhere in the world. Using the above suggestions for temporary or extra science machines, consider building but not placing an alchemy engine as soon as you have the materials. This can be done by building the engine, but "right clicking" or "canceling" the placement of the machine. This way, it is now "pre--built" and ready to be placed immediately as soon as you find the place to build your base! (B) "Optional" items to pre-build (but not place) the same time you make your Alchemy machine or up to half a day later are: the lightning rod (for an additional 3 gold and 1 cut stone or 3 rocks,) and chest (three boards or 12 logs.) Often, when one has the resources to build the alchemy engine one can get these additional resources to (pre-)build these items.  
5. Have a permanent base with this set up no later than day 11: A Fire Pit, an Alchemy Engine, one or more chests, and a Lightning Rod. It's HIGHLY suggested (so you can expand your base before winter stars easily)  to have these things in your "permanent base" set up earlier (as much earlier as possible,) but a base can be "winterized" with a ten-day window comfortably. (This is true even with novice players and/or players who are greatly exploring over base building; however, having items "pre-built" makes this a lot easier if you are playing like this so you can "quickly drop it" [instead of gathering the resources and returning to the machine to prototype it which can take up to a day for each item if materials are spread out.]) 
6. Build at least one Crock Pot and four drying racks within two days of setting up your permanent base, or day 13 at the latest. It's highly suggested you make more than one crock pot for multiple cooking and spoil-free storage and as many drying racks as you can (since you can never have too much preserved meat lasting 20 days before refrigeration or 40 days if you could build an ice box!) Also, until harvested, crock pot and drying rack food does not spoil! The key ingredient for the crock pot is 6 charcoal which is obtained by burning trees. One chopped burnt tree=1 charcoal. Some people like burning down trees already there, some like making forest fires and reaping loads of charcoal, and some like planting their own isolated tree groups and controlled burning them solely for the charcoal. The only warning here is not to place them too close to your base or too close to items that are close together that go back to your base so you won't accidentally burn down any transplanted plants at your base. When in doubt, shovel out an area so it's clear, plant pine cones and burn them when they first become trees!  At this point, the three cut stone (9 rock) shouldbn't be a problem but this is why 2 stacks of 20 stones was suggested collected minimum on step 1!  Drying racks are more demanding when it comes to components needing three ropes (9 grass) two charcoal and three twigs for each drying rack. Again, this is why it's suggested to collect as much grass and twigs as you can. Pre-collecting two stacks or even three for grass (and twigs) on those first two or three days (even if dropping a stack off somewhere else using a sign as a marker) really helps. You'll need that grass and more when you do the next thing below:
7. Build and place as many (ground, non-bird) traps as you can as soon as you can, but absolutely no later than day seventeen.  For the novice player, this is your easiest way of getting meat. Mainly this is used for rabbits and often in the savanna/desert areas. But this also can be used to (safely without risky damaging combat) trap frogs and spiders for their meat (frogs legs and monster meat) and/or components (such as webs and glands.) The catch is each trap costs a whopping six grass per trap made (and two twigs.) Whether you like to have each rabbit hole with one trap or one hole/frog/spider trapping zone with several traps (but have a chance of some of the traps failing,) many traps will need to be made to catch enough meat/components. This is (again) why it's suggested as soon as you start to collect as much grass/twigs as you can. Remember: multiple traps are going to be needed to get enough meat/components not just for winter, but to cook and craft components for everyday use. In regards to winter, drying (and storing) as much dried meat as possible before winter starts not only gives you food, but can help with restoring sanity, even if only small jerky! Even if monster meat, it can be stored longer (and therefore used later in winter,) to keep for crockpot recipes/feeding to birds and pigs for eggs and friends.   
8. Find and shave enough Beefalo for at least 4 Beefalo Wool (if not much more than 8 minimum) and at least enough spider silk for at least 4 silk by day 21. Winter headgear will help keep the player from not freezing   Two hats can be made from Beefalo Wool--A winter hat requires 4 Beefalo Wool and 4 silk to make and is a "tier two" warmth item, but also restores sanity at the rate of a garland. The Beefalo Hat requires 8 Beefalo wool and one Beefalo horn (sometimes dropped, and only when a Beefalo is killed,)  also protects the user from Beefalo in heat, is a tier three warming item and does not regain sanity. A razor must be in the player's inventory and the Beefalo can only be shaved at night while sleeping (so some light source is required.) Never attempt to shave a Beefalo in heat (without a Beefalo Hat,) or they WILL wake and attack you!  (Again, see step 4(B) why it's suggested to make (and if short on space then, drop  and forget) the razor the first time you make a science machine. it's very cheap to craft and when you find the Beefalo, you can craft another one  on the fly if needed without having to make another science machine then.)  
9. Make a heat stone by day 21. Technically day 22 is when the player starts to freeze, but if they don't have it when the day starts, the freezing timer has begun already and it's easier if they have it the night before on hand to heat up so they are ready. The heat stone requires a (normal, not opulent) pickaxe, 10 stones and three flint...another reason to stockpile stones before winter. it's important to understand the stone must be heated by being next to a fire or held next to a fire for a while to warm up and not kept in a backpack but on the belt slots to keep the player warm. if it's completely cold, it actually takes away heat and helps freeze. If it gets to this state, this is when it's suggested to either transfer it to a pack slot or drop it until it's warmed up by fire beyond its coldest state.

 

The following are considered "secondary" or "you can survive without these in winter," but for new players, it is (all but guaranteed) absolutely vital you make them anyway. Don't deliberately skip making these items until you have played multiple games with multiple different characters and for many hours. You have been warned! The following "secondary" tasks are: 

 

 

 

1. Have farms in your base(s) no later by by day 14, if not much earlier.  Farms either need 8 grass 4 logs and 4 manure for basic farms or 10 grass, 4 stone and 6 manure for advanced farms.  Due to the manure requirements (and guano can not be used to craft a farm, only grow the crops after a farm is built and a seen is planted,) you either must find a Beefalo (and collect manure) or pigs (and feed them vegetables/flower petals to produce manure) to be able to make farm plots, so consider this when placing your permanent base. Alternately, a player can make their base (or an alternate base,) using the Metal Potato Thing which has three basic farms pre-made already.  Basic farms take fewer components to craft but grow crops slower/need more sunlight hours, and need to be re-fertilized more often for "recharging."  Advanced farms take more components to craft, but grow crops faster/need fewer sunlight hours and need to be re-fertilized less often for "recharging." As long as the crops are not harvested, they will not spoil and can be kept as "emergency food" for winter this way! 
2. Have two or more Bee Boxes and around 6-12 flowers adjacently planted by day 16. Why? Honey! Honey spoils exceptionally slowly (40 days, 80 if in an icebox,) even before cooked or crafted with anything else can both heal hunger (9.375 per) and health (3 per compared to most basic cooked food only doing 1) on its own, is an awesome component in crock pot cooking making such amazing healing and filling food (like Honey ham or honey nuggets,) as well as sanity restoring food (such as taffy and pumpkin cookies,) and finally can be used (with Papyrus) to craft one of the best game healing items (Honey Poultices.) But the components (Bees, honeycomb and boards) requires a little work, putting aside some resources and (overall) time to collect:To collect the four bees needed, you must be able to craft a bug net, requiring (a science machine or higher and) four twigs, two silk and a rope. The honeycomb requires destroying a beehive, so a minimum log suit is needed (and a spear) and/or ranged weapons that will not burn the honeycomb to ash. The three honey is a nice bonus for those who want to use it for pre-Bee Box early crafting/eating. The final component of two boards (or 8 logs) is pretty simple and simply make sure you have enough logs when you begin (especially if building multiple boxes at once.) Once the Bee Box is built, the bees must go to and from flowers (then back to the box) to make honey. the more flowers there are nearby, the faster this takes and the more honey each box makes faster until it is full. Therefore, it is highly recommended to make what is known as a "flower garden" right next to the bee box(es.) Simply catch butterflies and plant them (often right clicking like other plantable items,) right next to the bee boxes. Said flowers attract more butterflies which can also be caught and planted. A good rule of thumb for Bee Box creation is to create a new bug net, catch four bees, and use the remaining durability to catch six butterflies each time you make a bee box Also, you could choose to make yet another net and catch more butterflies for the garden and even fireflies for a future Mining hat.  (Anyway, you can never have too many butterflies nearby to make into more flowers or kill for butterfly wings to heal/eat or make into butter muffins or even the chance of the rare butterfly butter to make the legendary waffles!) 
3. Create a birdcage and trap/place a bird in it no later than day twenty-one, but recommended  as soon as possible after you start your farm plots. A bird not only can eat meat and create eggs (as well as eat spoiling food and eggs and recycle them into fresh eggs,) they also can eat farmable fruit and vegetables and (has a chance to) give custom seeds for that crop (and/or give regular seeds,) so you can grow exclusively that crop. This is often used for dragon fruit (for Dragon Pies) and Pumpkins (for Pumpkin cookies) but can be used for anything that is grown from seeds. A brdcage requires six gold, two seeds and two papyrus (each refined papyrus requires four reeds or eight reeds total.) To get a bird to place in the cage, you must create and place a bird trap, requiring three twigs and four silk. Unlike land traps, it can take quite a while to catch a bird with an un-baited trap. You can use a seed,  and/or a Bird Hat to speed up this process. Once you have trapped the bird, check the trap and place the bird in the cage so it is imprisoned. Now you may permanently make custom seeds and eggs as long as you want!  
4. Craft a Boomerang anytime after the Alchemy Engine is made. This is a pretty simple thing to do only requiring you have (the alchemy engine and) one charcoal, one board and one silk. It's very useful for "only able to ranged hit" creatures that can outrun you like Gobblers, Krampus or Koalaphants. The only catch is to remember when it returns, you must hold down the attack key (default F key, but can be key-binded to anything you want,) before it reaches you or it will damage you per its attack value (27.2) and lose durability as if it was used in an attack again. 
5. Kill a Koalefant and make its trunk into a vest before and/or after winter starts. To find the Koalefant, find a suspicious looking dirt pile, and follow the footprint based on the directions of the toe prints. Multiple tracks must be found and clicked on to "trail" it to its destination. When you are one track away from the actual beast, your character will say something about it being near. See optional step 4 for using the boomerang once you find the creature to engage it in combat instead of running away.  Besides the eight meat (which can last an entire season or a couple of meaty stews) the Koalefant drops a trunk which can be crafted into a winter vest to keep the player warm. The Summer (found any time before winter) Koalefant trunk makes a breezy vest (a tier two warming item) and the Winter (found anytime after winter starts) Koalefant's trunk  makes the puffy vest (a tier three warming item.) Both require 8 silk and the winter Koalefant trunk's Puffy Vest  also requires 2 Beefalo wool. The trunks are also a meat item and can be cooked to make a Koalefant trunk steak (but the unprocessed trunk also can spoil, so it is suggested to keep it in the ice box if you don't have all the components and want to later craft it into a vest or eat the steak later. Once it is a vest, it no longer spoils and normal durability rules apply.)  The only drawback to the vests is they require a body slot, so when worn, exclude using any packs (back, piggyback, Krampus, etc.)
6. Have an icebox crafted next to one or more of your crock pots as soon as you find your first gear. This is the most optional of all the secondary tasks. You can make and even stockpile food without Ice Boxes, but a lot of it will spoil in days (and most crock pot foods quite rapidly.) When stockpiling for winter, this literally doubles your food duration! Often, when players are lucky enough to find more than one gear (or have found a gear or gears and Teleportato-ed to another word,) players will build two (or more) Ice Boxes: One for their raw components and one for their "crafted" food and/or meats and overflow items from their components ice box. (Case in point: Jerky/small jerky  lasts a whopping 20 days and honey 40 days respectively! When kept in an icebox, they now last 40 and 80 days! That is easily longer than an entire winter season, so imagine being able to survive on nothing but honey and jerky and it's actually an option!)   

 

 

 

 

So I hope these things done will help you last longer for this and future winters. The Wiki I linked to also has many entries on winter and how-to guides (including how to survive your first winter.) And the community here is always ready to answer players' questions.

 

 

But if there is one thing any of you should take away from all this it is:

 

 

It's easier to prepare before for a shortage then to try and survive immediately without preparation. Winter is a shortage of food and warmth. Be prepared and you'll survive for many winter seasons into triple digit days...

 

 

 

(...as long as you are ready for the hounds...but that's another thing altogether...and some future poster's reply....)

[Boar Head]

I just try to find a place to set up in the first 5 days. Then once I've gotten decently set up with some extra food items and at least one crock pot I go hunting for beefalo. Once I find a herd, I shave them all then kill them until one drops a horn and (usually I get it on the first kill) I harvest poop from them for farms. Once I've made a beefalo hat then the winter problem is basically dealt with. I usually have a lot of live rabbits saved up in backpacks for the winter since my farms will be inactive and I don't have that much of a big stockpile.

[pwhampton]

You could also just say, "screw above ground!" and just go caving for the whole winter. In this case, sanity will be your largest worry.

[the truthseeker]

You could also just say, "screw above ground!" and just go caving for the whole winter. In this case, sanity will be your largest worry.

I tried that once..My character just got cured from the above-ground STD

[aredshroom]

You still lurk the forums! Yay!

Someone still remembers me. :'D Yeah, I still lurk, but usually early in the morning before classes or just before I go to bed. Meaning my braincells are either not awake yet or falling asleep. /bricked

 

One more random tip, mostly for newbies. Don't be afraid to use basic tier items if you can't get anything better in time, like Rabbit Earmuffs + Heat Stone for warmth, or Winter Hat / Top Hat (taking care not to freeze) for sanity.

[TeoSS69]

Someone still remembers me. :'D Yeah, I still lurk, but usually early in the morning before classes or just before I go to bed. Meaning my braincells are either not awake yet or falling asleep. /bricked

 

One more random tip, mostly for newbies. Don't be afraid to use basic tier items if you can't get anything better in time, like Rabbit Earmuffs + Heat Stone for warmth, or Winter Hat / Top Hat (taking care not to freeze) for sanity.

Better than no shroom at all! :3

Oh and for those that have problems with sanity at the beginning, don't forget that you get 15 sanity everytime you make an item for the first time. That means that making an axe on day one, picking flowers on full sanity etc is a waste.

 

[Guest]

If you are playing as Wilson, a good tip to surviving winter is to grow out your beard to the longest it can go, then make a Beefalo hat, you can make a heat stone if you want, but that's optional, but reccomended.

 

Volia, all cold worries are taken care of :3

[the truthseeker]

And remember, green mushrooms are your sanity management friend:

 

 

Cooked ones restore 15 sanity per (and if not Wilson) while uncooked ones remove 50 sanity per (perfect for those who quickly need to fight beardlings [and not bunnies] for beard hair, night mare fuel and other crazy creature goodies.)

And if you have an excess amount, they are a great vegetable filler in crock pots (and even can make ratatouille on their own as a crock pot recipe!) 

[Snackyou]

Usually for winter i just use a nearby spider den, and a birdcage (crockpot must be included (optional drying rack also)). Simply kill spiders (not that hard) for monster meat dry it if you want to, then feed it to the bird (cooked or dried) for eggs. 3 eggs and 1 monster meat/jerky will make meatballs. This is a very good way to survive winter, and as long as you have your beefalo hat with a breezy/warm winter vest you should be fine. I usually like this method better than rabbit method simply because you dont have to waste as many grass/twigs, it provides more food in less time, and you only have to walk to one area for multiple meat (Unlike in some cases were rabbit holes are very scattered and you have to waste your time & heat walking around to collect rabbits). Also you do not gain any naughtiness from this, which poses a very big problem when farming rabbits.

[Snackyou]

And remember, green mushrooms are your sanity management friend:

 

 

Cooked ones restore 15 sanity per (and if not Wilson) while uncooked ones remove 50 sanity per (perfect for those who quickly need to fight beardlings [and not bunnies] for beard hair, night mare fuel and other crazy creature goodies.)

And if you have an excess amount, they are a great vegetable filler in crock pots (and even can make ratatouille on their own as a crock pot recipe!)

I usually just go into a spelunked sinkhole to farm blue mushrooms, as they provide a much larger sanity/hp boost than the other mushrooms. P.S. I do have the more map tweaks mod enabled, and usually put mushrooms on "more" So idk if its too rare to find blue mushrooms topside/in caves.

[dancness]

I usually just go into a spelunked sinkhole to farm blue mushrooms, as they provide a much larger sanity/hp boost than the other mushrooms. P.S. I do have the more map tweaks mod enabled, and usually put mushrooms on "more" So idk if its too rare to find blue mushrooms topside/in caves.

Incorrect, green mushrooms provide the best sanity boost at 15 sanity per and only take away 1 health. Blue only provide 10 sanity when cooked and take away 3 health.

[ARamblingSpider]

filthy casuals, dont know how to survive winter

[the truthseeker]

Usually for winter i just use a nearby spider den, and a birdcage (crockpot must be included (optional drying rack also)). Simply kill spiders (not that hard) for monster meat dry it if you want to, then feed it to the bird (cooked or dried) for eggs. 3 eggs and 1 monster meat/jerky will make meatballs. This is a very good way to survive winter, and as long as you have your beefalo hat with a breezy/warm winter vest you should be fine. I usually like this method better than rabbit method simply because you dont have to waste as many grass/twigs, it provides more food in less time, and you only have to walk to one area for multiple meat (Unlike in some cases were rabbit holes are very scattered and you have to waste your time & heat walking around to collect rabbits). Also you do not gain any naughtiness from this, which poses a very big problem when farming rabbits.

 

If you set up one or two traps, you can now make all the bacon and eggs you can carry! 75 hunger healed with a 20 day shelf life before an ice box is huge (and healing 5 sanity and an additional 20 health!)

 

 

I prefer using several monster meat when near (planted if need be) spider's nests for the two eggs (or one Tallbird egg will work,) and one meat; then I use one morsel for the 1.5 total meat. (As noted, using morsels for eggs is too costly for the land-trap's 6 grass if you have to often replenish it, while spider dens often make plenty of meat. ) Of course, morsel bird traps and frogs' legs work also for the half meat.

 

It's just so wasteful using all those eggs (or one tallbird egg) simply for a 62.5 meatball (and 5 health/sanity) food.

 

Now that you have tasted success with only a few traps needed (and it tastes like bacon and eggs,) you'll never go back!

[TeoSS69]

Sometimes you can make Bacon&Eggs with two eggs and two monster meats too.

[Hugo M.]

Jerky/small jerky. As simple as this.

[Aves Dominari]

One thing that has really helped me is the crockpot. I used to never bother with the thing, eating only raw/fire cooked items, but crockpot recipes are immensely more useful than raw ingredients. I have a half-dozen recipes bookmarked on the wiki, and I'd suggest finding a few that you like and have an easy time making.

[Nebulous]

My first winter I got killed by a see-through tick, aka a crawling horror. |:[

 

My second attempt I stockpiled jerky and warm clothing, beefalo hat and breezy vest.

 

Now... I have less to worry about. So long as I keep enough food and stuff for lots of torches I find ways.

[Cynical Cynicist]

My first winter I got killed by a see-through tick, aka a crawling horror. |:[

 

My second attempt I stockpiled jerky and warm clothing, beefalo hat and breezy vest.

 

Now... I have less to worry about. So long as I keep enough food and stuff for lots of torches I find ways.

 

Try to find excuses to roam the savannah. It's excellent for finding suspicious dirt piles.

[Nebulous]

Try to find excuses to roam the savannah. It's excellent for finding suspicious dirt piles.

 

And pig villages for their berry farms...

 

And send spiders after killer bees for the sweet honey...

 

And even deerclops is edible...