Questions about wetness mechanic

[ScaryMonster]

So I get the basics of wetness but there are a few things I'm confused about. The last time I tried winter I failed miserably due to my items becoming wet the second I switched out my straw hat or umbrella, regardless of whether or not it was snowing. I read something that said walking on wet ground has this effect, is that true? I mean nearly everything almost instantly became wet so I had to rush back to my base while my sanity was plummeting and stuff everything into a chest. 

 

I like to explore in short bursts during winter and chop down trees for extra wood just in case, is that even possible if you don't have a rain coat and beefalo/straw hat? 

[An Artifact]

I had similar issues, except that I didn't manage to figure out what was causing the wetness. I died only because of sanity drops that I couldn't figure out how to get rid of.

[chrismilk]

You pretty much need to be holding an umbrella the whole winter to avoid wetness.

 

Which makes items such as backpacks and heatstones useless.

 

You don't have time to cut down a tree before wetness occurs.

[ScaryMonster]

Yeah I noticed that my backpack got wet and stayed that way pretty much indefinitely even though it was next to a fire. It was all very confusing.

[imsomony]

There are 5 tiers of waterproofing/rain protection in the game (well, 6 if you count "none", heh). Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Absolute.

 

Currently, the Straw Hat has Small rain protection rate, as does the Beefalo Hat. The Umbrella is Huge. That means you have to reach "Absolute" in one manner or another to have 100% protection from rain. Anything less means you and your stuff will begin getting wet. The degree to which they get wet depends on the combination of rain protection/exposure, and that influences how long they stay wet.

 

Klei will be messing with the wetness mechanic as beta continues and before the final release... but basically, you've just gotta balance out how soaked you are vs. what supplies you need. There's a few mechanics for drying things (like the chest, as you noticed) that I presume will be changed the full release (like putting them in a chest), but for now, it's just time combined with protection from wetness.

 

As of right now. fire doesn't dry your items. If I'm reading the files correctly, each item has an individual "dry time" and "wet time", and the combination of wet/dry things in your inventory influences the dryness of you and your stuff overall.

 

I'm not finding anything so far that defines items getting wet (or not) by putting them on the ground. So for the time being, I would assume that if it's raining/snowing, the ground is getting wet, and anything you drop on it will get wet. If it's not raining/snowing, the ground will dry, and so will your stuff (according to their individual specs).