Woodie Guide - How To Use - Tips

[JohnnyTwoShirts]

 

So you want to play Woodie but you aren’t quite sure what to expect of him. When I started it was difficult to find some tips on how to get the most out of this character. Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for I just did my own trial runs to study his abilities. Finally I am at a place where I feel I understand the character I thought I would put a quick guide together to get right to the point.

 

Pros:

-  Begins with an axe that has unlimited use and allows him to chop at a faster speed than any other character.

-  Has a beard that gives him a little extra insulation during those cold days

-  Can control his Sanity by planting Pinecones and Birchnuts

-  Receives longer loyalty period to certain followers

 

As you can see Woodie is a great character; he can gather resources very quickly as well as having great control over his sanity. However, I am sure you are reading this to learn more about this Werebeaver Form. This so called curse can intimidate someone from using the character at all. At first it may seem daunting but with understanding of how it works you can make the most out of this, so lets get into it.

 

WHEN DOES HE TURN?

 

Log Meter - When your log meter reaches 25 you will be forced into Werebeaver form. This meter goes down by chopping wood - this is easy to see right from the get go, but be aware that the meter goes down a bit overtime regardless of your actions. A new player may find themselves transforming randomly while not chopping any trees, but maybe mining or just walking around, this is most likely the reason. You can control this meter by eating logs to raise it; also, when you return to human form from Werebeaver, the log meter goes back to 100

**Tip -  Keep an eye on your log meter and have a log supply on you that you can eat to help keep yourself above 25

 

Full Moon - During a full moon Woodie is forced into Werebeaver form. During this time if you are not prepared you can be very vulnerable. His Sanity will go down at an escalated rate as it always does BUT during the full moon his log meter also constantly runs down. Be aware that if that meter reaches zero you will go into starvation mode and your health will lower. A combination of this and shadows creatures attacking you from inevitable insanity can result in a fast death.

**Tip - Be aware of the moon cycles so you know when a full moon is arriving. I like to have a Full Moon safety kit at my base that I set aside for this occasion. This consists of a stack or two of logs on the ground as well as a stack of pinecones I put in my inventory. When I turn I use some of the time to do some quick chomping of resources (make the best out of the situation) and when ready to go back to human form I return to the stack of logs and eat them until my meter gets back to 100. Pick up the stack and continue eating the logs for the rest of the night; if you aren’t careful you will return to Werebeaver form since the meter will continue falling down until the full moon is over. Remember to plant those Pinecones to bring your sanity back up and get those shadow creatures off your back. 

 

WHAT HAPPENS IN WEREBEAVER FORM?

 

In this form you will immediately drop your axe Lucy as well as Equipment being worn (not backpack) and your Sanity will drop at an escalated rate. You will not have access to your map or inventory.

 

You Will Gain 

-Night Vision (making you immune to being killed from darkness)

-Speed Increase

-Damage Deduction 

-Thermal Deduction (you can still freeze to death)

-You will have universal Tool Actions. Allowing you to Chop down trees, Shovel up resources, and Hammer down materials, and Mine minerals. 

 

Each one of these Tool Actions will raise your log meter a little and you will stay in Werebeaver form until the meter is back to 100. (Remember you can also eat logs to change yourself back faster)

 

TIPS - This is just my play style, and the use of Werebeaver can of course be used in many ways once you understand how it works. -

 

Fighting --  I don’t use Werebeaver to fight. He looks powerful but his attack isn’t great and his damage deduction does not make him a tank. Your inventory is not accessible so you cannot heal. you are better off armored and weaponized as Woodie. I would recommend if anything using the speed of Werebeaver to kite a mob to Allies or Followers. 

 

Nightmare Fuel  -- You can use this form to bring you to instant insanity and farm nightmare fuel.

 

Resurrection -- If you die in this form your ghost will also not be able to see the map, making finding resurrection point difficult, and when you do resurrect, you will still be Werebeaver. 

 

Gathering -- Use this form as a way to clear out areas very fast, when back to human gather you can gather materials. Be prepared and have a plan while inducing this form. Keep Pinecones on you and Logs on the ground so in a crunch you can turn back immediately and then plant pinecones to get rid of any shadow creatures you may have attracted while insane.

 

Sanity --  Before inducing Werebeaver form on yourself make sure your sanity is high. This form will drain it fast, and there is nothing worse than trying to hack down all the materials while being attacked by shadow creatures. Having high sanity before hand gives you more time to do your work without being interrupted.

 

Ruins -- Caves can be a great source for crockpot Veggies. Bring your Pinecones and Logs to a cave, go full Beaver and that Night Vision will allow you to explore the cave fast while chopping down countless mushroom trees. Keep an eye on that Log Meter so you don’t transform stranded; or make sure you have a light source available right away, last thing you want is to transform and be stuck in a dark cave being killed by Charlie. 

 

Emergencies -- Werebeaver can be used as for an emergency situation. Say you find yourself starving at its getting dark but you can’t make a fire (probably not a situation you would want to put yourself in in the first place, but things happen) chop trees until you turn to Werebeaver. You will be immune to your human hunger and the night will no longer affect you. Spend the time running to find a food source, wait for day and transform back, eat, then go get Lucy. It can be a good habit to mantain the log meter around 50 if you want to have this option quicly available; that way when these situations arise you can turn in a crunch

 

Treeguards  -- As Woodie you are bound to run across a Treeguard very frequently. Use that to your advantage. Since he will catch their attention so fast and you will be prepared with Pinecones anyways, they are easy to appease by planting them. Treeguards can be great for taking on enemies like Clockwork Rooks who will pummel trees down in their attacks. Soon enough there will be a battle between the Treeguard and the Rooks (Treeguard will win) and you can collect those precious gears.

 

I hope this helps anyone that may want to play Woodie. He is a fun character, great for those that hate the agony of dealing with insanity or the slow task of gathering resources. Just make sure you know how the Werebeaver form works, keep an eye on that log meter and those full moons and you will be just fine. As I continue playing I will try to update for some more tips and I encourage anyone else to add onto this. I know I still have a lot to learn about him, so lets give Woodie some love.

[Ressayez]

Why would you put your guide in Times New Roman and then size it down, I know not everyone will have trouble reading this, but please ... 

You're hurting my poor dyslexic soul.

[Palecwsmalec1]

3 hours ago, Ressayez said:

Why would you put your guide in Times New Roman and then size it down, I know not everyone will have trouble reading this, but please ... 

You're hurting my poor dyslexic soul.

So you want to play Woodie but you aren’t quite sure what to expect of him. When I started it was difficult to find some tips on how to get the most out of this character. Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for I just did my own trial runs to study his abilities. Finally I am at a place where I feel I understand the character I thought I would put a quick guide together to get right to the point.

 

Pros:

-  Begins with an axe that has unlimited use and allows him to chop at a faster speed than any other character.

-  Has a beard that gives him a little extra insulation during those cold days

-  Can control his Sanity by planting Pinecones and Birchnuts

-  Receives longer loyalty period to certain followers

 

As you can see Woodie is a great character; he can gather resources very quickly as well as having great control over his sanity. However, I am sure you are reading this to learn more about this Werebeaver Form. This so called curse can intimidate someone from using the character at all. At first it may seem daunting but with understanding of how it works you can make the most out of this, so lets get into it.

 

WHEN DOES HE TURN?

 

Log Meter - When your log meter reaches 25 you will be forced into Werebeaver form. This meter goes down by chopping wood - this is easy to see right from the get go, but be aware that the meter goes down a bit overtime regardless of your actions. A new player may find themselves transforming randomly while not chopping any trees, but maybe mining or just walking around, this is most likely the reason. You can control this meter by eating logs to raise it; also, when you return to human form from Werebeaver, the log meter goes back to 100

**Tip -  Keep an eye on your log meter and have a log supply on you that you can eat to help keep yourself above 25

 

Full Moon - During a full moon Woodie is forced into Werebeaver form. During this time if you are not prepared you can be very vulnerable. His Sanity will go down at an escalated rate as it always does BUT during the full moon his log meter also constantly runs down. Be aware that if that meter reaches zero you will go into starvation mode and your health will lower. A combination of this and shadows creatures attacking you from inevitable insanity can result in a fast death.

**Tip - Be aware of the moon cycles so you know when a full moon is arriving. I like to have a Full Moon safety kit at my base that I set aside for this occasion. This consists of a stack or two of logs on the ground as well as a stack of pinecones I put in my inventory. When I turn I use some of the time to do some quick chomping of resources (make the best out of the situation) and when ready to go back to human form I return to the stack of logs and eat them until my meter gets back to 100. Pick up the stack and continue eating the logs for the rest of the night; if you aren’t careful you will return to Werebeaver form since the meter will continue falling down until the full moon is over. Remember to plant those Pinecones to bring your sanity back up and get those shadow creatures off your back. 

 

WHAT HAPPENS IN WEREBEAVER FORM?

 

In this form you will immediately drop your axe Lucy as well as Equipment being worn (not backpack) and your Sanity will drop at an escalated rate. You will not have access to your map or inventory.

 

You Will Gain 

-Night Vision (making you immune to being killed from darkness)

-Speed Increase

-Damage Deduction 

-Thermal Deduction (you can still freeze to death)

-You will have universal Tool Actions. Allowing you to Chop down trees, Shovel up resources, and Hammer down materials, and Mine minerals. 

 

Each one of these Tool Actions will raise your log meter a little and you will stay in Werebeaver form until the meter is back to 100. (Remember you can also eat logs to change yourself back faster)

 

TIPS - This is just my play style, and the use of Werebeaver can of course be used in many ways once you understand how it works. -

 

Fighting --  I don’t use Werebeaver to fight. He looks powerful but his attack isn’t great and his damage deduction does not make him a tank. Your inventory is not accessible so you cannot heal. you are better off armored and weaponized as Woodie. I would recommend if anything using the speed of Werebeaver to kite a mob to Allies or Followers. 

 

Nightmare Fuel  -- You can use this form to bring you to instant insanity and farm nightmare fuel.

 

Resurrection -- If you die in this form your ghost will also not be able to see the map, making finding resurrection point difficult, and when you do resurrect, you will still be Werebeaver. 

 

Gathering -- Use this form as a way to clear out areas very fast, when back to human gather you can gather materials. Be prepared and have a plan while inducing this form. Keep Pinecones on you and Logs on the ground so in a crunch you can turn back immediately and then plant pinecones to get rid of any shadow creatures you may have attracted while insane.

 

Sanity --  Before inducing Werebeaver form on yourself make sure your sanity is high. This form will drain it fast, and there is nothing worse than trying to hack down all the materials while being attacked by shadow creatures. Having high sanity before hand gives you more time to do your work without being interrupted.

 

Ruins -- Caves can be a great source for crockpot Veggies. Bring your Pinecones and Logs to a cave, go full Beaver and that Night Vision will allow you to explore the cave fast while chopping down countless mushroom trees. Keep an eye on that Log Meter so you don’t transform stranded; or make sure you have a light source available right away, last thing you want is to transform and be stuck in a dark cave being killed by Charlie. 

 

Emergencies -- Werebeaver can be used as for an emergency situation. Say you find yourself starving at its getting dark but you can’t make a fire (probably not a situation you would want to put yourself in in the first place, but things happen) chop trees until you turn to Werebeaver. You will be immune to your human hunger and the night will no longer affect you. Spend the time running to find a food source, wait for day and transform back, eat, then go get Lucy. It can be a good habit to mantain the log meter around 50 if you want to have this option quicly available; that way when these situations arise you can turn in a crunch

 

Treeguards  -- As Woodie you are bound to run across a Treeguard very frequently. Use that to your advantage. Since he will catch their attention so fast and you will be prepared with Pinecones anyways, they are easy to appease by planting them. Treeguards can be great for taking on enemies like Clockwork Rooks who will pummel trees down in their attacks. Soon enough there will be a battle between the Treeguard and the Rooks (Treeguard will win) and you can collect those precious gears.

 

I hope this helps anyone that may want to play Woodie. He is a fun character, great for those that hate the agony of dealing with insanity or the slow task of gathering resources. Just make sure you know how the Werebeaver form works, keep an eye on that log meter and those full moons and you will be just fine. As I continue playing I will try to update for some more tips and I encourage anyone else to add onto this. I know I still have a lot to learn about him, so lets give Woodie some love.

[Arlesienne]

One of the few DST guides actually meaningful, thoughtful and grammatically correct. Well done!

PS You can add how amazingly Woodie meshes with spelunkers since he can gain darkvision and easily regain sanity from planting trees. Get an entourage of bunnymen or rockies and live comfortably. The way he regains sanity like this, he can wear armour and weapons to fight or carry lights as he doesn't need to have so many sanity restoration. Add Willow, Maxwell, Wendy and maybe Wolfgang plus WX - and they will establish a base in the ruins with little trouble.

[Toros]

This is a really good guide for woodie, thank you for taking the time to make it.

[thistownneedsguns]

well when i play woodie i always have like 10 treeguards alive .. make an area somewhere next to your base and use them for whatever you like. its nice to see them walking around. 

[MondayNight]

Good guide, congrats mate!

PS: one lil thing to add about beaver transformation - you can skip obligatory beaver-form during full moon by going into caves. Also you can munch on twigs, grass and reeds (I think, may be wrong; haven't played Woodie for some time now) to keep LM in check.

[FloomRide]

1 hour ago, xxVERSUSxy said:

Good guide, congrats mate!

PS: one lil thing to add about beaver transformation - you can skip obligatory beaver-form during full moon by going into caves. Also you can munch on twigs, grass and reeds (I think, may be wrong; haven't played Woodie for some time now) to keep LM in check.

Grass and reeds only restore 1 point of beaverness, so it's kind of a waste of resources.

[56933043043]

This guide is really well-done and it explains Woodie's mechanics just as well as it brings up uses for them. Great job!

I feel like you should add the Werebeaver's potential use for the Toadstool boss fight, since the form is superb for chopping down mushtrees(and Woodie in his normal form is pretty good at that, too).

[MondayNight]

16 minutes ago, FloomRide said:

Grass and reeds only restore 1 point of beaverness, so it's kind of a waste of resources.

Yup, I know; and did that - eating grass/reeds with Woodie - when going in DF desert for tumbleweeds and having much of said resources (as I'm usually there looking for more gears, blueprints etc): "Hmm, now what to do with these new reeds?!" *GULP* "Problem solved! Out of sight, out of mind ..and straight into the stomach!" (as a fun fact: out of habit even now I try to eat them while playing other characters, heh!)

[Angibot]

8 hours ago, JohnnyTwoShirts said:

to chop at a faster speed than any other character.

 

Actually Maxwell is the fastest one to chop!

But pretty nice guide , maybe i'll give him another shot since i hated him with all nerfs he got

[RadiantRoma]

3 hours ago, xxVERSUSxy said:

Good guide, congrats mate!

PS: one lil thing to add about beaver transformation - you can skip obligatory beaver-form during full moon by going into caves. Also you can munch on twigs, grass and reeds (I think, may be wrong; haven't played Woodie for some time now) to keep LM in check.

so if you're in the caves, you don't transform when it's a full moon?

[Sinister_Fang]

3 hours ago, Angibot said:

Actually Maxwell is the fastest one to chop!

Not really. Woodie is significantly faster.

[MondayNight]

1 hour ago, Cherryzion said:

so if you're in the caves, you don't transform when it's a full moon?

Nope, you just bypass it without any beaver-time. Before night hits, you go into the cave and you're fine.

[The Curator]

13 hours ago, JohnnyTwoShirts said:

 

Pros:

 

-  Has a beard that gives him a little extra insulation during those cold days

 

-  Receives longer loyalty period to certain followers

 

Where did these come from.

Have never seen these mentioned anywhere, and even the post doesn't mention them past this point.

[Arlesienne]

1 hour ago, The Curator said:

Where did these come from.

Have never seen these mentioned anywhere, and even the post doesn't mention them past this point.

The beard adds some insulation (I think 60), but can't be shaved. And the bonus to followers' time is "Celebrates Thanksgiving early" or something like this.

[Sudura2017]

7 minutes ago, Arlesienne said:

The beard adds some insulation (I think 60), but can't be shaved. And the bonus to followers' time is "Celebrates Thanksgiving early" or something like this.

That celebrates thanksgiving is just an easter egg that changes based on your country.

[RadiantRoma]

1 hour ago, The Curator said:

Where did these come from.

Have never seen these mentioned anywhere, and even the post doesn't mention them past this point.

from woodie's prefab lua

	-- Give Woodie a beard so he gets some insulation from winter cold
    -- (Value is Wilson's level 2 beard.)
    inst:AddComponent("beard")
    inst.components.beard.canshavetest = CanShaveTest
    inst.components.beard.onreset = OnResetBeard
    inst.components.beard:EnableGrowth(false)

and the follower loyalty bonus is with the component called "polite"

[Toros]

1 hour ago, The Curator said:

Where did these come from.

Have never seen these mentioned anywhere, and even the post doesn't mention them past this point.

Woodie in DST has always had these bonuses.  Beard is equivalent to level 2 Wilson beard.  He can befriend pigs for 3 days instead of most characters getting 2.5, and gets a 50% bonus to loyalty time when giving bunnymen carrots or rock lobsters minerals.

3 hours ago, Sinister_Fang said:

Not really. Woodie is significantly faster.

Woodie is not significantly faster in human or werebeaver form than maxwell with multiple shadow clones, nor is he as efficient or sustainable.  Digging out stumps has him fare even worse.  Not only is maxwell better at gathering wood, he far exceeds woodie in gathering rocks as well.

 

Woodie is essentially a worse form of maxwell and werebeaver is mostly a punishment.  That's why he's wildly unpopular compared to most other characters.

[ShadowDuelist]

Does the extended loyalty time allow you to have them beyond the normal max time allowed for other characters, or it's just more than the default value of time you buy with any given item?

EG: I give a morsel to a pig, normally with any character I'd get half a day of an adoring fan, but Woodie gets almost a full day. If I feed the pig a full stack of morsels as Woodie, will I just get the defaults max time food gives you (about 2.5 days I think), or more than that?

 

BTW, I like to appear out of the darkness to the early spelunkers in the beaver form, their "HOLY **** YOU SCARED ME" are always priceless.

[ShadowDuelist]

6 minutes ago, Toros said:

Woodie in DST has always had these bonuses.  Beard is equivalent to level 2 Wilson beard.  He can befriend pigs for 3 days instead of most characters getting 2.5, and gets a 50% bonus to loyalty time when giving bunnymen carrots or rock lobsters minerals.

You replied my question at the same very second I posted it. +10 to mind reading powers.
 

[Toros]

17 minutes ago, ShadowDuelist said:

You replied my question at the same very second I posted it. +10 to mind reading powers.
 

Woo!  In case it was ambiguous, Woodie's loyalty bonuses are all rather minor.  3 days vs 2.5 days for pigs is not going to matter for just about any purpose you'd use pigs for, and the 50% more time loyal per carrot or rock (up to a max of 2.5 days) is also not going to be a major factor for similar reasons.

It's a neat fluff perk, but not something people are going to actually use very often.

[Tosh]

11 minutes ago, Toros said:

Woo!  In case it was ambiguous, Woodie's loyalty bonuses are all rather minor.  3 days vs 2.5 days for pigs is not going to matter for just about any purpose you'd use pigs for, and the 50% more time loyal per carrot or rock (up to a max of 2.5 days) is also not going to be a major factor for similar reasons.

It's a neat fluff perk, but not something people are going to actually use very often.

Well in that case you'd just need to wait until the loyalty timer runs out for a follower before giving them another item. If the wiki is correct, then giving a pig a morsel will turn it into a follower for an entire day (8 mins), rather than half a day (4 mins). Therefore, 5 morsels would net a single pig follower for 2.5 days for any other character, 3 days for Woodie (if he gives them all at once), or 5 days (if he waits for the timer to reset).

[Toros]

24 minutes ago, Tosh said:

Well in that case you'd just need to wait until the loyalty timer runs out for a follower before giving them another item. If the wiki is correct, then giving a pig a morsel will turn it into a follower for an entire day (8 mins), rather than half a day (4 mins). Therefore, 5 morsels would net a single pig follower for 2.5 days for any other character, 3 days for Woodie (if he gives them all at once), or 5 days (if he waits for the timer to reset).

The wiki is not accurate.  Pigs are befriended for 1 day per 25 hunger, and bunnymen and rock lobsters are befriended for a fixed period of time (a few minutes) and woodie gets a bonus for pig maximum time, and a bonus per carrot or mineral in time.  For anyone it would take multiple carrots to reach the maximum and quite a few minerals.

 

Waiting for the timer to reset doesn't confer any bonus, it just takes him less carrots/rocks to max them out, and for pigs has a larger maximum.  Woodie doesn't have the ability to get more time out of the same amount of morsels for pigs.

 

You can see then why it's not a very useful bonus, and I checked the code myself because the wiki is often wrong.

[Tosh]

1 hour ago, Toros said:

The wiki is not accurate.  Pigs are befriended for 1 day per 25 hunger, and bunnymen and rock lobsters are befriended for a fixed period of time (a few minutes) and woodie gets a bonus for pig maximum time, and a bonus per carrot or mineral in time.  For anyone it would take multiple carrots to reach the maximum and quite a few minerals.

 

Waiting for the timer to reset doesn't confer any bonus, it just takes him less carrots/rocks to max them out, and for pigs has a larger maximum.  Woodie doesn't have the ability to get more time out of the same amount of morsels for pigs.

 

You can see then why it's not a very useful bonus, and I checked the code myself because the wiki is often wrong.

Okay so a morsel is worth 12.5 hunger points, and therefore half a day's worth of loyalty. Does Woodie's perk add 50% of that value, some other percentage, or a fixed value regardless?

 

Also, where is the "polite" perk stored? 

 

Edit: reread what you wrote. Sorry I missed what you said about maximum follow time. Damn tired college brain. I'd still like to know where the polite perk is stored though.