Returning Player, Don't Starve vs Together?

[dronuspk]

I played Don't Starve when it came out but stopped about 1 to 2 years ago. Was thinking of coming back to it and a friend of mine (who still plays) says Don't Starve Together is better for even singleplayer games now. I've been out of the loop for a while and last I remembered Together was pretty laggy when you mapped out the entire place and didn't have a lot of features of Singleplayer.

My question is what is the big differences between the two? Will I be missing a lot of content either way?

[Rily]

There are some cool fixes in together for the DS formula, like the new bosses (they are a bit harder and have fases, not just hit twice and dodge), the way that the caves are  more important now and how the exploration becomes more handy in groups.

Actually DST have almost everything of the single player one, maybe it could be a bit more "heavier" than the single player but nothing very noticeable if your pc can handle DS fine. It have a few drawbacks like the infamous Willow nerf and the need of a dedicated server to add caves but all the new content really worth it

[Awesomehylian]

Since you've been gone for so long I'd recommend that you play single player to get back in the groove. Personally I find DST to be very punishing for a single player because everything does more damage and has like twice the HP. The cool thing is that DST has a TON of additional content that single player DS doesn't have, even on Reign of Giants. More bosses, vanity clothes, more items, etc. Co-op can be a lot of fun, and it can also be a huge rage fest if people in the server can't agree on things or muddle with other people's things.

If you want a different sort of challenge you could always try Shipwrecked, the latest DLC for single player DS. It's been out for almost 2 years now I think, so it functions well, there are new bosses, enemies and characters. And if you want you can make it so that you can hop between a RoG world and a SW world and get the best of both! It's crazy fun and I actually prefer it to RoG. The learning curve is steeper than RoG but a lot of the bosses are optional so you aren't going to be laid to waste randomly by a giant creature every season while you're learning.

[imsomony]

Hi there, and welcome back! Been playing DS since 2013, so hopefully I can help.  

My number one question for you, before I begin, is... based on your experience playing DS, what would you hope multiplayer to be?  

I ask because I was super-hyped for DST, but found it developed in a way that didn't quite measure up to my hopes for a multiplayer version of DS. It's still a great game, and has a lot of cool and fun aspects to it, but I don't want you to waste your time if you have a different vision of it in mind.  

 

DST has some character/mob balance changes and added content, and includes the majority of RoG by default. The mechanics of base-building are basically the same, just scaled up due to additional players, while the mechanics of beating bosses like Deerclops, DragonFly, and many others, are heavily geared towards co-op/raid play. There are new craftables to support these things. Whether those and the additional details are worthwhile depends on your perspective and expectations. I'm certain that I and others will gladly write out a wall-of-text about the things that matter to you  

 

Looking at it from the opposite side, the main things I can recall that people want in DS that DST offers are: player skins (free outfits), and riding Beefalo.