Hound

“You ain't nothing, hound dog!”

–Wilson

“What a jerk!”

–Willow

“Woof!”

–Wolfgang

“Stay back, foul minion of evil!”

–Wendy

“IT LIVES TO EAT”

–WX-78

“That hound is not domesticated.”

–Wickerbottom

“They'd be good at pulling a sled.”

–Woodie

“They don't recognize me!”

–Maxwell

“Akin to the canines I'm familiar with, but delightfully more contentious.”

–Wagstaff

“Fenrir's spawn!”

–Wigfrid

“That's an angry puppy!”

–Webber

“This dog is a real drag!”

–Walani

“Angry chien!”

–Warly

“Hey thar, beastie.”

–Woodlegs

“'TIS BIG BAD WOLF”

–Wilba

“Woofer! Woof! Woof!”

–Wormwood

“You'd be better if you were a cat.”

–Wheeler

“Anyone got rolled up newspaper?”

–Winona

“Hyuyu, you're so badly behaved!”

–Wortox

“Bad doggy!”

–Wurt

“Hey Woby, another dog for you to play with!”

–Walter

“Stay away! I refuse to be eaten by the likes of you!”

–Wanda

Hounds are Monsters that attack periodically in packs. They attack every 3–13 days^[1] and can also spawn from Hound Mounds.

They are the primary source of Hound's Tooth, and a good source of Monster Meat. Their associated hounds, Blue Hound and Red Hound are a good source of Blue Gem and Red Gem respectively.

Downloadable Content[]

In the Reign of Giants (ROG) DLC, if a player tracks a Varg, the Varg can spot the player and howl, calling two Hounds to help attack the player. Depending on the season, these Hounds can be normal, Blue, and Red.

In the Shipwrecked (SW) DLC, the Slot Machine has a chance to spawn two normal Hounds. Hounds in periodic attacks are replaced by Crocodogs.

In the Hamlet (HAM) DLC, Hounds in periodic attacks are replaced by Vampire Bats.

Don't Starve Together[]

In Don't Starve Together (DST), a character that has died and became a Ghost can haunt a Hound, giving it an equal chance of becoming either a Red Hound or a Blue Hound. After the Hound has converted, it will panic for a short while, before continuing with what it was doing, such as attacking other players.

Hounds will also spawn from the Moon Stone and the Hound Suspicious Moonrock when the Star Caller's Staff is inserted into the Moon Stone during a Full Moon. Hounds, including Red Hounds and Blue Hounds, are affected by the Moon Stone event.

As of the Turn of Tides beta, Hound can swim. Hounds can attack from water, but they will be wet, taking extra electric damage. Hounds killed on Lunar Island has 50% chance to be transformed into Horror Hounds after 4 seconds.

Red Hound[]

“That one is glowy.”

–Wilson

“I actually kind of like that one.”

–Willow

“Bark!”

–Wolfgang

“His disposition is fiery.”

–Wendy

“IT LIVES TO BURN”

–WX-78

“That hound is more dangerous than the others.”

–Wickerbottom

“Hot hound!”

–Woodie

“I put fire gems in there as a joke.”

–Maxwell

“How delightfully volatile!”

–Wagstaff

“The flamed öne has nö mercy.”

–Wigfrid

“He's got a fire under his feet. And all inside him.”

–Webber

“This one seems angrier somehow.”

–Walani

“Chien, on fire!”

–Warly

“Stay beck from me legs!”

–Woodlegs

“'TIS A FWOOSHIE WOLF!”

–Wilba

“Fire Woofers!”

–Wormwood

“Should I be terrified? Just for future reference.”

–Wheeler

“Get outta here, bucko!”

–Winona

“Hyuyu, firey!”

–Wortox

“Don't like look of that one, flurp.”

–Wurt

“Who's a good boy?”

–Walter

“I won't meet a fiery end from the likes of you!”

–Wanda

The Red Hound (also known as a Fire Hound, Flame Hound, or Hellhound) can spawn in the Summer and Autumn () during Hound attacks and from Hound Mounds. Red Hounds have less health than regular Hounds, cannot be set on fire, and have a higher resistance to the effects of an Ice Staff.

Upon death, they "explode" into 3 large fires that will burn for at least six seconds, then extinguish into Ashes. These fires can easily ignite nearby flammable objects, potentially leading to serious loss of flammable Structures and Items. They should be fought in an isolated area from the flammable Structures and Items. They can also be killed near an active Ice Flingomatic to avoid the fires.

Occasionally, players can encounter Red Hounds as part of a Fire Staff Trap.

Blue Hound[]

“Are there hounds for every season?”

–Wilson

“Gross! Cold!”

–Willow

“Bow wow!”

–Wolfgang

“He has a cold, dead heart.”

–Wendy

“IT LIVES TO FREEZE”

–WX-78

“What a strange, cold beast.”

–Wickerbottom

“Arctic hounds?”

–Woodie

“How quickly they forget...”

–Maxwell

“Curious, it appears blue gems are sometimes formed within them.”

–Wagstaff

“Teeth öf fröst!”

–Wigfrid

“He has a chilling look in his eyes.”

–Webber

“What a chilly pup.”

–Walani

“Away, frozen diable!”

–Warly

“Packs quite a chilly bite!”

–Woodlegs

“'TIS BIG BRRR WOLF”

–Wilba

“Brrr Woofer”

–Wormwood

“Am I supposed to be scared? Because I am.”

–Wheeler

“Keep those fangs to yourself.”

–Winona

“You wouldn't want to eat an imp. Much too stringy.”

–Wortox

“Chilly doggy.”

–Wurt

“Friends of yours, Woby?”

–Walter

“What did I ever do to you?!”

–Wanda

The Blue Hound (also known as an Ice Hound) is a Hound that can spawn in the Winter and Spring () during Hound attacks and from Hound Mounds. Blue Hounds have less health than regular Hounds, but deal more damage and cannot be frozen with the Ice Staff.

Blue Hounds can freeze the player and nearby creatures when they are killed. Killing one Blue Hound will give the player a blue tint, and killing a second one will freeze the player for about 5 seconds. Any attack will release a frozen character, and killing one can freeze another nearby Hound.

Two Blue Hounds always accompany the MacTusk N' Son hunting party. They will be found sleeping outside the Walrus Camp when the party retires at dusk. Occasionally, the player can encounter Blue Hounds as part of an Ice Staff Trap.

Periodic Hound Attacks[]

“Did you hear that?”

–Wilson

“Show yourself!”

–Willow

“I hear puppies!”

–Wolfgang

“The hounds are baying.”

–Wendy

“SOMETHING IS COMING”

–WX-78

“Something is approaching.”

–Wickerbottom

“There's something out there.”

–Woodie

“The hounds are growing restless.”

–Maxwell

“Hounds! Coming to eat me, no doubt.”

–Wagstaff

“The beasts are appröaching...”

–Wigfrid

“Doggies are coming!”

–Webber

“Junkyard dogs incomin'.”

–Walani

“I recognize that sound. Hunger.”

–Warly

“Whut be thet noise signallin'?”

–Woodlegs

“DOGS OF WAR IS LET LOOSED!”

–Wilba

“Woofers!”

–Wormwood

“How am I supposed to explore with those dogs running around?”

–Wheeler

“Are those dogs I hear?”

–Winona

“The beasts are baying!”

–Wortox

“Glurp... doggies coming...”

–Wurt

“Woby? Do you hear something?”

–Walter

“Wait a tick... did you hear something?”

–Wanda

When a Hound attack is imminent, snorting and growling sounds will be heard. These sounds start off softly and grow louder as the Hounds approach. Characters will also call attention to these sounds with phrases such as, "Did you hear that?". Usually, these warnings appear at least twice before the Hounds come. When the Hounds appear, the growling sounds will be replaced with the very real running and panting sounds that Hounds make when they attack. Spawned hounds appear 30m away from the player.

Wes and Wilbur cannot speak and therefore do not have distinguishable warnings. Wilbur will make random monkey noises, as with any other quote. Attacks will escalate and peak at day 100. Periodic hound attacks are a threat in a Sandbox Mode. The default attacks escalate making them dangerous to fight alone.

Hounds do not appear in Caves. Instead, Depths Worms attack in waves similar to the way Hounds do above ground.

Red Hounds will accompany normal Hounds during attacks in Summer and Autumn (), while Blue Hounds accompany normal Hounds during Winter and Spring (). Red and Blue Hounds will appear less often than normal Hounds. The chances of Red Hounds or Blue Hounds spawning with a pack increases with each day survived.

In RoG, the chance for Red Hounds to spawn is multiplied by 1.5 during Summer.

Hound attack frequency can be configured in the World Customization.

According to the script, the default hound attacks eventually escalate to "crazy" (settings as per the last entry in the Default settings table above).

Currently the only way to eventually get to a "crazy" level of hounds is to leave the hound attack setting on default. All other settings are constant (as described above). In other words, currently it is only possible to make the hounds easier in the long term (but more difficult early on), or to leave them as default.

Don't Starve Together []

In DST, hound attack frequency and amount were changed in the 2022 March QoL update. Hound Attacks become less frequent as the player survives more Days. After Day 25, there is a chance that 5 hounds will merge into a Varglet.

While a player is on a boat, hound attacks cannot start and will be skipped if the chance occurs. However, if the warnings begin while the player is on land and they go onto a boat, the hound attack will still occur.

Behavior[]

Hounds battle is generally messy due to their diverse behaviours.

Hound without leader or home chase for infinite time or when the player is more than 100m away.

Hounds eat carcass of fellow hounds, and also meats, on the ground, within 30m.

Hounds have herd behaviour. Up to 5 Hounds within 30m will assist when one of them is attacked. Also, up to 5 hounds within 30m will assist when one of them attempt an attack.

Hounds can spawn from Hound Mounds. These Hounds wander 8m away from Hounds Mound, but they can target players 20m away. These hound stop chasing after 10 seconds or when the player is 20m away from them.

Leaderless Hound randomly attacks Walls along their path. They do not veer from their path, but they attack walls along their path, Hounds with leader, such as a Varg, do not attack wall.

Fighting Strategy[]

See also: Hound Wave Survival Guide

Player can hit twice before running to dodge. Player can first bait Hound's attack, by running away slightly after the Hound started biting. Player can then attack twice and should then move away if the player is avoiding being hit.

Hounds, homeless and leaderless, are generally faster than the player and with their infinite chasing time, they are difficult to outrun. Player would probably rely on allowing the hounds to attempt to bite a few times, during which they may get distracted on other mobs.

Strategies when fighting multiple hounds[]

Player can tank hounds attack, aiming to kill the hounds as fast as possible to avoid the hounds stacking up. Player can priortise targeting Blue Hounds and Red Hounds because they are more damaging, more fragile, and has area debuffing effect on their fellow hounds. Player should aim to have weapon that deal at least 50 damage, such as Tentacle Spike, because this damage breakpoint is rather manageable and greatly reduce the number of hits to kill the hounds. Player would be strongly advised to have sufficient armour such as Football Helmet. There are characters, such as Wolfgang extra single target damage or Wendy's Abigail area damage that would further boost this strategy.

Player can rely on other mobs to kill the Hounds. There are mobs, like Pigs and Bunnyman, who are naturally aggressive towards Hounds. Player simply would only need to near their dwellings when they are out. These mobs can be manipulated to be outside their dwelling the entire day by baiting them with walled bait. Other neutral mobs, like Beefalo and Rock Lobster, can be manipulated to fight the hounds by running around the neutral mobs. Hounds may choose a new target after they bit once, and they are likely to attack the neutral mobs in favour of the player if the player is further than the neutral mobs when the hounds are reselecting an attack target.

Player can rely on castles such as mass Tooth Trap or Houndius Shootius behind buildings wall. Mass Tooth Traps are also known as panic room, can likely be in the scale of 100 traps. Because hounds, from periodic wave, attack wall, building and obstacles are placed so densely that the Hounds are unable to run though. Buildings would also confuse Hounds pathfinding.

Tips[]

• While Hounds are attacking, Chester can be targeted.
  • The same goes for Glommer in ROG, Packim Baggims in SW, and Ro Bin in HAM.

Trivia[]

• Hounds and Red Hounds were added in The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You update.
• Blue Hounds were added in A Winter's Tale update.
• According to Wickerbottom, a Hound's Tooth contains brimstone, also known as sulfur. In folklore, sulfur is often associated with demons, implying that the in-game Hounds are Hellhounds, a supernatural dog common in some mythologies or beliefs.
• The Red Hound is available for use on Steam as a chat emoticon.
• Red Hounds are the only mobs that take 16 hits from an Ice Staff to be frozen - the maximum for most Mobs is 4.
• Even though Red Hounds cannot be set on fire, they still take fire damage if they come into contact with it.
• When Red Hounds are inspected by Maxwell, he reveals that he "put gems in there as a joke". This implies that the notable traits of the Red Hound, such as its red color and spontaneous combustion upon death, are due to the presence of the Red Gem inside its body.
• Maxwell comments that he had a lot of surplus Gems when examining Blue Hounds. This reveals that the freezing resistance Blue Hounds have is caused by the Blue Gems in their body. This may also have caused their "blue" fur, although the grayish teal coloration they sport is a common pigmentation in many real-life mammals, especially those living in colder climates.
• The Blue Hounds have a dark blue nose when awake. Should they fall asleep, however, then their nose will change to the color of an ordinary hound's nose.
• There's a small, but non zero, chance for a special hound to spawn in the first season.

Bugs[]

• Saving the game when the Hound attack warning begins and then loading that save will cause the attack to become bugged. The Hounds will arrive extremely late, up to 7 days, and the warning will persist indefinitely, making the player unable to use Tents and other items that require a "safe" condition.
• Occasionally, dying in a Cave and getting resurrected on the surface (perhaps when Hound attacks are supposed to begin) will cause the growling and snorting sounds to play in half-day intervals while the character remarks that the Hounds are coming, but they will not appear until a Hound attack in 3–10 days, where the warnings properly play close together.
• Sometimes, Hound attacks will 'reset'; the growling warning will last longer and only two normal Hounds will spawn, just as the first Hound attack.
• Saving and exiting the game during a Hound attack, and then loading the save will cause all of the Hounds to become temporarily distracted.
• Occasionally, when a SW and ROG world are merged, a hound attack may occur every time the player reloads the game.
• In DST, when a Hound attack is about to occur, going into the Caves and then back to the Surface will cause no Hounds to spawn. Restarting the server between entering and leaving the Caves will fix the bug.

Animations[]

Animation of Hound running.

Animation of Hound taunting.

Animation of Hound sleeping.

Animation of Hound dying.

Gallery[]

Hound from all sides.

An attacking Hound.

A running Hound.

A snapping Hound.

A sleeping Hound.

A frozen Hound.

A Hound barking.

A dead Hound.

A Hound losing interest in Wilson and attacking Butterflies.

A Red Hound bursting into flames when killed.

Red Hounds sleeping in the Fire Staff set piece.

A dead Red Hound.

A running Blue Hound.

A snapping Blue Hound.

A dead Blue Hound.

A Moonrock Hound

Two Blue Hounds following MacTusk.

Blue Hounds sleeping in the Ice Staff Trap set piece.

The aftermath of a fight between Hounds and a herd of Beefalo.

A corridor made to funnel Hounds into Tooth Traps.

A trap layout made to prevent Hounds from attacking in all directions.

A Hound stuck because of a Tree and a Wall.

Wallpaper for the launch of Don't Starve.

The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You poster featuring Hounds.

An alternative poster for The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You update featuring Hounds.

Hound concept art.

A Blue Hound as seen in a drawing from Art Stream # 57.

A Hound and Wilson as seen in the Turn of Tides launch trailer.

A Hound biting a Ham Bat and Wilson as seen in the Turn of Tides launch trailer.

Hound as seen in the Release Poster for A New Reign.

Blue Hound as seen in the poster for A Winter's Tale update.

References[]

• DS
• RoG
• SW
• Ham
• DST
• All

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