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HealthMeter
For documenting my pain.

Wendy

Health is a measurement of overall physical well-being. Unlike Hunger (and in many situations Sanity), Health typically does not drain over time. Health is lost instantly when a character is hit by an enemy attack, eats harmful food such as Monster Meat and Rot, or harvests from thorny plants like the Spiky Bush. In Reign of Giants (RoG), Health is lost instantly when harvesting from Cacti. Health is lost continually while the character is burning, starving, or freezing. In RoG, characters also lose Health while overheating and in Shipwrecked (SW), while poisoned. Losing all Health results in death (although not necessarily the loss of the game). Health can be seen on the heart-shaped gauge in the upper-right corner of the screen, which shrivels and empties as the character's Health is depleted. Note that having a Meat Effigy lowers max Health. Wanda in DST does not have a health meter, instead, she has an age meter.

Character Health
Wilson 150
Willow 150
Wolfgang* 200
Wendy 150
WX-78** 100
125 Don't Starve Together icon
Wickerbottom 150

125 Don't Starve Together icon

Woodie 150
Wes 113

75 Don't Starve Together icon

Maxwell 75
Wagstaff 150
Wigfrid Reign of Giants icon Don't Starve Together icon 200
Webber Reign of Giants icon Don't Starve Together icon 175
Walani Shipwrecked icon 120
Warly Shipwrecked icon Don't Starve Together icon 150
Wilbur Shipwrecked icon 125
Woodlegs Shipwrecked icon 150
Wilba*** Hamlet icon 150
Wormwood Hamlet icon Don't Starve Together icon 150
Wheeler Hamlet icon 100
Winona Don't Starve Together icon 150
Wortox Don't Starve Together icon 200
Wurt**** Don't Starve Together icon 150
Walter Don't Starve Together icon 130

*Wolfgang has 200 Health by default (his Health limit rises to 300 with a full belly and drops to 150 when starving). This is not true for Don't Starve Together as his health cap is only 200.

**WX-78 begins with 100 Health and is capable of increasing their Health Cap up to 400 by eating Gears.
**WX-78 begins 125 Health in Don't Starve Together and is capable of increasing their Health Cap by using Hardy Circuit and Super-Hardy Circuits.

***Wilba's werepig form has 350 health.

****Wurt has 250 health when King of the Merms is alive.

Slurtlethief

Getting damaged depletes Health.

Healing

Health can be restored in a few ways. The most basic way to regain health is by eating Food, most of which typically provides 1-3 health when consumed. Cooking the food often increases the Health 1 or 2 points. There are also a few items whose sole purpose is to heal.

Wormwood is unable to gain health from eating food and must rely on other methods to restore it.

Certain food and items provide a greater health boost and are thus very valuable:

  • Crock Pot: Several Crock Pot recipes provide substantial healing. Mandrake Soup is a powerful and flexible healing recipe [+100 Health Meter]. Fishsticks [+40 Health Meter] are an easy recipe to make. Pierogi [+40 Health Meter] is also a good recipe. Dragonpie [+40 Health Meter] is excellent if the player manages to create a Dragon Fruit farm. In SW, Bisque [+60 Health Meter] is food that can be easily produced, and is one of the most potent healing items in the game. However, regarding Crock Pot recipes in general, the player must make sure that the individual components (raw or cooked) won't heal more if eaten on their own.
  • Jerky/Small Jerky: Jerky and Small Jerky restore 20 Health Meter and 8 Health Meter respectively and last for a very long time. If primary concern is health, and the player's only food source is Meats, they should be made into jerky. Jerky can be used in a Crock Pot as normal meat, if needed.
  • Spider Gland/Mosquito Sack: Spiders drop Spider Glands that can be used immediately for restoring 8 Health Meter. In a similar way, Mosquitoes drop their sacks which heal the same amount of health as Spider Glands. Neither item spoils, however, this isn't practical to stockpile them due to the relatively small amount of health restored when using them.
  • Healing Salve: Spider Glands can also be made into Healing Salves that restore 20 Health Meter each. Healing Salves do not spoil.
  • Bee Boxes: Bee Boxes produce Honey which by itself restores 3 Health Meter. If the player has access to Reeds, Honey can be used to create Honey Poultices, which restore 30 Health Meter when used. Honey also is used in a number of Crock Pot dishes which restore varying amounts of health. Honey Poultices do not spoil, despite Honey spoiling in-game.  
  • Butterflies: Butterflies drop Butterfly Wings, which restore 8 Health Meter. Also, Butterflies have a 2% chance to drop Butter, which restores 40 Health Meter on its own. Additionally, the wings can be easily used to make a Butter Muffin, which restores 20 Health Meter, while also filling some hunger. The Butter can be used to cook Waffles, which restores 60 Health Meter and is one of the most potent healing items in the game. Butterfly farms can be created easily and synergize well with Bee Boxes.
  • Blue Mushroom: Eating a raw Blue Cap restores 20 Health Meter, although at the cost of -15 Sanity Meter. Blue mushrooms can only be picked at night and can't be relocated, so large scale farming is usually impractical. Still, they provide a nice boost for players who build their base near them, or when the player is exploring away from their base.
  • Life Giving Amulet: Wearing a Life Giving Amulet will automatically heal the player by +5 Health Meter in exchange for 5 Hunger Meter and 5% of its durability. If the player dies while wearing it, it will also automatically resurrect the player with 50 of Health Meter, however when used this way, it will be immediately destroyed.

Temporal Health Table

Name Health (/min) Notes
Sleeping in TentSiesta Lean-toDon't Starve Together icon +120 Drains 60 & 20Hunger Meter/min respectively
Eating JellybeansDon't Starve Together icon +60 Heals for two minutes
Sleeping in Fur RollDon't Starve Together icon +60 Drains 60Hunger Meter/min
Wearing Life Giving Amulet +10 Heals 5Health Meter and drains 5Hunger Meter and 5% durability every 30s
Being poisoned Shipwrecked iconHamlet icon -6 to -48 Damage increases and damage interval decreases over time
Being strongly poisoned Hamlet icon -300
While starving -60
Overheating as Willow PortraitDon't Starve Together icon -37.5
Freezing or Overheating -75
Freezing as Willow PortraitDon't Starve Together icon -150 Also loses 100Sanity Meter/min
Near a open fire Don't Starve Together icon -240 to -7200 4Health Meter/s for small fires or Larvae or if player is on fire

8Health Meter/s for large fires or near an enraged Dragonfly

damage from multiple fires stack; capped at 120Health Meter/s

Willow Portrait is immune; Wormwood PortraitDon't Starve Together icon takes 1.25 times the damage

Note: table is incomplete.

Maximum health

Health lowered

Health lowered from +120 to +90 by Meat Effigies

Aside from the current health, the character's maximum health can also change under specific conditions. When the maximum health is decreased, it will be shown as a black bar on the health meter.

  • Meat Effigy: If the player builds a Meat Effigy, then their maximum health is decreased by 30 for each effigy built. This health is impossible to regain unless the Meat Effigy is destroyed or used. In Don't Starve Together icon, the player does not lose maximum health.
  • Telltale Heart, Florid PosternDon't Starve Together icon: Resurrecting via Telltale Heart or Florid Postern in DST will reduce the maximum health by 25% of the player's maximum health.
  • Booster ShotDon't Starve Together icon: The Booster Shot is only available in DST, and when used, restores 25% of the lost maximum health.

Some characters have special abilities that change their maximum health. When the maximum health is changed due to these abilities, the black bars won't be shown.

  • Special ability of Wolfgang: Wolfgang's max health value changes according to his hunger.
  • Special ability of WX-78: They can consume Gears to raise the cap of 3 stats, including Health.

Touch Stone

If the player comes across a Touch Stone in the world and activates it, they may respawn there as well. To identify one, there are 4 Pig Heads around it and Wooden Flooring underneath.

There may be more than one Touch Stone in the world, but the player will respawn at the one closest to their death point. Touch Stones may only be used once and drop Marble, Rocks, and Nightmare Fuel upon doing so.

Placeholder Trivia

  • The player can have 0 points of Health and not die. However, letting their Health go below 0 will kill them. This is due to points of health is a decimal.

Blueprint Gallery

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