A Beginner to Intermediate Guide for Kiting

In this guide I will be talking about The Art of Kiting for Don't Starve Together. This guide is for beginner and intermediate level of players that will GUARANTEE to improve your Don't Starve Together experience!

Introduction

Hello fellow Don't Starver! If you are looking to improve you came to the right place, but first let me ask you a few questions: are you having problem staying alive? Are those sanity monster(Nightmare creatures) a pain in the butt for you?-- Do you want to be more effective in combat? This guide will attempt its best to show you how to improve your gameplay and your overall Don't Starving experience.

Remember Don't Starve is not just a survival game, it's a strategy, development, and creativity game.

Few Things To Get Out Of The Way:
- I will be playing Wigfrid throughout this guide, but that does not mean that this guide will not work for your favorite character.
- Lag can be a major factor that can screw up your kiting- I highly recommend practicing this in your own server.(preferably in offline mode)
- As I mention before lag can be a major factor that ruin the kiting so pick the server that is right for you. Picking the server that has around 40-80ms ping is my personal preference(optional step: turn lag compensation in setting from "predictive" to "none"). As you get better at kiting lag will become much less of a problem. This guide is only to show you how to kite in presumably lag-free environment.

*****IMPORTANT NOTICE*****
Make sure you find the control setting that is RIGHT for you. I personally use Space bar as my attack key and F as my action key.
Also try to learn to move with both mouse and keyboard while fighting. More on that later.




[don't attack with mouse..]

The Art of Kiting

Now we have that out of the way let us get to concept behind kiting. To sum up kiting

It's simply consist of different 3 steps:

• Bait out the attack(walking into attack animation range)

• Dodge

• Attack in number of times(depending on the mob)

This is the fundamental key to kiting, but always remember to have armor or wear armor when fighting.

This is where lag comes into play. When you are playing on a multiplayer server the lower the ping the better, because the way ping works. You might sometimes get hit and it looked like you were far away that's because of lag compensation the default setting is on "predictive" which essentially predicts your movement. I personally recommend turning lag compensation from "predictive" to "none" and play in a low ping server because you have a better chance of seeing what's actually going on between the server and your computer.

Basic mobs

These are the mobs that you can commonly see around surface and cave agressive or passive. Be mindful that number of times you can attack can vary depending on the number of enemies you are fighting, how quickly you can get back to attack after you bait out the mob's attack, multiple player attacking the same mob could also be a factor(it can mess with mob's target priority) if you do not feel safe lower the number of attack by 1 or 2 or just stop attacking and reset the whole attack count.

1. Spider: 2x hits then dodge, if it is one spider hit it until it dies
   If there's only one Spider then you can keep hitting it until it dies(Spider is the only hostile mob that get stun from your hit), 2-3 Spiders you can hit 2x then dodge. More than that you have to put them in a line then hit the first one 1x time and repeat(pratice with this is great)
   GIF:
   2 Spiders[drive.google.com]
   bunnch of spiders[drive.google.com]
   
   
2. Beefalo:Dodge after initial hit > 6x hits then dodge
   
3. Koalefant:Dodge after initial hit > 6x hits then dodge
   Beefalo similiar to spider it fights as a group, you can hit it 6x then dodge.
   When fighting these guy you have to split them up to at least 2-3 Beefalo at a time if you are confident. You can feed it to split one of them up or hit them and run but maintain agression on one of them and it will eventually be isolated. For Kaolefant I recommend starting the fight with ranged weapon to save time. It's got the same kiting pattern as Beefalo.
   GIF:
   Beefalo[drive.google.com]
   Meat with a trunk[drive.google.com]
   
   
4. Tallbird: Bait out the attack > 2x hit
   Tallbird are an annoying creature, but they do taste good. Fight these guy with armor because they hurt a ton and don't try to take on more than 2 at a time.
   GIF:
   Tallmeat[drive.google.com]
   
   
5. Pig men: 2x initial attack > 4x after
   Pigs are a little bit trickier because they will attempt to kite the player, but every time they kite they will walk toward the player(after each attack) just a little then run backward again.This serves as an opening for attack so timing needs to be a bit more precise on this because if your attack miss you will have to wait for pig to attack again(they are a little faster than player to chase as you will see this the GIF)-- but the pig hurt animation will lock them in place.
   GIF:
   Piggie[drive.google.com]
   
   
6. Spider Warrior: Bait out the attack > 8x hit then attempt to dodge?(pray it's not the leap attack)
   These guy are a real chore to deal with. If they get triggered to spawn I usually deal with the normal spider first then save the Warrior for last just because they are hard to dodge and have way more health than the Spider
   GIF:
   When you are lucky[drive.google.com]
   
   
7. Volt Goat: 2x hit dodge, 4x initial hit when waking them up
   Volt Goats are naturally passive unless they get struck by lightning which will turn them super agressive, they do not fight in herd so I recommend you killing them at night or when they are sleeping because chasing them will cost you a lot of time. Note that these guy have a very small aggression range, meaning that if you kite too far you could lose it's agression. Don't worry about causing their extinction as long as you leave one goat alive it will spawn more goat.
   GIF:
   Horny Creature[drive.google.com]
   **Wear wetness-resistant clothing when fighting charged goat(Rainhat, Eyebella, Raincoat)**
   That time of the month[drive.google.com]
   
   
8. Merm: Hit as much as you can, around 2x-5x hit(4x hits is a safer number though)
   These guy will attempt to kite you like pig(they also have the same kite pattern but different movement speed), be warned that they are very very fast on their feet even though they are a fish... Anyway, for the number of hits it will depend heavily on how you and merm are positioned. Since they are very fast they tend to be able to escape your attack range, but that also means that you can attack more if they're starting to turn away from you..because when you try to dodge there will be more gap between you and them. In short if you see that merm are turning away from your stun lock you can probably add more attack if it' still facing you however you should stick with 3x-4x hits.
   GIF:
   Here you can see me miss my attack because I am just in range to attack, if I was on top of merm I would not have missed.
   Merm 1[drive.google.com]
   
   
9. Bunnyman: 2x hit very important to know how many hit it takes to kill and for it to run
   Unlike Merm and Pig the Bunnyman will not try to kite, but they will run away at low health. That's why you should only try to fight one or two at a time. It is important to know how many hit it takes to kill and how many hit it takes for the Bunny to run, because you can just count your hit and actually execute it without having to chase. For Wigfrid with Battle spear it takes 4 hit to kill and 3 hit for Bunny to start running so I just have to
   kite it for 2 rounds and that will be the end of it.
   GIF:
   With Spear[drive.google.com]
   Hambat, 3 hit to kill 2 hit to run so I did a 1,2[drive.google.com]

Basic mobs, part 2

1. Werepig: Bait out first attack(or 2x attack during transformation), 2x attack
   Werepig are a good way to recycle monster meat, if you feed pig 4 monster meats you will get a Werepig you don't even have to fight it if you are in a pig village other pig will fight for you. Careful though they are easily distracted by food so it can mess up the kiting pattern for you.
   GIF:
   Logan[lh3.googleusercontent.com]
   
   
2. F*ckFrog: 1x then dodge
   This little ♥♥♥♥ will ruin your day and his friends will too, stay away from these guy unless you can isolate the fight, never try to attack them in frog pond biome or in spring frog rain you are asking for trouble. You can use frog rain to your advantage though, few example includes: thinning out beefalo herd, Kill Moosegoosemoosegoosemoosegoosemoose(whatever you wanna call it), recycle excessive amount of frog legs into eggs(by feeding it to your bird).
   GIF:
   Danny Devito[lh3.googleusercontent.com]
   
   
3. Pig Guard: 1x then dodge
   You don't see these guy very often, but for your information they attack much faster than normal Pigs and are naturally aggressive if step too close.
   GIF:
   Out of jokes[lh3.googleuserhttps]
   
   
   
4. Hound: 2x hits
   This only apply to smaller amount of hounds like first few hound attacks or clearing up hound mound. The hound attack progressively spawns more hound and becoming more frequent the longer the game last(though I think there are a spawn cap per player). I would highly recommend not taking the fight directly when there are more than 5 hounds at a time. Best way to defend yourself is to make a tooth trap field, run to piggies(watch out for the fire hounds), or Beefalo.
   
   
5. Treeguard: 3-4x hits (generally)
   Treeguard in DST comes in 3 different sizes, for the kiting pattern I said 3-4x hit generally because it's depending on your movement speed and the size of the tree guard(You can get around 5 hits for the mini tree guard because of his small attack range), in the GIF that will be down below I am using the road to increase my movement speed to acheive 4x hits on the big Tree Guard which I wouldn't be able to acheive otherwise just on default movement speed.
   GIF:
   You're not Groot[lh3.googleusercontent.com]
   **Momentary Pause**
   Now speaking of movement speed- we're stepping into more advance combat techniques territory which I will talk about in the Advance Techniques section. To sum it up it's just how you can menipulate your movement speed during combat. Such that Wx-78 can be overcharged to move faster, or Wolfgang Mighty form which gives him slight movespeed, with giants and many bosses movement speeds usually mean more number of times you can put out your attack safely(this does not apply to mobs due to their lack of high range).

Advance enemies

1. Terrorbeak: 1x hit then locate the creature
   Terrorbeak is one of the easiest creature to kite, that is when there is only one of them. They have a really fast movement speed but has a very short attack range. If you can kite this with no trouble you won't have to worry about your sanity ever again.
   GIF:
   Terrorweak[drive.google.com]
   
   
2. Crawling Horror: 1x Hit then locate the creature
   Same kiting pattern as Terrorbeak, but these thing are significantly slower than Terrorbeak, if you ever find yourself fighting both Terrorbeak and crawling horror at once try to attack Terrorbeak first since it will be the first to catch up to you.
   GIF:
   Example of multiple nightmares[drive.google.com]
   **Important Note**
   Nightmare creatures will not disappear if you do not attack it after it had attacked. Kiting it is key here
   
   
3. Depths Worm: 4x hits(it can burrow itself to dodge)
   Depths Worm are not that hard either but they can be annoying in numbers. Just becareful with the attacking timing because it can hid underground mid fight making it untargetable. When in doubt use the start of The Art of Kiting method which is bait out the attack.
   GIF:
   Lips like Britney Spear[drive.google.com]
   
   
4. Clockwork Knight: 2x hit(Require accurate timing)
   I would say, almost similar kiting pattern to the Pig the Knight will try to kite you and just like the pig unless you hit them it will not stop moving(it only stops for a brief second after its attack)
   Knight[drive.google.com]
   
   
5. Clockwork Rook: 2x-3x(No real kiting for this)
   When fighting the Rook there isn't really kiting for this, all you can do is looking at where it's facing, predict where and when it will stop charging, then you can attack it then repeat, honestly I would just tank a few hits after few dodges hit to save time.
   My attempt at predicting[drive.google.com]
   
   
   
6. Clockwork Bishop: Tank it, or make Rook kill it for you.
   Projectile and leap attack are usually very hard to dodge, when fighting Bishop attempting to dodge actually does more harm than good. Get rid of other Clockwork by isolating them first then take care of the Bishop last.
   
   
7. MacTusk 'n Son: Tank it(not totally, read the rest) there is two approach
   When fighting MacTusk best approach to this is to run toward him, I recommend bringing Log
   Suit and any kind of winter hat(Beefalo hat is best here).
   
   
   • Basically just run toward Tusk though keep in mind that you are chasing him away from his camp, ignore his son, ignore the hounds. You won't ever catch up to him, but the point is that to get him far away from his camp as you can until he starts walking back slowly, that's when you can kill him. After you got a walking cane farming Tusk will be simple.
     GIF:
     Tusk[lh3.googleusercontent.com]
     
   • Another way to get him is to fight at evening or night. Something that will let you kill the sleeping hound fast. When the hound dies It will freeze MacTusk, and that's how you get a fresh frozen meat.
     Frozen Meatballs[lh3.googleusercontent.com]

I am not going to get too much into enemy in cave or ruins, because by that point I think you can handle yourself, but maybe I will rename the guide and add more stuff! This is why feedbacks are important, so be sure to let me know!

Advance techniques

This is the last bit of combat tip that will set you out on your own.

Also I mentioned earlier about trying to learn to use mouse, you will be using that now.

1. Swapping to walking cane in combat
   This is to increase your moment speed to get into your melee range, and to get out of enemy attack range.To beginers this may prove to be challenging, but if you keep praticing, and find the best way for you it flow will very smoothly.
   Please do yourself a favor and only pick 1 inventory slot for this to be happening in, I use the first slot. There might be more methods, but find these two methods to be the easiest way:
   ---- Before you start the combat make sure that when you press the keys your weapon and walking cane will be swapping in the same slot ----
   
   • Hover your mouse over the selected slot and leave it there. Fight with keyboard, swap with mouse(right-click).
     
     
     
   • Putting weapon and cane in the first slot and swap with "1" key
     
     
     I find the first method to be easiest, you don't have to follow my method. Find your own preference, the point is to use the brief movement speed to increase your chance of dodging attacks, making it your habit.
     
     
   • Synchronize your enemies' attack
     This is when you are fighting multiple of the same enemy and you want it to attack at the same time enemy such as Hound, Treeguard, Depths Worm, Crawling Horror. This is where I think your mouse is most useful in combat, mouse gives you more control of your direction. A good example would be when you are trying to play racing game with Keyboard, with Controller you have more control of the angle the accelerations compare to keyboard, you get the idea I hope.
     
     • To get the enemy to synchronize first you need to run from it and menipulate their movement. I personally use my mouse to jiggle my character left to right to get enemy clump up. Think of it as herding a sheep or something. Now you can attack them as if you are attacking one enemy! If they start to desynchronize rinse and repeat.
     
     
     

Seasonal Giants[In Progress]

This is my version of Giant kiting guide. As mentioned before you can easily menipulate how many times you can hit depending on your movespeed so keep that in mind!

Before we begin..

Here are the list of things you should probably prepare:
• Walkingcane: It's better for kiting
  
• Healing food[by order of importance]:
  • Jerky: gives you 20 health, 25 hunger, 15 sanity
  • Pierogies: a whopping 40 health per pop
  • Honey ham: When you are missing some health but really hungry
  • Bacon and eggs: Just like Honey Ham
• Decent weapons: Honey ham is cheap and ideal, Darksword(my preffered choice) has the highest melee damage but does take more prepping. The faster you kill something the better.
  
• Stock up armor: Make some armor base on your level of confidence(but hey don't get cocky) log suits, Football helm, Wigfrid helm, make at least a few of those. Once you master the kiting pattern you probably don't even need any.
  
• Being healthy: You can sometimes know when the boss are coming so you should always try to be healthy. It won't matter with seasonal bosses as much once you learned the pattern of the boss though.
  
• Pick fighting area: in DST two of the seasonal bosses can destroy your base so make sure you pick out the area to fight.
  
• Back up plan: Let's face it anyone can die. Make sure you have something to revive you or someone.
  
  
  
  
• Deerclops: 2x-3x hits(3 if well timed, also do not get hit more than 2 times in a row)
  Deerclops is the first giant you will be facing assuming you are on default setting. He will always spawn for the first time in the night of day 30th. So keep your ears out and your body away from you base because he will totally destroy it, best to move about 2 screens away from your base and set down a few Campfire so it will be easier to find him once he spawned in. Always pre-make Campfire before fighting Deerclops, and Deerclop cannot destroy Campfire so you can totally fight him on top of Campfire(Campfire not Fire pit). Few things you need to worry about when fighting Deerclops, and freezing attack(if you get hit twice in a row) and his sanity drain aura, and if you are or not soloing him you and your friends will spawn a ♥♥♥♥ tons of Nightmare Creature so look out for that.
  GIF:
  Deerclop fight[drive.google.com]

Extra survival tips

Here are just some extra things that you may or may not already know, just thought I might share

1. How to catch a rabbit(with bait but you get to keep it): What you'll need, carrot and trap
   Chasing a rabbit into a trap is too old school and sometime ineffective.
   Here is what I got for you. Rabbit are naturally attracted by carrot on the ground, just line the rabbit, trap and carrot up(not too close to the trap or it will disappear) and there is your guarantee rabbit
   
   

   You can also kill the rabbit once it's touching the carrot and became distracted it will not run, but you have to be quick or you will lose the carrot!

   
   Simple Geometry
   
   
2. How to catch a Fat bird Gobbler: What you will need; berry, fruit, or vegetable.
   Gobbler are easily distracted by food you can drop some food that fit the category of what you will need. Then wait for it to go toward the food then you can kill it.....here's an extra tip if you have red caps to spare drop 3 of them and it will kill gobbler on the spot..hehehe that's what they get.

[Raegoer]

Frogs get mauled to death by Abby. If you find a bunch of ponds near each other and are okay with her being at half health for a day or so, sic her on them while you fish or something

[shiny german]

pretty pog

[PyraBlitz]

Thanks for teaching the new players to dodge and fight threw all of the constant

[apple pie]

i eat toes

[Brokuo ツ]

Nice guide :D Even for the pro players. I don't know this catching rabbit tric thx :D With shadows there are a glitch than you can sometimes attack them twice at the time. With werepig too: you can tank him as spider but this not always works but often. Maybe someone use this tips too ;)

[Zenosyne]

No, I must've miss typed

[freak!]

He has dmg resistance?

[Zenosyne]

Wolfgang have more potential than Wigfrid in mighty form. He gains move speed, resistance, health, and attack modifier( even greater than Wigfrid ). Now while that is that I prefer Wigfrid because she's a jack of all trades, her attack modifier is constantly active while Wolfgang loses potential when not mighty. Wigfrid can fight wave after wave of enemy, she also have blueprints to her armor and weapon.

[freak!]

Jeeeeeeezzzzze
I got in a argument with a youtuber over Wigfrid v wolfgang.
Why do people prefer him, ill never know.

[Moonadoo]

well i have never been trolled