Caves & Ruins pt.1 (Don't Starve Reign of Giants - Beginner's Guide Series)
Time to start exploring below the surface in the first of a multi-part set of guides covering the Caves and Ancient Ruins of Don't Starve, Reign of Giants. Although this Beginner's Guide Series focuses on the single player version of Don't Starve, most of what is covered here applies pretty well to Don't Starve Together, and I do point out some of the key differences between the two games.
This episode focuses on those differences between single player vs DST, and talks about general considerations and inherent dangers to be aware of before venturing into the caves. Included are when to spelunk, lighting options, sanity considerations, and the dangers of darkness, earthquakes, and periodic cave worm attacks.
CONTENTS:
00:00 Introduction
01:37 What are the Caves, and Structural DS vs DST Differences
02:51 Seasonal & Follower Differences of DS vs DST
04:32 When to Spelunk - To Rush, or Not?
05:29 A More Casual Approach and Seasonal Preferences
07:00 Inherent Dangers - Perpetual Darkness
07:41 Light Bulbs, Miner Hat, and Lantern
09:26 Moggles
10:16 Keep the Lights On - Take Extra Batteries
10:51 Sanity and You - Keeping the Shadows at Bay
11:50 Inherent Dangers - Earthquakes
13:31 Inherent Dangers - Nightmare Fissures
14:44 Inherent Dangers - Periodic Depths Worm Attacks
16:30 Wrap Up and Outro
The next episode will focus on the biomes, residents, and resources of the cave level, and the third and possibly fourth episodes will then venture down into the ancient ruins and all there is to do, get killed by, and hopefully bring home with you back to the surface.
Still have questions? Hop into my Discord and ask away!
/ discord
And be sure to check my community page for my weekly livestream schedule.
* * * * * * * * * *
Game footage is from Don't Starve - Reign of Giants, and Don't Starve Together, the delightful action-adventure sandbox survival games by slightly less indie than they used to be developer Klei Entertainment. Interested in trying it out? Visit these links to learn more and/or purchase!
www.klei.com/games
store.steampowered.com/app/21...
store.steampowered.com/app/32...
Music is from the Don't Starve Soundtrack, and was arranged and composed by Vince de Vera, Jason Garner, and/or Emmett Hall. Tracks featured in this video are "Main", my own remix of the "Spring Cleaning - Reign of Giants" track that I personally arranged as "Waltz of the Fallen Sister", and "Cave Work". Game footage, graphical assets, soundtrack, and sound effects used consistent with Klei Entertainment's "Player Creation Guidelines" as stated on their website:
support.klei.com/hc/en-us/art...
Nothing in this video is sponsored by Klei Entertainment, and the commentary and information in this video do not represent the opinions or positions of any other entity whatsoever. Please use a touchstone or craft a meat effigy before venturing into the ruins. No Bunnymen were harmed in the making of this video.
Sal is here to encourage those of us who are scared of going into the caves and ruins. (me)
It's true - you can do it!!
I probably woudl've never made it through summer were it not for this series, let alone go down to the caves periodically to map out the area. Trust me, you feel alot safer after prototyping the lantern. If you're really worried, just carry a full stack of twigs and grass and do a lap around. Don't stop to collect anything and you should have zero chances of dying.
Ive tango'd with both
200hours in Don't Starve and, with this guide, I think I'm ready for my first visit to the caves.
Do it!! And let me know how it goes!!
bro, 400 hours and I think I'll finally go past the lightbulb areas and immediately leaving.
2:23 best map ever! With that guidance, no one will ever get lost anymore :D
I might have gotten a bit silly with a few of those lines 😆
It's really rare to find singleplay don't starve content, this video is extremely helpful
Yeah, apparently DST is considered the hotness for most content creators, but I personally know single player a lot better, so here I am!!
Beautiful! This is just what I needed! I just started exploring the caves and ruins, and just defeated the ancient guardian and got some thulecite items… it’s pretty cool.
Nice - you're off to a great start down there!! Hopefully these guides can fill in some of the gaps in addition to whatever you've already figured out!
Yes! I’ve just started exploring caves and I’ve been in severe need of a Salendrak guide to tell me what I’m doing wrong! Ahahaha
My timing is excellent!! 😆
hey sal, you got me back into playing dont starve and terraria after not for about the last 7 years back in 2014, and just today i beat moon lord and a bit ago survived over 2 years in dont starve ,thanks and love your content, its awesome to watch hope you and your family have a wonderful day!
Well that's just the sort of comment that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy in side. That's awesome!!
I've been playing Terraria since it came out. It was my first purchase on Steam. I've still never gotten past the cultist 🙂
@@modularcuriosity What?! You've missed out on the best parts!! Eventually I'll cover that part of the game, but at this rate it will still be a while from now....
Thank you so much for making a guide on caves, because up until this point I had no idea what they were or what was inside them so i just ignored them.
As they used to say in the cartoons I used to watch as a kid - knowing is half the battle!!
@@salendrak that's the other reason I love your content, unlike so many other guides, you don't just tell us what to do, you also entertain us in the process. So please never stop making content.
@@supermaxi3906 Infotainment!! 😁
Finally, the Caves video! Can't wait for part 2!
More to come in hopefully about 2 weeks!
still can't understand why you don't have more views, these videos are awesome
Yeah, views are a funny thing sometime! There are plenty of other channels with lower subscriber count that publish a video and instantly get thousands of views. All has to do with how KZhead rules things behind the scenes I guess!
Only just yesterday I platinumed DST on my PS4. In the beginning days I desperately needed a guide to help me understand the basics, and I am SO GLAD I tried out your channel first. I went from surviving only 10 days max to now over 200 and counting. Thank you for your content, and I can't wait to put these cave guides to good use since I had to alter my cave settings to baby mode to make it through to the Ancient Guardian. I look forward to more!
Wow - that's quite the progress. Well done!! Though I do have to ask - what does "platinumed" mean? I don't really play console games lol
@@salendrak it just means I got all the trophies/achievements for the game! So it was a pretty big deal but I still have plenty to learn. :)
It's here!! Looking forward to the other cave videos! I've done ok with exploring the cave level and surviving a summer down there, but am still super scared of going to the ruins level. Also Wigfrid mains be like: those mushrooms are only good for meatballs! xD
Yeah, blue mushrooms are especially OP. Unless you're Wigfrid 😆
@@salendrak or Warly in DST
So excited for this part of the series! I've been playing for a few months but caves are still so intimidating!! I only go there for a few lightbulbs each season and thats about it lol
When it comes to the caves and ruins, I think taking it slow as you get comfortable is definitely a good way to go!!
wow the production value is great! great work my man
Thanks!! These guides really do take a lot of time to put together, especially the infographics and whatnot. So I'm always glad when they're appreciated! 😁
Yes
Just started playing don't starve on my phone and your beginners series helped me a lot and I also noticed that you make content on the games that I really love like terraria so you definitely deserve a sub man. Love your content and keep it up.
Thanks!! Yeah, Terraria and Don't Starve are definitely the two games that I've sunk the most time into over the last 8 or so years, hands down! Rimworld is also up there pretty high, and might be making an appearance on the channel soon!
I've just binged this whole series and all I can say is that you are awesome, I always struggle with DS/DST and you've given me confidence to try again! Keep going Sal, your videos are awesome 👍
Thanks!! I keep at it with DS / DST! These games definitely aren't for the faint of heart, but can bring oh so many hours of solid entertainment!!
Wooo! I've been waiting for your guide on this.
And there will be at least 2 more to cover everything that needs to be covered!!
Great work as always
Thanks!!
I have 1200 hours in the entire DS franchise, and not only was the video entertaining af but I even learned one new thing.
Sweet! What did you learn? I have quite a bit more time than that in the franchise, and I honestly learnt at least one new thing every video I make!
@@salendrak I finally learned how mushroom regrowth works, which is weird I feel I out of all people should know since my area irl is big into gathering mushrooms when it's time for em, even if I don't learn anything from a video I still enjoy it, you just make amazing content!
On day 150+ on pocket edition ROG caves only and def learned a few things from this vid, thanks mate:)
Great!!
Thanks for the guide! Your guides are the best on YT
Wow - thanks!! Much appreciated!!!
TBH i love your videos straight forward and easy to understand thank you so much
Thanks - and you're most very welcome!!
Such an amazing content. Your videos are amazing, I sincerely hope that you will get into millions of views someday.
Thanks!!
Loving this. Thanks for all the help
😁
maxwell is the best guy to go in the caves. His sanity buff makes him immune to sanity loss in the dark allowing us to explore the caves without the need of sanity boost items but he'll need very strong armor when dealing with enemies
The sanity of that guy is off the charts! Really gotta keep a close eye on his health though and NEVER get into a fight without armor, and even with armor you gotta keep healing foods / items with you at all times!
Hey look this video! Also enjoyed your stream today! Love your content I am gonna recommend this channel to a friend.
Awesome - thank you!!
Commenting for the algorithm. Good job man!
The algorithm accepts your offering 😁
Been waiting for this!
I wonder who will be the first person to venture into and die in the caves thanks to this 😆
THANK YOU for covering SOLO don't starve ruins!
Absolutely!!
Algorithmic power combo: Activate!
Woot!!!
I really like the when to rush section. Couldn’t have said it better.
Thanks! I'm thinking of doing a video discussing the "Best" character in DST at some point. I'm sure it will get a lot of reaction from people. Basically my philosophy is that there isn't one, and a huge part of the fun of the game is enjoying the differences in playstyle that each brings to the table. Kind of like how there isn't a "best" flavor of ice cream. Other than Cookies and Cream 😆
it's usually advised to come in with the miner hat as it'll be harder to move around with a torch
Yup - and a LOT harder to fight with a torch too!
Great video sal as always! Would you ever check out the tropical experience mod for dst ? It brings all the single player expansions to multiplayer. Might be a fun stream after you start covering shipwrecked.
Maybe at some point! Though first I think I should probably get a good grasp at what all DST has to offer without mods 😆
Thank you a lot 💕 u ve really helped me with this game
My pleasure 😊
the timing of this upload, i was just about to prepare for the ruins
The timing - I has it!!
Woah thanks sal! Just in time for me and ny friends going on a cave adventure :>
Be sure to keep the lights on!!
Started playing a couple weeks ago, and now I'm 50+ hours in. I'm nearing day 200, all thanks to your guides! Will you also be making a farming/ mob farms episode in the future?
At this point probably not. Overall I feel like that's more of an advanced topic, and as this is a beginner's guide series where I wanted to cover all the basic concepts, that wouldn't really fit. And I want to move on to other projects 😉 That said, who knows?! Maybe I'll do something like that as an advanced guide video at some point, but those would likely be more like stand-alone videos. Great job learning the game though!! That's awesome!!
Great guide! Have you done part 3 for the Ruins yet?
Working on it right now! Was turning out really long, so it'll be broken up into part 3 and 4,but I'll do them back to back 👍
Thank you!!
You're most very welcome!
went down on day 3 as Willow in DST, found some nice bunnymen who killed spiders for me, ate some mushrooms, went crazy, had Bernie go nuts on the nightmares and burned down a mushroom forest...fun times :)
Sounds like a fun day in the life of Willow to me!!
yay new video!
Happy happy!!
Its finally here...I can rest in peace now.
Nope! Sorry - no rest for you! There are at least 2 more installments on the topic 😆
Back to listening to the Beefalo song I guess...
@@oneofakind9995 I'm totally going to have that stuck in my head now...
I’ve noticed that you have a Day counter when you’re in the caves while I seem to not have it. Is there a way I could get it? Great video, it was very informative
Hmmmm not sure...I wonder if it's the Combined Status mod that does that?
That’s the one, thanks!
I Wanna Rush caves and ruins to learn more and have more experience. Is wagstaff great character rushing the ruins? (because of his goggles night vision thingy) in my first autumn. Great Guide BTW 🤩🤩
Probably? You'll want to have plenty of grass and twigs for torches, and bring lots of pigskin down with you, but the gold and stone is usually pretty easy to come by down there. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out!
It turns out pretty great but I died i can't handle two depth worms and the same time :(
thanks👍
No problem 👍
Can you make a video talking about and tips of world creation...
Ooooh that's a good idea! I almost always just use default settings, but have been wanting to test out different worlds gen settings to see what they do....
Thx i couldnt find the runes becuse i serched in dst ❤️
Yup - totally different layout in DST compared to single player!
WOAH, Me and my friend literally just found the ruins for the first time, and you post this? LOL thanks for good timing(and generally good guides =D)
Except I don't quite cover the ruins yet. Sooooo you'll have to wait a few weeks to go down there! 😆
@@salendrak yeah i realised that =P, oh well, we always have rollback and amulets!
@@thetelpho2176 that works too!
Do i always have to keep eye bone in inventory to have chester?
Yes, if you want him to follow you around. But you can always put it on the ground or in any other container and he'll stay at that location. He's pretty versatile like that!
Best videos
Thanks!! 😁
Sir my hp goes so fast!! i have my wood armor but it goes super fast, what should i do?
What specifically is causing damage? Certain mobs, like clockwork bishops and rooks are pretty hard to avoid taking damage from, so in the Ruins level where they're really common, you have to have back-up armor and healing options pretty much at all times. If you start to run low - time to back out and restock your supplies! If it's other mobs, it's all about dodging their attacks so you don't get hit!
@@salendrak before creating new map, do u have a setting option about hp goes rate? Like normal or Reduced?
@@canbey9742 Wait - are you talking about HP (the heart icon) or Hunger / Food from the Stomach icon? Either way, no, there is no way to adjust those from the world settings.
@@salendrak i was talking about heart icon and i was start playing dont starve from my phone first then moved up to pc. In phone there is setting about heart goes down rate but i didnt see this thing in pc so i just wanted to ask you, text for replying and sorry about my english ahahah would love see new guides about dont starve!! Keep going
would you recommend dst or ds for singleplayer
I would start out with single player Don't Starve with the DLCs. If you can't get all the DLCs then go with DST. I'll actually be making a video on this very question in January (most likely).
@@salendrak oh yeah i’m not a beginner i have 300 hours dst and have done fuelweaver, i just got ds to play shipwrecked and hamlet and they’re really good and i like how it feels without lag, and was wondering whether singleplayer ds is better for singleplayer since it’s not updated and missing dst content and character reworks
Honestly, single player, especially with both DLCs available, is good enough and different enough that trying to pick between DS versus DST is kind of like trying to pick between two flavors of ice cream that you really like 😜
Is it just me or if I’m in the caves until the day ends, for some reason it glitches and changes the season? Is there a way I can stop it?
Which platform are you playing on? Historically there were some season changing bugs, but I was under the impression that those were (mostly) all fixed. Not sure about non-pc platforms though...
@@salendrak I play on Switch, that’s definitely the problem. I wonder when it would get fixed for us
Me traiying to get flint to make a pikaxe to go to caverns :you have been invited to sufur
Pretty much!! 😆
I'm on a game with two fully explored caves with no entrance to any ruins... still haven't ever found one.
Are you super sure you've explored everywhere? I've never encountered a cave with no sinkhole to the lower level, but sometimes the placement of other objects can make it hard to see on the map. I've also encounter a situation before where there was a chasm that had no way to cross other than telepoofing across it. Rare, but it can happen!
@@salendrak I finally found it! I thought I had been everywhere but an edge ended up having a branch that didn't even go that far away from the entrance. I literally searched the entire cave and the thulecite was the very last place I looked. I almost died in a swarm of terrorbeaks.
Hello, can you survive the winter via hiding in the cave
Yup! In single player the caves give you some default insulation, so even though you can still freeze to death, you'll last longer away from a fire even with no winter clothing on than you will on the surface.
In the first world where I survived a year in reign of giants Giants my beffalo was in heat, so I tried to take it down to the caves, but I got spawned in the void so now what that world is gone
Weird! I can't think of any time something like that has happened to me!
@@salendrak at least the beefalos not in heat anymore
What do you mean you can stack armor in single player?
You get double the benefit in single player compared to DST. Here's an example with maths! In Single Player Don't Starve, say you get hit for 100 raw damage and are wearing 2 pieces or armor that each reduce damage by 80%. The primary armor reduces the 100 damage by 80% down to 20 damage, and THEN the secondary armor reduces that 20 damage by 80% down to just 4 damage that gets applied to your health. The primary armor takes a much larger durability decrease, but that's a small price to pay to have 100 damage reduced down to 4! In DST, even if you're wearing the same 2 pieces or armor, the 100 damage hit only gets reduced to 20, but the durability loss gets shared between the 2 pieces of armor.
I keep encountering a glitch when entering the caves, and then leaving the season completely changes I went into the cave first day of winter came out first day of summer
Which platform are you on? I'm guessing switch?
@@salendrak I play on majority on the switch yes But I also play on the steam deck
@@salendrak how did you guess I played the switch version 😂
@@salendrak oh and this glitch happened in the original game not together
@@aaww1010 I've heard that glitch still happens a lot on Switch. Used to happen on PC too, but they fixed it quite a while ago. Haven't ever heard of it happening on DST though.
Power combo
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!
Can someone show me the way to make boats in dont starve pe please?? Ty
There aren't any boats in Don't Starve PE. If you want boats on mobile you need to play Shiprecked PE.
dope
😁
One time I overheated In the caves, IN WINTER
It can happen! Especially if you put two thermal stones in your backpack, stand next to burning objects for too long...or get a bug!
i also thought the caves worked the same as dst until i watched this
Nope!! Similar, but there are also some significant differences!
What if we die in the cave?
If you die in a cave it's the same as if you die anywhere else. If you have an active touchstone or meat effigy then you will come back to life, but all your stuff will be down there in the cave. And if you don't have an active touchstone or meat effigy - goodbye world!
Yes knew gUIdE vIdEO
And more to come!!
i only have ROG so thx
You found the right place for all your informational needs!!
@@salendrak no i know about this channal i was just saying i only have ROG and you were the first youtuber to reply to my comment
I died from some one saying wilson is only OK wilson is a god
Hmmmm - given how all characters can come back from the dead, aren't they all gods?
I died from drowning
In the caves or ruins?! That's a neat trick!!
I liked it so here's your comment ;)
Awesome - thanks!!
Do an ark survival evolved playthrough and one idea do a one hundred days
Oooooh that is a game I've got on my list of games to try out someday!
@@salendrak kzhead.info/sun/Y7OOYcyjoHqpYH0/bejne.html refer this lists. kzhead.info/sun/pr2Rgdx8iYF3mJ8/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/as6TqJdxfGmgeKc/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/hryNc5mwq4SXgGg/bejne.html
@@technolance2213 Lol - I think some of those videos had a pretty broad definition of what games are "like" Terraria 😲
@@salendrak yes I just watched them all there some differences in some of them ...but all are like Terraria crafting and so on
those nasty bunnymen keeps ending my runs
Stop offending their vegan sensitivities by allowing filthy dirty meat to be in their presence! Or just put it all in Chester first 😉
@@salendrak why can't we all just get along what's wrong with holding meat.....wait that came out wrong
I died from fall damaged
They really need to add a jump mechanic to this game...
@@salendrak I died from my phone smashing and losing all my account information:l
@@peashootergaming3489 Ouch!! The most painful death of all!!!
well, my patience is lower than my common sense so I don't even bring the stuff I need.
You do you!! 🤣
this comment is for the algorithm!
The algorithm thanks you - yessssss!!
everyone here reply to this comment with yu
yu
yu
2 years later and today I learned you can use the tentacle out things as wormholes 🫠
Only in DST though. In single player they just make creepy noises 😆