Magic | Magic Don't Starve Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Apart from regular items, Don't Starve also gives you the opportunity to use magical items. To be able to create those, you first need to craft the Shadow Manipulator. To build it, you are going to need 1x Purple Gem, 2x Living Log and 10x Nightmare Fuel. The former can be created by combining the Blue Gem and the Red Gem, that can be dug for in the graveyard. The Living Log is dropped by the Treeguard after it dies. More information about this enemy can be found in the chapter entitled "Bosses".

The last ingredient, and the most important one, is the Nightmare Fuel. This special kind of fuel is used to create most magical items, so it is a good idea to learn how to obtain it. First of all, you can use four Dark Petals (from Evil Flowers). Another method consists in catching a large number of rabbits, and keeping them as long as your sanity falls below 80. The animals turn into Beardlings, then. After being killed, they drop Nightmare Fuel. The fuel is also dropped by dead hallucinations. To attack them while they are neutral, click on them while holding down the Ctrl key. You can also set Tooth Trap around the camp, which will also kill the creatures without setting them on your character. Once you finally manage to build the Shadow Manipulator, you will gain access to many magical recipes.

Meet Effigy

It is an ugly wooden monument that can be crafted only by Wilson. To create it, you are going to need your character's beard (4x Beard Hair), 4x Boards and 4x Cooked Meat. To get the first element, you need to play Wilson, wait until he grows enough facial hair, and shave with Razor. How many hairs you get, depends on how big a beard you have shaved. After four days- 1x Beard Hair, after 8 days - 3x Beard Hair, and after 16 days - 9x Beard Hair. Another way to get the hairs is to kill Beardlings that replace rabbits after your sanity drops.

What do you use Meet Effigy for? It allows you to bring your character back to life after an accidental death, but only once. The price to pay for that, is the decrease in health by 30 points. For every standing sculpture. Your health returns to the normal level when you destroy the effigy, or are brought back to life.

The so called, Touch Stone is an alternative for the effigy. The stones are scattered around the map at random. They also can be used to bring your character back, but they work for every available character.

Pan Flute

To create a Pan Flute you need 5x Reeds, 1x Rope and 1x Mandrake. The first ingredient can be found in the swamps, the second one can be crafted using Grass, and the third one is mandrake that grows in various parts of the world. The instrument itself can be used to put to sleep all creatures in the vicinity. The instrument can be used 10 times and if you hit the sleeping enemy, all of the remaining creatures will wake up. The item does not work against Mandrake, Ghost and Werepig.

Ice/Fire Staff

Both are pieces of weaponry useful against stronger enemies. The Ice Staff slows down and freezes the enemy, whereas the Fire Staff inflicts damage while setting the target on fire.

To create the Ice Staff, you are going to need a Blue Gem and a Spear, and the fire staff requires a Red Gem, a Spear and 2x Nightmare Fuel.

The Amulet

The Amulet is yet another item that can be used to bring your character back to life. To do that, you need to wear it as an armor. The character brought to life with the amulet appears in the same spot in which he/she died, but all of the beasts around the corpse are put to sleep. Additionally, the stone, if worn, keeps on increasing your character's sanity by 2 points per minute. To create the amulet, you are going to need 6x Gold Nugget, 4x Nightmare Fuel and 1x Red Gem.

One-man Band

It is an instrument that allows making quick friends with up to 9 pigs. The animals follow your character for as long as you keep playing the instrument, but no longer than 3 minutes. Although the instrument itself decreases sanity by 2 points per minute, each enchanted pig increases it by 25. Therefore, you need to be very careful while playing it. To create One-man Band you are going to need 2x Gold Nugget, 4x Nightmare Fuel and 2x Pig Skin.

Night Light

Night Light functions in the same way that camp fire does, but to fuel it, you are going to need Nightmare Fuel instead of wood. After you give up on one unit of the fuel, the fire will be lit for the next 175 seconds. Apart from ensuring light, the black flame decreases sanity of your character by 3 points, if you are standing close to it. You can avoid the effect by standing a bit further away, but still within the blaze.

To create the Night Light you need 8x Gold Nugget, 2x Nightmare Fuel and 1x Red Gem.