The Forge

The Forge is an upcoming Event exclusive to Don't Starve Together, the first of a planned series of such events. It is projected to be released in November 2017. The event will include a 6-player co-op challenge, a The Gladiator Skin set, a new skin trader, new Mobs and Bosses, new combat perks for all Characters, new Weapons and Armor, and a new arena.

Official Description
''With the Ancient Gateway activated, our survivors now find themselves trapped in a hostile world of fire and battle. They’ll need to team up to defeat the Battlemaster’s army and his champion, the Grand Forge Boarrior, if they have any hopes of returning home.''

Beta Version
Starting on October 23rd, 2017, a beta server will be up and running. The beta version includes skins, but players will be unable to link The Forge drops to their regular skins, and will lose them when the beta ends. There are currently 498 Klei servers across 25 regions, with a total approximate capacity of 3,000 players. The beta ends on October 30th, 2017.

Content

 * Enemy Mobs
 * Battlemaster Pugna
 * Pit Pig
 * Crocommander
 * Snortoise
 * Scorpeon
 * Boarilla
 * Grand Forge Boarrior
 * Ally Mobs
 * Abigail
 * Baby Spiders
 * Bernie
 * Structures
 * Ancient Anchor
 * Ancient Gateway
 * Forge Portal
 * Banner
 * Battle Standard
 * Head Items
 * Feathered Wreath
 * Flowered Headband
 * Barbed Helm
 * Nox Helm
 * Woven Garland
 * Clairvoyant Crown
 * Crystal Tiara
 * Blossomed Wreath
 * Resplendent Nox Helm
 * Body Items
 * Reed Tunic
 * Feathered Reed Tunic
 * Wood Armor
 * Jagged Wood Armor
 * Silken Wood Armor
 * Stone Splint Mail
 * Steadfast Stone Armor
 * Weapons
 * Living Staff
 * Infernal Staff
 * Petrifying Tome
 * Forging Hammer
 * Pith Pike
 * Barrage Darts
 * Molten Darts
 * Riled Lucy

Setting Up
It is not necessary to have a full set of six players to start a match, though it is recommended to do so. A round will begin either when all six player slots are filled up, or when all players in an incomplete party vote to begin without the full six.

Gameplay
A character in The Forge gameplay mode does not have any Hunger or Sanity, and only three inventory slots (Head, Body, and Hand). All characters will spawn with a weapon and body armor item (variable, depending on the character chosen) and their head slot empty. All characters have different perks and expertises. Characters will refuse to use weapons that are not their expertise (e.g., Wigfrid will refuse to pick up a Staff, and Wilson is not able to use a Book).

A player's own health is displayed to the left of their inventory bar, with a smaller circle to the upper right of their own health displaying their ally's health (if playing as Willow or Wendy). Other players' health circles are displayed in the top left corner of the screen, along with their character icon and their allies' health, if any.

Players and their allies (Bernie for Willow, Abigail for Wendy, and Baby Spiders for Webber) spawn at the Ancient Gateway. Enemies will spawn from Forge Portals. The challenge is divided into 9 rounds of increasing difficulty, separated by pauses during which Battlemaster Pugna speaks and no enemies spawn. Equipment will drop onto the arena during gameplay, after the death of an enemy.

When a player loses all their health, their character will fall over and die. Dead players are unable to move and participate in combat, but can still communicate in the chat function and watch the battle. They can be revived by a living player, but will not resurrect with full health. Resurrection normally takes 6 seconds, but having Wilson as the resurrector or Wes as the dead player will halve the time needed (this makes Wilson reviving Wes the fastest possible resurrection time at 1.5 seconds). After being revived, a dead player will take 3 seconds to get back onto their feet.

Skins
Existing skins, emotes, and other collection objects can be unraveled for Spools, which can then be used to weave other items. The number of Spools received from unraveling a skin is a third of its weaving cost.

Character Specialties
This lists the special abilities of all The Forge characters.

Tips

 * When an enemy is attacked by Forging Hammer or Riled Lucy, they have a cracked shield icon floating above their heads, meaning their shield is broken. Everybody attacking that enemy while it has the shield above the enemy's head will deal more damage.
 * Wilson is a very useful support character, due to his ability to revive allies faster and with more health. Due to this, it is more useful to give him long-distance weapons and speed-boosting items than damage-boosting or cooldown reduction items, unless he also wields the Living Staff, in which case he should be equipped with cooldown reduction items.
 * The Living Staff can be used to take some of the pressure off the fighting if it becomes too intense, as they both heal all players and put all enemies to sleep in casting range. It can also instantly cure any players or allies with Scorpeons' Acid afflictions.
 * Due to this, it is highly recommended to always have at least on group member capable of using staves.
 * Casting a Life Blossom near fallen players is recommended, as gives the resurrector a safe space to do their work and allows the weakened player to heal after revival at the same time.
 * It is highly inadvisable to attack sleeping enemies while another player is attempting a resurrection in the circle.
 * It is important to distract enemies from aggroing on spellcasters and resurrectors, due to the fact that they need time to complete their tasks, and that their task timer will reset if they take damage in the process.
 * The pauses between rounds when Battlemaster Pugna speaks can be used to revive fallen players/allies, heal, and prepare in general.
 * The Clairvoyant Crown should always be given to the player with the Inferno Staff.
 * In later rounds, it is useful to have a "runner", a player with speed boosts who draws aggro from certain mobs (preferably smaller numbers of more dangerous mobs than greater numbers of weaker ones, since it's easier) and leads them away while the rest of the group deals with the other enemies.
 * Wes is suited for this job because of his ability to keep aggro on him and fast resurrection time.
 * Woodie is also a good choice, because of his ability to constantly chuck Lucy, which does some damage and keeps aggro on him.
 * It is not a good idea to tank Scorpeons, because of their armor-penetrating acid attack, which only engages in extended melee. Kiting them is a better idea.
 * Due to being a ghost, Abigail is immune to Scorpeons' Acid. This allows her to tank them for players. However, Bernie is still susceptible.
 * Melee-only characters on low health can somewhat inefficiently kite by waiting until their weapon's special ability is ready, then attacking a group of enemies and moving away while they are stunned.
 * Battle Standards increase enemy defenses, but are defenseless themselves. This allows players unable to tank in melee or be able to kite productively (someone with low damage and low health, such as a Maxwell with a Tome of Petrification on cooldown) to be useful by destroying them.
 * Maxwell and Wickerbottom should replace their Tomes of Petrification with staves as their main weapon in later rounds to be more supportive to the team.
 * A single enemy mob can be constantly immobilized or kept distracted to prolong the current round and give time for the team to recover and heal.
 * Since cooldown timers are associated with individual weapons and not the players that wield them, discarded weapons can be temporarily picked up to utilize more special abilities.
 * The Tome of Petrification is ineffective against the Boarilla, since it breaks out rather quickly.
 * Wigfrid will create a battlecry for every 8 successful attacks that she lands. Since the Barrage Darts' special power is exactly eight shots, using it is a reliable way of triggering a battecry, if aimed properly.
 * Shielded enemies (Snortoise and Boarilla) can be forced out of hiding with the Anvil Strike (Forging Hammer), Pyre Poker (Pith Pike), or meteor summoned by the Inferno Staff, while both Darts' powerups are useless. The Living Staff and Tome of Petrification can also be used, by forcing them to be immobilized (mobs can only have one status at a time, and being immobilized pushes out "hiding").
 * When the Grand Forge Boarrior summons reinforcements and Battle Standards (indicated by it stopping combat and banging its clubs together), it should be left alone while the team deals with the summoned enemies.
 * Suggested holders for the Infernal Staff are Willow (10% extra fire damage), Wickerbottom (30% spell powerup perk), and Maxwell (summons Shadow Duelists for 30 damage each if he focuses fire).
 * Steadfast Stone Armor should always be given to the team tank(s).

Trivia

 * The Forge was announced on September 13, 2017.
 * The Forge is the first event to not to be based off of a holiday.
 * According to Rhymes with Play #158, The Forge is lore-significant, making it the first such event.
 * The Forge is the first event to have special Event Servers dedicated to it.
 * According to Rhymes With Play #162, the dimension of The Forge smells like bacon and sweat.
 * According to Rhymes With Play #162, the reason WX-78 is still affected by Scorpeons' Acid is because the attack is acidic rather than poisonous in nature.