WX-78

"LIFE IS INEFFICIENT"

- WX-78 WX-78 is the fourth unlockable Character (960 XP, see Experience for more information on how to unlock it). WX-78 is a self-sustaining automaton who hates all living matter.

WX-78 can eat stale and spoiled Food without the penalties that would usually occur from eating such food. Also when hit by Lightning WX-78 will be overcharged and emit light while moving at heightened speed. WX-78's Hunger, Health, and Sanity are all set to a maximum of 100 points, but it's able to eat Gears to upgrade them up to 200, 400 and 300 respectively. Being a robot, it will take damage when it is in the Rain unprotected.

Special Powers
The first power is SYSTEM OVERLOAD, activated by being struck by Lightning. In thunderstorms, WX-78 will attract lightning similar to a Lightning Rod and can set fire to nearby objects when struck. This will cause it to instantly regain its Health, gain a speed boost, and emit an amount of light similar to a Torch. It will also prevent it from Freezing for the duration of the effect. WX-78 will lose 33 when initially struck, and can also be struck multiple times even while already overloaded. SYSTEM OVERLOAD will last roughly 1 day. Being near a Lightning Rod will prevent WX-78 from being hit by lightning.

The second power is WX-78's ability to consume Gears to upgrade itself. When eating a Gear, WX-78 will receive an upgrade for its maximum Sanity, Health, and Hunger. The max amount of Gears that can be consumed to gain stat upgrades is 15. Each upgrade adds 20 health, ~6.66 hunger, and ~13.33 sanity. The stepped upgrade effects can be seen in the table below.

WX-78 is also able to eat stale and spoiled Food without penalties. This allows it to stockpile food for longer than other Characters and go exploring for longer times before needing to come back home to resupply. Despite this, food penalties that occur even if the Food is not spoiled (such as eating Monster Meat) still take effect.

Disadvantage
WX-78 takes damage from being "Wet" (0.5 Health every 3-5 seconds). While Wet, WX-78 periodically emits light due to sparks flying off its body and can provide enough light to prevent Charlie from attacking. An Umbrella will prevent WX-78 from becoming Wet and has infinite durability (unless used as a melee weapon, which will break after 20 uses).

Another disadvantage is that WX-78 has the lowest starting maximum stats of any character. Acquiring Gears should be a priority at the beginning of the game, because they increase all stats when eaten. Gears can be found as drops from enemies in the Chess Biome or dug up from Graves using a Shovel.

Reign of Giants icon.png of Giants
In the Reign of Giants DLC (RoG), the addition of the Wetness mechanic changes the way WX-78 is damaged by rain. WX-78 will take a maximum of 0.5 damage every 3-5 seconds when completely exposed. If WX-78 has 50% waterproofing from its equipment (i.e. a Pretty Parasol), it'll take 0.25 damage every 3-5 seconds while it's raining and so on. If WX-78 is still wet after it stops raining, it will take damage at a rate of 0.3 damage every 3-5 seconds until it is dried off. If WX-78 is not very wet, it won't get "drying damage" for very long (further rewarding high waterproofness), but if it is soaked, it could last quite a while. The Umbrella also degrades when equipped, making Rain a much more permanent risk.

In addition to this, there are many new Chess biomes scattered around the world in Sandbox Mode which may have Clockwork Monsters, making it easier to acquire Gears without having to go underground or to a new world. Also, the addition of Tumbleweeds made Gears renewable, which means using Gears as un-perishable food is much more viable.

Tips

 * SYSTEM OVERLOAD will also be initiated when lightning strikes WX-78 subsequently after the following occasions:
 * Immediately after using the Telelocator Staff, due to the subsequent lightning strike in the immediate area.
 * When respawning via Touch Stone.
 * When damaging an Ancient Pseudoscience Station (via Hammer or Damaged Rooks) in Ruins, due to the subsequent lightning strike.
 * WX-78 can still consume gears to gain the initial 60 Health, 50 Sanity and 75 Hunger even after reaching the maximum upgrades after 15 gears. This means that Gears can be used as a sort of non-spoiling superior version of Jerky.
 * This makes WX-78 a great Character for completing Adventure Mode due to the abundance of Chess Monsters in that mode.
 * When it's raining in RoG, unless planning to dry soon, it's not advised to wear gear that provides 100% water resistance when highly wet as usually the "drying" damage is higher than the damage you would take with a lower water resistance (e.g. Straw Hat + Pretty Parasol).
 * During a Spring start in RoG it is advised to constantly kill Butterflies and use their wings to heal from the water damage.
 * Due to its high maximum Hunger and ability to eat spoiled Food without penalty, Meaty Stew is possibly the best overall food for WX-78.

Trivia

 * WX-78's name may be a reference to the RX-78 series of mobile suits in the Universal Century gundam series. The most notable being the RX-78-2, the main mobile suit of the original gundam series.
 * The numbers 11522914 can be seen on WX-78's character image. If converted into letters (1=A, 2=B, etc.), it spells KEVIN, which is the name of the lead developer of Don't Starve.
 * WX-78's voice is sounded by what is explained as a "crazy processed synth".
 * WX-78 has a skull in the game files. Also, when struck by lightning in the Reign of Giants DLC, the outline of a skeleton can be seen.
 * WX-78 is referred to as "it" in the epilogue of Adventure Mode, implying that its appearance and AI are not meant to simulate a specific gender.
 * WX-78 states that it may have had a "mother" when examining the Science Machine or the Metal Potato Thing.
 * WX-78 turns into a ghost when dying in Don't Starve Together.
 * WX-78 is described as "hating all living matter"; however, it shows empathy for machines, saying "OH NO. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU?" when examining gears.
 * When WX-78 examines nearby Mosquitoes, it will say "WHY WOULD THEY COME FOR ME? I HAVE NO BLOOD, MUST I KILL YOU ALL WITH NO HARM DONE TO ME?". Yet, mosquitoes' blood sacks still get larger upon attacking WX-78 and will still explode.
 * Although WX-78 shows hatred toward all living matter, it has a soft spot for Bees and Lureplants as when they are examined, WX-78 says "A MINDLESS DRONE. I LIKE HIM." and "AWW, IT IS JUST AS EVIL AS I AM.", respectively.
 * There are a few inconsistencies in WX-78's references. When it examines a Slurper WX-78 will say "IT VIOLATED MY SMELLING MODULE" but when it examines a Durian, it will say "GOOD THING I LACK A NOSE". This may be intentional or just an error.
 * WX-78 is oddly inconsistent with its punctuation in quotes.
 * WX-78 makes a faint 'keek' noise as it walks.
 * It is possible that WX-78 was created by Maxwell for his clockwork army.
 * WX-78 has lots of other technical components besides its Empathy Module, such as a Chemical Engine acting as a stomach, Optical Sensors acting as its eyes, a CPU functioning as its brain, a Processing Unit is described as being its head, and when it sleeps it activates Sleep Mode.
 * Although WX-78 takes damage from Wetness, it can eat watery foods such as Pomegranates, Meaty Stew, or even Watermelons without being harmed.
 * WX-78 is one of the original four characters that were available during the closed Beta of Don't Starve Together.

Gallery
WX-78