Hound

Hound=

Summer=

Winter=

"I hear puppies!"

- Wolfgang

Hounds are wolf-like monsters that attack in packs. They are not usually found while exploring, except for when the player encounters a Hound Mound, but periodically attack every 3–12 days. At least two will typically appear, with more spawning at once as the game progresses. During such attacks, they may be accompanied by Red Hounds (in Summer ) or Blue Hounds (in Winter). Hounds take two blasts from an Ice Staff to be frozen. When killed, they drop Monster Meat, with a chance of dropping a Hound's Tooth or a Gem.

Red Hound
Red Hounds (also referred to as Flame Hounds, Fire Hounds, or Hellhounds) spawn in the Summer. They are the counterpart of Blue Hounds. Red Hounds have less health than regular Hounds, though they cannot be set on fire and have a higher resistance to freezing. Upon death, they spontaneously ignite and drop ash, which can result in the burning of flammable nearby objects (such as material farms). They also sometimes drop a Red Gem, which can be used to craft a Life Giving Amulet, Night Light, or Fire Staff.

Occasionally, players can encounter Red Hounds as part of a Fire Staff Trap. 4-5 of them sleep around the Fire Staff, and when the Fire Staff is taken, they will wake up and attack. In this situation it is better to individually target and kill the Hounds, as they will not awaken upon the assault of their brethren.

Blue Hound
The Blue Hound (also known as Ice Hound) is a Hound that usually spawns in Winter. It functions as the Winter counterpart of the Red Hound. When killed, Blue Hounds will sometimes drop a Blue Gem, which can be used to craft an Ice Staff or Chilled Amulet. They also always drop two Hound's Teeth, unlike regular Hounds which drop at most one each. Though less resilient than their common counterparts, Blue Hounds deal more damage and can't be frozen.

Blue Hounds may spawn during timed Hound attacks in the winter, and the MacTusks have two with them in their winter hunting party. During the timed attacks, they probably will not appear during the first one of the first winter, but by the 100th day, up to half of the Hounds in winter may be Blue Hounds.

Occasionally, players can encounter Blue Hounds as part of an Ice Staff Trap. This way, they can appear in the summer. 4-5 of them sleep around the Ice Staff, and when the Ice Staff is taken, they wake up and attack.

Warning
When a pack of Hounds is nearby, snorting and growling sounds can be heard. These sounds start off softly and grow louder as the Hounds approach. Characters will soon call attention to these sounds with phrases such as, "Did you hear that?" Usually these warnings appear at least twice before the Hounds come. Once the hounds appear, the growling will be replaced by a running/panting sound as they charge.

Character Warnings:
 * Wilson: Did you hear that?
 * Willow: Show yourself!
 * Wolfgang: I hear puppies!
 * Wendy: The hounds are baying.
 * Wickerbottom: Something is approaching.
 * WX-78: SOMETHING IS COMING.
 * Woodie: There's something out there.
 * Wes: ...
 * Maxwell: The hounds are growing restless.

Behavior
Hounds immediately charge the character when they appear. Unlike other monsters, they are not distracted by Meats on the ground, although they occasionally stop to eat when they lose interest in the player. After a while, they can become interested in any other Mob and may attack them if the character is some distance away. Hounds will even sometimes sit outside rabbit holes if the rabbit has escaped inside. It is possible for Hounds to run off somewhere to chase another target, then wander back to the player and attack.

If there are walls between the Hounds and their target, they will attack the walls and attempt to break them down, unless there's an entrance to the "fort".

In the brand new DLC (Reign of Giants), one can find a random area within the desert that contains bones and carcasses of dead animals. This is "Houndland", hounds can be found in those areas at anytime. They will only stray a certain distance from their area and it is best not setting up your own base nearby...

Fighting
Hounds are really fast and cannot be outrun, unless they are being distracted, or if the player has a cane and/or the character is running on a road. They will bite as soon as they are in range and pause for a moment before and after each chomp. It is possible to dodge their bite and then strike back during the pause, although this is difficult with multiple Hounds attacking. Wearing an item that slows the player, such as the Marble Suit, will greatly increase the chance of being bitten.

Once a Hound executes an attack, successful or not, it may stop to bark. When they do this, their A.I. will target the nearest mob/food, and cause them to go for it instead. This is a great way to kill them, as when they attack a Mob that fights in a group such as a Beefalo, they will be quickly dispatched.

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill Hounds when playing with characters with a default damage modifier.

Hound attacks in Sandbox Mode
Hound attacks are a threat in a Sandbox Mode. The default attacks escalate until they are too dangerous to fight alone. Custom Hound attacks are constant.

After the second attack, there is a chance that some of the Hounds will be Red Hounds in the summer and Blue Hounds in the winter. The chance of those varieties appearing increases by the day.

There are currently no Hounds in Caves, with Depths Worms serving their purpose in a similar manner.

The attack script is in: DontStarve > data > scripts > components > hounded.lua According to the script, the default hound attacks eventually escalate to "crazy" (settings as per the last entry in the Default settings table above).

Currently the only way to eventually get to a "crazy" level of hounds is to leave the hound attack setting on default. All other settings are constant (as described above). In other words, currently it is only possible to make the hounds easier overall, easier in the long term (but more difficult early on), or to leave them as default.

Strategy

 * See also: Hound Wave Survival Guide or Hound Repelling


 * For a few Hounds (2-3), the player should be able to defeat them with a Spear, Log Suit, and Football Helmet. Even just a Log Suit and an Axe can prove sufficient.
 * For lots of Hounds, lead them to Tooth Traps or Bee Mines, or lure them to the Beefalo. Once Beefalo are bitten by the Hounds, all Beefalo nearby will join in to attack the Hounds. This will probably kill all the Hounds while possibly giving bonus drops from killed Beefalo. The same basic strategy can be employed using Pigs instead of Beefalo, also. The main consideration when choosing between the two would be the proximity, the number of neutral mobs available, and the time of day (Pigs go back to their houses for the dusk/night). Pigs can deal with Hounds faster because they attack them on sight and use kiting.
 * Leading the hounds to a group Frog Ponds during summer works well. After the first frog is hit by a hound, all nearby frogs will swarm the hounds. Red Hound deaths cannot destroy ponds, so no resources are lost. Frogs do not eat meat, so you can recover all Hound loot as well as any frog legs the hounds do not eat.
 * Neutral Treeguards are very effective against Hounds, as when a Hound gets distracted on a Treeguard and tries to bite it, the Treeguard will attack it back. Large and medium Treeguards will kill Hounds in one hit. Beware of Red Hounds that may set entire forests ablaze upon death, or set Treeguards on fire, which may set surroundings on fire.
 * Attacking a beehive or luring the Hounds to some bees is also an easy way of dealing with them. Beware that red hounds will burn down any nearby hives and bee boxes on death.
 * If playing as Wendy, Abigail's AOE attack can be useful for dispatching or distracting Hounds, although she is likely to die while doing so. Take the chance to use a Spear or Tentacle Spike to deal as much damage as possible while they're distracted.
 * Some players create a "panic room" - a walled-off area with an entrance filled with Tooth Traps, through which incoming Hounds are funneled. Sometimes a Fire Pit and supplies are kept inside for night attacks. Beware that although such tactics can easily handle Hounds attacking a base, they will make exploration near impossible late game if one relies on them too much and have no other ways of dealing with 10 Hounds attacking at once.
 * Some more places or creatures to lead Hounds to are Killer Beehives, Spider Dens, Spider Queens, Rundown Houses, Tentacles, and Pig Torches. Be aware that Red Hounds may burn down beehives and spider dens, which may not be what the player wants if they were farming them for bees or spider drops.
 * Good way to kill big pack of Hounds is to lead them near Lureplant, that has created Eyeplants . Eyeplants will kill hounds pretty fast and you don't have to fight at all. Just spin around plant and it will do job for you.

Trivia

 * Hounds are related to the Hellhound, a supernatural dog common in some mythologies or beliefes. Features that have been attributed to hellhounds include black fur, glowing red or sometimes glowing yellow eyes, super strength or speed, ghostly or phantom characteristics and foul odor. In cultures that associate the afterlife with fire, hellhounds may have fire-based abilities and appearance. (Remitis us to the Red Hound). They are often assigned to guard the entrances to the world of the dead, such as graveyards and burial grounds, or undertake other duties related to the afterlife or the supernatural, such as hunting lost souls or guarding a supernatural treasure. In European legends, seeing a hellhound or hearing it howl may be an omen or even a cause of death.
 * When Red Hounds are inspected by Maxwell, he reveals that he "put gems in there as a joke". This implies that the notable traits of the fire hound, such as its red color, and spontaneous combustion upon death, are due to the presence of the red gem in its body. The anti-freezing properties of the Blue Hound are also derived from the presence of a "surplus" gem, the blue one.
 * Even though Red Hounds can't be set on fire they still take fire damage. For instance they can die from the fire of other dead Red Hounds
 * Blue Hounds were added in the A Winter's Tale Update.
 * Maxwell comments that he had a lot of surplus gems when examining Blue Hounds, revealing that the freezing resistance Blue Hounds have is caused by the Blue Gems they contain. This may also have caused their "blue" fur, although the gray-ish teal coloration they sport is a common pigmentation in many real-life mammals, especially in those living in cold climates.

Bugs

 * Saving the game when the Hound attack warning begins and then loading that save will cause the attack to become bugged. The Hounds will arrive extremely late, sometimes to 7 days, and the warning will persist indefinitely, making the player unable to use tents and other items that require a "safe" condition.
 * Occasionally, dying in a Cave and getting resurrected on the surface (perhaps when Hound attacks are supposed to begin) will cause the growling and snorting sounds to play in half-day intervals while the character remarks that the Hounds are coming, but they will not appear until a Hound attack in 3–10 days, where the warnings properly play close together.
 * Sometimes, hound attacks will 'reset'. This means that the growling noises will be longer and there will only be two normal hounds, just as the first hound attack.
 * Saving and exiting the game during the hound attack, and then loading the save, will cause all of the hounds to become temporarily distracted.