Treeguard

"I'm sorry about all of those trees!"

- Woodie

Treeguards are Boss Monsters that can occasionally transform from Evergreens when a nearby Evergreen is chopped down. They are initially hostile towards the wood-cutter, assuming that is how they were spawned, have very high health and damage, and are capable of killing most unarmored characters in three strikes.

Treeguards do not normally spawn before Day 3, after which each Evergreen at any stage fallen has a 1.33% chance of spawning one from a nearby tree. After Day 30, up to two Treeguards may spawn at once, with up to three spawning after Day 80 given enough Evergreens nearby. They can spawn from any size Evergreen tree, but not from burned Evergreens, dead Evergreens or Evergreen saplings (from recently planted Pine Cones).

A special Set Piece can be found as soon as Day 1, called Living Forest, wherein over ten Treeguards spawn at once, regardless of the number of trees someone has chopped down.

A Treeguard takes four blasts from the Ice Staff to be frozen. When killed, they drop Monster Meat and 6 Living Logs. Living Logs are required to build a Shadow Manipulator, among other things.

Behavior
There are three sizes available for Treeguards– short (70% scale), normal (100% scale), and tall (125% scale) that spawn from the respective size Evergreens. Their scale affects their health, damage, combat range, and walking speed.

When they first appear, Treeguards will aim to attack whoever chopped down trees near them and will follow their target indefinitely; however, they can be pacified by planting Pine Cones. Planting one within 16 units away has a 15% chance to pacify them, while within 5 units away has a 33% chance. Treeguards give a soft growl every time a pine cone is planted, whether or not it pacifies, even if they're sleeping. If an angered Treeguard following the player does not growl when a pine cone is planted, it was not planted close enough to calm the Treeguard. Planting pine cones ahead of time does not prevent Treeguards from spawning, nor does it calm them later. Attempting to chop down a tree in the presence of a pacified Treeguard will enrage it and cause it to attack, though it can be pacified again with more pine cones. It's even possible to pacify one after attacking it.



When a Treeguard is pacified (or sleeping), it will return to the ground disguised as a tree; a Treeguard in this state has no waving animation like other normal trees, and does not have a stump nor does it appear in the map. During winter, a pacified/sleeping Treeguard will also have no snow, making it easy to distinguish from actual trees. At night, neutral Treeguards go to sleep, plopping down wherever they happen to be standing. As with one calmed with pine cones, if no one chops a nearby tree or attacks the sleeping Treeguard, it will not wake up until morning comes. Treeguards that awaken in this way will wander aimlessly until night, or until they are angered again. Neutral Treeguards can also be put to sleep/pacified with pine cones.

If the player spawns a Treeguard while underground, the Treeguard will continue to pursue indefinitely even if the player has exited to the surface and returned.

Mobs will still attack a sleeping Treeguard if they would attack normally. Pigs, Abigail, and other friendly mobs must be kept in check as they will draw aggression from any Treeguard they hit, although the Treeguard will remain neutral to the player unless the player also attacks.

Treeguards will not come from dead Evergreens, Spiky Trees, or burnt trees. Treeguards have been reported to grow to the next stage of Treeguard Size if they are small enough.

Hunting
Treeguards have a great deal of health but are slow. Killing the monster by dodging its attack and then running in to strike 3-4 times before dodging again is an effective way to wear it down, although this will drain considerable Sanity. This method works especially well with Woodie's Beaver form.

Alternatively, they can be put to sleep using the Pan Flute or Sleep Darts, or frozen with the Ice Staff.

Tooth Traps are useful against Treeguards as they will not only damage them but often get the monster stuck on them for a moment. Leading a Treeguard to other hostile creatures or vice versa is another effective way to kill it. Pigs will attack them on sight, and multiple Pigs can easily disorient a Treeguard by the hit and run tactic. A good-sized herd of Beefalo in heat can make short work of a Treeguard, and due to its ability to be pacified, the Treeguard can be placed close to a herd and effectively farmed every mating season (also yielding Meat and Beefalo Horn drops). They can also be tricked into fighting Deerclopses, Hounds, and Tentacles. Another possible way to kill a Treeguard is to pacify it by planting pine cones and light surrounding things on fire; it will catch fire but won't wake up, though this method causes the Living Logs it drops to burn into ashes.

A good way of killing Treeguards with Woodie is to gnaw trees to try and spawn one in Woodie's Werebeaver form. The Werebeaver needs to eat a lot of plant matter to keep his Log Meter up, so it's likely Treeguards will eventually spawn.

If you set a nearby tree on fire and the Treeguard walks next to it, it will be set on fire and take periodic damage. If killed by fire, the Treeguard will not drop its usual loot but will leave some ash and cooked monster meat.

Having trouble while trying to summon a Treeguard is quite normal. A way to speed up this process is to have some befriended Pigs help chop trees. They will continue to chop trees until the player runs a distance from the trees. If the Pigs spawn Treeguards, the Treeguards will attack the Pigs instead of the player.

Another way to summon a Treeguard faster is to burn many trees in a cluster and keep a small, newly planted tree next to the cluster. Each burnt tree will count as a regular tree when chopped and will take considerably less time to chop than healthy trees. Chop the burnt trees while newly planted tree is tier 1 to make the ensuing battle easier, and plant two or three more trees near the cluster if one wants to spawn multiple Treeguards.

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill various sized Treeguards when playing with characters with a default damage modifier. The Weather Pain is not included due to the random nature of its projectile.

Bugs

 * If the player attempts to use a Straw Roll to sleep while in combat with a nearby Treeguard, the game will not pick it up as being "too dangerous", and the character will awake the next day with the Treeguard still attacking.
 * It seems with the Strange New Powers update, when a big Treeguard is summoned and the player leaves the game after a short while, there is a chance it will become (and stay) a medium-sized Treeguard. It is unknown if health and attack power values are left the same as a big Treeguard.
 * Fighting other mobs in the presence of a Treeguard, whether walking around or sleeping, will cause "E.F.S." (the boss monster song) to play. The Treeguard does not become aggressive to the player. This also applies to fighting near a Spider Queen.
 * If the player eats a cooked mandrake while being attacked by a Treeguard, it will cause the player to wake up the next morning with the Treeguard pacified.
 * A Treeguard may spawn from planted saplings. It is unknown if this is actually a bug or intended.
 * On rare occasion when chopping down a tree, a treeguard will spawn from said tree, this will result in a crash.

Trivia

 * Tall Treeguards (like the Ancient Guardian) have the highest amount of health of all the vanilla mobs, and deal the most damage to other mobs (not to the player).
 * Treeguards are commonly kept and have many uses, routinely slaughtering Pigs, killing Tentacles, and even (if they are Tall) the Deerclops.
 * In the game files, the Treeguard is also named "Leif", which is a male given name of Scandinavian origin. It is derived from the Old Norse name Leifr (nominative case), meaning "heir" or "descendant." This is most likely a pun on "Leaf."
 * Sometimes, after being chased for a while, the Treeguard will walk around randomly, not attacking the player. If this happens, one may use this time to get ready to fight it again, because it will begin attacking the next morning (even if it went passive right after morning).
 * If the player dies and respawns, the Treeguard will be pacified.
 * Spiders will not attack a Treeguard if it steps on the web outside their nest or for any other reason. Likewise, a Treeguard will not attack a Spider for any reason, even Spider Queens. However, the Treeguard will attack back if the Spider attacked first because the player is using a Spiderhat to command it.
 * Treeguards may have been inspired by the Ents in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" series or similar creatures (such as Treants) from other fantasy books, movies, games, and lore.
 * In older versions of the game, the sound played when a player swung a weapon was the same sound a Treeguard makes while swiping.
 * If the player outruns the treeguard and goes back to the place it was outran, it can sometimes still be seen there.
 * Neutral Treeguards  will  become hostile to the player if the player chops a dead or burnt tree.
 * The Treeguard is the only Boss Monster that's neutral.