Guides/Hound Wave Survival Guide

by Skyte100, Yorien and various wikia contributors

I don't have a lot of experience with creating pages or the mid to late game but I wanted to get this guide going with basic information that will hopefully help new players. My hope is that more experienced players will jump in to clean up and add more helpful information.

Early Attack Tips
Hounds can attack as early as day 6 and can easily kill an unprepared player. Thankfully there are several warnings that the hounds are coming.


 * You will begin to hear barking and growling that becomes louder and louder as they get closer
 * Your character will say something strange like "Did you hear that?" to alert you.

The first attack will usually consist of only 2 Hounds and you will have a couple minutes to prepare but later attacks will have more hounds and shorter warnings. A table of spawning times, numbers, and chances of Red Hounds or Blue Hounds spawning can be found here.

Once you hear the warnings you should begin to prepare, there are several ways to fight the hounds, depending on your base camp location, and nearby monsters and Biomes:

Self Defense

 * Equip or make a Spear . It takes 5 hits to kill them. If you can obtain a Tentacle Spike, it takes only 3 hits.
 * Get a defensive item such as a Log Suit or a Football Helmet. Normal Hounds deal 20 damage so armor is recommended. If you don't have the materials for a Log Suit, a Grass Suit will be sufficient for the first hound waves.
 * If it is nearing night you should make a fire in advance. Nothing's worse than forgetting about the Grue.
 * Hounds are kiteable. You are able to outrange their attack radius before they finish their attack animation; unless you're being attacked from many sides. At the same time you may avoid all of the hounds attacks just by staying in motion.
 * Hounds do not have any kiting mechanic themselves; after every attack they stay for some seconds in place, either barking or doing nothing; you may use that time between attacks to land one or two hits and then run away once their attack timer is reset.
 * This option is mainly used till day 50, when the number of hounds per wave is still manageable (3-4 hounds at most); the hound waves will keep increasing in numbers and become progressively more difficult (till maxing at 7-12 per wave past day 100) so that a lone approach is not recommended anymore.

Pig Villages

 * You can run to a Pig Village or build a big enough one near your base camp since pigs will attack most nearby monsters on sight (including Spiders and Treeguards); you may deconstruct lone Pig Houses commonly located in forest Biomes and get half of the needed materials to build a new one near your base camp. It's best to leave pregenerated pig villages alone since you may use them as secondary bases when exploring away from your camp. Also, deconstructing Pig Heads (near Touch Stones and Merm villages) is another way to get some easy Pig Skins.
 * Take note that pigs run to their houses at dusk, but any pig already engaged in combat will stay outside until no more enemies are at range. Some care must be taken at full moon nights since pigs will transform into Werepigs if caught outside when the time cycle changes to night-time. While you're completely safe near pig villages and lone houses (since pigs will always head home at dusk and won't exit until dawn, even if it's a full moon night), homeless pigs (i.e. pigs whose home you have deconstructed but are still alive in the map) and pigs engaged in a long enough battle that lasts for the entire dusk may transform (still, a pig engaged in a battle of that magnitude, will be severely wounded by that time).
 * A killed pig will respawn after three days as long as his house is left intact.

Beefalo Herds

 * You may kite the hounds near a Beefalo herd and wait till a hound bites one of them, the entire herd will attack the offender and nearby hounds will then commonly forget about you and engage the herd.
 * It's best to create a cattle farm around the herd with Stone Walls (don't use Hay or Log walls because Red Hounds can set those walls on fire, making the cattle farm a giant BBQ), so they stick together and enclosed; you may also build a Fire Pit inside the cattle farm if you expect to use it as a defense when hounds attack at night, there's usually enough Manure laying around for you to use as fuel without having to bring resources. The fire pit will also greatly help you if you're interested in shaving them for their Beefalo Wool, which is needed for two kinds of hats and is a perfect fuel (has the same fuel value as the Log).
 * Beefalos do not respawn and only grow in ranks on their mating seasons (once in Summer and once in Winter), spawning around 2-5 Baby Beefalos per herd (if more than one spawned) and season; baby beefalos take some days to grow to their full size and will not attack till fully grown. If a beefalo herd is dangerously thinned after several fights, it's best to let beefalos replenish their ranks.
 * Take note that Beefalos will be hostile to almost everything that moves during their mating seasons so it's best to bring a Beefalo Hat with you; be careful if bringing Chester or friendly Pigs along since the hat protection doesn't extend to any allies.

Bee hives

 * Living near bee hives is beneficial both for defence and resources
 * If hounds attack when you are near a beehive killer bees will emerge and attack the hounds
 * After the attack the bees may attack you which can be more deadly than the hounds but are easier to run from

Spider Dens

 * You may get the help of a nearby Spider den to help you with fighting hounds. Spiders will emerge and investigate anything that steps on the Sticky Webbing that surrounds the den. If you kite the hounds around (try not to step yourself on the web, or move away fast if you do), spiders will start attacking nearby hounds.
 * You may build one or two spider dens some screens away from your base camp to use them as a secondary defense and as a replenishable source of Monster Meat, Silk and Spider Glands; to build a Den, you need to obtain Spider Eggs, either from destroying a Tier 3 den or killing a Spider Queen.
 * Be careful since Tier 3 dens have a chance to spawn a Spider Queen (a slow moving, boss type monster); build defensive dens far enough so you can outrun and reset the queen without her storming your base camp.

Trapped corridor

 * A trapped corridor is an advanced defense mechanic that you can start building after you get enough materials from previous hound waves (usually around day 50+), it consists of a single-space width, 30+ length walled passage that runs somewhere around your base camp (you may make the passage turn and bend as you see fit). Place the corridor in a way so your Firepit lights the entire passage, in case hounds attack at night.
 * While any type of wall can do, best are either Hay Walls (cheap, replenishable, easily replaceable) or Stone Walls (sturdy, doesn't burn). Be careful if you use Hay walls, you should make a clearing near the center of the passage since Red Hounds will set the entire corridor on fire when they die (killing all other hounds in the passage in mere seconds). You may also build a mix of walls (for example, a hay entrance and a "fire proof" stone center), or, if you did create a fortified base camp, make the corridor run around the outer walls. Fill the entire passage with Tooth Traps, you need about 4 traps to kill a single hound and you have to reset the traps manually (a trap has 10 uses) after they've been sprung. Make the corridor lengthy enough to withstand the expected wave size (check Hound Spawning sizes for extra info)
 * Once you get the signal of a hound attack, drop Chester (as of the current version, Chester cannot enter single-width passages, and also springs placed traps) and move to the middle of the passage. If hounds access the passage from one side, move yourself to the other side and wait till the traps make short work of the hounds; if hounds access the passage from more than one side, place yourself in a way that almost all traps must be sprung before hounds reach you. The ones that survive the trap onslaught will be almost dead so you can make short work of them.
 * Once a wave is clear, remember to collect any dropped teeth, and reset/replace your traps.

Final Notes
Now that you are prepared to face them, it is important that you know what to do.


 * Once they appear they will immediately charge you.
 * They cannot be outrun without help from a Trail or Road  but they can be distracted by other mobs if enough distance was made. This can be used to take on one or two at a time.
 * After they bite they pause. This pause can be exploited to get in a few hits before moving out of range again. This method becomes increasingly difficult when fighting more than one at a time.
 * After attacking they will sometimes bark again. If it is night they can go to sleep. You can either use this to get in a few cheap shots or prepare some more before morning.

If you survived, congratulations. Hopefully you managed to obtain some Hound's Teeth. Those will help you in the future via Blow Darts and especially the Tooth Traps that can be used to help in future Hound attacks.