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Adventure Mode is started when a player activates Maxwell's Door. The player will then encounter 5 randomized worlds, each titled, and given a divining rod to find parts of a Teleportato, and proceed onto the next level. At the spawn, the divining rod is always present. During adventure mode, the player's current progress in the original world where the portal was found will not be lost if the player dies. There are 6 levels: Archipelago, The Game Is Afoot, King of Winter, A Cold Reception, Two Worlds, and Darkness.
General Tips[]
This section is to provide general tips applicable to all levels.
- At the end of each world, the following will be carried to the next level:
- Your current Health, Hunger, and Sanity are carried over between worlds. Having these as high as possible before leaving the previous world will help you in the next stage.
- The knowledge that the character has will be brought to the next level.
- Only 4 slots of items can be brought to the next level.
- Built items that haven't been placed (Crockpots, Campfires, etc. Just cancel placement after building.)
- In each world, one or two out of four resources will be harder to get:
- Flint: Flint does not spawn in the open. Most rocks are replaced by boulders that do not drop flint.
- Wood: Evergreens are replaced by spiky trees or lumpy evergreens.
- Grass: Grass is mostly picked and needs fertilizing.
- Twigs: Saplings are replaced with spiky bushes.
- In addition, fewer berry bushes and rabbit holes will spawn.
- Wickerbottom has an early advantage, Wilson has an advantage with winter maps, WX-78 has later chapter advantage, and Maxwell and Wendy have an advantage in the fifth chapter. Players who suffer resource problems should use Woodie and Willow for their Character items. Wolfgang works if the player acquires abundant amounts of food or plans to rush through the mode.
- The bridges are blocked by Boulders, level 3 Spider Dens, Hound Mounds, Obelisks, Killer Bee Hives, Evil Flowers, Clockwork Knights, Tentacles, Tallbird Nests, and Pig Fortresses.
- To pass the obelisks, the player should prepare some green mushrooms to change sanity. Some obelisks will be open when the sanity is below 20%, then the next gate would be the opposite sanity.
- After the 2nd level, Pig Fortresses begin to spawn. These are dangerous because the inhabitants are hostile Guardian Pigs. It is recommended to wear at least a Log Suit to pass through. Other possibilities are to burn it down or lead hostile monsters to it. Hammering the Pig Torches will prevent the pigs from respawning.
- If at some point you are in a position with abundant resources and you have the luxury of a little more time, you may craft structures or "placeables" before moving to the next chapter. Such as a fridge, chest, crock pot, etc. Then instead of placing them on the ground, you keep them in your sidebar to place later. Since you keep all your recipes/blueprints from the previous chapters, these "to-be-placed" items will be carried over as well.
- Some levels of Adventure Mode are suited to making a base, while other levels are meant to be rushed through, as they will only get worse over time. Levels that are suited to making bases include The Game Is Afoot, Archipelago, and Two Worlds, while levels that are meant to be rushed through include King Of Winter, A Cold Reception, and Darkness.
- It's generally a good idea to hunt MacTusk N' Son as soon as one is prepared for the fight, as they have a chance of dropping the Tam o' Shanter or a Walrus Tusk. Both items are very useful throughout the adventure mode. The Tam o' Shanter is a Tier 2 warm clothing and has a large sanity boost of +6.7/min (enough to gain sanity during night) and a durability of 24 days. The Walking Cane is an indestructible item that increases walking speed by 25%, ideal for faster exploring and getting out of dangerous situations (also as an emergency weapon dealing 17 damage). It can be crafted from 2 gold,1 walrus tusk, and 4 twigs and requires an Alchemy Engine.
- If chapter 3 is not Two Worlds, you may find a setpiece containing two maxwell statues and a trapped Wes. If you have the skill and resources to fight off the clockworks and wish to unlock him, then you should do so.
Levels[]
A Cold Reception[]
A Cold Reception starts in autumn and quickly turns to winter. Day length is never more than one-third of a full day cycle. The spawn includes a nearby axe and campfire. Seasons change every six days with a short freeze two days before winter. Frequent summer rain drains sanity and winter snow accelerates freezing. As of The End of the Beginning update, frogs will frequently rain down until roughly day 30. A common resource will be scarce, like grass, flint, twigs or berry bushes.
Tips[]
- Make an umbrella for the rain and a Thermal Stone to avoid the freezing hazard in winter.
- Farm at least one spider den for silk. It's essential in almost all worlds and easy to obtain here.
- Expect to use more fuel to maintain fires due to frequent rain or winter.
- As stated earlier, sanity will be an issue. Making a top hat can help manage it. If you can spare a monster meat and some time, a friendly pig will quickly raise your sanity, especially if cornered.
- Attacking a frog will cause others nearby to become aggressive. They will easily finish off an unwary player. Traps will not aggro mobs and can provide a substantial amount of food, though it will spoil quickly.
- Due to the frequent rain in this world, WX-78 is not recommended as they will often be in rain and struck by lightning (causing SYSTEM OVERLOAD) which can be helpful, but will quickly induce insanity and constant damage unless precautions are taken.
- Frogs can be used to clear more difficult mobs early. They attack pigs, so wait for a frog rain before entering a pig village, as they can easily beat their kiting AI. Be warned, you will have to avoid the frogs if you want to collect the loot, so it's unadvised if you are just starting a level.
- Making a trap after frog rain is an excellent source of food as frogs can be lured in the trap. However one should be careful as frogs will attack the player and can occasionally jump over traps.
RoG[]
The difficulty is increased in Reign of Giants, as rain also lowers the body temperature. This also increases time needed to travel unless properly geared. On top of that, frog rain no longer occurs - denying you a reliable source of meat.
- Players using WX-78 are advised to build an Umbrella as soon as possible. A Pretty Parasol is another quick solution, as it prevents too much health and sanity loss from the rain.
- A straw hat can now be made to prevent wetness at any time. If you are always moving, it would be wise to make one with spare materials.
- Players can get Giant items much faster in this world, thanks to the short seasons. If players wish to build a Hibernation Vest, Eyebrellas or Insulated Packs, it would be wise to do so here.
- Webber players will have a disadvantage due to a large pig village, which is often behind one of the bridges. Try to pass them during night, or craft a Bush Hat. Webber can also visit large spider dens on the bridges to gain followers/protection.
- Wigfrid players can use Battle Helm to decrease wetness, and the Battle Spear to kill mobs for easy meat.
- Sanity management is much harder with the wetness mechanic. Willow can make fires to quickly dry off and gain back sanity. In the long term, you should try and craft a raincoat or rain hat.
Archipelago[]
Archipelago has normal weather patterns, normal seasons and normal Day-Night Cycles. This level is a series of islands connected by Worm Holes with no land routes between them. Players are spawned on one of six islands. The starting island consists of the relatively safe Grassland spawn, surrounded by Marsh, and use Worm Holes to travel. There are periodic Hound waves in this world.
- Wormholes reduce sanity by 15 with each use, so players should make a way to recover the sanity that will be lost.
- Each island consists of only one or two Biomes. Bring sufficient supplies from the previous island and plan ahead.
- Although the starting grassland area should have Flint, if it does not, players should quickly search other islands for it or make Torches to survive the night by burning things.
- Killer Bee Hives are common in this level. They can be very dangerous. A Grassland full of them will normally be on one of the islands. It is possible to carve a path through using pigs to draw the attention of bees but this is time-consuming and may not be viable in some worlds. The best way to get through is wearing at least a Log Suit and if possible a Beekeeper Hat and keep moving while heading for the sections that are less dense and do not run head-on into them if possible, as they will quickly kill an unarmored player.
- With a risk, the abundant flowers in the killer bee field can be used to quickly restore sanity lost from the use of worm holes.
- If you find Treeguards or Deerclops and have no way to deal with them safely, using the abundant Tentacles can help to weaken/deaggro them.
- Deerclops can wipe out an entire herd of Beefalo, leaving abundant meat and Beefalo Horns. This can be turned into a Beefalo Hat or Jerky and taken to the next level.
- It's wise not to enter the Marsh during winter since most Spider Dens are Mature Tier 3 by that time. However, you can get a spider hat here to deal with later levels.
- Players who wish to avoid problems later with silk/spiders are advised to destroy the tier one dens at the start of the chapter around their base, then allow the tentacles to deal with any spider queens who might appear later.
RoG[]
In Reign of Giants, the only two seasons will be Autumn and Winter - Winter starts on Day 21 as usual, but when it ends, it'll skip Spring and Summer and reset the season to Autumn. You'll typically start in a Deciduous biome, allowing you to collect birchnuts. Archipelago has a desert biome with a forest full of Spiders.
- Archipelago often lacks renewable sources of lumber. Save the birchnuts you collect in the first biome, and if you need to make a camp you can plant them nearby.
- Webber has a major advantage when it comes to this chapter since you will spawn near a large number of spider dens. The abundance of tentacles, Merms, and Spiders will allow you to harvest Monster Meat, Silk, Tentacle Spikes, Fish, Spider Glands and Tentacle Spots. Since Webber does not aggro spiders, you will have no problem harvesting these materials, plus you can build your base near these dens for protection and followers.
- Wigfrid has an advantage since she can farm on spiders and build multiple pieces of armor from the rock Biomes. This world provides a large number of monsters and lots of monster meat to balance her sanity gain.
King of Winter[]
King of Winter, as the name implies, is an endless winter but otherwise has normal day and weather patterns. The player spawns with three burning trees around to prevent immediate freezing. Nearby will be a dead adventurer with a backpack containing a random schematic and one for the Rabbit Earmuffs, a Thermal Stone, some Logs, Cut Grass, and a Torch. These will give players a chance to survive despite the lack of preparation for winter.
Tips[]
- Place the Thermal Stone in your inventory. Thermal Stones do not provide heat while in the backpack. When the stone becomes cold enough that it makes you freeze faster, place it in the backpack again.
- Making a Winter Hat or getting a Tam o' Shanter can help maintain sanity and stave off the cold.
- Because farming is out, renewable resources such as berries and grass do not regrow.
- Some players have reported worlds lacking in one of these, this is decided randomly and most should have at least some of each.
- Some players have also reported that farming does work in this world but those reports are unverified and players should not expect to be able to rely on farming here.
- However, if carrots and berries are limited trapping Rabbits or beefalos will be a good source of food (if they are available on the level); so a basic base near rabbits/beefalos is recommended to provide food. Take care when hunting for beefalos as they will group to attack.
- Twigs from Saplings and Spiky Bushes will not grow back in this world. Since a vast number of recipes require them (including everything in the Tools tab), burning them for fuel is inadvisable and using them as Crock Pot filler is much costlier than normal.
- It is a good idea to kill every Tallbird you find. They are quite easy to kill (Just hit and run), and give you 2 Meats, plus their Tallbird Egg if they have laid one.
- Berry Bushes do slowly regrow in this world after 5 to 7 days due to winter slowing growth. So players should take note of the viability of berry bush locations.
- Some players have reported bushes not regrowing at all or worlds lacking them.
- On worlds where pickables regrow, they stop entirely sometime after day 20.
- Permanent winter means the Deerclops don't despawn and Mac Tusk is there year-round. Appropriate care should be taken when either is in the area.
- Killing Deerclops is good idea, if the player is properly prepared, since his Eye can help you gain hunger and health while also reducing your sanity if you need to pass through some Obelisks. As a bonus, the eye does not spoil.
- Or you may use Deerclops as a formidable weapon to dispose of enemies by kiting him towards them (using a Walking Cane is mandatory since he can easily outrun you without it) since he is aggressive to any kind of monster. A good idea may be to lead him to a herd of Beefalos and let him stomp them to death. This will provide a quick and effective source of Beefalo Wool, occasional horns to easily craft a Beefalo Hat and a good amount of Meat which you can use for crafting Jerky.
- Most importantly, make sure to get a Walrus Tusk from a MacTusk, to make a Walking Cane - arguably the best item in the game! The Tam o' Shanter is also extremely useful to prevent sanity loss. Players may lure the Deerclops to a camp of MacTusks, or lure the latter to Spider Nests or Tallbirds.
- Be sure to collect Cut Reeds from the Marsh Biomes you encounter because you can use them to craft Blow Darts, which are extremely helpful when dealing with MacTusk as he will die after only two hits. Also, as it is infinite winter, it means that the Azure Feather is always available, and you can find at least one bridge area containing Hound Mounds. This means that Blow Darts are easy to craft in this chapter.
- Since nothing regrows and you usually won't return to areas you've explored already, many of the things that are usually inadvisable because they reduce the longterm viability of a world can be a good strategy here, such as hammering down Pig Houses for their ressources or digging up Mushrooms with a Shovel.
The Game is Afoot[]
This world starts with a chest nearby usually containing a winter hat and some wood. Winter ends after the tenth night and never returns. The main gimmick of this world is that if you want to find some Things, you need to go over bridges guarded by spiders, chess pieces, tentacles or tallbirds (though this isn't always true). On the other island you can find normal trees, marble trees or lumpy trees. There is the possibility of an island being completely cut off from the rest of the world requiring players to find a wormhole to get to it.
First, make a campfire, find Chester and make a Garland. There are a lot of Beefalos in the world, so if you don't want to fuel your fire with wood, you can fuel it with Manure.
Tips[]
- Make Garland, shovel, tree farm on the central island and make a Marble Suit.
- Kill lots of butterflies for emergency healing, but be careful of Krampus.
- When dealing with the spiders, Wendy can be especially useful by using Abigail to help her kill them. Players not using Wendy should be careful, take on one nest at a time, do not take unnecessary risks, and use traps to catch them as they leave their nest.
- Beefalos are usually found behind one of the barriers.
- Winter makes food hard to obtain at start, but you usually find a spider nest near the tallbird bridge. Try and make them attack each other, as tallbirds drop 2 meat upon death. As a bonus, the egg can be taken safely once the mother is killed. Be wary of the spiders, though, as they will eat any meats left on the ground.
- There are a lot of evil flowers in the Chess Biomes, making it easy to mass-produce Nightmare Fuel. Consider investing in a Prestihatitator - you'll be able to prototype a lot of magical items.
- Since this world has a 10-day winter at the start, players are most likely going to encounter Deerclops on the starting island. There are three ways to deal with this:
- Kill him for his loot. This will require armor and a good weapon, but most importantly a fire source. The early dusk can lower your heat faster, making the fight a much more risky method. Players with Wolfgang, upgraded WX-78, Wendy or Maxwell can do this.
- Avoid him. This tactic will have drawbacks since you will never get the chance in this chapter again to kill him, but some characters would be better off doing this. People who haven't built proper bases might have more use of this, but generally, this is the worst method of dealing with him. The trick is getting him unaggressive when he spawns, this means creating distance between the beast or distracting him with spiders, then keeping track of him and building temporary fires away from him at night, only to keep warm. When Summer comes, he will despawn and you can collect the resources he leaves from his destruction.
- Manipulate him. This is the most difficult, yet rewarding, tactic. You need to find either a Pig Fortress, Level 3 Spider Eggs/Den, Tallbird Nest, Beefalo herd or even a Pengull Herd. Lure Deerclops into chasing you and run through one of these or attract the mobs to his presence. This can be risky, since some mobs will outrun the Deerclops whilst chasing you. You can use this to clear blockades and get rid of Deerclops, but this is still risky.
RoG[]
In RoG, players are now given a permanent Spring after the 10 day Winter. This makes the gimmick more challenging, as you'll have to cope with constant rain. On top of that, day and night will both be extremely short now (1-2 segments maximum): you'll spend the majority of your stay here in the dusk.
- As soon as spring hits, you won't be able to catch rabbits anymore - making building the Prestihatitator impossible unless you dig up the holes. If you want to build one (and it's a good idea - there are so many evil flowers around you'll be able to make plenty of Nightmare Fuel), you'll need to either catch the rabbits during the winter or dig up the holes and lure them into traps.
- The constant rain makes farms more effective than usual. Conversely, it makes drying racks take a lot longer to produce jerky.
- You'll want to make a Rain Hat as soon as possible - the ingredients are comparatively-easy to come by. A Rain Coat is, of course, more useful, but getting the tentacle spots might be tricky.
- Build a tent as soon as you can - sleeping in one restores sanity and removes wetness.
- Getting soaked can cause you to freeze. Consider investing in light winter gear like the Breezy Vest so you don't have to worry about the cold as much. As an added bonus, the Breezy Vest also provides wetness resistance.
- Webber has an advantage in this level since one of the bridges is certain to be Spider Dens/Queens (which you can simply walk through). Also, the starting zone has a large amount of dens, making Silk, food, health, and followers not a problem.
- Deerclops is now much more dangerous but has the reward of the Eyebrella. If you can kill him and craft the hat, you won't have to worry about the rain for a while.
- Wigfrid can farm sanity and meat from the spiders and tentacles found on the bridges. She also has an early advantage against the Deerclops.
Two Worlds[]
The level is divided, as the name implies, into 2 islands. For convenience's sake, they will be termed Paradise and Pandemonium. The player spawns on Paradise, with a Fire Pit, a Tent and plenty of resources on the immediate vicinity.
Paradise: The island has an abundance of almost every resource imaginable available to the player. The Day-Night Cycle here is very different; the Day phase lasts almost the entire day, while Dusk and Night only last one segment each. It never rains, and besides the periodic hound attacks, there are almost no threats here. Chester may also be found on the island.
Plenty of carrots, berries, pigs, beefalos, bee hives, and trees are on the island, with a lack of flint present. Some boulders and tallbirds may also be found. Usually, there is a big group of Guardian Pigs protecting a Maxwell Statue; it is recommended that the player should keep a distance until properly prepared. In the case of a full moon, extreme caution should be taken when visiting this area. When fully prepared, the player may hop in the Worm Hole to proceed to Pandemonium.
- NOTE: A Sick Worm Hole is guaranteed to be on the island, while a regular Worm Hole may not be present. If the latter is true, the player WILL NOT be able to return to Paradise so players are strongly advised to thoroughly prepare and collect anything they might need before proceeding through the Worm Hole. There also may be two Worm Holes, one sick and one normal.
- NOTE: It is also possible for the two islands to be connected, simply through land. This enables the player to simply avoid wormholes and just walk into the Pandemonium.
Pandemonium: When the player leaves Paradise via a Sick Worm Hole, the land changes to make way for rainy misery. Rain is abundant, and the Day-Night Cycle is adjusted back to normal. The biomes are primarily swamps, heavily infested by Merms and Tentacles. Rocks and Tallbirds are more abundant here though.
There are also plenty of Spiders, Hound Mounds, Chess Monsters, and Maxwell's Tooth Traps. It is a highly inhospitable land. All Things will be found on Pandemonium.
Tips[]
- It seems rabbits are one of the few resources which are rare in this world, creating an issue with beard hair. Making meat effigies is difficult or even impossible if you did not "pre-build" it in the previous world.
- Fireflies are also rare and can be entirely absent, both on Paradise and Pandemonium. Do not count on being able to prototype a Miner Hat here or keep an existing one fueled.
- Players should prepare on Paradise not only for Pandemonium, but also for the extremely challenging level of The Darkness, and for other levels you will encounter before Darkness.
Darkness[]
Darkness is the final level. It is a Rush-Style level, with a more-or-less linear progression -Get a Thing, then move on to the next area. The level has a Day-Night Cycle, but darkness is permanent. There are almost no food resources for you to collect and your only source of natural light is Maxwell's Light. There are no seasons either, only an eternal fall. You spawn with a bunch of campfires and fire pits surrounding you and there will be a backpack nearby, which contains the following:
- Schematics for the Miner Hat
- A full stack of Grass
- A full stack of Logs
- A Fire Staff
- Gunpowder
- An extra schematic or item
Now those might sound like a lot but they're really not going to help you much if you didn't come prepared yourself. There are Pigs sleeping on the map which you can kill for meat however with their kiting A.I. they can be a bit tricky. There is a chance you will find Tallbirds in this map which are in your best interest to try and kill especially if they have laid an Egg. Koalefant is also quite worth it, if you haven't found any of these food sources and you're getting desperate for food, you're going to have to resort to Spiders and Mushrooms.
One of the islands will be connected to the rest of the world by a bridge (similar to the ones in "King of Winter") that may be blocked by the following.
- Boulders
- Make sure you have a Pickaxe or gunpowder ready to blow through them, as it can potentially ruin your run if not prepared.
- Obelisks
Killing spiders along with Spider Dens on the way will provide plenty of Monster Meat and Silk for survival. Don't be afraid to burn the forests stuffed with Spider Dens, you'll get a much better view of the area plus burn some of the dens and spiders, which will drop so much needed loot. Also dig up any mushrooms that you find for healing, sanity management, and cooking purposes.
This level should put players' survival skills to the ultimate test. There are quite a few spider nests around and it can be easy to run onto the web and alarm spiders. Resources will be extremely scarce. There are fields of Maxwell Traps and there are Hound Mounds.
Tips[]
- This is a Rush level; each Thing is on a more or less linear path toward the exit. Without a walking cane, it can be reasonably completed in 8–12 days. Do not plan on building a base or having somewhere to return to. Always be moving forward.
- If you take your time on this map you will have to deal with Hound waves, which follow the same progression of numbers and frequency as in Sandbox Mode. Rushing the level means you will only see the first wave, or perhaps none at all if you complete it in good time.
- Bring a Miner Hat with you from the previous stage; this is essential to a reasonable run. Do not worry about bringing Gold Nuggets or Fireflies; Fireflies are abundant and easy to catch.
- You will also need to have researched the Bug Net on a previous chapter in order to reliably craft nets as needed.
- It will be very difficult to not run out of Grass and Twigs if you plan on using torches for this level.
- Pre-build any objects you think you might need for Chapter 5 in the previous chapter(s). Having a pre-built Crock Pot, Tent, Fire Pit and Campfire will make it quick and easy to do some 'refueling' some point after finding your third Thing.
- Craft a Shovel right away, and dig up all of the Mushrooms you find. Use them along with any Monster Meat you have to make several dishes of Meatballs in your pre-built Crock Pot.
- Save a few Green Mushrooms for sanity manipulation in case you run into obelisks.
- If you have sufficient food consider using your pre-built Tent for a sanity and health boost before leaving your crock-pot to finish the adventure.
- Bring a Walking Cane with you. It's arguably the best item in the game.
- Bring at least a Log Suit for farming spiders; if possible bring a Marble Suit.
- The second great source of food is fishing and cooking Fishsticks, they are very easy to cook and provide good healing. If you find a safe Pond in an open area, it's good to make a camp near it. It will provide 5-7 fish every day.
- The level will initially provide enough materials to make a Straw Hat. Kill some spiders, get 2 Silk, make a Bug Net, and catch Fireflies. With some gold, a miner's hat can be made.
- If need be, harvest Spiky Bushes while wearing an armor. It is worth it to lose one health point to get a twig on this map.
- If you take your time on this map you will have to deal with Hound waves, which follow the same progression of numbers and frequency as in Sandbox Mode. This includes the appearance of Red Hounds in the second wave and onwards. Rushing the level means you will only see the first wave, or perhaps none at all if you complete it in good time.
- If you have a walking cane, sufficient resources for Miners hats, and enough food to last you about 10–15 days, it is easily possible to "rush" the chapter - which means ignoring every enemy if possible, just on the lookout for the things. As the map has about the same shape every time (6 islands connected by bridges), it is easy to figure out where the next bridge is, which saves you a lot of time. A stack of Jerky is a perfect food source as it spoils slowly and replenishes health, hunger, and sanity at the same time.
- Amusingly, Maxwell is very good for this chapter. His natural sanity gain gives players more time to search without needing to boost their sanity.
RoG[]
This chapter is the same, except maybe the addition of a few sleeping giants to kill. Since the world is in permanent night, you will still need to deal with the darkness.
- The full moon will not provide extra light as it does in Sandbox Mode, although the world will still have the blue tint.
- Webber can pass spider dens and befriend spiders, meaning bridges/spider queens are less daunting.
- Wigfrid can gain sanity by killing mobs, meaning players can kill mobs that are sleeping and gain easy sanity.
- If you've managed to get a hold of the Scalemail somehow, you can use it to burn attackers and start safe fires to light their path without fear of damage. This prevents the fear of defending against mobs that are awake.
Checkmate[]
Checkmate is the epilogue. It is basically a long road with a few stops for resources. There are several small halls full of graves, skeletons, and two others with the Teleportato and with beefalos. Just like all the previous levels, you will have the Divining Rod with you. There is permanent night and Maxwell's Lights are showing your way. No matter what level your sanity may be, eyes can be seen in the darkness.
- Don't wait around in this chapter. Hound attacks and sanity loss are still affecting you here, meaning you can still die here from being distracted.
- Don't mine the Maxwell Statues as they will lower your sanity and spawn Clockworks, and this is not something that you should do.