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Waxwell Portrait
I've no desire to do battle with that thing.

Maxwell

The Malbatross is a Boss Mob exclusive to Don't Starve Together, introduced in Return of Them.

Deep Bass Shoal Map Icon

Deep Bass Shoal map icon.

Only 25% of the Deep Bass shoals with a map icon can spawn the Malbatross when visited. After 3 days, the Malbatross despawns and again, 25% of the Deep Bass shoals are randomly selected to spawn the Malbatross. The Malbatross also has a 10% chance to spawn when a player hooks a Deep Bass. The Malbatross respawns 5 to 15 days after dying.

Upon death, the Malbatross drops 7 Meats, 2 Blue Gems plus 30% to get one extra, 5% of a Yellow Gem, one Malbatross Bill, 3 Malbatross Feathers plus two times 30% to get one extra plus 24 minus the amount spawned by hitting the Malbatross.

Brain Behavior[]

The Malbatross is neutral towards players. It does attack Hostile mobs that come near it. Fishing deep bass in the shoal when the Malbatross spawns in will cause it to become aggressive.

When not fighting, it moves around and dives to catch Ocean Fishes, creating a circle of Waves. Waves will push away a Boat and apply 9 Wetness Meter to player.

The normal attack of the Malbatross deals 75 damage to players and 150 to Mobs. If the Malbatross is over a boat, the attack also does 5 damage to the boat and pushes it away. If the Malbatross is over the Ocean the attack also creates 3 waves. Each hit on the Malbatross can drop up to 4 Malbatross Feathers, each feather having a 5% chance of dropping.

When the Malbatross' health goes below 66%, it will dive and run away from the player, creating a circle of waves. When the Malbatross' health goes below 33%, it can swoop over the player, destroying every Mast in its wake. Each Mast destroyed spawns 3 Malbatross Feathers plus two times 30% to get one extra.

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

Number of Hits
Item Malbatross
Old Bell Reign of Giants icon 5 0 0
Obsidian Coconade Shipwrecked icon 15 0 0
Coconade Shipwrecked icon Hamlet icon 20 0 0
Spear Gun Obsidian Shipwrecked icon 25 - 33 Charged 0 - 0 Charged 0 - 0 Charged
Gunpowder
25 0 0
Bee Mine ≥32 ≥0 ≥0
Spear Gun Battle Shipwrecked icon 32 as Wigfrid Portrait 0 as Wigfrid Portrait 0 as Wigfrid Portrait
Spear Gun Spear Spear Gun Poison Shipwrecked icon 50 0 0
Obsidian Spear Shipwrecked icon 50 - 99 0 - 0 0 - 0
Blow Dart 50 0 0
Electric Dart Don't Starve Together icon 56 (34 Wettargetdamage) 0 (0 Wettargetdamage) 0 (0 Wettargetdamage)
Dark Sword
Glass Cutter Don't Starve Together icon
74 0 0
Cutlass Supreme Shipwrecked iconHamlet icon 74 0 0
Tooth Trap 84 0 0
Pew-matic Horn Hamlet icon 148, 112 or 84 0, 0 or 0 0, 0 or 0
Thulecite Club 85 0 0
Ham Bat 85 - 169 0 - 0 0 - 0
Obsidian Axe Shipwrecked icon 92 - 184 - Charged 0 - 0 - Charged 0 - 0 - Charged
Tentacle Spike

Cursed Rounds MarblesDon't Starve Together icon

99 0 0
Slurtle Slime 100 0 0
Halberd Hamlet icon 114 0 0
Morning Star Reign of Giants icon 116 (70 Wettargetdamage) 0 (0 Wettargetdamage) 0 (0 Wettargetdamage)
Bat Bat
Battle Spear Reign of Giants icon
118 0 0
Bramble Trap Don't Starve Together icon 125 0 0
Spear

Moon Glass Axe Gold Rounds Don't Starve Together icon

148 0 0
Trident Shipwrecked icon 148 (50 Toy Boat) 0 (0 Toy Boat) 0 (0 Toy Boat)
PickSlashAxe 164 0 0
Machete Shipwrecked icon Hamlet icon 168 0 0
Boomerang Axe Pickaxe Brush

Tail o' Three Cats Malbatross Bill Bull Kelp Stalk Don't Starve Together icon

184 0 0
Stalking Stick Hamlet icon 246 0 0
Eyeshot Shipwrecked icon 250 0 0
Saddlehorn Hammer Pitchfork Shovel Walking Cane Willow's Lighter Torch

Whirly Fan Driftwood Oar Oar Slow-Down Rounds Pebbles Don't Starve Together icon

295 0 0
Lucy the Axe 368 0 0
Bug Net Fishing Rod
1177 0 0

It takes 4 blasts to freeze a Malbatross with an Ice Staff. It takes 5 Sleep Darts to put Malbatross to sleep.

Prototype Tips[]

  • If the player wishes to deliberately hunt down Malbatross, using an Ocean Trawler with Monster Meat/other Meats as bait over a Deep Bass Shoal almost instantly spawns it.
  • Keeping the boat's anchored is strongly recommended, so that Malbatross has substantially more trouble pushing the vessel around.
  • Ensuring Malbatross stays within melee range is the key to winning the fight.
    • Hitting Malbatross 5-6 times before running to the other side of the boat will generally keep it within range, without it damaging the player with its normal attack in the process.
    • In addition to the player's melee weapons, a Pan Flute or enough Blow Darts is recommended for hitting the Malbatross at a range, in order to start the fight or incase it attempts to fly away from the player.
  • The player will likely need a separate boat from their main boat for fighting Malbatross, incase the fight goes badly and the boat is lost or sunk.
    • If this strategy is used, the boat should have an Anchor (but no Mast, as Malbatross may destroy it), a chest with enough Boat Patches and wood for oars/repairing the boat, a Fire Pit for light and warmth, and optionally a Tin Fishin' Bin for bringing back the collected fish from the Ocean Trawler.

Placeholder Trivia[]

  • Malbatross was introduced in the Salty Dog beta update.
  • The name Malbatross is likely a portmanteau of "marlin" and "albatross" given the Malbatross' blue color and having both fish and bird characteristics.
  • Warly's quote also points out that the first syllable of its name sounds like the french word for "bad" or "evil".
  • It no longer drops an Advert as of the March 2022 QoL update.

Blueprint Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Official Klei Stream: Don't Starve Together: Return of Them - Salty Dog | Rhymes With Play Dev Cast

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