–Walani
Walani is one of the four playable Characters exclusive to the Shipwrecked DLC. She is the eighth Character to be unlocked via Experience, with 2240 XP. She is a surfer with a relaxed personality.
Walani begins the game with her custom Surfboard. The Surfboard does not require hands to row, and can be a great tool for exploration early on. In addition to drying faster, she also gets hungry slightly faster than normal and effects over time on her Sanity are slightly weaker. Her maximum Health is only 120 but her Hunger is 200, making up for the faster drain to it. Overall, Walani fills the role of an easy-to-use starting Character for Shipwrecked.
Special Power
Main article: Surfboard
Walani starts out with a Surfboard, which has ×1.3 the sailing speed of a Raft but has 2/3 the durability of one. The Surfboard can also be picked up and stored in the inventory meaning players don't have to backtrack to where they left it in order to leave the island they're in. She can also craft it with 1 Boards and 2 Seashells from the Nautical Tab.
Walani surfing with her Surfboard.
The Surfboard lets her ride on Big Waves too and every time she surfs on a Wave with it, she gains 1 
and ×5 (Small Waves) or x7 (Big Waves) speed boost for a short time. She dries off from Wetness 20% faster than normal, and so, her Wetness will drop faster than other Characters. Her Sanity also changes 10% slower from any sources that change it over time, but it does not count towards instantaneous changes towards her Sanity. She also does not have a sanity drain from Wetness itself, although she does have a sanity drain from Wet Items.
Disadvantage
Walani has lower maximum Health (an amount near that of Wes) and her Hunger drains 10% faster than normal. Her lower maximum health means Poison is more deadly to her, especially with no Anti Venom available. The limited durability of her Surfboard can be an issue, as a Boat Repair Kit will be a waste on it, due to the maximum durability. Her Sanity will both drain and fill slower over time compared to other characters.
Tips
- Since Walani starts automatically with her Surfboard, the player does not need to waste time gathering materials for a Log Raft or Raft. Said time can be better spent exploring.
- While Boards require a Science Machine to be prototyped, players can acquire them without one, by using a Hammer on Crates found in Beach Biomes.
- Since the Surfboard does not require rowing, she can hold Torches while surfing, making exploration in the early days easier.
- A Captain Hat may make the use of a single Surfboard more worthwhile, as it will delay gradual loss of normal boat durability.
- The Surfboard can only be hammered when deployed onto water, but it will not drop the materials used to craft it.
- A Cargo Boat with a Cloth Sail will have the same speed as the Surfboard but an Armoured Boat will go faster, not accounting for the extra speed riding waves the Surfboard grants. This means that the Surfboard is mainly only useful during the early game.
- Surfing on Waves in the Ocean (Medium & Deep) biomes is a cheap and easy way to restore a lot of Sanity quickly.
Trivia
In-Game
- Walani was added to Don't Starve: Shipwrecked in the Hang Ten update on December 17, 2015. She was the first Character to be added to the DLC during its Early Access phase.
- Walani's voice is played by an (out-of-tune) ukulele.
- When struck by Lightning, Walani has bones in her hair (similar to most other Don't Starve Characters) as well as in her gold earrings.
- Her old nickname was "The Relaxed", and her old motto was "Can someone bring me some food?"
- When traveling via surfboard, custom music plays instead of the default sailing track.
Lore
- Walani could possibly be Hawaiian or from Hawaiian descendants as she has smaller eyes, a rounder nose, and darker skin than all other characters apart from Warly. That would make her the first Polynesian character.
- Walani's attire (gold hoop earrings, ruffle shirt and buccaneer boots), along with examination quotes for certain items such as the Cutlass Supreme, Captain Hat and Swordfish suggest that she may formerly have been a pirate before giving it up to become a surfer.
- Walani may have had a negative experience with jellyfish, as her examination quote states that she "hates [those] things".
- Dragoon saliva reminds Walani of her brother. ("My brother used to do the same thing.")
Gallery
 Walani's silhouette.  Walani's portrait.  Walani as she appears in game  Walani's icon in the Map.  Walani frozen after the death of a Blue Hound.  Walani asleep at the beginning of the game.  Walani struck by Lightning.  Walani featured in the poster for the "Hang Ten" update  Concept art for Walani  Walani using a Super Spyglass, as seen in the Shipwrecked trailer.  Walani riding a wave with her Surfboard, as seen in the Shipwrecked trailer. |
Sounds
| Walani's voice. | |
| Walani getting hurt. | |
| Walani dying. | |
Walani drowning ( ).
|
| Characters | |
| Don't Starve |           |
| Reign of Giants |   |
| Shipwrecked |     |
| Hamlet |    |
| Don't Starve Together |       |
| Removed |  |
| Unimplemented |        |
| Other |        Minor Characters |