You're sailing through the Constant, surviving storms and shadow creatures, when you stumble upon a locked character silhouette. Don't Starve Together's 18 playable survivors each offer unique playstyles, but Klei's cryptic unlocking methods leave even veteran players scratching their heads. Let's break through the mystery.
Explore the unique playstyles of each character in Don't Starve Together.
The Hidden Economy of Spools
DST's crafting currency system holds the key to 70% of unlockable characters. Every skin drop contains potential Spool Value:
| Rarity | Spools per Item | Example Items |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 15 | Woven Grass Shirt |
| Classy | 50 | Rustic Walking Cane |
| Spiffy | 150 | Victorian Willow Dress |
| Distinguished | 450 | Roseate Wolfgang Beard |
| Elegant | 1,350 | Triumphant WX-78 Body |
Pro Strategy: The Steam Community Market lets you buy 6¢ Spiffy items. For 3,000 spools (20 items/$1.20), you can weave characters like Wurt or Wormwood without spending real money.
Gameplay Unlocks That'll Test Your Survival Skills
Some characters demand feats worthy of their backstories:
Maxwell's Shadow Puzzle
- Find the Suspicious Marble in the Ruins
- Craft the Shadow Manipulator using 4 Nightmare Fuel + 2 Living Logs
- Survive three consecutive nights of Shadow Creatures
Wolfgang's Gym Rat Journey
- Locate the Odd Sculpture in the Mosaic biome
- Lift weights daily using the Gym Station (Hunger drains 2x faster)
- Maintain 80% muscle mass for 10 consecutive days
WX-78's Circuit Overload
- Collect 15 Gears from Clockwork enemies
- Install them during a Full Moon at the Wooden Thing
- Survive the 60-second system reboot (no armor allowed)
The Celestial Portal Shuffle
Unlocked through the Moon Stone event chain, this structure lets you respawn as any unlocked character. But there's a hidden mechanic:
-- Moon Rock Idol Crafting Formula
local function CreateMoonIdol(player)
if player.components.inventory:Has("purplegem", 1) and
player.components.inventory:Has("moonrocknugget", 5) then
SpawnPrefab("moonidol").Transform:SetPosition(player.Transform:GetWorldPosition())
end
end
Each swap increases the portal's Lunar Corruption by 15%, spawning progressively stronger Nightmare Creatures. Manage this by:
- Placing the portal near Pig Torches (they burn corruption)
- Using Glommer's Goop as anti-corruption fuel
- Timing swaps during the Waxing Moon phase
DLC Characters: Worth the Investment?
The 2023 Character Pack Bundle ($14.99) includes four meta-changing survivors:
Meet the new meta-changing survivors included in the 2023 Character Pack Bundle.
- Wanda - Time-bending glass cannon
- Wortox - Soul-hopping healer
- Wurt - Merm empire builder
- Walter - Slinghot specialist
But through smart spool management, I unlocked all four in 12 hours by:
- Farming Winter's Feast gifts (3/hour)
- Unraveling duplicate cosmetics
- Targeting Elegant rarity drops in Forge mode
The Dark Art of Console Commands
For those stuck in character limbo, these debug codes bypass restrictions:
``` -- Unlock all standard characters for k,v in pairs(CHARACTERLIST) do Profile:UnlockCharacter(v) end
-- Force spawn Wilson's beard growth c_give("beardhair", 10) ```
But beware - overusing commands triggers the Shadow Lock mechanic, randomizing your world seed!
From the Trenches: Real Player Stories
- MarineBiologist92 spent 43 days searching for Woodlegs' keys before realizing he was in the wrong DLC
- CrabKing accidentally unlocked WX-78 by feeding 15 gears to a Clockwork Bishop
- My own 6-hour failed attempt to befriend Webber taught me spider diplomacy requires exact berry counts