Let’s cut to the chase: the Ancient Fuelweaver isn’t just a boss—it’s a vibe check for your entire Don’t Starve Together playthrough. This skeletal nightmare hybrid doesn’t care about your 500-day survival streak or your fancy base with 47 crockpots. It exists to humble you, and unless you’ve spent hours studying its patterns (or stumbled onto some gloriously broken cheese), you’re about to become part of the ruins’ decor. But don’t panic—we’re breaking down everything from loadouts to lore, including strategies so dirty they should come with a NSFW warning.

Prepare yourself for the ultimate challenge against the Ancient Fuelweaver.

Why the Fuelweaver Makes Deerclops Look Like a Teddy Bear

Before we dive into tactics, let’s talk about why this fight is the ultimate skill check:
- Phase shifts: It’s not just about DPS. The Fuelweaver cycles between shielding itself with Unseen Hands (which require sanity manipulation to break) and summoning Woven Shadows that swarm you like shadowy piranhas.
- Sanity warfare: Stay sane, and you’ll get mind-controlled. Go insane, and shadow creatures join the party. There’s no winning—only surviving.
- Arena lockdown: The bone cage attack traps players near the center, forcing precise positioning or instant death.

What You Absolutely Need (No, Seriously)

| Item | Why It’s Non-Negotiable | How to Get It |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| Lazy Explorer | Dodging bone cages & repositioning | Prototype with 2 green gems + 4 nightmare fuel |
| Magiluminescence | Speed boost without sacrificing sanity | Ruins loot (green gem + thulecite) |
| Nightmare Amulet | Toggle sanity to break Unseen Hands | Craft with 6 gold + 4 nightmare fuel |
| Bee Queen Crown | 70% damage reduction + sanity buffer | Kill Bee Queen (bring friends) |
| 40+ Healing | Pierogies > Jerky (prioritize bulk healing) | 1 meat + 1 egg + 1 veggie + 1 filler |

Skip the dark swords—they drain sanity, and this fight punishes that harder than a Twitch chat roasting your misplay.

Phase-by-Phase Breakdown: Dancing with the Devil

Phase 1: The Warm-Up (That’s a Lie)

After spawning the Fuelweaver by placing a Shadow Atrium on the Odd Skeleton, the fight begins with three attack patterns:
1. Bone Spike: A telegraphed ground slam. Sidestep, then punish.
2. Woven Shadows: Summons 3-4 minions. Kite them into walls—they pathfind like drunk moths.
3. Bone Cage: Glows red before erupting. Run to the arena’s edge to avoid insta-trapping.

Pro Tip: Use the Lazy Explorer to teleport through the cage during its startup animation. Yes, it’s cheesy. No, Klei hasn’t patched it yet.

Phase 2: Shielded Suffering

At 66% health, the Fuelweaver encases itself in a shield. Here’s where most runs end:
- Equip the Nightmare Amulet to drop sanity below 15%.
- Destroy all six Unseen Hands quickly—they respawn if even one remains.
- Critical Detail: Use a weather pain to AoE the hands. No weather pain? Pray.

Cheese Strategies: Because Sometimes You Just Want to Win

Method 1: Gunpowder Gambit (The OG Exploit)

1. Craft 2 stacks of gunpowder (80 total).
2. Place the first stack at the spawn point.
3. After igniting it, wait 10 seconds (explosive resistance cooldown).
4. Lure the Fuelweaver into the second stack.

Why It Works: Each stack deals 8,000 damage. The fight ends in under a minute, but gathering sulfur will make you question your life choices.

Method 2: Houndius Shootius Abuse (For the Patient)

1. Plant 5-7 Lureplants around the Fossil setup.
2. Build Houndius Shootiusses (post-Ancient Guardian kill).
3. Spawn the Fuelweaver, then teleport out.
4. Let the auto-turrets grind it down over 15 minutes.

Downside: Requires multiple ruins resets to farm Guardian Horns.

Method 3: Catapult Conga Line (Winona Main Flex)

1. Place 10+ Winona Catapults at the arena’s edge.
2. Use G.E.M.erators to power them.
3. Tank with Bee Queen Crown while catapults shred everything.

Note: Fuelweaver’s AoE can destroy catapults. Place them behind fossil walls.

Lore Deep Dive: Who Is the Ancient Fuelweaver?

The Fuelweaver isn’t just a boss—it’s a tragic figure. Quotes like “My city... in tatters” and “You will fall as we did” hint at its past as a ruler of the Ancients, a civilization that fell to nightmare fuel addiction.

Explore the tragic lore behind the Ancient Fuelweaver.

Connections to “Them”

• The Fuelweaver’s dialogue references “They are coming”, tying it to Maxwell’s warnings about shadow entities.
• Defeating it destabilizes the Ancient Gateway, implying it was holding back something worse (Alter, the moon entity?).

Symbolism in Attacks

• Bone Cage: Represents the Ancients’ entrapment by their own hubris.
• Unseen Hands: Literal manifestations of the “hands” that destroyed their society.

Final Tips Before You Face the Music

1. Sanity Toggle: Use nightmare amulets to dip below 15% for Unseen Hands, then eat cooked cactus to rebound.
2. Kill Order: Prioritize Woven Shadows > Unseen Hands > Fuelweaver.
3. Exit Strategy: If things go south, use a Lazy Explorer to teleport out. The Shadow Atrium will drop, letting you retry.

At the end of the day, beating the Ancient Fuelweaver isn’t about skill—it’s about persistence (and maybe a little exploitation). Now get out there and show that overgrown skeleton who’s the real nightmare.