Guides/Hound Wave Survival Guide

by Skyte100, Yorien and various wikia contributors
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== Intro ==
Hound attacks can be very dangerous for players caught off-guard. Without proper defense and offense, one can easily be overwhelmed, and without a solid backup, the world will be lost. This instructional page will provide basic and advanced tactics to help players survive a Hound Wave.
==Early Attack Tips==
There are several warnings that occur when a Hound attack is imminent.
* You will begin to hear barking and growling that becomes louder and more frequent as they get closer.
* Your character will say phrases like, "Did you hear that?", to alert you. (See character quotes here.)
On default settings, the first attack will consist of 2 Hounds and you will have 2 minutes before the Hounds appear. Hound attacks will not occur until at least Day 6.
Once you hear these warnings, you should begin to prepare. There are several ways to fight hounds depending on your base camp location, nearby monsters, and biome.
Later attacks will have more hounds, shorter warning periods, and occur more frequently. A table of spawning times, numbers, and chances of Red Hounds or Blue Hounds spawning can be found here.
==Solutions to Hound Attacks==
===Self Defense===
*Equip or make a Spear. It takes 5 hits to kill them. If you can obtain a Tentacle Spike, it takes only 3 hits.
* Get a defensive item such as a Log Suit or a Football Helmet. Normal Hounds deal 20 damage so armor is recommended. If you don't have the materials for a Log Suit, a Grass Suit will be sufficient for the first hound waves.
* If it is nearing night you should make a fire in advance. Nothing's worse than forgetting about Charlie. Larger fire means more room to fight them.
* Hounds are very easy to kite; allowing the player to move out of their attack radius before they finish their attack animation, unless you're being attacked from many sides. At the same time you may avoid all of the hounds attacks just by staying in motion.
* Hounds do not have any kiting mechanic themselves; after every attack they stay for some seconds in place, either barking or doing nothing. You may use that time between attacks to land one or two hits and then run away once their attack timer is reset.
* This option is mainly used till day 50, when the number of hounds per wave is still manageable (3-4 hounds at most). Hound waves will keep increasing in numbers and become progressively more difficult (until maxing at 7-12 per wave past day 100) so a lone approach is not recommended after this point.
=== Pig Villages===
* You can run to a Pig Village or build a big enough one near your base camp since pigs will attack most nearby monsters on sight (including Spiders and Treeguards); you may deconstruct lone Pig Houses commonly located in forest Biomes and get half of the needed materials to build a new one near your base camp. It's best to leave pre-generated pig villages alone since you may use them as secondary bases when exploring away from your camp. Also, deconstructing Pig Heads (near Touch Stones and Merm villages) is another way to get some easy Pig Skin.
* Take note that pigs run to their houses at dusk, but any pig already engaged in combat will stay outside until no more enemies are at range. Some care must be taken at full moon nights since pigs will transform into Werepigs if caught outside when the time cycle changes to night-time. While you're completely safe near pig villages and lone houses (since pigs will always head home at dusk and won't exit until dawn, even if it's a full moon night), homeless pigs (i.e. pigs whose home you have deconstructed but are still alive in the map) and pigs engaged in a long enough battle that lasts for the entire dusk may transform (still, a pig engaged in a battle of that magnitude, will be severely wounded by that time).
* A killed pig will re-spawn after three days as long as his house is left intact.
=== Beefalo Herds===
* You may kite the hounds near a Beefalo herd and wait till a hound bites one of them, the entire herd will attack the offender and nearby hounds will then commonly forget about you and engage the herd.
* It's best to create a cattle farm around the herd with Stone Walls (don't use Hay or Log walls because Red Hounds can set those walls on fire, making the cattle farm a giant BBQ), so they stick together and enclosed; you may also build a Fire Pit inside the cattle farm if you expect to use it as a defense when hounds attack at night, there's usually enough Manure laying around for you to use as fuel without having to bring resources. The fire pit will also greatly help you if you're interested in shaving them for their Beefalo Wool, which is needed for two kinds of hats and is a perfect fuel (has the same fuel value as the Log).
* Beefalo do not re-spawn and only grow in ranks on their mating seasons (once in Summer and once in Winter), spawning around 2-5 Baby Beefalo per herd (if more than one spawned) and season; baby beefalo take some days to grow to their full size and will not attack till fully grown. If a beefalo herd is dangerously thinned after several fights, it's best to let beefalo replenish their ranks.
* Take note that Beefalo will be hostile to almost everything that moves during their mating seasons so it's best to bring a Beefalo Hat with you; be careful if bringing Chester or friendly Pigs along since the hat protection doesn't extend to any allies.
===Tentacles===
*Tentacles make an excellent defense against hounds if you can time it right. Run over the tentacles to get them worked up and they should attack the hounds coming behind you.
===Merm===
*Similar to Pig Villages, Merm Villages are good places to kite hounds.
===Bee Hives===
*Living near bee hives is beneficial both for defense and resources.
* Bee hives are often found in Grasslands and can make for decent defense against hounds. When Hounds bark there is a chance for them to choose another target, and that could be a lone bee. While one or two bees cannot hold a Hound attack, five Killer Bees can handle hound attacks, especially if there are more hives nearby.
*Hounds are easily distracted by both bees and butterflies. It can be difficult to kite them away from bee hives so be careful they don't wipe out any clusters of hives you are grooming.
* There are also Killer Bee Hives, that will spawn Killer Bees if an entity gets too close. However, in a Sandbox game they are hard to find, due to not spawning naturally unless edited in world generation options and only appearing in one Set Piece. While it is hard to do, you can get the Hounds to approach the hive, which will trigger the bees.
*After the attack the bees may attack you which can be more deadly than the hounds but are easier to run from
=== Houndius Shootius ===
* The Houndius Shootius is a late game item which is extremely good at killing hounds, it requires you to kill the Ancient Guardian and the Deerclops , and have 5 thulecite, and requires an Ancient Pseudoscience Station to craft, however, it is extremely efficient, doesn't require resetting like toothtraps. It also will heal itself if attacked, so as long as you don't let it fight too many hounds on its own, it is a great, ranged attack structure, for fighting hounds.
===Spider Dens===
*You may get the help of a nearby Spider den to help you with fighting hounds. Spiders will emerge and investigate anything that steps on the Sticky Webbing that surrounds the den. If you kite the hounds around (try not to step yourself on the web, or move away fast if you do), spiders will start attacking nearby hounds. Be careful when doing this with Red Hounds, as they may set trees near the dens on fire, which will burn them down.
*You may build one or two spider dens some screens away from your base camp to use them as a secondary defense and as a renewable source of Monster Meat, Silk and Spider Glands; to build a Den, you need to obtain Spider Eggs, either from destroying a Tier 3 den or killing a Spider Queen.
*Be careful since Tier 3 dens have a chance to spawn a Spider Queen (a slow moving, boss type monster). Build defensive dens far enough so you can outrun and reset the queen without her storming your base camp.
=== Tooth traps ===
* Tooth traps can be used to kill hounds if you have enough of them, or to damage hounds for an easier kill, it requires you to have killed other hounds to get these, due to requiring a Hound's Tooth to make, so it can help anyone with late game hound attacks, however, if you haven't yet killed a hound wave, this method will not help you.
* Late game, a field of Tooth Traps can kill even very large waves, as long as you build a fire pit in the middle to deal with night attacks. Building a Telelocator Focus inside the field may provide quick access to it.
===Treeguards===
*If the player can befriend a lone pig, or better yet, obtain a Spider Hat and get a lone spider, the player can make them attack an angry treeguard, which will almost always kill the pig or spider. This makes the treeguard neutral to the player.
*Once the treeguard is neutralized, the treeguard will automatically attack hounds, killing them in one hit. The player should note that treeguards go to bed at night, turning into a normal-looking tree, and will not attack hounds unless provoked.
===Trapped corridor===
*A trapped corridor is an advanced defense mechanic that you can start building after you get enough materials from previous hound waves (usually around day 50+), it consists of a single-space width, 30+ length walled passage that runs somewhere around your base camp (you may make the passage turn and bend as you see fit). Place the corridor in a way so your Firepit lights the entire passage, in case hounds attack at night.
*While any type of wall can do, best are either Hay Walls (cheap, renewable, easily replaceable) or Stone Walls (sturdy, doesn't burn). Be careful if you use Hay walls, you should make a clearing near the center of the passage since Red Hounds will set the entire corridor on fire when they die (killing all other hounds in the passage in mere seconds). You may also build a mix of walls (for example, a hay entrance and a "fire proof" stone center), or, if you did create a fortified base camp, make the corridor run around the outer walls. Fill the entire passage with Tooth Traps, you need about 4 traps to kill a single hound and you have to reset the traps manually (a trap has 10 uses) after they've been sprung. Make the corridor lengthy enough to withstand the expected wave size (check Hound Spawning sizes for extra info)
*Once you get the signal of a hound attack, drop Chester (as of the current version, Chester cannot enter single-width passages, and also springs placed traps) and move to the middle of the passage. If hounds access the passage from one side, move yourself to the other side and wait till the traps make short work of the hounds; if hounds access the passage from more than one side, place yourself in a way that almost all traps must be sprung before hounds reach you. The ones that survive the trap onslaught will be almost dead so you can make short work of them.
*Once a wave is clear, remember to collect any dropped teeth, and reset/replace your traps.
=== Pengull Herds ===
* You can also lose hounds by getting them to accidentally bite one of the pengulls in a pengull herd.
==Final Notes==
Now that you are prepared to face them, it is important that you know what to do.
* Once they appear they will immediately charge you.
* They cannot be outrun without help from a Trail or Road but they can be distracted by other mobs if enough distance was made. This can be used to take on one or two at a time.
* After they bite they pause. This pause can be exploited to get in a few hits before moving out of range again. This method becomes increasingly difficult when fighting more than one at a time.
* After attacking they will sometimes bark again. If it is night they can go to sleep. You can either use this to get in a few cheap shots or prepare some more before morning.
* Here are some examples of character quotes for approaching hounds:
* Wilson: "Did you hear that?"
* Willow: "Show yourself!"
* Wolfgang: "I hear puppies!"
* Wendy: "The hounds are baying."
* WX-78: "SOMETHING IS COMING"
* Wickerbottom: "Something is approaching."
* Woodie: "There's something out there."
* Wes: "..." (Not really helpful, but if you see him do hand gestures at the right time, you may be saved)
* Maxwell: "The hounds are getting restless."
* Wigfrid: "The beasts are appröaching..."
* Webber: "Doggies are coming!"
* Winona: "Those dogs I hear?"
* Walani: "Junkyard dogs incomin'."
* Warly: "I recognize that sound. Hunger."
* Woodlegs: "Whut be thet noise signallin'?"
*Walter: “ Woby? Do you hear something?”
*Wortox: "The beasts are baying!"
*Wormwood: “Woofers!”
*Wurt: "Glurp... doggies coming..."
*Wanda: "Wait a tick... did you hear something?”
If you survived, congratulations. Hopefully you managed to obtain some Hound's Teeth. Those will help you in the future via Blow Darts and especially the Tooth Traps that can be used to help in future Hound attacks.
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