How to Heal in Don’t Starve – The Best Healing Items

Health is the most critical stat in Don’t Starve (as it is in most games come to think of it…), and it’s important to keep your eye on the health bar at all times. Fortunately, there are multiple ways you can heal your character.

Read on to learn how to heal in Don’t Starve.

Related: Where to Find Iron in Conan Exiles

Eat Food!

Woodie eating food
Woodie eating food

This may sound obvious, but eating the right foods is the best way to regain health in the game. You do have to be mindful about what you eat, though, as some healing foods will come with unwanted side effects, and others will just straight up harm you. 

If you’re new to the game are looking for a quick fix whilst you explore. You can get by with some berries and seeds to keep you going while you get used to the game’s controls and dynamics. Try cooking them for even further benefits. You can also kill butterflies and eat their wings for a bit of health, just be mindful of how often you do this, as it contributes to your Naughtiness level, and Krampus will come after you if it gets too high. 

Pretty soon, though, that won’t be enough, and you’ll need more substantial meals in order to survive. In that case, you’ll want to find the materials to make a Crock Pot. 

Make a Crock Pot

Wilson and his Crock Pot
Wilson and his Crock Pot

This is something that I wish I’d have done when I first started playing the game, but I always seemed to avoid building one. And for no good reason, too, they are easy to make and only require 3 Cut Stone, 6 Charcoal, and 6 Twigs. 

Once you have a Crock Pot at your base, you’ll really be able to learn how to heal in Don’t Starve. The following foods are among the best healing items in the entire game. 

  • Honey Ham.

Honey Ham is one of the best ways to heal in Don’t Starve as the ingredients are relatively easy to come by. All you need is a type of Meat and Honey. Add them to the Crock Pot and cook for 40 seconds. Honey ham restores 30 Health, 75 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. It will perish in 15 days. 

  • Pierogi.

To make Pierogi, you’ll need an Egg, any type of Meat, and any type of Vegetable. Cook in the Crock Pot for 20 seconds and you’ll have a food that will provide 40 Health, 37.5 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. The pie losts for a long time and perishes after 20 days. 

  • Dragonpie.

Cooking Dragonpie in the Crock Pot only requires 1 item – Dragon Fruit. Unfortunately, this is one of the rarest Fruits in the game. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on some, though, cook it for 40 seconds for a food that will give you 40 Health, 75 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. It will perish after 15 days. 

  • Fishsticks.

Once you get your hands on some Fish or Eel, you’ll have access to one of the most convenient foods in the game – the Fishstick. All you need is 0.5 Fish and some Twigs, cook it in the Crock Pot for 40 seconds and there you have it. Fishsticks provide 40 Health, 37.5 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. They perish after 10 days. 

  • Waffles.

After Mandrake Soup, Waffles are the next most healing food in Don’t Starve. They provide 60 Health, 37.5 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. In order to make Waffles, you’ll need 1 Butter, 1 Berry, 1 Egg, and a filler item (such as Honey). Cook it in the Crock Pot for 10 seconds and you;ve got yourself a fine meal. 

  • Mandrake Soup. 

This is the highest healing food in the game and restores 100 Health, 150 Hunger, and 5 Sanity. To make it, you just need to add at least 1 Mandrake to the Crock Pot and cook it for 60 seconds. One drawback of Mandrake soup, though, is that it spoils fairly quickly and perishes in 6 days. 

Avoid Damage

Learn to avoid damage in Don't Starve
Learn to avoid damage in Don’t Starve

It might sound obvious and a little glib, but if you want to know how to heal in Don’t Starve you should also learn that avoiding damage is one of the best skills to have in the game. Not taking the damage in the first place is going to be easier than making or finding the items that you’ll need to heal. 

Learn from experience. If you die, make sure you know how you died and avoid it in the future. Study the attacks and movements of the enemies that you encounter. Don’t just accept death as an inevitability, learn from it and use it against the game in a future run. 

How do you make a Healing Salve in Don’t Starve?

Don't Starve Healing Salve
Don’t Starve Healing Salve

Learning how to heal in Don’t Starve doesn’t just require knowledge of foods and Crock Pot recipes, you can also get by with using a Healing Salve. These items provide 20 Health and are fairly easy to make. 

In order to craft a Healing Salve, you’ll need 2 Ashes, 1 Rock, and 2 Spider Glands. You’ll have to use a Science machine to build the prototype, and then you’re in business. 

Honey Poultice

Bees are useful for making Honey
Bees are useful for making Honey

Another great Survival Item is Honey Poultice. You’ll need an Alchemy Engine to build the prototype, along with 2 Honey and 1 Papyrus. Once, you’ve got all that together, craft the poultice for an item that will provide 30 Health whenever used. 

Just be mindful that you’ll need a lot of Reeds to make the Honey Poultice, so this may not be the most convenient thing to make unless you’ve set up camp near a swampy area. 

Get in Touch

Do you think you learned how to heal in Don’t Starve well enough from this article? Perhaps you know of a different or better way to replenish health in the game? Let us know in the comment section below!

For any enquiries, contact me at richard@blogofgames.com

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