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Waxwell Portrait
Ahhh. Refreshing.

Maxwell

Nightmare Fuel is a Refined Item used in Dark and Ancient Magic. Most Shadow Aligned mobs drop it when killed, it can be prototyped with a Prestihatitator and 4 Dark Petals, or Wilson can craft it from 2 Pure Horror if the player has mastered Shadow Courtier.

Mobs that drop Nightmare Fuel include:

Objects that drop Nightmare Fuel include:

Nightmare Fuel is used to craft various Magic items. It is also used to fuel Night Lights, Maxwell's Codex Umbra, the Magiluminescence and other objects. Chester can transform into Shadow Chester by placing Nightmare Fuel in each of his nine inventory slots on a Full Moon.

Gathering[]

Glommer See also: Guides/Nightmare Fuel Farming


Nightmare Fuel is typically acquired by going insane and killing Shadow Creatures. See that article for details.

One could pick Evil Flowers and craft the fuel from Dark Petals. Picking each costs 5 sanity. Also, Evil Flowers have a negative sanity aura, so just moving to pick one costs sanity. Evil Flowers do not respawn and Homeless Bee propagation is severely limited. Each nightmare fuel crafted this way costs more than 20 sanity and many fuel are needed to craft the typical array of useful magic items. The character will need to restore their sanity multiple times during this process or end up insane and fighting shadow creatures anyway.

One could trap a number of Rabbits, lower sanity below 40% (so the Rabbits turn into Beardlings), then murder them in inventory. This yields Monster Meat and Beard Hair in addition to nightmare fuel, but murdering too many innocent creatures quickly can advance the player's naughtiness enough to spawn Krampus.

The Ruins are extremely dangerous, but filled with things that drop nightmare fuel. In Don't Starve icon, when the Nightmare Cycle ends, all of the Shadow Creatures that spawned from the Nightmare Lights in the Ruins and Nightmare Fissures in the Caves will despawn and drop Nightmare Fuel. In Don't Starve Together icon they tend to despawn without dropping anything and must be killed before the cycle ends in order to drop fuel.

Ornate Chest Drop table[]

Source Quantity Chance

BeardlingCrab (insanity)

1-3 40%
SplumonkeyShadow Splumonkey 1 50%

Damaged KnightDamaged bishopDamaged Clockwork

1 60%
Grave+ Shovel 1 3.07%
Ornate Chest 1-3 20%
AncientAncient Face(sans gems) + Pickaxe

Touch Stone(on resurrection)

1 100%

Pig HeadMerm Head+HammerDeconstruction Staff + Moon Full +Reign of Giants icon

Wildbore Head+HammerDeconstruction Staff + Moon Full

Crawling HorrorTerrorbeakSwimming HorrorTerrorclaw

1 (Hammer)

2 (Deconstruction Staff)

1-2

100%
Slotmachine 3 0.46%
A Smashing Pot +Hammer 1 0.1%
Reanimated Skeleton ForestReanimated Skeleton CavesReanimated Skeleton Atrium 2-4 100%
Stalker minion2Stalker minion1(on Ancient Fuelweaver death) 1 100%
Ornate Chest 5-10 75%

Gift Icon Downloadable Content[]

In the Reign of Giants and Don't Starve Together icon, Nightmare Fuel can be obtained by hammering Pig Heads and Merm Heads during a Full Moon.

In the Shipwrecked DLC, Nightmare Fuel can also be acquired by gambling at the Slot Machine, by hammering Wildbore Heads during a Full Moon, or by killing Crabbit Beardlings or Swimming Horrors while insane.

In the Hamlet DLC, Nightmare Fuel can also be acquired by killing the Ancient Herald and a low chance from A Smashing Pot. Nightmare fuel can also be given to the End's Well for 1-3 purple gems each, as many times as you want for an endless supply of purple gems.

Don't Starve Together icon Don't Starve Together[]

In Don't Starve Together, all variants of the Reanimated Skeleton drop 2-4 Nightmare Fuel when killed. When the Ancient Fuelweaver is killed, all Woven Shadows will turn into Nightmare Fuel. It can also be used to refuel certain items. Unlike in DLCs, Nightmare Fuel no longer gets wet. The Nightmare Werepig fight yields many nightmare fuel as well.

Item Name Refuel
Magiluminescence Magiluminescence 37.5%
Shadow Thurible Shadow Thurible 33%
Alarming ClockWanda Filter Alarming Clock 25%
Bone Armor Bone Armor 25%
Codex Umbra Codex Umbra 25%
The Lazy Forager The Lazy Forager 22%

Icon Tools Usage[]

Nightmare Fuel
Twigs
Gears
Alchemy Engine
Divining Rod
Don't Starve icon
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
3×
Purple Gem
Prestihatitator
Shadow Manipulator
Nightmare Fuel
Gold Nugget
2×
Pig Skin
2×
Prestihatitator
One-man Band
Nightmare Fuel
Gold Nugget
8×
Red Gem
Prestihatitator
Night Light
Nightmare Fuel
Gold Nugget
3×
Red Gem
Prestihatitator
Life Giving Amulet
Nightmare Fuel
Papyrus
2×
Prestihatitator
Sleepytime Stories
Wickerbottom Portrait
Nightmare Fuel
Papyrus
3×
Shadow Manipulator
Night Armour
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
Shadow Manipulator
Dark Sword
Nightmare Fuel
Gold Nugget
6×
Purple Gem
2×
Shadow Manipulator
Nightmare Amulet
Nightmare Fuel
Spear
Red Gem
Shadow Manipulator
Fire Staff
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
2×
Purple Gem
2×
Shadow Manipulator
Telelocator Staff
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
4×
Gold Nugget
8×
Shadow Manipulator
Telelocator Focus
Nightmare Fuel
Rope
2×
Slurper Pelt
6×
Shadow Manipulator
Belt of Hunger
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
2×
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Thulecite Medallion
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
2×
Yellow Gem
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Magiluminescence
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
2×
Green Gem
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Construction Amulet
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
2×
Yellow Gem
2×
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Star Caller's Staff
Nightmare Fuel
Living Log
2×
Green Gem
2×
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Deconstruction Staff
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
2×
Orange Gem
Ancient Pseudoscience Station
The Lazy Forager
Nightmare Fuel
Walking Cane
Orange Gem
2×
Ancient Pseudoscience Station
The Lazy Explorer
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
4×
Ancient Pseudoscience Station
Thulecite Crown
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
6×
Ancient Pseudoscience Station
Thulecite Suit
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite
4×
Living Log
3×
Ancient Pseudoscience Station
Thulecite Club
Nightmare Fuel
Sea Worther
Living Log
4×
Shadow Manipulator
Seaworthy
Only available in the world linked with a Shipwrecked world.
Nightmare Fuel
Horn
Rope
Prestihatitator
Dripple Pipes
Shipwrecked icon
Nightmare Fuel
Obsidian
2×
Magic Seal
Obsidian Workbench
Sail Stick
Shipwrecked icon
Nightmare Fuel
Pig Erudite
Oinc
5×
Hamlet icon
Nightmare Fuel
Bone Shards
Pugalisk Skull
Shadow Manipulator
Pugalisk Wand
Hamlet icon
Nightmare Fuel
Can of Silly String
Living Log
4×
Shadow Manipulator
Skyworthy
Only available in the world linked with a Hamlet world.
Nightmare Fuel
Pig Skin
4×
Boards
4×
Key to the City
The Flying Pig Arcane Shop
Hamlet icon
Nightmare Fuel
Mourning Glory
Interface arrow right
Abigail's Flower DST
Don't Starve Together icon
Wendy Portrait
Nightmare Fuel
Bio Data
3×
Processing Circuit
1×
Bio Scanalyzer
Super-Processing Circuit
DST icon
WX-78 Portrait
Nightmare Fuel
Papyrus
2×
Health Decrease
50×
Interface arrow right
Codex Umbra
Don't Starve Together icon
Waxwell Portrait
Nightmare Fuel
Thulecite Fragments
Broken Pseudoscience Station
Cursed Rounds
10×
Don't Starve Together icon
Walter Portrait
Nightmare Fuel
Onions
Potatoes
Portable Crock Pot
Grim Galette
Don't Starve Together icon
Nightmare Fuel
Clockmaker's Tools
Thulecite Fragments
8×
Interface arrow right
Time Pieces
DST icon
Wanda Portrait
Clockmaker's Tools will not be consumed.
Nightmare Fuel
Time Pieces
3×
Marble
4×
Shadow Manipulator
Alarming Clock
DST icon
Wanda Portrait

Placeholder Trivia[]

  • The term "nightmare fuel" is a common phrase on the Internet used to describe works of fiction, or scenes therein, that are extremely likely to disturb and/or frighten the audience.
  • When dropped on the ground, Nightmare Fuel appears as pulsing goo.
  • Unlike Beardlings, Beardlords do not drop Nightmare Fuel.
  • Maxwell, upon examining the Ancient Guardian, says "My my, the fuel has changed you." This implies that prolonged exposure to Nightmare Fuel can alter creatures in some significant way. This is also proven by the ability to turn Chester into his shadow form via Nightmare Fuel.
  • According to Webber, Nightmare Fuel feels cold. However, according to Willow, Nightmare Fuel feels warm. This may indicate it has different properties to different people.
  • In DST, Shadow Creatures no longer drop Nightmare Fuel at the end of the Nightmare Cycle. It was stated by the developers that the drops in the original game were caused by a bug and not intended.

Blueprint Gallery[]

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