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Exclusive to: Reign of Giants iconShipwrecked iconHamlet icon Don't Starve Together icon
Wilson Overheating

Wilson overheating.

Wilson Portrait
Need... ice... or... shade!

Wilson

Overheating is a game mechanic introduced in the Reign of Giants DLC, as well as appearing in the Shipwrecked and Hamlet DLCs, as well as Don't Starve Together. It functions as the counterpart to Freezing. Overheating happens during Summer or Dry Season. Overheating can also occur while the player is standing close to a sufficient heat source for a long period of time. When the player begins to take in too much heat (at 65° C), the edge of the screen will begin to turn orange and become a hazy ring while a sizzling sound plays, warning the player. At 70° C, an additional reddish ring will appear within the orange haze ring and a harsher sizzling sound will play. The character will make an exclamation to warn of the high temperature (eg. "Hot as heck!") and the player will begin to take damage. The only way to stop this is by cooling off, such as being near a sufficiently cold source.

Survival

Wilson-overheat

Wilson overheating from his beard.

Overheating can be overcome in two ways: by reducing the player's temperature, and by preventing player's temperature from rising rapidly. Surviving Summer or Dry Season will depend on a combination of these.

Cooling Down

There are several ways to cool oneself down:

Cooling Sources
Cool Source Temperature Duration Note
Endothermic Fire Endothermic Fire (level 1)
Endothermic Fire PitEndothermic Fire Pit (level 1)
-10° variable (affected by Rain)
Endothermic Fire Endothermic Fire (level 2)
Endothermic Fire PitEndothermic Fire Pit (level 2)
-20° variable (affected by Rain)
Endothermic Fire Endothermic Fire (level 3)
Endothermic Fire PitEndothermic Fire Pit (level 3)
-30° variable (affected by Rain)
Endothermic Fire Endothermic Fire (level 4)
Endothermic Fire PitEndothermic Fire Pit (level 4)
-40° variable (affected by Rain)
Moon Caller's Staff Polar Light Don't Starve Together icon -100° 2 days +25 Sanity Meter/minute
Thermal Stone Stage 1 Thermal Stone (stage 1) -10° 8 uses Don't Starve Together icon when Thermal Stone is 30° lower than environment
Thermal Stone Stage 2 Thermal Stone (stage 2) 10° 8 uses Don't Starve Together icon when Thermal Stone is 10° lower than environment
Chilled Amulet Chilled Amulet -20° 6 minutes +2 Sanity Meter/minute
Ice Cube Ice Cube 40° 8 days -10% speed,
increase 1Wetness Meter/second (up to 50).
Fashion Melon Fashion Melon 55° 3 days -2 Sanity Meter/minute,
increase 0.5Wetness Meter/second (up to 33).
Whirly Fan Whirly Fan Don't Starve Together icon 55° 90 seconds only works while the player is running
Ice Bream Ice Bream Don't Starve Together icon -5° 1 day (spoil) works both on the ground and in the inventory.
Luxury Fan Luxury Fan -50° per use (up to 2.5°) 15 uses put out fires
Lucky Fan Lucky Fan Don't Starve Together icon -50° per use (up to 2.5°) 3 uses spawn tornado

Delaying Overheating

There are several ways to delay overheating (look further below to Game Mechanics for a list):

  • The Caves never get warm enough to cause overheating unless a fire or heat source is used.
  • Dusk and Night will slow down the rate at which heat is gained (60/120 Insulation respectively).
  • One can stay under a Tree to delay overheating. Near the beginning and end of Summer, this will be enough to prevent overheating damage. However, during the middle of Summer, Trees (other than Knobbly Trees) alone won't provide enough protection to prevent overheating. In the Shipwrecked DLC, there is no risk in doing so in Dry Season, as the temperature is not as severe compared to Summer.
    • In the Hamlet DLC, the effect of being indoor is the same as that of staying under a tree.
  • In Don't Starve Together, the temperature under the canopy of Great Tree Trunk and Above-Average Tree Trunk never rises above 68 degrees (unless a fire or heat source is used there)
  • Wearing gear with high Overheating resistance, such as Eyebrella.

Game Mechanics

Overheating mechanics are based on the temperature implementations in the game. A player character has a body temperature, which ranges from -20° to 90°. Any time body temperature rises above 70°, the character will take 1.25 damage per second.

Rate of Temperature Change

Ambient temperature is a key factor influencing a character's body temperature. Body temperature will attempt to match the ambient temperature at one of two rates: the ambient delta which is determined by all heat and cold sources, or the insulated rate which depends on insulation values of clothing worn by the character. The rate is in degrees per second, and the game will choose whichever value is larger.

Ambient Delta

The ambient delta is a rate that takes into account the total effect of all heat sources affecting the player, including the weather, campfires and Thermal Stones. It is also a function of the player's current temperature.

The rate determined by the ambient delta is given by:

ambient_delta = min(warming_cap, sum(net_temp_eff(source) for all sources))

where the warming cap is a value equal to 1 or 5, and the net temperature effect (net_temp_eff) is the effect of a heat/cold source on the player's body temperature. The ambient delta is either the warming cap or the sum of the net temperature effects (whichever value is smaller).

The warming cap is the maximum rate of temperature increase, and depends on the player's body temperature. The rate will be +5° per second while the player's body temperature is below the freezing point of , and +1° per second once the player's body temperature is warmer than the freezing point.

The net temperature effect of a heat/cold source depends on the difference between the heat source temperature (values listed in the Heat Sources table below) and the player's body temperature:

net_temp_eff(source) = max(source_temperature - body_temperature, 0) + min(source_temperature, 0)


The following items, when equipped, provide varying levels of resistance to overheating. Some of these items, like the Eyebrella or Floral Shirt, can prevent overheating for the entire day on their own, if the player is fully cooled each night.

Insulated Rate

When the ambient delta is smaller than the insulated rate, the player's body temperature will increase by:

insulated_rate = 30 / (30 + total_insulation)
Items that delay overheating
Item Insulation Slot
Wes Portrait Wes Don't Starve Together icon -30 Face
Woodie Portrait Woodie Don't Starve Together icon -45 Face
Willow Portrait Willow Don't Starve Together icon 30 Face
Wormwood Portrait Blooming Wormwood Don't Starve Together icon 60 Face
Gardeneer Hat Gardeneer Hat Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Premier Gardeneer Hat Premier Gardeneer Hat Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Straw Hat Straw Hat 60 Head
Fashion Melon Fashion Melon 120 Head
Pretty Parasol Pretty Parasol 120 Hand
Summer Frest Summer Frest 120 Chest
Umbrella Umbrella 120 Hand
Eyebrella Eyebrella 240 Head
Floral Shirt Floral Shirt 240 Chest
Ice Cube Ice Cube 240 Head
Whirly Fan Whirly Fan Don't Starve Together icon 60 Hand
Werebeaver Werebeaver Immune
240 Don't Starve Together icon
Face
Werewilba Portrait Hamlet icon Immune Face
Blue Funcap Blue Funcap Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Green Funcap Green Funcap Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Red Funcap Red Funcap Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Pinetree Pioneer Hat Pinetree Pioneer Hat Don't Starve Together icon 60 Head
Tropical Parasol Tropical Parasol Shipwrecked icon 120 Hand
Dumbrella Dumbrella Shipwrecked icon 240 Head
Beard Magnificent Beard (affected by length, Wilson only) 0 / -15 / -45 / -135 Face
Silky Beard Silky Smooth Beard (affected by length, Webber only) 0 / -11.25 / -33.75 / -67.5 Face
Chirpy Scarf Chirpy Scarf Don't Starve Together icon 120 Chest
Chirpy Cloak Chirpy Cloak Don't Starve Together icon 240 Chest
Chirpy Capelet Chirpy Capelet Don't Starve Together icon 240 Chest

Note: For the purpose of calculating a Thermal Stone's own temperature gain, a fixed insulation of 120 is used. This value is not added to the player's total insulation, nor does the player's insulation affect the Thermal Stone in any way. A Thermal Stone warms at the same rate on the ground as it does in the inventory.

In the Hamlet DLC / Don't Starve Together, the canopy in Deep Rainforest and Gas Rainforest biomes / Waterlogged biome will provide shelter, granting 180 overheating insulation.

Don't Starve Together icon Don't Starve Together

In Don't Starve Together, insulation mechanics differ from Don't Starve and its DLCs, affecting how Overheating and Freezing works.

From mid-Autumn to early Spring, the game prioritizes Winter insulation values and ignores Summer insulation values. This means that wearing an item meant to overcome Overheating (such as an Eyebrella) will have no effect on the player's temperature, while an item meant to overcome Freezing (such as a Beefalo Hat) will keep the player's temperature from lowering as intended.

Meanwhile, from mid-Spring to early Autumn, the game prioritizes Summer insulation values and ignores Winter insulation values. This means that wearing an item meant to overcome Overheating (such as an Eyebrella) will keep the player's temperature from raising as intended, while an item meant to overcome Freezing (such as a Beefalo Hat) will have no effect on the player's temperature.

Willow will take damage from overheating at half the rate (0.625 health per second).

Placeholder Trivia

  • Despite the tropical weather, one will never overheat in the Hamlet DLC due to the seasons.
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