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Walani Portrait
Surf's up!

Walani, when riding a wave

Waves are a new game mechanic introduced in the Shipwrecked DLC. Waves appear in Ocean biomes at all times of the year, however, their frequency and size varies with Seasons and the Moon Cycle.

All naturally occurring Waves travel in the same direction, which changes at Night every day. Waves will only originate in medium and deep Ocean, and will disperse shortly if they enter the shallow Ocean.

Common Waves[]

Common Waves are short, and move slowly. Common Waves are found during all seasons, however they become less frequent during Hurricane Season, and much less frequent during Dry Season. The full moon causes a number of Common Waves to be replaced with Big Waves.

Sailing any Boat into a Common Wave while heading in the same direction as the Wave will provide a small speed boost, with a four times increased boost if the boat is an Encrusted Boat, or a five times increased boost if it is Walani's Surfboard.

Sailing into Common Waves while going in any other direction will cause the player to gain 15 Wetness, increased to 22.5 for Walani's Surfboard, and damage the Boat for 5 Health.

Big Waves[]

Big Waves appear as tall walls of water, which travel three times faster than Common Waves. Big Waves will naturally occur in small numbers starting on the Day of the full moon, becoming more frequent as Night falls. Naturally occurring Big Waves also become very frequent during Hurricane Season, eventually replacing Common Waves entirely as the season goes on.

In addition to spawning naturally, Big Waves can be created by Boat Cannon shots, exploding Gunpowder Barrels, Whales, Quacken Tentacles, Tiger Shark, Sealnado, and Dragoon Eggs falling into the Ocean, even if any of these happen in shallow Ocean. A Common Wave can become a Big Wave when crossing into deeper water. Big Waves take longer to disperse when entering shallow Ocean.

Sailing any boat into a Big Wave will cause 25 Wetness and 15 damage to the Boat, regardless of the direction. However, Walani can ride Big Waves with her Surfboard if she's going in the same direction as the Wave, though she will also receive 37.5 Wetness and 15 damage to her Surfboard for hitting a Big Wave incorrectly.

Hamlet icon Hamlet[]

Both Common Waves and Big Waves are also included in the Hamlet DLC. They can only be created by a Hippopotamoose. Hippopotamoose will create a large number of Common Waves as they move through the water, and can cause a splash of Big Waves if they use their stomp attack in the water.

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

Waves look different in Don't Starve Together. They can only be created by Malbatross, Gnarwail, Gnarwail Horn, and Grass Gator.

Waves push away items on the water. When a player is hit by a wave, it applies 9 Wetness Meter to player.

Prototype Tips[]

  • The Wetness gained by crashing into both types of Waves can be reduced or completely negated based on the Water Resistance of the player.
  • Eating Tropical Bouillabaisse or a Purple Grouper will prevent both wetness and damage from Common and Big Waves for 30 seconds.

Mosquito Bugs[]

  • If the player has a total wetness resistance over 100%, crashing into a Wave will reduce wetness proportionate to their resistance. For example, if the player wears the Dumbrella and the Snakeskin Jacket, the player will gain a total resistance of 170%, and the wave would "dry" the player by 70% of the wetness it would have caused with no water resistance.
  • Sometimes, when a player rides a small wave, it will act as if they are trying to go against it by damaging their boat and getting them wet.

Blueprint Gallery[]

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