Ice Hound

Don't Starve

DST

“Are there hounds for every season?”

–Wilson

“Gross! Cold!”

–Willow

“Bow wow!”

–Wolfgang

“He has a cold, dead heart.”

–Wendy

“IT LIVES TO FREEZE”

–WX-78

“What a strange, cold beast.”

–Wickerbottom

“Arctic hounds?”

–Woodie

“I had a lot of surplus gems!”

–Maxwell

“Teeth öf fröst!”

–Wigfrid

“He has a chilling look in his eyes.”

–Webber

“Away, frozen diable!”

–Warly

“Brrr Woofer”

–Wormwood

“Keep those fangs to yourself.”

–Winona

“You wouldn't want to eat an imp. Much too stringy.”

–Wortox

“Chilly doggy.”

–Wurt

“Friends of yours, Woby?”

–Walter

“What did I ever do to you?!”

–Wanda

The Ice Hound (also known as an Blue Hound) is a Hound that can spawn in the Winter and Spring during Hound attacks and from Hound Mounds. Ice Hounds have less health than regular Hounds, but deal more damage and cannot be frozen with the Ice Staff. When killed, Ice Hounds always drop 1 Monster Meat and 2 Hound's Teeth, with a chance to drop 1 Blue Gem.

Ice Hounds can freeze the player and nearby creatures when they are killed. Killing one Ice Hound will give the player a blue tint, and killing a second one will freeze the player for about 5 seconds. Any attack will release a frozen character, and killing one can freeze another nearby Hound.

Two Ice Hounds always accompany the MacTusk N' Son hunting party. They will be found sleeping outside the Walrus Camp when the party retires at dusk.

Occasionally, the player can encounter Ice Hounds as part of an Ice Staff Trap. Four to five Ice Hounds sleep around the Ice Staff, and if the Ice Staff is taken, they will wake up and attack. The player will lose a large amount of sanity, and it will start to rain. If encountered, it is better to kill off each Hound individually, as they will not awaken upon the assault of their brethren.

If a player tracks a Varg, the Varg can spot the player and howl, calling two Hounds to help attack the player. Depending on the season, these Hounds can be normal, Blue, and Red.

A character that has died and became a Ghost can haunt a Hound, giving it a chance of becoming either a Red Hound or a Ice Hound (50/50 chance). After the Hound has converted, it will panic for a short while, before continuing with what it was doing, such as attacking other players. Hounds will also spawn from the Moon Stone and the Hound Suspicious Moonrock when the Star Caller's Staff is inserted into the Moon Stone during a Full Moon.

As of the Turn of Tides beta, Hounds can swim in the ocean and may transform into Horror Hounds after death on the Lunar Island.

Periodic Hound Attacks

“Did you hear that?”

–Wilson, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Show yourself!”

–Willow, when announcing a Hound Attack

“I hear puppies!”

–Wolfgang, when announcing a Hound Attack

“The hounds are baying.”

–Wendy, when announcing a Hound Attack

“SOMETHING IS COMING”

–WX-78, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Something is approaching.”

–Wickerbottom, when announcing a Hound Attack

“There's something out there.”

–Woodie, when announcing a Hound Attack

“The hounds are growing restless.”

–Maxwell, when announcing a Hound Attack

“The beasts are appröaching...”

–Wigfrid, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Doggies are coming!”

–Webber, when announcing a Hound Attack

“I recognize that sound. Hunger.”

–Warly, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Woofers!”

–Wormwood, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Are those dogs I hear?”

–Winona, when announcing a Hound Attack

“The beasts are baying!”

–Wortox, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Glurp... doggies coming...”

–Wurt, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Woby? Do you hear something?”

–Walter, when announcing a Hound Attack

“Wait a tick... did you hear something?”

–Wanda, when announcing a Hound Attack

When a Hound attack is imminent, snorting and growling sounds will be heard. These sounds start off softly and grow louder as the Hounds approach. Characters will also call attention to these sounds with phrases such as "Did you hear that?". Usually, these warnings appear at least twice before the Hounds come. Wes cannot speak and therefore does not have distinguishable warnings. When the Hounds appear, the growling sounds will be replaced with the very real running and panting sounds that Hounds make when they attack. Any spawning hounds appear within a 30 unit or 7½ pitchfork tile radius of the player.

Periodic hound attacks are a big threat to the player and get more difficult the longer they have survived, but also less frequent: The number of Hounds increases and the warning time before a wave decreases.

The number of Hounds spawned per player is dependent on each player's age. All other variables that depend on age/day count use the average age of all players in the world.

A group of players close to each other will be attacked by fewer hounds in total than if they were spread out.

Day	Next attack in (days)	Number of Hounds	Warning time before attack (seconds)
1 to 8	5 to 8	2	120
9 to 10	5 to 10	2	60
11 to 25	5 to 10	3 to 4	60
26 to 50	7 to 12	4 to 6	45
51 to 100	9 to 14	5 to 7	30
101 or more	11 to 16	7 to 10	30

Day	Time between each hound spawns (seconds)
1 to 20	3 to 8
21 to 60	2 to 5
61 to 100	0.5 to 3.5
101 or more	0.5 to 1.5

Red Hounds can accompany normal Hounds during attacks in Summer and Autumn, while Blue Hounds can accompany normal Hounds during Winter and Spring. Red and Blue Hounds will appear less often than normal Hounds. The chances of Red Hounds or Blue Hounds spawning with a pack increases depending on how many days the player has survived.

The chance for Red Hounds to spawn is 50% higher during Summer, but only after the highest chance (day 77) has been reached.

Day	Special Hound Spawn Chance
1 to 16	0%
17 to 31	10%
32 to 51	20%
52 to 76	33.3%
77 or more	50%

Hound attack frequency can be configured in the World Customization. The number of Hounds per wave is not affected. With custom settings, the frequency and warning time of the waves does not change over time.

Custom setting	Next attack in (days)	Warning time before attack (seconds)
Never	-	-
Less	9 to 14	60
More	7 to 12	45
Lots	5 to 10	30

After day 25, there is a chance that a Varglet will spawn instead of 5 of the Hounds. The chance depends on the number of Hounds that would spawn.

Number of Hounds that would spawn	Varglet Spawn Chance
fewer than 5	0%
5	5%
6	15%
7	30%
8 or more	70%

Hound Attacks can still happen while the player is out at sea, as Hounds can swim.

Hounds do not appear in Caves. Instead, Depths Worms attack in waves similar to the way Hounds do above ground.

Hound waves will try to avoid players on the Hermit Island when one of the Celestial Revenant, Enlightened W.A.R.B.O.T., or Celestial Scion bosses is active.

Behavior

Hounds are naturally aggressive, but easily distracted as they will attack all creatures on sight. Hounds will immediately charge the player when they spawn during a Hound attack. After a while, they can become distracted by nearby Mobs or Meat.

If a Hound's target is completely surrounded by Walls, they will attack the Walls in an attempt to reach their target. If there is breach in the Walls, Hounds will run through it.

In ROG, regular Hounds can spawn from Hound Mounds. These Hounds will only stray a certain distance from their Mound, but if they spot the player, they will chase them to a considerable distance. Hounds will retreat to their Mounds if they are unable to catch their prey.

Fighting Strategy

See also: Hound Wave Survival Guide and Hound Repelling

Hounds are much faster than the player and cannot be outrun unless they become distracted or belong to a Hound Mound. The player can use a Walking Cane or run along a Road to outrun them.

Hounds will bite as soon as they are close enough to the player and pause for a slight moment before and after they chomp. It is possible to dodge their bite and then strike twice during the pause, although this proves difficult when multiple Hounds are attacking. Wearing an item that slows the player, such as the Marble Suit, will greatly increase the chance of being bitten. Once a Hound executes an attack, successful or not, it may stop to bark. When they do this, they will now target the nearest Mob or Meat.

One simple strategy to defeat Hounds, especially later in the game, is by simply filling up a large area with a set of Tooth Traps. Players can simply equip armor, and then run around the trap field avoiding attacks until the Hounds are killed. The trap field should be built away from the base and other flammable structures, to avoid uncontrolled fires caused by Red Hounds. The broken traps can be replaced by using the teeth obtained from the Hounds, making this a self-sustaining method to deal with Hound attacks.

If they attack a Mob that fights in a group such as a Beefalo, they can quickly be dispatched. If one does not wish to cheese the Hounds using Beefalos, and does not wish to or cannot yet use Tooth Traps, tanking them with a Dark Sword and Night Armor is advised, although the player should be careful to not be stunlocked during large waves.

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill a Ice Hound when playing with characters with a default damage modifier. The Weather Pain, Brightshade Staff, and Bee Mine are not included due to their random natures. This table does not take into account the damage bonus gained from characters with a lunar or shadow affinity. It also does not take into account the 40% damage bonus Wendy gets from attacking the same mob as Abigail, Wanda's damage bonus with Shadow weapons (except for the Alarming Clock, which does accurately reflect that bonus), or Wolfgang's damage multiplier when he isn't mighty.

Number of hits

Advanced options Select your character: If you are reading this, you do not have JavaScript enabled. Enable it to see a list of other characters' damage modifiers. You are currently viewing the version of the table with no damage modifier, 1x. Current Damage Modifier: 1
Weapon	File:Ice Hound.png	File:Ice Hound.png	File:Ice Hound.png
	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
	1
()	1 (Old) 2 (Middle age) 2 (Young) 4 (Out of fuel)	1 (Old) 1 (Middle age) 2 (Young) 4 (Out of fuel)	1 (1 ) (Old) 1 (1 ) (Middle age) 1 (1 ) (Young) 3 (2 ) (Out of fuel)	1 (1 ) (Old) 1 (1 ) (Middle age) 1 (1 ) (Young) 3 (2 ) (Out of fuel)
()	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
()	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )
	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 ) (2 (1 ) )	2 (1 ) (2 (1 ) )	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 ) (2 (1 ) )	2 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )
	2	2	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	2	2	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	3 - 12 (2 - 8 )	2 - 11 (2 - 7 )	2 (2 ) - 10 (7 ) (2 (2 ) - 7 (5 ) )	2 (2 ) - 9 (7 ) (2 (2 ) - 6 (5 ) )	2 - 10 (2 - 7 )	2 - 10 (2 - 7 )	2 (2 ) - 8 (6 ) (2 (1 ) - 6 (5 ) )	2 (1 ) - 8 (5 ) (2 (1 ) - 6 (4 ) )	2 - 9 (2 - 6 )	2 - 8 (2 - 6 )	2 (1 ) - 7 (5 ) (2 (1 ) - 5 (4 ) )	2 (1 ) - 7 (5 ) (2 (1 ) - 5 (4 ) )	2 - 7 (2 - 5 )	2 - 6 (1 - 5 )	1 (1 ) - 5 (4 ) (1 (1 ) - 4 (3 ) )	1 (1 ) - 5 (3 ) (1 (1 ) - 4 (3 ) )
	2	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	2	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
()	2 - 8	2 - 7	1 (1 ) - 5 (3 )	1 (1 ) - 5 (3 )
	2
	2
Note	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	3	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	2	2	1 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
() Note	2	2	2 (1 )	1 (1 )
	3 - 5	2 - 4	2 (1 ) - 3 (2 )	2 (1 ) - 3 (2 )	2 - 4	2 - 3	2 (1 ) - 3 (2 )	1 (1 ) - 2 (2 )	2 - 3	2 - 3	1 (1 ) - 2 (2 )	1 (1 ) - 2 (1 )	1 - 2	1 - 2	1 (1 ) - 2 (1 )	1 (1 ) - 1 (1 )
()	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )	1 (1 ) (1 (1 ) )
()	2	2	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	3	3	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	1	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
	3 (Melee on land) 2 (Melee on ocean) 2 (spell)	3 (Melee on land) 2 (Melee on ocean) 2 (spell)	2 (2 ) (Melee on land) 2 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 2 (1 ) (spell)	2 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	2 (Melee on land) 2 (Melee on ocean) 2 (spell)	2 (Melee on land) 2 (Melee on ocean) 1 (spell)	2 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	2 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	2 (Melee on land) 2 (Melee on ocean) 1 (spell)	2 (Melee on land) 1 (Melee on ocean) 1 (spell)	2 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	1 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	1 (Melee on land) 1 (Melee on ocean) 1 (spell)	1 (Melee on land) 1 (Melee on ocean) 1 (spell)	1 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)	1 (1 ) (Melee on land) 1 (1 ) (Melee on ocean) 1 (1 ) (spell)
()	2 (Direct hit) 3 (AoE)	2 (Direct hit) 3 (AoE)	2 (1 ) (Direct hit) 2 (2 ) (AoE)	2 (1 ) (Direct hit) 2 (1 ) (AoE)
	2
	4 (2 )	3 (2 )	4 (2 )	3 (2 )	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	1 (1 )	2 (1 )	1 (1 )
()	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	3 (2 )	2 (2 )
	4	3	3 (2 )	2 (2 )	3	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	1	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
()	2 (When thrown)	1 (When thrown)	1 (1 ) (When thrown)	1 (1 ) (When thrown)
	3
	4	4	3 (2 )	3 (2 )	3	3	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	3	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )	2	2	1 (1 )	1 (1 )
()	3	3	2 (2 )	2 (1 )
()	2 (When thrown)	2 (When thrown)	1 (1 ) (When thrown)	1 (1 ) (When thrown)
	5	5	4 (2 )	3 (2 )	4	4	3 (2 )	3 (2 )	3	3	2 (2 )	2 (1 )	2	2	2 (1 )	2 (1 )
()	2 (When thrown)	2 (When thrown)	2 (1 ) (When thrown)	2 (1 ) (When thrown)
()	4 (Direct hit) 6 (AoE)	4 (Direct hit) 5 (AoE)	3 (2 ) (Direct hit) 4 (3 ) (AoE)	3 (2 ) (Direct hit) 4 (2 ) (AoE)
()	6	5	4 (3 )	4 (2 )
()	3 (When thrown)	3 (When thrown)	2 (2 ) (When thrown)	2 (1 ) (When thrown)

Ice Hound is immune to being frozen, and 4 Sleep Darts to put it to sleep.

Tips

• While Hounds are attacking, Chester can and will be targeted.
  • The same goes for Glommer.

Beefalo attacking Hounds.

• 2 or 3 Hounds can usually be defeated, without issue, by using a Spear, Log Suit, and Football Helmet. A player can even tank the damage when kiting is not an option.
• One can create a walled-off area with an entrance filled with Tooth Traps. Incoming Hounds can be funneled through the entrance, killing off most, if not all. A Fire Pit and other supplies can be kept inside for night attacks.
• Hound attacks on sea will make them "wet", meaning electric damage can be used very effectively during hound attacks.
• Iit isn't recommended to fight hound waves at sea during Summer or Autumn as the death of Fire Hounds can easily cover the boat in fire.

Trivia

• Ice Hounds were added in A Winter's Tale update.
• According to Wickerbottom, a Hound's Tooth contains brimstone, also known as sulfur. In folklore, sulfur is often associated with demons, implying that the in-game Hounds are Hellhounds, a supernatural dog common in some mythologies or beliefs.
• Maxwell comments that he had a lot of surplus Gems when examining Ice Hounds. This reveals that the freezing resistance Ice Hounds have is caused by the Blue Gems in their body. This may also have caused their "blue" fur, although the grayish teal coloration they sport is a common pigmentation in many real-life mammals, especially those living in colder climates.
• The Ice Hounds have a dark blue nose when awake. Should they fall asleep, however, then their nose will change to the color of an ordinary hound's nose.

Bugs

• Saving the game when the Hound attack warning begins and then loading that save will cause the attack to become bugged. The Hounds will arrive extremely late, up to 7 days, and the warning will persist indefinitely, making the player unable to use Tents and other items that require a "safe" condition.
• Occasionally, dying in a Cave and getting resurrected on the surface (perhaps when Hound attacks are supposed to begin) will cause the growling and snorting sounds to play in half-day intervals while the character remarks that the Hounds are coming, but they will not appear until a Hound attack in 3–10 days, where the warnings properly play close together.
• Sometimes, Hound attacks will 'reset'; the growling warning will last longer and only two normal Hounds will spawn, just as the first Hound attack.
• Saving and exiting the game during a Hound attack, and then loading the save will cause all of the Hounds to become temporarily distracted.
• When a Hound attack is about to occur, going into the Caves and then back to the Surface will cause no Hounds to spawn. Restarting the server between entering and leaving the Caves will fix the bug.

Gallery

• 

  A running Ice Hound.
• 

  A snapping Ice Hound.
• 

  A dead Ice Hound.
• 

  Two Ice Hounds following MacTusk.
• 

  Ice Hounds sleeping in the Ice Staff Trap set piece.

References

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