Depths Worm/DST

Don't Starve

DST

NormalDisguisedSubmerged

“It's a worm!”

–Wilson

“It's so furry!”

–Willow

“Did not expect this!”

–Wolfgang

“It comes from the depths.”

–Wendy

“THREAT IMMINENT”

–WX-78

“Worm attack!”

–Wickerbottom

“WOOORM!”

–Woodie

“I didn't make that one! Honest!”

–Maxwell

“A snake beast fröm the depths!”

–Wigfrid

“Creepy crawly!”

–Webber

“Worm!”

–Warly

“Hello, Wiggly!”

–Wormwood

“That's a huge worm!”

–Winona

“Hyuyu! What do I do??”

–Wortox

“WORM!!”

–Wurt

“Woah! That worm's enormous!”

–Walter

“Now I remember!”

–Wanda

“Seems safe to me.”

–Wilson

“Light without fire. Unnatural.”

–Willow

“Pretty light.”

–Wolfgang

“It seems out of place.”

–Wendy

“THAT PLANT SEEMS SUSPICIOUS”

–WX-78

“Reminds me of the Anglerfish.”

–Wickerbottom

“I know a plant when I see one. This's an impostor!”

–Woodie

“You aren't fooling me, plant.”

–Maxwell

“I smell a trap.”

–Wigfrid

“What could possibly go wrong?”

–Webber

“I see nothing amiss here.”

–Warly

“Hmm... not safe”

–Wormwood

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

–Winona

“The shimmer of a soul lurks below.”

–Wortox

“Oooh, pretty fruit...”

–Wurt

“What's wrong Woby? It's just a plant!”

–Walter

“Something's nagging at my memory... ah, it's probably nothing.”

–Wanda

“Just looks like a pile of dirt.”

–Wilson

“Does dirt normally move around?”

–Willow

“Is dirt moving?”

–Wolfgang

“Is something there?”

–Wendy

“WARNING. LIFE DETECTED”

–WX-78

“It would be best to stay away from that.”

–Wickerbottom

“Be wary of the moving ground.”

–Woodie

“Something stirs.”

–Maxwell

“What's under that dirt?”

–Wigfrid

“Some dirt, big whoop.”

–Webber

“Dirty.”

–Warly

“Something hiding”

–Wormwood

“Mhm. That's dirt!”

–Winona

“A simple pile of dirt and muck.”

–Wortox

“Dirt pile!”

–Wurt

“Just a pile of dirt.”

–Walter

“About as boring as you'd expect a pile of dirt to be.”

–Wanda

The Depths Worm is a hostile Mob found in the Wilds in the Caves. The Depths Worms will also periodically spawn in the Caves and attack the player, similar to the periodic hound attacks on the surface.

Periodic Attacks

“Did you feel that?”

–Wilson, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“I do NOT wanna see what made that sound!”

–Willow, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Earth is tremble beneath Wolfgang's mighty feet!”

–Wolfgang, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Uh-oh. I think we should leave.”

–Wendy, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“SLIMY ORGANICS APPROACHING”

–WX-78, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Something nasty intends to rear its head.”

–Wickerbottom, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Oh geez. I hope you're ready, Lucy.”

–Woodie, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Oh dear. I know what's making that sound.”

–Maxwell, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“The earth quakes with the appröach öf a föe!”

–Wigfrid, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Ohhh nooo. We're not friends with worms!”

–Webber, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Huh? What's that?”

–Warly, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Wigglies are coming”

–Wormwood, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Was that a tremor?”

–Winona, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Something approaches from beneath!”

–Wortox, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Glurt?”

–Wurt, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“Something's moving...”

–Walter, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

“That rumble felt... ominous.”

–Wanda, when announcing a Depth Worms Attack

Before an attack, the player will begin to hear rumbling growls which grow more frequent the closer the attack draws. Periodic Depth Worm attacks are a big threat to the player and get more difficult the longer they have survived, but also less frequent: The number of Depth Worms increases and the warning time before a wave decreases.

The number of Depth Worms 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 worms in total than if they were spread out. ^{[Verification Needed]}

Day	Next attack in (days)	Number of Depth Worms	Warning time before attack (seconds)
1 to 8	6 to 8.5	1	120
9 to 10	7 to 9.5	1	60
11 to 25	7 to 9.5	1 to 2	60
26 to 50	8 to 10.5	1 to 2	45
51 to 100	9 to 11.5	2 to 3	30
101 or more	10 to 12.5	3 to 5	30

Day	Time between each worm 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

Depth Worms attack frequency can be configured in the World Customization. The number of Depth Worms 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 11.5	60
More	8 to 10.5	45
Lots	7 to 9.5	30

There is a chance for the entire wave of Depths Worms to be replaced by a single Great Depths Worm after day 25 (which is a giant/boss version of a depths worm). The chance of it to appear will increase by 5% to at most 50% with each Cave Worm Attack until it spawns and then the chance resets to 0%.

“That sounds ominous?”

–Wilson, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Let's not stick around for that.”

–Willow, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Wolfgang suggest run and live to fight another day.”

–Wolfgang, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“We need to go. Now.”

–Wendy, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“MASSIVE MEATTUBE INCOMING”

–WX-78, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Something monstrous approaches.”

–Wickerbottom, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Sounds like a hefty one, eh Luce?”

–Woodie, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Curses. I know that sound.”

–Maxwell, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“A behemöth appröaches.”

–Wigfrid, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Yikes! Here comes a BIG worm!”

–Webber, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“I don't like the sound of that.”

–Warly, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Big Wiggly!”

–Wormwood, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Oh man, that's a big one.”

–Winona, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Don't bumble about, upon that rumble, no doubt!”

–Wortox, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Glorp!”

–Wurt, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“Something's coming. Something big.”

–Walter, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

“It's coming...”

–Wanda, when announcing a Great Depths Worm attack

Behavior

When it is not engaged with the player, it will seek out areas with harvestable objects then set its lure and lay in wait, or emerge to consume both meats and vegetables. This lure will appear as a Mysterious Plant. If the player attempts to harvest the displayed lure, or remains nearby for too long, the worm will emerge and attack. During this time the main body of the worm resides underground.

Fighting Strategy

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill a Depths Worm 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
	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5
	5
()	7 (Old) 10 (Middle age) 12 (Young) 34 (Out of fuel)	6 (Old) 8 (Middle age) 10 (Young) 28 (Out of fuel)	3 () (Old) 4 () (Middle age) 5 () (Young) 14 () (Out of fuel)	3 () (Old) 4 () (Middle age) 4 () (Young) 12 () (Out of fuel)
()	6 ()	5 ()	6 ()	5 ()
()	9 (7 )	9 (7 )	7 () (6 () )	7 () (6 () )
	16 (14 )	15 (13 )	9 () (8 () )	8 () (7 () )	14 (12 )	12 (11 )	8 () (7 () )	7 () (6 () )	12 (11 )	11 (10 )	7 () (6 () )	6 () (5 () )	9 (8 )	8 (7 )	5 () (4 () )	4 () (4 () )
	16	14	10 ()	9 ()	14	13	8 ()	7 ()	12	11	7 ()	6 ()	9	8	5 ()	4 ()
	12	10	5 ()	4 ()	9	8	4 ()	3 ()	8	6	3 ()	3 ()	5	4	2 ()	2 ()
	8 ()	7 ()	8 ()	7 ()	6 ()	5 ()	6 ()	5 ()	5 ()	4 ()	5 ()	4 ()	3 ()	3 ()	3 ()	3 ()
	19 - 103 (17 - 64 )	18 - 95 (16 - 61 )	12 () - 63 () (11 () - 45 () )	11 () - 56 () (10 () - 41 () )	17 - 90 (15 - 59 )	16 - 82 (14 - 55 )	10 () - 52 () (9 () - 38 () )	9 () - 45 () (8 () - 34 () )	15 - 80 (13 - 54 )	14 - 72 (12 - 50 )	9 () - 44 () (8 () - 34 () )	7 () - 38 () (7 () - 30 () )	12 - 60 (10 - 43 )	10 - 53 (9 - 39 )	6 () - 30 () (5 () - 24 () )	5 () - 26 () (5 () - 21 () )
	18	15	8 ()	6 ()	14	12	6 ()	5 ()	11	9	5 ()	4 ()	7	6	3 ()	3 ()
()	14 - 67	12 - 56	6 () - 27 ()	5 () - 23 ()
	14
	15
Note	14 ()	12 ()	14 ()	12 ()	11 ()	9 ()	11 ()	9 ()	9 ()	7 ()	9 ()	7 ()	6 ()	5 ()	6 ()	5 ()
	21	17	9 ()	7 ()	16	13	7 ()	6 ()	13	11	5 ()	5 ()	8	7	4 ()	3 ()
() Note	16	13	7 ()	6 ()
	21 - 41	17 - 34	9 () - 17 ()	7 () - 14 ()	16 - 31	13 - 26	7 () - 13 ()	6 () - 11 ()	13 - 25	11 - 21	5 () - 10 ()	5 () - 9 ()	8 - 16	7 - 13	4 () - 7 ()	3 () - 6 ()
()	14 (12 )	12 (10 )	6 () (6 () )	5 () (5 () )
()	12	10	5 ()	4 ()
	24	20	10 ()	8 ()	18	15	8 ()	6 ()	15	12	6 ()	5 ()	9	8	4 ()	3 ()
	24 (Melee on land) 16 (Melee on ocean) 15 (spell)	20 (Melee on land) 14 (Melee on ocean) 12 (spell)	10 () (Melee on land) 7 () (Melee on ocean) 6 () (spell)	8 () (Melee on land) 6 () (Melee on ocean) 5 () (spell)	18 (Melee on land) 12 (Melee on ocean) 11 (spell)	15 (Melee on land) 10 (Melee on ocean) 9 (spell)	8 () (Melee on land) 5 () (Melee on ocean) 5 () (spell)	6 () (Melee on land) 4 () (Melee on ocean) 4 () (spell)	15 (Melee on land) 10 (Melee on ocean) 9 (spell)	12 (Melee on land) 8 (Melee on ocean) 8 (spell)	6 () (Melee on land) 4 () (Melee on ocean) 4 () (spell)	5 () (Melee on land) 4 () (Melee on ocean) 3 () (spell)	9 (Melee on land) 6 (Melee on ocean) 6 (spell)	8 (Melee on land) 5 (Melee on ocean) 5 (spell)	4 () (Melee on land) 3 () (Melee on ocean) 3 () (spell)	3 () (Melee on land) 2 () (Melee on ocean) 2 () (spell)
()	18 (Direct hit) 27 (AoE)	15 (Direct hit) 23 (AoE)	8 () (Direct hit) 11 () (AoE)	6 () (Direct hit) 9 () (AoE)
	18
	17 ()	14 ()	17 ()	14 ()	13 ()	11 ()	13 ()	11 ()	10 ()	9 ()	10 ()	9 ()	7 ()	6 ()	7 ()	6 ()
()	13 ()	11 ()	13 ()	11 ()
	29	24	12 ()	10 ()	22	18	9 ()	8 ()	17	15	7 ()	6 ()	11	9	5 ()	4 ()
()	11 (When thrown)	9 (When thrown)	5 () (When thrown)	4 () (When thrown)
	23
	36	30	15 ()	12 ()	27	23	11 ()	9 ()	22	18	9 ()	8 ()	14	12	6 ()	5 ()
()	27	23	11 ()	9 ()
()	14 (When thrown)	12 (When thrown)	6 () (When thrown)	5 () (When thrown)
	45	37	18 ()	15 ()	34	28	14 ()	12 ()	27	23	11 ()	9 ()	17	14	7 ()	6 ()
()	17 (When thrown)	14 (When thrown)	7 () (When thrown)	6 () (When thrown)
()	36 (Direct hit) 53 (AoE)	30 (Direct hit) 45 (AoE)	15 () (Direct hit) 22 () (AoE)	12 () (Direct hit) 18 () (AoE)
()	53	45	22 ()	18 ()
()	27 (When thrown)	23 (When thrown)	11 () (When thrown)	9 () (When thrown)

Depths Worm is immune to being frozen, and it is immune to being put to sleep.

Shadow Rift Content

This content is available only after activating the Shadow Rift
During Acid Rain Depths Worms deal 50% more damage, have a movement speed increase of 25% and receive 25% more physical damage. Depths Worms will emit a special breath effect to indicate when they are affected.

Year of the Depths Worm

Only during the Event: Year of the Depths Worm
During the Year of the Depths Worm event, the Depths Worm drops 3 Lucky Gold Nuggets.

Tips

• Depth Worms will only trigger a Tooth Trap when any part of their body is above ground, that being their animations & attacks. Players will have to repeatedly bait Depth Worms' attacks as the mere 60 damage will only pepper the worms with enameled shrapnel.
  • Alternatively, using a Bee Mine may prove advantageous. Five or six of them will be enough to deal with a Worm.
• Pigs and Bunnymen will ensure a safe place from the worms as the Pigs and Bunnies will attack them on sight. Pigs will automatically leave their homes during the day and Bunnymen will also leave during dusk and night so befriending items are not needed if the player stays near their homes. The bigger the waves are the more Houses and Hutches one will need though. Giving protective helmets to them will make them more efficient.
• Rock Lobsters are the best option to deal with Depth Worms. A group of 3-4 of them will make quick work of Worm waves even when they're at their maximum size. The lobsters don't need to be fully mature, small ones will work too. The player may need to lure the worms to the lobsters due to their slow speed.
• A cheap method is available by simply using a Walking Cane to outrun the worms (when the later waves bring several of them), then take them on one by one with a powerful melee weapon such as a Tentacle Spike or a Ham Bat.
• Depths Worms will always follow the same attack pattern: attacking once, followed by a brief resurface, then a second attack followed by no resurface. It is possible to get 4-5 hits in after the first attack, during the initial diving and subsequent surfacing.
• Depths Worms cannot be frozen by an Ice Staff but being hit by it will still stun them.
• Despite moving underground, Depths Worms will still be unable to go past Walls. They will also not attack the wall even if their target is on the other side.
• Depths Worms attack any mob in sight except for insects and birds, which can be used to the player's advantage. During a Depths Worm attack, the player can let it chase them until it loses interest and looks for a new target.
• Depths Worms, much like Tentacles, are always wet, this can be used to identify a Depths Worm with its lure up; if a Mysterious Plant is wet (blue text when hovering over it), yet it has not rained recently, the plant is a disguised Depths Worm, this also means that the Morning Star is more effective against Depths Worms, due to the bonus damage against wet enemies.

Rock Lobsters fighting Depths Worms in a pen

• Depths Worms' periodic attacks overwhelm players with their high damage but are generally slow. If a player runs far enough from the Depths Worms, they will lose interest in you and separate whilst planting their lures. The player will then be able to eliminate their numbers one by one later on.

• Many more Depths Worms will spawn during an attack and cannot be fought one on one. Creating walled-in sections of five or more Rock Lobsters, particularly in the Wilds, by luring them from the Caves into the Ruins (as they are connected on the same level) is an effective way to deal with the mobs while spelunking deep in the Ruins. Once fully penned in the Rock Lobsters will not leave. During the warning/attack, hammer down one wall on each side to ensure you have good exits and don't get pinned. The rock lobsters cannot leave through just one missing wall space (they can however disappear if left unattended with the missing wall pieces). By giving the Rock Lobsters food (rocks, flint, gold, etc.) or kiting the Depth Worms in such a way that they attack them, the Rock Lobsters will be able to successfully kill the mob. Rebuild the walls once completed.

Trivia

• During the Nightmare phase of the Ruins, the pinkish purple segments of the worm's fur will become a vibrant red. This is due to a side effect of the Nightmare Cycle, one which causes all traces of red to glow a vibrant, magenta-red color during the active phase.
• The Depths Worm was added in the Six Feet Under update.
• Like Slurtles and a few other creatures, Maxwell expresses surprise at their existence, implying he didn't mean for them to be on the island.
• The striations and coloration are similar to that of the Sandworms from the Beetlejuice cartoon series.
• Their lure is very similar to the lure of a female Anglerfish in real life.
• Their inclusion could be a reference to the Graboid, a species of subterranean worm-like creatures from the Tremors series.
  • Winona's periodic attack quote is also a potential Tremors reference.
• If a Varg is spawned into the Caves or Ruins via the Console, it will summon Depths Worms. This is likely due to the periodic attack mechanics of the Caves and Ruins.
• The Depths Worm could be a reference to the Mongolian Death Worm. The latter is said to be very deadly and burrow underground like the Depths Worm does, yet not as large.

Bugs

• Depths Worms can trigger Tooth Traps while underground and be damaged by them.

Gallery

• 

  Depths Worm Eating.
• 

  Depths Worm displaying its lure.
• 

  A worm chasing Woodie while underground.
• 

  A Depths Worm attacking Woodie
• 

  A worm during the Nightmare Phase.
• 

  A Depths Worm retreating into the ground.
• 

  A poster from the Six Feet Under update featuring a Depths Worm.
• 

  A Depths Worm, as seen in the Six Feet Under trailer.

DSRoGSWHamDST