Fire Hound

Don't Starve

DST

“That one is glowy.”

–Wilson

“I actually kind of like that one.”

–Willow

“Bark!”

–Wolfgang

“His disposition is fiery.”

–Wendy

“IT LIVES TO BURN”

–WX-78

“That hound is more dangerous than the others.”

–Wickerbottom

“Hot hound!”

–Woodie

“I put fire gems in there as a joke.”

–Maxwell

“The flamed öne has nö mercy.”

–Wigfrid

“He's got a fire under his feet. And all inside him.”

–Webber

“Chien, on fire!”

–Warly

“Fire Woofers”

–Wormwood

“Get outta here, bucko!”

–Winona

“Hyuyu, fiery!”

–Wortox

“Don't like look of that one, flurp.”

–Wurt

“Who's a good boy?”

–Walter

“I won't meet a fiery end from the likes of you!”

–Wanda

The Fire Hound (also known as a Red Hound) can spawn in the Summer and Autumn during Hound attacks and from Hound Mounds. Fire Hounds have less health than regular Hounds, cannot be set on fire, and have a higher resistance to the effects of an Ice Staff. Upon death, they "explode" into 3 large fires that will burn for at least six seconds, then extinguish into Ashes. These fires can easily spread to nearby flammable objects. When killed, Fire Hounds will always drop 1 Monster Meat and 1 Hound's Tooth, with a chance to drop 1 Red Gem.

Occasionally, players can encounter Fire Hounds as part of a Fire Staff Trap. Four to five Fire Hounds sleep around the Fire Staff, and if the Fire 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.

A character that has died and became a Ghost can haunt a Hound, giving it a chance of becoming either a Fire 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.

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.

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.

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 Fire 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 Fire 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:Fire Hound.png	File:Fire Hound.png	File:Fire 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)

It takes 4 blasts with an Ice Staff to freeze Fire Hound, and 3 Sleep Darts to put it to sleep.

Tips

Beefalo attacking Hounds.

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

• Hounds and Fire Hounds were added in The Birds and the Bees & Dogs That Want to Kill You 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.
• The Fire Hound is available for use on Steam as a chat emoticon.
• Even though Fire Hounds cannot be set on fire, they still take fire damage if they come into contact with it.
• When Fire Hounds are inspected by Maxwell, he reveals that he "put gems in there as a joke". This implies that the notable traits of the Fire Hound, such as its red color and spontaneous combustion upon death, are due to the presence of the Red Gem inside its body.
• There's a small, but non zero, chance for a special hound to spawn in the first season.

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 Fire Hound bursting into flames when killed.
• 

  Fire Hounds sleeping in the Fire Staff set piece.
• 

  A dead Fire Hound.
• 

  Wallpaper for the launch of Don't Starve.
• 

  The Fire Hound as a Steam chat emoticon.

References

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