Once placed, the Houndius Shootius becomes a permanent Structure that will act much like an immobile Mob. It will automatically attack Mobs targeting the Character or any Mob that the player attempts to attack, except for Shadow Creatures. The Houndius Shootius briefly emits some light when charging a shot.
It has 1,000 Health and its projectile deals 65 damage per hit. When damaged, it will regenerate 12 Health per second and can also be repaired using non-edible healing Items. Its crafting materials cannot be recovered using a Hammer or Deconstruction Staff so it can only be "killed" in battle, which will not yield any drops. Care must be taken in deciding where to place one because the crafting materials cannot be recovered from a placed turret in any way. Each turret will drain 6.25 per minute when the Character is close to them.
In RoG, giving Seed of Ruins to the Cave entrance will automatically regenerate both the cave and the ruins, making it possible to craft infinite amount of Houndious Shootius without going through a Teleportato.
Tips
Three Houndius Shootius can kill a Deerclops or a Moose/Goose with minimal help from the player. If the Deerclops cycles between them rather than focusing on one, it is possible that none will be destroyed.
Despite its name, it can be useful for much more than just Hound attacks.
If a player attacks a turret, other turrets will begin to attack it. Turrets will continue to fire at each other until one of them is destroyed or distracted.
The Houndius Shootius can be used in conjunction with a Bat Bat to heal quickly; its high Health and passive regeneration makes it ideal to attack and heal (at the cost of Sanity).
The Houndius Shootius is an excellent item to use to defend the player against Hounds over day 100. However the player could be swarmed before the Houndius Shootius kills the hounds so making 2 will be sufficient enough.
Players can use multiple Houndius Shootius to farm different Mobs penned inside Walls. Good examples of this are Bunnymen, and Vargs (from the Reign of Giants DLC).
A Houndius Shootius can be used to kill Birds cost free. Paired with a Feather Hat players can easily farm Morsels and Feathers.
Bee Boxes should be placed a good distance away from the Houndius Shootius, as the angry Bees that come out of a harvested Bee Box will be attacked and killed, slowing Honey gathering.
The Houndius Shootius bears a resemblance to an Obelisk of Light from Command & Conquer.
The Houndius Shootius was originally called "Minotaur Clopper". This was changed to "Mino-Clopper", and finally its current name, Houndius Shootius, alluding to its role against Hound attacks.
The maximum amount of Houndius Shootius one can legitimately possess in a single world without the Seed of Ruin is 32. When traveling through the Teleportato, a player can take 29 of them (15 in the inventory, 14 in a Krampus Sack) and 3 can be made in the new world. If you use Bundling Wrap and have a new world, the maximum is 119.
In the Shipwrecked DLC, this number has no limit since players can keep escaping Sandbox Mode worlds, which have been linked to a Shipwrecked one, infinitely, without affecting the Shipwrecked world. Players can thus store an infinite amount of Houndius Shootius in the Shipwrecked world.
The same goes for the Hamlet DLC as well, using the Skyworthy.[Verification Needed]
Judging from several character quotes, the Houndius Shootius appears to be sentient.
If a target is killed while a Houndius Shootius is charging its shot, it will continue to charge the shot (emitting light) until a new target is available.
This does not work in Don't Starve Together, as the Houndius Shootius will lose aggro immediately after having been damaged by a player. However, a player can still begin attacking the Houndius Shootius until it's destroyed with any weapon after triggering momentary aggro with the Weather Pain for example.
On this same note, an Ice staff can be used to stun and freeze a Houndius Shootius when it is attacking friendlies as it will redirect its attention to the player after being unfrozen. This is a way to prevent multiple Houndius Shootius from shooting each other to the death in Pocket Edition.
Gallery
A Houndius Shootius about to attack a Spider.
The Houndius Shootius providing light while charging.
The Houndius Shootius will stare at the player when they're nearby.