Walter (Don't Starve Together)

Walter

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Walter
Status
	130
	110
	200
Damage Modifier	+10 when attacked by Bee mobs
Hunger Modifier	-0.5× when Sleeping
Sanity Modifier	0× in darkness, when being near monsters, structures and/or wearing clothes, 1× when being affected by magic, +6/min when being near Trees, up to -12/min when health is not full
Special Item(s)
Starting Item(s)	×10
Favorite Food
Code	"walter"

See also: Slingshot Ammo and Woby

Walter starts off with Woby, a Trusty Slingshot, 10 Pebbles, and a Pinetree Pioneer Hat.

Woby is a special Mob that follows him around, is invincible, and does not target or get targeted by enemies. She has 9 inventory slots, like Chester. She can be fed Monster Food to transform into Big Woby, and she will revert to her normal form once her hunger meter runs out (2.5 days if full). Walter can mount big Woby like a Beefalo. While riding Big Woby, Walter is unable to attack with any weapon, save for the Slingshot, and he will collect items on the floor with a delay. Additionally, if Woby takes damage while Walter is riding her, she will buck him off, which will often result in Walter taking extra hits during the animation.

Walter is "not afraid of anything"; because of his fearlessness, he is not affected by negative sanity aura effects, and he is able to freely use objects or stay near sources that usually cause sanity loss. This includes:

• Dusk or complete darkness
• Auras from Monsters, Bosses, Evil Flowers or Ghosts
• Structures such as Night Lights and Nightmare Lights
• Ghost Characters
• Worm Holes or Portals.

Walter will still lose sanity from sources that instantaneously take away sanity, such as:

• Picking up Evil Flowers
• Telepoofing with The Lazy Explorer
• Digging up Graves
• Eating foods that reduce sanity (eg. Monster Lasagna).

Walter is also "not interested in fashion", which means he is not affected by any sanity-over-time effects (negative or positive) from equipped items like the Tam o' Shanter, Spiderhat, Seawreath or any other equipped items that are Wet (he still suffers sanity drain when being wet himself). Walter's fearlessness however is not strong enough to protect him from magic equipment, hence he is still affected by sanity drain/gain of items such as the Dark Sword, Night Armor, Amulets, Belt of Hunger, Thulecite Suit, etc.

Walter can still gain sanity from being close to befriended mobs, such as Pigs.

Due to his experience with the wilderness (and similar to the perks of Willow and Warly), Walter only takes half as long (0.5 seconds) as other characters (1 second) to cook food. In addition, he is able to use Willow's Lighter to cook food.

Walter is able to restore +6 /min and receives only half the sanity drain from missing health when there are more than 5 Trees within a radius of 2.5 tiles around him.

During the Night, Walter can tell stories at any version of a Campfire by simply right-clicking on them. It generates a sanity aura of +10 /min for himself and all other survivors close to the fire. He also has a 0.5× multiplier for sleeping in items such as the Straw Roll, meaning he loses less hunger from sleeping.

Survivor Items Filter

• Pinetree Pioneer Hat - Reduces Walter's sanity drain from receiving damage by half. Furthermore, the constant sanity drain from missing health is reduced to 25% of its usual strength. Also provides 20% Wetness resistance and 60 of Overheating protection. He starts with one in his inventory, and can craft additional ones using 4 silk. While the hat also restores 2 Sanity per minute while worn, this has no effect on Walter due to his immunity to sanity effects from non-magic clothing.
• Trusty Slingshot - An exclusive ranged weapon which requires being loaded with special Slingshot Ammo to be used. He starts with one in his inventory. This weapon has no durability, but can still be crafted in the event that Walter loses it. It firing speed is roughly twice as long as most melee attacks.
• Slingshot Ammo - Walter has access to an exclusive Slingshot Ammo Tab to craft ammo; crafting each type of ammo will create 10 pieces, and each ammo has unique effects.

Icon	Slingshot Ammo	Damage	Effects	Recipe	Station
	Pebbles	17			Always available
	Gold Rounds	34
	Marbles	51
	Freeze Rounds		Freezes the target, equivalent to 2 Ice Staff hits
	Slow-Down Rounds	17	Reduce target speed by one-third for 30 seconds
	Poop Pellets		Force non-Boss Mobs to drop their current target
	Cursed Rounds	51	Have a 50% chance to summon a Shadow Tentacle on hit
	Melty Marbles	59.5			Cannot be crafted

• Tent Roll - Functions as a portable Tent which can be placed and collected freely. Turns into a Camper's Tent when placed on the ground. Has 10 uses and can be used by other survivors. This is the only item Walter does not start with by default.

Disadvantages

Walter's base health and hunger are lower than average (130 health and 110 hunger).

Walter loses sanity when he loses health, the amount of sanity lost corresponding to twice the health lost: for example, a Spider deals 20 damage to health (40 to sanity) to Walter without armor. For damage over time (such as when Starving, Freezing, or Overheating) the sanity loss is equal to the health loss. The Pinetree Pioneer Hat halves the sanity lost from receiving damage, and reduces the sanity loss over time from lost health by 25%.

In addition, Walter continuously loses sanity while his health is not full, up to -12 /min proportionally to his missing Health (0.2 sanity per 1 hp missing). The sanity drain is quartered when wearing a Pinetree Pioneer Hat or halved when near enough Trees (does not stack, Pinetree Pioneer Hat takes priority).

Walter's inherent immunity to sanity changes from equipped non-magic items means he is unable to make use of clothing such as a Top Hat to regain sanity.

Walter's allergy makes him take 10 extra damage from Bees (Bees, Killer Bees, Grumble Bees, Bee Queen). This damage is not reduced by armor.

Because Walter has Woby, he is unable to adopt a further pet from the Critter Den.

Tips

• Walter provides a unique playstyle compared to the other characters: he is effective for exploring and collecting items on the move, and can be self-sufficient for long periods of time thanks to his fast cooking speed, access to Woby's big form and inventory slots, immunity to sanity drains from dusk/darkness or Worm Holes, and ability to camp overnight with less hunger drain using a portable Tent Roll. This allows him to explore large parts of the map from the get-go, and he is the most effective character for nomadic playstyles or long-duration expeditions away from base.
• On the flipside, Walter is terrible for combat, as his sanity loss from taking health damage can quickly stack up even when armored; taking a few hits while unarmored will often mean going insane. If combat is attempted as Walter, the player should ensure that they have spare armors or foodstuff that can regain health and sanity (such as Cooked Green Caps), as the aftermath of a fight can leave Walter's sanity ticking down quickly.

Sanity

• Sanity can be difficult to control willingly as Walter: while he is effectively able to stay at the same sanity if his health is high, adjusting his sanity cannot be done easily outside of eating certain foods or taking damage, as Worm Holes and sanity-draining auras have no effect. Regaining sanity also takes very long if he only depends on his innate perks. Green Caps are the most effective for adjusting his sanity quickly with minimal changes to his health.
• If Walter is not healing his sanity with foods, he needs to stay in place for extended periods in order to regenerate sanity (eg. staying near many trees and telling campfire stories/sleeping in his Camper's Tent). Be mindful of this before attempting any fights, as the following day/night may be spent just waiting for his sanity to regenerate.
• More than anything, Walter requires some form of armor even during minor engagements, due to how harsh the sanity loss can be. Always be prepared with an extra set of armor if needed.
• Be very careful when at low sanity and health: if Walter's sanity drops below 30 while at low health, his sanity drain means that even if he's killing Shadow Creatures, he will quickly drop past the sanity threshold and make them aggressive again, causing a constant loop of going insane. While this can be useful to farm lots of Nightmare Fuel, it should only be attempted if the player has healing sources for health and sanity.
• Planting several Trees at base is a good way to mitigate sanity loss from missing health: Walter gains +6 /min from having 5+ trees around him, which will cancel out the sanity loss from missing 60 health (since trees halve the sanity loss from missing health).
• If missing sanity, Walter can simply tell a campfire story to himself at night to regenerate some. Ideally, he should tell stories at a Fire Pit that has trees planted around it to get additional sanity gain, and to provide Wetness and Overheating protection while the pit provides light.
• Fights can be initiated around trees to reduce sanity loss during fights. A good example would be the Deerclops, as it can be led to a Forest to fight Spider Dens and chop down large amounts of trees.
• Walter's fearlessness lets him take advantage of several things:
  • Walter loses no sanity from Worm Holes and thus can take them for free.
  • Foraging or chopping trees can be done at night at the very edge of a light source with no penalty, so long as Walter peeks into the light every so often to prevent Charlie from attacking.
  • Caves can be explored with no sanity drain.
  • Bosses can be fought at melee range without fear of their sanity-draining auras.
  • At night, light sources with fuel can be preserved by "flashing" them since Walter loses no sanity in complete darkness - turn them off till right before Charlie attacks, then turn it on again.
• Because Walter is not affected by sanity auras from non-magic equipment:
  • Certain items are pointless for him outside of crafting structures or temperature protection (eg. the Dapper Vest's sanity gain does nothing to him apart from minor insulation, so it should be substituted for the cheaper Breezy Vest).
  • He does not need to dedicate the head or body slot for sanity-regaining equipment, meaning he can wear armors as a default while exploring.
• Followers such as befriended Pigs will still give a sanity over time effect. Walter can make a base near Pig Houses to take advantage of this, along with planting groups of trees.
• Trail Mix is Walter's Favorite Food and is very useful for him: not only is it easily acquired from general exploring/foraging (which is what he excels at), it also keeps for very long (15 days) and restores large chunks of health, allowing it to be used as a dependable healing option to prevent sanity loss, alongside its decent hunger gain (27.5 for Walter). The only downside is that it requires Birchnuts, which do not drop in Winter; ideally, the player should stockpile a stack of Birchnuts to use over the course of Winter, with an unharvested Berry Bush farm ready.
• The Tent Roll should be crafted when able to: while it costs a pricey 15 Cut Grass total to craft, it is much easier to obtain than the Tent, is fully portable with the same amount of uses and healing factor, and is one of Walter's only effective options for regaining sanity if he lacks sanity-regaining foods. It also lets him heal up overnight to prevent high amounts of sanity loss.
  • The Tent Roll should be prioritized instead of building normal Tents when playing with others due to its cheap recipe.
  • As the Tent Roll lets Walter sleep wherever he wants, it can be used as an emergency option if the player happens to run out of light sources at night (or wishes to conserve fuel items).
• The Pinetree Pioneer Hat should be worn when missing health, as it slows down Walter's sanity drain. Otherwise, it should not be equipped outside of using it for protection against rain or overheating, as it will lose durability while worn. In combat, the hat's reduced sanity damage is a good option should the player not have easy access to Football Helmets, but head armor should be always be prioritized if one has it, since the Pinetree Pioneer Hat provides no armor and will result in taking more damage (meaning more sanity drain) despite its perks.

Other

• Walter's fast cooking speed lets him cook large amounts of spoiling food if needed.
• Woby gives Walter the most inventory space out of all early-game characters if they do not find the Eye Bone during the first few days. Taking advantage of this along with a Backpack lets the player hoard items for a base while exploring the map early on.
• Woby can be used as a Monster Meat dump if the player does not have access to a Birdcage.
• The game prioritizes feeding Woby instead of opening her inventory if one has Monster Meat items held, so if one wishes to store Monster Meat items in her inventory, they should open her inventory while holding other items. (By default, normal Woby is fed with left click, and Big Woby is fed with right click.)
• While Big Woby is a great exploring tool, using her to escape from mobs can be risky unless Walter is already riding her, as any damage taken will fling him off and leave him open to attacks.
• As Bees will do 30 damage to Walter even if he is wearing armor, care should be taken when handling Bee Boxes or going past Killer Bee Hives, as Walter can easily die or lose large amounts of sanity (for context, Spiders deal 20 damage to an unarmored character). For the same reason, the Bee Queen is an exceptionally difficult fight that should not be attempted alone or without food for health or sanity.
• Upon spawning, the player should load Walter's Trusty Slingshot with the Pebbles from his inventory, as this frees up an inventory slot.
• The Trusty Slingshot grants Walter a cheap early-game tool for hunting mobs such as Birds and Gobblers, which otherwise require using other more expensive tools to catch/kill.
  • Gobblers will not react to being shot at, which lets Walter pelt them to death for easy Drumsticks.
  • It can be used to grab aggro from distant mobs such as Koalefants or Krampus, which usually requires time to corner (or a Boomerang ready).
  • The default Pebbles ammunition don't do enough damage to instantly kill Rabbits or Birds; Rabbits can simply be chased away from their burrows and shot again, but birds will require at least Gold Rounds.
• Once resources are found, the Trusty Slingshot continues being effective in mid-game, as the variety of slingshot ammo and amount crafted per recipe lets Walter play a support role in combat, either by pestering mobs from afar, or hindering them with debuffs. It does fire slowly compared to other weapons, so it should be used with caution.