Don’t Starve Together – How to Melee Kill Any Enemy

Melee Guide

Note: Credit goes to butcher

F – “autoattack” command, will attack the nearest hostile target for as long as you hold it.

Ctrl + F – “force attack” command, which will attack the nearest target period. This is useful if you’re trying to kill passive mobs, but be careful around allied followers like Chester or pigmen.

How you should fight depends on the enemies you’re facing

For example, if you’re attempting to clear a tier 1 spider den during the day, you can draw the spiders out one at a time by walking on the web and letting them come near enough to attack you. Once they’ve aggro’d on you, they’ll follow you so that you can engage them far enough away that reinforcements won’t come out when you hit them.

Regular spiders are stunned from damage, so once you’re in a good position to fight, all you need to do is hold F vs a single spider. You’ll keep them stunlocked until they’re dead.

If you’re fighting more than one spider at once because you engaged them too close to the nest, or it’s evening and they reinforce each other from a far distance, it’s just a matter of getting used to their movement speed and attack animation time. It’s much easier than it sounds – you get close, hit F to attack, and run. Experience just teaches you to get more attacks off without taking damage in the same time.

Other enemies, like Spider Warriors that spawn if you fight too close to a higher level spider den, are immune to stunlocking. In those cases, you need to learn their attack pattern to engage them effectively.

The most important thing for learning to fight as you start out is probably to wear Log Armor. You craft it in the Fight tab from logs and rope. Log Armor absorbs 80% of the damage you take, effectively quintupling your health and the benefits of healing items.

On that note, you should learn to kill Butterflies. They’re harmless, and their wings heal 8 health a piece when you eat them. You can’t engage them easily in melee while they’re on the move, but they often stop to fly in place briefly if you’re not too close – and that’s when you murder them. Make sure to leave them alone for a few days after a murder spree, or Krampus will avenge them for your naughtiness.