Sanity is one of the most important aspects you must manage while playing Don’t Starve Together. Alongside hunger and temperature, it is one of the key things players have to juggle constantly by crafting items and gathering resources. Here’s how to increase sanity in Don’t Starve Together as there are many ways to do it.
What is Sanity in Don’t Starve Together?
Sanity is one of the three visible consumable resources in Don’t Starve Together. It is a resource that you have to constantly keep refilling using different items, otherwise, you will not survive.
While certain characters function differently in regards to sanity, for most of them being low on sanity makes playing the game much harder. It decreases the more time you spend in the dark, what items you pick up or craft, and when fighting enemies.
If your sanity is too low, you will start to see shadow creatures, which are sort of the main antagonist of the game. The lower your sanity, the more aggressive they become. They’re tough to beat, but they are the easiest way to procure Nightmare Fuel – one of the most useful crafting items in Don’t Starve.
How to Increase Your Sanity in Don’t Starve Together?
The most important thing to know if you want to increase your sanity is that the more days you spend in a Don’t Starve Together save, the more you’re going to have to fight for it. This means you’re going to need to find different ways to increase your sanity based on where you are in your save – in the early, mid, or late game.
Scaling what you’re doing for survival will ensure your save is long and prosperous.
Early Game Methods of Increasing Sanity
The early game methods of sanity increase are very simple, but if you combine them, or even do them when you need to, you’ll keep your sanity in check.
Picking up Flowers – As trivial as it may sound, picking up flowers is the easiest way you can increase your sanity in the early game. Picking up any flower gives you +5 sanity, and you can find them very easily, as they constantly spawn around bee hives. This is a really quick and easy way that may prove useful in all stages of the game.
Garland – A Garland requires 12 flowers to craft, and it restores 1.3 sanity per minute. 1.3 sanity is really not much, but crafting a garland does not require a science machine, and it is a great way to keep your sanity up in the early game.
Cooked Green Mushrooms – Cooking your green mushrooms makes them restore 15 sanity each time you eat them. But be mindful not to eat any raw mushrooms, since they reduce your sanity by 50. Also, green mushrooms constantly spawn around marshes, but they can only be picked at dusk, so be prepared.
Mid Game Methods of Increasing Sanity
The mid-game methods are ones you should look at once you are a bit more advanced in your save. Once you’ve picked a place for your base and set up what you need, you should start investing some time in protecting your sanity.
Top Hat – The top hat restores 3.3 sanity per minute, which is much better than the Garland. However, to get a top hat, you’re going to have to go hunting for spiders and get 6 silks. It is the most consistent way to restore sanity in the mid-game.
Cooked Foods – Most cooked foods restore some sanity, but some special ones are the best for it. Many of them start being available in the mid-game when you can grow crops with farms or consistently fight animals for meat. The best foods to restore your sanity are Grilled Watermelon (7.5) and Jerky (15).
Defeating Sanity Monsters – Defeating sanity monsters restores from 33 up to 50 sanity. In the mid-game, you should be able to start taking on a few of them. If you ever find yourself away from your base and can’t restore sanity, try to fight some monsters. They are not that hard to defeat since their attacks are slow.
Late Game Methods of Increasing Sanity
The late game methods are much more advanced and require either hard-to-get items to craft or advanced devices like a crockpot.
Ice Cream – Ice cream is the single best food item in the game to restore sanity. It restores 50 sanity per portion. However, it is very hard to procure. You will need one ice, one dairy product (which is very hard to get), and one sweetener in the crockpot to craft it. It’s going to take a long time to consistently craft ice cream, but it’s worth investing some time into, especially in the late game.
Tam O’ Shanter – This is one of the best hats in the game, not just for sanity. To get the Tam O’ Shanter you’re going to have to fight Mactusk, which is no easy feat. On top of that, it only has a 25% drop rate, so if you’re unlucky, it might take you a while to get one. However, if you get it, it has a 6.6 sanity increase per minute, almost as much as a Grilled Watermelon.
Sleeping – In the late game, when you already have most of the stuff taken care of and you don’t need to run around and gather supplies, sleeping might be a great alternative to refill your sanity if you haven’t invested time in any consistent sanity filler throughout your save. Just craft either a tent or a siesta lean-to and trade one hunger for one sanity per second.
