Reading mob stats in Don’t Starve
Every creature in Don’t Starve carries hidden numbers, and the cached dontstarve-mobs.json data lays them bare. The three stats that decide a fight are health, damage and attack period — multiply damage by attack frequency and you get real threat per second. A Hound has 150 health and 20 damage on a 2-second attack period, so it deals 10 damage per second. Compare that to a Bee at 100 health and 10 damage on a 2-second period (5 DPS) and the pecking order is clear.
This guide quotes only numbers traced to the local mob cache. Use it alongside the combat guide to pair these threats with the right weapon, and the boss guide for the heavy hitters.
Common overworld mobs
The table below lists real values for the creatures you meet while exploring. Speeds marked ”—” are not recorded in the cache.
| Mob | Health | Damage | Attack period | Walk speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hound | 150 | 20 | 2 | — |
| Frog | 100 | 10 | 1 | 4 |
| Bee | 100 | 10 | 2 | 4 |
| Catcoon | 150 | 25 | 2 | 3 |
| Clockwork Rook | 300 | 45 (hit) / 200 (charge) | 2 | 5 |
| Clockwork Knight | 300 | 40 | 2 | 5 |
| Merm | 250 | 30 | 3 | 3 |
| Bunnyman | 200 | 40 | 2 | 3 |
| Varg | 600 | 50 | 3 | — |
| Tentacle | 500 | 34 | 2 | — |
| Shadow Tentacle | 500 | 34 | 2 | Immobile |
| Rock Lobster | 1125–1800 | 56.25–90 | — | 2 |
How threat actually scales
Raw damage understates danger. The Clockwork Rook looks modest at 45 damage but its charge attack hits for 200 damage and it moves at speed 5, so a careless player can lose most of their health in one pass. The Rock Lobster scales from 1125 to 1800 health and 56.25 to 90 damage depending on its growth, meaning an old one is roughly twice as dangerous as a fresh spawn.
Numbers that matter for planning your fights:
- Hound — 150 health, 20 damage, arrives in recurring waves rather than alone.
- Varg — 600 health and 50 damage, the pack leader that calls more hounds.
- Tentacle — 500 health, 34 damage, a stationary ambush near water and caves.
- Bunnyman — 200 health, 40 damage, a useful ally if you feed it carrots.
- Merm — 250 health, 30 damage, defends its village aggressively.
Cave and shadow creatures
The underground and the night bring stranger foes. Lavae has 500 health and deals 50 Fire damage on a 4-second period at speed 5.5, while the Fused Shadeling carries 1250 health and 40 damage. The Lurking Nightmare sits at 850 health with 50 damage on a fast 1.5-second period — quietly one of the deadliest small mobs in the dataset.
Other notable underground threats from the cache:
- Slurper — 200 health, 30 damage, speed 9 (very fast).
- Shattered Spider — 250 health, 25 (bite) / 10 (spike) damage, speed 3.75.
- Spitter — 175 health, 20 damage, speed 4.
- Splumonkey — 125 health, 20 damage, speed 7.
- Mosquito — 100 health, 3 (hit) / 34 (explosion) damage, speed 8.
“Shadow creatures hit far harder than their size suggests, and they ignore most armor,” reads the cached bestiary note on the Lurking Nightmare’s 50 damage output.
Using the stats to survive
Match your weapon to the mob’s health pool. A Battle Spear (details in the combat guide) does 42.5 damage per hit, so it needs 4 hits to kill a 150-health Hound and 12 hits for a 500-health Tentacle. Knowing these ratios before a fight is what separates a planned hunt from a panic retreat. The items guide lists the gear that raises your own effective health, and the mobs database holds the full cached list.
Lesser-known creatures and their stats
Beyond the headline threats, the cached mob data is full of smaller creatures whose numbers still matter in a long run. The Batilisk has 50 health and 20 damage on a 1-second attack period at speed 6, making it fast and annoying near caves and ruins. The Bottlenose Ballphin carries 200 health and 25 damage at speed 5, and the Horror Hound has 100 health and 25 damage on a 2.5-second period. None of these ends a run alone, but they chip your health between bigger fights and are easy to underestimate.
The Ghost is a special case: 200 health and 15 damage on a 1.2-second period, and it only appears under specific conditions, so its numbers are worth knowing before you trigger one. The Ewecus (500 health, 40 damage) and Hutch (450 health) are bulkier neutral creatures you can ignore or farm, while the Pit Pig (350 health, 20 damage) and Prime Ape (125 health, 20 damage) guard their own territories and will aggro if you linger.
A compact reference of the remaining cached creatures:
| Creature | Health | Damage | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batilisk | 50 | 20 | 6 |
| Bottlenose Ballphin | 200 | 25 | 5 |
| Horror Hound | 100 | 25 | 2.5 |
| Ghost | 200 | 15 | 1.2 |
| Ewecus | 500 | 40 | — |
| Hutch | 450 | — | 3 |
| Pit Pig | 350 | 20 | — |
| Prime Ape | 125 | 20 | 2 |
| Skittersquid | 170 | 6.67 | 4 |
| Shadow Merm | 500 | 30 | — |
These values let you decide at a glance whether to fight, flee or befriend. A Batilisk is only 50 health, so it dies in 2 Battle Spear hits; a Horror Hound deals 25 damage on 2.5 seconds, which is actually lower DPS than a normal Hound’s 20 on 2 seconds; and a Ghost’s 1.2-second period means its low 15 damage still adds up if you ignore it. The items guide covers the gear that tips each of these fights in your favor.
Related reading
Pair this with the survival guide for meter management and the winter guide for cold-season spawns. The exploration guide covers where each of these mobs tends to appear.