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Wigfrid Portrait
A snake beast fröm the depths!

Wigfrid

The Depths Worm is a hostile Mob found in Caves and Ruins. When it is not engaged with the player, it will seek out areas with harvestable objects then set its lure and lay in wait, or emerge to consume meats. This lure will appear as a small blue flower labeled "Mysterious Plant". If the player approaches the displayed lure, the worm will emerge and attack. During this time the main body of the worm resides underground.

The Depths Worm serves the same function below ground as Hounds above ground; they will periodically spawn in a wave to attack the player. Before an attack, the player will begin to hear rumbling growls which grow more frequent the closer the attack draws. The older a world is, the more frequently attacks will come and the more worms will spawn with each wave. Initially, attacks will occur every 12 days with 1 Worm. At 150 days the waves reach their maximum intensity and will come every 5 days with 3 worms.

Very rarely a single worm may be encountered in the Mushtree Forest biome.

Periodic Attacks[]

Webber Portrait
Ohhh nooo. We're not friends with worms!

Webber

Before an attack, the player will begin to hear rumbling growls which grow more frequent the closer the attack draws. The older a world is, the more frequently attacks will come and the more worms will spawn with each wave.

Depth Worms' spawn delay decreases and the amount of Worms spawned increases as the player survives longer on Default settings.

Next attack (days) Count

Advance warning (seconds)

Day 0 to 9 10 - 17 1 120
Day 10 to 24 10 - 17 1 - 2 60
Day 25 to 49 8 - 15 1 - 2 45
Day 50 to 99 8 - 15 2 - 3 30
Day 100 or more 6 - 11 3 - 5 30

The highest custom setting for Depth Worms is less dangerous than after day 100 on the Default setting.

Custom setting Delay (days) Count Advance warning (seconds)
Never -- -- --
Less 10 - 17 1 - 2 60
More 8 - 15 1 - 2 45
Lots 6 - 11 2 - 3 30

Brain Behavior[]

When it is not engaged with the player, it will seek out areas with harvestable objects then set its lure and lay in wait, or emerge to consume both meats and vegetables. This lure will appear as a Mysterious Plant. If the player attempts to harvest the displayed lure, or remains nearby for too long, the worm will emerge and attack. During this time the main body of the worm resides underground.

Spear Fighting Strategy[]

Below is the number of hits it takes with each weapon to kill Depth Worms when playing with characters with a default damage modifier. The Weather Pain is not included due to the random nature of its projectile.

Weapon Fire DartFire Staff Fishing RodBug Net Lucy the Axe Shovel Pitchfork

Hammer Torch Umbrella

Walking Cane Willow's Lighter

Axe Pickaxe

Luxury Axe Opulent Pickaxe

Boomerang

PickSlashAxe Spear Bat Bat Ham Bat Morning Star Slurtle SlimeTentacle Spike

Battle Spear

Thulecite Club Tooth Trap Glass CutterDark Sword Blow Dart Gunpowder
No. of hits for
Depths Worm
Immune 212 67 53 34 30 27 22 16-31 13 or 21
(13 Don't Starve Together icon)
18 16 15 14 9 5

Prototype Tips[]

  • Depth Worms will only trigger a Tooth Trap when any part of their body is above ground, that being their animations & attacks. Players will have to repeatedly bait Depth Worms' attacks as the mere 60 damage will only pepper the worms with enameled shrapnel.
    • Alternatively, using a Bee Mine may prove advantageous. Five or six of them will be enough to deal with a Worm.
  • Pigs and Bunnymen will ensure a safe place from the worms as the Pigs and Bunnies will attack them on sight. Pigs will automatically leave their homes during the day and Bunnymen will also leave during dusk and night so befriending items are not needed if the player stays near their homes. The bigger the waves are the more Houses and Hutches one will need though. Giving protective helmets to them will make them more efficient.
  • Rock Lobsters are the best option to deal with Depth Worms. A group of 3-4 of them will make quick work of Worm waves even when they're at their maximum size. The lobsters don't need to be fully mature, small ones will work too. The player may need to lure the worms to the lobsters due to their slow speed.
  • A cheap method is available by simply using a Walking Cane and/or the Magiluminescence to outrun the worms (when the later waves bring several of them), then take them on one by one with a powerful melee weapon such as a Tentacle Spike, Ham Bat, or Dark Sword.
  • Depths Worms will always follow the same attack pattern: attacking once, followed by a brief resurface, then a second attack followed by no resurface. It is possible to get 4-5 hits in after the first attack, during the initial diving and subsequent surfacing.
  • A more advanced kiting strategy enables fighting any number of worms simultaneously. Equipping a Walking Cane and/or a Magiluminescence for extra movement speed and "gather up" all worms by running around near them. If any attack, keep trying to round them all up again. Leave a few seconds in between to ensure that they are ready and able to attack. Then, bait an attack from all of the worms, which causing all of them to attack almost simultaneously. If any of them didn't attack, start over. Once the worms finished attacking, attack the group 3-6 times depending on your speed, kiting ability, and willingness to tank damage. So long as they all keep attacking simultaneously, it's like fighting just one. If any get out of sync, simply start over.
    • Be careful, however, as when you get hit by one, you are likely to get hit by the other worms as well, as their attacks are synced up.
  • Depths Worms cannot be frozen by an Ice Staff but being hit by it will still stun them.
  • Despite moving underground, Depths Worms will still be unable to go past Walls. They will also not attack the wall even if their target is on the other side.
  • Depths Worms attack any mob in sight except for insects and birds, which can be used to the player's advantage. During a Depths Worm attack, the player can let it chase them until it loses interest and looks for a new target.
  • In Don't Starve Together, Depths Worms, much like Tentacles, are always wet, this can be used to identify a Depths Worm with its lure up; if a Mysterious Plant is wet (blue text when hovering over it), yet it has not rained recently, the plant is a disguised Depths Worm, this also means that the Morning Star is more effective against Depths Worms, due to the bonus damage against wet enemies.
Rock Lobster pen in the Wilds
  • Depths Worms periodic attacks overwhelm players with their high damage but are generally slow. If a player runs far enough from the Depths Worms, they will lose interest in you and separate whilst planting their lures. The player will then be able to eliminate their numbers one by one later on.
  • Dealing with the Periodic Attacks in Don't Starve Together: In Don't Starve Together, many more Depths Worms will spawn during an attack and cannot be fought one on one. Creating walled-in sections of five or more Rock Lobsters, particularly in the Wilds, by luring them from the Caves into the Ruins (as they are connected on the same level) is an effective way to deal with the mobs while spelunking deep in the Ruins. Once fully penned in the Rock Lobsters will not leave. During the warning/attack, hammer down one wall on each side to ensure you have good exits and don't get pinned. The rock lobsters cannot leave through just one missing wall space (they can however disappear if left unattended with the missing wall pieces). By giving the Rock Lobsters food (rocks, flint, gold, ect.) or kiting the Depth Worms in such a way that they attack them, the Rock Lobsters will be able to successfully kill the mob. Rebuild the walls once completed.

Placeholder Trivia[]

  • During the Nightmare phase of the Ruins, the pinkish purple segments of the worm's fur will become a vibrant red. This is due to a side effect of the Nightmare Cycle, one which causes all traces of red to glow a vibrant, magenta-red color during the active phase.
  • The Depths Worm was added in the Six Feet Under update.
  • Like Slurtles and a few other creatures, Maxwell expresses surprise at their existence, implying he didn't mean for them to be on the island.
  • The striations and coloration are similar to that of the Sandworms from the Beetlejuice cartoon series.
  • Their lure is very similar to the lure of a female Anglerfish in real life.
  • Their inclusion could be a reference to the Graboid, a species of subterranean worm-like creatures from the Tremors series.
    • Winona's periodic attack quote is also a potential Tremors reference.
  • If a Varg is spawned into the Caves or Ruins via the Console, it will summon Depths Worms. This is likely due to the periodic attack mechanics of the Caves and Ruins.
  • The Depths Worm could be a reference to the Mongolian Death Worm. The latter is said to be very deadly and burrow underground like the Depths Worm does, yet not as large.

Mosquito Bugs[]

  • Depths Worms can trigger Tooth Traps while underground and be damaged by them.
  • In Don't Starve Together, when a Depths Worm attack is about to occur, going to the surface and then back to the Caves will cause no Depths Worms to spawn. Restarting the server between leaving and entering the Caves will fix the bug.

Blueprint Gallery[]

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