Wilson, or as some know him, The Gentleman Scientist.
Wilson, in most cases, is the first character that you interact with when playing any form of Don’t Starve. Wilson requires no experience points to unlock in the base version of Don’t Starve and is one of the playable characters in Don’t Starve Together.
As a whole Wilson doesn’t provide too much utility to a player or their team. Being that Wilson is meant to be a default character, his main perk is that he doesn’t have any drawbacks that alter his Hunger, Sanity or Health.
Maxwell does not have access to any items that are unavailable to other characters.
The following is all of the information you need to know when it comes to playing Wilson Percival Higgsbury: The Gentleman Scientist.
WILSON’S STATS
Hunger: 150
Sanity: 200
Health: 150
Damage: Normal
WILSON’S MAGNIFICENT BEARD
Wilson’s main perk is that he can grow a magnificent beard.
Wilson’s beard grows in three stages,Short Beard,Long Beard, andMagnificent Beard.
Wilson’sShort Beard appears at earliest onDay 5, provides the player with 1 Beard Hair when shaved and provides 15 seconds of insulation in the winter.
Wilson’sShort Beard grows into aLong Beard atearliest on Day 8, provides the player with 3Beard Hair when shaved and provides 45 seconds of insulation in the winter.
Wilson’s Long Beard grows into aMagnificent Beard at earliest on Day 16, provides the player with 9Beard Hair when shaved and provides 135 seconds of insulation in the winter.
Shaving Wilson’s beard at any point will return the player with10 Sanity, though using the beard as a method for sanity is not recommended.
HOW TO USE WILSON’S MAGNIFICENT BEARD
There are only two benefits to having Wilson’s Magnificent Beard, insulation and Beard Hair for Meat Effigies.
Since most players who play Don’t Starve have the winter season on, Wilson is going to be a good character to help you survive your first.
Something you will quickly realize is that winter is difficult to survive if you don’t have the proper amount of insulation or warmth to do anything.
While you can make yourself a thermal stone to keep yourself warm, Wilson’s Magnificent Beard is great to fall back on in case the thermal stone cools down and you’re nowhere near a fire.
Now, since you probably won’t start a game in the winter, Wilson’s Magnificent Beard is going to be useless for a while, so what should you do with it? Well, I personally believe in grooming Wilson every 15 days.
Players will require 4 Beard Hairs,4 Cooked Meat and4Boards to assemble a Meat Effigy in Don’t Starve and 4 Beard Hairs,40 Health and4Boards inDon’t Starve Together.
Meat Effigies are one of 3 ways a player can resurrect themselves when playing Don’t Starve & Don’t Starve Together unless they are in a sandbox or endless world.
Constructing yourself a Meat Effigy in Don’t Starve, especially solo, can be a game-changer. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve wiped on a world and had all of the resources to build this lifesaver. Silly that I didn’t do it.
If you are concerned about staying alive in the winter, keep Wilson’s beard long and proud. There’s no need to shave your beard if you have already built a Meat Effigy or have another way to resurrect yourself and Beard Hair isn’t used for anything else.
While having 135 seconds of insulation is nice, it’s not absolutely necessary, especially if you build yourself aWinter Hat orBeefalo Hat. The first few days of winter will be milder than the rest of the season so, as you feel more comfortable playing the game, begin shaving away at that magnificent beard anytime it’s the biggest it can be.
Think about it like thisThermal Stone+Beard = Survival orThermal Stone + Hat = Survival. You will never need a Thermal Stone, Clothes and a Beard, although it is quite nice to have.
Note: To have your beard ready for the first day of winter shave your beard at the latest at dusk of day 4.
INSULATION MEANS MORE FIGHTING
Due to the fact that winter means the risk of freezing, many new players will be too scared to stay outside for extended periods of time.
While I don’t blame new players for being afraid of the cold, especially when playing Willow, I will say that having a full-grown Magnificent Beard can be a gamechanger when killing enemies with high health.
The most important enemies you’re going to want to kill during the winter are theWinter Koalafant.
TheWinter Koalafant has 500HP in Don’t Starve and 1000 HP in Don’t Starve Together, so expect to spend a good amount of time away from the fire.
The Winter Koalafant drops theWinter Koalafant Trunk whichis required to craft the Puffy Vest. Although you may not need the Puffy Vest for Wilson, your teammates will appreciate the extra warmth.
WHAT’S THE LONGEST INSULATION WILSON CAN HAVE?
Using the best winter gear, Wilson can get 735 seconds of insulation or 12.25 minutes. This equals to about a day and a half of warmth.
The best winter gear currently in the game are Puffy Vest, a Beefalo Hat, a Thermal Stone.
SHAVE WILSON IN THE SUMMER (RoG & SW)
I cannot stress how important it is to shave Wilson in the summer seasons if you are playing Reign of Giants or Shipwrecked.
Due to the fact that the summer season or dry season causes Wilson to Overheat, some players have found themselves dying to passive damage without realizing why.
Grab your Razer, give yourself a nice shave and grab a seat by the Endothermic Fire.
CONCLUSION & WHO TO PAIR WILSON WITH INDON’T STARVE TOGETHER
While Wilson cannot provide you with a lot of perks, he does really shine during the winter.
Would I recommend taking Wilson into Don’t Starve Together? Probably not. The only character Wilson “works with” is Willow because she needs Beard Hair to craft her teddy bear, Bernie.
You could use Wilson to provide your server with a bunch of Beard Hair for Meat Effigies to make sure everyone gets resurrected easily, thoughDon’t Starve Together has plenty of ways to resurrect players.
Would I recommend taking Wilson into Don’t Starve? Absolutely. He’s a great character to take into your first run through Don’t Starve, especially if you’re just learning how to fight enemies.
WILSON’S FAVOURITE FOOD (DON’T STARVE TOGETHER)
If players are looking for more stats from food when it comes to Wilson, they should really feed him Bacon and Eggs.
Bacon and Eggs require:
1 Meat
2 Eggs
1 Filler
Instead of providing 75 Hunger, they will provide Wilson with 90 Hunger.