Willow/Don't Starve Together (2024)

Advantages[]

See also: Willow's Lighterand Bernie

She is able to craft her exclusive Willow's Lighter, a portable light source similar to a torch but with a smaller radius that can also be used to cook Food. It can last for 600 seconds or from cooking 100 times.

Bernie is an additional starting item exclusive to Willow. She starts with him in her inventory, and can be crafted from the Survival tab. He can be equipped in the hand slot by Willow to provide warmth and sanity, but at the cost of durability. If he is placed on the ground and is near an insane Willow (below 15% sanity, 18/120 sanity), Bernie will become BERNIE! and grow to immense size. BERNIE! is able to taunt and attack most Mobs, other than Bosses. Only one BERNIE! will be active for each Willow player in the game. Any other Bernie nearby will become animate, but will not increase in size. This Bernie will attract Shadow Creatures and distract them until his HP is completely depleted. In addition, this smaller Bernie can be activated and used by all insane characters, not just Willow.

Willow will not receive damage from fire, though she is still capable of taking indirect damage through overheating. Her immunity to fire damage allows her to extinguish smoldering objects without taking damage and she does so faster than other characters. When she fuels a fire, it is 50% more efficient compared to other characters (this also applies to Night Lights). Also, it takes longer for Willow to Overheat and she takes less damage from it. Willow only takes half as long (0.5 seconds) as other Characters (1 second) to cook food.

Close vicinity to fire will gradually restore Willow's sanity. The larger the fire, the more sanity is regained up to 11 per minute, per fire. Willow must stand close to a fire to receive the effect, but her fire immunity allows doing this safely.

She has a passive sanity multiplier making her gain sanity 10% faster (sanity over time effects, including aura, structures and equipment).

Disadvantages[]

Willow is more susceptible to Freezing. She loses more health and sanity when cold. Winter insulating items are less effective for her and she takes less hits to become frozen by attacks. She also loses sanity 10% faster from sanity over time effects.

Skill Tree[]

Lighter[]

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Controlled Burning	"Fires you set won't spread, and burnable loot will just smolder. Items like torches and Willow's lighter have a 100% chance to ignite targets."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Burn Duration	"Creatures burn for a longer time."	Controlled Burning

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Fire Fighter	"Your fires deal more damage to creatures over time."	Burn Duration

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Brighter Lighter I	"Increase your lighter's brightness a little."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Brighter Lighter II	"Increase your lighter's brightness a lot."	Brighter Lighter I

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Hungry Lighter	"Stop things from burning by absorbing the flame (even when they're only smoldering) with your lighter."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Ember Tender	"Collect and use Embers to perform Pyrokinetic effects. You can collect Embers from burned creatures with your lighter."	Hungry Lighter

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Spontaneous Combustion	"Use Embers to ignite creatures in an area near you."	Ember Tender

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Fire Ball	"Use Embers to create a ball of flame for heat and light."	Ember Tender

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Burning Frenzy	"For 60 seconds, add 25% weapon damage when attacking burning targets."	Ember Tender

Bernie[]

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Patch Up I	"Bernie's health regenerates slowly."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.
Bernie regenerates 1 per second.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Patch Up II	"Bernie's health regenerates quicker."	Patch Up I
Bernie regenerates 2 per second.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Bearly Sane I	"Bernie will become animated at a higher sanity threshold."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.
Bernie will become big, when Willows sanity falls below 36.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Bearly Sane II	"Bernie will become animated at an even higher sanity threshold."	Bearly Sane I
Bernie will become big, when Willows sanity falls below 60.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Accelerant I	"Bernie's movement speed is a little faster."	This Skill has no requirement to unlock.
Bernie's movement speed is increased by 15%.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Accelerant II	"Bernie's movement speed is much faster."	Accelerant I
Bernie's movement speed is increased by 30%.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Hot-Headed	"Bernie will take it upon himself to taunt and attack any nearby lunar-aligned or shadow-aligned creatures."	Bearly Sane II
Bernie will activate regardless of Willow’s sanity if there are lunar or shadow aligned creatures nearby.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Tough Stuffing I	"Bernie's total health is a little higher."	Learn at least 4 Bernie skills to unlock.
Bernie has 15% more health.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Tough Stuffing II	"Bernie's total health is much higher."	Tough Stuffing I
Bernie has 30% more health.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Burning Bernie	"Igniting Bernie will give him a firey aura for a short time. Enemies that attack an ignited Bernie will take damage back."	Learn at least 8 Bernie skills to unlock.
Ignited Bernie deals 50 damage to attacking creatures.

Affinity[]

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Shadow Bernie	"Tap into the darkness to strengthen Bernie's planar attack and defense, particularly against lunar enemies."	Find and defeat the Ancient Fuelweaver. Have no Lunar Allegiance Skills. Learn 6 Bernie skills to unlock.
Bernie deals +5 planar damage to lunar-aligned targets and receives 15 planar protection against them.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Shadow Fire-Raiser	"The Queen will reward your loyalty with the power of shadow fire. Summon multiple tendrils of black flame to seek out hostile targets."	Find and defeat the Ancient Fuelweaver. Have no Lunar Allegiance Skills. Learn 7 Lighter skills to unlock.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Lunar Bernie	"Entreat the moon to strengthen Bernie's planar attack and defense, particularly against shadow enemies."	Find and defeat the Celestial Champion. Have no Shadow Allegiance Skills. Learn 6 Bernie skills to unlock.
Bernie deals +5 planar damage to shadow-aligned targets and receives 15 planar protection against them.

Skill	Description	Prerequisites
Lunar Fire-Raiser	"The Cryptic Founder will reward your curiosity with the formula for lunar flames. Use Embers to blast cold lunar flames."	Find and defeat the Celestial Champion. Have no Shadow Allegiance Skills. Learn 7 Lighter skills to unlock.

Tips[]

• There is no cap to the amount of sanity/min that Willow can gain from multiple fires, so the player can drop multiple flammable items nearby (Grass, Logs etc.) and then set them on fire to gain massive amounts of sanity and warmth. Note that a single stack counts as a single fire, so any items will need to be dropped separately. This is only really worth it if the player can construct an Ice Flingomatic, which can preserve the items at little cost, and a way to set the items on fire such as a Campfire or a Dwarf Star.
• Since her rework, Willow's lighter is mandatory to use her spells, while also being refuelable and potentially an aid to some weapons. Nonetheless, things like Torches, the Miner Helmet and the Lantern will provide a much better light radius and versatility than the Lighter, with a little maintenance. However Willow's Lighter is far more efficient on resources than normal torches.
• Her resistance to Overheating can be really useful during Summer.
• Willow's low base sanity allows her to easily avoid Shadow Creatures, as she only needs to be at around 19 sanity for them to disappear.
• When paired with Webber or Wilson, Willow can make her Bernie more easily.
• When paired with a Wickerbottom, Bernie will allow Wickerbottom to read Books without being attacked by Shadow Creatures.
• Willow's Favorite Food is Spicy Chili, meaning that she gains 15 bonus when consuming the food.