Don't Starve Together Guide: Survive

In the "Turn of Tides" update, the developers introduced adjustable options to reduce the difficulty of getting started, allowing players to fine-tune settings for a better gaming experience. The scenarios mentioned in this guide are based on the default difficulty level.

The survival section will briefly cover lighting, food, combat, climate, the resurrection system, and other related game elements.

A newcomer who's never played Don't Starve, convinced by a persuasive roommate, chooses Wilson and steps through the Florid Postern, entering this mysterious land.

It's currently autumn, and the surroundings are filled with the sounds of birds and the sight of flowers. Butterflies and bees dance in the air, creating a peaceful scene.

The newcomer happily wanders around, and soon notices three circular icons in the top right corner of the screen. These represent the player's current hunger, sanity, and health. For convenience, we'll refer to these collectively as the "three stats."

Lighting

Night quietly descends. As the screen fades to black, your health bar vanishes amidst eerie sounds, and you transform into a ghost. A countdown appears, warning that if you can't revive, this world will reset.

Reflecting on the cause of death, the newcomer realizes after some research that they met their demise at the hands of Charlie in the dark.

Light is the antidote to Charlie's attacks. As we learned in elementary school, energy released during combustion causes electrons to jump to higher energy levels, and as they return to lower levels, they release photons, producing light. (Just kidding.)

Fire provides illumination and is also essential for cooking and maintaining warmth. The simplest light source, the torch, is made from grass and twigs. It offers a small area of light but will eventually burn out and disappear.

Grass

Grass and twigs are common plants on the map, and players can gather them by hand.

Torches can also ignite flammable items such as grass, flowers, trees, and even structures within your base.

Torches have a short duration, so for the long nights, you'll need a campfire or a fire pit. Crafting these requires sufficient grass, logs, and stones.

Gathering logs requires an axe, and collecting stones requires a pickaxe. Both tools are made from flint and twigs. Early on, make sure not to miss any grass, twigs, or flint in your sight, and craft a pickaxe as soon as possible to mine rocks for more flint, stones, and gold.

Players can collect scattered flint on the map to craft their first pickaxe.

Gold mines can be mined to obtain gold, flint, and stones.

If you're unlucky and can't gather enough resources before nightfall, you can use a torch to ignite trees as a light source. This allows you to save your torch's burn time.

A campfire is a stationary fire that you can add fuel to in order to extend its burning time. Common fuels include grass, twigs and their roots, charcoal, and even manure.

Campfire with ample fuel

In the early game, grass and twig roots can be collected with a shovel. The shovel needs to be unlocked using a Science Machine.

It's important to note that a campfire will ignite nearby flammable objects when sufficient fuel is added. To avoid burning down your base, it's best to use it in an open area.

After a campfire burns out, it turns into a pile of ashes, meaning it is a one-time emergency item. A fire pit is essential for a more permanent setup at home.

It will soon be dispersed by the wind.

It can be reignited by adding fuel after it has burned out, and it won’t ignite anything around it. The downside is that it consumes a large amount of stones, so choosing a proper location for the fire pit is important.

After adding enough fuel, a fire pit will produce a piece of charcoal when it burns out. You can also obtain charcoal by chopping down burnt trees. Charcoal is a commonly used fuel.

Charcoal can also be used for crafting.

Both campfires and torches will burn out faster in the rain, so ensure you have ample fuel during rainy nights, as a fire going out can be fatal.

Your inventory space is limited, but after crafting a Science Machine, you can unlock backpacks and chests to store additional supplies.

When a player's sanity is low, ghostly hands may appear near the campfire at night. These hands, accompanied by eerie piano sounds, reach out to the fire and grab some of the fuel, reducing the fire’s burn time.

To deal with them, you can simply step on them. When using a movable light source, stepping on the spots where they spawn will make them disappear. They will also vanish when dawn arrives.

If you stand in the direction from which the ghostly hands are reaching, you can block them. However, there are often two hands appearing at once, which can make it challenging to manage.

During the scorching summer, huddling around a campfire is not very wise. Don't Starve offers heat-absorbing campfires and heat-absorbing fire pits to provide both lighting and cooling during the summer. These consume more resources, so players need to prepare before summer arrives. (Though it seems most newbies don’t survive to see summer.)

Nitrate deposits. Mine them to obtain a small amount of nitrate.

In reality, most nitrates dissolve in water and absorb heat, but igniting them does not.

The Application of Semiconductor Cooling in Don't Starve

You might come across these strange stone blocks. Digging them up will reveal an entrance to the underground world.

A stationary campfire might be sufficient for handling nights, but for exploring the pitch-black underground, a portable and long-lasting light source is crucial.

The underground is not entirely dark; there are naturally glowing plants that grow here. Collecting them will yield glow berries.

"Strange, it looks quite tasty."

This glowing material can be used to craft a lantern and also serves as its fuel. The lantern can be placed on the ground to become a stationary light source.

Unlocking the lantern requires an Alchemy Engine

At night, players might spot tiny glimmers of light in the darkness, which indicate the presence of fireflies.

After a player gets close, the fireflies will disperse after a short time. However, if there are two clusters of fireflies close to each other, the player can move back and forth between them to avoid Charlie's attack.

Players can use a bug net to catch them, but this requires quick reflexes.

Fireflies can be combined with a straw hat to craft a miner's hat.

Unlocking the miner's hat also requires an Alchemy Engine. Its crafting process will be discussed later.

The miner's hat can be fueled with fireflies or glow berries. Since fireflies are a non-renewable resource, experienced players generally opt for glow berries.

Undoubtedly, following the principle of conserving fuel, new players should turn off these light sources during the day.

In addition to conventional lighting tools, Don't Starve also offers more challenging but superior lighting items, such as the Mining Helmet, Star Caller's Staff, and Moon Caller's Staff.

Besides regular light sources, lightning rods struck by lightning, lit trees, and cooking pots also emit light and can save you in emergencies.

Food

After some practice, the newcomer finally avoids dying from darkness, but now the screen turns red, and health begins to gradually decline. The newcomer clings to a few berries to survive for a while, but ultimately dies of starvation.

The game is called Don't Starve, and a lack of food is a common fatal problem for many new players. Wild berries and carrots are limited in number, and obtaining meat is challenging without proper resources.

Berry Bush

Another Type of Berry Bush

A detailed discussion of the food system will be provided in a dedicated section, but for now, to prevent the newcomer from starving, here are some basic tips.

For example, Wilson has a hunger level of 150, which decreases steadily over time, reaching zero in about two in-game days. In the initial days, you can collect berries and carrots to maintain your hunger level. However, when winter arrives, berries and carrots stop growing, and relying on them to survive the winter is not feasible.

Meat from birds, rabbits, and moles is difficult to obtain and does not provide sufficient hunger replenishment. To get through the winter, a stable source of large meat is necessary.

In the forest and the red soil birch forest, you can find pig houses. These will periodically spawn pigs. Pigs are neutral creatures and won’t attack unless provoked. Killing them can drop pig skins or large meat, but since they appear in groups, attacking them is not a wise decision.

You can hire pigs using large meat, small meat, or monster meat. The pigs will follow you and help with tasks such as chopping trees or fighting monsters, but their assistance is temporary.

Pig houses can be destroyed with a hammer, which does not provoke the pigs’ hostility.

Used for dismantling buildings, it returns half of the materials.

Destroying a pig house will drop boards, cut stone, and pig skin. These are all valuable materials.

Requires wood and an unlocked blueprint.

Requires stone and an unlocked blueprint.

Pigs have another important property: when you feed them four monster meats or during a full moon, they will transform into a Werepig.

Werepigs have higher health and will aggressively attack nearby creatures. Defeating them will reliably drop two large meats and one pig skin, which are crucial sources of large meat and pig skin in the early game.

So where does monster meat come from? Spiders are the best source. White spider nests will spawn on the map, and the spider webs around them will slow down players. Stepping on the spider webs will cause spiders to spawn from the nests.

Spider nests evolve over time. From left to right, higher-level spider nests will spawn more and stronger spiders.

Spiders have 100 health points. Continuously attacking them with a spear will cause them to enter an infinite stun state, preventing them from dealing damage. Spiders have a relatively long wind-up before attacking, so moving away before they strike can help avoid getting bitten.

Crafted from grass and an unlocked blueprint, this is an important material.

Using weapons can increase the player’s damage and attack speed.

There are often areas on the map with very high spider nest density, known as spider farms, which are excellent places for hunting.

Spiders usually move in groups at night and dusk. Players can attract the attention of just 1-2 spiders at a time or use traps to catch them. Crafting traps requires a lot of grass and twigs, so it's a good idea to gather these resources in advance during the early game.

Traps can be baited with various attractants to lure prey, or players can lead the prey to trigger them.

Traps can be placed next to a spider or behind the player to lure spiders into them. The traps will capture the spiders, allowing you to deal with them as you see fit.

In battle, taking damage will reduce your health. When health reaches zero, the player dies. Armor can help players endure more damage effectively. However, wearing armor prevents the use of a backpack simultaneously.

A wooden armor unlocked with a blueprint. Crafted from rope and wood, it provides protection and can be used as fuel when its durability is low.

When spiders are killed, they randomly drop monster meat, spider webs, and spider glands. Spider webs are important basic resources, while spider glands can be used to craft a Telltale Heart and Healing Salve. They can also be used directly to restore 8 health points.

Spider nests will continually grow, and in the second and third stages, they will spawn more and stronger spiders. If not managed properly, this can be very dangerous. It is advisable to clear the spider nests around your base when setting up.

At this point, we have completed the process of converting grass and twigs into large meat.

Logical chain: Grass, twigs → Traps → Catch spiders to obtain monster meat → Feed pigs to turn them into rampaging pigs → Kill rampaging pigs to obtain pig skin and large meat

Each step in this process is renewable and stable. Although it can be somewhat tedious and requires some combat skills, it ensures a steady supply of meat.

Players can dismantle pig houses scattered across the map to obtain building resources and then focus on building pig houses near their base for easier management.

Building a pig house requires a second-tier science machine.

Building the Alchemy Engine (second-tier science machine) requires a lot of stone, gold, and wood.

Most tools can be unlocked near the second-tier science machine.

Electrical doodads are crucial for crafting advanced technology. They require a blueprint to unlock.

Large meat is just a raw material and needs further processing before it can be eaten. Consuming raw meat directly will lower your sanity. The basic method is to cook it over a fire to make Cooked Meat, which provides a significant amount of hunger restoration.

Meat

Cooked Meat

If you want to restore more hunger, you'll need to craft a crock pot to prepare some recipes. Crafting the crock pot requires charcoal, which you can obtain by chopping down burnt trees.

Unlocking the crock pot requires cut stone and a first-tier science machine.

To start cooking, you need four ingredients. After a period of time, you will get a dish with better attributes. For beginners, recommended recipes for filling up are Meatballs (1 Monster Meat / 1 Large Meat, 3 Ice / Berries) and Meaty Stew (2 Large Meats, 1 Monster Meat, 1 Ice / Berry).

Meaty Stew

Meatballs

Meatballs restore 67.5 hunger points, while Meaty Stew restores 150 hunger points. Both dishes also provide a small amount of health and sanity recovery, and they have a relatively long shelf life, enough to get you through the cold winter.

If you want them to last even longer, you can build a drying rack.

Rain will pause the drying process for meat. Once the jerky is ready, it will start to spoil, so it should be collected as soon as possible.

Hang large meat, small meat, monster meat, frog legs, and other meats on the drying rack. After drying, you will get jerky, which has a long shelf life, even longer in the refrigerator. Jerky provides excellent restoration of hunger, sanity, and health, making it a great source of dried food.

Jerky

Building a farm to grow crops can also provide a convenient source of food. Crops will greatly diversify your recipes, and more details will be covered in the food section.

Combat

After some learning, our new player understands the process of producing large meat and begins to put it into practice. However, he gets beaten nearly to death by spiders and then swiftly taken down by a werepig, losing his life without even getting to enjoy the meat.

On another occasion, while walking along the road, he gets ambushed and mauled by several hounds, dying on the spot. This time, his mindset begins to change.

The combat system in Don't Starve Together may seem simple, but it is actually quite complex to master. In his unarmed state, Wilson is just a weak scientist with no combat skills. However, armor and weapons can significantly boost his survival and combat abilities. Common armor and weapons include the Log Suit, Pigskin Helmet, Spear, and Ham Bat.

Effectively solved the incompatibility issue between armor and backpacks.

Use food to obtain more food.

In "Don't Starve," unlike in "Minecraft," the power of ranged weapons is quite limited, meaning players often need to rely on melee combat to deal damage while using movement to minimize the damage they take. This technique is commonly referred to by players as "hit and run," such as hitting a Werepig two or three times and then moving away once, or hitting a Hound twice and moving away once.

Most creatures in the game have a slower attack speed than the player, allowing you to strike them during their attack intervals and then step away when they prepare to attack.

Taking damage during combat is unavoidable, so you'll need ways to maintain your health and sanity. A basic method is to sleep in a tent or under a lean-to, converting hunger into health and sanity.

Spending the long, dark nights in the comfort of dreams.

The most efficient recovery, but only suitable for daydreaming.

In the A New Reign update, tents and lean-tos became more durable, and players can now recover a small amount of health using straw rolls and rabbit ear muffs.

Minor wounds can be treated with spider glands (restores 8 health), healing salves (restores 20 health), or honey poultices (restores 30 health).

Crafted from ashes, spider glands, and rocks, this traditional remedy is a basic but effective way to treat injuries.

Slightly more effective than the healing salve, but the resources needed are harder to obtain.

A more convenient way to restore health is through certain dishes. Here, the author recommends Pierogi.

In Don't Starve, there are no wheat or flour mechanics, so the dish is made using egg dumplings instead.

Since it's egg dumplings, eggs are essential. In Don't Starve, there isn't a specifically defined "hen egg," so bird eggs are used as a substitute.

egg

Bird eggs come from birds, so players will need to keep a bird. The first step, of course, is to catch a bird.

Bird traps can use seeds as bait to effectively catch birds, but it seems that they can also work without any bait at all.

The second step is to keep the bird contained, which requires a birdcage.

"Few among us can see our cage."

The birdcage requires papyrus for its construction.

Papyrus is crafted from reeds.

Reeds are commonly found in the swamp areas with purple soil, and they cannot be transplanted.

Warning: The Swamp biome is filled with potential dangers. Avoid traveling there at night, and make sure to wear armor and keep moving.

The third step is to get the bird to lay eggs. You can do this by feeding meat to the bird in the birdcage. A common method is to use monster meat obtained from killing spiders.

Once you have an egg, put it in the Crock Pot along with monster meat, a carrot, and berries. After cooking, you'll get Pierogi.

If you prefer a different filling, you can replace the monster meat with meat, cooked meat, etc., the carrot with mushrooms, and the berries with ice. However, vinegar and sesame oil are unlikely to be available.

Eating Pierogi restores 40 health points, a small amount of hunger, and sanity. If you don’t need them immediately, you can store them in an icebox. More recipes will be covered in the Food section.

The Icebox slows down the spoilage of food, and it doesn't seem to require any power.

You can obtain gears, the material needed for the icebox, by defeating clockwork monsters. If you're unable to defeat them, you can try your luck with tumbleweeds.

Tumbleweeds are things that roll around in the desert, and there might be some treasures hidden inside.

“Evil Heart of the Clockwork Monsters”

Clockwork monsters are relatively rare, and they come in three types, each with high health and attack power. Be prepared before engaging them:

Clockwork Bishop: Possesses deadly ranged attacks.

Clockwork Rook: A large and clumsy creature that destroys anything in its path.

Clockwork Knight: A nimble enemy, skilled at delivering surprise attacks.

Combat is inevitable. Even if you avoid battles, a pack of hounds will eventually spawn around you after some time (or more deadly worms if you're underground). Their numbers will increase over time, reaching a maximum around day 100.

Note: Some mods provide a countdown timer for incoming hound attacks.

Fragile but ferocious

Even more fragile, but deals 150% of the damage of a regular hound

It tries to set your base on fire

The more players there are, the more hounds will spawn. They come in packs, move quickly, and have two variants: Ice Hounds and Fire Hounds. Ice Hounds freeze nearby creatures upon death, while Fire Hounds ignite everything around them, posing a significant threat to your base.

The only way to deal with these hounds is to defeat them. Upon death, hounds drop hound's teeth and monster meat, while Ice Hounds and Fire Hounds have a chance to drop blue gems and red gems. Hound's teeth are essential for crafting tooth traps, which become your primary defense against hounds when enough are placed.

These traps have 10 uses each and a slight delay when triggered, meaning you'll need a considerable number of them. However, resetting traps can be tedious, so you might consider using mods that automatically reset them, saving you the trouble.

When setting up a tooth trap field, choose a location away from flammable materials and structures, as Fire Hounds can ignite anything. Tooth traps aren't just for hounds—they're also effective against other nuisances like frog rain, werepigs, and spider swarms. If you don't mind the cost, you can even lure some bosses into the traps.

Aside from hounds, the Walrus Camp that appears in winter can be a deadly danger for beginners. It consists of a Big Walrus, a harmless Small Walrus, and two Ice Hounds. They spawn near the Walrus Camp in winter and use blow darts to attack players. The blow darts have a long range and deal high damage. The Big Walrus excels at hit-and-run tactics, making it a headache for many new players.

Defeating the Walrus isn't too difficult. The Big Walrus maintains a certain distance and will flee rather than attack when you get close. If you keep chasing it, it will continue running until it's far enough from the Walrus Camp. At this point, it will slowly walk back, making it easy to kill.

It's worth noting that the two Ice Hounds may follow you. Avoid engaging them directly; it's easier to kill the Walrus first and then deal with the hounds.

The Big Walrus drops meat and a blow dart, with a smaller chance of dropping a walrus tusk and a tam o'shanter. The walrus tusk is used to craft a walking cane, while the tam o'shanter provides good sanity restoration when worn.

The Walking Cane significantly increases your travel speed and enhances your ability to dodge damage.

A warm Scottish-style hat

The most important loot from the Walrus is the walrus tusk. If you're unlucky, you might have to defeat them several times before obtaining it. The Walrus respawns approximately 2.5 days after being killed.

At dusk and night, the Walrus returns to camp to rest, but it will still attack players if approached.

Climate

After mastering combat through multiple deaths, a new player might find themselves severely injured after a winter battle, desperately needing to return to base for supplies. But as the screen gradually freezes over, the player's already low health depletes completely, leaving their hard-earned loot scattered in the snow as they collapse in the harsh winter.

In addition to the three main stats (Health, Hunger, Sanity), Don't Starve introduces other parameters to measure a character's state—namely temperature and wetness. In the vanilla game, temperature isn't displayed directly; it only triggers a warning when it reaches extreme levels.

If the player doesn't take action, they will quickly start losing health after the warning period. Health loss stops immediately when the temperature returns to normal. Some mods can display this value in real-time, allowing players to react in advance when it begins to drop or rise. Wetness is shown below the three main stats when it rains.

The environment in the main world of Don't Starve is harsh, with cold winters and hot summers. Summer temperatures can reach up to 70°C (158°F), while winter temperatures range from -10°C to -20°C (14°F to -4°F). Spring is often rainy, and only autumn offers relatively pleasant weather, which is why the default starting season is autumn.

During winter, we can craft certain clothing and tools to withstand the cold. The most commonly used item is the Thermal Stone. It requires a significant amount of rocks, a pickaxe, and some flint to craft, making it resource-intensive.

This is also why experienced players like to keep tools with 3% durability, such as pickaxes. Similar practices include saving wooden armor with 1% durability as fuel and using 1% golden pickaxes and golden axes as multipurpose tools.

Placing Thermal Stones near an icebox, endothermic fire pit, or regular fire pit will cool or warm them up. Carrying them will significantly extend the time your body temperature stays within a safe range. As their temperature rises or falls, you'll need to readjust them.

It's important to note that Thermal Stones have limited durability, which decreases while you carry them. You can repair them using a sewing kit.

Crafting a sewing kit requires hound's teeth and a large amount of spider silk. It's wise to craft multiple sewing kits to repair valuable clothing.

When Thermal Stones reach their maximum temperature, they emit a faint glow. While this can protect you from Charlie's dark attacks on cold winter nights, it won't help you see anything clearly in the pitch darkness.

In addition to Thermal Stones, you can track footprints to find and kill an elephant, which drops a Trunk. Combining the Trunk with spider silk allows you to craft a Breezy Vest or a Winter Vest (with a Winter Trunk). These provide a decent amount of warmth and are most effective when used alongside a Thermal Stone.

A more commonly used warm clothing item is the Beefalo Hat. It requires a significant amount of beefalo wool and a beefalo horn to craft. The Beefalo Hat offers the same warmth as the Winter Vest and is relatively easier to obtain. Additionally, wearing the Beefalo Hat prevents you from being attacked by beefalo during their mating season.

During the summer, the underground has more moderate temperatures, making it a good option to avoid the intense heat. Common insulation items include the Eyebrella, Umbrella, Fashion Melon, and Ice Cube.

The Eyebrella is crafted using the eyeball from the winter boss, the Deerclops. Insulation items generally offer limited protection, and the difficulty in crafting endothermic fire pits makes long trips during the summer nearly impossible. Therefore, preparing to go underground during the spring can make your summer much less boring.

Spring brings frequent thunderstorms, and high wetness levels will rapidly decrease your sanity. When it drops below 30, shadow creatures will start spawning, forcing you into combat. Your tools may slip from your hands, reducing work efficiency. Additionally, lightning strikes can set your buildings on fire or even hit you directly.

To protect against lightning, you'll need a Lightning Rod. It can safeguard both you and your buildings.

A Raincoat requires some tentacle spots to craft. Tentacles suddenly emerge from the swamp, delivering a deadly blow to both your body and soul. Although they can't move, tentacles have high attack power and health, making them dangerous to fight directly. It's better to wait for a group of merms or spiders to battle the tentacles, allowing you to reap the benefits.

Tentacles may drop tentacle spots, monster meat, and a tentacle spike upon death. The Tentacle Spike can be used as a weapon, serving as a stronger alternative to the spear.

An Umbrella is crafted from spider silk and pig skin. These easily gathered resources make it a commonly used rain gear. When combined with a hat, it can completely prevent wetness.

In the early game, when resources are scarce, crafting a Pretty Parasol from flowers is also a viable option. While it doesn’t fully protect against rain, it does restore some sanity.

The new player finally established their own base and no longer fears freezing, starving, or being killed by darkness. On a cold winter night, as they lie comfortably in a tent, the screen suddenly shakes. In the darkness, a one-eyed monster appears and crushes the base with just a few swipes, leaving the new player confused and soon dead.

And then the new player uninstalls the game.

The Deerclops, the winter boss, is often the first boss that new players encounter. Although it appears less intimidating than other bosses, it remains deadly to beginners. It spawns near the player in the last few days of winter, with a low growl as an audio cue a few seconds before it appears.

The Deerclops’ attacks are wide-range, high-damage ice strikes that can destroy buildings. Creatures hit three times in a row will be frozen and remain so for a while unless they take damage.

Additionally, the Deerclops emits a strong sanity-draining aura, causing sanity to plummet rapidly.

The Deerclops is particularly attracted to structures and will actively approach and destroy nearby buildings. After demolishing enough structures, it will even smile (ironically). Therefore, it's crucial to prepare supplies and move away from your base before the Deerclops spawns.

The Deerclops' area attack can easily aggro other creatures, drawing their hostility, but the Deerclops can easily handle a group of enemies. Neither a horde of spiders nor a herd of beefalo can deal enough damage to the Deerclops.

The Deerclops doesn't have a lot of health, so players can adopt a straightforward fighting strategy. Specifically, place a campfire at your feet to prevent freezing and maintain body temperature, then prepare enough supplies, armor, and weapons, and engage it directly. Players can also try using the walking cane to dodge the Deerclops' attacks.

The Deerclops' sanity-draining aura will rapidly decrease your sanity, so make sure to keep your sanity at a good level before the fight. Upon death, the Deerclops drops eight pieces of meat, a Deerclops Eyeball, and a blueprint for the Deerclops Sculpture.

The Eyeball can be used to craft the Eyebrella and the Houndius Shootius. The Deerclops Sculpture blueprint can be used to create a statue to commemorate this great victory (or to burn it).

If your condition is poor, you can choose to avoid combat. Although the Deerclops has a large aggro range, you can still escape by continuously running away. It will disappear when winter ends.

There aren’t many bosses like the Deerclops that actively seek you out. In spring, the Moose/Goose only spawns near its nest and won't destroy your base—usually, a frog rain will take care of it. In summer, the Antlion will only leave a few large sinkholes; just stay away from your base. The Dragonfly only appears in the Dragonfly Desert and won't actively seek you out.

The Bearger in autumn is a great helper for chopping trees. After it fells enough trees, the Treeguard (Forest Guardian) will appear to punish it. Like the Deerclops, when it spawns, stay away from your base. The specific strategies for dealing with these bosses will be covered in the Boss section.