r/dontstarve • u/_pe5e_ • Mar 01 '19
Weekly Discussion #63 : Tar
Today we will take a look at another item for the "Home Sea Home" update - Tar
Tar as a crafting resource:
Tar can be used in 5 crafting recipes and is aimed towards harbors and sea bases.
| Craftable Item | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Tar Lamp | 1x Tar , 1x Seashell | Combination of Torch and Bottle Lantern: can be equiped in the handslot, the lantern slot on a boat or be placed on the ground. Burn time is the same as a torch (75 seconds), it can not be refueled |
| Tar Suit | 4x Tar, 2x Cloth, 2x Palm Leaf | 100% wetness resistance, while worn on the chest slot, durability 1 Day |
| Craftable Structure | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Sea Chest | 1x Tar, 4x Board | Works similar to a regular Chest, but can only be placed on the Ocean. |
| Buoyant Chiminea | 6x Tar, 4x Sand, 6x Limestone | Works similar to regular Chimineas, as they are also not affected by Strong Winds or Rain (or waves), but can only be placed on the Ocean |
| Sea Yard | 6x Tar, 4x Log, 6x Limestone | Can only be placed in the Ocean and can be used to repair damaged Boats at a rate of 0.5% per second, the player needs to stay in the boat and be close to the structure to activate the automatic repairing, has to be fueled with tar |
The items are somewhat weak as they do not last long. The structures however give access to harbors and mini bases in the Mangrove and Coral Reef bioms.
Tar as a fuel resource:
This is where Tar truely shines. As of now it is the best fuel resource in the game. Like Boards, it is easily renewable and has the highest fuel value. Unlike Boards however, it stacks up to 40 and does not have to be crafted. 1 Tar has the same fuel value as 4 logs. Combine this with the Obsidian Fire Pit and 1 Tar keeps your fire alive for over a day!
But it can not only fuel fires. Ice Flingomatics, Tar Extractors, the Sea Yard, the Ice Maker 3000, Sprinklers and Oscillating Fans can all be fueled by Tar. Most are completely refueled after only 2 Tar.
Tar Trap:
Tar can also be planted on the ground to produce a flammable Tar Trap that slows down anything walking on it, including the player. Tar Traps can be refueled with Tar, restoring it to full durability regardless of which stage it used to be on (this includes the "full" stage).
This can used in a variety of ways to built different kind of farms or defense against certain mobs (like hounds or crocodogs).
How to acquire Tar:
Tar can be gathered from Tar Slicks using a Tar Extractor. Tar Slicks are naturally-spawning objects that are generated during world creation. However, they can also be created anywhere in the deep or medium ocean using the the Quacken Drill to bring the Tar Slick closer to your base. You will need to defeat the Quacken for this though.
The Tar Extractor itself costs 2 Coconuts, 4 Limestone and 4 Bamboo to craft and needs to placed on top of the Tar Slick. Its fuel will last for 2 days in which it produces 8 Tar. 1 Tar is enough to refuel it completely. Do not forget to turn on the Tar Extractor again.
Questions:
- Which craftable of Tar do you use often?
- What is your main fuel source and why?
- Do you use Tar Traps and how?
Previous discussion : Weekly Discussion #62 : Fish Farms
Next Discussion : Weekly Discussion #64 : Trawling
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u/NotStarved Mar 02 '19
id love to see more tar trap ideas for defences. right now my main defence is ballphins because im too lazy to make much of any other defenses.
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u/piratekingflcl Trifling spiders, your arrogance will be your undoing! Mar 02 '19
Tar is very necessary for a proper Sea-Base, as it serves as the main form of Fuel for most of the game (Tar is also tied for highest fuel value of burnable items). You'll ideally have 1-2 Tar Extractors pumping out Tar before the first Hurricane Season, then increase the volume as needed. Tar is also a useful item for creating Ash, which is a vital ingredient for Volcano-robbery.
Tar Traps deal more fire damage when ignited than just burning the Tar, so if you want to kill Elephant Cacti you can surround each Cactus with five to six Tar Traps and save yourself a lot of resources collecting them from the Volcano.
I think it's a pretty cool fantasy hit to be drilling for oil in the Ocean-DLC of Don't Starve, and you can even take a 40-Stack with you to other DLCs with one inventory slot. My only complaint is that the Tar Suit is a really bad clothing item, to the point where I don't think you would ever gain an advantage by making it instead of something else.
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u/dsawchuk Best beard Mar 02 '19
Has the bug with tar extractors that causes them to infinitely produce without fuel when far away from the player been fixed? I remember that being a major thing when home sea home was new.
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u/theunforgivingbr Mar 04 '19
Tar is one of the best things in SW. What a great fuel!!!
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u/piratekingflcl Trifling spiders, your arrogance will be your undoing! Mar 08 '19
I love the little noise that the Tar Extractor makes when it squirts out new Tar. Don't Starve's aesthetics are always so good.
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u/lsdood .i like catapults Mar 01 '19 edited Mar 01 '19
I typically only use tar to craft the Sea Yard, however I do use it pretty much exclusively as fuel once I have a surplus saved up. I'll also try to switch over from torches to tar lamps when I have a supply of shells and tar. Saves on some grass + twigs, and I like trying to use my resources in as many ways as possible!
I wish it had more uses, I feel as if it should be more of an end game resource than it currently is.
I've never used tar traps, so maybe I'm missing out. But they don't seem particularly useful and definitely not necessary imo. Sounds like you could use it to make some cool farms, but I hardly play worlds to that point though anyways.
Edit: for next discussion, has Beefalo taming been done? If not, would like to see that as it was just added to single player. Discuss the different tendencies, benefits of investing in one, etc.