📖 Dragonfly Boss Burning You Up? Chill With These Don’t Starve Tactics

Don't Starve Dragonfly Boss Guide

Solo & Team Tactics to Scorch the Scorcher

In Don't Starve (Together), the Dragonfly is a notorious raid boss that can wipe unprepared survivors in seconds. This guide gives you the exact strategies – solo or with a team – to bring down this fiery giant. In a nutshell: come prepared with top-tier weapons, plenty of armor and healing, and a plan for managing her lava-spitting larvae. With the right tactics (and a little cheese), even a solo adventurer can slay the Dragonfly.

Quick Navigation:

Quick-Start Steps Dragonfly Basics Phases & Patterns Character Choice Solo Strategies Multiplayer Strategy Gear & Preparation Cheese Methods Loot & Rewards FAQs Patch History

Quick-Start Steps

If you're about to face the Dragonfly right now, here's a rapid rundown to maximize your odds. These steps assume you're in Don't Starve Together (DST) where the Dragonfly is at her strongest.

  1. Gear Up: Equip a high-damage melee weapon (e.g. Dark Sword or Ham Bat) and bring 2 Football Helmets + 2 Log Suits for layered armor. Pack ~20 Pierogi or equivalent healing foods (at least 800 HP worth) to recover during the fight. A Thermal Stone (cold) + an Endothermic Fire near the arena prevent overheating.
  2. Prep the Arena: The Dragonfly dwells in a Desert Lava pool area. Before engaging, build stone walls around the small lava pools or a pen to trap her larvae. This wall cheese ensures the lavae (larva minions) get stuck and die off without chasing you.
  3. Attack Pattern: Initiate combat by hitting Dragonfly once, then back off immediately to dodge her initial fiery ground slam (she slams 3x creating a ring of fire). Kite her normal mode by landing 4–6 hits then running out of range. If tanking, facetank with armor and keep an eye on your health to eat healing foods between her attacks.
  4. Manage Lavae Waves: At ~80% health, Dragonfly will fly back and spawn 5 Lavae. If using walls, they'll be trapped – use this breather to heal up. Otherwise, draw aggro of the larvae to yourself (they chase the closest player) and kite them while a teammate or Ice Staff takes them out. Do NOT kill the last larva too fast unless you're ready – killing all larvae triggers her Enrage!
  5. Enrage Control: If all larvae die, Dragonfly goes Enraged (engulfed in flames, moves faster and deals constant AoE fire damage). Immediately use a Pan Flute to put her to sleep and cancel enraged mode (or have someone douse her with Ice/Water Balloons to extinguish the fire). IMPORTANT: In DST she will calm herself after ~1 minute if you keep distant, but it's risky to wait. It's safest to flute or freeze her as soon as she lights up.
  6. Rinse & Repeat: She'll return to normal phase after calming. Repeat the cycle: attack pattern, survive lavae spawns at 50% and 20% HP (each wave has +1 more larva than the last), and use your Pan Flute or plan to handle each enraged phase. With preparation and timing, you will grind her down.
  7. Claim Rewards: Once slain, grab the Scales, lavae egg, and gemstones. Don't forget to loot the Blueprint for the Scaled Furnace (in DST) if you don't have it yet – an infinite firepit reward. Then celebrate – you just took down one of Don't Starve's toughest baddies!

Dragonfly Basics – Know Your Enemy

Who/What is the Dragonfly? It's one of the four seasonal Giants introduced in Don't Starve: Reign of Giants (ROG) DLC, serving as the boss of Summer. Imagine a massive dragon-like insect constantly on fire – that's Dragonfly. In single-player ROG, she's a roaming giant that may leave you alone unless provoked. In DST, however, she's a raid boss anchored to a Magma Pool arena and will defend her turf relentlessly.

The Dragonfly boss as seen in-game. This fiery giant has a temper – and temperature – that can roast unwary survivors alive.

Version Differences

Let's compare her key stats and behavior in Reign of Giants vs Don't Starve Together, because they are drastically different:

Stat or Mechanic RoG (Single-Player) DST (Together)
Health 2,750 HP (manageable solo) 27,500 HP (10× higher – raid boss level)
Damage 75 melee, 3×37.5 fire slam (can one-shot no armor) 75 melee / 112.5 AoE (to players); 150/225 to mobs. Double damage when enraged.
Movement Speed Slightly faster than player (you cannot outrun easily) Faster than RoG; 6.5→9.1 when enraged. Requires a 75% speed boost to reliably dodge her swipe.
Behavior Neutral until attacked/close, then enrages and chases for a while. Can be pacified by feeding 20 Ashes (falls asleep). Patrols a fixed Desert arena with lava pools. Waves of lavae spawn at set HP thresholds (80%, 50%, 20%). Enrages if all lavae die quickly or sometimes at random if last one dies naturally.
Enraged Mode Triggers on hit (temporarily) – sets things ablaze, high DPS aura. Can be calmed by freezing or if target dies. More extreme: lights herself on fire, gaining armor and AoE fire aura. Lasts ~60s or until Wetness 90 / frozen / put to sleep. Dangerous to fight directly – usually skipped with Pan Flute or waiting it out.
Larvae ("Lavae") None – in single-player, she doesn't summon minions. (Her "spit fire" just creates Ash from objects to eat). Yes – spawns Lavae from magma pools: 5 on first wave, then +1 each wave. Each larva lives ~30 seconds if not killed. They target the nearest player on spawn and set things on fire.
Loot 8 Meat, 1 Scale. Scale can craft Scaled Chest (fireproof chest) or Scale Mail armor. No respawn – one kill per world (unless world regens). 8 Meat, 1 Scale, a Lavae Egg (hatchable pet), plus Gold Nuggets and Gems (1–2 red/blue gems usually). Blueprint: Scaled Furnace (one-time drop) – if not already obtained. Boss respawns ~20 days later, so can be farmed (though drops scale only each time).

TL;DR: If you've only fought Dragonfly in single-player, do not underestimate the DST version! A solo DST Dragonfly fight is roughly equivalent to fighting Deerclops 10 times in a row – while periodically being swarmed by flame-breathing lavae. It's intended as a late-game encounter or a group challenge. But with the guidance below, you'll see it can be done solo with the right approach.

Phases & Patterns: How the Dragonfly Fights

Understanding how Dragonfly behaves is half the battle. Let's break down her fight into phases and what you should do in each:

Phase 1: "Calm" or Normal Mode (0–80% HP)

Initially, Dragonfly buzzes around and will attack any player in range with a fast swipe (75 damage). Unlike some bosses, she does NOT pause or telegraph this swipe much – if you're within ~4 units she will hit you almost guaranteed unless you're running at 75%+ speed boost. After a swipe, she often does a triple ground slam, creating expanding rings of fire on the ground.

Tip: Bait her swipe then dodge – with a cane or speed boost, you can sidestep as she lunges. Immediately after the swipe, move back in to land hits. Players have found you can safely land 3–4 hits in between her attacks using this rhythm. Think of her like a fast Beefalo with fire powers: circle-strafe, dodge, hit, repeat.

Phase 2: Lavae Spawn Waves (80%, 50%, 20% HP)

When you see Dragonfly suddenly fly off a short distance and start hovering over a magma pool, she's summoning her lavae minions. In DST, this happens three times maximum (at those HP thresholds) – unless the fight drags on too long or you handle larvae in a specific way which can cause extra waves. On the first wave, 5 Lavae spawn; on second, 6; on third, 7. Each lava spawns from a different magma pit if available, and each immediately targets the closest player to it.

Your goal in this phase: Control or eliminate the lavae without dying or letting Dragonfly heal. Yes, heal – if Dragonfly kills a creature (including her own lavae if they turn hostile), she "eats" and regains HP, potentially prolonging the fight. So you actually don't want the lavae attacking something else; you want them on you or stuck.

Strategies for Lavae:

  • Wall Cheese: As mentioned, building walls to trap lavae is the easiest method. If you encircle each magma pool with stone walls (leave a gap for yourself but not wide enough for larvae), when she spawns them they either can't emerge or are boxed in and will die on their own after ~30 seconds. Do note, if the last larva dies naturally (timing out) inside a wall, there's a chance Dragonfly will spawn a fresh wave immediately instead of enraging – it's RNG. Many players prefer to force enrage and skip any extra waves by actively killing or freezing the last larva of each wave so that it doesn't die of old age.
  • Kiting and Sniping: Without walls, have one player kite the pack of lavae around. They move quickly and set the ground on fire, but they have low HP (~500 each). A few whacks or an Ice Staff freeze can shatter one. Ice Staff is excellent here – 3 hits will freeze a larva solid, and interestingly a frozen larva will die on its own after a short time. Just be careful: if it dies while frozen, that counts as you killing it (not a "natural" death), so it will trigger enrage if it's the last one. Sometimes it's actually better to leave one unfrozen and kite it until it times out (hoping for the no-enrage outcome). It's a bit of a coin flip – hence many just prepare to handle enrages.
  • Teammate Coordination: In multiplayer, coordinate: e.g. "I'll grab the lavae!" – one player (perhaps wearing insulating Scalemail armor or just extra armor) runs near the spawning pools as bait. All larvae chase them in circles. Other players can then pick off the lavae one by one with minimal risk. Wolfgang in mighty form can 2-shot lavae with a Dark Sword, for instance, making quick work of each. Just avoid getting swarmed; even Wolfgang can die fast if 5+ lavae pile on him with fire.

Phase 3: Enraged Dragonfly

If all lavae in a wave die (by your hand or otherwise) before the next health threshold, Dragonfly immediately screeches ("squeaks") and ignites into an enraged state. She gets visibly brighter and flaming, her damage doubles, attack period shortens (from 4 to 3 seconds), and she starts emitting constant fire aura damage in an area. In DST she also becomes semi-armor plated while enraged, so you do drastically less damage per hit. In short, you do NOT want to fight her head-on in enraged mode. Seasoned players can kite her in this state with perfect timing, but it's extremely risky (imagine dodging a series of AoE fire blasts with almost no room for error).

Dragonfly in Enraged Mode. In DST, she ignites when enraged – glowing white-hot and dealing continuous fire damage to anything nearby.

How to deal with Enrage:

The consensus is to neutralize it as soon as it happens. There are a few ways:

  • Pan Flute: One play of the Pan Flute will put the Dragonfly to sleep (requires her to not be taking damage at that exact moment). This drops her out of enraged mode and she will stay docile for about 20 seconds or until hit. This is enough time for any fire on the ground to extinguish and for your team to regroup (or even bomb her with gunpowder if you planned that).
  • Ice: Freeze her with an Ice Staff or Weather Pain gadget. It takes 2 blasts of an Ice Staff (more if she's been frozen before – she gains freeze resistance with each freeze). Freezing immediately ends enraged mode, but she thaws rapidly. You can also throw Water Balloons (from the Year of Carrat event or crafted) – a few will douse her flames and "cool her off," removing the enraged status.
  • Wait it Out (last resort): If you run far enough away, Dragonfly might lose aggro and just stomp around angrily until her enrage naturally times out (~60 seconds). This is dangerous because if you're too close, she'll chase and likely catch up (she's faster when enraged). If you try this, have someone tanky drag her attention and kite her in big circles until she cools down. Generally, only attempt this if you didn't bring flute or ice – otherwise it's needless risk.

Key tip: Most players in DST will intentionally trigger enrages at each wave and have a plan to cancel them. That often means bringing 3 uses of the Pan Flute (or 3 pan flutes, since each has 10 uses, one flute can cover all three enrages easily). If you lack a pan flute, rely on ice – but note, 4 Sleep Darts can also put her to sleep as a substitute. Just be sure to step in and resume the fight when she's calm, because if left alone too long, she might regenerate health.

Character Choice: Who Makes It Easiest?

While any character can solo Dragonfly with enough preparation, some have clear advantages:

W Wolfgang

The top pick for many soloists. In Mighty form he deals double damage, effectively halving the time (and resources) needed. Wolfgang can kill lavae in 1-2 hits and Dragonfly in ~150 hits with a Dark Sword versus ~300 for normal characters. Just watch your hunger (carry plenty of food to maintain Mighty). Wolfgang's speed while Mighty is normal – consider a Walking Cane for dodging.

W Wigfrid

Comes with built-in combat perks: 25% damage reduction and lifesteal via her Battle Songs. Wigfrid can tank more safely than others. If in a team, she shines by buffing allies with songs (e.g. Defense Chorus to reduce team damage or Fireproof Falsetto if unlocked, to lessen fire damage). Her downside is lower damage output, so the fight is longer – but she compensates with survivability. Bring lots of food since her healing from hits (in DST) is modest.

WX WX-78

When overcharged (via lightning or Wagstaff's Electrical Doodad in DST), WX gains a significant speed boost. A speedy WX with a cane on road can literally outrun Dragonfly's swipe attacks and kite with ease. WX can also tank well if upgraded with extra HP. Just be careful of rain (though Dragonfly fight is usually in dry summer).

W Wortox

A more unorthodox pick – Wortox can't heal from normal food easily, but he can heal on demand using Souls. In a teamfight, a skilled Wortox can soul-hop to dodge big attacks and heal everyone 20 HP periodically, which can offset the chip damage from fires. A recent skill tree update gave Wortox even more mobility and crowd control, making it feasible to fight Dragonfly without structures by constantly teleporting and never getting hit. This is high skill-cap stuff, though.

Don't Starve Together Skill Trees: If your character has skill tree upgrades (a DST feature added in 2023+), use them! For example, Wigfrid's skills can increase team lifesteal; Wolfgang's can boost his mightiness efficiency; Wendy's can empower Abigail to help with lavae (though Abigail will evaporate if she tanks Dragonfly herself). These can tilt things in your favor during boss fights.

Solo Strategies: How to Kill the Dragonfly Alone

Taking down the Dragonfly solo in DST is one of the ultimate challenges – but it's absolutely doable. In fact, skilled solo players often kill Dragonfly in the first summer (day ~20-30) to secure the precious Scale and gem drops early. Here we'll detail two primary solo approaches: Melee kiting vs Tanking (aka "face-tank"), plus notes on a ranged cheese method.

Melee Kiting Solo

This is the "fair fight" method. You rely on timing, speed, and clean execution.

What you need:

  • Cane or road speed boost
  • A Pan Flute
  • High damage weapon
  • Armor
  • Lots of healing
  • It helps tremendously to have a Coffee (if using Shipwrecked content) or Weather Pain for lavae, but not required.

How it's done:

Engage Dragonfly and stay just at the edge of her attack range. When you see her wind up (really she just surges forward), dart out of range – typically running diagonally away works. The moment she finishes the swipe, step in and land 3 hits (with a cane you can often get 4; Wolfgang can sometimes push 5 due to higher damage per hit staggering her slightly). On the third hit, start moving away to dodge the incoming slam attacks or next swipe. Never stay still – a moving target is key since her AoE lands where you were when she started slamming.

Lavae handling:

Use the environment. If you didn't pre-wall, you can actually kite lavae into Dragonfly – if a larva hits Dragonfly, it will "enrage" her briefly but also distract her (in single-player, some would use pigs or lureplants similarly). In DST, a known trick is to leave one larva alive and run far: Dragonfly might stay non-enraged waiting for that larva to die off, giving you time to heal. It's unreliable due to the random chance of extra spawns, as mentioned. A safer bet is to kill all larvae quickly, then flute. As a solo, you'll likely need the flute: kill larvae -> Dragonfly enrages -> flute immediately -> resume fight. You repeat this cycle 3 times. If done right, you mitigate the most dangerous moments.

Pro Solo Tip:

Some solo runners bring Gunpowder (x14) and a Pan Flute to chunk Dragonfly's health. Example: when she's calm (usually at the start or after a flute), lead her to a spot, put her to sleep with the flute, then drop 14 gunpowder at her feet and light it. 14 gunpowder = 2800 damage which (in single-player RoG) outright kills her. In DST, 2800 is only ~10% of her health – still significant but she'll survive.

Also, DST bosses have explosion resistance if hit by too many at once (they added this to prevent cheese). To maximize damage in DST, you can't detonate all 14 at once because after the first few explode, she becomes immune for a couple seconds. The trick is to split into two batches: e.g. 10 gunpowder, light it (boom, she takes big damage, then gets temporary immunity), kite her a bit for ~8 seconds, then drop the remaining 4 and boom again.

Outcome:

With practice, pure kiting can lead to a no-hit Dragonfly kill. It's been done even without speed boosts (there are videos of people perfect-kiting enraged Dragonfly on foot – a very tight maneuver). Don't be discouraged by early failures; learn the rhythm. Each enrage cancel is a victory that gives you confidence for the next round.

Multiplayer Strategy – Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Taking on Dragonfly with friends (or strangers on a server) can either make it much easier or turn into a chaotic mess. Coordination is key. Here's how to organize your team for a smooth victory:

Team Roles

Divide responsibilities clearly so everyone knows their job:

Main Tank

This player wears the thickest armor (Marble Suit or dual Log/Football combo) and keeps Dragonfly's attention. Typically, Wigfrid, Wolfgang, or Woodie (Moose form) excels here. The tank should face Dragonfly head-on, soaking hits with shield up (if Woodie's Moose, use his Charge to interrupt some attacks, though Dragonfly is large and not easily stunned).

DPS (Damage Dealers)

1-2 players focus on whaling on Dragonfly whenever it's safe. Wolfgang (mighty) is prime DPS, Wendy can have Abigail help a bit (though Abigail will likely die to fire), Wigfrid does moderate DPS but can alternate tanking. Maxwell with shadow duelists could count here, but duelists die quick; better if Maxwell just uses Dark Sword himself. DPS should stand slightly apart so Dragonfly's AoE doesn't hit everyone at once – don't cluster!

Lavae Exterminator

At least one player should dedicate to handling the lavae spawns. A mage-type (WX with Ice Staff, Wickerbottom, or anyone with a bunch of Ice Staffs/Fire Extinguishers) is great. Walter could fill this role using a Slingshot with freeze rounds to pick off larvae from a distance. Note: If you have enough people, you can have two folks on lavae duty, one on each side, to swiftly freeze/kill them as they spawn.

Healer/Support

DST doesn't have traditional healers, but Wortox can provide team healing using souls. Warly can support by cooking special dishes: e.g., Glow Berries Mushtart for night light, Bone Bouillon for 60HP heals, etc., given in advance. A support Warly can be amazing if he had time to cook buffs before the fight.

Communication

Decide beforehand: "Are we using flute?" If yes, who holds it and when to play it (e.g., "John uses Pan Flute right when last larva dies each wave"). "Wall strategy or no?" If you pre-walled, communicate where to stand. Usually, teams will say "All inside the wall now" once walls are set, so when lavae spawn they're automatically stuck outside.

If not using walls, designate someone to kite larvae. Call out "Kill larvae first!" or "focus boss!" as needed. If someone is low on HP, they should kite away and yell for help rather than silently die. In text chat or voice, short calls like "sleep now" (to signal using Pan Flute) or "freeze adds" (meaning freeze the lavae) can coordinate actions.

Example Teamfight Plan (4 players)

(Let's say Wigfrid, Wolfgang, Wendy, WX)

Before fight:

WX places an Endothermic Fire Pit a screen away for emergency cooling. Wigfrid and Wolfgang eat Meaty Stew to be full and Warly's chili for buff (if available). Wendy places Abigail slightly outside arena on passive (to maybe catch a few lavae but ideally not die immediately).

Engage:

Wolfgang and Wigfrid go in front as tank/DPS. WX (with Ice Staff) and Wendy (with Pan Flute) hang back. Wolfgang draws first aggro with a dart or hit. Wigfrid starts meleeing from the side; Wolfgang tanks head-on.

During fight:

When Dragonfly goes to spawn lavae, all focus switches: WX moves in and starts freezing larvae. Wolfgang actually runs toward the spawning pools to make larvae chase him (closest target), then circles back toward Wigfrid/Abigail so they can help kill. Wigfrid might use a quick Battle Cry to top off health via her lifesteal.

They avoid killing all larvae until Wendy is ready. On TeamSpeak, WX calls "4th larva frozen, get ready!" Wendy replies "Ready" with Pan Flute in hand. Wolfgang kills the last larva with a swipe – Dragonfly enrages – immediately Wendy plays Pan Flute, putting both Dragonfly (and any surviving larva) to sleep. Team regroups for 2 seconds, then Wolfgang whacks Dragonfly to wake and continue.

When things go wrong:

At the next spawn (50%), maybe things go awry – say WX got hit and couldn't freeze two larvae that started chasing WX. Wigfrid might peel off to help WX, tanking those larvae hits with her armor while WX regains distance. Dragonfly enrages early because a larva died too fast – now no flute ready (cooldown or mis-timed). If enraged with lavae still around, that's double trouble – typically, everyone should retreat briefly in different directions (don't all run the same way; spread out so her AoE can't hit multiple). Usually she'll chase one person – ideally the tank with armor. That tank leads her on a jog while others finish off remaining lavae or heal up, then someone flutes to calm her. Communication and staying calm are everything here.

Winona's Catapult Strategy (Multiplayer)

A special mention: With 2+ players, a Winona can set up Catapults around Dragonfly's spawn in advance. These automated turrets will continuously pelt Dragonfly with rocks. While they'll take damage if Dragonfly gets too close with AoE, if you position them slightly outside her slam range, they'll survive.

One strategy: build a pen around Dragonfly's spawn point (leaving a gap) so she can't reach the catapults easily. When fight starts, have someone tank her near center while 6–8 catapults rain down damage. If she enrages, put her to sleep under the catapult fire. This method can kill her quite fast and is relatively "safe" – it's basically turning the fight into a Tower Defense where Dragonfly is the creep. Resource cost for Winona (gems for G.E.M.erators, etc.) is the main drawback. But if you have spare gems from cave farming, it's a fun group tactic.

To conclude the team section, communication and specialization make the Dragonfly a much more manageable foe. Many groups fail simply because they didn't decide on a plan. Treat it almost like an MMO raid boss: assign roles, call out phases, and cover each other's mistakes. When done right, a coordinated team can down Dragonfly faster and cleaner than any solo player.

Best Gear and Preparation

Whether solo or group, showing up with the right equipment and supplies is critical. Here's your pre-fight checklist and some tips on optimal gear:

Weapons

Melee is most effective due to Dragonfly's high health (ranged options either don't scale or are costly). The Dark Sword (68 damage) or Thulecite Club (59.5 + AoE splash) are top-tier choices. Ham Bat (59.5 damage when fresh) is excellent for long fights, since it doesn't break (just spoils after ~10 days). Tentacle Spike (51 damage) is the baseline if you can't get the above.

Avoid low-tier weapons; you don't want to be whittling 27k HP with a spear. If using characters like Wendy or Wigfrid who have lower damage, the stronger the weapon, the better to offset that.

Armor

You want head and body armor. Football Helmet (80% protection, 450 durability) is easy and effective – bring a few. Battle Helm (Wigfrid's craft) is similar but cheaper, so Wigfrid should supply helmets for everyone if she's in team.

Log Suit (80% protection, 525 durability) for body is standard; it costs logs and rope – cheap and worth making multiples. If available, Marble Suit (95% prot, 1050 durability) can let you tank nearly twice as many hits, but it slows you 30%. Many players mix: e.g., tank uses Marble Suit + Football Helmet; DPS use Log Suits + Helm (they move more to dodge).

Scalemail (Scale + logs to craft): provides 70% prot and immunity to fire plus burns enemies that hit you. It's a niche pick – the fire immunity is actually awesome here to negate the burn damage from Dragonfly's hits. Some dedicated Dragonfly hunters love Scalemail for the fight (fittingly made from Dragonfly's own scales).

Healing & Food

Pierogi is the gold standard for healing: ~40 HP a pop, easy to cook in bulk (egg, meat, veg, filler). Aim for 15–20 Pierogi per player for a comfortable safety net. Honey Poultice (30 HP) and Healing Salve (20 HP) stack without spoiling, bring some as backup.

Cooked Cactus Flesh or Green Caps for sanity – Dragonfly fight can drop sanity (especially if using dark sword or being near fires at night for too long). Having ~5 cactus or 10 green caps per person to munch after the fight or during a lull can prevent insanity mid-fight.

Meatballs or Meat Stew: bring a couple for hunger, especially Wolfgang who needs calories to stay Mighty. If Warly's present, he might cook Buffalo Wellingtons (which give +health and +sanity) or Fancy Spiraled Tubers for a bit of speed boost – any small edge can help.

Tools & Utility

Thermal Stone (keep it cold in an Ice Box until just before fight, or wrap in a Cool Wrap).

Ice Staff – cannot overstate how useful a few ice staff blasts are for lavae or emergency freeze on boss. Each staff has 20 uses; bringing two isn't excessive.

Pan Flute – if you have it (obtained from glommer statue or loot stash), it's your "get out of jail free" card as discussed. At minimum, have one per team.

Fire Extinguisher (Water Balloons or Luxury Fan): nice to extinguish fires if things around you (like backpacks or campfires) ignite.

Morning Star or Weather Pain: both are situational. Weather Pain (from Moose/Goose) can help damage and slow lavae, but it's somewhat random in targeting.

Quick Gear Checklist (per player)

  • Weapon: Dark Sword (68 dmg) – bring 2 if not using Ham Bat.
  • Armor: Football Helmets x2-3, Log Suit x2 (or equivalents like Marble Suit, etc.).
  • Thermal Stone (Cold) – 1 (in inventory).
  • Healing: Pierogi x10-20 (more for tank), Honey Poultice/Salve x5.
  • Pan Flute – 1 (for designated sleeper).
  • Ice Staff – 1 (for designated freezer).
  • Cane – 1 (if available, for kiting).
  • Lantern or Miner Hat – 1 (fight may go into dusk/night).
  • Sanity restorers: e.g. Cooked Cactus Flesh x5 or Tamarinds (if Warly) etc.

Plan an escape route:

It's not cowardly to bail if things go south. Better to run away with 10% of her health left and come back prepared, than to all die and lose everything. If you're nearing the end of summer and haven't killed her yet, note that in DST she does not despawn when summer ends (she stays at her magma pools year-round, unlike seasonal giants). So you could even postpone the fight to autumn if needed (which is easier – no overheating).

Just remember if you do retreat mid-fight, Dragonfly will heal a bit by eating any meat left on ground (e.g., player skeleton meats or killed lavae drop meat which she might consume). But she won't return to full health unless lots of things died. Still, try not to feed her extra mobs during a retreat.

Preparation might sound like overkill, but as players often note, "the one time you don't over-prepare is the time you get wrecked." Dragonfly is a fight where preparation pays off immensely. Come loaded for bear (or rather, dragon), and you'll have a much smoother experience.

"Cheese" Methods and Community Tricks

The Don't Starve community is clever (or cheesy, depending how you see it). Over the years, they've devised methods to beat Dragonfly with minimal risk – some are borderline exploits. If you're tired of getting burned (literally), these tricks might interest you:

Walling Off Magma Pools

We've mentioned this throughout – it's the most common cheese. By building non-flammable walls (stone or cave rock walls) around each lava pit, you prevent lavae from spawning or moving out. This lets you fight Dragonfly 1-on-1 nearly the whole fight.

The only caution is to keep an eye on her behavior: if she flies off to spawn larvae and none come (because walls blocked them), she'll pace a bit then either enrage or spawn again. Usually, she'll eventually enrage with no lavae to kill – which you then flute.

Enclosure Pen for Player

A variant used by some solo players is to wall yourself in a tight stone pen with a one-unit gap. The gap is too small for larvae but allows you to hit Dragonfly through it (because her hitbox is big).

Essentially you become untouchable to lavae, and Dragonfly's melee can't reach through the diagonal gap if done right. You then poke her with a spear safely. This is definitely exploit-y and may take some trial to set up (plus if you misbuild it, you could trap yourself with an angry boss hitting you anyway).

The Merm Army / Bunnyman Brigade

As mentioned, if you play Wurt (merm king/queen), you can rally loyal merms. Build a bunch of Merm Houses near Dragonfly's desert using Boards + Rot. Each house yields a merm that will attack hostiles on sight.

With 10–20 merms, you can basically zerg rush Dragonfly. They'll occupy her and the lavae, buying you time to whack her relatively safely. Many will die, but you can always make more (Wurt can craft houses cheaply).

Pan Flute + Gunpowder (RoG)

Worth reiterating for single-player (or in DST if you spawn Old Bells via mods): The fastest kill in single-player RoG is literally: wait for Dragonfly to sleep (feed ashes until she sleeps or use Pan Flute), then drop 14 gunpowder and BOOM – one dead Dragonfly. Zero risk (as long as you step away before it blows!).

In DST, direct one-phase kills like that aren't possible due to high HP and explosion resistance. But you can simulate it with enough resources and patience. Some DST players have done mass gunpowder bombing with scaling – it might take ~100 gunpowder in intervals.

Mods that Cheese

If you're open to mods, there are many that make this fight trivial:

  • The "Friendly Dragonfly" mod (Steam Workshop) lets you, after beating her once legit, trade items to Dragonfly for loot instead of fighting. Give her some Dragon Pies or Ash and she'll cough up gems and even additional scales. Great for those who don't want to slog through the battle every summer.
  • Boss Health Scaling mods – these will adjust boss health based on player count. For example, if you're alone, Dragonfly might only have say 10k HP instead of 27.5k, making solo much less grindy.
  • Practice Dummy mods – if you just want to practice kiting without stakes, there are mods to spawn bosses that don't drop loot or consume resources, purely for training.
  • Reduced Lag / Graphics mods – not exactly cheese, but Dragonfly fight with multiple people can get laggy (all those fire effects). Some mods lower particle effects or make fire animations simpler, which can actually improve your reaction time by improving performance.

One might ask: "Are these cheeses necessary?" Not at all – many enjoy the legitimate fight. But Don't Starve is a sandbox; if you're playing solo and find the prospect of a 10-minute kiting marathon tedious, there's no shame in boxing the boss in or bringing a small army of cookie monsters (bunnymen). The game gives you these tools – walls, followers, gunpowder – and using them creatively is playing smart, not hard.

That said, keep in mind if you play on public servers: some players consider heavy cheesing "against the spirit" and might be annoyed if you, say, wall off the arena (since those walls persist in their world). On your own world, go wild. On shared worlds, maybe coordinate and make sure everyone's cool with cheesing.

Aftermath: Loot, Uses, and Is It Worth It?

You've finally downed the Dragonfly – congrats! Now, let's talk loot and why you went through all this trouble in the first place:

Scales (1)

This is the unique crafting drop. In all versions, you get exactly one Scale per kill. Don't Starve veterans sometimes lament "only one??" because ideally you might want several for multiple crafts. In DST, you can get more by killing her repeatedly (she respawns), but in single-player RoG you're limited to that one scale unless you use World Regrowth or console.

What to do with the Scale:

  • Scaled Chest – A chest that's fireproof (won't burn, and items inside won't burn). It also has slightly higher health so harder for giants to smash. Great for storing flammables.
  • Scale Mail – A body armor with 70% protection that ignites attackers. Niche, as mentioned. Fun to wear if you want to set a bunch of spiders on fire while fighting them, for example.
  • Scaled Flooring (DST only) – You can use a Scale to prototype Scaled Flooring (it actually gives you multiple tiles per scale). This floor type greatly reduces the spread of fire on it.
  • (DST) Superior Furnace – aka Scaled Furnace – In DST, you don't craft this directly with a scale. Instead, Dragonfly drops a Blueprint for the Scaled Furnace (one time). It's basically a firepit that never needs refueling and emits strong light and heat.

Lavae Egg (1)

This drops only in DST. It's a purple-striped egg. If you want a cute Broodling pet, you can hatch this egg by keeping it warmed near a fire for a few days until it hatches into a Lavae (which you then feed ash to domesticate).

Once domesticated (becomes "Extra-Adorable Lavae"), it's basically a pet that follows you, provides light, and generates heat (could be nice in winter). However, it's needy: it'll get too cold if you don't keep it near fire periodically, and you have to feed it ashes or it starves.

It doesn't assist in combat meaningfully, it's more cosmetic/company. Many consider it "useless" for gameplay (hence the Steam forum complaint: "outside of a pet, completely useless"). So this is more for completionists or those who love pets. If you don't care for it, you can cook the egg for food or let it rot.

Gems & Misc

Dragonfly in DST drops a handful of Red/Blue Gems (commonly 2 of each or a random mix, with a small chance at Purple/Green gems rarely). The idea is a nod to the classic "dragon hoard" trope – she drops gems and gold.

You'll usually see 4–6 Gold Nuggets and maybe 2-4 gems total. It's not a lot considering Klaus or tumbleweeds can yield gems easier. Hence players say it's underwhelming. But still, free gems are free gems.

Meat (8) – Eight big meat will drop. Not that you fought her for meat, but hey, that's a whole stack of Meatballs or Bacon and Eggs. Just don't let it spoil – toss it in an ice box or dry it for jerky if you like.

Blueprints & Sketches: First kill yields the Scaled Furnace Blueprint (if none in world yet). Additionally, she drops a Sculpture Sketch for a Dragonfly Statue (for decoration). The sketch is only once – if you want to build her statue via the Pottery Wheel. Minor thing for collectors.

Is It Worth Killing Dragonfly?

Long-term worlds: ✅ YES

You'll want multiple Scales to fireproof your base or craft scale mail for fun. Also, Scaled Furnace is a one-time unlock that improves base convenience significantly.

Year-to-year survival: ⚖️ OPTIONAL

She's optional. Unlike Fuelweaver or Celestial Champion, she gatekeeps no progression – she's more about loot. If you got a Scale blueprint from Klaus, you might decide it's not worth risking your life for a scale or two more.

Completionists or fire-haters: ✅ YES

For completionists or if you hate summer wildfires, she's worth doing. Some players kill her mainly to stop her random attacks – in RoG single-player, if you don't kill Dragonfly, she can wander into your base and burn it down in summer (nasty!).

In summary: if you want a fireproof base and a neat infinite fireplace, go for it. If you're content managing summer with flingomatics and Ice Flingers, you might not need Dragonfly's loot urgently.

One more intangible reward: bragging rights. Dragonfly is considered one of the more challenging bosses to solo. If you manage it, that's a badge of honor among Don't Starve players. You'll have war stories to tell – "day 23, killed Dragonfly solo as Wes with no panflute" – that's legendary stuff.

FAQs and Pro Tips

Can the Dragonfly be killed without cheesing or pan flutes in DST?

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Yes, it's possible, but very hard. It requires tight kiting of the enraged phase. Skilled players have done hit-and-run on enraged Dragonfly with no speed boosts (you essentially dodge out the instant she moves and sneak hits in). It took them a lot of practice.

Generally, the "intended" way is use the Pan Flute or other methods to avoid fighting her while enraged – even the devs likely expect players to use the flute (since it's given in world via Glommer statue). So while you can do a pure fight, don't feel bad using tools. The legit no-cheese strategy is basically: fight normal phase legit, manage larvae, and only engage enraged Dragonfly if you're a masochist or doing a challenge run.

Does Dragonfly scale with number of players in DST?

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No – her health is a flat 27,500 no matter if it's 1 player or 6 players. Some bosses like Crab King scale with gems, and health in Don't Starve Together is sometimes tweaked for solo (like certain event bosses have solo modes), but Dragonfly does not.

This is why she's so tough for solo – you're effectively doing the damage of 6 people. There are mods to adjust this if desired. Her damage doesn't scale either; it's the same per hit whether you're alone or not. More players just means more targets to spread the hurt (and thus the overall team can soak more). Also, loot is the same regardless of team size – one scale, one egg, etc., which can feel scant if 6 people participated.

How do I keep from overheating during the fight?

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Summer heat is a silent killer. A few tips:

  1. Fight at Dusk or Night if possible – it's cooler (overheating rate slows). You can kite Dragonfly until evening then properly engage.
  2. Set up an Endothermic Fire Pit right outside the arena (not too close or she'll light it to max, which isn't bad necessarily as it makes it cooler). Retreat to it in between phases to cool off.
  3. Use a Luxury Fan item if you have one; it instantly removes all your body temperature (cools you down fully) – it's a one-time use but one fan can save you from overheating multiple times if timed right.
  4. Wear Summer gear until the moment of combat. E.g., you can travel to the desert in a Dumbrella and Fashion Goggles to reduce overheat, then swap to armor right when fight starts.

Will Dragonfly regen HP if we take too long?

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She does not passively regenerate health over time. However, she has a mechanic: whenever she kills a creature (pig, bunny, catcoon, etc.), she performs a little "eat" animation and heals 1000 HP. This is significant!

So if a bunch of your summoned Merms died and she gobbled several, she could heal a few thousand health during the fight. That's why uncontrolled mob summoning can backfire if she snacks on the corpses. So bottom line: no passive regen, but don't let her feast on fallen allies or you'll be effectively undoing your damage.

What's the easiest method overall to kill Dragonfly?

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If we're talking minimal skill required: probably the wall + panflute + gunpowder combo in DST. Specifically:

  1. Wall the lava pools (so no pesky larvae).
  2. Bring 2-3 Pan Flutes and ~20 gunpowder.
  3. Aggro Dragonfly, tank her (with armor) or simple kite until she's about to enrage.
  4. Once enraged, flute her to sleep.
  5. Drop a stack of 10 gunpowder, light and boom (she takes ~1500 damage since some resistance kicks in).
  6. She wakes (or you wake her) – she'll likely spawn larvae but they die in walls, she enrages, flute again, drop next 10 gunpowder, boom.
  7. Rinse repeat. It may take 2-4 cycles of this, but effectively she hardly fights back.

Anecdote – "The Flaming Fiasco"

Our first time fighting Dragonfly as a trio was a disaster. We went in confident – "Deerclops was easy, this will be too!" – oh how wrong we were. We forgot to bring a pan flute, hadn't cooled our thermal stones, and when the lavae came, all three of us ran in different directions screaming. Dragonfly enraged and literally cooked us one by one. I (Wigfrid) was last to fall, watching our hard-earned loot pack smolder to ash in her fire aura. It was brutal.

But we learned. The next summer, we over-prepared like mad: walls, flutes, ice – the works. That fight went so smoothly it was almost anticlimactic – Dragonfly didn't know what hit her. Now, a few years in-game later, we kill her every summer like clockwork. Each time, we mount her Head (sculpture) in the base as a trophy. Moral of the story: If at first you don't succeed… come back with 20 pierogies and a plan!

Happy starving (and scorching)! Good luck with your Dragonfly hunts. Don't get burned, and enjoy your hard-earned summer firepit and chest of dragon loot.

Patch History

Click to view Dragonfly patch history

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Date (Version) Change Note & Description Impact on Fight
April 21, 2014
(RoG DLC launch)		 Dragonfly Introduced in Reign of Giants (single-player). 2,750 HP, summer giant roaming the world. Added Scale loot and basic mechanics (enrage on hit, ash eating). Early-Late: Became a new late-summer challenge in DS RoG. Players could for the first time craft fireproof containers (Scaled Chest) and armor from Scale – new goals for late game.
June 2015
(DST Reign of Giants Update)		 Dragonfly added to DST as a raid boss in a fixed desert set piece. Health increased to 27,500, introduced magma pools & lavae spawn waves in multiplayer. Old Bell blueprint not included in DST (can't craft Old Bell). Mid/Late: Markedly increased difficulty for this boss – intended for teams. Solo players now faced an extreme challenge (many turned to walls/flute "cheese" due to difficulty). Old Bell removal meant no easy one-shot kills in DST, extending fight length.
April 6, 2017
("A New Reign" update)		 Loot Changes: Added Scaled Furnace Blueprint drop in DST (first kill) and Lavae Egg drop. Klaus winter boss also can drop Scale/Furnace blueprint. Patched some Dragonfly bugs (e.g., "Dragonfly not resetting properly" fix). Mid/Late: Made killing Dragonfly more rewarding – the Scaled Furnace (infinite fire pit) gave a practical reason to defeat her. Lavae Egg introduced the Extra-Adorable Lavae pet (cosmetic reward). Overall incentivized experienced groups to tackle her for base upgrades.
October 2019
("Turn of Tides" era QoL)		 Explosive Damage Resistance implemented for raid bosses. After a large gunpowder hit, bosses gain temporary immunity (max 2s immunity, fades over 8s). Early: Prevented cheap early-game kills using stacking gunpowder. Dragonfly could no longer be insta-gibbed with massive gunpowder piles in DST – players had to stagger explosions or fight more traditionally. This solidified the intended multi-phase fight experience.
Nov 24, 2023
(QoL Patch)		 Crispy Skeletons (burnt player skeletons) in Dragonfly's desert can now be hammered and cleared. Minor fixes: Dragonfly Furnace no longer destroys "Eternal Fruitcake" item. Mid: Quality-of-life change – players can clean up the Dragonfly arena after battles, making it safer for future fights or base-building. No direct effect on fight difficulty, but nice for world maintenance (previously skeletons cluttered the arena if players died there!).
Feb 8, 2024
("Year of the Dragonfly" event)		 Year of the Dragonfly seasonal event added (Lunar New Year). Added Dragonfly-themed content: Dragonfly Shrine, races mini-game (with "Dragonfly Boat" and "Dragonfly Light" structures). No changes to Dragonfly boss itself. Early: N/A for fight – event is separate. Late: Cosmetic fun – players can obtain a Dragonfly skin for their scale furnace or new costumes, but nothing that makes the boss easier or harder. Shows Klei's continued celebration of this boss in lore, but purely aesthetic/gameplay separate.
2023–2024
(Skill Tree Updates)		 Character skill trees (Wigfrid, Wolfgang, Wanda, WX-78, Wortox, etc.) added abilities indirectly affecting boss fights. E.g., Wigfrid can boost allies' damage or fire resistance; Wolfgang can maintain mightiness easier; Wortox can unlock bigger soul healing. Mid/Late: Made fights somewhat easier for those characters – a buffed Wigfrid or Wolfgang can significantly improve team performance against Dragonfly. Particularly, Wigfrid's fire resistance song can reduce Dragonfly's burn aura damage for the team, and Wortox's healing keeps everyone alive longer. These changes reward players who invest in skill upgrades when taking on raid bosses.

Further Reading

Check out these related guides for more Don't Starve boss strategies:

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