📖 Venom Gland SOS: Cure Poison Before It’s Game Over

Venom Gland Basics – What, Why, and Where?

What is a Venom Gland? It's a healing item (of sorts) introduced in the Shipwrecked DLC. It looks like a slimy green sac and is essentially a sack of toxins.

Despite sounding dangerous, this item is actually your ticket to survival if you get poisoned.

Why do you need it? Because in Shipwrecked and Hamlet, many creatures and hazards inflict Poison, a debuff that gradually drains your health (about ~290 damage over 3 days if untreated). Without a cure, poison will kill you. Venom Gland is the most direct cure: eat it, cure poison. It's basically antivenom in a raw form – albeit with a nasty side effect of its own (a big health loss).

Where do Venom Glands come from?

Venom Glands drop from poisonous monsters and a few other sources:

• Shipwrecked (Tropical Poison sources): Venom Glands drop from Poison Snakes (~20%), Spider Warriors (Venomous) (~25%), Stink Rays (~33%), Yellow Crocodogs (~20%), and Poison Mosquitoes (~25%). Even the environment can provide: dig a Poisonous Hole (bubbling toxic pond in swamp biomes) for a 50% chance.
• Hamlet (Jungle Poison sources): Found in the Deep Rainforest caves and ruins – Scorpions and Poison Dart Frogs both drop Venom Glands occasionally (roughly 33–50%). In Hamlet, you can also craft a Venom Gland yourself by refining 3 Poison Dartfrog Legs at a Science Machine.
• Don't Starve Together: Surprise – you won't find Venom Glands at all in unmodded DST. There are no poison mechanics in vanilla DST; thus, no creatures drop glands (and no need for them).

Curing Poison: Venom Gland vs. Anti-Venom

Being poisoned in Don't Starve triggers panicked urgency – your health will tick down steadily (about 3.3 HP per 10 seconds). You essentially have up to ~3 game days to cure it, but realistically you want to cure it ASAP. There are two primary ways to cure poison:

1. Consume a Venom Gland directly, or
2. Brew an Anti-Venom potion.

Feature	Consuming Venom Gland	Anti-Venom Potion
Health Impact	-75 HP (stops at 5 HP min)	No health loss
Crafting Required?	No (direct use)	Yes (Science Machine needed)
Ingredients	Just the gland	1 Venom Gland + 3 Seaweed + 2 Coral
Speed of Use	Immediate (if you have the gland)	Delay for crafting (unless pre-crafted)
Best For	Emergency situations, no Science Machine nearby	Planned excursions, low-health characters

Using Venom Gland Directly – The "Heroic Dose"

Eating a Venom Gland might feel counterintuitive ("Drink poison to cure poison?!"), but Don't Starve operates on tough love logic. When you right-click that slimy gland in your inventory and confirm consumption, here's what happens:

• Poison status is cured immediately. The green hue on screen will disappear and your character stops taking poison damage.
• You instantly take up to 75 points of "poison" damage to your Health. It's like a controlled dosage of venom – enough to hurt, not enough to kill. If you had ≥80 health, you'll lose exactly 75. If you had less, the game ensures you survive: it will only cut your HP down to 5 HP minimum.
• The 75 damage ignores armor (it's internal poison). It also won't trigger things like Wigfrid's lifesteal or other effects – it's a flat reduction.
• If WX-78 eats it, since WX is immune to poison, WX takes 0 damage but still gets cured. That's a huge perk for WX mains in Shipwrecked/Hamlet.

After eating a gland, you should immediately heal up. Use a Healing Salve (30 HP) or eat some cooked food/honey. Your priority is to get out of the danger zone (>30 HP) in case something else hits you right after.

Crafting Anti-Venom – The Brewed Cure

Anti-Venom is a crafted antidote, essentially a serum that cures poison with no side effects. It's found in the Survival tab.

Recipe (Shipwrecked):

• Venom Gland x1
• Seaweed x3
• Coral x2

Requires a Science Machine to prototype.

Using an Anti-Venom is straightforward: equip or select it and right-click. Your character drinks it with a grossed-out remark, and voila, poison is cured. No health loss, no fuss.

Notes on Anti-Venom:

• It's single-use. After one cure, the item is consumed/disappears.
• You can pre-craft and stock them. They do not spoil or expire.
• If you drink Anti-Venom while not poisoned, it simply does nothing.
• In Hamlet DLC, you cannot craft Anti-Venom because Seaweed and Coral aren't available. Instead, you can buy Anti-Venom from the "Curly Tails Mud Spa" shop in the Pig City for 5 Oincs each.

Obtaining Venom Glands – Hunting & Farming Guide

Venom Glands don't grow on trees. You'll typically get them by defeating poisonous creatures. Below we break down the sources in each DLC and some farming strategies to get glands with minimal pain.

Shipwrecked: Venom on the High Seas 🌴🐍

Shipwrecked is crawling (and swimming) with venomous nasties. Here are your main sources of Venom Glands in SW:

Source	Drop Chance	Location/Notes
Poison Snake	~20%	Green snakes in jungle; spawn when chopping trees or from snake holes
Spider Warrior (Venomous)	~25%	Teal-colored warriors from level 2+ spider dens in jungle biomes
Stink Ray	~33%	Flying rays in ocean that emit poison gas clouds
Yellow Crocodog	~20%	Yellow variant that comes during poison fog/rain
Poison Mosquito	~25%	Spawn from puddles in heavy rain/flooding season
Poisonous Hole	50%	Bubbling green pits in marshy areas; dig with shovel

Hamlet: Venom in the Jungle 🌳🐸

Hamlet's poisonous threats are fewer but can catch you off-guard especially in the ruins or deep forests. The prime sources for Venom Glands in Hamlet are:

Source	Drop Chance	Location/Notes
Scorpion	~33%	Hamlet's cave systems (ruins, cave clefts)
Poison Dart Frogs	~50%	Lily pond biome (often on second island or swampy areas)
Crafting	100%	Refine 3 Poison Dartfrog Legs into 1 Venom Gland at Science Machine
Shops	N/A	Curly Tails Mud Spa sells Anti-Venom for 5 Oincs

Don't Starve (Base Game & Reign of Giants): No Poison Here

If you only have the base game or RoG (Reign of Giants) – good news: you cannot get poisoned under normal circumstances. There is no poison mechanic, hence no Venom Glands.

Beyond the Basics: Other Uses for Venom Glands

Venom Glands aren't just for curing poison directly – they factor into a couple of crafting recipes and character-specific items:

Crafting Poison Weapons (Shipwrecked)

Poison Spear: Combine 1 Spear + 1 Venom Gland at a Science Machine to craft a Poison Spear. This weapon does the same base damage as a regular spear (34 damage), but its big perk is it poisons any enemy it hits.

Wormwood's Poison Balm (Hamlet Exclusive)

Poison Balm – Craftable by Wormwood only, under Green Thumb tab.

• Recipe: 1 Living Log + 1 Venom Gland
• Requires an Alchemy Engine
• When Wormwood uses Poison Balm, it cures poison just like Anti-Venom

Surviving Poison – Tactics and Preventative Measures

Up to now we focused on curing poison after the fact. But as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

1. Gear Up for Poison Regions:

• Seashell Suit (Armor): This chest armor (10 seashells + 2 limestones to craft in SW) not only provides 725 durability (~72% damage protection like log suit), but more importantly, it prevents poison from physical attacks.
• Particulate Purifier: A gas mask that negates Stink Ray gas and hay fever in Hamlet.
• Bramble Husk: For Wormwood players – reduces poison gas damage by 100%.

2. Ranged Attacks:

The simplest way to avoid being poisoned is don't get hit. Use range to your advantage:

• Blow Darts, Fire Darts, Poison Spears (thrown)
• Followers (Pigs, Bunnymen, etc.)

3. Watch the Weather/Time:

• Avoid chopping trees in jungles at dusk
• Travel through known Stink Ray waters in daytime
• During flood season, get sandbags up to reduce mosquito spawns

4. Cure Early, Cure Often:

The moment you get poisoned, prioritize curing it. Don't think "I'll finish exploring this and then cure." Poison's damage ramps up over time.

5. Use Healing to Counteract Poison:

If you cannot cure poison immediately, you can try to outheal or slow down the poison death:

• Eat healing foods consistently
• Use Healing Salves or Honey Poultice periodically
• Rest in a Tent/Shelter to regain health

Poison in DST – What You Need to Know (and Adding It with Mods)

If you primarily play Don't Starve Together, you might be reading all the above with some confusion – "I've never seen a Venom Gland in DST. Poison? What poison?" That's because:

No Poison in Vanilla DST

Klei made a design choice when creating DST (multiplayer) to omit the poison mechanic entirely. In the code, while DST has remnants, by default no mob in DST inflicts poison and no gland ever drops. The "venomgland" prefab is basically unused.

What does this mean for DST players? You will not get poisoned in an unmodded DST game, period. You don't need Anti-Venom, and you won't find Venom Glands.

Mods That Add Poison Mechanics

The DST modding community has done a tremendous job bringing single-player elements into DST:

• Island Adventures (Shipwrecked for DST): This ambitious mod basically imports the entire Shipwrecked DLC into DST. It includes Venom Glands, poison snakes, crocs, etc.
• Hamlet Characters / Worlds in DST: There are mods that add Hamlet content, including poison dart frogs and scorpions, into DST.
• Uncompromising Mode: This is a DST overhaul mod aiming to make the game harder. It doesn't fully add Shipwrecked, but it adds new dangers, including a sort of poison mechanic.

Console Commands in DST (or Single-Player)

This will spawn one Venom Gland at your position. If you're a client (not host) in DST, you need to be admin or have Local type commands enabled.

Conclusion & Final Tips

Surviving poison in Don't Starve is a bit like dealing with a snakebite in real life: it's scary when it happens, but if you keep a cool head and have the antidote ready, you'll pull through.

To recap actionable steps:

1. Always be prepared in poison-rich biomes: carry a Venom Gland or an Anti-Venom in your pack.
2. Gear up: Seashell Suits, Gas Masks, and armor will prevent most poisonings to begin with.
3. Farm smart, not hard: Use traps and lure techniques to get Venom Glands with minimal contact.
4. Don't procrastinate on curing: The moment that skull-and-crossbones icon appears, drop what you're doing and cure it.
5. Know your character: Adjust poison strategy to whom you play. WX can brute force cures, Maxwell must be extra cautious, etc.

So, next time you're venturing through a swampy jungle and hear the hiss of a snake or the croak of a poison frog, you won't need to panic. You'll check your inventory for that green gland of salvation, steel yourself, and either dodge the threat or take your medicine after. Stay safe out there, and don't starve (or get poisoned)!