Timberwolf Mountain discussion. Possible spoilers

[Wasteland Watcher]

 Hello all, 

I set my main sandbox to the side to start a new sandbox at Timberwolf Mountain to explore it so I don't end up killing my 160+ day sandbox guy off when I finally make my way there. 

Anyhow, alive seven days now and frankly surprised about it.

 When I started the sandbox I wandered around lost through valleys, caves, and ravines & found about 36 matches off of dead people before finally finding the mountaineers cabin where I currently live. 

I've opened up two supply crates near a busted wing sticking up out of the ground that were full of food and medical supplies and also climbed one rope up a cliff and found two more locked supply cabinets that had a lot of food and clothes thankfully.  I was down to my last can of  banged up peaches! 

 I'm down to about 20 matches and frankly I don't see myself lasting much beyond that unless I can find a "permanent" water source.  

 So here's the spoiler-question that I've been leading up to: 

Are there any magnifying glasses to be found on  Timberwolf Mountain? 

[SteelFire]

You're going to want to drag yourself up to the summit sooner rather than later if the RNG gods were that bad about giving you matches in other places.

Hopefully not too spoilery, as I've already seen this said in a few other posts, but the tail of the plane is up there (not like you can't see that by looking up anyway)... a cargo plane. A cargo plane carrying a lot of every type of supply, but in my experience the 'type' of materials in each container remained the same, just the amount/make-up of items. Granted, my experience going up there has only been twice so far, once in my current sandbox and once doing the Hopeless Rescue challenge last night, but both times the container types were identical.

[Wasteland Watcher]

 Ha ha, thanks for the good info

 I haven't found that tail yet but I will definitely look for it. Now that I've got enough canned food to get me by for a week I'll just bring 3 days food, 2 L of water,  and eight cedar logs. And cutting tools.

 Timberwolf mountain seems a lot colder than the other maps but I think if someone goes there fully equipped with fur clothing, a weapon, magnifying glass, and cutting tools the y probably will be able to get through the whole place within about a week.

 Actually, I wanted to scavenge it for scrap metal but I don't think there's going to be much scrap metal there. 

It might be a nice place to go and settle down for the long-haul.

8 minutes ago, SteelFire said:

You're going to want to drag yourself up to the summit sooner rather than later if the RNG gods were that bad about giving you matches in other places.

Hopefully not too spoilery, as I've already seen this said in a few other posts, but the tail of the plane is up there (not like you can't see that by looking up anyway)... a cargo plane. A cargo plane carrying a lot of every type of supply, but in my experience the 'type' of materials in each container remained the same, just the amount/make-up of items. Granted, my experience going up there has only been twice so far, once in my current sandbox and once doing the Hopeless Rescue challenge last night, but both times the container types were identical.

 

[SteelFire]

Coffee... take coffee if you've got it. Timberwolf mountain taught me the value of coffee and it's strategic use in this game.

 

I don't recall how many days I spent up there, but, yeah probably wasn't much more than a week, and I was fully geared up and I treated it like a raiding expedition rather than settling down. Once I established the hut as base, I only went back there when I had to dump supplies and I quickly learned the quickest route up and down.

[Wasteland Watcher]

11 minutes ago, SteelFire said:

Coffee... take coffee if you've got it. Timberwolf mountain taught me the value of coffee and it's strategic use in this game.

 

I don't recall how many days I spent up there, but, yeah probably wasn't much more than a week, and I was fully geared up and I treated it like a raiding expedition rather than settling down. Once I established the hut as base, I only went back there when I had to dump supplies and I quickly learned the quickest route up and down.

 Bummer, no coffee! 

But my 160+ day sandbox guy has plenty of coffee so when I head over to TWM I'll bring the coffee with. 

 Thanks for the tip!!

 By the way, slightly off-topic but I've never really gotten what the benefit of "more restful sleep" from drinking herbal tea is. 

 Anyhow, do you think that would be useful on TW mountain? 

[selfless]

19 minutes ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 By the way, slightly off-topic but I've never really gotten what the benefit of "more restful sleep" from drinking herbal tea is. 

 Anyhow, do you think that would be useful on TW mountain? 

"More restful sleep" is actually more healing from sleep.  Basically your healing rate doubles for the next 4 hours of sleep taken, whenever that happens to be.  Useful when sleep is limited.

[Wasteland Watcher]

2 minutes ago, selfless said:

"More restful sleep" is actually more healing from sleep.  Basically your healing rate doubles for the next 4 hours of sleep taken, whenever that happens to be.  Useful when sleep is limited.

 That is really useful to know

 Thank you, selfless! 

[Morgan le Fay]

I second the coffee thing. In my current sandbox (170 days), I made the journey to the summit without coffee, because I was desperate, but I only survived by the skin of my teeth, and part of that was due to making the journey previously (with coffee) and knowing pretty much where landmarks were so I could navigate when hit by a blizzard (twice on this most recent trip).

If you don't have coffee, what worked for me was putting my sleeping bag in the hollow trees (as close to the inside as I could get it) and then building a fire between me and the outside world. Luckily, I didn't get attacked by bears or wolves on the 2-3 resting sessions I had to make outdoors. This also depends on having a start-up wood supply. I nearly froze to death a couple of times breaking down wood.

There are also some indoor caves that you can use for resting on your way up.

My strategy was similar to @SteelFire's above. I wasn't planning on staying for a long time. I just wanted to get my goods and get back down to the Mountaineer's cabin, where I'm currently trying to get stocked up to have as a base for an extended stay in TW mountain.

[Wasteland Watcher]

1 hour ago, Morgan le Fay said:

I second the coffee thing. In my current sandbox (170 days), I made the journey to the summit without coffee, because I was desperate, but I only survived by the skin of my teeth, and part of that was due to making the journey previously (with coffee) and knowing pretty much where landmarks were so I could navigate when hit by a blizzard (twice on this most recent trip).

If you don't have coffee, what worked for me was putting my sleeping bag in the hollow trees (as close to the inside as I could get it) and then building a fire between me and the outside world. Luckily, I didn't get attacked by bears or wolves on the 2-3 resting sessions I had to make outdoors. This also depends on having a start-up wood supply. I nearly froze to death a couple of times breaking down wood.

There are also some indoor caves that you can use for resting on your way up.

My strategy was similar to @SteelFire's above. I wasn't planning on staying for a long time. I just wanted to get my goods and get back down to the Mountaineer's cabin, where I'm currently trying to get stocked up to have as a base for an extended stay in TW mountain.

 Thanks for the tips, Morgan! 

In preparation for the trip to the top I am bringing along four cedar logs, four fir logs & also constantly picking up sticks long way even though I'm over encumbered the entire time. 

I have enough food (crackers) for about a week, sleeping bag, a knife, saw, the hatchet and matches. And a storm lantern just in case.

 I wonder if I will need to bring a mountaineer's rope or not? 

 I have one, and I'll bring it if I have to but at 5 kg I'd rather leave it behind if I don't need it. 

[Scyzara]

8 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

Are there any magnifying glasses to be found on  Timberwolf Mountain? 

Well, someone once claimed to have found a magnifying lens in TWM (I think it was on the steam forums), but that was most likely just a hoax. I for one never found a lens in TWM so far and don't know of anyone else who did. If you want to live in TWM in the long run, it's thus better to make a short trip to the PV farmstead (or if necessary the Camp Office in ML) to fetch a lens from there. Alternatively, you can of course also just use the matches and firestrikers that can be found in the cargo containers in TWM. They're sufficient for at least 200 days if you don't light more than two fires per day.

1 hour ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 I wonder if I will need to bring a mountaineer's rope or not? 

 I have one, and I'll bring it if I have to but at 5 kg I'd rather leave it behind if I don't need it. 

Just leave it behind, you won't really need a rope for your trip. It can be used to unlock a shortcut for the way back to the mountaineer's cabin, but there's another even shorter route (right down the hillside next to the plane's tail section) anyway.

I'd also advise you not to take that much firewood to the summit (especially no sticks, they're heaviest regarding their weight/burning time ratio). Climbing ropes is much easier if you're not encumbered and as long as you bring a hatchet, you can always harvest the various tree limbs at the summit if you need fuel. Well, actually you don't even need to bring a hatchet as you'll find plenty of them in one of the cargo containers. 

 

[Wasteland Watcher]

2 hours ago, Scyzara said:

Well, someone once claimed to have found a magnifying lens in TWM (I think it was on the steam forums), but that was most likely just a hoax. I for one never found a lens in TWM so far and don't know of anyone else who did. If you want to live in TWM in the long run, it's thus better to make a short trip to the PV farmstead (or if necessary the Camp Office in ML) to fetch a lens from there. Alternatively, you can of course also just use the matches and firestrikers that can be found in the cargo containers in TWM. They're sufficient for at least 200 days if you don't light more than two fires per day.

Just leave it behind, you won't really need a rope for your trip. It can be used to unlock a shortcut for the way back to the mountaineer's cabin, but there's another even shorter route (right down the hillside next to the plane's tail section) anyway.

I'd also advise you not to take that much firewood to the summit (especially no sticks, they're heaviest regarding their weight/burning time ratio). Climbing ropes is much easier if you're not encumbered and as long as you bring a hatchet, you can always harvest the various tree limbs at the summit if you need fuel. Well, actually you don't even need to bring a hatchet as you'll find plenty of them in one of the cargo containers. 

 

Thank you very much for the tips

I've been climbing encumbered and taking 1 hour naps when I reach the top of the cliff  

I'm currently at an open cave I stayed at last night, kind of near one of the engines.

I left for this trip right after my last post and brought the rope. I guess I'll use it for the "shortcut" if I find my way to the top before having to need to return to the mountaineer's cabin.

I'll start leaving wood behind behind but I like to carry sticks all the time because I like carrying a brand at all times if the wind allows. It helps me conserve matches. 

I'm trying to find the top without looking at any maps, to help me learn the lay of the land quicker but of course this means I get lost a lot

The good news is that I found another cargo container (near the engine I think) that had probably a hundred matches in it. Might've been less but it sure seemed like a LOT of matches! Enough to last a few months for sure 

[Ruruwawa]

1 hour ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

The good news is that I found another cargo container (near the engine I think) that had probably a hundred matches in it. Might've been less but it sure seemed like a LOT of matches! Enough to last a few months for sure 

hurray!

[Morgan le Fay]

And to add on to what was said about re: not taking a rope with you:

There is at least one you can scavenge on your way up.

[Wasteland Watcher]

19 hours ago, Morgan le Fay said:

And to add on to what was said about re: not taking a rope with you:

There is at least one you can scavenge on your way up.

Thanks! I'll leave it behind my next trip up

[unti1x]

20 hours ago, Morgan le Fay said:

And to add on to what was said about re: not taking a rope with you:

There is at least one you can scavenge on your way up.

2 or even 3

[Wasteland Watcher]

On May 7, 2016 at 10:28 AM, Morgan le Fay said:

And to add on to what was said about re: not taking a rope with you:

There is at least one you can scavenge on your way up.

 

On May 7, 2016 at 7:19 AM, unti1x said:

2 or even 3

 Thanks for the advice guys.  I left that rope behind because it was the only thing weighing me down. 

 Found another rope to climb up and, what do you know, it was the rope to the top of the mountain

 And I found a spare rope in a smallcave just before I climbed that rope so it will make going down a little bit easier  

 

 Thanks to everybody who help me out on this little mission. It was quite the adventure!

[SteelFire]

Congrats and enjoy the loot horde.

[Wasteland Watcher]

8 hours ago, SteelFire said:

Congrats and enjoy the loot horde.

Haha thanks!!

I'm sitting up in the cargo plane tail now wondering how I'm going to get this nearly 60 kg of stuff down the frikking mountain! 

[cekivi]

Well, there's a really easy way down that takes you almost all the way to crystal lake. You've got to be just a little bit crazy to try it though 

[Wasteland Watcher]

 Sure, why not!?! 

 Is it right out of the tail of the plane where you can kind of see Crystal Lake, down the slope there? 

[cekivi]

40 minutes ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

 Sure, why not!?! 

 Is it right out of the tail of the plane where you can kind of see Crystal Lake, down the slope there? 

Maybe

 

Spoiler

 

That's the one. I've only used the route as part of the Hopeless Rescue challenge to cut down on the climbing time. The first time I tied it was after dark and I had no lantern/flares. That ended poorly. I missed the "safe" route completely and fell partway resulting in dropping down to 10% condition (thank you emergency stims!) and destroying my pants and boots. The second time I just sprained both ankles and tore my pants a little but otherwise made it unscathed.

Basically, follow the snow slope down and to the right. You'll slowly loop around to finally drop down at the rope on the other side of crystal lake. I was surprised how fast and easy it was once I found the path! If you're looking for a bruising just go straight out the back of the tail and drop down the shelves until you get to the cave at the bottom. With enough drugs you "should" be OK

 

 

[SteelFire]

3 hours ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

Haha thanks!!

I'm sitting up in the cargo plane tail now wondering how I'm going to get this nearly 60 kg of stuff down the frikking mountain! 

Well, there was enough stuff up there that I wanted to haul out, that I ended up making three trips. It's a good thing climbing down while encumbered isn't a big deal and that cave below the summit is really handy for making subsequent trips easier.

[Wasteland Watcher]

2 hours ago, cekivi said:

Maybe

 

Hidden Content

 

Well I slipped and fell a few times on the way down but was still 70% health when I got to the engine where I was immediately attacked by a wolf which I fought off but not before going down to 30% condition

Luckily I found a nearby cave, "Chasm Cave" where I sipped tea and napped for four hours to 100% condition!
Interesting but highly risky route. I think when I bring my 180 day sandbox guy to TWM I'll take the long way back

16 minutes ago, SteelFire said:

Well, there was enough stuff up there that I wanted to haul out, that I ended up making three trips. It's a good thing climbing down while encumbered isn't a big deal and that cave below the summit is really handy for making subsequent trips easier.

Good to know.
When I bring my "real" character there I'll pack as much as I can carry and still walk. Maybe 40 or 50 kg of stuff I think?
I'm just glad there are so many caves along the way to camp out in.

Actually with this sandbox, since it's just a test, I'll head back there and see if I can carry everything to see how that goes. If I can carry all 60kg of stuff I will

[cekivi]

57 minutes ago, Wasteland Watcher said:

Actually with this sandbox, since it's just a test, I'll head back there and see if I can carry everything to see how that goes. If I can carry all 60kg of stuff I will

Sadly (and logically) that doesn't work. After a point your character will complain more and more about the weight and eventually be unable to move. Forgot to write down at what point that was but it was likely before 60 kg

[Wasteland Watcher]

53 minutes ago, cekivi said:

Sadly (and logically) that doesn't work. After a point your character will complain more and more about the weight and eventually be unable to move. Forgot to write down at what point that was but it was likely before 60 kg

It makes sense that carrying 60 kg wouldn't work. I'm not exactly sure how much it is but I think around 45 kg is the max. After that you just can't move. I'll probably just carry 35 kg of stuff each trip. 

So...I made it back to Crystal Lake after that rough slide down the mountain. On my way back, got lost and stayed overnight on Deer Clearing (thinking I was somewhere much closer to the lake). Got attacked by two wolves, one of which I shot. I left them to rot. Didn't harvest a thing. I was at 27% condition when I got back to the Mountaineer's Cabin. Pretty rough trip  

Since it's all fresh in my mind I'm thinking of setting this sandbox aside (as a backup in case my "main" sandbox gets erased again) and bring my "main" character to TWM now. 
Since I've got all the fur clothes and bearskin bedroll I think it won't be so bad  

From TWM I'll head to PV, then back to ML to cut up all the metal I can find and bring to to CH, where I'll saw down all the metal I find there, then finally head to DP where I'll forge as many hatchets and knives as I can with all the metal from all the maps. Then carry them all back to...probably Mystery Lake, where I can live happily ever after