Forlorn Muskeg

[TROY]

@Ahatch  Dude, I take my hat off to you. I am the one who was talking with Jafo about this thread, and I never checked it out then, but you deserve respect for this. I dont quit on anything easy, and I'd have bailed on this Godforsaken miserable pit of a region long before you did. I'd never have believed that one could spawn and survive in FM for so long, even on Voyageur.  I usually only go there once I'm well geared and equipped, and I do so in short excursions from ML, usually 4 o 5 days max, and I get tired of its generally unwelcoming feel and bitter flavor.   This is really an eye opening and very entertaining read.  I especially enjoyed how you think out your options, and seemed to learn from everything you did.  You are a true hardass.  

[Ruruwawa]

17 hours ago, PleXD said:

Straight across from the cave on the frozen river (maybe down stream a bit) if you play on the ledges a bit you can get up onto the plateau. Now I have not tried it on any of the survivor modes yet but I am close to it in my current interloper run so I might try it out in the next couple of days. 

I've been doing it this way for many months, all difficulties.  It's no harder than walking up the path from Winding River to the dam, just need to figure out where it'll let you walk.

[Ahatch]

On 9/20/2017 at 6:35 PM, Ruruwawa said:

I've been doing it this way for many months, all difficulties.  It's no harder than walking up the path from Winding River to the dam, just need to figure out where it'll let you walk.

This is so true , I lost a few games in a row before this run by falling through the ice with crappy clothes on and then getting wolfed. I had to learn where to walk safely (well I still screw up) but for the most part it's not too bad. My one rule I put on myself was if I plan to cross the marsh I start early in the day with clear skies. 

[Mroz4k]

Rule of a thumb when crossing over the ice in Forlorn Muskeg - when you are in between two islands you want to cross, look at both of them and find a little bit of land where at least one of those islands have a couple of tiny snow hills. This marks a spot that is safe to traverse. 

I noticed there are at least two different pathways of safely crossable ice in the bottom big Forlorn bog - usually its marked the way I just described, or via a fallen tree.

 

[JAFO]

45 minutes ago, Mroz4k said:

when you are in between two islands you want to cross, look at both of them and find a little bit of land where at least one of those islands have a couple of tiny snow hills. This marks a spot that is safe to traverse.

I tend to do this by instinct.. which probably explains why I've yet to fall through the ice in FM. (Mind you, on the other hand I have pushed my luck plenty of times when guessing I could run across a largish patch before it broke!)

Of course, by saying the above I've probably jinxed myself now! 

[Mroz4k]

2 hours ago, JAFO said:

I tend to do this by instinct.. which probably explains why I've yet to fall through the ice in FM. (Mind you, on the other hand I have pushed my luck plenty of times when guessing I could run across a largish patch before it broke!)

Of course, by saying the above I've probably jinxed myself now! 

Same here. I always try to take the paths of the least resistance - in my experience, if I try to rush things, I end up making some fatal or at least really costly mistakes. So now, I will rather take the scenic route and go around them islands, walking slowly, instead of trying to run over a bigger patch of the thin ice. Only end up risking if I feel like there is no other choice, and I need to make a quick get-away, like already taking a lot of weather damage and still being far from a decent shelter - which is a scenario that happens quite often in FM. 

[Ahatch]

This Voyageur run is still going , I am still in Broken Railroad at the Lodge for 20 days so far . I found a hunting knife in the cave by the hunting blind by the corpse. I didn't bring the hatchet with me as I figured this map would have one but I still haven't located it yet so I see saplings and I can't harvest them . I have just 4 arrow stalks left as I left a whole bunch in the Spence homestead. I have been finding this region more unforgiving than Forlorn at times.  I had a couple tough days ran out of food and rabbits were not spawning . Went down the hill to scavenge deer corpses and came back to the cabin and got wolfed . So I have some meat again. I was wanting to stick around long enough to shoot a bear but I  like a safe spot to shoot from that is within range. I can shoot at the bear from way up here but hitting it is another story. I will return to Forlorn when I use my last arrow shaft  

[KinoUnko]

I came through FM to BR as well. Compared to BR, FM is a picnic. As for a bear... killing one is probably same as any other region. hard part is getting the harvest back to the lodge.

[Ahatch]

Those 3 wolves that hang out on the lake all day are going to make harvesting a tad risky for sure

[Salty Crackers]

I'm thinking about doing something similar in Stalker. Where exactly are the mag lens spawns? I can find pretty much everything else.

[Riotintheair]

On 10/7/2017 at 10:27 PM, KinoUnko said:

I came through FM to BR as well. Compared to BR, FM is a picnic. As for a bear... killing one is probably same as any other region. hard part is getting the harvest back to the lodge.

I found BR to be a lot easier in Interloper than FM. It has such good weather (warm and sunny!). I spent 44 days mostly with the lodge as a base - exterminated the wolves in the high section and kept them dead - it seemed to take almost 25 days for them to respawn as I killed three up top (I called it "the preserve") on day 79 and 80 and ran into one on day 104. Those were the only 4 wolves I saw in the preserve and otherwise it was just me and the rabbits up top. I deployed a rope to climb up from the lake and I found it much easier once I had that, as I could head down with about 20 kg of gear, nab a deer or kill a wolf-friend on the lake, and transport all the meat up to the preserve for cooking. I never did get the bear to respawn after I killed it from the blind. 

I do think without cooking 5, food is thin on the ground in this region. I left because it was sort of boring after a while and I'd only brought out 1 whetstone (I'd left most of my whetstones and sewing kits at Fishing Camp, which was nominally supposed to be my home base on this run, but that I didn't see from about day 50 until almost day 190 when I retrieved them from the Farmhouse in PV.

The FM has been really rough, all three times this character has been there have been pretty tense and dangerous, mostly because I don't know the region super well - and the BR transfer into FM is tough - it's a long way from Maintenance Yard to the cave above Spence. Anyone know of a good stopping place between?

[KinoUnko]

Main problem I ran into was lack of birch in BR. I didn't bring too many arrows from FM and dealing with the wolves in BR went through the few I had in short order. 

BR to Spence there's just one cave in the SW corner of FM. Usually a wolf hangs around the entrance, but you might run into a deer on the way to that cave and you can rush the deer toward the wolf to distract it, and then steal some meat from the wolf. Getting up to solid ground coming from the west you have to go over the ice a short bit, there's a bear that wanders around that area. That's the trickiest part, easy to get shoe horned onto weak ice trying to find the way up to solid ground. Follow the edge of ice south from the rails, look for a long slope up between two boulders and head up there. then left over the tree bridge and you're just a short walk from the cave. By the cave you're half way to Spence's, if you got have a few hrs of day light I'd just hoof it directly for Spence's. Though on interloper the cave probably provides more protection from cold than Spence's

Marsh ridge is fairly nice though, north from the tracks just entering FM. lots of fuel, deer area. Bear don't go up there, pretty sure no wolves there either. You can climb some rocks at the top of hat's creek waterfall west side, or go through the cave just east of the waterfall to get to Marsh ridge.

[Salty Crackers]

Day 2: So far, so good. I spawned by the Overlook and promptly looted it, getting a ragged wool shirt and some peanut butter. Better than nothing. I decide to make my way towards the Spence Homestead, stopping by the High Blind, where I score a pack of matches. At the homestead, I find a new simple parka and some work gloves immediately. A more thorough search yields a hacksaw, hammer, a fishing tackle, another pack of matches(!), a whetstone, and a rifle cleaning kit. Good loot. I decide to forge a hatchet for defense, using up all my scrap and cloth. I spend the remainder of the night breaking down surplus clothing and repairing my current clothing. In the morning, I loot the safe, finding a fleece cowl and mukluks! I decide to make an expedition to the Poacher's Camp, collecting cattails on the way. At the Poacher's Camp I find a windbreaker and a bedroll. The latter is great because that gives me 10 cloth to work with. I make my way back to the Spence Homestead and decide to try and live in the barrel shed. It has a fire barrel, access to the workbench and forge, 25 kg of storage  (metal container and corpse), and most importantly, no nearby wolves. I start a fire and make some water, eating some of the 40 cattails I had gathered.

[KinoUnko]

hot damn Mukluks! I've never seen one in nearly 500 days.

[Salty Crackers]

Day 6: After spending the night at the barrel shed, I realized that I would have to burn a fire every night, limiting my survival to 40ish days. I decide to make my way to the waterfall cave, the only indoor area in the Muskeg. On the way, I find a bow and arrow on a corpse, but the bow is only at 36%. I stop by the Low Blind to find a storm lantern and a box of rifle rounds. Next, I go to the Shortwave Tower, where I find some clothing inferior to my own. I've heard that the magnifying lens can spawn here, but I couldn't find it. I loot the cave, harvesting the deer carcasses I find. I loot Marsh Ridge, finding another bedroll. Over the next few days, I settle into a routine. I gather food and sticks in the morning, and start a fire every other day. I research some of the books I found, bringing my cooking up to level 2.

[Ahatch]

Good work so far , I never found the magnifying glass on Forlorn on Voyageur not sure where the spawn could be . Not sure where all the rifle spawns are I found the rifle near that shed with the barrels but the only other spawn I heard of was near the BR end of the map near a corpse. 

[Ahatch]

Heh still going strong in my Voyageur run after 57 days on Broken Railroad I'm back on Forlorn Muskeg. I had it pretty easy on at the Hunting Lodge as I had a nice pile of cooked meat on the front step and a truck full of raw wolf meat . But I want to get a moose and after bagging 2 bears and completing my Bearskin Bedroll I thought it was time to go back to Forlorn and get a moose. As soon as I hit Forlorn a big blizzard rolled in and I skirted the outside ending up at the first cave not far from Spencers Homestead. I avoided the 2 wolves near there and got back to the homestead. The first order of business was to take care of the wolves that are hanging out here all day. So night one I dispensed of 2 of them. So the plan is stock up the cupboard of meat and look around for a moose.   

[Ahatch]

Well a couple interesting days since I'm back on Forlorn as The Long Dark just gave my complacent game play a huge wake up call. I harvested 2 wolves and 1 deer and stocked up the Spencers homestead with food but the whole reason to come back here was to bag a moose. So I set out carrying the gut and hides and passed the bunkhouse and dropped the stuff off on the cave near there. I then made for the second cave and slept the night scaring a wolf off on my way by. The next morning though things turned ugly . I grabbed by bedroll (big mistake) and was ready to head out of the cave to go look for a moose. It is sometimes a big mistake too not carry your bedroll when heading out on the skeg. As I got to the entrance of the cave I seen the wolf so I grabbed a couple stones and threw them as to put in my line of site with the bow. Big mistake as he got to me before I got get aim and I took a beating. My bedroll which I spent so much time on Broken Railroad to make is reduced to 27% (not much better than the regular one now) and I didn't have a bandage on me so I had to breakdown my toque. I did manage to kill the wolf but a huge cost incurred in doing so. Crippled the next day I seen the first moose sign so I spent the day scouting around for the big guy. Hoping I can find a safe rock outcrop or tree to shoot from , don't want to risk another absolute beat down. 

[dead frozen dude]

20 hours ago, Ahatch said:

Big mistake as he got to me before I got get aim and I took a beating. My bedroll which I spent so much time on Broken Railroad to make is reduced to 27% (not much better than the regular one now) and I didn't have a bandage on me so I had to breakdown my toque. I did manage to kill the wolf but a huge cost incurred in doing so.

I've never realized this... is it that bedrolls on your character incur damage during struggles? As if they indeed carry it strapped atop their pack, so it takes a trashing with the rest of your wear... Good game, Hinterland!

I've been following your exploits there, good luck on tracking down the beast!

[hozz1235]

Your bear bedroll went from 100% to 27% after a single wolf attack?!  Ouch!!!  Didn't even know they could take hits like that.

[JAFO]

On 1/3/2018 at 7:32 AM, hozz1235 said:

Your bear bedroll went from 100% to 27% after a single wolf attack?!  Ouch!!!  Didn't even know they could take hits like that.

A few people have had bedrolls totally destroyed by an attack.. rare, but it happens.

[stratvox]

On 05/01/2018 at 4:07 AM, JAFO said:

A few people have had bedrolls totally destroyed by an attack.. rare, but it happens.

That happened to me once. I was in FM. I ended up in real trouble... hadn't realised that it got trashed during the attack. Ended up doing the exhausted walk to the camp office in ML to recover the one sitting there.

[Ahatch]

After resting up for a day I went out looking for the moose and it wasn't long before I spotted him near the cave hanging out in front of the lone rock outcrop by the muskeg. I soon realized I didn't have a good safe space to shoot from so I built a fire by the big rock. I then went out and shot at the moose with the bow. I managed to hit the moose and it came charging toward me I ran back to the fire. I shot him as we was charging and once he spotted the fire he eased up and was turning when I shot him the third time and he dropped. So I quartered him and have spent the day carrying the meat back to the cave one bag at a time. I have plenty of meat now so will likely hang out here a bit while the hide cures. I may also head back to Spencer's Homestead for a couple days as I have a feeling the wolves are really going to move in here. There is 4 wolves just hanging out to the right of the cave out on the skeg. 

[Ahatch]

Well I reached a small milestone in my Voyageur run making it 100 days on Forlorn Muskeg but alas my time there is done. After shooting the moose I hung out at the cave a couple days before returning to the Spence Farmstead. When I got back I shot a bear from the cliffside and managed to get the hide (leaving the meat) to repair my bed roll. So I brought the hide over to the cave just past the bunkhouses then went back to check on my moose hide. It was not quite ready so I waited around a few days until it was ready and then packed everything back to the Farmstead dropping the bedroll in the cave with the bear hide. Right near the bunkhouses I spotted a wolf. So I fired the rifle over it's head and tried to go wide along the hillside to make for that trail to avoid the area by the bunkhouses. I sprained my wrist unfortunately and the wolf pounced. I managed to fight him off but lost my other toque in the process. So I made it back to the Spence Homestead crafted the satchel but unfortunately got frostbite as I have no other head coverings. So I made the decision I need to get the heck off this map and get back to Mystery Lake. I made for the cave where the bear hide and bedroll were, packed them up and went to next cave grabbed some cooked moose meat and made for Poachers Camp. I got frostbite crossing the Muskeg but safely made it across and I gave the bear on that side a wide berth and made it Mystery Lake and the Trappers Cabin without incident. So the plan is to loot all the places I haven't been. Taking way more risks so perhaps will fumble for the last time. And find a toque LOL

[Ahatch]

This particular Voyageur run ended today at 230 days as I was hanging out for over 50 days on Mystery Lake. I was very comfortable and quite complacent and this complacency cost me dearly as I decided to avoid cabin fever to go do some fishing at the hut. I had the bearskin bedroll and I wasn't cold and foolishly set my sleep too long and died of hypothermia. It's ok though I had too much loot and it was time to play the game on a much tougher setting.