Forlorn muskeg is now basically a transition zone

[Darkwater]

this is just me personally but with the addition of broken railroad the muskeg is now a glorified transition zone with the way the rail runs through it its lack of loot, locations and indoor bases discounting the forge its just a stop on the way to BR for me now 

[Samsonguy920]

I have seen enough of Forlorn Muskeg to firmly disagree on that point, and that was just a scratch of what others have experienced. There are a lot of locations and loot points in that area to consider it merely a waypoint.  One may as well call Coastal Highway a transition to Desolation Point, then, with that logic.

[happybjorn]

If you continue to avoid FM it will continue to be scary.  If you take some time to explore the map you will learn safe paths and find decent loot.

For example, on interloper the homestead has a chance to spawn a very good item of clothing that you can't get otherwise.

[Mike in GA]

I was there yesterday to craft arrowheads since I started at ML. Made it across the ice, crafted and was on the way back. Amazed at all the Old Man's Beard, Rosehips, that were everywhere. I randomly stopped by one of the corpses heading back to the railway, taking a longer way back to avoid wolves, and found a rifle next to that corpse. From what I've seen there is a lot of loot more spread out than the other maps, not like a Quonset, or homestead. Loads of cat tails also.

 

[Mpat120]

FM is a great hunting ground with long views on good days, with a forge to boot!

 

[Mroz4k]

The value of Forlorn is that it allows for a huge amount of carcasses, some minor civilized loot, then great amount of plants and wildlife to hunt. There is a reason why its an "advanced" region - you go there in the later stages of the game, to either craft on forge or hunt for more food and hides. I remember getting about 10 kg of just reishi shrooms from less than half of the Muskeq looted.

And also cattails if that is something you want to gather, I guess. I personally don't bother.

[Sashamorning]

...so has anyone found the elusive wool ear wrap there?

[Sashamorning]

1 hour ago, Mroz4k said:

The value of Forlorn is that it allows for a huge amount of carcasses, some minor civilized loot, then great amount of plants and wildlife to hunt. There is a reason why its an "advanced" region - you go there in the later stages of the game, to either craft on forge or hunt for more food and hides. I remember getting about 10 kg of just reishi shrooms from less than half of the Muskeq looted.

And also cattails if that is something you want to gather, I guess. I personally don't bother.

Cattails add up in a hurry.  At 150 kcal/each, stumbling across a patch of 5 will give you 1/3 to 1/2 a day's energy in one fell swoop.  Invaluable in the later game.

[Ahatch]

Heh just finished a long run on Voyageur there have to say as a starting point it's tough had about 9 runs fail in under 10 days either I got the heck out of there or I died trying to stay. The big things I learned were that you didn't travel across the marsh at night and any time with with wind blowing snow. It is very easy to screw up and get off the safe path and fall through the ice. Then you need to observe the wolves there is a couple of groups of wolves that are a pain in the neck and you need to avoid them wherever they are hanging out in certain areas of the map. There is safe paths though everywhere to get around and they change from time to time. You just can't survive there if you can't hunt. The  cattails , mushrooms etc can keep you going a tiny bit but not enough to fend off the cold. I also found I needed to have a fire going everyday just to keep going so you rip through your matches and this is compounded if you have no wolf coat etc. But if you are on a long run and have all the best cloths, bow with arrows, axe, hunting knife with sharpening stone  and a tonne of matches you can spend a long time there hunting wolves and deer as there is no shortage. 

[LucidFugue]

I hated FM at first. Weak ice, maddening pathways, terrible weather, minimal loot. Like many, I would rather take the hike to Coastal Highway, then move to Desolation Point and forge there. 

But discounting an entire region is being near-sighted. Even true transition zones are worth spending some time in. There are some fantastic places around. 

I've learned to appreciate FM. Rolled a new Interloper sandbox just yesterday. After finding almost 10 scrap metal and a hacksaw in Mystery Lake (but no knife, prybar hammer or hatchet) I'm thinking of rushing a forge run to FM.