Interloper - To Broken Railroad or Mystery Lake

[SweetNightmare]

Okay, so I probably shouldn't be playing Interloper as there's still several maps I'm not super familiar with. But I'm stubborn and keep ramming my head into this brick wall, determined to get that "survived for 24 hours" achievement. Anyways, I got a spawn in Forlorn Muskeg, a few in game hours before nightfall. I couldn't believe I actually spawned in a place I know fairly well, or at least can orient myself in really well(and not at night! Out of five interloper attempts one evening I spawned at night three times. That was just on one night). I spawned near the train tracks on the Broken Railroad side of the muskeg.

Here I faced two choices:

Choice 1: Continue into Broken Railroad and try to make it to the maintenance yard to wait out the night and try to gather some sticks and maybe even find some matches or some other fire starting tool. The plan after that was continue to the hunting lodge. I've only explored this area in story mode, so I'm not used to wolf spawn patterns for it in survival. However, because I have explored quite a bit in Story Mode I'm very confident with finding my way to the buildings in this area at the very least and both the maintenance yard and the hunting lodge seemed like good potential spots for important loot like fire starting tools and perhaps even the elusive hacksaw. Logically, with two major loot areas so close to each other and plenty of ways to find food, it seemed like a good place to hunker down for a couple of days while I found some basics.

Choice 2: Turn around and walk all the way back to Mystery Lake, which I am far more familiar with and am fairly confident in avoiding wolves(at least in other difficulties, I've never spawned this close in Interloper before). However, it was snowing when I spawned and the wind started to gust about an in game hour in(the amount of time it took me to reach the train tracks in the muskeg). Mystery Lake was a much farther walk from where I was; not only would I be risking traveling at night with no light source (and no weapons should the worst happen and I get an aurora the first night) but there was the chance that the weather would become a blizzard before I could make it to the Camp Office (my favorite bunker in Mystery Lake). While I know for a fact that as long as I stick to the train tracks I can make it to the office, I'm more concerned about not seeing wolves in my path.

For those curious, I chose option one. I felt fairly confident going into Broken Railroad. Despite keeping my eyes peeled for wolves, I saw none. I stayed on my guard, but was hopeful that I would reach the maintenance yard unchallenged. Sadly, it was not to be. As I continued past the landslide, just before what amounts to a choke point, I spot a wolf. I try with all my might to distract it with stones, but he saw me anyways and we began a race back to the landslide. Unfortunately in my panic and frustration I went the wrong way and the wolf caught me. RIP my best start yet. I realized afterward as well that there was a third choice; stay in the muskeg and bunker down in the forge, but my lack of clothing and the snowfall scared me away from even considering this.

Now I ask all of you, which would you have chosen, given this information? Which is the greater risk, or for which is the reward better than the risk? Or should I have ignored my gut telling me not to stay in the muskeg and went to the forge instead? I consider interloper my trial by fire; if I can live for even one day of Interloper, I'll feel prepared for anything the story could throw at me in the future, haha.

[JAFO]

To be honest, I'd almost describe your spawn location and time as "there are no good options".

Broken Railroad: at least 4 possible wolf spawn points between you and the Maintenance Yard. The entire path from the region entrance to the yard is one huge long bottleneck. In other words, there's nowhere to run to.

Mystery Lake: You've already summed this up well.

Forlorn Muskeg: There are a lot of wolves and a lot of thin ice between you and the forge.

In your shoes, I'd probably have headed for the Marsh Ridge in FM. To get there, head up Hat Creek to the waterfall.. there's a cave there that will take you to Marsh Ridge. Not only is it an "indoors" cave (with coal!), but once you get to the ridge, there are rabbits and no wolves around. By FM standards, it's practically paradise.

[TROY]

4 minutes ago, JAFO said:

To be honest, I'd almost describe your spawn location and time as "there are no good options".

Broken Railroad: at least 4 possible wolf spawn points between you and the Maintenance Yard. The entire path from the region entrance to the yard is one huge long bottleneck. In other words, there's nowhere to run to.

Mystery Lake: You've already summed this up well.

Forlorn Muskeg: There are a lot of wolves and a lot of thin ice between you and the forge.

In your shoes, I'd probably have headed for the Marsh Ridge in FM. To get there, head up Hat Creek to the waterfall.. there's a cave there that will take you to Marsh Ridge. Not only is it an "indoors" cave (with coal!), but once you get to the ridge, there are rabbits and no wolves around. By FM standards, it's practically paradise.

No better answer than this. Depending on weather, I'd have run up to loot the shortwave tower area before heading into the cave. Even with no bedroll, that cave was your best bet til daylight and better weather. You quite likely had a blizzard coming, and exhaustion is far more manageable than hypothermia and frostbite. Once I could travel with a bit more safety, I'd head to mystery lake. It's not as far as it feels and there's one safe stop on the way. I've even found a bedroll in that boxcar on interloper. 

[TROY]

One more thing. You are really cheating yourself by starting your TLD experience on interloper. This game has so much to offer that you will never experience within the brutal confines of that difficulty. Courage may taste a much sweeter sunrise, but prudence will taste  twice as many.  There's no shame in earning that achievement on Voyageur. 

[Thrasador]

The first thing to do in any Interloper game is decide the fastest and safest route to a shelter....and gathering as many supplies on the way....

@JAFO's plan of action was the most sound.

Although you spawned close to the entrance to Broken Railroad, the entrance to Broken Railroad is NOT close to a shelter, and getting around the landslide the correct way (over the fallen log) brings you in close proximity to at LEAST one wolf. That alone would have made me decide against it. At least in the beginning with no weapons, food, clothes, meds, etc....

Instead a good choice would have been to follow the tracks in the ML direction gathering any sticks, cattails, rosehips, and mushrooms you see along the way and take refuge in the Poachers Camp. Looting everything in and around the outside the train car.

Or head NE like @JAFO eluded to, and looting the same stuff. Hit the low blind and loot all the plants and sticks on the way to the waterfall cave. Then if the weather held up and a wolf wasn't up there, you could have looted any corpses, backpacks, and metal crates by the radio tower. Then looted that cave. It's a pretty big cave, it's warm, has coal, and I believe some dead guys and maybe even dead deer if memory serves me right. Then on the other end of that cave is the bunny and sapling paradise that Jafo spoke of....

That would have been a pretty safe start, and allowed the most resources with the least risk. After stabilizing yourself with food and water by hanging at the cave for a day or two, then you would have been in better shape to either get to ML or try to get to the Spence Homestead to loot it. If Spence rewarded you with a hammer, hacksaw, and/or prybar along with other various goodies then you may have been able to forge yourself some other tools. Then you could have gone to either BR or ML. I would still probably pick ML though....lol....

The stupid bedroll problem slipped my mind too....yeah screw interloper, lol.

Just play Voyager !

 

[JAFO]

Just now, TROY said:

You are really cheating yourself by starting your TLD experience on interloper.

@SweetNightmare has stated in the past that they've played a lot of Pilgrim already..

Despite which, there's much truth in what Troy says, SweetNightmare. Once you get good at Interloper, everything else will seem tame. You'll get much more out of the game by taking it one level at a time. I'm only now getting into Stalker mode, after over 500 hours in Voyageur.. Interloper won't happen until I'm confident that I can handle Stalker.

 

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

and getting around the landslide the correct way (over the fallen log)

Ahem.. going OVER the landslide is just as correct.. and is faster.. and dodges a wolf.. 
(just sayin')

[Thrasador]

I have been requesting an Interloper Lite mode for some time....

Basically the loot rarity of Interloper....like 1 in 10 chance of finding an item while searching.....but without all the other insane and annoying restrictions....

[TROY]

10 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

I have been requesting an Interloper Lite mode for some time....

Basically the loot rarity of Interloper....like 1 in 10 chance of finding an item while searching.....but without all the other insane and annoying restrictions....

We really need custom difficulty. 4 levels of difficulty for weather, loot, wildlife, temp effects/afflictions. 

[TROY]

52 minutes ago, JAFO said:

@SweetNightmare has stated in the past that they've played a lot of Pilgrim already..

Despite which, there's much truth in what Troy says, SweetNightmare. Once you get good at Interloper, everything else will seem tame. You'll get much more out of the game by taking it one level at a time. I'm only now getting into Stalker mode, after over 500 hours in Voyageur.. Interloper won't happen until I'm confident that I can handle Stalker.

 

I'm confused. If @SweetNightmare has played lots of pilgrim, how has the 24 hour achievement not been earned?  Are there seperate 'cheeves for interloper, if so I either missed it, or my games bugged

[JAFO]

12 minutes ago, TROY said:

If @SweetNightmare has played lots of pilgrim, how has the 24 hour achievement not been earned?  Are there seperate 'cheeves for interloper, if so I either missed it, or my games bugged

Yes, there's a survive 24 hours achievement for Interloper, called "Face the Impossible".

[TROY]

Yup, I just checked steam, and I do have it. I must have missed it when I got it. If I'm not mistaken, a long time ago there were achievements for surviving 1 day and 3 and/or 7 days for any difficulty. They no longer show up in steam though so either they've been removed or I'm thinking of some other game.  I'm almost certain though it was this one. There was 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, I think 14 days and then 30 and 60. My brain is old and has been abused and neglected for far to long

[JAFO]

6 minutes ago, TROY said:

They no longer show up in steam though so either they've been removed or I'm thinking of some other game.  I'm almost certain though it was this one. There was 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, I think 14 days and then 30 and 60. My brain is old and has been abused and neglected for far to long

They've been removed.. even the 200 days is gone. I was NOT happy about that one.. as before Wintermute, it was the only one I didn't have.. so I made a special effort to get it.

[TROY]

54 minutes ago, JAFO said:

They've been removed.. even the 200 days is gone. I was NOT happy about that one.. as before Wintermute, it was the only one I didn't have.. so I made a special effort to get it.

Same here. I didn't notice it's gone, but I'm happy there's more to work for.

[Thrasador]

The one about staying above zero calories for a 10 day period doesn't seem to count the Story mode....I have not gone hungry once since starting my Story run and I have been alive A LOT longer than 10 days....

I wish they had made it more clear that achievement was Sandbox only...I could have saved soooo much more food. I have waaaay too much food in the Story anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter....

[MrWolf]

I recently had a similar (and similarly short) Interloper run.  I spawned late in the day next to the FM waterfall.  I checked the radio tower then headed down to the train cars where I've always found a flare and some coal and wood.  I typically use the flare to make a fire in the barrel, then get warm and boil as much water as I can - it might be a long time before I'm able to start another fire.  I've always proceeded to ML, but decided this time to head in the other direction.

It was already getting late and the moon was peeking over the horizon.  After collecting water, I pulled a number of torches from the fire.  I kept the fire going, torch by torch (no wind, luckily), as I returned to the waterfall and entered the cave.   I collected all the coal I could find and made a new fire near the other end of the cave.  Upon going back through the cave to check for any missed coal, I found that a deer carcass had magically appeared.  Bonus food.  I found enough coal to keep the fire going all night.  I had no way to sleep, but wouldn't reach exhaustion until sometime the next day.  When the fire was nearing its end the next morning, I boiled more water and took more torches.

The morning weather was foggy and calm, so I was able to keep the fire going well into BR.  Halfway to the maintenance yard, the wind picked up and put an end to my fire.  My condition was getting low because I was freezing soon after leaving the FM cave - the torch wasn't enough to keep me warm.  I managed to avoid wolves and made it to the maintenance yard exhausted, with less than 20% condition.  I searched everywhere for clothing, matches, or a flare and found almost nothing.  Throughout the entire maintenance yard/shed area, the only useful things I found were a bit of food and a pair of driving gloves.

I survived the night by sleeping in a truck in the maintenance shed.  The little bit of condition I gained overnight was spent on the freezing trip to the hunting lodge.  I avoided a few wolves and made it to the lodge as my condition dipped dangerously low.  All I found in the lodge was a can of coffee, a box of matches, and a bedroll.  No other food and no clothing.  I tried to gather rabbits throughout BR, but every time I found rabbits, I found wolves.  I managed to get one rabbit after reaching the lodge, but it wasn't enough to keep me going very long.  The five cups of coffee were enough calories to get me through the night, but I started the next day still dangerously low on condition.  I worked my way back to the maintenance yard to see if maybe I had missed anything, and that's where my short life ended as my health faded away.

Faced with a FM spawn and the decision to go to BR or ML in the future, I'm not sure what I'll do.  I'd like to try the BR route again and see if it turns out better next time. 

 

[JAFO]

21 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I recently had a similar (and similarly short) Interloper run.
<snip>

Thanks for the detailed story.. it's much appreciated.

It's good to see confirmation of overnighting in the cave by the Hat Creek waterfall as being an optimal move before seeking real shelter.

The bedroll was a good score, but what a cost to obtain it... If the loot and predator levels you experienced turn out to be typical of a BR Interloper run, then it's the kind of place that's best avoided until you have built up at least 80-100% condition. Rabbits always being accompanied by wolves is a very concerning factor. Without decent clothing, weapons and condition, it sounds like somewhat of a deathtrap. Which is pretty much what many already think of FM. <grin>

How did you find the cattail supply (Interloper bread, I call it) in BR? In my (2 so far) experiences in BR, they seemed rather thin on the ground. And wherever cattails are, there are wolves and even a bear.

Factor in the bottleneck nature of the terrain as well, and it makes FM sound like a walk in the park, by comparison.

[TROY]

I've tried several times to reach the maintenance yard in BR early in an interloper run and never managed to get that far, so you did well, or were lucky. The narrow, no options nature of the trip there gets me wolved every time. I've also tried numerous times to reach the Spence Homestead, with success once or twice, but never survived long enough to feel the danger of getting in and out of the place was worth it. My best interloper runs have involved getting to ML as quickly as possible and using the generally forgiving nature of that region to get stabilized and established. I've also managed to survive for 7 or 8 days in PV, but it's weather is so brutal that you're constantly at risk of being trapped wherever you are. 

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, JAFO said:

How did you find the cattail supply (Interloper bread, I call it) in BR? In my (2 so far) experiences in BR, they seemed rather thin on the ground. And wherever cattails are, there are wolves and even a bear.

Interloper bread, LOL.  Cattails were sparse, for sure.  I'm not very familiar with the BR terrain yet, so I'm sure I missed some cattail locations.  I've only played story mode up to reaching the lodge in episode two, and didn't do much exploring along the way.  This was my first foray into BR in Survival, using my limited experience in story mode to get to the maintenance area and lodge.  I didn't get a single cattail in BR.  I saw some once, as a wolf was pursuing me.

I forgot to mention one other item I found in the lodge - a rope.  I used it to climb down from the lodge, went over a hill and almost ran into a bear.  I heard it at the last moment and veered away.  Soon after, I found a creek with lots of reeds and thought for sure I'd get some cattails there, but found none.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, TROY said:

I've tried several times to reach the maintenance yard in BR early in an interloper run and never managed to get that far, so you did well, or were lucky.

Lucky, for sure, especially with wandering into BR in the fog.  I expected to be jumped by a wolf at any time.  At one point, I heard a wolf chasing and catching a rabbit.  Lucky timing for me, since I was able to skirt around the wolf while it ate the rabbit.

[JAFO]

26 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Soon after, I found a creek with lots of reeds and thought for sure I'd get some cattails there, but found none.

I noticed that too.. the lake (where you most likely encountered the bear) has a passable number of cattails, but they seem to be thin on the ground elsewhere.

[JAFO]

25 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Lucky, for sure, especially with wandering into BR in the fog.  I expected to be jumped by a wolf at any time.  At one point, I heard a wolf chasing and catching a rabbit.  Lucky timing for me, since I was able to skirt around the wolf while it ate the rabbit.

That sounds familiar.. but maybe I'm thinking of the scripted wolf/rabbit encounter on the road to Milton. Was this in Survivor or Wintermute?

[Thrasador]

5 minutes ago, JAFO said:

That sounds familiar.. but maybe I'm thinking of the scripted wolf/rabbit encounter on the road to Milton. Was this in Survivor or Wintermute?

Yeah the lake in between the maintenance yard and lodge has maybe around 15 cattails just around the lake portion of the water, the cattails don't seem to extend up either river coming off the lake. There was also at least 2 wolves on the lake, so getting about half the cattails without a fire or a weapon would be an issue.

I haven't gotten to check the water regions coming into the zone from FM yet for cattails.

Not sure why the added maps only have lake cattails and no river cattails....

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

Not sure why the added maps only have lake cattails and no river cattails....

To make it harder, of course.. haven't you seen the hardcore Interlopers who insist it's still too easy? Maybe this is Hinterland's gift to those masochists.. 

[Thrasador]

23 minutes ago, JAFO said:

To make it harder, of course.. haven't you seen the hardcore Interlopers who insist it's still too easy? Maybe this is Hinterland's gift to those masochists.. 

I see. I'd give anything for my dysentery to be over. It feels like eels covered in nails are swimming around my lower abdomen. Been like that since the Orange Beef I ate on Sunday night.....DAMN YOU CHINESE RESTAURANT!