Archivist - Aurora?

[hozz1235]

Okay, I'm on day 4 of sitting in TWM Chasm cave with my buddy Frank waiting for an aurora.  Bad luck with RNG?  Have any of you experienced such long waits during this challenge?

[RossBondReturns]

1 hour ago, hozz1235 said:

Okay, I'm on day 4 of sitting in TWM Chasm cave with my buddy Frank waiting for an aurora.  Bad luck with RNG?  Have any of you experienced such long waits during this challenge?

Oh yes. There's nothing like waiting a week for an aurora...getting a buffer memory...then waiting for the sun to rise before heading out and getting thrice attacked by wolves to end a run on the way to your last location.

 

[Morrick]

When this new challenge was introduced, I actually thought there would be a permanent aurora (4DON-style). Moving from location to location with just a flashlight as weapon against alert predators… that would have been challenging.

[hozz1235]

It fired after 6 days in the cave.

[Kyoton]

Yeah man, I got all of the buffer memories except for Timberwolf. I waited five days in the cave and eventually a bear walked in and killed me. It was the worst feeling ever

[NardoLoopa]

I bagged 2xPV then TWM the following night.  Boggied on to CH.  Check, no Aurora, so I slept a few hours in the mine to recover from pressing so hard (walked through a blizzard, etc).  And as I wake I see the green flicker in the sky!  It was just about dawn.  So I tried to black diamond down to the fishing huts.  Got within 20meters before dawn officially broke.

Now I'm camped out in Hybernia, twiddling thumbs.

It's weird playing these challenges: "ooh, a hatchet!  Hmm, well no real reason to keep that, I guess."

[NardoLoopa]

My route up to then was Milton (both) -> ML (CO) in the first Aurora.  Then on to PV.  Milton to FM and BR might be topographically faster, but I didn't have the kit to survive.

In PV I got stuck there for a while, waiting for the greensky.  Then it was Store -> Signal, next day I went to TWM.  Got the Aurora on the first night there, which was a bit tough since I pushed through a blizzard to get to TWM.  Gave Frank a high-five, then immediately returned to Prepper's.  Warmed up, shed stuff to 20kg, and then walked though pretty rough weather to get to CH.  Resting in the mine on a seemingly non-aurora night, I decided to take a nap to recover condition.  Woke up to the sky-harmonica just before dawn.  Tried to scramble down to Fishing hut, but with 20meters to go, dawn broke.

Decided DP and Hibernia was a good place to wait.  After a few days of carving a whale-bone scrimshaw pipe, I got my aurora.  Hit the lighthouse, then got double-wolfed on exiting.  Kept pressing, using four stims, to check off Quonset and the Fishing cabin in the same night.

Aurora on drugs is a bit trippy:

Back to ML, I made it down to the lower dam.  This is kinda  rough part of the journey.  I had to guess which computer would have it.  Then just waited in the dark, watching my water supply dwindle, until the show started.   Got lucky with the computer . . . then this:

It's never been clear to me whether electricity is just really really damaging, or instantly fatal in TLD.   I would have opted for the latter, if I were coding it.  So, I hung out at the top of the stairs until morning.

More blizzard on the way to ML Camp Office, then on to FM's radio tower.  Spent a few days in a snow shelter next to the Tower (there must certainly be better spots against the wind than I picked).  Killed a deer since my food was running low.  Prepped the rope down from Marsh Ridge.  Then, I got my Aurora.

I'm not too familiar with BR.  I've only been there once . . . in Stalker, so I was pretty concerned about wolves.  But I decided to try and push through the night to see if I could make it in this same Aurora.  Coffee coffee coffee.  Landslide wolf was on vacation, but two wolves greeted me before the Yard.  One insisted on cuddling.  Jabbed another stim and ran for the Shed office.

There's only so much optimization possible in this challenge; aurora frequency has a larger influence.  Grouping your visits is the way to go.  If Milton (2x) ->FM (Radio) -> BR (Shed) is possible early on, that would cut down on a lot, but I'm not sure that's possible; it's a LONG way to go and very early for clothing.  TWM->Radio->Store should work.  If FM/BR are done at the beginning it is probably optimal to end at the Lower dam.

 

[Coreopsis]

Yes -- I do TWM last when I do this challenge and I've waited 5 days for the Aurora in the Chasm Cave.  The guy in the cave isn't very good company.

[Lohaan]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:02 PM, Morrick said:

When this new challenge was introduced, I actually thought there would be a permanent aurora (4DON-style). Moving from location to location with just a flashlight as weapon against alert predators… that would have been challenging.

I just started this challenge and did one run...then realized this is not how it works. Would have made sense if it was 4DON style cos then you could have done some decent speedrunning times...but i'm kinda dissapointed in the Aurora frequency for this challenge. 

[hozz1235]

On 8/14/2019 at 6:03 AM, Lohaan said:

I just started this challenge and did one run...then realized this is not how it works. Would have made sense if it was 4DON style cos then you could have done some decent speedrunning times...but i'm kinda dissapointed in the Aurora frequency for this challenge. 

Definitely makes it a challenge!