Interloper questions

[Gravos]

I posted these questions on reddit but thought I'd ask here too. 

I've been able to learn a lot by playing loper for the last few weeks, but there's a few things I'm unsure of. 

What do you think is the best tool to use in wolf struggles? I understand how each tool performs regarding bleed, damage etc. To me it comes down to the hammer or axe. I've heard a lot of people swear by both. 

I finally have all the tools I need to start hunting and settling into a base. I'm most comfortable with CH or ML. My first pick would be trappers. It has everything I need. The only cons I see are lack of a nearby cave to deal with cabin fever and getting bored. Camp office seems good. Fishing nearby, decent hunting, a cave somewhat nearby. Cons are less safe fuel than trappers, worse access to bears/moose than trappers. Jackrabbit seems good. Lots of wood, rabbits, deer. Several bears. Moose over at garage sometimes. Good fishing. Safe. Beachcombing. Cons are cooking in the fishing huts, no nearby cave, have to travel for work bench.

You can mostly deal with cabin fever by being outside whenever possible and fishing. The situation I worry about is getting caught in back to back blizzards after a long crafting session or something similar. I don't like the idea of being forced to use a match in that circumstance. I believe a cave solves that problem with a bear bed roll and warm clothes, though I don't know how often this problem would come up. Can any seasoned interlopers weigh in? 

[Jimmy]

As far as carrying a struggle weapon, if you're at the stage where you've been attacked, something's already gone horribly wrong.

Interloper is, I'm sure you're no doubt aware, highly unforgiving of error. Instead of carrying up to two kilos of extra weight around, it's far better to carry a torch to delay the wolf charging, then use that torch to light a decoy fire to scare it away. This will often save getting your frozen tenders nibbled by a wolf stealthing behind the next hill. If you must carry one, the axe is more use in general in the wild for harvesting hardwood, so that gets my personal recommendation.

Trapper's Cabin is great for indefinite survival if you have a good amount of snares, but given your initial time-sink into your crafted clothing will mean you want a cave nearby, I prefer the Camp Office. On nice days you're central to most places, so you can go a-roaming and maybe even bag a moose if you're lucky.

Past the point you have your basic clothing, survival bow, cooking 5, and want to start hunting luxury goods like wool socks, a second set of thermal underwear, or the ever-desirable wool ear-wraps, consider striking out and (slowly) working towards your troves such as Timberwolf Mountain. Move to your closest safehouse, stockpile food, wood and water, wait for the inevitable three day blizzard to run its course, then rinse and repeat. You're only tied to one location if you let yourself be tied there. The longer you wait, the less chance you'll find those last few items before they decay forever.

[Serenity]

Trapper's a bit far away from everything. It does have a nice bunny area for snaring though. I like the trailer at the hydro dam. Crafting in the dam itself. A wolf free area and a cave in the Ravine. Several hunting areas nearby.

But you can have several bases and move between them. Dam -> Camp Office -> Trapper's is a good route. In CH I like to change it up between Qonset, Fishing Camp and Jack Rabbits depending on my needs

But really, it's too early to settle down in one place. Explore and loot other regions. Go to the summit of Timberwolf Mountain. Loot Milton. Check out HRV. You can still return to ML later.

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Serenity

[Gravos]

Good points about not settling in yet. I'm approaching 30 days with a fair amount of clothing left to craft. I'm hoping to get a little better equipped and make the journey to TWM summit, though it sounds daunting (very little experience there). There's just too many good things there to pass it up. Is there a certain point where the weather gets too bad to safely attempt it? Or a point that the items fully decay? Just trying to plan my time line. 

Also is it possible to travel to PV from Carter dam? I know it is coming from PV. 

[Serenity]

Day 50-60 seems like a good time for me personally. That's when you can have at least the deer boots, deer pants, a wolf skin coat and a moose hide satchel if you get lucky. It's also when the weather becomes pretty cold even with all that crafted gear. And the loot there hasn't decayed to nothing yet.

Don't expect the super loot of lower difficulties though. Most containers don't spawn and the ones that do have far less. There is the distress pistol + shells. Maybe wool ear wraps. Maybe a firestriker. There is also a thin wool sweater in a lower container. I also like to do it just for having done it.

You can do it later. People have been up there after hundreds of days. You can also do a first day ascent if you really know what to do. It's just a question of working around the weather. Knowledge of the ascent route would really help though. Interloper isn't good for exploring maps you don't know.

Also is it possible to travel to PV from Carter dam? I know it is coming from PV. 

All the transition zones go both ways. Getting from ML to PV is easier than the other way around arguably. A lot of people struggle with the one way door exiting the dam.

[Gravos]

I think a few packs of matches and a striker would be worth the trip out there alone. Maybe I'll go explore the zone a bit on pilgrim first before I go on loper. This is the first save file I've made it more than a few days. I'm a bit protective of it 😁

[Stone]

@Gravos, welcome to the Loper life! As @Jimmy implies, the best struggle tool is avoidance 😀. I carry the knife because it's light and good for harvesting speed but I aim to avoid and even carry slivers of meat to bribe those would be attackers.

The ML office is solid. Closer to stuff than trappers. The cave on the hill opposite can be reached safely even in blizzards (sprains happen). Cabin fever however never bothers me as I try to be out fuel hunting everyday from early afternoon until late. When the weather sucks, that's the time to craft. Any early game in Loper, you want to your the world for free calories and stuff before the weather gets colder. Right now I'm having a camping holiday at marsh ridge but I'll return to the office soon enough. Good luck!

[rakshasa]

Shoot, I'm on day 90 of my current Loper run and haven't settled down yet. Just hit the summit and it was totally worth it, fire striker and ear wraps up there. I find that maintaining multiple safehouses and moving around a lot works best for me. Once you have decent gear, you have a lot of flexiblity and can live from cave to cave. One of my most successful weeks ever was spent hopping between caves along the edges of PV between the cave to WR and the entrance to TWM. I travel light and keep notes on what I've stashed where in a paper notebook while I play.

My advice would be to try lots of different bases and see what feels right. ML Camp Office is a solid choice, I also quite like Jackrabbit Island and Quonset in CH.

For struggles, I go hammer always because my #1 concern in a struggle is to end it as quickly as possible. If my goal was to kill a wolf, it'd be dead already or running away! As others have said, avoidance is the best weapon. Carry plenty of little bait chunks and don't be afraid to drop them. Back away from the dropped bait and practice your headshots with the bow, or just hoof it if you're not in a wolf-killing mood. If I have to be outside during the Aurora, I keep the flare gun out and don't hesitate to use it on a charging wolf.

I used to solve cabin fever by fishing but it's so fuel-intensive for what you get. I much prefer to ride it out in caves. The warmth of the bear bedroll isn't needed if you already have your other animal gear. I prioritize the bear coat but others don't like being slowed down, go with what works for you.

Edited September 13, 2019 by rakshasa
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