Archivist Challenge difficulties

[katem]

Really struggling with the Archivist Challenge (I'm not a super experienced player; have completed Story mode and the Nomad Challenge but Survival mode bores me after a while - I need goals!). 

Anyway I have failed the Archivist Challenge maybe 5 times now all due to wildlife, mostly wolves but one memorable run-in with a moose (which I had never seen in-game before). 

Each time I start by looting the buffer memories in Milton, looting a few houses and then heading off to a new zone and that's as far as I get. I really feel like it's all dependent on finding a gun in Milton which I haven't found yet. Any tips for this? Is it worth just starting the challenge in hope of a gun in Grey Mother's house and then restarting over and over until one spawns there?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Coreopsis]

In what order do you think you want to hit the regions?    The flashlight or a torch  or throwing stones to distract helps discourage the wolves. A gun is nice, but I have not found it to be essential.  How far do you usually get? 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Coreopsis
did not read the original post carefully enough

[katem]

So I've been clearing out Milton, then going to the farmhouse to check for a rifle and moving into Forlorn Muskeg. Once I got as far as the Broken Railroad before I died. I didn't know that stones deterred the wolves, will try that. Does the flashlight definitely discourage them? Last time I died it was trying to get to the radio tower laptop during the aurora and the flashlight didn't seem to do much!

[Coreopsis]

Stones will distract wolves if you throw them before the wolves come after you. Throw them to move them out of your path. Aim for the sky then you may have to sprint past them so you aren’t in their sight anymore. The flashlight should be used on bright setting to deter the wolves.   I will look at my last run to see what I did.  Maybe I can help. I don’t think I have ever found a rifle in the farmhouse but that doesn’t mean it does not spawn there. I usually go to Mystery lake after Milton, maybe rest in the trappers cabin then go to BR. The gun sometimes spawns in the cabin. Others do it in a different order.