No Weapons and Wolf won't Leave

[Morkoth4682]

Hello all,

I am a new fan of TLD and after completing the story mode, I am trying my first attempt at Survival mode on Voyageur difficulty in Coastal Highway.  I'm on day 7 or 8 and so far supplies have been abundant and I've got decent ammo, but have not found any weapons yet, even though I've checked out all the fish houses, the houses on JackRabbit Island and Misanthrope Homestead, as well as the Quonset Garage and surrounding homes.  I've been trying to head south along the road towards Commuter's Lament to see if I can find a gun down there, but the wolves are everywhere and super aggressive and I find myself having to repeatedly run back to Quonset because of them.  And now there's one camped outside, and even though I've waited / slept several hours, it won't leave...  I read somewhere that if I might be able to use the hammer as a weapon, but I'd really like to avoid having to get into it with the damn thing.  Anyone have any suggestions?

[Dr. S.]

Don't carry scented items if you don't want wolves to track you.

Crouching is your friend if you're trying to avoid wolves.

[ManicManiac]

@Morkoth4682

First off... Welcome to the wilderness.   

As to your dilemma: The wolves are fairly easy to avoid if you keep a respectful distance.  However... if you take the time to pick up some rocks, you can use those to run them off.  **Though please note that if you aim in (right click - or whatever the console equivalent is) they will go from stalking directly to charging... that's not what you want**  The idea is to get practiced at pitching stones arcuately enough to hit them without "aiming in"... this is a very effect wolf deterrent.

In general as long as you keep moving (and are not encumbered) you can usually stay a good enough clip ahead of them (perhaps occasionally doing a little jogging) that you can let them trail you until you can hop in another shelter/car.

I don't have a lot of time to explain all the techniques for wolf evasion, but here are a couple... I hope they will be useful to you.

Edited February 2, 2020 by ManicManiac

[turtle777]

2 hours ago, Morkoth4682 said:

I read somewhere that if I might be able to use the hammer as a weapon, but I'd really like to avoid having to get into it with the damn thing.  Anyone have any suggestions?

A hammer is an effective weapon.

How much damage you take in the struggle depends on the cloths you are wearing.

 

-t

[Morkoth4682]

4 hours ago, Dr. S. said:

Don't carry scented items if you don't want wolves to track you.

Crouching is your friend if you're trying to avoid wolves.

Yeah, I don't currently have any meat, just snack-bars and sodas / water.  I've tried crouching when I go outside but the wolf still seems to hear me...

 

[Morkoth4682]

3 hours ago, turtle777 said:

A hammer is an effective weapon.

How much damage you take in the struggle depends on the cloths you are wearing.

 

-t

I've got decent gear... I think my protection is around 25%.  Still would prefer to not have to tangle with the wolf, even with a hammer and thick clothes, just so I don't have to wast time / energy / resources repairing damage

Edited February 3, 2020 by Morkoth4682

[turtle777]

1 hour ago, Morkoth4682 said:

I've got decent gear... I think my protection is around 25%.  Still would prefer to not have to tangle with the wolf, even with a hammer and thick clothes, just so I don't have to wast time / energy / resources repairing damage

You’re on voyager / no need to worry about resources. 
 

-t

[stmSantana]

If you keep walking with the torch in hand, you will not be attacked by wolves.
Flares are more effective than torches.

[TLD Survivalist]

Try crouching before leaving the gas station.... Sure its rough moving so slowly but at least you can effectively avoid the wolves

[Jimmy]

Option 1: Just keep walking

A wolf tracking you isn't the end of the world. If you keep walking away from it, the wolf will usually maintain its distance and allow you to keep moving without attacking. Just remember to always maintain movement away from the wolf. Moving towards it will trigger a charge and attack if you get too close.

Option 2: Light a torch or flare

If you have a flare or torch in hand, even if you get too close to the wolf and trigger the wolf's charge, it will often prevent the wolf attacking you. Instead, it will bark, begin charging, stop close to you and growl. This is your final warning, as moving closer to the wolf at this stage will likely cause it to disregard your held item and attack. Instead, you can move away and find somewhere to break off the wolf's pursuit, such as a building. I recommend against throwing your held fire at the wolf, as I rarely have success in scaring off wolves this way, more often than not suffering an attack.

Option 3: Start a fire and chase the wolf away

If you have a torch or flare in hand, this can be used to start a fire while the wolf is paused and growling at you. Once you have a fire started, pull out a rock and aim it at the wolf as if you're going to throw it. This should cause the wolf to break their paused charge and begin fleeing. Crouch after the wolf has fled, boil some water while you wait, and continue on your journey without a fluffy follower!

Dealing with wolves is a useful and commonly needed skill in this game. Keep practicing! Even if you get a few bites, the experience you gain in handling wolf encounters is worth the cost. Soon you'll be Interloping across the Muskeg with half the map's population of wolves on your frosty behind with nary a care.

[Gun Tech.]

If you can't crouch past hugging a wall to create distance or go behind something to keep them out of line of sight, you can distract them by throwing a stone (without aiming, as mentioned) where you want the wolf to go investigate. If there's a rabbit or deer between you and the wolf, you can also throw stones to try to make them go towards the wolf. But be near a safe place! The wolf might hunt it towards you, and then it will turn off it and attack you!

If there's not strong wind, you can light a fire, go to the wolf and get a bark, lead him to the fire, wait for it to stand and growl, and then aim a stone (without throwing it!!) He will be scared and run in some direction, then quickly snap out of it and get back on patrol or stalk you again, depending on distance. This makes narrow passages such as Crumbling Highway difficult, because you can't always light the fire to the side of the passage, but before the passage. Then it might take several tries, during which any of a number of dangerous events could happen, including the fire being blown out.

Crouching for 10 minutes to get past 1 wolf is safer. If you want, you can practice on a throwaway character to get an idea of how close you dare go. You can go pretty close.

This is assuming you carry no meat, even cooked.

If you have a red flare, wait for the bark, let him go into stalking mode, then throw the flare on the ground between you and him, equip it again, rinse and repeat for any wolves you encounter.

One important note is that unless you're heavy/very tired, once you're past a wolf to where you want to go, you can let him stalk you, keeping distance, until you find a safe location. Dragging a wolf has its danger if that location is not close: you might run into a wolf, bear or moose up ahead, and then you're between a rock and a hard place

So there are many methods. The problem with taking a struggle is that you will scare the wolf as with some of the other methods, but he will snap out of it quickly and still be blocking if he doesn't go where you want him to. The other methods don't involve just giving away a chunk of health to him for free. In my experience, taking a struggle should be the very last resort. If you're very knowledgeable and have an axe or a knife but no ranged weapon, you will know when it's safe to take a struggle for the skin/guts/meat.

Edited February 3, 2020 by Gun Tech.