Tips for new survivors in The Long Dark

[cannibal canine]

You can open your crafting menu by going to inventory and then clicking on the hammer and anvil at the top, you can prepare rose hips, reishi mushrooms and the like to make teas. You cannot make a tea with unprepared rose-hips or reishi.

Number 1 is your light source shortcut, if you start a fire you  can take a torch from it and extinguish it for later use by long clicking the left mouse button. This is super useful in houses at night where it's impossible to see anything. You can also make a torch in your crafting menu which will last much longer.

Edited May 13, 2020 by cannibal canine

[Jolan]

On 4/15/2020 at 7:01 PM, MarrowStone said:

boil water? 

One of my friends refers to this as the "boiling water" game.  But considering how fast you lose condition with dehydration and that you don't always have an opportunity to light a fire, definitely boil water.  

[Jolan]

On 4/30/2020 at 5:35 AM, MrWolf said:

Meat dropped outside doesn't attract predators.  The only time meat dropped outside will be taken by a predator is when a piece is dropped, by any method, when a predator is "locked on" and following you. 

In the past I have had wolves both grab meat dropped using the decoy function and meat near something dropped using decoy.  Did they change this in one of the updates?

 

[Karl Grylls]

12 hours ago, Jolan said:

In the past I have had wolves both grab meat dropped using the decoy function and meat near something dropped using decoy.  Did they change this in one of the updates?

 

when you drop it as a DECOY then of course the wolfes will get on it since this is it's purpose. When you drop it via the radial/inventory, then no Wolf/Bear will show interest at it.

[MrWolf]

2 hours ago, Karl Grylls said:

when you drop it as a DECOY then of course the wolfes will get on it since this is it's purpose. When you drop it via the radial/inventory, then no Wolf/Bear will show interest at it.

It all depends on what the wolf or bear is doing at the time.  If the predator is "locked on" and following you, it doesn't matter how the meat is dropped.  You can use the decoy key or open your inventory and choose something to drop.  That counts as a dropped decoy, but a wolf may or may not take the dropped item, depending on several factors with current wolf behavior.

If no predators are following you, you can drop anything by any method and it will be safe, predators will not know it exists.

Edited May 15, 2020 by MrWolf

[Karl Grylls]

24 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

It all depends on what the wolf or bear is doing at the time.  If the predator is "locked on" and following you, it doesn't matter how the meat is dropped.  You can use the decoy key or open your inventory and choose something to drop.  That counts as a dropped decoy, but a wolf may or may not take the dropped item, depending on several factors with current wolf behavior.

If no predators are following you, you can drop anything by any method and it will be safe, predators will not know it exists.

I didn't know that. I only drop meat in front of my base when no predator is around. Thanks for enlightment

[poetisa16]

Every inch of the outdoor landscape is unique. It's not just landmarks that can help you, but even unusual trees or rock formations. I also like to make my own "blizzard lines" by dropping stones every few steps, especially between fishing huts and sleeping places.

Makes your fires multitask. If nothing else, boil water; I always carry at least 2 cans for this purpose, and water never goes bad. If you have 2 cooking pots, you can melt and boil  1.5 liters in just over an hour, to maximize sleep time while you wait. 

Also, you never need more than 1 fire at a time. First time I died, I froze because I made 2 short-term fires where I could have survived if I just made 1 megafire. On that note, only ever sleep outside a few hours at a time. Weather can change quickly or put out your fire.

Houses and cabins have more cloth than you could ever need. Not trailers though. And be careful searching for stuff indoors in low light – it's easy to miss valuable finds in the shadows.

Lastly, don't underestimate the power of the snow shelter! And be sure to harvest it down before you move on, because you can't harvest ruined snow shelters.

[Bean]

If a wolf is locked onto you, and you have a decoy, dropping it,moving back, and crouching while continuing to move back often will cause it to disengage.  If you have any other decoy it won’t work.
 

Best way to kill wolves with rifle?

1)Sneak up and snipe them.
2)Aggro them and aim while walking backwards to force them into a straight line approach, fire when close for an insta-kill almost always!  This also works with the bow, but you have to fire slightly sooner to escape the Wolf struggle. 

[Karl Grylls]

19 minutes ago, Bean said:

If a wolf is locked onto you, and you have a decoy, dropping it,moving back, and crouching while continuing to move back often will cause it to disengage.  If you have any other decoy it won’t work.

other than what?

[Bean]

If you drop a decoy and you have anything else on you that is smelly, meat or guts, then the decoy will not distract the wolf.  For the decoy to work at all, it has to be the only decoy.

[MrWolf]

11 hours ago, Bean said:

If you drop a decoy and you have anything else on you that is smelly, meat or guts, then the decoy will not distract the wolf.  For the decoy to work at all, it has to be the only decoy.

I've had numerous experiences lately with a wolf taking a dropped decoy while I still have other smelly things on me.  I've found if I drop the decoy and linger within a certain distance, the wolf will not take it.  If I drop the decoy and keep moving away, the wolf will take it.

Before the changes to the wolf behavior, there were occasional times when a wolf would completely ignore dropped decoys.  I think that's still there.  I've had a couple of them ignore the decoys and keep following me.

Edited May 17, 2020 by MrWolf

[RossBondReturns]

I have had numerous times of Wolves stealing fresh or day old kills that I've harvested but because of blizzard not been able to return to my base camp with.

I have seen them from distance steal single pieces or whole quarter bags.

[Nachtwolf01]

On 4/29/2020 at 2:09 AM, yollarbenibekler said:

You can not pet or tame wolves.

I respectfully disagree. I have pet many a wolves in this game and even a couple bears.....although I think Hinterland calls it struggling....probably a lost in translation thing.

[UTC-10]

In addition to the crows mentioned above, it is possible to track the wounded animal.  There would be tracks and blood spots.  In fact, if there is no blood trail it is extremely likely that the animal will not bleed-out and die (moose do not bleed out*).  Even in good weather - clear sky, no wind, no snow - tracks and blood spots will fade away.  They also seem to fade away once the animal actually dies so be aware of that.  If you're following the trail, often you won't find it leading to the carcass unless you are fast or lucky. 

Excepting rabbits which will tend to die with a hard look, the other animals will run away if shot (bullet or arrow) though, with the exception of deer that generally run until they drop dead, changing direction at random, and so can be particularly difficult to find in congested terrain, after a certain distance they tend to settle down and begin heading back to their normal paths.  Be aware that animals have the "all-terrain option" from the dealer so can go a lot of places, like up or down near shear slopes, that you might not be able to or want to chance (what goes down does not necessarily mean one can come back up). 

If you are familiar with where the animal normally goes when it is roaming around, if you've lost it try checking around in that kinds of areas.  It might surprise you where you find it.

I had shot a bear (with the revolver) on the coastal highway to the Fishing Camp (Coastal Highway) and it ran up into the hills.  This was in Pilgrim (so I was safe once no agro) so I checked for a blood trail (there was one so the bear was very likely to die) then followed the tracks and blood drops into the hills.  I lost track of the bear but heard it for awhile then lost that.  I searched all over the upslope area going to the trailers, the road to Ravine, down Bear Creek, looked around the camp ground, and didn't find it.  The next day I did a more systematic search but nothing.  Then, because dead bears had ended up in surprising locations, decided to walk back along the coastal highway towards Log Sort... there it lay not far from where I had shot it.  Sigh. 

Good luck hunting.

 

* Because bleeding an animal is the default way of hunting if the shot does not drop the animal immediately, moose do not bleed out since bleeding them would make them too easy a target.  One or more shots would be needed, but moose typically (or so it seems) do not flee far when shot, sticking to their area, certainly nothing like deer... mumble... 

Edited May 29, 2020 by UTC-10

[peteloud]

26 minutes ago, UTC-10 said:

I had shot a bear (with the revolver) on the coastal highway to the Fishing Camp. . . .  , looked around the camp ground, and didn't find it.  The next day I did a more systematic search but nothing.  Then, because dead bears had ended up in surprising locations, decided to walk back along the coastal highway towards Log Sort... there it lay not far from where I had shot it.

I have hunted and wounded bears near the Fishing Camp, (in Stalker), and been unable to find the carcass. (I'd guess abut 5 times), even after searching a wide area.  I've also had about the same number of times when I found the carcass.  I have ended up giving up an extensive search uncertain whether there was a bug or whether bears can travel surprisingly great distance while bleeding out. 

[ajb1978]

On 5/15/2020 at 4:51 PM, poetisa16 said:

Houses and cabins have more cloth than you could ever need. Not trailers though. 

They have pillows and old bedrolls that can be cut up for cloth.  Houses are definitely a better source of cloth, but definitely check trailers out too if you're coming up short.

[edwardjohn]

I am personally a great fan of this game because I like to play survival games because I think they are close to reality. After playing this game too much I came to practice different survival skills in this game. I want to share those points which I gathered from my personal experience.
*Navigation is the key in this game.
*Manage the resources.
*Set up Camp and be efficient.
*Prioritize tasks.
These are some general tips I want to give from my experience. Other than this, I want to say be creative and enjoy this game because only the tough one survive. Thanks

[SirSharper]

2 hours ago, edwardjohn said:

These are some general tips I want to give from my experience. Other than this, I want to say be creative and enjoy this game because only the tough one survive. Thanks

That little sneaky link was actually a pretty good read. Thank you. 

[Perren]

First, learn from your mistakes.  Dying is ok as long as you learn why and prevent it in the future.

Second, If you run across a shelter that is far from your home base don't clean it out.  Leave your future self some food and water there, along with some wood.  Not much, just a little something where if you had to use it as an emergency shelter it might save your life. It's very easy for the tides to turn in this game. Maybe you'll get attacked by a few wolves and then a blizzard shows up. Leaving yourself a few emergency rations and wood might save your bacon.

[Catlover]

I have a couple more. Apologies if I unintentionally copied some people. 

Crouch. Wolves and such are giant pains, but I had learnt that if you duck down and crouch, you're basically invisible. I managed to rather easily inch past two yesterday in the clearcut by crouching. It also enables you to get a free bunny snack, though you must hurry to get up and kill it. More that once, I get to the stunned rabbit a moment too late. 

Spray paint and caches. Use them. Honestly, I'm so grateful to the spray paint, as the stick trails wasted sticks that I would occasionally lose.

Caches are pretty handy if you, for example, have a home in one of the lake cabins or the Main Office, or whatever it's called. The big cabin, you know which one I mean-  Say you have a fishing hut that you visit daily, it's helpful to have a few caches containing bandages, food and such in case the wolves try slaughter you or you can't tell where the base is in a blizzard. Pretty handy and slightly underrated, in my opinion.

[Willbonney]

On 4/26/2020 at 12:08 PM, Bean said:

If arrow heads are limited and you don’t want to lose them (and thus not be able to remake them once broken), practice your bow skill on bunnies.  They’re tough to hit, but each one is a skill up!  Saves you from dragging a lot of rocks around too.  Shoot them as they’re moving from left to right and slightly toward you.  Lead just a bit. 

Bunnies rule for early skill progression.  Cooking and meat harvesting gets to 3 by the time you get to two on archery or revolver skill if you also do snaring.

[Willbonney]

On 5/15/2020 at 4:51 PM, poetisa16 said:

Every inch of the outdoor landscape is unique. It's not just landmarks that can help you, but even unusual trees or rock formations. I also like to make my own "blizzard lines" by dropping stones every few steps, especially between fishing huts and sleeping places.

Personally I use cat tail heads as trail markets.  Bigger and stand out more.  The spray paint is an added bonus usually, but the cans weigh too much imo. You don't need tinder after 3 in fire starting, and there's plenty of plugs and/or newspapers before then.  And you get a lot of tail heads harvesting the stalks for calories anyhow.  The heads become a useless item after a while that you are gonna gather anyhow.  Stones, eh, I'd have to stop and take the time to pick up a stone, and only do that if I'm gonna kill some wabbits with 'em, so I usually leave the stones there.

[Willbonney]

Thought of another for doing the fire feat, the 1000 fire thing.  5 minute stick fires.  Build 3 or 4 fires around another sheltered outdoor oven, gather a couple hundred sticks which can be done even in Mystery Lake, then go to town.  I'd steer clear of using the 2 ovens in the Camp Office, only because you don't realize it but going up and down those stairs burns a lot more calories than you notice.  Doing it a few hundred times, and you'll always be hungry for no apparent reason.

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

Always make and carry a few fishing tackle, as they are also your sewing back up.  Super light and multi-use.  

Also - extra prybars make good ice hole smashers.  Leave one in your favorite hut and save your knife and hatchet for other things.  😀🐺

[romerabr]

On 10/19/2020 at 10:34 PM, Screenshot Pilgrim said:

Always make and carry a few fishing tackle, as they are also your sewing back up.  Super light and multi-use.  

Also - extra prybars make good ice hole smashers.  Leave one in your favorite hut and save your knife and hatchet for other things.  😀🐺

Another tip... Use your tackle to sew until the condition drops to less than 10% and after that use only to fish. There is no difference between tackles with 100% or less to fish.