Tips for new survivors in The Long Dark

[Screenshot Pilgrim]

42 minutes ago, romerabr said:

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.

Dang!  That’s some mighty fine lightweight maximizing for ya.  Here’s to the humble fishing tackle 😁🍻😀

[WillemD]

If you hear a wolf barking at you, don't panic. If you keep moving towards a shelter, you can usually stay ahead of him/her (unless you are encumbered). Wolves will typically run towards you, then slow down and walk when they get closer. If you simply keep walking, you can stay outside of their attack range. You don''t even need to run.

Edited October 23, 2020 by WillemD

[TheUnknown]

Before leaving a house or shelter Check double check triple check everything. guns/bow repaired? How far you are going do you have the right amount of food/water on you? Clothes repaired? Rested before the trip? carrying the min amount of stuff incase motherload find? Got enough Bandages/antiseptic/healing items on you and a good stock pile for dire needs? other tools good to go? Got enough stuff for a fire?

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

When fishing, memorise the angle from the hut door back to your nearest warm shelter (or mark an arrow on the ice if you have spray paint).  It's very easy for a blizzard to sweep in and disorientate you.  many's the time I've done an inadvertent circuit of mystery lake...

Also, like many tasks fishing can be cancelled part way- allowing you to, for example, fish for 35 min then stop to remove a freshly grilled salmon from the stove.  

[Glflegolas]

If you're going to a new region for the first time, don't bother bringing along the rifle. Why?

• It's heavy, weighing in at 4 kg (compare to the Revolver's 1.5 kg),
• It's not particularly easy to use for wolf defense (it sways a lot), and
• rifles aren't that hard to find, for each major map is guaranteed to have at least one rifle spawn in it.

By the time a region's lootable food runs out and you end up needing to hunt for food, you will likely have found a rifle. Do bring along rifle ammunition, however, for that can be quite scarce.

[Glflegolas]

Another tip: be careful when coming over a blind crest -- you don't know what's on the other side. It could be nothing, but there might be a drop-off or a dangerous animal waiting on the other side. If both you and the predator come over the summit at the same time, you can be charged with little to no notice beforehand.

[hozz1235]

I'm sure this has been said before, but I can't stress this enough!

Drop your canned items (Tomato Soup, Pinnacle Peaches & Pork and Beans) in front of a lit fire to open (and cook) them while you cook other items on the primary burner surfaces of the fire/stove.  This not only is this efficient but can rapidly increase your cooking skill!

[Adamo]

I found this out the hard way dropping my loot while waiting for the water to boil...

[wormblain]

OP mentions fires. One thing I did not see mentioned in this thread that a newb like me might appreciate: in survival mode, take a charcoal from a fireplace. You can use it anywhere to fill in a little area of your otherwise blank map. Only good for one use, but there are lots of fireplaces and lots of pieces of charcoal. Not enough to fill in a whole map, I'm sure, but better than nothing in a pinch.

Just one more thing fires do for you.

[Adamo]

When you’re learning the lay of the land on a new map, seeing new vistas and memorising the location of the last cave ‘just in case’ it helps to turn around a lot as you’re walking, to see things from another angle, especially useful as you dash back to that cave you saw 10 minutes ago!

[brandon_moss22]

Immersion-breaking, but...

Dropping a stick from inventory.

Points generally north/south -every time- NOT exact but this has saved my character many times...

These tips from everyone are all so great! The Fishing tackle one is pure fing gold.

[peteloud]

3 hours ago, Ps4Methuselah said:

. . . There is a set of broken stairs there with a backpack on it...drop & place anything you need on the upper stairs...then go back & climb the rope,...

 

That's something I hadn't discovered, thanks.  But the rope climb is very short and it is very easy to make two or even three climbs up and down the rope getting your gear up, before making the tedious trek.

[Stinky socks]

On 11/17/2020 at 7:41 PM, hozz1235 said:

I'm sure this has been said before, but I can't stress this enough!

Drop your canned items (Tomato Soup, Pinnacle Peaches & Pork and Beans) in front of a lit fire to open (and cook) them while you cook other items on the primary burner surfaces of the fire/stove.  This not only is this efficient but can rapidly increase your cooking skill!

I did notice strange phenomenon like you are mentioning while cooking on a stove, when all of a sudden all my teas and coffee started boiling on the table next to the stove!! There were like 20 cups all boiling and smoking at the same time!!

[AdamvR]

On 2/10/2021 at 2:47 PM, Ps4Methuselah said:

If you are over encumbered in Bleak Inlet & you want to make the rope climb to the cannery...simply go to the building across from the cannery first. There is a set of broken stairs there with a backpack on it...drop & place anything you need on the upper stairs...then go back & climb the rope,... run the obstacle course & pick your supplies up from the top of the stairs next to the back pack. This trick can save you alot of time running the obstacle course that restricts your weight at the rope climb.

p.s. don't forget that there is a room with a fire barrel out the door, on the dock & to the left of the rope climb...it has a bed too.

Excellent Tips!

On 2/10/2021 at 6:37 PM, peteloud said:

That's something I hadn't discovered, thanks.  But the rope climb is very short and it is very easy to make two or even three climbs up and down the rope getting your gear up, before making the tedious trek.

This was usually my standpoint as well, i.e. to climb up multiple times. But even with that, I usually ended up with so much stuff, that "running" around with it was quite a slow exercise. So decided to give @Ps4Methuselah's idea a go.
Maybe my skills were not the best, but I could hardly place a piece of meat on the upper stairs while standing downstairs... I was about to give it up and go back to my original tactic, when i realized I could improve on the idea:

Shoving almost all you want to carry up will allow you to do the whole roundtrip with minimal gear (=fast), and this point can be reached back from the pier, so you can do multiple trips - no need to carry all at once. It fits 120 pieces of reclaimed wood, or almost an entire bear... (All I need now is to get enough lead to use it up 😉 )

I had to import most of the stones from FM, as for some - likely, not unconnected - reason this resource is pretty scarce in BI, but managed in the end.

Edited March 4, 2021 by AdamvR

[Mosey Burns]

One lesson Ive learned in my short time is to maximize the benefit of fires by using both cooking spots as much as possible. If you’ve only got one thing to cook then boil some water, even a half litre to top yourself up. It saves stopping later just to boil water. If you have a ton of water already, stash it somewhere for future use. 

[Cranky]

Easy way to save your axe is by stockpiling sticks, a lot of sticks. Stockpile them in houses, caves, fishing huts or throughout whatever region your trekking thru. Break branches, crates and broken furniture with your hands, don’t use your axe. Amass a large amount of wood because.......
 

Certain skills can be easily and rapidly increased. Amass a large quantity of raw meat, a few wolf/deer kills and or a heaping amount of fish or a moose or bear perhaps, and cook it all out side of your base camp with 1 or more fires. Remember to start all your fires with torches to save on matches. For a faster skill increase cook all meat in the smallest amounts possible. 
 

Harvesting can be raised similarly if its warm/safe to do so. Lighting a fire and cooking while harvesting is a great use of time and allows you to leave a food and water stash. 
 

Use cans or cat tail heads as trails to help navigate blizzards. 
 

Any location can be a resource stash.  Nothing gets moved once dropped, not food, not tools, not clothing, nothing. A tree as well as a house can be a stash location, just remember where you leave/stash items. 

Toilets = toil free water.

Sleep in cars to stay warm or mend clothing using moon light.  Also lighting a fire outside a car door seems to help warm up the inside (I think). 
 

Multiple big pots on a six burner will make a whole lot of water in a relatively short amount of time.

Once a regional base is established camp out for a while and get to know animal locations and territories. 

 

Use live rabbits as decoys then scare off the wolf for a free meal. 

[Lycrist]

Here's a tip:
If you pick up precooked drinks like herbal tea and coffee, you can warm them up to increase your cooking skill.
You should also warm up beans, soup, and peaches just to get the cooking skill

 

[darkscaryforest]

With some practice, you can safely kill wolves with a bow without initiating a charge before reaching archery 5.

There's 2 methods I often use.

1. Light a fire, get the wolf's attention, stand behind fire and wait for the wolf to start growling. You have a second to aim and take your shot as he runs.

2. No fire. Instead you stalk the wolf. Approach slowly while crouched. When the wolf is turned away from you, especially while howling, he is vulnerable. Line up your shot when close as best as you can, accounting that your bow will raise when you stand. When he's not facing you or howling, uncrouch, shoot quickly, and crouch again. If at any point the wolf barks at you or notices you (unlikely if careful), you're stuck and aiming will initiate a charge.

 

You can make it even easier on yourself if you have meat in the area. Pick up the meat and crouch. Now the wolf comes to you. If doing method 2, drop meat before he detects you. Wolf turns around to go back home. Now you murder.

Edited April 14, 2021 by darkscaryforest

[Bean]

13 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

Approach slowly while crouched. When the wolf is turned away from you, especially while howling, he is vulnerable. Line up your shot when close as best as you can, accounting that your bow will raise when you stand.

There’s a way to make this tactic easier.  Use a piece of meat to lure him in while crouching.  When he’s just beyond discovery distance, drop the meat. He will lose interest and walk away... which means he’s not facing you, which means you have a couple seconds to UN crouch, draw, and loose.  Make them count!

[Stinky socks]

7 minutes ago, Bean said:

to UN crouch, draw, and loose.

Or you could reach level5 archery and stealth takedown enemy wolves while crouched😏😎don't mention it, I've been taught by the best(sam fisher)

[UpUpAway95]

Be cognizant of how close your meat supply (raw or cooked or in quarters) is being placed next to a place where you make a fire.  For example, if you're harvesting bags from quartering next to a fire, be sure to place the unharvested bags well away from the fire and likewise, drop the harvested pieces of meat well away from the fire.  Also move any cooked pieces of meat that you do not eat right away well away from the fire.  The rise in the air temperature around the fire will cause the meat to spoil/decay more quickly.

[Mentatt76]

While Hunting rabbits, I use the following tactic to eliminate any scent and lure predetors: I kill one, break its neck and immediately go in to my inventory and drop them on the ground, then go after next one and kill it to drop it again. After getting all the rabbits in the area I collect them and head straight to my shelter.  This allows me to hunt comfortably without attracting any wolves. 

[mfuegemann]

30 minutes ago, Mentatt76 said:

While Hunting rabbits, I use the following tactic to eliminate any scent and lure predetors: I kill one, break its neck and immediately go in to my inventory and drop them on the ground, then go after next one and kill it to drop it again. After getting all the rabbits in the area I collect them and head straight to my shelter.  This allows me to hunt comfortably without attracting any wolves. 

If You have no other smelly stuff with You, You can hit the "3" key to drop the rabbits without using the inventory screen.

[Mentatt76]

oh also with the new cooking mechanic, you can light 2x campfires next to each other to utilize 4x cooking spots which doubles the production of your cooked food.

although it does not conserve fuel as a 6x cooking spot oven, it does help in recovering lots of wasted time otherwise. (cooking 12-15 kg meat takes almost a day) 

[Stinky socks]

7 hours ago, mfuegemann said:

If You have no other smelly stuff with You, You can hit the "3" key to drop the rabbits without using the inventory screen.

That would actually turn the rabbit into a decoy and attract wildlife. You only want to drop the rabbit from inventory. Don't drop as a decoy if you don't want to attract predators.