Coastal Highway not a viable home region in Stalker (Opinions?)

[GarlicPops]

I'm currently in a 120 day Stalker game and I went to Coastal Highway twice to loot resources and bring them back to my base in Mistery Lake. But while CH has a very high resource density, I have come to the conclusion that the amount of wolves present in the region in Stalker mode is SO high that it makes it nearly impossible to live in with relative safety.

This turned out to be a big surprise to me, since I believed Jackrabbit Island was one of the best places to live in during the end game due to the abundance of wildlife and easy access to fishing and beachcombing, however after spending a few days in the region during my looting expedition I found numerous disavantages that makes it really unattractive to live in it.

First off, there are very few key locations to live in, cabins and trailers have no fires or workbenchs and are either too isolated from hunting areas or are close to wolf spawns, the lookout is far from key locations and might require rope climbing and the misanthrope's homestead might spawn a wolf INSIDE the island, making it hard to even walk 3 steps from the house without getting ambushed by a wolf. In theory, the only two good locations to live in are Jackrabbit Island and the Gas Station, but the amount of wolves around the Gas Station is so high that the danger does not compensate the presence of a workbench and a fire barrel, so essentially there is only ONE viable safe location to live in in the entire region and that is Jackrabbit Island.

Jackrabbit Island provides easy access to beachcombing, rabbit hunting, fishing, deer + wolf hunting, and a safe porch to store food outdoors. This might sound like an useful place to live, but I strongly believe it's not the case. The reason for that is the absurdly high amount of wolves in the region in general, most of the hunting areas are full off 4-5 wolf packs, so even if you manage to hunt larger animals such as deers and bears, or catch large quantities of fish chances are you are still going to get smelled by wolves before you can get pretty much anywhere in the region unless you cook everything before transporting, which is not always possible. Not only that, but eventually you are going to need to use a workbench, and 2 of the 3 workbenches available in the region are in areas patrolled by large wolf packs, and the safest one in the cave system to pleasent valley is too far away to even consider using. And even considering the fact that Jackrabbit Island is one of the safest places in the region to live in, in Stalker mode there are at least 2 wolves that might spawn in the tip of the island and patrol the area, so even rabbit hunting inside the island can potentially attract those wolves if one is not careful enough.

Don't get me wrong, I love Coastal Highway and I love what the place has to offer, but I just lost track of the ammount of times I got jumpscared by wolves in the region, in my opinion the region is way too dangerous to live in Stalker mode due to the amount of wolves, this might not be the case for other experience modes, but it is in Stalker imo.

I guess I'll just shift to the strategy of going to the region and staying there for 3-4 days only when I need resources from beachcombing and then coming back to Mistery Lake.

If there is any Coastal Highway enthusiast who disagrees with  me and/or wants to give their opinion I'll be more then glad to listen to it.

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by GarlicPops

[Bean]

Wolves are fun!  That’s why I always retire to the Quonset hit in CH at the end of the game.  Lots to kill and keeps me on my toes.  Plus plenty of convenient vehicles to sleep into avoid cabin fever.  Works fine with the bearskin roll.  

[odizzido]

Coastal isn't my favourite. To me it's a place to stop at on the way to a forge to collect metal and drop everything you don't need and have it as a little supply spot.

[odium]

ive never played stalker but i always settle in CH on loper and voyageur.  usually at fishing camp split with quonset but FC is my preferred.  fishing hut close, rabbits up the hill, bear that is easy to lure to the fishing hut, then bait him til he bleeds out on your doorstep. elevator mine has coal nearby, i love it, CH is by far my favorite map

[GarlicPops]

5 hours ago, odium said:

ive never played stalker but i always settle in CH on loper and voyageur.  usually at fishing camp split with quonset but FC is my preferred.  fishing hut close, rabbits up the hill, bear that is easy to lure to the fishing hut, then bait him til he bleeds out on your doorstep. elevator mine has coal nearby, i love it, CH is by far my favorite map

I'm pretty sure the region is much better in Voyager and Loper due to the lower wolf count.

I'd say that, if hostile wildlife is not taken into consideration, Coastal Highway is by far the best region in the game. Forgiving weather, easy to explore, beachcombing, loads of useful loot and plentiful hunting grounds. 

I'm just not a big fan of the region since all I play is Stalker.

[Vince 49]

I would tend to agree.  If you want a crafting table nearby, there are only three locations.  The Cinder Hills abandoned coal mine is pretty far from everywhere else.  Only a mad man (or Bean ) would want to live at the Quonset Gas Station.  The remaining crafting table is just behind a small cabin in the fishing camp.  However storage is limited to two lockers and there is no fireplace.  Also, crafting outside, where you can't watch for approaching animals, doesn't appeal to me.

For me, the best home base is the Carter Hydro Dam.  Besides crafting tables and plenty of storage inside, there is a large, safe (wolf free) area outside for a snow shelter.  Having the safe Ravine nearby, with a semi-infinite supply of deer and rabbits is a plus.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Vince 49

[mayimbe]

Well, I play in stalker mode and it doesn't seem so difficult to me even though there are many wolves in the coastal area you can see them in the distance and in the final game nothing 200 days and I hope to survive many more.

[melcantspell]

While Coastal Highway is not exactly my favorite region, I find it to be one of the easiest regions for long-term survival in Stalker. 

IMHO, The key is to NOT choose one long-term base, but use all of them. The distances are quite short, so it is often easy to outrun a wolf or bear, if you are not carrying too much weight (which you don't  need to, since your stuff is spread nicely between a dozen bases. The only things you need to carry are matches (the weather is usually great, so you can often use the magnifying lens), weapons (preferably the bow) and bandages. It doesn't hurt to take a flare or two, just to feel safer, but I find that I rarely use them. 

I usually don't stay at a base for more than a 1-2 nights in CH. If your base is "everywhere", it is rather easy to avoid wolf-infested areas. Just don't go there for a day or two

[Gun Tech.]

So weird! For me it's perfect for around day 100, looting the world is done, cooking 5 arrived, and you're ready to ramp up your hunting and fishing. Weather and temps are reasonably clement there, you can find your prey from afar, and two easy bears that come along nicely to your fishing hut doorstep and say "I humbly offer my meat to you Sir" 

It has two drawbacks that I can see - no proper caves for sleeping off Cabin Fever, and if you let them run and bleed out, animals can run so far away that you'll never find them.

But in my book it's one of the better regions  Home Region, dunno. I establish bases in all regions and then it depends on if I have something to do if I stay 5 or 20 days (max). After that it feels like overstaying my welcome a little bit.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Gun Tech.

[Glflegolas]

Yeah, I'm with @Gun Tech. on this one. I usually stay in one region for 1-3 weeks or so, then I leave for another one. Staying in one region for longer than that gets boring IMO. The only region that I won't stay in is Forlorn Muskeg. Of the times that I have lost survivors in difficulties other than Interloper, 4 out of 5 times it was in Forlorn Muskeg when it got dark.

[Ahatch]

I am trying to stay 50 days on Forlorn Muskeg with my long play survivor it is wolf central one minute now I'm going to have to cross the marsh just to find some meat to eat  

[alone sniper]

On 5/9/2020 at 8:20 PM, GarlicPops said:

The reason for that is the absurdly high amount of wolves in the region in general, most of the hunting areas are full off 4-5 wolf packs

I mean ... I agree with you but this is Stalker ! It supposed to be like that I guess ... 
You can play pilgrim if you want, no wolf will attack you on that difficulty. 🙂
 

[Gun Tech.]

It's funny because I was just pinged and right now I'm staying at Quonset for Xmas - on Stalker - specifically because there are more wolves. I guess I want some action!  

[Glflegolas]

I like a few wolves to add some tension and suspense to the game, but I don't necessarily want wolves everywhere I look.