I have stopped carrying the rifle.

[dahemac]

I have stopped using a rifle in-game. It is just too heavy and I can think of other supplies I value more.

Also, I have found the bow to be both more accurate and more deadly. Is this just subjective in my head? Have others found the bow to be better than the rifle?

[manolitode]

Smart choice, once you go bow you never go back About damage, your assessment sounds about right. Bows are supposed to cause faster bleedout than rifles (apart from insta headshots). About accuracy, if we ignore the skillbased sway/accuracy range difference my experience is that the bow has more of a learning curve. With the rifle I just aim at wherever I want to shoot and mostly hit target. The bow is another story as you sometimes don't aim directly at your target and that takes a little while to calibrate. For example: when you're hunting deer at a distance in order to not scare them off you might want to aim just slightly above them in order to hit.

So is the rifle or bow better? I suppose it's a matter of personal taste. I like the bow big time. You won't find nearly as much ammo but once you've crafted 10 arrows you'll be good for some 100 days and nights of native hunting. At skillevel 5 you can fire the bow crouched which is a godsend. Hope that answered your question.

[piddy3825]

Yeah, I only use the rifle in early game play as you usually find it and some ammo fairly quickly when you first start out.  But soon as I can find a survival bow and an arrow or two I quit carrying the rifle for that same reason, weight reduction.  The rifle does come in handy while you're waiting for birch saplings and maple saplings to cure before  you can craft yourself a bow and arrows.  Typically I can find a used survival bow and a few broken arrows in addition to some intact ones almost immediately after spawning if you know where to look.  That being said, the range of the bow and the ability to strike a mortal wound is significantly further imho than the rifle is, which of course seems counter intuitive IRL but seems to be a fact in TLD.    I just recently made an extraordinary long range shot killing a bear in the process, it was so surprising I had to post about it... 

 

[odizzido]

The bow is excellent. It reliably one shots wolves. The rifle might be better against timberwolves though due to how many you typically fight at once. I don't have enough experience with them to know though.

[acada]

I still do carry a rifle. But only when I am activelly hunting a moose or bear. Deer hunting is another cup of herbal tea. Here I train my bow skills. For non hunting days I stick with my trusty revolver as wolf detterant (although I got few deers with it as well). Since I can renew my ammo, it is easier nowadays. And I do not carry any extra ammo for rifle. Just fully loaded. For revolver I do carry extra 12 rounds.

For bear and moose hunting: Lot of thinkgs can go wrong and it is much quicker to reload a rifle and aim, then put a new arrow and draw a bow and aim.

[peteloud]

Yesterday, in a recently started Voyager game I reached level 5 with archery so immediately dropped my rifle and reduced the load I carried by 4+Kg.  I now walk faster and can climb ropes with more essential gear.  I found not being able to use the bow while crouched was a limiting factor and made deer hunting difficult.  I wish using the bow while crouched came in at level 4.

I then tried using the bow & arrow on an attacking wolf.  To my surprise it was much more effective than the revolver.  I have killed the wolf every time I have used the bow since then.  Since wolf behaviour changed a few updates ago I have found that the revolver was a good device for scaring away attacking wolves so have been using that against wolves until yesterday.  I think I shall drop the revolver and reduce my load by another 1.5+Kg.

Ironically I am returning to the way I played the game a year ago, with bow & arrows as my only ranged weapon.  It is similar with spray can and stone caches.  I don't bother using them.  I am finding the these new additions to the game might look good at first but that they turn out to be little more than an unnecessary diversion.

 

 

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

3 hours ago, acada said:

I still do carry a rifle. But only when I am activelly hunting a moose or bear. Deer hunting is another cup of herbal tea. Here I train my bow skills. For non hunting days I stick with my trusty revolver as wolf detterant (although I got few deers with it as well). Since I can renew my ammo, it is easier nowadays. And I do not carry any extra ammo for rifle. Just fully loaded. For revolver I do carry extra 12 rounds.

For bear and moose hunting: Lot of thinkgs can go wrong and it is much quicker to reload a rifle and aim, then put a new arrow and draw a bow and aim.

yep, I dump rifles at strategic hunting sites (such a mystery lake fishing hut if the bear spawns there, trappers cabin etc.) and only use them for 'big' game.  This is mainly just cos I have it and can, rather than any particular advantage from the rifle.

With well fed and moose satchel I can usually manage to keep a bow and 3-4 arrows on me at all times for deer/ emergencies, with more if heading to somewhere like HRV.  Plus a flare gun in case I get cornered.

Otherwise it's revolver all the way, on voyager you can live off wolf meat, prob 50% instant kills once you're at level 5 and with the extra ammo possibilities from BI, you can even take out a moose or bear if circs are in your favour (such as a nearby hunting blind).  A bow, arrows, flare gun, revolver and ammo should weigh in less than a rifle and cover all bases in terms of attack and defence.  Maybe the rifle could do with a boost now, such as some defensive capabilities, such as a one off chance to swing the butt to avert a wolf melee at the last, or even a bayonet?! 

I am trying to start a stalker run to see if intestinal parasite risk will change this strategy much, but sadly I'm getting loads of crashes after the last update (I have reported and I'm sure a fix is imminent).

Edited June 18, 2020 by Valuable Hunting Knife
forgot about flare gun

[SirSharper]

I will take the rifle with me when travelling map to map, but i always leave it at the new maps "base". It is TOO HEAVY. My bow skills have gotten way better since letting go of the rifle and pistol. I've gotten confident enough to position myself for bear & moose kills now. I really need to learn to NOT be on their level. Get up on a rock or branch, and be patient. 

 

[gotmilkanot]

My long Voyager run started with the intention to get Silent Hunter achievement (first 50 days without firing any guns) so I got myself a bow and kinda banned myself from using firearms even if I find them. Now at day 500+, a bow with 5 arrows and a loaded flare gun are pretty much the only ranged weapons that I carry around (even if I'm venturing into BI).

IMO the rifle, while pretty strong even at lower levels, is way too heavy to be carried around. As for the revolver, I find it to be only good at scaring away timberwolves as it's pretty weak even at level 5.

The bow has good damage, is incredibly light (a bow with 5 arrows is still lighter than an unloaded revolver) and is very reliable at killing a charging wolf. So to me it's the perfect weapon to carry around on day to day basis for both hunting and defense. And of course, also a loaded flare gun which only weighs 0.45kg to stop a charging bear or moose.

Edited June 18, 2020 by gotmilkanot

[odizzido]

Yeah. The revolver seems good for killing deer and that's about it for me. The fact is unless the revolver is buffed to the point it can compete with the bow against wolves its only use will be to save arrows on deer or be the weapon you use if you have nothing else.

I do seem to recall that the revolver was better when it was released? I understand that they don't want it to just replace the bow though.

[gotmilkanot]

57 minutes ago, odizzido said:

Yeah. The revolver seems good for killing deer and that's about it for me. The fact is unless the revolver is buffed to the point it can compete with the bow against wolves its only use will be to save arrows on deer or be the weapon you use if you have nothing else.

I do seem to recall that the revolver was better when it was released? I understand that they don't want it to just replace the bow though.

Interesting... I've never tried hunting a deer with a revolver as I assumed if it fails to one shot wolves reliably at level 5, it probably isn't a good weapon to hunt deer.

Then there's always bleed out mechanic so all you need is just wait out for it to die but I prefer a clean kill with a bow (one shot usually if you aim head or chest). And I feel there's more than enough resources for arrows before I stopped playing my long run out of boredom so I never really bother that much to save arrows anyway.

Edited June 18, 2020 by gotmilkanot

[piddy3825]

13 minutes ago, gotmilkanot said:

Interesting... I've never tried hunting a deer with a revolver as I assumed if it fails to one shot wolves reliably at level 5, it probably isn't a good weapon to hunt deer.

Then there's always bleed out mechanic so all you need is just wait out for it to die but I prefer a clean kill with a bow (one shot usually if you aim head or chest). And I feel there's more than enough resources for arrows before I stopped playing my long run out of boredom so I never really bother that much to save arrows anyway.

i find that firing at a deer from the crouched position at close range using the revolver, especially broadside, usually results in an instakill.  not so much when shooting head on, but they almost always die from bleed out after running away.  Next time when your bored, try creeping up and shooting rabbits with the revolver, those are always one shot kills.  

[gotmilkanot]

11 minutes ago, piddy3825 said:

i find that firing at a deer from the crouched position at close range using the revolver, especially broadside, usually results in an instakill.  not so much when shooting head on, but they almost always die from bleed out after running away.  Next time when your bored, try creeping up and shooting rabbits with the revolver, those are always one shot kills.  

Damn, it's gonna be a bad day for the rabbits on the jackrabbit island (my retirement home). Hope I don't get bored too soon!

[odizzido]

6 hours ago, gotmilkanot said:

Interesting... I've never tried hunting a deer with a revolver as I assumed if it fails to one shot wolves reliably at level 5, it probably isn't a good weapon to hunt deer.

 

Well the difference between deer and wolves is that the deer won't try to cuddle you if you get them excited.

[gotmilkanot]

4 hours ago, odizzido said:

Well the difference between deer and wolves is that the deer won't try to cuddle you if you get them excited.

That's true, I'm still waiting for the day they add collision model to deer. I want to be knocked down by deer that run head on to me.

[Abyssal]

On 6/18/2020 at 6:21 PM, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

yep, I dump rifles at strategic hunting sites (such a mystery lake fishing hut if the bear spawns there, trappers cabin etc.) and only use them for 'big' game.  This is mainly just cos I have it and can, rather than any particular advantage from the rifle.

With well fed and moose satchel I can usually manage to keep a bow and 3-4 arrows on me at all times for deer/ emergencies, with more if heading to somewhere like HRV.  Plus a flare gun in case I get cornered.

Otherwise it's revolver all the way, on voyager you can live off wolf meat, prob 50% instant kills once you're at level 5 and with the extra ammo possibilities from BI, you can even take out a moose or bear if circs are in your favour (such as a nearby hunting blind).  A bow, arrows, flare gun, revolver and ammo should weigh in less than a rifle and cover all bases in terms of attack and defence.  Maybe the rifle could do with a boost now, such as some defensive capabilities, such as a one off chance to swing the butt to avert a wolf melee at the last, or even a bayonet?! 

I am trying to start a stalker run to see if intestinal parasite risk will change this strategy much, but sadly I'm getting loads of crashes after the last update (I have reported and I'm sure a fix is imminent).

I like the bayonet idea, maybe a struggle item that deals upfront damage? Would be cool.

[dahemac]

On 7/12/2020 at 7:45 PM, Abyssal said:

I like the bayonet idea, maybe a struggle item that deals upfront damage? Would be cool.

A fending-off mechanic, with bayonet or spear or even a pointy stick, would add a lot of tension to encounters and more encounter variety.