Long Term Survival for Beginners

[Phawk]

Hello, new player here (well... I started playing a week ago).

I definitely spent a lot of time playing lately and I pretty much mastered every game mechanic and I know all that's needed to know about maps, animals and stuff. Unfortunately I am yet to break the 10 days line (on Voyageur, mostly because of stupid errors) and I need to start thinking a bit more seriously. So I am here to ask help about something I cannot master yet: Long term survival.

Let me premise that I read a lot of topics in this forum and I learned a lot, but there are still a lot of things that I am not sure of. So:

-Considering that I want to get started on breaking something like 50 days, which is the more comfortable place to settle in? According to what I read, Trapper's Homestead or Jackrabbit Island would be easiest ones. Are these two places good to start?

- Is it important to find a bunker? Is it worth to travel the map for the sole purpose of looking for one? Do they spawn according to this map http://i59.tinypic.com/2zhozet.jpg? And is there a SINGLE bunker in game (between all the three maps) or are there 3 bunkers, one for each map?

-Obviously I can't start long tem survival If I don't have proper equipment. What are the mandatory items that I need to own before I start settling down?

And something very important to me: Is it better to start the game by fully looting all of the three maps of all they have to offer and gathering them in a single place before starting to camp, and is it better to just go pick stuff whevener I need it step by step?

- Something I didn't quite get: do items start degrading as soon as you pick them up, regardless of what kind of items they are? It it true that the medical thingy on the wall preserves matches better?

Sorry for the bunch of questions. I will post more when I remember what parts of the game I still don't fully understand.

Thanks for the patience... at least if you bother answering me.

Cheers.

[Scyzara]

I'll try to answer your questions, hope it'll help.

-Considering that I want to get started on breaking something like 50 days, which is the more comfortable place to settle in? According to what I read, Trapper's Homestead or Jackrabbit Island would be easiest ones. Are these two places good to start?

As a beginner, I would very much advice you to start in Mystery lake and make your base either at the Camp office (central location) or Trapper's homestead (safest location). All those wolves in Coastal Highway can be quite hard to avoid if you don't know their "behaviour patterns" yet.

- Is it important to find a bunker? Is it worth to travel the map for the sole purpose of looking for one? Do they spawn according to this map http://i59.tinypic.com/2zhozet.jpg? And is there a SINGLE bunker in game (between all the three maps) or are there 3 bunkers, one for each map?

It depends a bit on the types of bunkers you get (there are two bunkers, one in mystery lake and one in pleasant valley), but most bunker types (they can be food-/cloth-/wood-/ammunition- or tool-themed) are totally worth searching.

-Obviously I can't start long tem survival If I don't have proper equipment. What are the mandatory items that I need to own before I start settling down?

If you don't want to get the pacifist/silent hunter achievements, your top priority should be getting a rifle and ammunition. You should be able to find both in mystery lake if you check all spawn locations. In case you're extremely unlucky and can't find a rifle at any of these locations, you should either continue searching in Coastal Highway or simply start a new game (the latter might be the better choice as a beginner).

If you got your rifle, you can start crafting a wolfskin coat. Deerhide boots and rabbitskin mitts are also very useful.

And something very important to me: Is it better to start the game by fully looting all of the three maps of all they have to offer and gathering them in a single place before starting to camp, and is it better to just go pick stuff whevener I need it step by step?

I'd rather travel the maps step by step and not try to loot everything right at the beginning, but this might just be my personal taste. Guess it's better to know one map really well before moving on to the next if you want to survive in the long run, though.

Something I didn't quite get: do items start degrading as soon as you pick them up, regardless of what kind of items they are? It it true that the medical thingy on the wall preserves matches better?

Tools degrade if you use them (repair things/harvest meat or wood/fire bullets), clothes degrade over time (much more if you're outside during a blizzard) or if you're attacked by wildlife. Food simply degrades over time. Not sure if the medical wall cabinets preserve anything better than any other kind of container would, but I very much doubt that.^^

[pikkue]

Well, will have a session too

-Considering that I want to get started on breaking something like 50 days, which is the more comfortable place to settle in? According to what I read, Trapper's Homestead or Jackrabbit Island would be easiest ones. Are these two places good to start?

Trappers and rabbit farming in the valley across.

- Is it important to find a bunker? Is it worth to travel the map for the sole purpose of looking for one? Do they spawn according to this map http://i59.tinypic.com/2zhozet.jpg? And is there a SINGLE bunker in game (between all the three maps) or are there 3 bunkers, one for each map?

Not at all important and as well not worth the time spending on looking for them.

-Obviously I can't start long tem survival If I don't have proper equipment. What are the mandatory items that I need to own before I start settling down?

Hatchet, sewing kit... so far

(Rifle&hunting knife are nice to have, but not necessary for basic survivle in tld and can be searched later as there is a solid foundation on ressources)

And something very important to me: Is it better to start the game by fully looting all of the three maps of all they have to offer and gathering them in a single place before starting to camp, and is it better to just go pick stuff whevener I need it step by step?

I'd stay on a map until the loot/wildlife is exploited and move to the next. But I'm testing this system just since the latest map, will try to rotate as wildlife is totally vanished from a map and I hope for it to reappear.

Something I didn't quite get: do items start degrading as soon as you pick them up, regardless of what kind of items they are? It it true that the medical thingy on the wall preserves matches better?

Weeeeeeell.. dno tbh : x

Have fun!

[ChillPlayer]

Here's a quick round up of how my runs usually go:

- get the rifle and ammo in ML, loot everything (dam only when you have rifle) there, craft at least boots and coat, find the bunker along the way. Bunker is not mandatory but helps, especially in the late game. This usually takes about 5-20 days, depending on how much deer/wolf I shoot.

- travers to CH (jackrabbit) and live off deer/wolf until you're out of ammo, spend the days looting everything in CH

This was my routine to get to 183 days but with the new map I slightly changed it:

- travers to CH, loot only gas station area and go to PV. live off 4 bears for 2 months, loot everything in the map and find the bunker. Go back to CH and live off deer/wolf until out of ammo.

- end phase, go back to ML and live mainly off fish, rabbit, cattails and handfighting wolves for deer.

One important tip for long survival: Don't pick up food you see lying around unless you are starving as long as you have ammo. I even stopped looting kitchens in houses to preserve me some foot for the out-of-ammo time. The only thing I pick up is stuff that does not decay over time, like materials or ammo. Don't take anything from the bunkers you find either - except for ammo - you'll need it all

[Phawk]

Thanks everyone! You were useful, I have a better idea of how to develop my game now.

Another thing. How do you organize cooking and eating? Is it better to immediately cook all the raw meat you have in one go and eat it when needed?

[pikkue]

Since the latest update, I only make fire to boil water or to get warm quickly

[ChillPlayer]

How do you organize cooking and eating? Is it better to immediately cook all the raw meat you have in one go and eat it when needed?

Yes and no Get as much meat as you can within 2-3 days, store the raw meat you gather in a container of any sort. Once you have 20-30kg minimum, then start a fire and cook everything in one go. Boil at least 20l water too, the more the better and store it inside the house (just "drop" it on the floor). Store cooked meat in a container too, take only with you what you need for 1-2 days and stay in the vincinity until you've eaten all. Rinse and repeat.

One of the biggest problem that will eventually kill every long term attempts is firemaking. There's only a finite amount of matches and firestriker as well as the magnifying glass cannot be repaired. So you want to get the maximum out of a single fire.

Unfortunately we are not playing as Les Stroud or we could make two matches out of one

[Phawk]

Yes and no Get as much meat as you can within 2-3 days, store the raw meat you gather in a container of any sort. Once you have 20-30kg minimum, then start a fire and cook everything in one go. Boil at least 20l water too, the more the better and store it inside the house (just "drop" it on the floor). Store cooked meat in a container too, take only with you what you need for 1-2 days and stay in the vincinity until you've eaten all. Rinse and repeat.

One of the biggest problem that will eventually kill every long term attempts is firemaking. There's only a finite amount of matches and firestriker as well as the magnifying glass cannot be repaired. So you want to get the maximum out of a single fire.

Unfortunately we are not playing as Les Stroud or we could make two matches out of one

Thanks. Atm camping hard at Jackrabbit house and among wolf, deers and snares I am absolutely full of meat and I think I actually need to stop hunting for a bit

But I noticed something that I can't really explain: some raw meat just drops to the lowest number of calories (40-60) randomly and I can't figure out what is the reason for it. It doesn't seem to be due to the condition.

I store all the meat and the water in the freezer (not sure if it does conserve it better, but whatever)

[ChillPlayer]

This happens when you eat more calories than you need. You cannot take in more than 2500 cals, the surplus goes back in your inventory and is usually in the low hundreds.

[pikkue]

I don't get why ppl find it teasing to gather stuff and camp around then.

The basic idea might be to strive for as many days as possible. But it is without doubt the most boring gameplay possible .

[ChillPlayer]

What else do you want to do with 33KG of bear meat from only one kill?

[pikkue]

No need for a bear kill following your words.

Get as much meat as you can within 2-3 days, store the raw meat you gather in a container of any sort. Once you have 20-30kg minimum...

Btw., was that an answer on my notation before?

[ChillPlayer]

If you want the bedroll you have to kill 4 bears = 130kg of meat = 65 day of sleep

[pikkue]

?

Guess I've overseen sth on the page before.