Rock caches: When and why should I use them?

[Karazian]

I haven't been playing terribly long, just now starting my first stalker run, but so far I have not felt the need to build a rock cache. I'm sure folks have plenty of reasons to use them, but I just haven't ran into any organically myself, except for perhaps in HRV or TWM, where storage might become an issue due to lack of buildings. Everywhere else tho its just far easier to shove loot into cabinets etc., in my experience. Maybe i'm missing something here tho. 

[peteloud]

I have played TLD for great many hours/game days, and I have never found any need for rock caches.  It is the same with spray paint. There is an energy drink or something like that which I have never bothered to use also.

 

I suspect that HTL feel that they must keep adding a few new features.  I feel that they could have used their development resources more effectively in areas other than those three products.

 

[UTC-10]

Rock caches can serve a purpose depending on what the player wants to do.  I have set up rock caches to:  serve as convenient storage for when I move from region to region or want to store something that otherwise would be piled on the snow, to stash supplies for when entering a new region, and to supplement the existing storage at a given location. I have set up:

• A cache in Ravine to hold coal I brought (over several trips) from the Cinder Hills mind.  This was when I might take coal to Old Spence forge so I have access to a large amount of coal if I needed to forge stuff. 
• A cache at the Camp Office to organize the gunpowder supplies and lead plates that I was going to move to Bleak Inlet. 
• A cache outside the Forlorn Muskeg cave to Bleak Inlet for convenience to stash supplies going to Bleak Inlet.  A matter of convenience.
• A cache at the Bleak Inlet cave (to Forlorn Muskeg) for the same reason - to receive the gunpowder supplies and lead plates.  It would also serve as a waypoint for when I leave Bleak Inlet. 
• A cache at the Canner worker residence to supplement the storage out there - basically wood, coal, and sticks which I tend to collect an excess of.
• A cache at the Old Spence forge because there just was not enough storage for all I wanted to leave there.  

So if one never feels that lack of storage is a problem, then caches, which take some effort to collect the 50 stones needed, would be unnecessary.  On the other hand, it can be nice to have the option.  I am kind of tired at times at picking up 100 sticks, one by one, that I dropped on the snow because I had no storage to put them in.  It also helps to see, at a glance, how much of something I have without having to pick them all up. 

Another thing is (I think) that anything stored in the cache will remain there (of course ruined food disappears in a container) in the event of a Lost and Found event so I don't have to trudge across a region to the Regional Lost and Found box to fetch the things I would have left on the snow back to where I want them.  

[ManicManiac]

@UTC-10

Agreed.  Well said.

[Karazian]

That seems reasonable. The cost i guess is just my big hangup, it just seems to cancel the convenience factor of cache's out. But I guess if some folks think its worth it, its a good thing.

[UTC-10]

The devs did increase the amount of stones that spawn (whether they respawn is another matter) given the anticipated increase in demand.  They also made the stones lighter - 0.15 kg vs 0.25 kg - so they would not be an insufferable load to move.  Still I did struggle a bit with the Cannery Workers Residence cache to find 50 stones, but I found them.   

Another consideration could be that having assembled that many stones, even crafting a cache, if it becomes more important to have it somewhere else, then the cache can be broken down and reconstructed at that other place.  At least there is no loss of stones from disassembly. Of course, it has to be empty to be deconstructed, but that would be part of the calculation of utility value. 

 

[Sherri]

I suspect that they might start having predators attracted to, or stealing from, our meat stashes left outside. Which would make the rock caches more vital.

I just pick up stones as I see them, dropping at my base & eventually I get 50. It does take forever though.

[PrincessAutumn]

I haven't used rock caches myself either. I don't see why when there are containers already placed in the game world that I can use to store my stuff and keep my journal on where certain stuff is. It's an interesting idea for sure but I don't see the point in using them  

[TiffTastic]

I’ve used them to construct storage at a couple of interesting temporary bases. I love outdoor bases and wanted to see if I could maintain one at pensive pond in PV. Since storage was short, I added that. I also got lucky in that the prepper cache spawned nearby. But that meant I had a lot of stuff. It was a fun new take on the region, and I survived for 30 days there before I got bored and moved on.

[Serenity]

On 9/25/2020 at 5:33 AM, PrincessAutumn said:

I don't see why when there are containers already placed in the game world that I can use to store my stuff

Some places don't have many containers. Or they don't hold much. Especially when you live in caves. Marsh Ridge in FM or any kind of cave in HRV for example

[darkscaryforest]

I use the ground- infinite storage space, costs 0 rocks, doesn't remove ruined meat. Inefficient if you want to quickly compare percentages on condition though.

IMO the most useful thing about rock caches is that it is supposed to show up on your map if you charcoal it. Then again, the fidelity of that map isn't the best, and you won't know precisely where you are on it at a given moment. I'd recommend also putting it near a geographical feature that'll make it stick out and writing it in your notes.

Edited September 28, 2020 by darkscaryforest