Detailed questions for Interloper players

[TitanTreks]

Hey all! I consider myself an experienced TLD player with 375 hours of almost all interloper game time. I have died ALOT lol but I'm starting to get to the point where I can survive for 2-3 months no problem. I'm trying to do a full year in interloper soon and I have two (most likely basic) questions that I've not found an answer to on my own. 

1. Specifically, how do I recover my characters physical endurance and what is draining it? By physical endurance I'm speaking about the sprint endurance wheel that appears in the bottom right while sprinting. I will leave a screen shot of it. Please don't just say "eat more". I have a feeling it has to do with my rationing play style where I only eat my 700 calories at night before I sleep but I don't know that for certain. Any detailed response on what's causing this issue and what action needs to be taken to reverse this issue would be greatly appreciated.

2. This is probably a very easy question to answer. Up to this point I have been using caves and snow shelters to avoid cabin fever. I craft my equipment at outside workbenches as well.  My favorite cave has been the one centrally located at the "Mystery Lakes" zone. However I understand beach combing in "costal highway" is advantageous to advanced players and I find the weather there to be generally more pleasant. I simply have not been able to locate a good spot to set up base there. I REALLY want to set up in the fire tower to the north east but I have a feeling that is not considered an outside camp. I know there's fishing huts and a cave south of the fire tower but I don't feel like the fishing huts are very warm and I'm concerned with having to use the ropes everyday to utilize the fire tower cave. I guess my question is "is the fire tower considered an outside camp?" and "does any one have any suggestions on camps in the 'costal highway region'.

I understand this has been a lengthy post so I want to thank whoever takes the time to read it the whole way through and formulate a thoughtful response! Your time is appreciated!!

[Staircase]

If you're talking about the red bit of your sprint meter, that's the clothing you're wearing decreasing your maximum stamina.  Most heavy clothes decrease that amount by a few percent, but it adds up faster than you would think!  The way you check the stat is by looking at your clothing menu and finding the icon that represents the little running dude from your stamina wheel and finding out how much it takes away.  Not sure if this is what you're talking about but I would love to find out exactly what you're asking and specify!

[TitanTreks]

This definitely answers my first question! I was under the impression that my character was becoming malnourished  as time went by but the clothing weighing him down and decreasing his sprit stamina makes perfect sense! Thank you for clearing that up for me Staircase!

 

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

Regarding point 2, i think the fire tower is indoors, I'm sure I have cured skins there in the past.  if you're looking for a base with the option to avoid cabin fever, for my money the best option in CH depends on where a fishing hut with door spawns.  ideally it'll be either the one next to the fishing camp, or the one in between the two large islands.  it's then a case of taking advantage of breaks in the weather to fish (or sleep outdoors with a fire if cabin fever risk is high) with the option to bail to Misanthrope's/jackrabbit/fishing camp if the temperature gets too low.  Plus not far from plenty of storage and somewhere to cure.

CH is a strange one, lots of 'ok' locations but issues with all of them.

Oh, and just to add to Staircases' reply (especially as you mention beachcombing...), in case you didn't already know, wet or frozen clothing can be much heavier, apart from the other disadvantages.  So dropping at least the heavier outer layers to run out onto the ice can be beneficial. 

Good luck going for the full year!

[Staircase]

22 minutes ago, TitanTreks said:

Thank you for clearing that up for me Staircase!

Happy to help!

[Dan_]

Hi @TitanTreks! Welcome to the community!

The first question has been answered, but just to give you more details: Specific clothing pieces affect your sprint bar differently, as a general rule, the animal skin clothing is by far the heaviest and the most taxing on your mobility, you can check the sprint reduction via an icon on the clothing item being displayed at the menu ( the sprinting man pictogram, specifically ). 

The lookout at CH is indeed an indoor location as far as cabin fever mechanics are concerned. CH has plenty of pretty cool locations to set up shop, I absolutely love the fishing camp for it's outdoor crafting table, there's fishing a couple dozen steps away, there's beachcombing ( which is good little bonus for sapling and scrap renewal ), tons of firewood climbing the hill towards the bear creek campgrounds and the bear comes close to your door, so you don't even have to search for him for a good hunt. I also love the Quonset more and more, the wolves are not so bad(you can draw them to the ice if you're not confident in close range shooting) and there's space to store your stuff, close by fishing, Bear and Moose right by the backyard and DP is a stone's throw away. People are adamant on jackrabbit being a good base but I'm not a fan at all. 

Cheers and welcome!

[Gracia_WolfSlayer]

1 hour ago, Dan_ said:

People are adamant on jackrabbit being a good base but I'm not a fan at all. 

I agree! Both of the houses on the islands are too risky in my opinion. Wolfs occasionally wander up there and there's no sight line. They're good for looting an a quick refuge, but not much else for me.

[Guest jeffpeng]

As to 2)

I know you are trying to avoid cabin fever altogether. But, actually, you don't need to. Just have a location nearby where you can wait it out.

If I HAD to set up shop in CH (which, by the way I'm writing this, you'll anticipate I would not otherwise), I'd probably go for the Fishing Camp. Now you might say: But Jeff, you amazing deer hunting desperado, there is a bear patrolling the area sometimes! And yes, it is. But there is only so much you can evade the amazing joys of Great Bear, and if you keep your eyes open when you leave your cabin in the village, you can dodge back in in time. Bears at least give you a big fat warning and don't just clip onto your face around a corner. And other locations are much more deceptive. Quonset is legally inhabited by wolves. Jackrabbit and Misantropes can drop a wolf on you when you least expect it.

Now as for cabin fever: there are nearby fishing huts. Pack two days worth of firewood, and indulge yourself in a lengthy fishing session once in a while. You will come out completely healed of Cabin Fever for a good stretch of time, and to make things even more brilliant: you won't need for food pretty much ever. Also with the outside crafting bench you can slowly work on projects one hour at a time in the warmer hours of a day.

The most important thing to understand about Cabin Fever (even tho I hate that mechanic's guts, but actually for game design reasons, not game play reasons) is to play with it, instead of trying to play against it. What I mean by that is not to hide from it in some location that to maintain will cost you a great deal of resources (like living in a fishing hut 24/7), but to actually use the time budget that you have to spend outside wisely. Like fishing. Or hunting. Crafting. Or actually playing the game ... which is something that can be hard when you are counting the days.

Personally I very much like to live in caves, which are far above the comforts of a fishing cabin. But even they don't equal the sheer efficiency of being able to sleep indoors at all times with no fire present, and without wear and tear on a bedroll. But even after 2000+ hours of mostly loper I still wonder every game where to set up my base. And after all this time I must admit that the games I had centered around the boring old Camp Office had the overall best outcomes. It's central, it can be established early, it's safe, it has ample opportunity to hunt food, it has fishing, indoor crafting, a nearby cave (technically two), mild weather, enough storage space for the tidbits and enough room for the bulky stuff, and an actually okay-ish outside cooking spot. It's a jack of all traits. It just doesn't make for a very original base.

And as to beach combing: Unless you plan to make that year actually ten years you don't need beach combing.

Finally:

8 hours ago, TitanTreks said:

I understand this has been a lengthy post so I want to thank whoever takes the time to read it

Ha! 😁 You're welcome - and likewise.

[TitanTreks]

5 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

 And after all this time I must admit that the games I had centered around the boring old Camp Office had the overall best outcomes. It's central, it can be established early, it's safe, it has ample opportunity to hunt food, it has fishing, indoor crafting, a nearby cave (technically two), mild weather, enough storage space for the tidbits and enough room for the bulky stuff, and an actually okay-ish outside cooking spot. It's a jack of all traits. It just doesn't make for a very original base.

And as to beach combing: Unless you plan to make that year actually ten years you don't need beach combing.

Thank you for this very thoughtful response. I am interested in potentially trying to live as long as possible. Up to this point my favorite base has been the office as well. I use the cave in the mountains to the west of it and I enjoy the fishing near by as well. Cabin fever had become my arch nemesis as I entered late game play throughs and I've devoted a lot of my time to avoiding it but I can understand the idea of "working with it" to some degree. I use the outside crafting table in Milton and the forge in Broken Railroad. I just find myself getting hung up in storms for multiple days at a time which has begun to sour my desire to be there.

Is living nomadic in TLD a good option? I could see myself developing a rotation of bases that benefit my needs at the time. The hunting and trapping in Mystery Lake is good and the weather in Coastal is good. Perhaps I should rotate between the two... I don't know.

Thanks again for the great advice Jeff! I have much to consider as I push for my first year long play thru!

[Guest jeffpeng]

Just now, TitanTreks said:

Is living nomadic in TLD a good option? I could see myself developing a rotation of bases that benefit my needs at the time. The hunting and trapping in Mystery Lake is good and the weather in Coastal is good. Perhaps I should rotate between the two... I don't know.

Nomadic .... don't know. "Distributed" .... yes. You see: hunting grounds replenish less and less over time. Firewood replenishes less and less over time. In fact everything starts to shut down, and those effect become ever more pronounced the farther in you are. I really wouldn't want to bet if it gets worse after 150 or so days .... but at that point it's bad already. Staying on the move between several locations can be very beneficial to compensate for that.

One particular game (on of my farthest), which was centered around the camp office basically involved making tours to Milton via Trappers gathering coal in the cave, staying a few nights at the Basin, tracking back through Forlorn Muskeg, and after making it back to the office and spending a few days there, and then make a big firewood and hunting expedition through Mystery Lake. After that I would risk a trip through Winding River, stack up on coal in the cave, give the Ravine a little spin, and head back to the office - repeating the cycle. It gets old after a while - but not as old as outright skipping time. I had several lean to shelters established with the usual stuff: firewood, food, water.

So I guess.... yes. Getting around, expanding your radius helps fighting the diminishing returns. Just consider that if you really aim late that you are in no hurry once you have the stuff you need. But I would always try to have a main base with a good crafting option.

On a different note: I always tried to make Grey Mother's work. It seems amazing on paper: free food delivery (wolves), amazingly efficient with firewood (which offsets the rather mediocre firewood availability), an almost infinite cloth supply in the surrounding houses. But I guess the devil is buried in the details: Your crafting bench is rather far away (Trailer near Hushed River Valley Cave), your primary food source doesn't react well to you missing arrows, and getting in and out of Milton always involves climbing, which makes stocking up a rather lengthy endeavor. All of this just adds so many things that can go wrong over time that they eventually will. Just like at Quonset you are "technically" fine with leaving the building crouched, but eventually one of those hairy barkers will blindside you.

[DrZ]

Regarding 2. I would read between the lines that you are too concerned about cabin fever. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it always happens when you don't need it. Yes, it alwys happens just before a blizzard.

BUT if you try to spend time during the day outside as much as possible you are fine. I sleep inside wherever possible. I craft inside wherever possible. And it hardly ever pops up. When I craft stuff for a long time I take breaks in the afternoon when it is "warm" and collect or chop up some wood. I aim for 3+ hours there and crafting in the cold hours before noon. Eat outside, read outside, mend outside, cook outside and you should be fine.

Edited October 17, 2020 by DrZ
typo

[Stone]

@TitanTreks alas the lookouts count as indoors. An interesting spot in CH is the partially collapsed bridge just off the main road, along from the fishing camp in the direction of the gas station. You can get right up under it and be sheltered with a fire and rollmat. It's nice and central. I don't think you will be disturbed but I haven't tested it properly.