Interlopers, what behavior gave you the biggest boost

[DrZ]

Question for Interlopers:

What behavior or play style gives you the biggest boost, in your opinion?

I'll start: Tea.

I did not realize the value in other difficulties as you find plenty of medicine and calories but in Interloper tea has several advantages:

1. easy to get
2. non-smelly, so you can safely transport calories to another location
3. also gives hydration
4. few calories but decent if you are in starvation mode
5. boosts your cooking skill
6. warmth boost increases your travel distance
7. You can even separate medication and consumption: Drink 90% when you need the calories/warmth/hydration and the rest when you need the medication (which does not decay - so it is storable).

I'm eager to hear what other players judge to be their best technique to make an Interloper run more enjoyable.

 

[manolitode]

Using coal improved my life by alot. It keeps you very warm for very long and helps you explore Great bear and survive a blustering snowstorm by lighting up a neat coalbased fire behind a rock. Coal is much lighter than wood and it's less work to pick up 1 coal than 11 sticks. I only refrain from picking up a piece of coal if I'm in a coal mine and already carry more than my grunting survivor can bear. Coal is necessary to use the forge where you can create your improvised tools, you'll need at least 6 by the way. You can also drop the coal on the ground to form the letters S O S, but that might not help anything but lift your spirits.  

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

Using a match to guaranteed light a torch, then using to torch to light a fire.  never waste a match again.  Also, mini harvesting meat to boost cooking and harvesting skill increase.

[DrZ]

1 hour ago, manolitode said:

Using coal improved my life by alot. It keeps you very warm for very long and helps you explore Great bear and survive a blustering snowstorm by lighting up a neat coalbased fire behind a rock. [...] I only refrain from picking up a piece of coal if I'm in a coal mine and already carry more than my grunting survivor can bear. Coal is necessary to use the forge where you can create your improvised tools, you'll need at least 6 by the way.

Good one. I also use coal more regularly as it respawns in the mines and you can pick it up without wearing down your tools. Also you almost need a piece in your camp fire in PV or TWM to stay outside without freezing while harvesting a bear (e.g.).

If you can not carry any more in a mine just replace it on the ground. That way you ensure a respawn of that piece during your next pass through.

Technically, you need 4 pieces for the forge as you can push the temperature to 80° C with wood. But you need an insane amount of wood for that. I usually estimate around 12 pieces for a forging run so I can also run the forge for a long time to be match-efficient.

19 minutes ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

Using a match to guaranteed light a torch, then using to torch to light a fire.  never waste a match again.  Also, mini harvesting meat to boost cooking and harvesting skill increase.

Also a good one. I too often forget that torch trick. And the micro-harvesting gives an insane boost. 2-3 deers and you can jump to lvl 5 cooking quickly and boost your harvesting skills as well.

[Ahatch]

All the above mentioned but the big one for me is cat tail collecting. No matter what starting point on a new Interloper run survival usually hinges on how many cat tail stalks I can collect in the first days of survival. Since one can't hunt or snare rabbits and you need to keep moving to collect as much good cloths before they go bad . So to get you through those early lean times you need to plan your route to make sure you get stalks. 

[Saws n Sins]

I don't know if you already know about the interloper loot spawn tables, but that is the absolute biggest boost you can get to a fresh loper run

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11n0wfRQadaWay4feLbunF9dxIbS2hZ3O_I57x5JfF6s/edit#gid=1146953510

Basically you can be guaranteed one of each of those items per run will spawn there. Once you figure out which one of your worlds loot table you're on, you know where to go to get an important item. Most probably already know about the interloper loot tables, if not that link will help out a newer loper greatly. Not as important late game on a loper run but helps out a lot on a fresh start.

This is not technically a "behavior" like your title says, just figured I'd post it to help out anybody that didn't know about it

Edited November 11, 2020 by Saws n Sins

[odium]

efficiency in every facet.  knowing where to get every resource and plotting your routes around them.  definitely coal and teas go from luxury to essential on loper.  forward thinking and the ability to be patient with your plan.  you intend on moving regions, all your things are packed, you're moving in the morning.  wake up to a blizzard, you have to form a backup plan to pass the weather without burning valuable resources.  collecting sticks ALL THE TIME.  you can rarely spend enough time chopping wood before you freeze, and its really not worth the effort/wear and tear,  sticks and coal are all I really burn, save precious fir for repairs.  i collect sticks religiously and drop them in stash spots if the weight gets too much.  mag glass/sticks/coal, 100% free fire.  Ive made it 220 days on my current loper run without burning a single match.  

[gotmilkanot]

I must say I rely heavily on the starvation technique - 108 days on my Interloper run and I'm still surviving on just 750 calories a day.

Not because Well Fed is hard to maintain, I just don't find the buff necessary as I always travel light and do not need the extra 5kg. To me, 35kg with the moose satchel is more than enough space on Interloper.

I also don't really like how easily you get hungry on Interloper and a whole deer can only feed you for like 3 days max? With 750 calories a day, I can stretch the deer to a week's worth of food and I can focus on my other goals instead of having to babysit my survivor 24/7.

[DrZ]

Thanks to everyone so far for sharing. It is nice to read what people value the most and why. Some things are also a good reminder to push/harvest some strategy a bit more.

 

On 11/11/2020 at 5:32 AM, Ahatch said:

All the above mentioned but the big one for me is cat tail collecting. No matter what starting point on a new Interloper run survival usually hinges on how many cat tail stalks I can collect in the first days of survival. Since one can't hunt or snare rabbits and you need to keep moving to collect as much good cloths before they go bad . So to get you through those early lean times you need to plan your route to make sure you get stalks. 

Interesting. Personally, I had a cat tail cycle

First I ate them like crazy since they are "free". Then I treasured them like crazy because they do not re-spawn (and are non-smelly calories for traveling). Now I am in between: I use them (and other non-smelly food) to establish a base in a region (i.e. kill a bear) and then save them for the next region.

On 11/11/2020 at 6:48 AM, Saws n Sins said:

I don't know if you already know about the interloper loot spawn tables, but that is the absolute biggest boost you can get to a fresh loper run

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11n0wfRQadaWay4feLbunF9dxIbS2hZ3O_I57x5JfF6s/edit#gid=1146953510

Basically you can be guaranteed one of each of those items per run will spawn there. Once you figure out which one of your worlds loot table you're on, you know where to go to get an important item. Most probably already know about the interloper loot tables, if not that link will help out a newer loper greatly. Not as important late game on a loper run but helps out a lot on a fresh start.

This is not technically a "behavior" like your title says, just figured I'd post it to help out anybody that didn't know about it

I know this and that's why I wrote "behavior" 😉 We already have a "did you know" thread. And I agree that using the loot table is for sure a giant boost. Just knowing where the good stuff might spawn takes a lot of the uncertainty away. But I also can see how some people dislike that.

7 hours ago, odium said:

efficiency in every facet.  knowing where to get every resource and plotting your routes around them.  definitely coal and teas go from luxury to essential on loper.  forward thinking and the ability to be patient with your plan.  you intend on moving regions, all your things are packed, you're moving in the morning.  wake up to a blizzard, you have to form a backup plan to pass the weather without burning valuable resources.  collecting sticks ALL THE TIME.  you can rarely spend enough time chopping wood before you freeze, and its really not worth the effort/wear and tear,  sticks and coal are all I really burn, save precious fir for repairs.  i collect sticks religiously and drop them in stash spots if the weight gets too much.  mag glass/sticks/coal, 100% free fire.  Ive made it 220 days on my current loper run without burning a single match.  

Agreed. I watched Even Dark on Youtube and his stick/coal/meat/water game is very impressive. I tune it down a notch but copied his approach. If you have enough meat/water/sticks/coal in every region you can weather any storm (pun intended). Wait for a sunny day and use the mag for cooking if need be. So you don't need to go through matches.

220 days without match is very impressive!

25 minutes ago, gotmilkanot said:

I must say I rely heavily on the starvation technique - 108 days on my Interloper run and I'm still surviving on just 750 calories a day.

Not because Well Fed is hard to maintain, I just don't find the buff necessary as I always travel light and do not need the extra 5kg. To me, 35kg with the moose satchel is more than enough space on Interloper.

I also don't really like how easily you get hungry on Interloper and a whole deer can only feed you for like 3 days max? With 750 calories a day, I can stretch the deer to a week's worth of food and I can focus on my other goals instead of having to babysit my survivor 24/7.

Interesting. Care to share your typical clothing and tool layout?

Yes. For me, deer went from a big win to a snack 🙂 Bear and moose is where it's at.

I sometimes employ a flexible approach: I use starving and when it gets close to moving with a lot of hauling I stuff my character, use the 5kg bonus to make the transition and then starve in the new region again while I set up a base.

[gotmilkanot]

4 hours ago, DrZ said:

Interesting. Care to share your typical clothing and tool layout?

I think this loadout will weigh around 25kg? With about 10kg to spare with the moose satchel, 15kg if you have Well Fed.

Clothing: Bearskin + Mackinaw for coats and Deerskin + Combat for pants, the rest is pretty much standard for Interloper.

Tools: Improvised knife + hatchet, hacksaw (ditched prybar cause already looted all cars and lockers in my run)

Weapons: Bow w/ ~6 arrows, loaded flare gun w/ 1 spare round

Food & water: ~10 cattails (2 days' worth of food), 1-2 coffee, 1.5-2L water

Equipment: Normal bedroll, storm lantern, 1 flare, 1 torch, 2 fishing tackles, whetstone, 1 cooking pot + 1 recycled can

Firestarting: Mag lens, firestriker, 1 box of matches, 2-4 coal

First Aid: 4 bandages, 1 stim, 1 OMB dressing (w/ 3 uncrafted OMB), 1 reishi tea, 2 birch bark teas

Misc: 5 cloth (for emergency snow shelter)

Could go abit more lighter but I like to have my tools with me. I use the hacksaw for harvesting meat since I always build a fire nearby to thaw it out first anyway. And the hatchet for all-round use (self-defense, breaking down furniture, clearing scrub bushes, etc.).

Lantern because I hate navigating in the dark and I can't always have a lit torch with me.

I also carry 1 cooking pot because I have at least 1 pot at each of my multiple bases so I'll always have 2 at all times no matter which base I'm at. It's also nice to be able to boil some water while I sleep in hourly-intervals say if I'm stuck in a cave during a blizzard and I have a fire on.

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by gotmilkanot

[odizzido]

I find separating your actual needs from the fluff and then making sure those needs are met is effective. After that if you determine what is dangerous for you(differrent for everyone) then you can find ways to mitigate that danger.

Finding limiting factors is also important. Finding what slows you down, eats all your time, what you never have enough of, etc....then focusing on improving those areas.

 

I know those are all general but that's how it works in every game. Plus everyone will be a little different

[wilky]

Using torches as self defense against wolves (drop lit torch, switch to stone, aim, wolf runs away)

[DrZ]

On 11/12/2020 at 2:35 PM, gotmilkanot said:

I think this loadout will weigh around 25kg? With about 10kg to spare with the moose satchel, 15kg if you have Well Fed.

Clothing: Bearskin + Mackinaw for coats and Deerskin + Combat for pants, the rest is pretty much standard for Interloper.

Tools: Improvised knife + hatchet, hacksaw (ditched prybar cause already looted all cars and lockers in my run)

Weapons: Bow w/ ~6 arrows, loaded flare gun w/ 1 spare round

Food & water: ~10 cattails (2 days' worth of food), 1-2 coffee, 1.5-2L water

Equipment: Normal bedroll, storm lantern, 1 flare, 1 torch, 2 fishing tackles, whetstone, 1 cooking pot + 1 recycled can

Firestarting: Mag lens, firestriker, 1 box of matches, 2-4 coal

First Aid: 4 bandages, 1 stim, 1 OMB dressing (w/ 3 uncrafted OMB), 1 reishi tea, 2 birch bark teas

Misc: 5 cloth (for emergency snow shelter)

Could go abit more lighter but I like to have my tools with me. I use the hacksaw for harvesting meat since I always build a fire nearby to thaw it out first anyway. And the hatchet for all-round use (self-defense, breaking down furniture, clearing scrub bushes, etc.).

Lantern because I hate navigating in the dark and I can't always have a lit torch with me.

I also carry 1 cooking pot because I have at least 1 pot at each of my multiple bases so I'll always have 2 at all times no matter which base I'm at. It's also nice to be able to boil some water while I sleep in hourly-intervals say if I'm stuck in a cave during a blizzard and I have a fire on.

 

Thanks for sharing! Pretty similar to my load out when I slim down and go between established regions.