TWM Summit, First Attempts

[Catlover]

The title sums it up really, though a little extra information before I begin documenting.

I often don't take enough screenshots during a playthrough but I'm working on that

I play on Custom Voyager with the usual wildlife spawn rates and whatnot and near interloper style weather, however I'm sticking to classic Voyager due to this being my first time trying to scale TWM, and I also want to get feat progress due to it all being lost a few weeks ago for some reason. (Along with a 15+ day save that I'm still salty about losing) 

I will be documenting this whilst I play usually, though sometimes after, so it will be fresh in my mind. 

I would greatly appreciate any help during this, and please bear with me as I play, as I know that I am light years away from being the best player in TLD. My first few goes will probably be pretty awful and short, but I'm hoping that I will do it eventually.

Not sure when I'll begin my mini challenge, but I look forward to starting it and I'll be sure to document it when I begin. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Catlover

[Catlover]

Day 1 , Attempt 1

I start right beside two things. The entrance cave to TWM and a lovely dead corpse beside a hatchet (I hope that does not prophesise the outcome to this attempt).  The weather is far from desirable, foggy, snowy and slightly windy. I begin heading down the canyon, hoping to find some form of shelter before the possible blizzard. 

Nothing interesting really happens as I begin the walking simulator that is TLD (Not that I'm complaining. I quite enjoyed it)

Not the worst start, though also not the best

 

I head out and find the Engine. I reluctantly pass the cedar limbs and crates, aware of my hypo risk. I will have to come back later. 

 

See you later, hopefully

After somehow getting turned around once, I head down the second canyon, coming across a snowy cave, full of vital things for my expedition, and a campfire. 

A little hard to see but there was a bunch of fir firewood, a hunting knife and  food

My hypo risk past 40%, I decide to start up a fire to sleep through the night. I waste two matches and accelerant before it finally gets burning. Then I throw the firewood on the fire and harvest a few branches nearby until it gets impossible to see. Then I hunker down and prepare for a fitful night's sleep. 

Day 2

Dawn comes, eventually, with a blizzard on the way. I am now fully rested, and so reluctantly keep burning through the fir and cedar firewood. I rarely travel during dawn, waiting until around midday to evade the bitterly cold weather. 

I sleep and boil a litre of water, heading out into the minus twenties. Mercifully, the heavy wind and snow had lessened a great deal and despite the cold, travel was rather easy.

Due to my slow reflexes, I managed to stun a rabbit three times before finally snapping ones neck. I consider getting its friend, but I don't want to be bombarded by predators this early on.

I keep going, wasting several matches as I try, and fail, to start a quick fire. All too aware of the dwindling supply of matches, I pick of the pace, relieved when the sun shines through the snowy clouds and it finally stops snowing. Just when I was beginning to wonder if it ever stopped snowing in this alpine region. 

I find the wing, and a bunch of birch bark which I gladly take, along with a few sticks.  So far, I think to myself, this is going pretty well. 

I begin running again, gathering sticks as I go, relieved to find that I am not too far from the hut. However, a small problem occurs: 

 

 

Mr. Bear taking a lovely selfie

My condition falling fast, I stagger drunkenly in the direction of a fishing hut, freezing and starving. I try to start a fire as a last attempt to warm myself up. It failed, and so I tried a second time, struggling to save myself. 

My last words were 'Come on, little fire' as I faded into the long dark. 

Time for Attempt 2!

 

 

 

 

[Serenity]

Once you're at the three-way cave with the campfire why go back down to the wing? You were already halfway to the next higher way point

There is also an indoor cave close by that's entirely warm

[Catlover]

I have taken a break from this. I have had three attempts now, all of which ended in death a day or two later. It seems that I am too inexperienced to climb TWM right now. 

Also, @Serenity, I had no idea about that, otherwise I would've gone there. I, rather stupidly, spontaniously decided to climb the mountain knowing near nothing about the region aside from how to find the mountaineers hut. 

I'll begin trying again once I know how to get around the region better.

Edited December 13, 2020 by Catlover

[Serenity]

1 minute ago, Catlover said:

 I had no idea about that, otherwise I would've gone there

You probably walked right past it. It's halfway between the engine and the open cave

I, rather stupidly, spontaniously decided to climb the mountain knowing near nothing about the region aside from how to find the mountaineers hut.

It's not stupid. It's how I learned the map too.

And it's not wrong to take it slowly and do some stuff around the lake first instead of heading to the summit right away

[Catlover]

@SerenityI would do that, however, the bear living near the lake has it out for me, so I prefer to get going quickly before the grace period ends and he arrives to maul me. 

Though, I do think I will take it slowly around the lake next time instead of trying to climb instantly. I may start someplace else in a different region and stockpile food, a hatchet, etc before I go. I really hope to get a rifle so I can shoot my nemesis in the backside. 

I am glad that it isn't stupid how I threw myself into the region with a goal despite having no knowledge about said region. I guess that learning through failure is the best way to learn a map, haha. 

I may try again soon, keeping your advice in mind. Thank you for letting me know about the cave's location, by the way. I'll try look better for it next time.

[stirfoo]

So, have you figured out how to keep warm with teas?  Grab all the shrooms, berries, birch bark, coffee, and tea you come across. Keep them all cooked up. It only takes a couple sticks to warm them. This will build your cooking skill much faster too. Bonus, If you find all the crackers and coffee at TWM you can stay spun for days and cover a lot of ground.

[Bean]

I almost always start new survivors on the slopes of TWM these days.  Summitting is easy if you know where you’re going.  That last bit is key.  
once at the top, there’s always a hacksaw laying about to give you the keys to the kingdom of phat lewt!  
Then I’ve got a day old survivor with nearly full gear from the start. 

[Catlover]

@BeanI typically try start at the hut, though I will next time try spawn there.

I love hacksaws in TWM. The amount of food and clothing in those containers is perhaps a little too much but I'm not complaining.

[stratvox]

1 hour ago, Bean said:

I almost always start new survivors on the slopes of TWM these days.  Summitting is easy if you know where you’re going.  That last bit is key.  
once at the top, there’s always a hacksaw laying about to give you the keys to the kingdom of phat lewt!  
Then I’ve got a day old survivor with nearly full gear from the start. 

I'm pretty sure you're talking about the Fat Lute, aren't you? 

[Catlover]

It's been a while but I think that I'm a little more experienced with the game, and bears, and I'm going to restart my mini challenge. This time, though, I'll start in PV and spend a week or so there before figuring out how to leave for TWM. I'm hoping to find a hatchet, rifle, knife, hacksaw, and storm lantern before I go though I won't bother spending months searching for loot. I'll give myself a week there, tops, of looting and prepping. And then I'll begin the actual challenge.

Day 1

Luck is on my side as I start in the farmhouse with dawn on its way. My clothing is alright and I have on a decent cotton toque, worn sweater, new driving gloves, new leather shoes, ragged sports socks, ragged underwear and decent jeans. That adds up to 4 degrees (Celsius) of warmth, which is pretty good. I typically start with at least my hands unprotected, so that's a nice surprise.

After two or three hours of past time, I head out to check the weather quickly. It's windy, though the dawn is, as usual, undeniably beautiful. 

However, it is still bitterly cold and I head back inside and begin looking around the place, hoping to find a rifle or at least something half-decent. 

 

The day passed by in a blur or searching and repairing my clothing. Key items that I find include:

A rifle,

A storm lantern,

2 Sewing kits,

A bunch of stuff to burn and cloth,

2 cooking pots.

Dusk has now fallen and I leave the farmhouse, heading for the small barn to see what I can find. Unfortunately, the weather is less than desirable, foggy and snowy. And snow in PV is never a good sign. Keeping an eye on the wind, I make a detour to a place I know pretty well. 

However, I take a short detour to a place that usually has a hatchet. It doesn't, and now I cannot find the road. Knowing that following the lay of the land would take you to shelter, I trust my instincts and follow a new path through the snow.

Okay, never trust your gut. I'm now freezing, exhausted and still nowhere near shelter. Still, trusty lantern in hand, I push on through the mercifully light snow. 

Eventually, though, I am forced to start a fire in order to gain a few hours of sleep. Hoping that the small wind-protected ledge would stay out of the wind, I use up three matches before finally getting it lit. 

Skip two hours and I wake up to the start of a blizzard. Not good. If my fire manages to stay lit throughout the blizzard, that would be a godsend. 

  

The TLD gods decide to give my survivor a chance and the blizzard passes in an hour and I wake to foggy snowfall which, though heavy, is far better than it was. Whilst my survivor contemplates eating trees, I throw on some more fuel and nap for another hour. 

Three hours pass and the snow clears. I get my wish for visibility as the aurora decides to start. However, that is both a blessing and a curse as my 24 hour grace period has ended. And since I'm in unfamiliar territory, I may be right next to a glowing wolf or bear. 

I begin moving after another hour of rest, knowing that dawn was on its way. Despite the risks of cold and predators, I'm quite partial to the scenic views as dawn begins to pinken the distant mountains. 

I walk for a little longer, looting Three Strikes before starting to retrace my steps, recognising where I am. 

At the place that usually spawns a hatchet, I start a fire in the windproof section of it and sleep for the entire day, drinking herbal tea and restoring my near-critically low condition. A blizzard comes and goes though I don't really care about it, warm in my near 50 degrees Celsius fire. At dusk, I begin setting off again, retracing my steps, intending on heading back to the homestead. 

 

I return back, annoyed to see that the place I was meant to go before was not very far away, and it turns out that the place I thought usually spawned hatches was somewhere completely different. That makes me feel a little stupid, though I've learnt a new part of PV today, whether I intended on doing or not.

Depending on how you look at it, it wasn't a particularly good first few preparing days. Though I still have plenty of time to visit other places, come dawn.

 

[Stone]

After your first fire, pull a torch and always keep one with you the light a fire. That way your one match always lights the torch and you can use the torch to light the fire multiple times.

Going up the mountain I recommend coal, teas and coffee. Never climb a rope with less than 50% energy. Ideally have much more and drink half a coffee before climbing. Don't run, save your energy for climbing.

 

Good luck!