[SPOILERS] Data and conclusions from 340+ Interloper Wolf Struggles

[Gun Tech.]

In The Long Dark, the only thing that can instantly end your run is a wolf struggle. This spreadsheet from 340+ wolf struggle tests has been a gift for my Twitch subs since summer, but today I decided to share it with everyone.

Read the first page conclusions for the shorthand. Happy Howly Days! 

(I can only say the conclusions are valid for version 1.62-1.74. But Hinterland recently changed a core mechanic, and I think this makes the conclusions, and perhaps the elimination of some rumors, all the more vital to long-term Survival.)

[Adamo]

Thanks Gun Tech that's really useful to see  maybe a silly question but what is QuickTap? is it a keyboard macro for consistency? i'm using a PS4 so if there is a frequency you set that to it would be good to know please so I can try to do with just a thumb. I started working on the data to bin the results into 10 damage chunks and chart as a histogram, i'm interested to add more data so if I can replicate I will do. cheers

Here is the QUICKTAP, 25% energy, weapons comparison data binned showing frequency of occurrence, you can see hammer doesn't reach into the high ranges and is also quite likely to result in very low player damage. cheers again, really useful stuff

[darkscaryforest]

Wow, this is amazing. Thanks for the data compilation! I was browsing your twitch content. Do you have any videos of maybe the first 20 days of an interloper run you could point to (preferably not in ash canyon)? If not, do you know a different streamer that would have that?

[IamSameer]

Thanks @Gun Tech. & @Adamo really interesting data and helpful 👍🏽
 

i am just trying out loper and this helps!

 

@darkscaryforest i am watching Even Dark on YouTube - not much commentary but strong beginner loper tutorial over a series made in 2020 - hope that helps.

Edited February 8, 2021 by IamSameer

[Gun Tech.]

On 2/6/2021 at 11:07 AM, Adamo said:

Thanks Gun Tech that's really useful to see  maybe a silly question but what is QuickTap? is it a keyboard macro for consistency? i'm using a PS4 so if there is a frequency you set that to it would be good to know please so I can try to do with just a thumb. I started working on the data to bin the results into 10 damage chunks and chart as a histogram, i'm interested to add more data so if I can replicate I will do. cheers

Here is the QUICKTAP, 25% energy, weapons comparison data binned showing frequency of occurrence, you can see hammer doesn't reach into the high ranges and is also quite likely to result in very low player damage. cheers again, really useful stuff

This is only helpful if you plan to take more than one wolf struggle back to back. It's the maximum damage that counts, because it only takes one high-damage struggle to kill you, and you won't know which one of the 'occurrences' you'll get.

So, one of the discoveries from the data is that no tool is better than another tool, since all give a maximum damage of around 80. If the maximum were found to be 100 (or 105), as it is without a tool, the conclusion would be that no tool protects you fully. Instead, the conclusion is that any tool protects 80 of your health points. Only maximum damage counts, and it doesn't matter how rare the 80% damage is. That's why the many tests. To find out of you can survive a struggle.

Quick-Tap is the option in settings under Accessibility. This data is measured using mouse+keyboard, the game may have been doctored to give controller users an easier time with wolf struggles.

(In general, I've made sure to write details to answer any question you may have regarding the data in the spreadsheet itself.)

[Gun Tech.]

On 2/6/2021 at 9:31 PM, darkscaryforest said:

Wow, this is amazing. Thanks for the data compilation! I was browsing your twitch content. Do you have any videos of maybe the first 20 days of an interloper run you could point to (preferably not in ash canyon)? If not, do you know a different streamer that would have that?

You have missed so much content.  My problem is I don't die. If I start over, it's to test something from an update. Videos on Twitch get deleted after 2 weeks, but I've highlighted the more interesting ones. One series is called 'Unnamed Bond' and you'll find the episodes under Highlights. Here's episode 1: