Escape the Darkwalker: My Thoughts

[Glflegolas]

Hello folks,

I just successfully completed "Escape the Darkwalker" a few minutes ago. My time was 4 hours and 7 minutes of real-time. Here's a quick summary of how I did it, and a few of my thoughts along the way. It took two attempts; what you'll see in my YouTube series is the first attempt up until Bleak Inlet, and the second attempt from there on out. Both times I started in the same location, and did the campfires in the same order. The only difference was loot, due to RNG.

I started out in the Hushed River Valley. That way I could complete the long rope climb down/up from the eastern Hushed River Valley without the Darkwalker being there at all.

On camera, I went via Pensive Vista and Monolith Lake, making a grand tour of the Hushed River Valley before exiting via Stairsteps Lake, while in my second attempt, I went up a long rope so I could sleep in an ice cave. Both routes worked out OK, though. Interestingly enough, I didn't find any loot in the many caves in the area...

The trip to Paradise Meadows was rather uneventful both times. I searched the farmhouse on camera, but didn't get a chance to in my off-camera run. I placed a lure near the burned-out campfire before descending the two ropes towards Milton Basin. On camera, I got attacked by a wolf just before going down the ropes because I didn't realise I had a revolver in the backpack. That cost a lot of condition. From that point onwards, I hip-shot whenever I heard a bark from a wolf.

Going to Broken Railroad via Forlorn Muskeg wasn't eventful, but both times, the Darkwalker caught up to me when I tried to sleep in/loot the Maintenance Shed. I also only just managed to escape the region before the toxic fog moved in; you've got to be quick with these small regions!

On my first attempt, I got waylaid by a pack of Timberwolves in Bleak Inlet. That proved to be disastrous, as it cost a lot of condition. On my second try, I stayed much closer to the water, and completely avoided any encounters.

Forlorn Muskeg was basically uneventful, as was Mystery Lake, aside from a wolf being excessively close to the fire. The Darkwalker did get rather close for comfort when crossing the log in the ravine, but that's about it.

Coastal Highway wasn't too hard. I lured the Darkwalker to just north of the Rabbit Grove, then went southward towards the fire. From there, it was an easy walk eastwards to Crumbling Highway. I raced through the mine to Desolation Point as fast as possible, for a Darkwalker encounter there could've been disastrous. Desolation Point was fairly easy, except for those pesky wolves right at the intersection of Lighthouse Road and the main drag. Luckily they dispersed upon hearing a revolver shot.

From there I got back into Coastal Highway. I followed the road and turned right at the Quonset Garage. I nearly ran into a bear there, but somehow managed to race past him. I placed a lure at the end of every single switchback leading up to the mine, and again shot through the mine very fast. I had to use my Dispel Fog glyph here, as there wouldn't be enough time to make it through the mine without it.

Pleasant Valley was fairly straightforward, aside from being slightly easy to get disoriented in due to the lack of terrain features. Thank goodness for the in-game map... and coffee! Did I mention that? I used the campfire to cook up lots of Joe, for I thought I'd need it on the road ahead. Thankfully, I didn't run into problems climbing the rope into Timberwolf Mountain.

Timberwolf Mountain started out fairly easy, catching a quick nap in the Mountaineer's Hut. However, once I picked up the final note, things got much harder. I got food poisoning from a candy bar, which meant that fatigue would be a major issue. Nonetheless, I drank another coffee and headed for Echo Ravine, where I placed a Ward and slept for a bit just before reaching Ash Canyon.

Ash Canyon was a run for my life. The wind was against me the whole way, forcing me to sprint.... unfortunately, food poisoning and lots of sprinting don't go well together. I stayed well caffeinated, but that still wasn't enough. So I grabbed the emergency stim and took it, sprinting nearly the whole way to the Banishing Circle using it. It expired shortly before I got there, but a GO! Energy drink held me over.

Overall: This challenge was a blast. I had a lot of fun doing it, from start to finish. It's probably tied with Hopeless Rescue for my favourite in the game.

Edited February 9, 2021 by Glflegolas
needed a glyph

[Glflegolas]

For those of you who are wishing to try this yourself, here's a few tips from my experience:

• Go from west to east, that way you won't have to backtrack so much.
• Use ALL the campfires for rest. They'll provide you with a 4 hour Ward lure.
• Need to sleep for a bit, but the Darkwalker is a bit close? Place a Ward. It'll give you 5 hours of rest. Make sure to place it inside if you're sleeping in a building!
• Coffee! It's black gold. Get as much of it as you can. If you started in Mountain Town (I did not), search the houses for it. Use the fires to brew it.
• Know when to use and not to use Lures. In general, you'll want to use a Lure if you're going around switchbacks (place one at the end of every switchback), so the Darkwalker can't short-cut straight to you. Also use lures if you're leaving a dead-end area. This way, you can escape even if the Darkwalker is in front of you. Don't use lures if you're travelling in a straight line and the Darkwalker is behind you.
• Know the maps. This challenge is much easier if you know the maps beforehand. I don't recommend trying this challenge unless you've thoroughly explored ALL of Great Bear.

[Rzilla]

Sweet thank you.