Struggling to get back into Wintermute, looking for encouragement


Gwynren

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Last August, I got back into TLD after a very long break, and finally got to experience Wintermute. I loved the game back in beta and it was fun to revisit it with a full, immersive story mode... until I got to collecting radio parts. I play with passive wildlife, so I'm not at all adept at animal struggles... after

dying from a bear mauling at the second radio tower

at least 20-30 times, I simply gave up, and switched to sandbox mode instead, which I have been loving (currently 70% into a Faithful Cartographer attempt).

However, there's still that niggling feeling that I didn't get to finish the first three episodes of the story! Plus, it can be really tricky to read about the game online and have to dodge story mode spoilers. I've read all the tips about frame rates and mouse buttons and all that, and I can probably beat this thing if I keep trying...? Looking for encouragement from the community here, please tell me it's worth to go back and finish the episode, so I can move forward with the story 🙃

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When the bear starts to charge, you have to time your spear plant just right, so you are not too late. If you got it right, struggle ensues and you begin spamming the mouse button to help Will McKenzie fight off the attack.

If you didn't plant the spear in time and bear got to you, well then you're out of luck, but I believe you just get severely bruised the first time it happens.

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5 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

Why do you think you are dying in the mauling? Can you post a video of your attempt? You are pointing the spear at the bear just before it charges correct?

I have managed to defeat the bear a few times, so I know the general principles of how to do it... but there are so many individual struggles to get through, and my timing is just poor a lot of the time, I don't have good 'gamer reflexes'. Then, once you fail to time the spear, you have to watch that entire mauling scene, and then respawn, and then go again, so I just got utterly sick of it. I have unfortunately gathered spoilers that

eventually the bear drags you to its cave and you have to defeat it a few more times

, but it's just so tiresome to keep dying 😅

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I had a ridiculous memory with that bear once. 

When I went to the servant to pick up the pieces from the last or second tower, the bear jumped very quickly from the slope of the mountains opposite me and passed over a tree, stood up and stopped running. I came all the way to spence farmhouse like this, but when I walked into the building and turned my back to the bear and went to the second floor of the farm, the bear attacked me. Through the wall! 

What kind of nonsense was that? 

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So, here's a funny update. Turns out I had completed all three radio tower encounters before I quit playing story mode for months and months... I just logged back in only to discover that. Of course, now

 

Will is in the cave and has already been mauled twice trying to locate the spear.

Every good feeling I have about TLD based on my love of survival mode has been utterly crushed by this section of Episode Two. At the very least, we should be able to skip the gruesome cutscene after having to experience it dozens of times? I can't be alone here... And yet, I really want to learn what else the story holds for us! Ughhhhhhh.

Edited by Gwynren
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Well the cave part is really a bit difficult in my opinion. But you can cheese the bear before that happens. As long as you still have your distress pistol. If you have trouble with the spear, for scaring the bear away, the distress pistol works just as well. In fact, one could say better because you dont actually start the struggle. The issue is that the Old bear does not bleed like general wildlife in the game. So, where in sandbox, you would just need one well aimed distress pistol shot to kill an animal through bleeding, it wont work on Great bear and you will have to struggle with the spear in the cave. I died there, too. Luckily, the cave has a lot of bodies with stimpacks on them so you can use those to heal up. But, since you lose your gear there, you wont have the distress pistol.

Tip I can give for the cave encounter is to use the small holes a lot to hide from the bear. If you have stones, use thrown stones to distract him, he will investigate the sound and you can throw then from crouched position.  Only leave the hole when he is far, you can use it to try and locate the spear. Without giving away where the spear is - think game logic. Its probably gonna be somewhere real obvious... but it is a thin object and as such can be easily mistaken for a branch. It has cloth strapped to it - that is how i saw it the last time.

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Just keep plugging away, you'll do it. Once you are past the bear it's not as tedious. It's worth it, story mode is fun.

As for animals in the game, I would suggest learning how avoid them (looking off wolves to make them change direction, using thrown stones, using a stim to run like hell), and specially learning how to kill them before you are attacked, it adds a lot to the game never knowing when you may be attacked. The bow is a really good weapon. I recently learned a technique with the bow that has had a 100% success rate thus far in killing every (normal) wolf that came at me.

Question, how do you create a spoiler in a post here? I tried the usual bbcode but it didn't work.

 

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You are not the only one who got frustrated with The Old Bear Challenge. Without walkthrougs and advices on YouTube and Steam I wouldn't make it and stop playing. I'm playing only for the good story and I choose the easy mode for some reason...🙄 U can see on YouTube comments that more people got problems with that and got killed by a Bear many many many times. When I finally killed the Old Bear, I got a badge on Steam that says that only 10% of players got it 😮 And when I finally made it to episode 3 there is another frustrating part - Timberwolfs who attack you even when you play on easy mode :/ I will play the game till the end cause I want to know how it ends but with this attacking animals it's not fun anymore. So It would be nice if developers make a very easy mode for people who are playing only for the good story 

Advices that helped me:

wear military coat - it gives you more protection and the bear won't kill you the first time he bites you;

- You need to point at the bear after it stands on his feet and roar cause if u do it too soon, you won't have much stamina to fight. It always attacks 3 times;

- !!!!! change the accessibility from "quick tapping to "press and hold" - the fight will be easier cause with tapping you need to tap with special rythm (I also read that some people need to change frame rates in settings cause their computers are too slow for the fight with tapping option) !!!!

- observe the Old Bear for a while especially when u want to finally reach for the spear - wait till the bear is walking at the opposite direction than you want to go to grab the spear. That will buy you time to grab it and point it.

- * I read that you can also take this medicine that gives you the stamina before the fight  - you will have more power to fight. It's not necessary but I guess maybe it helps if u point the spear too late - the bear won't kill you and u will have more stamina too fight again 🤔

 

Edited by Siago
I added more helpful tips
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  • 2 weeks later...

Did you keep trying? I hope so......

 

I found these parts particularly challenging but turning the button to the press and hold option definitely helps, the tapping was hurting my hands, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of you tubers showing me how 😂. I hate it when the bear gets you, the noise is horrifying and I have to mute the sound lol.

 

it’s definitely worth getting through though.  I loved episode 3 and am eagerly awaiting ep 4 now.  
 

You can do it. You’ll feel so pleased when it’s done

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  • 4 weeks later...

I see this is a month old, but I'd like to chime in.

First, I commiserate. The Great Bear combat is my least favourite part of Wintermute. It's tough to get the hang of, and the mauling which you can't skip is disturbing. I found myself quickly muting and looking away when it happened. Once, one of my kids snuck in behind me and I didn't know, when a mauling happened and was petrified in fear. I had to quickly turn off my monitor. A skip option after the first one would be nice.

However, after watching a few YouTube tutorials and a lot of trial and error, I eventually defeated him. I'm going through a second playthrough on medium difficulty (first time was on easy)... and knowing what to do made the bear much easier this time.

@GwynrenI hope you persevered through the bear section. Let this be your motivation - Episode 3 was my favourite by miles. You play as Astrid and I felt like I was really accomplishing something during that episode - it was very rewarding. Well worth getting past that damn bear!

Astrid gets to help rescue, and give aid to many NPCs. This felt very, very satisfying to me.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 5 weeks later...
On 3/3/2021 at 7:58 PM, Gwynren said:

Last August, I got back into TLD after a very long break, and finally got to experience Wintermute. I loved the game back in beta and it was fun to revisit it with a full, immersive story mode... until I got to collecting radio parts. I play with passive wildlife, so I'm not at all adept at animal struggles... after

  Reveal hidden contents

dying from a bear mauling at the second radio tower

at least 20-30 times, I simply gave up, and switched to sandbox mode instead, which I have been loving (currently 70% into a Faithful Cartographer attempt).

However, there's still that niggling feeling that I didn't get to finish the first three episodes of the story! Plus, it can be really tricky to read about the game online and have to dodge story mode spoilers. I've read all the tips about frame rates and mouse buttons and all that, and I can probably beat this thing if I keep trying...? Looking for encouragement from the community here, please tell me it's worth to go back and finish the episode, so I can move forward with the story 🙃

Want encouragement? Finish episode 2, episode 3 is worth it!
You can do anything if you commit to it... Also, do ALL the side missions, don’t skimp.  
lastly, advice without spoilers.... Take your time! Don’t try and rush through it! When you get to the cave, CRAWL.  At the end; There will be a need to run, squat, and crawl into hiding, but... take your time!

 Good things come to those who crawl. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't tried the story yet since I am waiting for it to be completed before going through it, but this bear part keeps coming up. Maybe they should just remove it or something?....hopefully I won't find it frustrating when I finally give it a go if it exists still.

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It's not even too hard, @odizzido. Obviously older people are having certain difficulties and that's understandable. Reflexes and other things are not what they used to be. (Stinky about to get mauled down lol) and since elderly are interested in this game more often than, say.. in call of duty, we are bound to hear more complaints. Age group for this game is a lot higher than ordinary titles.

Bear part is like a boss fight, with elements of stealth. Be sam fisher, think like sam fisher. There are also safe spots where bear doesn't get you.

Dont worry too much about the bear, the story is great and bear part makes sense. It would be a crime to remove it.

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How dare you young whippersnapper!😄 My reflexes are fine ! I can kick ass just fine! I've played nearly all of the Call of Duty games and had no problems

And most of the far cry  series as well!  The problem isn't the reflexes it's the bear itself! It's erratic and sometimes very glitchy  getting stuck in certain areas or suddenly skipping from one point to another!! 

I should put you over my knee and give you a good spanking! 

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9 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

It's not even too hard, @odizzido. Obviously older people are having certain difficulties and that's understandable. Reflexes and other things are not what they used to be. (Stinky about to get mauled down lol) and since elderly are interested in this game more often than, say.. in call of duty, we are bound to hear more complaints. Age group for this game is a lot higher than ordinary titles.

Bear part is like a boss fight, with elements of stealth. Be sam fisher, think like sam fisher. There are also safe spots where bear doesn't get you.

Dont worry too much about the bear, the story is great and bear part makes sense. It would be a crime to remove it.

Yeah I'm agreeing with Leeanda here! lol plus saying its not hard is rather insulting to people who have struggled with this part of the game! and presuming older players don't have good reflexes or can't play COD is a massive insult! I'm 48 and can hold my own in most games I play.

I really hope OP got through this cause the game and story is really worth persevering. Personally i do prefer to play TLD with passive wildlife too. i love the game for the survival aspect of it and like the solitude and escapism it brings... my RL can be stressful lol

is there any update? @Gwynren

 

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Thank you! At least someone has sense ( and manners Stinky socks what happened to yours?)!😁

Might I add that I'm nearly 52! It's so not the reflexes cos my son is worse than me at driving on GTA5 - he crashes a lot more than I do!

He didn't like the bear cave either!

I thought you had to finish the story anyway before you could do the next episode - whenever that is?

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