Spray Paint... what am I missing?


Syraith

Recommended Posts

So I have had maybe 3 rounds of 100 days +, one voyager and 2 stalker. I find spray paint all over and have tagged a building once just to see how it works, but otherwise, I never even grab it when I see it.

Is there some mechanic I’m missing? Everyone seems to covet paint more than ammo sometimes it feels like. I have a good system of transferring between regions, I don’t get lost in caves/mines, is there something more and mysterious I’m missing with the round cans of liquid mischief?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Notes in the journal are definitely more useful to keep track of what you stored where. There is just a lot more detail when you write things down. And I find the map pretty useless in general.

I find spray arrows can sometimes be useful. Especially in fog. But it's certainly optional and I usually don't carry around paint

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Serenityok thanks. I’m not alone then. Yeah, I don’t ever use the map so I guess I’m not missing much. I’ve gotten to using empty tin cans to mark frequent travel routs so most of the time that works. Maybe I can collect them and drop them as backup markers then 😁

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like @Serenity I find the arrows to be useful in fog/bad weather. I like to use them at fishing huts to point the way straight to my destination, so I always start in the right direction when the weather is bad. I also use them to mark places that I need to make a turn, like the turn toward draft dodger's cabin on the route down from burned ridge cave. Not needed in good weather, but can be life-saving in a blizzard.

I also use the 'X' to mark dead ends that I've already searched in caves/mines.

Sometimes I'll mark a large cache of meat from a bear or a moose if it's off the beaten track and I think I'll forget about it.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like to trace the bodies of wolves I killed. That way, other wolves that stumble upon the crime scene will see the markings and be encouraged to move out to better neighborhoods. The marking is more permanent since the corpse despawns within a few days.

...

Also, ever go on a forge run to spence and run into terrible weather on the way back?  It sucks getting lost and finding a wolf. Well, you can mark a predator free path going there!

Edited by darkscaryforest
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would guess that spray paint would play a role in episode 4 or at least that was the idea.  Its use to mark and "label" locations just point to a quest of "search for resources and mark them for later recovery".  That does not mean such a quest is going to be in episode 4, but perhaps just an idea.

I have used spray paint as [charcoal] map-related navigation aids.  In Ash Canyon, I mark the ends of the various bridges, locations like Angler's Den, and even climbing points and some points of interest.  The fact that eventually these marks will fade is a bit of a disappointment but I don't make the rules.  I did find that they can highlight when the [charcoal] map was wrong with respect to where something like a bridge was actually located.  It did help me figure out a Vista point. 

For now, while they last, these marks will not get swept up (I would expect) in case a Lost and Found event occurs like all my cattail head, tinder plug, charcoal, and stone trails got swept up.

Otherwise, the spray paint markings really don't seem to serve much of any useful purpose as markings per se in survival mode. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use it to:

  1. I open hoods on cars to mark that I have looted them.  Those cars which I can't open the hood on, I use spray paint to mark it instead.
  2. In caves to mark the route through (avoiding dead-ends)
  3. HRV Ice caves, I use them heavily.  At the entrance to an ice-cave, I will use a distinct symbol.  Inside the cave, at intersections, I mark the floor showing the way to that entrance.  Since some ice caves have up to 3 "entrances", this helps me navigate easily through them.
  4. In new areas (ones I don't have memorized), I will use paint to mark caves that can be used as shelter.
  5. I will also use it to "tie" 2 ends of a cave together (such as you find in AC).
Edited by hozz1235
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been marking cars and trucks that do not have a car battery or if I took the car battery for the lead plates.  

I would like the map to show more detail of where the various marks of a group of markings are laid out.  Probably too much to expect to get. 

Perhaps the discrete marks could be a bit more discriminating about what constitutes a close group of marks.  I have been marking bridges in Ash Canyon and the first wood arch bridge to the Gold mine located along the path to Miner's Folly does not show the two marks I put there at either end of the bridge (I use first aid and hunting ground) but a listing.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@The Orange Birbim kind of at that point. I’ve wandered around so much that I’m fairly familiar with anywhere I want to go. If I do get lost it’s usually in a random spot that unless I’ve taken the time to wander and mark up an area specifically for that reason, I just find high ground or just not go out in a blizzard. 
 

@UTC-10I hadn’t thought about story mode. Especially if the prison is the next chapter there likely will be a number of redundant areas that marking will help with. And like @hozz1235, I have a system with cars/trucks. Open hood if battery is taken, open visors if I’ve looted it. 
 

Strangely I have yet to go to HRV yet. That may be an area I do paint the town so to speak though. I haven’t read up much outside of knowing about the ice caves, the size of the region and the amount of nature you experience 😁

Thanks to all! I definitely have a few ideas now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use them heavily to make arrow trails and short cuts, so I can quickly navigate to safety in a blizzard/fog. And to mark stupid quirks of terrain that aren't immediately obvious.....   like when theres a steep foot trail that doesn't look like a foot trail, and its more dangerous cousin "what looks like a gentle slope down, but then turns into 4 minutes of steep hillside that gives you sprains if you try to goat down too fast....and had you only gone like 10 meters to the right, you would had found the real trail down".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the past I had my own system of marking paths and buildings with sticks and stones, so for me spray paint is just a convenience. That said, it IS superior to marking with sticks and stones since the markings are bright orange and can be placed at eye level. Not to mention faster. Plus the fact that they show up on the map means I don't have to backtrack and re-check everything looking for markings. I mark paths in caves, even if I know the way, just because sometimes I space out and end up taking a wrong turn. Buildings and cars I will mark as "Materials" when searched, and if I break down everything inside for scrap materials, I erase it and replace it with a "Searched" X on the door. Cars I will paint an X on the hood if I've searched and removed the battery, otherwise "Materials" if I didn't take the battery I know I need to come back. I mark confirmed Moose spawn points and fishing huts that have doors as "Hunting Area". Confirmed bear spawns I will mark as Danger, mainly to differentiate Bear hunting grounds from Moose hunting. And I like to paint arrows on the shoreline pointing to fishing huts, and another by the hut pointing back to shore. Makes finding them in the fog less of a chore. Places with multiple lockers, I will paint Food, Clothing, Tools, and Materials depending on what I have stored in that particular locker.

It's useful stuff. You can certainly play the game without it, but I never leave home without a can now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried using the spray paint a number of months ago, but I just don't find it to be of much use. The cans are heavy, you only get a few uses, and the paint doesn't really offer me anything that cat tail heads don't do. Plus cat tail heads are lighter and easier/faster to use.

For me spray paint ends up being worse than what I had before so I don't touch it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually find carrying cans of spray paint around to be just so much dead weight.  I do occasionally use them to put otherwise unmarked locations on the map - e.g. the prepper caches, if found, in Mystery Lake or Pleasant Valley.  In this case, it reminds me that I have found them if I'm away from the run for awhile.  I usually use the "storage" symbol in this case.

I have occasionally used the arrows to mark trails in areas where I still get lost; but I generally don't have a can of spray paint on me so, more often than not, I just use arrangements of sticks or stones.  To mark buildings I've already searched (like in Mountain Town), I leave a tinder plug just outside the door.  For cars, I leave the hoods down, but turn the visors down.  Combined with the fact that I tend to search in the same sort of sequence during each run, if I spot just one visor or one tinder plug, I'm usually pretty sure I've gone through the entire area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now