Most difficult skill for you to raise?

[hozz1235]

What is it?

What do you do to help overcome/level it?

Mine has to be Mending.  Seems to take the longest/most effort.  The way I level it is finding items which have the least amount of time to mend (socks, mittens, etc.), mend them up to 100% and harvest them.

[UpUpAway95]

Definitely mending.  I've only gotten it to Level 5 once just for the sake of getting the achievement for maxing out all skills.  My strategy is to just not worry about it.  I repair things only when they need repairing and "suffer" the failed attempts as they happen.  Following a close second (or perhaps even a tie) is gunsmithing because I can't be bothered scrapping batteries and hauling lead around as long as I have sufficient found ammo to get the job done.

Edited March 31, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[Dr. S.]

I think it depends a lot on the settings. In my current interloper run, I'm actually ahead in mending compared to fishing, and it's not because I've neglected fishing. Even at level 4 fishing, the catch rate is well under one fish per hour.

[UpUpAway95]

23 minutes ago, Dr. S. said:

I think it depends a lot on the settings. In my current interloper run, I'm actually ahead in mending compared to fishing, and it's not because I've neglected fishing. Even at level 4 fishing, the catch rate is well under one fish per hour.

Still, you can grind through a lot of in-game hours in a fishing hut with a door as long as you bring a supply of fishing tackle and wood with you since each hour of fishing is sped up (as in passing time).  it's a great way to get your blizzard walker feat at the same time since it is considered to be outdoors yet is sheltered so that your fire will never go out.

[darkscaryforest]

18 hours ago, Dr. S. said:

Even at level 4 fishing, the catch rate is well under one fish per hour.

That makes me sad. I'm still at level 2 hoping it was going to get better.

For me it's definitely gunsmithing since I have avoided Bleak Inlet in the last few of my runs. I'm not good enough at Interloper to go there yet 😅. I assume you can still make bullets in Interloper, just can't fire them haha

Edited April 1, 2021 by darkscaryforest

[ajb1978]

Definitely Mending. The number of successful repairs to reach level 5 is just absurd. Even on a Pilgrim game actively repairing every article of clothing you find in the game up to 100%, you will literally run out of cloth and leather before you reach level 5. (Edit: Unless you're actively ripping up every curtain and towel in the universe.) It's absolutely ridiculous. The only way to reach Level 5 is to deliberately rip up perfectly good clothing in order to repair other stuff from 99% to 100%. 

Specifically the jump from Level 4 to 5. Getting from Level 1 to 2 requires 25 successful repairs which is OK. Then to level 3, 50 more successful repairs. Still not bad. The leap from 3 to 4 requires 100, which is getting to be a bit much but follows the simple pattern of "every level requires twice as many repairs as the previous." And then going from 4 to 5 continues this pattern, requiring a whopping 200 successful repairs. That's almost an order of magnitude what it took you to get to level 2!!

Compare to say Archery, where 150 total successes puts you at Level 5 outright. Or Rifle Firearm where it's only 100. Mending is just way off target.

Edited April 1, 2021 by ajb1978

[hozz1235]

57 minutes ago, darkscaryforest said:

That makes me sad. I'm still at level 2 hoping it was going to get better.

Remember, he's on Interloper settings.

[darkscaryforest]

19 minutes ago, ajb1978 said:

Definitely Mending. The number of successful repairs to reach level 5 is just absurd. Even on a Pilgrim game actively repairing every article of clothing you find in the game up to 100%, you will literally run out of cloth and leather before you reach level 5. (Edit: Unless you're actively ripping up every curtain and towel in the universe.) It's absolutely ridiculous. The only way to reach Level 5 is to deliberately rip up perfectly good clothing in order to repair other stuff from 99% to 100%. 

Specifically the jump from Level 4 to 5. Getting from Level 1 to 2 requires 25 successful repairs which is OK. Then to level 3, 50 more successful repairs. Still not bad. The leap from 3 to 4 requires 100, which is getting to be a bit much but follows the simple pattern of "every level requires twice as many repairs as the previous." And then going from 4 to 5 continues this pattern, requiring a whopping 200 successful repairs. That's almost an order of magnitude what it took you to get to level 2!!

Compare to say Archery, where 150 total successes puts you at Level 5 outright. Or Rifle Firearm where it's only 100. Mending is just way off target.

Can't say I've ever reached mending 5. One thing I like to do to give mending a boost is repairing my rabbit skin hat and gloves as soon as I can. I go crazy with stripping rabbits in part to get carcass harvesting up, so I end up with lots of extra rabbit pelts and guts laying around. So I'll repair the hat and gloves at 95%-99% just to gain a mending point with fishing hooks which are a plenty. Also, repairing those at level 1 takes around 30-45 minutes if I recall correctly, which on interloper is just about the time I can spend outside midgame, if wind protected and not a blizzard, giving me something safe to do while balancing cabin fever. Doing that hundreds of times seems daunting though

Edited April 1, 2021 by darkscaryforest

[RegentRelic]

Gun smithing. I literally have never gotten a single level of gunsmithing. Not even from a research book.

[UpUpAway95]

1 hour ago, ajb1978 said:

Definitely Mending. The number of successful repairs to reach level 5 is just absurd. Even on a Pilgrim game actively repairing every article of clothing you find in the game up to 100%, you will literally run out of cloth and leather before you reach level 5. (Edit: Unless you're actively ripping up every curtain and towel in the universe.) It's absolutely ridiculous. The only way to reach Level 5 is to deliberately rip up perfectly good clothing in order to repair other stuff from 99% to 100%. 

Specifically the jump from Level 4 to 5. Getting from Level 1 to 2 requires 25 successful repairs which is OK. Then to level 3, 50 more successful repairs. Still not bad. The leap from 3 to 4 requires 100, which is getting to be a bit much but follows the simple pattern of "every level requires twice as many repairs as the previous." And then going from 4 to 5 continues this pattern, requiring a whopping 200 successful repairs. That's almost an order of magnitude what it took you to get to level 2!!

Compare to say Archery, where 150 total successes puts you at Level 5 outright. Or Rifle Firearm where it's only 100. Mending is just way off target.

This, for sure.  I don't really understand why they demand so many more successful attempts to get mending to level 5 than the other skills... but it is what it is, I guess.

[UpUpAway95]

2 hours ago, darkscaryforest said:

That makes me sad. I'm still at level 2 hoping it was going to get better.

For me it's definitely gunsmithing since I have avoided Bleak Inlet in the last few of my runs. I'm not good enough at Interloper to go there yet 😅. I assume you can still make bullets in Interloper, just can't fire them haha

If you fish in Coastal Highway or Bleak Inlet, it does go a little bit faster because the level up for fishing is based on weight, IIRC... and the salt-water fish are generally larger than the fresh-water ones found in Mystery Lake, Pleasant Valley, and Timberwolf Mountain.  The higher your level, the average weight of your catch is higher (not necessarily the number of fish you catch).

It's still a long haul, particularly when fishing spawns are set to low (interloper setting is medium, BTW), but doable if you take some time to stockpile wood and coal at a fishing hut with a door (which keeps you safe) and make sure you have a bedroll and lots of line and hooks with you.  You can cook and make water all day long as you fish and keep the fire going at night to stay warm as you sleep.

As for making bullets in interloper... you'll need to find casings and those are in short supply.  Good luck finding enough to get you to level 5 when you can only use each casing once.  If going for the Level 5 in all skills achievement, it is best done in any mode other than interloper.  Achievements can also be completed in a custom mode.  Only feats do not progress in custom.

Edited April 1, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[ajb1978]

3 hours ago, UpUpAway95 said:

If you fish in Coastal Highway or Bleak Inlet, it does go a little bit faster because the level up for fishing is based on weight, IIRC... 

It's based on number of fish caught, not weight. Catching 10 lake whitefish at Mystery Lake will get you from Level 1 to 2 the same as catching 10 Coho Salmon at Coastal Highway.

[UpUpAway95]

3 hours ago, ajb1978 said:

It's based on number of fish caught, not weight. Catching 10 lake whitefish at Mystery Lake will get you from Level 1 to 2 the same as catching 10 Coho Salmon at Coastal Highway.

Hmm... I didn't think this was the case.  It has always seemed to  go quicker when I've done it on the coast.  Must just be my luck then, so  I stand corrected.   Thanks.

In light of the discussion, I've rethought my original answer since all skills seem to increase by 1 point with each successful action.  This means that repair is the skill I've probably never gotten to 100 during a regular run.  It's not a major skill, so I basically never think to actively try to level it.

[Guest jeffpeng]

On 3/31/2021 at 9:41 PM, Dr. S. said:

I think it depends a lot on the settings. In my current interloper run, I'm actually ahead in mending compared to fishing, and it's not because I've neglected fishing. Even at level 4 fishing, the catch rate is well under one fish per hour.

Truth be told I don't bother with fishing on Interloper. The cost/reward analysis just doesn't pan out, even considering it is risk-free. I understand why it is that way since fishing, as I said, doesn't involve any risk, but fishing really only makes sense if you settle somewhere, in my opinion. And on interloper settling anywhere will make firewood a restrictive resource - but one without you cannot fish. The way catching fish works better in longer sessions makes it hard to effectively cook and fish at the same time, too.

With Archery 5 and reasonable proficiency it takes 1, maybe 2 hours to find a wolf that is willing to die at your feet, all without costing me a ton of wood and coal. I wouldn't know how to balance it properly so it doesn't become OP, but if I would make a list about things that could use some love, fishing would be on the top 10.

AND ... yeah. Mending. That would be another one on that list. And higher on it. I'm not an achievement hunter, so I can truthfully say that despite a bazillion of hours in this game I never had Mending on 5. The entire way this skills works is just borked. I mean I could elaborate on why I think that - but I guess that's one thing people almost universally agree on.

[odium]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:08 PM, UpUpAway95 said:

Still, you can grind through a lot of in-game hours in a fishing hut with a door as long as you bring a supply of fishing tackle and wood with you since each hour of fishing is sped up (as in passing time).  it's a great way to get your blizzard walker feat at the same time since it is considered to be outdoors yet is sheltered so that your fire will never go out.

If the fire is burning, the door makes no difference!

 

mending is the hardest for me.  im not going to burn cloth on loper just to level a skill

[UpUpAway95]

On 4/7/2021 at 2:32 PM, odium said:

If the fire is burning, the door makes no difference!

 

mending is the hardest for me.  im not going to burn cloth on loper just to level a skill

I always feels safer from attack when the door is closed.  It has nothing to do with keeping the fire going and everything to do with making the place feel cozy.

Edited April 9, 2021 by UpUpAway95

[ajb1978]

On 4/7/2021 at 3:32 PM, odium said:

If the fire is burning, the door makes no difference!

Not quite, if the wind blows just right you can be subject to the full force of the blizzard even with the door open. The fire may keep you warm and dry, but your clothes still take a pounding.

[GarlicPops]

On 4/1/2021 at 12:21 PM, ajb1978 said:

Definitely Mending. The number of successful repairs to reach level 5 is just absurd. Even on a Pilgrim game actively repairing every article of clothing you find in the game up to 100%, you will literally run out of cloth and leather before you reach level 5. (Edit: Unless you're actively ripping up every curtain and towel in the universe.) It's absolutely ridiculous. The only way to reach Level 5 is to deliberately rip up perfectly good clothing in order to repair other stuff from 99% to 100%. 

Specifically the jump from Level 4 to 5. Getting from Level 1 to 2 requires 25 successful repairs which is OK. Then to level 3, 50 more successful repairs. Still not bad. The leap from 3 to 4 requires 100, which is getting to be a bit much but follows the simple pattern of "every level requires twice as many repairs as the previous." And then going from 4 to 5 continues this pattern, requiring a whopping 200 successful repairs. That's almost an order of magnitude what it took you to get to level 2!!

Compare to say Archery, where 150 total successes puts you at Level 5 outright. Or Rifle Firearm where it's only 100. Mending is just way off target.

You can say that again!

In regular modes, (Pilgrim, Voyager and Stalker) the total amount of cloth is roughly 800+ if you go around breaking every single curtain, towel and pillow you can find in every single region. On interloper this would be around 500+ (probably more after the new regions got added). So getting mending all the way up to level 5 literally consumes up to 45% or even 65% of ALL the cloth you can get in the whole map IF you succeed in every single repair attempt, and for what? To be more efficient with the remaining cloth after you've already used most of it?

If you are a conservation freak like myself then, as someone already said, it's much more cost efficient to grind your way through mending by using your left over rabbit pelts and guts you get from trapping and hunting (but still, we are talking about 300+ rabbits).

I personally don't really bother with mending since I always save scum my way through repair fails (the only thing I still use save scumming for) simply because I don't really like how it currently works.

[Leeanda]

Mending! Never had it to level 5. No need to on pilgrim,there's so many clothes lying around .

[Blizzard Walker]

On my Voyageur run (Day 1855) my character has all skills up to 5 except for gunsmithing - which is at level 4 just by reading books. To increase rifle and revolver skills I relied on research books in order to conserve ammunition.

It was a slow grind to get mending from level 4 to level 5 but I reached level 5 around Day 800. I use fishing tackle for all repairs as I prefer to hoard sewing kits. A surplus of rabbit, deer and wolf skins plus cured guts helped advance my mending skill. I commonly repair animal hide clothing when it degrades to 90% condition. Cloth items I repair at 80% condition.

I have definitely not depleted the supply of cloth on my long run despite the substantial amount of cloth I have used to repair clothes and maintain backup high value items (ear wraps, balaclavas, fisherman sweaters, wool long underwear, climbing socks).  My SOP is to systematically break down every curtain, pillow, ruined bedroll, ruined clothing item, unneeded clothing item and piece of furniture that will yield cloth.  Coastal Highway by itself can provide around 500 pieces of cloth on Voyageur.  I have spent entire game days at Carter Dam breaking down metal furniture to harvest 5 more pieces of cloth.  My cloth inventory spread over multiple bases is 1,125 pieces.  I will add more cloth when I finish looting AC and get around to visiting Black Rock and Bleak Inlet.

There is no need to be profligate with cloth as the normal process of periodic repair will get you to mending level 5 during an extended run. Anyone who goes beyond 500 days is likely to achieve mending 5.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Blizzard Walker

[ManicManiac]

Yeah, mending is always the slowest one for me too.  It just requires so many "mending actions" to build it up.
On one of my previous personal challenges had "finally get Skilled Survivor unlocked..." as one of my victory conditions.  I ended up having to keep a fire perpetually burning outside in a fire barrel at the picnic area right next to the church at Thompson's Crossing... I camped out there in the open for a full month without seeing shelter.  All just to have the blizzards beat up the clothing more quickly... and I even tended to make very wasteful repairs, all just for the sake of moving it along.

It's was the only time I've ever had Mending to Skill Level 5.
Fortunately once we get to level 3 our repairs are more-or-less a sure thing, so I never much concern myself with it beyond level 3.

Edited May 2, 2022 by ManicManiac

[Strelok]

There is mod where you can alter the skill point requirements for all skills.

Quick Witted https://xpazeman.com/tld-mod-list/

[Pınar51-06]

Definitely fishing. I am around 460-465 days on pilgrim, ı had some good level 5 skills but fishing is only level 3.