Favourite difficulty?

[Leeanda]

Obviously for me it's Pilgrim, but wondered what everyone else's was? This includes story  custom mode and challenges!

Edited November 3, 2021 by Leeanda
Missed out custom

[ChillPlayer]

Stalker here. I just want to relax while playing TLD and while I also like the challenge of Interloper, it's just too stressful. I haven't been in the right mindset for loper for the past 4 years, so I enjoy my long running stalker run for the moment

[Cell_Shot]

I quite enjoy interloper and stalker its for sure a tie between the two, interloper with the right feats also makes it a bit easier! it really just depends on my mood I guess.

[Mistral]

Deadman by far, it's difficult to return to anything else anymore. You also want harsher winds and less harvestable plants so I'd call it Deadman plus...

Secondly vanilla Interloper with some self-made challenge (one region, outerloper, endless night etc)

Edited November 4, 2021 by Mistral

[odizzido]

Custom currently. I reduce food/water requirements to the minimum, reduce animals to minimum, reduce health regen to minimum(while still having it exist), and typically reduce loot to minimum. I disable things I find annoying and uninteresting like sprains and cabin fever. That being said I cannot reduce animal spawn rate to as low as I would like so I have not been playing the game as it offers no challenge at settings I find enjoyable.

The setting I will enjoy the most is story mode but I won't be playing that until it's all finished and patched up so I can get the best experience possible. I want to play through the game at my own pace and enjoy it at its best. I am perfectly happy to wait for at long as that takes.

[hozz1235]

Custom all the way.

[Pencil]

Hunted part 1 if that is an acceptable answer. It gets less and less exciting the more you play it though unfortunately... the first time you play it is definitely the best. Adrenalin rushes and always worrying "Where is he???" 

For survival mode, I enjoy Stalker the most. I used to really enjoy Voyager, but just realized recently that Stalker is basically the same thing except with more predators. I have recently taken an interest on Interloper too.  

[Sito]

Custom Stalker with Agro off, lots of loot but really cold, max item decay. I play long game. 500+ or even 1000+ and I want the weather to fight me all the way.

[gamesitwatch]

Deadman/NOGOA - make it as hard as possible (and I'd love more customizable settings to make it even harder, like turning cat tails off, for example). Surviving has to be challenging for me in a survival game, and at this point, I just know the game mechanics and the maps far too well for it to be challenging on any of the standard difficulties.

I do occasionally go back to my longish interloper run for a vacation.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

Deadman.  If you aren’t playing at least at interloper level you are camping, not surviving. 

[Mistral]

1 hour ago, gamesitwatch said:

Deadman/NOGOA - make it as hard as possible (and I'd love more customizable settings to make it even harder, like turning cat tails off, for example). Surviving has to be challenging for me in a survival game, and at this point, I just know the game mechanics and the maps far too well for it to be challenging on any of the standard difficulties.

I do occasionally go back to my longish interloper run for a vacation.

Yes 100 percent... most of all I wish there was an option to make the loot table and container density even lower, base Interloper which is the minimum (except for plants) still gives out far too much. Most especially matches and cloth of of course but other things as well. And it's not even all about the easiness of having too much stuff but also it becomes a chore when you need to keep track of whatever you have stored and where and when you need to move stuff between places.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

The loot table should be eliminated for interloper. There should ONLY be guaranteed match spawns, and start with a tin can. That’s all. 

[Jynxer]

I used to be a pilgrim player, but tried loper a few times. Although very exciting, I got to the point where I was sick of not really enjoying it because I was too busy just trying to keep up. I got bored of pilgrim and wanted a lil bit more of a challenge so  I started a voyager run recently, and in day 40 now. And loving it. So now I’d say voyager is my fav. The animals don’t come at me as much as I thought they would, but have already been attacked by a bear, a couple of wolves and a Timberwolf lol. But I’ve already killed a moose and a couple bears with no problems, so I’m finding it just the right balance for myself, for now. I think when I get bored, I will give looper another honest try tho. 

[Mistral]

23 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

The loot table should be eliminated for interloper. There should ONLY be guaranteed match spawns, and start with a tin can. That’s all. 

I don't think there should be guaranteed matches at all... it cheapens the challenge of starting at HRV or TMW or wherever. Nor should you have guaranteed bedrolls for that matter, we have snowshelters (and those (too) numerous cave beds)) for a reason. I had one Deadman run without bedroll until day 19 or 20 and it was fine

Edited November 6, 2021 by Mistral

[mfuegemann]

Interloper for me. But it starts getting annoying with the ample health regen during sleep and the cooking level 5 bonuses.
I tried Deadman a couple of times but I am not good enough at the moment to have much fun.

Edited November 6, 2021 by mfuegemann
typo

[Mistral]

3 hours ago, mfuegemann said:

Interloper for me. But it starts getting annoying with the ample health regen during sleep and the cooking level 5 bonuses.
I tried Deadman a couple of times but I am not good enough at the moment to have much fun.

You can sort of practice the day to day life of Deadman out by starting at Milton or Coastal Highway or wherever easier, to get the hang of it for actual proper run later. It's all about the rhytm and micro management in Deadman... and backup plans... and teas which are probably the biggest life saver

Edited November 6, 2021 by Mistral

[Stone]

I want to see someone make it to a bear skin coat and sleeping bag with zero time spent indoors on Interloper (the Zero challenge). Interloper, ain't for everyone, but it's my favourite.

[Lord of the Long Dark]

12 hours ago, Mistral said:

I don't think there should be guaranteed matches at all... it cheapens the challenge of starting at HRV or TMW or wherever. Nor should you have guaranteed bedrolls for that matter, we have snowshelters (and those (too) numerous cave beds)) for a reason. I had one Deadman run without bedroll until day 19 or 20 and it was fine

no you have to have guaranteed matches for intelligent game design since the character requires water within the first day. 
 Otherwise it just becomes luck at the start instead of skill. But good point on the bedroll- i think I forgot that. There should be no guaranteed anything other than matches and a tin can. All else can be found because the skilled player  can last long enough to find them at random even if it takes several days. 

[Mistral]

5 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

no you have to have guaranteed matches for intelligent game design since the character requires water within the first day. 
 

Yes but even with Interloper spawn points, the first toilet or can of soda isn't normally THAT far out of reach. I mean you will lose some percentage there but so will you anyway if the game chooses for you to spawn in the middle of the night in a blizzard in woods right? Besides, you can usually find a flare or something to make a quick emergency fire anyway.

With guaranteed matches, is it really about skill if you immediately know where to run at and it becomes just memory game...? Starting at Timberwolf Mountain for example isn't much of a challenge since you know you just have to hit the Hut and you're safe... you can even do Summit or head to AC on your first days since you got those guaranteed matches...

Real survival is very much about luck... what skill is there in knowing spawns beforehand. That's why you need to improvise and your decisions matter

Anyhow, even having said all of this, I still think that the guaranteed matches are lesser of a problem than the amount of matches/firelighters in general even on Loper loot. As said before, there's just a RIDICULOUS amount of them and you really don't even need to do torch fires since you still end up with zillion matches. Especially after having mag lens. Of which by the way, there should be only one in the game IMO, in a randomized place (preferably on a map like Bleak Inlet where you orherwise wouldn't go on Deadman) so you can't rely quite so much on it early(ish) game.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Mistral

[Catlover]

On 11/3/2021 at 12:51 PM, Leeanda said:

Obviously for me it's Pilgrim, but wondered what everyone else's was? This includes story  custom mode and challenges!

If you don't mind me asking, why is pilgrim your favourite? Is it the lack of animals, the more easy-going style of surviving, or something entirely different? I'm curious to know

And stalker, even though I'm new to it, is definitely my favourite for now. I always found Voyageur too boring, hence why the runs were always so short, so I moved onto the next difficulty. Stalker is still pretty easy imo, however, once you get settled (10+ days in), so I'm thinking of moving to a mix between both Stalker and loper once my current survivor dies

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Catlover
Merged two posts to prevent double-posting

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, Catlover said:

If you don't mind me asking, why is pilgrim your favourite? Is it the lack of animals, the more easy-going style of surviving, or something entirely different? I'm curious to know

I just love  the ability to be able to roam peacefully without constantly having to watch my back.I can hunt when I want instead of having to kill in self defence. It's simple and uncomplicated for the most part! You never know if the bear will turn on you,so it keeps me on my toes  when hunting! Strangely the lack of animals is the only thing I don't like! In an easier setting like this my logic is - easier to survive equals more hunting  opportunities,which you don't get on pilgrim.

Plus  there's no cabin fever, ! And I love spending my time searching for all that loot!😁

[Catlover]

11 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

I just love  the ability to be able to roam peacefully without constantly having to watch my back.I can hunt when I want instead of having to kill in self defence. It's simple and uncomplicated for the most part! You never know if the bear will turn on you,so it keeps me on my toes  when hunting! Strangely the lack of animals is the only thing I don't like! In an easier setting like this my logic is - easier to survive equals more hunting  opportunities,which you don't get on pilgrim.

Plus  there's no cabin fever, ! And I love spending my time searching for all that loot!😁

Those are good points! The vast difference between Pilgrim and interloper is almost comical, both have such different ways to survive in the same game, on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I might give pilgrim another try,  just use it for exploration or when I need to relax. Must be nice to be around wolf infested areas, i.e quanset, and not have to have eyes on the back of your head to watch out for pesky wildlife. 

On the topic of wildlife, since you said about the lack of animals, maybe you could get a pilgrim custom game and put all wildlife to very high, maybe see if that makes a difference? Though I may have misunderstood, reading back. I had assumed that the lack of wildlife was something you disliked though maybe you do like it, I'm not sure.  Regardless, having a pilgrim game full of wildlife could be fun

Edited November 10, 2021 by Catlover
Just adding stuff

[Leeanda]

1 minute ago, Catlover said:

Those are good points! The vast difference between Pilgrim and interloper is almost comical, both have such different ways to survive in the same game, on opposite ends of the spectrum.

I might give pilgrim another try,  just use it for exploration or when I need to relax. Must be nice to be around wolf infested areas, i.e quanset, and not have to have eyes on the back of your head to watch out for pesky wildlife. 

On the topic of wildlife, since you said about the lack of animals, maybe you could get a pilgrim custom game and put all wildlife to very high, maybe see if that makes a difference? You've probably tried that already but just thought I'd suggest it anyway!

Im doing pilgrim only  partly because I wanted the badges,only have about 500 more fires until I get that badge!😁

And the rest for the otherwise mentioned reasons! I do have a custom with most things off except the animals(no bears though)!  But I don't really play it any more. 

If you do play pilgrim you'll be lucky to see more than one wolf near Quonset! This latest run I'm on I've seen 3 wolves in total in coastal!  Theres always 3 bears there when I play so plenty of food! 

If you really want to relax pilgrim is definitely the best way to go! So enjoy the peace!🙂

[Catlover]

9 hours ago, Leeanda said:

Im doing pilgrim only  partly because I wanted the badges,only have about 500 more fires until I get that badge!😁

And the rest for the otherwise mentioned reasons! I do have a custom with most things off except the animals(no bears though)!  But I don't really play it any more. 

If you do play pilgrim you'll be lucky to see more than one wolf near Quonset! This latest run I'm on I've seen 3 wolves in total in coastal!  Theres always 3 bears there when I play so plenty of food! 

If you really want to relax pilgrim is definitely the best way to go! So enjoy the peace!🙂

Thank you, I will do! And good luck with the feats. I've only gotten one so far, though that's mostly because I'm trying not to grind too much, and just get them when I play. It's taking forever though, lol

And wow, there isn't much wildlife! A complete contrast to stalker, where 3 wolves is a general size for one wolf pack. I actually haven't seen any bears yet though, and despite walking through a moose-spawn, not seen any of those either! Stalker seems to be 25% survival and 75% just avoiding all of the wolves. Not that I'm complaining, it makes it fun!

And lol you've inspired me to start a pilgrim game now, just for a bit of relaxation and to learn the maps. Going to go load up TLD now and give it a try!

[Leeanda]

You'll certainly notice the difference animal wise!  Hope you have fun playing!