Best Starting Region in Interloper?

[Glflegolas]

In Interloper, you can't choose your starting location; it's chosen randomly. Because of that, the ease of your early game survival can be greatly affected by which region RNG decides to place you in, even if you know the lay of Great Bear better than your home-town.

Personally, I have heard rumours that the Hushed River Valley is the easiest starting location, because all the manufactured tools needed to survive can be found in that region (I think?). It's also not bad for clothing, as you'll always get the Mackinaw jacket, combat pants, and work boots from the hidden caches. Furthermore, food is easy to find, predators are easily avoided if you know the map, and the ice caves provide plenty of shelter.

Another rumour has it that Pleasant Valley is a great starting region, and... yes, I tend to agree. It does have a lot of blizzards, but when the weather's fair, they're easy to see from far away. The plane crash and Thomson's Crossing contain lots of clothes, and there's three workbenches in the region. I think that it also does spawn several (but not all) the basic tools needed for survival...

The third contender I've heard is Timberwolf Mountain. The strategy here is to rush to the summit as quickly as possible, and hope that the hacksaw spawns there so you can open the cargo containers and get loads of food, decent clothing, and a few hides for crafting. There are also always matches in the Mountaineer's Hut. If you don't get the hacksaw, well you're out of luck.

I haven't heard people's comments on Desolation Point, Ash Canyon, Bleak Inlet, Forlorn Muskeg or Broken Railroad, and I haven't started in any of those regions myself ever. Ash Canyon seems rather chilly and far from a forge to me. Bleak Inlet has too many Timberwolves, unless you grab the flaregun early on. Desolation Point is a bit on the small side I would think; the same can be said for Broken Railroad, making predator evasion challenging. Forlorn Muskeg might the OK, given that you're sitting right next to Mountain Town and Mystery Lake for easy looting.

[Ahatch]

There are some good starting places Timberwolf Mountain is pretty good starting spot because you usually get hacksaw or hammer at the Crystal Lake and a whole bunch of cat tails which can keep you fed until you can make your way to Mystery Lake / Forlorn Muskeg.  PV can be a good starting point as well as you can get some decent clothes then make your way to Timberwolf or Coastal Highway. Don't like Desolation Point Start as it means going into Crumbling Highway early game which is very tough due to wolves. 

[Serenity]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:46 AM, Glflegolas said:

The third contender I've heard is Timberwolf Mountain. The strategy here is to rush to the summit as quickly as possible, and hope that the hacksaw spawns there so you can open the cargo containers and get loads of food, decent clothing, and a few hides for crafting.

That's not the only way to approach that start. Yeah, some people love it. But it's not needed at all. The containers in Interloper have some useful stuff, but they really aren't all that great. And the summit is mainly nice for the distress pistol and ammunition.

TWM is fantastic even without opening any containers. You immediately get one or two boxes of matches (two if you get the higher spawn point) and the lake area has a guaranteed tool. Either a hammer, magnifying lens, hacksaw or lantern. You can just get those, collect some cat tails and then immediately leave. In PV you then have a chance for a bedroll near the prepper's cache. Certainly a few pieces of coal. And just generally a good amount of loot down in the valley. From there you can go to CH or ML.

 

Forlorn Muskeg isn't bad if you get clear weather. But you basically have to make your way over to Spence's Farm for matches. There are no guaranteed matches in ML. You can get a hacksaw either there or the hunting blind on the way to ML.

Overall, size of the region, how near you're to a forge or workbenches don't matter. You don't stay in any place for long in the early game. It's all about moving and looting.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Serenity

[Glflegolas]

One thing about Ash Canyon: in my Iatest Interloper playthrough I found at least four boxes of matches there. Could even be five, IDK. That alone could make it a decent start location.

Getting out of Desolation Point if you don't find matches is very hard -- and I don't know of any guaranteed match spawns in that region either. Without matches, you can't make torches, which are almost a necessity to leave Desolation Point. First there is the dark mine which is very hard to feel your way through. Second, if you do make it through the mine, trying to get past wolves in Crumbling Highway without torches or a flare is possible, but a bit risky; a minor miscalculation can get you charged and killed.

(that being said, torches aren't 100% foolproof -- a gust of wind at the wrong time can get you into trouble. But it is an extra layer of protection.)

[Serenity]

There should be matches in Hibernia

[ChaosInEquilibrium]

For regular difficulty starts, my favorite is TWM. You can loot the mountaineer’s hut and nearby fishing hut and find guaranteed matches, gloves, usually a jacket, and usually a tool. Then head immediately to PV.

More recently I’ve discovered the awesome nature of HRV and AC starts. Specifically, HRV on interloper provides: guaranteed Mackinaw jacket, combat pants, wool ear wrap, bedroll, Hacksaw, Hammer, and several boxes of matches. AC is great for the technical backpack and crampons, but has less of the other guaranteed high-tier loot. Overall, I think HRV wins as the best start on interloper, at least for me.

 

DP has to be my least favorite start. Guaranteed matches in Hibernia, but that’s about it. Sometimes a bedroll. Usually no Hacksaw and never a hammer. Plus it’s a dead end zone. If you return to use the forge in early game, you’ll find the region already looted. Not a good deal.

 

Bleak Inlet is not an interloper spawn map AFAIK. I think Broken Railroad isn’t either, but I’m not sure.

Edited November 14, 2021 by ChaosInEquilibrium

[manolitode]

I prefer the combination of Pleasant Valley and Timberwolf Mountain. When I start off in PV I usually head for farmstead first. My best day 1 loot from farmstead alone was a ski jacket, wool toque, can opener, cooking pot, hammer, sewing kit, whetstone, advanced tool box and fishing skill book. After that I go to barn for possible hacksaw (I don't do loot tables), Thomson's and radio tower for some clothing improvements and empty PV. By now if I'm still missing a tool or so it's the prybar. Afterwards I briefly scan the dam, pick up the flare gun in ravine and move on to TWM to get a clothing boost from the summit while I dry some hides in the hut. 

[Lord of the Long Dark]

There is no debate about it. HRV is the easiest start far and away. Whether that means it’s the best start is subjective but it is the easiest. There is no other zone in the game where you can leave the zone with every single one of the essential items and top of the line interloper clothing and within just an hour and a half of game play at that.

   The hardest zone is DP because of the lack of cattails. I generally leave there in the first day to get to CH which is one of the easier interloper maps  

   

[ChaosInEquilibrium]

8 hours ago, Lord of the Long Dark said:

There is no debate about it. HRV is the easiest start far and away. Whether that means it’s the best start is subjective but it is the easiest. There is no other zone in the game where you can leave the zone with every single one of the essential items and top of the line interloper clothing and within just an hour and a half of game play at that.

   The hardest zone is DP because of the lack of cattails. I generally leave there in the first day to get to CH which is one of the easier interloper maps  

   

Maybe you’re the right person to ask. On my only HRV start I got the southern signal fire, which I know is accessible without a hatchet. Signal fire grants the mackinaw jacket, hammer, and sewing kit, I believe.
 

But is the northern signal fire accessible without a hatchet? If so, you can always get full tools on HRV independent of the randomized loot tables.

It’s definitely a significant advantage to have full tools available with set spawn points on one map.

To be fair, I don’t know whether I would call HRV start “easy”. It definitely requires significant map knowledge to know how to navigate the ice cave systems to get from Hushed River to the signal fire locations. I had to watch a YouTube walkthrough to figure out the ice cave layout.

AC has to be one of the hardest starts if you want to fully loot the map before leaving. No guaranteed bedroll and you have a quarter day trek and to hit multiple tough rope climbs in succession to get to the gold mine.

Edited November 16, 2021 by ChaosInEquilibrium

[Lord of the Long Dark]

15 minutes ago, ChaosInEquilibrium said:

Maybe you’re the right person to ask. On my only HRV start I got the southern signal fire, which I know is accessible without a hatchet. Signal fire grants the mackinaw jacket, hammer, and sewing kit, I believe.
 

But is the northern signal fire accessible without a hatchet? If so, you can always get full tools on HRV independent of the randomized loot tables.

It’s definitely a significant advantage to have full tools available with set spawn points on one map.

To be fair, I don’t know whether I would call HRV start “easy”. It definitely requires significant nap knowledge (or watching of YouTube videos) to know how to navigate the ice cave systems to get from Hushed River to the signal fire locations.

AC has to be one of the hardest starts if you want to fully loot the map before leaving. No guaranteed bedroll and you have to hit several tough rope climbs in succession to get to the gold mine.

Yes it is accessible.
   Simply head to the fire and try to adhere as much as possible to the rocks on the left side of the shrub patch, climbing up the rock wall as far as you can and just shimmy across.  you can actually go right over the shrubs. 
  You may have to sprint slightly to jump across the gap in the wall but it is easily done. 
 

  For the southern fire, you probably already found out but it’s a one-way to the signal fire without a hatchet so you have to bring a rope to climb down to moose overlook.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Lord of the Long Dark

[Pencil]

I agree that HRV sets you up very well if you know the region well. I prefer other regions over HRV since I am not very familiar with it yet, but what I have seen of it is very rewarding. 

My personal favorite is Forlorn Muskeg for multiple reasons. (1) Plenty of cat tails to last you a while. (2) Easy access to ML or MT, since the region is incredibly easy to navigate. (3) Get a hammer in ML and come right back to forge. I got improvised tools in two or three days with a FM spawn. 

Desolation Point is actually not too bad in my opinion. Sure, it might be the worst, but when you spawn on the little island with the deer, a little ways from the Riken (don't know what it is called), you can immediately beach comb. I got fish, clothes, and some wood within minutes of spawning just from the shore. Then head to Hibernia, don't run into any wolves and you should be good. 

[ChaosInEquilibrium]

Desolation Point is not so difficult if you are willing to ration food using starvation tactics in early game. But if you want the well fed bonus by day 3, it can be a serious issue for the DP start due to lack of food. Basically, like others said, you have to leave DP on day 2 or 3 to search for food in CH. About food: there is usually a fish washed near the Hibernia docks, there are rabbits on the island near Riken and Katie’s Secluded corner has rabbits and a deer carcass. Also some rabbits near the stone church. Enough food to last a few days, but then you have to scoot to CH. Problem is, if you return to DP later you’ll find it empty of food. Which is why a DP start usually means that I use FM for my first forge run (and to collect extra cattails). 
 

Honestly, when I get a DP start I usually just end the game and re-roll for a better start. It’s not difficult per se, but it’s not a fun start in the slightest.

[manolitode]

4 hours ago, ChaosInEquilibrium said:

To be fair, I don’t know whether I would call HRV start “easy”. It definitely requires significant map knowledge to know how to navigate the ice cave systems to get from Hushed River to the signal fire locations. I had to watch a YouTube walkthrough to figure out the ice cave layout.

Yeah, map knowledge is key. I'm thinking if you're doing okay with interloper you already have enough played hours in you to know most maps inside out.

Edited November 16, 2021 by manolitode

[Glflegolas]

On 11/16/2021 at 1:09 AM, manolitode said:

Yeah, map knowledge is key. I'm thinking if you're doing okay with interloper you already have enough played hours in you to know most maps inside out.

 

On 11/13/2021 at 11:20 PM, Serenity said:

There should be matches in Hibernia

Well, that changes the difficulty of Desolation Point quite a bit, now doesn't it -- and it's a great example of how important knowing every detail of the map can be the difference between life and death in Interloper.

[fauxjargon]

On 11/15/2021 at 10:18 PM, ChaosInEquilibrium said:

Desolation Point is not so difficult if you are willing to ration food using starvation tactics in early game. But if you want the well fed bonus by day 3, it can be a serious issue for the DP start due to lack of food. Basically, like others said, you have to leave DP on day 2 or 3 to search for food in CH. About food: there is usually a fish washed near the Hibernia docks, there are rabbits on the island near Riken and Katie’s Secluded corner has rabbits and a deer carcass. Also some rabbits near the stone church. Enough food to last a few days, but then you have to scoot to CH. Problem is, if you return to DP later you’ll find it empty of food. Which is why a DP start usually means that I use FM for my first forge run (and to collect extra cattails). 
 

Honestly, when I get a DP start I usually just end the game and re-roll for a better start. It’s not difficult per se, but it’s not a fun start in the slightest.

Honestly I have never minded DP starts because of the huge amount of coal you get.