Blackrock is severe ?

[peteloud]

After a thoroughly  checking out Blackrock with an very old Voyager game and an old Stalker game, Blackrock was made much esier because in both of those games I had full skills and was well equipped, I decided that I needed to face up to the region without those beneits.  I decided to start a new Stalker game in the region. 

It was hard work.  It was very cold and the Timberwolves seemed numberless.  At one point I had five or six consecutive attacks by Timberwolves, with barely a moment between attacks.   My first try was an impossible start and I lasted about 24 hours.  The second game I was doing a little better when I carelessly walked through my fire and soon after died soon after at about 36 hours. My next game was too easy a start.  I spawned close the the radio station.  Once I had some key skills around level 2 and a few warm clothes, and had been down the mine I ran away from Blackrock.  The surprise was that everywhere else was so much easier, so much warmer, even the Timberwolves in BI seemed harmless.

Have other people found Blackrock so severe?

Edited January 10, 2022 by peteloud

[Leeanda]

Yes! On pilgrim I nearly died from cold and starvation! So many blizzards! Way too many!

[Ahatch]

I'm playing it on Interloper , weather is similar to Pleasant Valley. Just have to be careful trekking out too far from a warm shelter. Timber wolves are still a problem and wouldn't want to be here with less than level 5 archery. 

[turtle777]

At least in Stalker, the numerous flares and abundance of matches make it easy to use flares and torches to get past the wolves relatively unharmed. That's the strategy in early game w/o proper weapons.

Fighting Timberwolves with bow & arrow is very tedious. Best is if you are in a secure spot, and you have time to recognize their pattern sand pick them off. Problem with the arrows is the slow release. You have to anticipate where they are going to be. Much easier with the rifle, because fast.

-t

[Pınar51-06]

Yes ındeed. I wanted to visit Blackrock because ı loved the region when ı play story mode. Like @Leeanda ı play on pilgrim mode but ı had so much dangerous days and nights also ı lost my bedroll which makes me more nervous. 
I waited this region so badly but now ı think ı will consider twice for going again.

[manolitode]

Thank God they made Blackrock hard.

[turtle777]

An interesting challenge would be "How long can you survive in Black Rock on Interloper, starting there and w/o ever leaving."

-t

[Leeanda]

4 minutes ago, turtle777 said:

An interesting challenge would be "How long can you survive in Black Rock on Interloper, starting there and w/o ever leaving."

-t

I thought it would be very difficult without guns as there doesn't seem to be much birch or maple saplings around.

[turtle777]

2 hours ago, Leeanda said:

I thought it would be very difficult without guns as there doesn't seem to be much birch or maple saplings around.

If you can't leave the region, you can't make arrow heads, so there is no use for birch and maple.

I guess there's a small chance that you can find arrow heads. Haven't seen that on IL yet.

-t

[Leeanda]

23 minutes ago, turtle777 said:

If you can't leave the region, you can't make arrow heads, so there is no use for birch and maple.

I guess there's a small chance that you can find arrow heads. Haven't seen that on IL yet.

-t

Never thought of that ! Lol. Pity you couldn't use the ammo bench as a forge. I don't remember finding any either  now you mention it. 

Doesn't make for  a very long run though.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Leeanda

[turtle777]

10 hours ago, The Lord of the Long Dark said:

I don’t see any appeal to that challenge seeing as how you can’t forge anything. It basically then boils down to how long your matches last.  Not interesting for survival. 

I sort of agree, but that also highlights the issue with Black Rock - in IL, you really shouldn't be there until you are full equipped.

If you spawn in BLRK on IL, you should immediately leave the region.

-t

[Looper]

On 1/13/2022 at 8:57 AM, The Lord of the Long Dark said:

Yep lost my 1000 day interloper in BP by getting caught in aurora with timberwolves. 
  Definitely the hardest region in the game BUT also absolutely no reason to go there in interloper just like for BI. The vest is nothing more than a paperweight and I have no use for the noisemakers at all.  There is no draw for interlopers to go there like there is for AC for example. 
  I wish the developers would give some incentive such as making crampons repairable only at a mill, or making flare shells at the ammunition bench. Even then I’d only do it at BI. 

Valid point. Trouble is one can say that of many regions. Interloper midgame sort of lacks drive (i.e when you have bow, gear and lot of saplings etc.). Why fi go to broken railroad? Hope for a whetstone and some saplings. All other loot - do you really need it?

It would be great if the first DLC would aim for putting some pressure on Interloper midgame. I think what drives interlopers is the early game intensity - you vs the game.  What also could be funny would be a small (very small) chance for some prime loot in some containers. That would make IL's go check. 

[manolitode]

It's a challenge for sure. I came from PV and it took me a long good time to actually reach into Blackrock. Probably 5 days or so because of careful exploring and ill-timed blizzards. Wildlife was extremely sparse but I came with a large stack of cattails and could remain well fed. The coal that I brought was gone rather quick even though I picked up every stick I could find, had to sleep outside a few nights. Couple of minutes into Blackrock I soon found myself on a treetrunk, caught in the second blizzard of that morning, four timberwolves hovering below me. I managed to escape them. Soon as I found the substation it was a different kind of game. Having both timberwolves and nasty, nasty weather, Blackrock keeps you on your toes on interloper.

[manolitode]

Where is the transition cave to Timberwolf mountain? I'm at bear bend without shoes or matches. Unfortunately I never wear socks, cause I'm full-blown hippie, which means I'll have to make a run for it to possibly avoid frostbite and survive.

edit: found 1 and only 1 deer in the 25 days in blackrock by the way, man that's harsh, i love it.

Edited January 27, 2022 by manolitode

[Leeanda]

8 minutes ago, manolitode said:

Where is the transition cave to Timberwolf mountain? I'm at bear bend without shoes or matches. Unfortunately I never wear socks, cause I'm full-blown hippie, which means I'll have to make a run for it to possibly avoid frostbite and survive.

edit: found 1 deer in 25 days by the way, man that's harsh, i love it.

South of the trailer that is at the bottom south east of the map. Sorry don't know the name of it.

[manolitode]

Thanks, that's too far away with the frostbite risk. I think I've seen shoes at the power plant. Though they're probably not there on loper anyway but I'll make a run for it. Oh what I wouldn't give for a pair of shitty sports socks right now.

[Leeanda]

26 minutes ago, manolitode said:

Thanks, that's too far away with the frostbite risk. I think I've seen shoes at the power plant. Though they're probably not there on loper anyway but I'll make a run for it. Oh what I wouldn't give for a pair of shitty sports socks right now.

Whereas in real life you could've used cloth to wrap round your feet . might not be pretty but neither is  frostbite!  

In general though wouldn't it be better to keep socks on and harvest gloves if you need cloth? At least you can make gloves later on in the game when you do have enough cloth.

Good luck with the shoe/sock hunt!

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

36 minutes ago, manolitode said:

Thanks, that's too far away with the frostbite risk. I think I've seen shoes at the power plant. Though they're probably not there on loper anyway but I'll make a run for it. Oh what I wouldn't give for a pair of shitty sports socks right now.

Tough situation! reminded me of Douglas Mawson (link not for the faint hearted...):

The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever: Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Journey | History | Smithsonian Magazine

Hopefully you'll find a nice cosy pair of trail boots before it reaches that stage 🥾

[manolitode]

1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

In general though wouldn't it be better to keep socks on and harvest gloves if you need cloth? At least you can make gloves later on in the game when you do have enough cloth.

It wasn't like that, I just don't use socks at all. The decay rate for clothes in interloper makes wool socks cost a lot of cloth to repair while the benefit of wearing them are questionable. That's not saying that you can't use socks on loper. I just prefer to be restrictive about spending cloth. And that came back to bite me today Bite, but no frostbite as of yet. I made it to the power plant and back to the prison. However, the food and wildlife around the prison area was still depleted so I had to go back to Bear's bend again to fetch some 17kg of bearmeat. The timbers ate my gloves but as you established that's a lesser problem. Going to Blackrock region I didn't expect the lack of wildlife. That definitely impaired my ability to repair my clothing even though I had brought hides from my main base. However, I have now found my first box of matches in Blackrock, returned to the prison a second time and will look for a path home where I can avoid frostbite and allow my 376 days survivor a few days of peace.

[manolitode]

1 hour ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

Tough situation! reminded me of Douglas Mawson (link not for the faint hearted...):

The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever: Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Journey | History | Smithsonian Magazine

Hopefully you'll find a nice cosy pair of trail boots before it reaches that stage 🥾

No footwear so far but compared to him I'm the luckiest guy alive. Takes determination to keep going under those conditions. Though I identify with the joy of seeing something else than endless white blizzards, like an orange, or a bush of rosehips. One thing is for certain, TLD is most intruiging when you have to save yourself from the dire situation you put yourself in. Though Mawson would probably disagree

Edited January 27, 2022 by manolitode

[Leeanda]

5 minutes ago, manolitode said:

It wasn't like that, I just don't use socks at all. The decay rate for clothes in interloper makes wool socks cost a lot of cloth to repair while the benefit of wearing them are questionable. That's not saying that you can't use socks on loper. I just prefer to be restrictive about spending cloth. And that came back to bite me today Bite, but no frostbite as of yet. I made it to the power plant and back to the prison. However, the food and wildlife around the prison area was still depleted so I had to go back to Bear's bend again to fetch some 17kg of bearmeat. The timbers ate my gloves but as you established that's a lesser problem. Going to Blackrock region I didn't expect the lack of wildlife. That definitely impaired my ability to repair my clothing even though I had brought hides from my main base. However, I have now found my first box of matches in Blackrock, returned to the prison a second time and will look for a path home where I can avoid frostbite and allow my 376 days survivor a few days of peace.

Well I'm glad you still have all your toes!🙂 

I have noticed the lack of cloth on interloper , not sure why it's so limited though. Most clothes are made from and mended using hides anyway. 

I Hope you can escape while you still have feet left.

[Mistral]

Lack of cloth on Interloper? You mean just in Blackrock or in general? Because there is enough cloth in Milton alone to last for lifetime and beyond... with that in mind, not wearing socks because of saving cloth seems strange

Edited January 28, 2022 by Mistral

[manolitode]

1 hour ago, Mistral said:

Lack of cloth on Interloper? You mean just in Blackrock or in general? Because there is enough cloth in Milton alone to last for lifetime and beyond... with that in mind, not wearing socks because of saving cloth seems strange

I told you, I'm a hippie

Though, who says there is a lack of cloth on interloper? Sure there's less cloth on interloper than any other standard difficulty. Does that mean there's a deficit? That depends more on playstyle than difficulty level. I go for long games, if I waste cloth I'll run short eventually.  If you're a high consumer of bandages, use multiple sets of clothing and avoid the bear bedroll then that makes a difference over hundreds of days. But also how much clothing you wear that need maintenance. If I have a toque, two wool sweaters, ear wool wraps and two long johns I have 6 pieces of clothing that demands continuous maintenance. From the standpoint of item economy preservation, why would I wear two pair of socks when it adds cloth consumtion by 33% when the benefit is limited to +1C? Does it make a huge difference to you? I'd rather throw another stick in the campfire than spend more cloth than I have to. What's your best argument for wearing socks on interloper (apart from risking frostbite in the situation described above - losing my shoes is extremely rare in late game)?.

Edited January 28, 2022 by manolitode

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

22 minutes ago, Mistral said:

Because there is enough cloth in Milton alone to last for lifetime and beyond...

I'm on day 400-something Interloper.  My clothes are 90% curtains.

[peteloud]

15 hours ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

Tough situation! reminded me of Douglas Mawson (link not for the faint hearted...):

The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever: Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Journey | History | Smithsonian Magazine

That was a terrible experience, but here is the true story about a tough journey in Canada by John Fanklin, c. 1820.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18985

Go straight to Chapter XII if you just want the unpleasant bit