What do think is the most "useless" item in TLD?

[Levelgrinder]

For me its probably the water purification tablets. I've only ever used them maybe once or twice across a 300+ day Stalker run and even then I didn't need to use them, I just used them because I had some spare.

[SpanishMoss]

15 minutes ago, Levelgrinder said:

For me its probably the water purification tablets. I've only ever used them maybe once or twice across a 300+ day Stalker run and even then I didn't need to use them, I just used them because I had some spare.

I call water tablets "water doublers" because you can use them to double the amount of water you make in the same amount of time. The flashlight in my opinion is useless, because not only can you not use it during the Arouca, but it cannot be used as a light source to craft in the dark. It's only use is for stouts wolves, that's it.

[ManicManiac]

In my opinion it's Pain killers.

[SpanishMoss]

Just now, ManicManiac said:

In my opinion it's Pain killers.

Maybe not painkillers, but after cooking 5 antibiotics become totally useless

[ManicManiac]

For me, painkillers just aren't a "necessary" item in the game.
The pain effects from sprains don't really last long (nor is much of a hinderance for me gameplay wise).  I don't even use bandages for sprains, I think it's easy enough to just sleep off the affliction.

And for the one thing pain management is required for (broken ribs from a moose stomping)... we can just as easily use rosehip tea to treat it (and with rose hip tea we get some caloric value from it as well).

I don't think I've even bothered using the painkillers in this game for literal years.

That's why I would rank them as the most "useless" item in the game.
 

Edited January 30, 2022 by ManicManiac

[piddy3825]

I'd have to agree with each of you guys, @Levelgrinder, @SpanishMossand @ManicManiac ,
all of the items you mentioned, water purification pills, pain killers and the flashlight could be removed from the game and subsequent gameplay would not be too greatly affected.  I have to remind myself to use water tablets before they decay to a ruined state in my kit.  Athough, I have used them as a water doubler in the past as that aspect does come in handy, but just not enough to say they are must have critical item in the game.  Same goes for pain killers.  Pain pretty much disappears in about 4 hours in game and although the pain mechanic makes my peripheal vision a little fuzzy, it doesn't prevent me from hunting or defending myself when it becomes necessary to do so.  And yeah, the flashlight is kinda a dead weight 95%+  of the time.  It does provide great light when looting an indoor location during an aurora, though.  I may have used it once or twice when I was outside at night during an aurora, but mostly flashlights just live on a shelf somewhere at my base camp.  More of a decoration than a useful tool, that's for sure.

On the other side of the equation however, if you were to ask me what item I find to be the most useful, I'd have to say the Hack Saw.

[turtle777]

Flashlight. I never bother.

I have used water purification before (in a pinch), and I don't mind carrying a few pain killers, since they weigh so little.

-t

[Leeanda]

Antiseptic! Maybe used it twice in over two years!  Not including story mode of course, those pesky prison wolves were everywhere!! 

Mushrooms are pretty much useless too!

[Levelgrinder]

5 minutes ago, Leeanda said:

Antiseptic! Maybe used it twice in over two years!  Not including story mode of course, those pesky prison wolves were everywhere!! 

Mushrooms are pretty much useless too!

Don't you use it for wolf bite infections? Or do you just use Old Man's Beard? Or just tough it out?

I use it all the time, as it seems every wolf attack I endure I also get a risk of infection.

[Leeanda]

3 minutes ago, Levelgrinder said:

Don't you use it for wolf bite infections? Or do you just use Old Man's Beard? Or just tough it out?

I use it all the time, as it seems every wolf attack I endure I also get a risk of infection.

Aside from story , it's not really  needed on pilgrim.or my old custom run.  The bear and moose only attack if provoked which I've been lucky to avoid. Even though since the update they have been starting to turn a lot more than usual! Just been lucky so far. I always drop the antiseptic as soon as I find some old man's beard and it s just kept on me just in case!  The only time I've been attacked by the bear I died while I slept! And that was a few years ago! 

I honestly can't remember what medicine you're even supposed to use for them it's been that long! Lol 🙂

 

 

[peteloud]

There are so many unneccesary items it is difficult to say which is the most useless item.

The stone cache.

(Does it still exist?  I have never built one, when I tried to find out how to make one I couldn't find it.)

If the stone cache has been dropped then the flashlight probably tops my list.

 

Addendum

I have just found the stone cache on the radial menu.

Edited January 30, 2022 by peteloud

[Levelgrinder]

35 minutes ago, peteloud said:

There are so many unneccesary items it is difficult to say which is the most useless item.

The stone cache.

(Does it still exist?  I have never built one, when I tried to find out how to make one I couldn't find it.)

If the stone cache has been dropped then the flashlight probably tops my list.

 

Addendum

I have just found the stone cache on the radial menu.

I always build a stone cache once I've looted the map and established a home base. I use it to store meat, as it seems to decay slower when stored outside.

[Even Dark]

2 hours ago, peteloud said:

There are so many unneccesary items it is difficult to say which is the most useless item.

The stone cache.

(Does it still exist?  I have never built one, when I tried to find out how to make one I couldn't find it.)

If the stone cache has been dropped then the flashlight probably tops my list.

 

Addendum

I have just found the stone cache on the radial menu.

i build all stone caches because for older pcs they decrease the loading time. i store there my sticks 200 sticks are alos easier to pick up. before i drop all the wood just somewhere on the map this means longer survival games with hundreds of single items -> the loading screen is terribel .

On a old challenge i dropped 30k of Wood and Coal in Mystery Lake. this was a terribel loading screen. After i end my fire, the wood and coal was gone but i have to bring then all the fish into a house. This has finally normalized the loading screen.

unneccesary item -> spraycan :D. And water purification could be helpful on speedruns/challenges.The toilet water should only be drinkable after using a water purification tablet.

[peteloud]

Stone Cache

When they were first introduced I thought that I'd build one but the hassle and time taken to collect enough stones was too great.  I am quite happy to just drop meat outside the house.  Being outside it keeps well enough for me.

If I had a great many light, small items, that would be a hassle to pick up, as with ammunition cases.   I store those in any container a find, from a filing cabinet to a plastic box, so that they are easier to pickup.  I have never had a reason to accumulate 200 or more sticks.

There are many other items that I find are not worth the bother of using.

 

[stmSantana]

Gold or Cash 

[UpUpAway95]

For me, it's the flashlight.  For it to do anything, there has to be an aurora.  At any other time, it's just a paperweight in the backpack, so the odds of me having one on or even near me during an aurora are slim to none.

[Serenity]

The only time I use water purification tablets is when a fire blows out and I still have uncooked water left over. But it's very rare

Stone caches can be useful when you live in a remote cave. Better than just dropping everything on the floor

[UpUpAway95]

14 hours ago, SpanishMoss said:

I call water tablets "water doublers" because you can use them to double the amount of water you make in the same amount of time. The flashlight in my opinion is useless, because not only can you not use it during the Arouca, but it cannot be used as a light source to craft in the dark. It's only use is for stouts wolves, that's it.

Me too.  I usually use them up with my first fire after finding them, particularly early game where I only have one tin can... getting 1L of water in the same time it takes to boil 0.50 L can be a godsend early game.

[dbmurph22]

In general the flashlight, I think.  Plus, it's heavy.  The tablets aren't really necessary, but I burn through them to save some time and they can help when you want a quick fire only.

However, for someone with experience the spray paint is probably the least helpful (and you won't find the flashlight in low resource modes).  I can see its value when you don't know maps and such so great for early to mid play, but the combination of how much of it you find and how useless it is for someone who's played more, needs mentioning.   I can use the journal to make notes of where I left things.

[UpUpAway95]

11 minutes ago, dbmurph22 said:

In general the flashlight, I think.  Plus, it's heavy.  The tablets aren't really necessary, but I burn through them to save some time and they can help when you want a quick fire only.

However, for someone with experience the spray paint is probably the least helpful (and you won't find the flashlight in low resource modes).  I can see its value when you don't know maps and such so great for early to mid play, but the combination of how much of it you find and how useless it is for someone who's played more, needs mentioning.   I can use the journal to make notes of where I left things.

I thought about spray paint, but ended up putting it in the second most useless item place.  I do use it on occasion to mark a path to shore across the ice in Coastal Highway so I don't accidentally get turned around in a blizzard getting back and forth to the islands.  i have also used it to mark the safe path through the frozen delta area in Bleak Inlet.

[RandomPlayer]

16 hours ago, piddy3825 said:

On the other side of the equation however, if you were to ask me what item I find to be the most useful, I'd have to say the Hack Saw.

Interesting choice of most useful item.  I'm inclined to agree.  
On the flip side though, flashlight is just a paperweight, am I right?

[Leeanda]

Just a thought...

How many people use the ballistic vest? 

Not me. Too heavy!

[UTC-10]

Usefulness is situational. 

If I had to choose the least useful item I would pick the ballistic vest.  I would apply this across all difficulties in the game - Interloper, Stalker, Voyager, and Pilgrim - though I only play Pilgrim.  It has a useful function - protection- but the trade-offs, primarily its comparatively extreme weight, unless one routinely walked around with an unharvested car battery, to have it available when it was needed would be too high in vast majority of  circumstances.  

If I had to exclude the ballistic vest, I may say the flashlight would be the least useful.  It has serious limitations on usage - only during an aurora - and has capacity limitations inconsistent with its "power source" which was a result of how it was implemented.  When the circumstances allow it to work, I find it is very nice for as long as it or the aurora lasts, but otherwise I tend to leave it at my bases.  

I never leave things behind.  I will struggle and complain about moving something to a location where I feel it would potentially be useful or at least to have it there.  That ballistic vest, when I get to it, is going places though not too far.  😨

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

2 hours ago, UTC-10 said:

If I had to choose the least useful item I would pick the ballistic vest. 

I'd have to agree, especially on interloper difficulty.  If you're good enough to be playing on interloper, it almost certainly means that you only rarely get in an actual close-up struggle with the wildlife.  So for that few seconds of extra protection, you carry around those 6kg every minute of every day.  It's not even close to being worthwhile.

[stratvox]

23 hours ago, SpanishMoss said:

Maybe not painkillers, but after cooking 5 antibiotics become totally useless

If you get into a struggle and end up with an infection (i.e. you don't/can't treat it with antiseptic or omb and it progresses to infection) you will need antibiotics or shroom tea to treat it.

Thing is in a very long run game (i.e. far longer than I've ever made it) I could see that leading to inevitable death; when you run out of omb and antiseptic you will get infections; after that every struggle will eventually require treatment with antibiotics and/or shroom tea, and when you've emptied the world of those the next infection you acquire from a struggle will kill you as you will be unable to treat it.