Forsaken Airfield blog

[TonyInPleasantValley]

Since I spent the better part of an IRL day hiking over to FA, figured I would post my experiences here. Might be some spoilers, so don't read if you don't want to know what I find! 

Let's start with the journey to FA...it was a trek! Started at the Farmhouse in PV early on a cold, clear day. Packed pistol, flare gun, and rifle as well as as much food as I could carry. First, hiked up to Signal Hill to see if I left any goodies there and then to the cave to Carter Dam. Weather remained calm and no wolves, which is unusual. On to FM where I ran into 3 wolves in a pack. Shot, hit one, they ran but two came back and I ended one of them with a pistol round. Too heavy to take meat, had to leave it (hate doing that, but some times you gotta). About 2/3'rd the way over, ran into another wolf but just walked to the right far enough where it didn't smell me. Eerie sounds and high winds whipped up before I hit BR. Ran into two more wolves in BR and shot both. I am on a mission, so I did not do my usual things like using fire or avoiding them. Began to snow a little but never amounted to anything. At the end of the line, entered the first new section. I prepared a lantern with full fuel and it came in handy as there are a number of dark tunnels to navigate as well as some places to loot. Helps to have a crow bar in place, but found 2 laying around so probably could have left that in PV. Ended up sleeping in the tunnel and consumed a fair amount of my food and all my water on the trek. Started to wonder if I should stop, but decided to march on. Finally made it to Transfer Pass, where it was time to look for shelter. No wolves spawned for me in any of the transfer areas. Killed a doe for dinner, cooked it and made water at the RR depot, and slept. Next morning, again crystal clear so I lucked out on weather the entire trip, looked for the pass to FA. This was a little tricky, consumed about a half day, but found it and entered the transition zone...found a salvage yard, chopped wood, and made a fire for dinner and water making. Slept the night and headed out in light flurries, excited to see new country! Following the road, at some point I decided to go off trail and got stuck in a rock and could not reverse course. I was so afraid I was screwed, but eventually was able to keep going down hill to a stream and followed that to the airfield. It is MASSIVE! Headed for the copters, planes, and largest building and started exploring. Then, my IRL dog decided to put her head on my lap to tell me I had played enough with the computer and it was her turn, so that is where I saved and stopped for the day. So far, no animals excepts some rabbits...sure that will change next time I play! Cheers!

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

That cliff road to Forsaken Airfield is really dangerous.  It would be super easy to sprint right off one of the broken parts of the pavement and plunge into the chasm if you were in a blizzard trying to escape the cold.

[TonyInPleasantValley]

So my initial impression, without a lot of game play time yet, of FA is I likely will explore it and leave. Couple of reasons why:

• Lots of wolves in packs - not a huge deal just is a pain always dealing with them; have not seen bear or moose...yet
• No indoor fire place (sort of, see below)  - means you are at the mercy of weather to cook and make water
• Windy as heck - means movement is tedious at times
• Spoiler: found a note that talks about the lights and getting insomnia - suspect whenever the aurora hits I will come down with that affliction...fun!
• Not a lot of good loot found so far; was hoping for that kind of trek to get something nice...still might...still exploring
• Basement is a really nice space with a work bench, forge, and a bed, but no light!

So initial thoughts on survival strategy in this area is to gradually shift my day to night. This does a few things...lets me avoid insomnia (maybe?) and lets me use the basement to craft (working on deer boots now) and forge items. Can then use the forge to cook as well, but only if I get a string of auroras to give me light in that dark basement.

[TonyInPleasantValley]

OK, a little more game play and starting to like this area more. Got the insomnia affliction as predicted as soon as first aurora occurred but was not too bad. Spoiler: take some tea with you if you go there as this helps with insomnia! Cooking issue resolved as the main building is surrounded by walls, which makes a wind free place to cook, so I am now a lot more psyched to play in this area. Game is abundant, as is fuel, so food is getting better though I made a mistake and let my well fed bonus expire and am paying the price for it right now. I did go to the basement and use the aurora fueled lighting to work on my deerskin boots. Killed about 3-4 wolves and a doe to add to my food supplies. Found a baclava and a military coat so those were pleasant items to find. Wind and fog are bad here, but when weather is clear, it is a great place to be.

[I_eat_only_wolf_meat]

1 hour ago, TonyInPleasantValley said:

I did go to the basement and use the aurora fueled lighting to work on my deerskin boots.

It seems that you can work on the hangar workbench during daylight, even though the room is almost pitch black.  Try it on a sunny day.

[TonyInPleasantValley]

Spoiler: Insomnia is not caused by the aurora per se, it is caused by the glimmer fog! I got it and the way to get rid of it is go "underground" so into the basement I went and sure enough was able to resolve the issue. Also, to wolf_meat's point during glimmer fog the room is well lit as well so I head there to craft anytime it happens. This last batch was severe and sudden and was very hard to navigate in.

Made a few snares to catch bunnies...bad luck when I checked the first time after setting them they were both ruined. Don't think this has ever happened before. Kind of annoying, but whatever. Deerskin boots are done and on my feet...styling!

Edited January 10, 2023 by TonyInPleasantValley

[TonyInPleasantValley]

So thinking I am going to leave this Blog and FA and go back to other parts of the silent apocalypse. Just not enough going on here for me to love the area like I do TM, PV, or the like. It is huge, it has interesting features, but not enough to hold me here. And part of this game really is about moving from region to region, smartly, to improve your gear and to play in environments that match your interests. I suspect that when the Wintermute update occurs, this area will be a big important part of the story, and am looking forward to that. Time to get my stuff together and start the long trek back to places I have grown to love spending my time in. FA, I will see you sometime in the future when the story continues. Cheers all!

[TonyInPleasantValley]

I have left forgotten airfield and am now back at the hunter's cabin near mystery lake.  Killed a wolf, then attacked by a bear, and a moose showed up that I have riddled with holes but I think still lives. What - a - game!

[Leeanda]

3 minutes ago, TonyInPleasantValley said:

I have left forgotten airfield and am now back at the hunter's cabin near mystery lake.  Killed a wolf, then attacked by a bear, and a moose showed up that I have riddled with holes but I think still lives. What - a - game!

Yep! That sounds like an average day on great bear😁

[TonyInPleasantValley]

OK, moose and bear are dead. I lost a few articles of clothing in the fight, but think I am coming out ahead, especially if I can craft a moose satchel and gain another 5KG of haul. ML is such a cool place and if you use your brain, is an area you can survive a very lone time. 

[Sherri]

Great blog! I'm having much the same experience. Fun to explore new regions, but the weather is SO bad and wind so ever-present that I don't feel like doing everything in slow motion all the time (walking into the wind). And the area is SO big it feels empty.

I'm very much looking forward to what new regions will connect to the Transfer Hub.

It's my understanding that these DLC regions won't have anything to do with Wintermute.

 

I think Astrid and Will are meeting up in Perseverance Mills.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Sherri

[PiterZ]

On 1/13/2023 at 4:14 AM, Sherri said:

I'm very much looking forward to what new regions will connect to the Transfer Hub.

  Reveal hidden contents

I think Astrid and Will are meeting up in Perseverance Mills.

As planned (roadmap) - this year the new regions will be: Industrial Mine [IM] and Mountain Pass [MP] - they will connect with the Transfer Hub. There are still many pleasant surprises ahead of us :)