Revolver hunting yay or nay?

[acada]

I play new voyager run since the update. I got the light gun and now I got the long range gun. But still: usually I leave them at base and stroll around with revolver. Not sure whether game changed or me, but it seems like effective weapon. It is not heavy, ammo is plentiful. But what makes me write down this is this. I currently killed 5 bears. 4 of them with single revolver bullet. One time I was mauled because I missed the shot, tried to use fire as shield and it failed. So I repeated this another way. Shot, hide in a car and waited few hours. Other 3 one shots were shots from ledges or similar. Just crouch near the bear path, wait till bear is close and shoot the head. Then wait till bear runs far away and hide somewhere comfy (NOT in the building or another loadable area). Then after few hours filled by melting water or something like that, check the bear. And my character is not even level 5 in revolver handling.

So did the game changed or I did? Because in my previous longest run I did not get such results.

[peteloud]

I have often wondered whether a bear could be killed with the revolver.  You have solved my query, thanks.  I have shot many deer with the revolver.

[acada]

Keep in mind it is voyager run. May differ in harder difficulties.

[past caring]

4 hours ago, acada said:

Keep in mind it is voyager run. May differ in harder difficulties.

I'm not sure that it will/it should? By which I mean that, yes, there may be variables on harder difficulties that reduce your chance of hitting the bear in the first place, and possibly of dealing a critical hit, but with those caveats, a critical hit ought to still be a critical hit.

Anyway, my real point is to agree with you - following the TFTFT changes I definitely think it has become a lot easier to kill a bear with a revolver and that one-shot kills are more frequent. In fact, I'm not sure I'd even had a one shot revolver kill previously but I've had a couple this time around. First time I wasn't even sure until I'd checked the stats afterward. He was dancing around outside PVF and I shot him through the porch window. It was only a couple of days into the run, so the revolver was the only thing I had. I knew the first shot had hit from the reaction and I thought I'd pumped a few more into him, but once he dropped a minute or so later, the stats showed all but the first shot had missed......

[hozz1235]

From my understanding, anything which causes the bear to bleed, does technically "kill" it with one shot.  When I hear of a "one-shot kill", I think you shoot it the first time and it drops over dead on the spot.  Are you saying the revolver is causing more "bleed" shots?

[Valuable Hunting Knife]

7 hours ago, acada said:

Keep in mind it is voyager run. May differ in harder difficulties.

This (probably my most memorable encounter in the game) was on stalker, although right after the revolver update so not sure if settings have changed since:

 

[past caring]

I dunno.

 

7 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

From my understanding, anything which causes the bear to bleed, does technically "kill" it with one shot.  When I hear of a "one-shot kill", I think you shoot it the first time and it drops over dead on the spot.  Are you saying the revolver is causing more "bleed" shots?

I dunno.

All I am saying is that since TFTFT I have managed to kill a bear a couple of times with just a single revolver shot, whereas that hadn't occurred previously.

In terms of 'evidence' it's purely impressionistic, of course - and  evidence to the contrary of others who play more than I do probably ought to be given a greater weight. I'll also admit it wasn't something I'd tried previously - received wisdom is you don't go after a bear with less than a rifle or bow, so that's what I always did.

[hozz1235]

Well, I guess the moral of the story is, if hunting bear with a revolver works for you, do it!  I'll continue to hunt with either a bow or rifle, so I can have more reaction time when the bear chooses to charge.

[acada]

I will continue revolver hunting. BTW bear spawning. Was it usual that there was more than one bear on the map? I think I do have all of them spawned. Previously when I walked in PV and spotted one, I did not encounter another bear on that map. This run I positivelly met 3 bears in PV. One at house, one at barn and one at aitplane. The one near signal hill was not present though. Or the Muskeg. I met one at entry near ML and dodged it. Continued towards BR and voila farewell commitee was present as well. This run the Bear Island is fully bear island.

[Leeanda]

I'm not on voyager but pilgrim and bears in pv are at least three,usually four on my runs.  I think 4 might be a bug though.but  the standard setting is still low I believe for both levels.I.  

[SpanishMoss]

11 hours ago, peteloud said:

I have often wondered whether a bear could be killed with the revolver.  You have solved my query, thanks.  I have shot many deer with the revolver.

 

[conanjaguar]

2 hours ago, SpanishMoss said:

 

Aw, c’mon, I coulda sworn that TLD and Doom were entirely different games.

[acada]

True TLD is not shooter game. But when I am searching for juicy meat, which happens to walk around and it is not yet in my pantry, I rather bring 1,5 kg revolver plus around 20 rounds. Anyway I wonder what caliber the revolver is when it is able to bring down bear. I am not hunter, but I think even .45CP would just piss the bear off. But it is in game and I take it as game mechanic.

[hozz1235]

5 hours ago, acada said:

I rather bring 1,5 kg revolver plus around 20 rounds.

If weight is important, why not use the 0.5kg bow?

[acada]

Ehm that is easy answer. I checked this run stats and from 50 shots I have 3 hits. True, I trained on rabbits, but I have to admit, I am crap. I will continue improving my bow shooting. For now I cannot rely on it.

[Blizzard Walker]

Early game post update it seems that the revolver is going to be the first available weapon unless you find the rifle early. Even making the bow early requires finding some arrows or making an early forge run.

Apart from the revolver's value to scare off wolves, I find it useful for short range deer hunting and ambushing wolves and bears.  You can crouch and shoot the revolver in the early game unlike the bow.  I find this useful for creeping up on deer and lining up a head shot.  Fishing huts and ledges allow you to lure in wolves and bears with stones so you can take short range shots - a close up bear is hard to miss.  At Revolver skill 1 or 2 you're not likely to drop the animal instantly but it will bleed out. 2 of the 4 bears shot once with the revolver on a current Voyageur run died close to my base. The other two died near its cave and I was satisfied to get two more bear hides.

[acada]

I think bears just spread the news. They are on me. Right now I came to the Coastal Highway, Quonset. Morning after my arrival I decided to cull wolf population. Went to frozen sea. Shot 3 of them and walked towards fourth. It ran away. I thought HA I am so scarry. Turned around and saw bear, which usually roams down from the hill to the gas station. Nowehere to hide I did no risk shot. Instead I vacated (leaving somewhat brown trail) to the Misanthrope. What a surprise, there was another bear walking towards me. Lucky bears doesnt know how to dismantle fishing shed.

[past caring]

TBH I don't think lack of skill with the bow early game is really the issue - the bear is a bloody big target, so it isn't too difficult to hit, even on lower skill levels, particularly if you can get yourself somewhere relatively easy to shoot from, like an inaccessible ledge or the porch of PVF.*

The real problem with the bow early on is the lack of ammo - you're probably going to need to scour 4 or 5 maps pretty thoroughly even to find 8-12 arrowheads, which is around the minimum to make enough arrows for the bow to be a viable weapon. 

* - the skill problem with the bow can't be got around. You can help things by crafting arrows, but ultimately you only make real progress by shooting at animals and hitting them. So it's a false economy waiting to use the bow until you have a huge supply of arrows - just make those early shots count. As Mr Bear is a big target, he's a prime candidate...

[hozz1235]

3 hours ago, past caring said:

you're probably going to need to scour 4 or 5 maps pretty thoroughly even to find 8-12 arrowheads,

Why not just make some arrowheads?

[hozz1235]

I really don't use the bow until I hit skill level 5.  I can pretty much max Archery just by making arrows (and reading books).

[past caring]

31 minutes ago, hozz1235 said:

Why not just make some arrowheads?

Personal approach, I guess. For me, the regions with forges, FM, BR and DP are not ones I want to spend time in early game - I want some decent clothing, some decent kit and something with which I can kill the things that are going to eat me unless I kill them first (at minimum the revolver and a reasonable amount of ammo and ideally the rifle and some ammo). Once I've got those, I'll go there, but I'm very much on a mission; grab the loot, forge the arrowheads and get out again as soon as I can. But that's just me.....

[UTC-10]

If you want arrows without the forging, better do more beachcombing and trust to luck.  Usually individual broken arrows wash up though I have seen the occasional intact arrow.  Be sure, of course, to have the feathers and arrow shafts so the broken arrows can be crafted into simple arrows at a convenient work bench.  

I forged about 18 arrowheads, still have 5 arrowheads left, and have about 30 arrows.  Several from the Barn in Pleasant Valley, several found next to ravaged deer carcasses, and a fair number more from beachcombing in Desolation, Crumbling, and Coastal Highway.  It was by no means fast but it was much more rewarding than beachcombing in those areas before the December update.  

Good luck. 

I also use the revolver on occasion to hunt.  Got a doe which was the devil to find (it went further than I imagined at the time) and later on a buck that dropped dead on the spot.  

I play Pilgrim so predators usually would not be a problem but I always would carry the revolver as the best trade-off between using a bow or rifle.  This was especially true when I had not yet acquired a moose hide satchel (using the rifle).  

[ManicManiac]

Revolver Hunting:
Yes, to me it's perfectly viable. 
      *However, like any tool/resource it depends on how you apply/use it.

I find that between fish, deer, and rabbits we have pretty good access to be able to build up fairly large food stores (if we want).
I also think that the revolver is decent enough for deer that revolver hunting is a good way to get a good food/bullet ratio (in terms of kgs per shot).

Wolves are also fairly vulnerable to the revolver (provided a well-placed head shot).  Granted if we're taking a shot at a charging wolf... then it's more likely we'll have a quick struggle to deal with.  If we take the time hunt an unsuspecting wolf, I find that a head shot from the revolver fairly consistently drops a wolf.

Since I only tend to hunt when I really need to... I find that revolver hunting is a good way to conserve rifle ammo.

When it comes to bears and moose... I can't really recommend the revolver (as I mentioned before - every tool as uses that it's better suited for than others).  Can bears bleed out form one revolver shot, sure... but finding the carcass later and being in a good spot to harvest aren't necessarily a guarantee.  Since Moose don't bleed out (last I knew, anyway) then I'd say the revolver isn't the best choice for hunting bear or moose... but I assume that's a reasonably common consensus. 

So, for the overall question of revolver hunting, I say yes... but does it depend on what you're hunting.
To contribute to a diet of Rabbit, Deer, and Fish... then revolver hunting Deer is rather effective and useful.

Edited March 3, 2023 by ManicManiac