Monolith Lake: An Excellent Long Term Base

[Glflegolas]

IDK about you, but I find that since the Free-Form Fishing Update, Monolith Lake and area makes an excellent place for long-term survival. Why?

• Shelter very close to the lake: Lake Cave is an excellent base. Never get cabin fever, and there's fishing just outside your doorstep.
• Loads of food: Lots o' fish in Monolith Lake, and, with a couple of tip-traps, they can be caught passively. There's also rabbits (also passively snareable), and a quick walk to Peak Cave will provide Ptarmigan for making broth. That's not to mention the two deer that spawn just south and west of the lake, and the moose which occasionally shows up. In a pinch, there's lots of cattails, too.
• Never run out of lamp oil. Just cook the fish.
• Fuel: tons of that around too. Firewood spawns everywhere, and Lake Cave, Peak Cave, and Pensive Vista are all close by with loads of coal.
• Bored of Lake Cave? Spend a night at Pensive Vista. Or Peak Cave. The views from both locations are incredible. They're also less noisy if you don't like the waterfall sound.
• Workbench not too far: If you have unlocked Bunker Gamma, a few hours' walk away you have a workbench. And some harvestable metal if you need to make repairs.
• No predators: Wolves don't ever walk onto the lake. No bears around either. The moose is only there sometimes. Don't worry about your smelly fish, they won't be found.

With that said, there are a couple disadvantages of living in this area...

• No bed: you got to bring a bedroll. Leaving a bearskin bedroll in the cave of your choice is best.
• Reclaimed wood, metal, and cloth are rare: you might need to make a supply run to Milton every now and then to get those supplies.
• It's a long way to make tools: Going to Spence for making new tools is quite a long way's walk.
• And even farther for ammo: If you want ammo, you need to go to Bleak Inlet. Maybe just use a bow and arrows, craftable using local resources?

Overall, though, I strongly believe that the area around Monolith Lake is a solid choice for long-term living, or at least making a vacation home. Yes, I know some people will disagree with me and say that Jackrabbit Island or the Mountaineer's Hut or Camp Office are the cat's meow, but I do recommend giving Monolith Lake at least a try for a week or so. You may be pleasantly surprised

[James Hickok]

5 hours ago, Glflegolas said:

IDK about you, but I find that since the Free-Form Fishing Update, Monolith Lake and area makes an excellent place for long-term survival. Why?

• Shelter very close to the lake: Lake Cave is an excellent base. Never get cabin fever, and there's fishing just outside your doorstep.
• Loads of food: Lots o' fish in Monolith Lake, and, with a couple of tip-traps, they can be caught passively. There's also rabbits (also passively snareable), and a quick walk to Peak Cave will provide Ptarmigan for making broth. That's not to mention the two deer that spawn just south and west of the lake, and the moose which occasionally shows up. In a pinch, there's lots of cattails, too.
• Never run out of lamp oil. Just cook the fish.
• Fuel: tons of that around too. Firewood spawns everywhere, and Lake Cave, Peak Cave, and Pensive Vista are all close by with loads of coal.
• Bored of Lake Cave? Spend a night at Pensive Vista. Or Peak Cave. The views from both locations are incredible. They're also less noisy if you don't like the waterfall sound.
• Workbench not too far: If you have unlocked Bunker Gamma, a few hours' walk away you have a workbench. And some harvestable metal if you need to make repairs.
• No predators: Wolves don't ever walk onto the lake. No bears around either. The moose is only there sometimes. Don't worry about your smelly fish, they won't be found.

With that said, there are a couple disadvantages of living in this area...

• No bed: you got to bring a bedroll. Leaving a bearskin bedroll in the cave of your choice is best.
• Reclaimed wood, metal, and cloth are rare: you might need to make a supply run to Milton every now and then to get those supplies.
• It's a long way to make tools: Going to Spence for making new tools is quite a long way's walk.
• And even farther for ammo: If you want ammo, you need to go to Bleak Inlet. Maybe just use a bow and arrows, craftable using local resources?

Overall, though, I strongly believe that the area around Monolith Lake is a solid choice for long-term living, or at least making a vacation home. Yes, I know some people will disagree with me and say that Jackrabbit Island or the Mountaineer's Hut or Camp Office are the cat's meow, but I do recommend giving Monolith Lake at least a try for a week or so. You may be pleasantly surprised

As much as i like the area i dont think its a good place for "long term" living like You said. It also matters how we understand the "long term". For me its 100 days and above without leaving. Also no predators no bears its kinda boring for me as well and the fact that you need to haul a lot of cloth and materials for fixing the bedroll (it decays much faster in caves than interiors). And yes in my opinion the best place for long term is Coastal Highway hands down. 

Its a cool place to stay for a while tho, hunt and harvest the moose. Very nice views. 

 

[Serenity]

Yeah, I don't agree about long term either. Aside from the lack of some resources it can get a bit boring there. It's a nice place to spend a vacation though.

I really like the place, but I wasn't happy with the fishing yield. Probably just got unlucky though and didn't try that long.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Serenity

[hozz1235]

HRV is my favorite zone.  You make some really good points @Glflegolas but I also agree with the others.  Although each person has their own perspective on different aspects of the game, which is one of things that makes this game so great - it appeals to many!

[Glflegolas]

When I mean "long term" I mean staying in one place for more than a week, as I am generally a nomad, never staying in one place for too long. 14 days in one place is for me a really long stay.

Here are my (personal) definitions of stay length, yours may differ:

• overnight: basically what the name implies
• short-term: 2-3 nights
• vacation: 4-6 nights
• long stay: 7-13 nights
• I live there: 14+ nights

[ManicManiac]

Honestly, I find that with appropriate planning and provisioning... nearly (I emphasize nearly) any place can be used for a long-term encampment.
Some will certainly be more challenging than others.

Monolith Lake:
Potential Moose
At least three rabbit runs that I can think of nearby
Sometimes deer / sometimes wolves *in the surrounding area (sometimes we can even use a lone wolf to hunt deer for us )
Total of three Caves nearby (Watchful Falls Cave, Peak Cave, Pensive Vista Cave)
*The resources that can be found on that "upper-shelf"... makes for a place one can carve out a viable living.

To my mind it's not a bad pick of one wanted to live in Hushed River Valley... 
Personally, I tend to favor the cave near Stairsteps Lake.

Edited September 29, 2023 by ManicManiac

[Glflegolas]

I guess that begs the question: are there any named locations that really don't make for a good long-term encampment? Here are a few I can think of:

• The cave between the two rope climbs from Milton Basin to Paradise Meadows Farm
• Cannery Pier
• Lonely Cave or the nearby prepper cache
• The prepper cache in Ash Canyon
• Ash Canyon Gold Mine
• Any bear cave

Here are a few other locations that aren't terrible, but have a much better option rather close by:

• Three Strikes Farmstead
• Archie's Crawlspace
• Forest Cave
• Hilltop Cave
• Fallen Lighthouse
• Echo One Radio Tower

[Blizzard Walker]

I agree with Glflegolas that Monolith Lake makes for a much better long term base with the addition of free form fishing.  Improved fishing provides for abundant food and lamp oil - just bring enough fishing tackle.

Monolith Lake still falls short of my expectations for long encampments.

My idea of a long term stay is 100+ days.  I will park my character at the Coastal Highway fishing cabins or TWM's Crystal Lake for long stays.  I view Coastal Highway as the best such location due to the availability of cloth, leather, metal and saplings via beach combing.  A fair amount of cloth and metal can be accumulated at the Mountaineer's Hut even without trekking back to the PV Farmhouse.

I would view Monolith Lake as comparable to my two favorite long term locations IF bears and wolves visited the lake.  I say this as I rely on a steady supply of wolf, bear, deer and rabbit hides to maintain clothes and the bear bedroll.  Having to import wolf and bear hides in addition to cloth and metal make Monolith Lake less desirable in my opinion.

[James Hickok]

On 9/29/2023 at 6:10 PM, ManicManiac said:

Honestly, I find that with appropriate planning and provisioning... nearly (I emphasize nearly) any place can be used for a long-term encampment.
Some will certainly be more challenging than others.

Ofc that is correct. I have lived in all of the regions for 100 days without leaving on interloper on my 1200+ day challenge. Some require diffrent approach but you can stay and survive in every region in the game if you know what ur doing ofc. 

[TiffTastic]

On 9/29/2023 at 8:58 AM, Glflegolas said:

When I mean "long term" I mean staying in one place for more than a week, as I am generally a nomad, never staying in one place for too long. 14 days in one place is for me a really long stay.

Here are my (personal) definitions of stay length, yours may differ:

• overnight: basically what the name implies
• short-term: 2-3 nights
• vacation: 4-6 nights
• long stay: 7-13 nights
• I live there: 14+ nights

I tend to be very nomadic and get restless easily even in a well set up base. Plus I love outdoor bases. These lengths are kinda really close to my standards. So I will have to give monolith lake a try.