Cougar, travois and recent update questions


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Hello follow TLD fans

Long time player here, returning for my annual winter approaching festive binge of TLD.

I haven't played since early Jan 2023 and just returned the other day. Really happy with the updates, new animations, new items, POIs and so on. I have a few questions if I may...Β 

1- Firstly, I saw the cougar is now a part of the game, but it has been pulled due to feedback and bugs. I was wondering if this is still pulled from the game currently or has it been put back in yet?

2- Secondly - the travois-Β  looks great, but I tend to play by having a base, hoarding items, and going on long expeditions for resources. How do you guys use the travois as I just can't see it being used in my current playstyle?

3 - Third-Β  Ptarmigans. The recipes require ptarmigan meat, and the new insulated core needs ptarmigan feathers I think(?). I am currently in Milton and found some nests but no ptarmigans. Are they always supposed to be there or is it a time of day kind of deal? A google search also suggested fire hardened arrows to hunt with?

4 - Also, I noticed radio towers can now be repaired. Google is telling me they are for caches. Can someone elaborate, are these now the new hidden bunkers and how do they work?

5- Finally, as a returning player from an almost 2 years break, there are some features I am trying to adjust to. I last played just after forsaken airfield dropped. I play custom - Interloper settings with rifle and tools enabled. Any advice for a returning veteran with the newer updates?

(p.s, who was brave enough to try the new difficulty, and how hard is it?)

Thanks



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Welcome back 😊 

The cougar will be bought back in December with the last tales update.

I don't use the travois ,too much wear and tear in it.. but it comes in handy if you want to drag a whole bear or moose from one place to another.

Ptarmigans are random ,one minute there the next not.. but if you can hear them they'll be around..they sound like chickens lol..the wildlife refresh may change their locations though in December. Along with everything else.

Radio towers are part of the tales update and are used for completing signal void ....an interesting challenge you can now do if you have the dlc.

I'm a custom pilgrimer so can't help with the last two I'm afraid....

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1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

Welcome back 😊 

The cougar will be bought back in December with the last tales update.

I don't use the travois ,too much wear and tear in it.. but it comes in handy if you want to drag a whole bear or moose from one place to another.

Ptarmigans are random ,one minute there the next not.. but if you can hear them they'll be around..they sound like chickens lol..the wildlife refresh may change their locations though in December. Along with everything else.

Radio towers are part of the tales update and are used for completing signal void ....an interesting challenge you can now do if you have the dlc.

I'm a custom pilgrimer so can't help with the last two I'm afraid....

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That's great, thankyou. I didn't consider dragging animals. I guess you butcher them/quarter them and drag the meat and hide back with the travois. Interesting. I will also be checking ptarmigan nests for chicken like sounds from now on :)Β 

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22 minutes ago, Robbiieeee said:

That's great, thankyou. I didn't consider dragging animals. I guess you butcher them/quarter them and drag the meat and hide back with the travois. Interesting. I will also be checking ptarmigan nests for chicken like sounds from now on :)Β 

Quartered or cooked lol..it'll hold it all..

Well they sound like chickens to me, and they're a bit bugged at the moment and can get stuck clucking ..they're not hard to miss sound wise😁

Good luck

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16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

1- Firstly, I saw the cougar is now a part of the game, but it has been pulled due to feedback and bugs. I was wondering if this is still pulled from the game currently or has it been put back in yet?

Like Leeanda said the Cougar is currently unimplemented but should return in the next month or so in it's redux form (along with Part 6 of the DLC). We have scant information about what that will look like, but given what Raph has said about player feedback on the predux Cougar I suspect it will likely reflect some of those changes. Currently the "Cougar Claw Knife" and "Cougar Hide Wrap" recipes and items are still in-game, though it isn't possible to get new ones without more cougars (unless you didn't update or de-patch the game).

16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

2- Secondly - the travois-Β  looks great, but I tend to play by having a base, hoarding items, and going on long expeditions for resources. How do you guys use the travois as I just can't see it being used in my current playstyle?

Travois is interesting. Personally I only really use it for moving bases or exporting crap from one region to another, though I've seen others use it for hauling fish, bear/moose meat, or even dragging it around a forest and chopping firewood on a warm afternoon.Β 

Some Travois Tips:

  • Don't try and load it up fully, especially on harder Game Modes: Travois move MUCH slower the heavier it's loaded, 0-30kg isn't a significant penalty, but 30-50kg and especially 50-75kg are quite severe. It's much safer and easier to do multiple trips than try ferrying 75kg of crap.
  • If you're trying to haul loot from one region to another, build Rock Caches at areas where Travois cannot traverse (e.g. the log over the gap in The Ravine, the tunnel in The Ravine, the 'beam walk' in The Ravine). It takes ages to manually pick up items you've dropped (especially lots of tiny items, like Rose Hips), and it can be quite dangerous if the weather changes on you while doing this.
  • On harder modes I'd only recommend using the Travois during the warmest part of the day: mid-late afternoon and early evening. Don't try and Travois in blizzards, it'll shred your clothes and condition.
  • Travois cost 4 Maple Saplings to craft, but yield 3 when you harvest it so it's really only a cost a 3 temporarily and 1 per crafting. They don't cost Maple Saplings to repair, just Deer Hide and Guts (70% per action). So they're very affordable to make and repair. You can't repair them while loaded however, and they can become Ruined, so if you're going to embark on a long trek with a e.g. 50% Travois, prolly best to 'waste' some repair and fix it up rather than unloading/repairing/repacking in the field.
16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

3 - Third-Β  Ptarmigans. The recipes require ptarmigan meat, and the new insulated core needs ptarmigan feathers I think(?). I am currently in Milton and found some nests but no ptarmigans. Are they always supposed to be there or is it a time of day kind of deal? A google search also suggested fire hardened arrows to hunt with?

There are a ton of Ptarmigans in Mountain Town, namely the Farm, Park and Waterfalls area. Ptarmigan nests are not in all regions, but generally are common in higher elevation areas of non-coastal regions. You can hunt 1 per nest with a Stone (provided you don't miss), but yes Fire Hardened Arrows are ideal, you can easily kill a whole flock with them. Definitely worth crafting (useful VS bunnies, too!)

It takes 1.25 Ptarmigan to make Improvised Insulation, or 2.5 to craft a Down Bedroll. You can equip two Insulation at once, and the Bedroll is arguably better than Bearskin since it has decent warmth and is much lighter (but lower Condition healing rate). IMO it is pretty easy to kill Ptarmigans even just bonking one per flock with a rock. Insulation is OP. Ptarmigan are pretty quick to harvest the meat from, and their corpses weigh almost nothing with just the feathers. So it's pretty easy to rip the meat and carry their carcasses around, either dropping them to bait wolves or spending harvesting a down when you can afford it.

16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

4 - Also, I noticed radio towers can now be repaired. Google is telling me they are for caches. Can someone elaborate, are these now the new hidden bunkers and how do they work?

Once you've repaired a Transmitter and have the Handheld Shortwave you can run around during an Aurora/Glimmer Fog until you find a chirping signal, then turn yourself until the signal indicator on your Shortwave to faces the correct direction and approach it till it chirps louder and louder. When you're very close to the POI it'll start spazzing out with it's chirping and you'll get a prompt to uncover what you've found beneath the snow.

There are two kinds of POI you can find with the Handheld Shortwave: (orange) Supply Cache and (blue) Tales Bunkers (or other TALES related POI). Make sure you're on the correct mode you want, as your Shortwave will not chirp for the alternate mode, but 'will' for the mode you're on even if it's in your pocket and approach a POI. Tales Bunkers are related to progressing through the three TALES and not the same as the fallout shelter style "Prepper Caches" (of which there are now 9). Some regions have both a TALES Bunker and a Prepper Bunker.

There are 6 Transmitters which can be repaired (though only 4 need to be repaired for TALES, the other 2 (Blackrock and Desolation Point) are just for more loot. Each requires this to repair: 1 Car Battery, 3 Fuse, 2 Wires, 5 Metal Scrap. Generally you can find the battery near the transmitter, and 'sometimes' part of the wires/fuses: plenty of extra wires/fuses can be found in industrial areas of Great Bear. The next night after you repair a Transmitter will always be an aurora, so it can be advantageous to deliberately not do this until you're ready to go hunting for bunkers/caches.

16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

5- Finally, as a returning player from an almost 2 years break, there are some features I am trying to adjust to. I last played just after forsaken airfield dropped. I play custom - Interloper settings with rifle and tools enabled. Any advice for a returning veteran with the newer updates?

Biggest changes to TLD over the last 2 years are the new cooking system. Lots of new cooking recipes with different buffs/debuffs, often requiring new cooking ingredients, skillet/cooking pot, or hard to find Recipe Cards in unique locations. Lily's Pancakes, Camber Flight Porridge, Dockworker's Pie, and especially Prepper's Pie are extremely strong. I'd recommend keeping an eye out for Burdock whenever you can: they're quite rare (1-4 per region usually) and saving them (!not preparing them!) for "Prepper's Pies".

Fire Hardened Arrows are great for training archery and killing Ptarmigan/Bunnies. They 'can' scare off Wolves, but wouldn't recommend it.

You can easily craft Improvised Crampons now, which are inferior to real Crampons but better than nothing.

Improvised Insulation and Down Bedroll are extremely strong. I often see players crafting two Insulation ASAP, or forgoing Bearskin Bedroll for Down Bedroll to save carry weight.

Aviator's Cap and Flight Jacket are pretty incredible. Aviator's is currently best-in-slot for Outer (left) head, and Flight Jacket is basically a Wolfskin Coat you can find on Day 1 if you're lucky (both can spawn on Interloper!).

New Perks. Settled Mind makes you immune to Cabin Fever, simplifying many gameplay loops on 'Loper. Big Cat Killer makes it much easier to avoid or hunt wildlife, though it can make it easier to get ambushed by a wolf in adverse terrain (with low sight lines). Celestial Navigator is a meme, pretty hard to get any use out of: it's strong but pretty restrictive about when it's effects come into play.

Cheat Death is a new mechanic where you can respawn up to 3 times in your world after death. It's pretty punishing ,since you'll lost many of your items (including possibly your Recycled Can), but it can add a new layer of experiences. The color filter is really cool, as is trying to survive with 3 stacks of the affliction.

16 hours ago, Robbiieeee said:

(p.s, who was brave enough to try the new difficulty, and how hard is it?)

Misery Mode is pretty hard, it's basically "Interloper+" and is similar to the community made "Dead Man" challenge. I'd recommend giving it a try, though don't feel too attached to your character. Misery has unique afflictions that occur at set day intervals which cannot be cured. It's loot settings are similar to Interloper, with higher Needs drain, and the world is as cold as Late-Game Interloper but on Day 1, though it doesn't get colder over time.

Personally I don't really find Misery fun, same as "Dead Man" challenge; I find it too micro-management intensive and don't feel it fits TLD's design for a "Survival Sandbox" (no Perk selection at all, and (without spoilers) the endgame state of Misery is pretty oppressive). I see Misery more as a 'Challenge' ( like "As the Dead Sleep") than a proper Survival Sandbox, since it's doesn't seem designed to be lived-in long term like Pilgrim-Interloper.

tl;dr The experience of Misery is fun, but trying to survive long-term in Misery isn't really enjoyable even for a hardcore player.

Edited by Veskaida
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11 hours ago, Leeanda said:

I always choose Astrid so she's forgotten the oath she took..though I don't think wildlife counts 😁

That's a good point. Astrid is a pretty crappy doctor at upholding her Hippocratic Oath given how many bunny necks she's snapped.

πŸ€™πŸ°πŸ«²"Squeak? Squeak-squeak!" *cronch*

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1 hour ago, Veskaida said:

That's a good point. Astrid is a pretty crappy doctor at upholding her Hippocratic Oath given how many bunny necks she's snapped.

πŸ€™πŸ°πŸ«²"Squeak? Squeak-squeak!" *cronch*

Bunnies are safe with me .. it's bear and moose she goes after lol..  go big or go home😁

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