Why the lantern should appear before the flare

[Magnuzn]

Currently if you press 1/UP you will equip the flare, then after one more press you will get the lantern, but it should be the other way around.

The reasons for this is that flares are 1 time use items, and they're rare. A player will not always have a flair, but (90%+) of people will have a lantern at all times through the whole game. This means that the muscle memory will press once to get a lantern (because it's used so frequently), but if you've recently found a flair you will choose that instead. Considering flare are rare and can be quickly used up, this makes it illogical.

Then comes the second problem: The flair lights so fast compared to the lantern that by the time you've figured out it's not the lantern you will most likely have lit up the flare. More often than not I end up wasting flares I had forgotten I had, simply because it lights too fast.

Another problem, which ties into the muscle memory, is that people use the lantern far more than the flare. So it's only logical that it's first. The flare is only used/activated once when scaring off animals or occasionally used when you don't have a lantern. The lantern on the other hand is used frequently, often several times in a room/house for looking around, but also before and after doing stuff like cooking, sleeping and so on.

I get that it's probably done to react quickly to a threat and get the flare up quickly, but that happens so rarely and would otherwise be just as fast with 2 clicks. Instead it's in the way of perhaps the most used item in the game; the lantern. With the lantern first in line the time it takes to light it up would be a clue that you're not using the flare (if wanted). That way you can't accidentally use up something like you can now with the flare first in line.

[bethany]

It's interesting that you note having a lantern more often than having a flare. Personally, I almost always find myself with several flares before I encounter a lantern. Often times, I even start with a flare in my inventory. I have not asked for the reasoning behind this, but I believe the flare takes that #1 spot thanks in part to wolf encounters. I had a game going last night where I was trying to sneak back into my base without a nearby wolf spotting me. As soon as he was alerted to my presence, he charged. He was so close, I barely had time to react...I knew I couldn't survive a fight, but I had a flare going within seconds, and was able to scare him off. I'm not sure that would have been the case if I had found it necessary to cycle through the lighting options.

Shorter version: I think this exists in its current state because you often find yourself needing the flare in dangerous situations, which requires faster/easier access. The lantern is typically only used when you want to get a better view of your immediate surroundings.

[Magnuzn]

Personally, I almost always find myself with several flares before I encounter a lantern

Lanterns are available at most (all I think?) of the spawns in nearby locations. I always find one, then usually several extras I salvage for fuel. Even if you find flares first it doesn't matter as the flare will always be the first if that's all you have anyway. My reasoning though is that everyone finds a lamp in the long run, and flare run out! It's way easier to keep a lamp for 100 days than flares.

I had a game going last night... as he was alerted to my presence, he charged.

Like I said I understand that this is the reason for it, but pressing a button twice doesn't take that long. The odds of a few milliseconds being what saved you aren't high. I can promise you more people will waste flares than people who get saved by a few milliseconds. Also you could argue that flares shouldn't be used like that. If you don't have a gun or a lit torch, then you kind'a should get punished. To me flares are used when wolves aggro from a distance or when you need to walk past them, not as a last line defense. But that's just me.

Shorter version: I think this exists in its current state because you often find yourself needing the flare in dangerous situations, which requires faster/easier access. The lantern is typically only used when you want to get a better view of your immediate surroundings.

As I mentioned I don't think that happens often enough or matters often enough when we're talking just a few milliseconds. Also the amount of times you use the lantern far outweigh the amount of times you need to rapidly use the flare, or at least that's how I see it. But let's say that's not the case. Why then is not the torch, which is more defensive than the flare, the first or even second option? To me this doesn't make much sense.

[GhostWolf]

How about if we could hotkey both to different buttons? I would rather have the flare and torch on a hotkey and then a different hotkey for the lantern an matches.

[Magnuzn]

How about if we could hotkey both to different buttons? I would rather have the flare and torch on a hotkey and then a different hotkey for the lantern an matches.

I would love that, but considering the basically ruined the matches by removing the L shortcut I highly doubt they will

[Boss Llama]

I carry a flare at all times, but pretty much never carry a lantern unless I happen to be indoors in the location in which it spawned. They're heavy, their fuel is heavy, and I really don't have a need for external light sources 95% of the time - when I do, it's rare that a single match doesn't suffice to answer whatever question I may have.

I'd stick with Flares appearing first, due to their utility for wolves, or with having 1 remain the default cycling hotkey with the optional ability to program hotkeys for specific things directly.

[Magnuzn]

I carry a flare at all times

You should carry torches instead! They have an "attack" function, can be used as fuel and can be used several times.

You say you don't use lanterns much, so I must ask: Do you play with a very high brightness? I find lanterns a must for searching houses, if not it will be too dark.

I used to use matches a lot myself, but when they removed them from the L button I stopped and they lost 70% of their use to me.

[Boss Llama]

You say you don't use lanterns much, so I must ask: Do you play with a very high brightness? I find lanterns a must for searching houses, if not it will be too dark.

My brightness is normal, but I permanently run with my primary monitor in Night View mode (which enhances contrast) and gamma slightly tweaked. It pretty much lets me see in the dark and through most vision-obscuring effects in any game I play. The only points in TLD where I actually "need" a light source is if I'm inside for that brief moment at dawn when everything turns pitch black. I also will use a light in mines or deep internal parts of structures that have zero light source otherwise in order to increase my movement speed, but I can navigate even most abandoned mines without a light if I take my time. When I do need one, I usually flick a match and it lasts plenty long to get me through to the next environmental light source.