How do the longest-lived survivors use limited resources?

[Wasteland Watcher]

Hello fellow survivors!

How do the longest living survivors in TLD use the limited resources?

To clarify, besides fire (the obvious one), what resources are most necessary for a >4000 day survived game {edit: that involves no hibernation} ?

My gut feeling is "whatever is needed to keep your knife and ax sharp."

I guess up until the addition of sharpening stones we needed scrap metal and fir wood. Now that we have sharpening stones, can we freely use that metal for arrow heads, or is it better to save it for your knife after all?

I've read in some posts that you should only grab one pack of matches and leave all others and just come back for them when you are down to your last three matches, but to keep one magnifying glass on you at all times (again, leaving the rest and just coming back for them when the one you're holding breaks).

If you're one of those people who's lived over at least 1000 days, please share your opinion.

{edit} And once more to reiterate, no hibernation style gameplay suggestions please. {end edit}

[thinair]

Question though... do you really wanna spent like 100+ hours of boring game play to reach 4000 days? Do you know how most people on leader board accomplishes it? By sleeping 11-12 hour cycles, drinks water, runs themself to 5-10% condition, eats venison, recovers to 100% and repeats the cycle again. Its called hibernation. Super boring way to play.

By the way, when you find matches in a container, even if you put it back... decaying mechanism had been triggered and it will decay, so what you basically do, quit and load game back and make a note where you found those matches.

Another method to preserve matches, do long boiling cooking sessions. With hibernation 1kg venison of 800cal last ~3-4 days. So need to cook all of it, and on top of that boil a lot of water with 1 match. I used to do it at ~100% condition, and cook for 20+ hours until i reached ~8% condtion. Meaning... all venisons cooked plus ~100l of water.... with one match.

Thats just a part of the strategies. I'm so happy that i already been #1 on leaderboards... when it was only 1 map available then... took me like 25 hours if gameplay and it was boring as hell. First ever in tld history to reach 500 days... it was 542. #2 at that time was only ~250 days. now to get to #1 spot, person literally needs to be no lifer... trust me, you dont wanna play this game that way. I understand competative nature, but just enjoy the game, explore and play it the fun way.

[bethany]

Lots of great tips to be found here in the forums for sure. There was also a "gamer dad" that did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) in our subreddit a while ago. At the time, he had 1500+ days and some good advice to share:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/co ... lasting_i/

[Doc Gonzo]

Lots of great tips to be found here in the forums for sure. There was also a "gamer dad" that did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) in our subreddit a while ago. At the time, he had 1500+ days and some good advice to share:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/co ... lasting_i/

Actually, the last time he checked in he was at +2,000 days! I wonder what he's at now?

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/co ... ill_going/

There was also a lengthy, well thought out thread here somewhere regarding what would kill you in a very long game. The general consensus was that with a magnifying glass the only thing that would kill you would be your own mistake.

[thinair]

the guy who has reached 2500 at a moment spent over 300 hours on this run, he started that run few months ago.

[Wasteland Watcher]

Thanks for the links & tips

I don't want to hibernate at all, just explore everyday. I'm wondering if there's anywhere I can live off of snares, fishing, and occasional run-deer-to-wolf-use-one-bullet-combo.

Anyhow I kind of just want to live forever melting snow, eating meat, and mapping out the northern wastes on my own without any pre-made maps.

Edit: just wanted to also mention I don't care about the leader boards.

I'm playing this the same way I used to play modded Fallout 3 with "primary needs" (need cooked food/water/sleep to live) -- ignore the missions and just live day by day exploring

[KD7BCH]

Lots of great tips to be found here in the forums for sure. There was also a "gamer dad" that did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) in our subreddit a while ago. At the time, he had 1500+ days and some good advice to share:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/co ... lasting_i/

Actually, the last time he checked in he was at +2,000 days! I wonder what he's at now?

https://www.reddit.com/r/thelongdark/co ... ill_going/

There was also a lengthy, well thought out thread here somewhere regarding what would kill you in a very long game. The general consensus was that with a magnifying glass the only thing that would kill you would be your own mistake.

I'd have to agree with the consensus regarding the magnifying glass. With the new sticks and torches mechanics it is possible to gather firewood in such abundance in a final game area such as Coastal Townsite which has plenty of sticks firewood around the area, rabbits within a days travel, and houses with a fireplace indoors. You can keep a fire going for days if all you are doing is pulling up sticks, making water, and harvesting rabbits, cooking rabbits. You don't even need clothes for this. Just don't get bit by a wolf. LOL

Can even simulate an out of matches situation on day 100. If you stop collecting matches, and just rely on the mag glass. Start a fire, make a torch, carry the fire inside. When the weather is favorable, carry enough firewood and the torch to your rabbit harvesting. Build a fire near the rabbit harvesting, harvest what you can while staying warm totally naked by the fire. You may have to build fires anyway if you have no tools to harvest the rabbits. Leave all wood pre-positioned in the vicinity of the snares. Make sure you have a pile of guts as well and can make more snares, with reclaimed wood that you harvest from broken snares. You can essentially trap this way forever. If you do end up freezing you will come back home to a house with a fire already burning to warm up. Only requires two bases. The one where you snare meat, and the other where you collect firewood, make fires indoors, and craft snares.

Its boring gameplay but you can endure indefinitely if you play smart and you avoid wolves. If you are playing on Pilgrim you'll never die playing like this. Could go on for decades. Bordon or Windows 10 uninstalling your product would kill you first.

[June]

I have reached day 520 on Stalker now. Does the leaderboard only update when you die? Also, why must it be measured in hours not in days/hours/minutes like ingame? that´s silly ^^

[thinair]

I have reached day 520 on Stalker now. Does the leaderboard only update when you die? Also, why must it be measured in hours not in days/hours/minutes like ingame? that´s silly ^^

yeah you need to die to get on leader boards.

[ThresholdSeven]

Hey guys. I'm currently at 2500+ days. I just want to respond to some of the above comments and add my two cents.

I started the run a few months ago. I admittedly used the hibernation technique to help get to around day 800 (my previous record was about 800 which ended after I found myself bleeding after a wolf attack without bandages or time to make one from my clothing). In those first 800 days I traveled a lot and acquired a lot of materials but also killed dozens of bears from the farmhouse porch which I then used to facilitate the hibernation. I didn't keep track of it closely, but I estimate about 300-400 of those days were eat, drink, sleep, repeat.

It was a little boring, but I wanted to get back to my previous record ASAP, and it only took me about a week playing a good portion of everyday. After that, the days from 800 all the way to 2500, I just played to have fun and only hibernated maybe a few days at a time just when I had an abundance of meat or to cure hides/saplings fast. I actively avoided hibernating because it was boring. With the implementation/fix concerning food poisoning with desolation point, hibernation is not nearly as possible/effective as it was anyway. The run has taken about 400 hours over 5 or 6 months in which time I have taken many long breaks from the game and played many other games.

Lasting 1000 or even 2000+ days does not have to be a grind at all and can be entirely fun as have been the last 1700 days of my run. Even the first 800 weren't so bad as I mixed up regular gameplay with the hibernation. I'm not single-mindedly attempting to top the leader board. I simply love playing the game and with the hours I've put into it have consequently built a high score run.

I've streamed every second of my run on Twitch and am happy to answer any questions live. Since the Timberwolf Mountain update I have been playing everyday again continuing my long run.

Two questions that were brought up on this thread concern critical supplies for a long run and immortality techniques. Although it seems that certain materials are in short supply, I assure you that there are more than enough materials in the game world to easily last thousands of days, even with casual supply management. The items are just so spread out and it is so time-consuming and dangerous to amass the supplies that they seem limited. They are not, with the exception of the new whetstone and gun cleaning kits and the mechanic which I have not had time enough to test extensively. Although it seems like a potential problem, the use of the forge to create crafted knives and hatchets and the relatively generous supply of rifles make it a small matter. Cloth and scrap metal is virtually limitless now and consequently so are sewing kits. Bullets are the real issue, but arrows are nearly limitless. There are only about 60-80 bullets on the map from my experience, but I've shot my bows hundreds of times and still have hundreds of shots left. A less than trivial amount of new materials spawn with each update which needs to be considered, but it does not drastically affect the outcome of an extremely long.

Immortality was possible and it may still be but I have not tested it since the Timberwolf update, though I suspect it is the same. It is also easier than one may expect. All that is needed is a handful of rabbit traps, 8 or 10 or so, if that, and a magnifying glass. Nothing else, not even clothing. I tested this a while back while living in the pleasant valley farmhouse. I pretended that I has nothing else. I was completely naked and had nothing in my inventory except said supplies and some emergency medical supplies just in case which I didn't use. I was able to live for two weeks fairly easily and had more water and food than I started the experiment with. I was satisfied that this experiment could have gone on indefinitely as long as the sun continued to come out periodically enough for me to start a fire outside and move the fire indoors with a torch taken from the fire. Gathering wood was the biggest issue, but doable.

I'd like to know how others are faring on their long runs, what supplies they seem to be running out of and if any other immortality techniques have been discovered.

[KD7BCH]

I look at lack of clothing as something that should be harshly penalized by frostbite and from frostbite hypothermia or inability to use hands or something. Being outside exposed to outside air very far below freezing with no protection and surviving simply isn't possible real world.

[ThresholdSeven]

I look at lack of clothing as something that should be harshly penalized by frostbite and from frostbite hypothermia or inability to use hands or something. Being outside exposed to outside air very far below freezing with no protection and surviving simply isn't possible real world.

If you are outside without clothing, you will freeze much faster in the game. The colder it is, the faster your "cold" bar will deplete. Once you are freezing, your condition will drop pretty fast and at the same rate (last time I checked) whether you are clothed or not. Perhaps the condition should drop faster if you are naked as opposed to clothed when you start to freeze, but I think the logic is that if you are freezing, your clothes aren't helping because you're already freezing and you might as well be naked. The mechanics for falling through the weak ice is even more complicated because your clothes get wet and you have to take them off to slow extra condition loss from the freezing wet clothing being on your skin, which is somewhat realistic. It's tough to balance realism with game mechanics because so many factors and conditions must be considered but I think it's good and acceptable as is.

Regardless, being naked in game is harshly penalized by the loss of condition at a much higher temperature than if you had clothing on (with the exception of wet clothing). I can't help but feel I'm missing your point since that is a basic mechanic in the game and one of the most apparent and important factors especially when starting a new game. The main priority is usually getting clothing to stay warmer immediately or finding shelter and fire if clothing is not found soon.

When experimenting with the rabbit trap/mag glass immortality, the lack of clothing is the most dangerous thing (besides the possibility of long periods without sunlight) and effects harvesting the bunnies and wood drastically as you must seek shelter much sooner and cannot harvest nearly as much of both if you start losing condition to freezing.

A realistic mechanic that I believe could be implemented for the pure sake of immersion is that the bunnies (or any animal) should be able to be taken indoors before butchering, or at least into one of the sheds. It's common practice to field dress a kill on site (take out its intestines and other innards) but butchering a kill on site or outside is extremely rare especially if the hunter or trapper risk freezing to death while doing so and especially when shelter is nearby. Sometimes deer are butchered outside (near buildings and away from the kill site) if the weather is nice enough and also in circumstances where hunters are camping outside on long remote hunting trips (far away from buildings), but that's generally when the weather isn't an immediate threat.

A bear would be tough to move without a sledge or some other means, but dragging a deer across the snow with a simple rope is common practice. As a deer hunter I've done this myself and I've never known of anyone butchering a deer on site except in rare circumstances where the hunters are in the middle of nowhere and planned to camp. The first episode of the reality show "The Hunt" comes to mind where a father and daughter were in the mountains hunting bear. They couldn't find the bear, so they shot a deer, butchered it and grilled some of it's meat on a camp fire right there at the kill site.

That all might seem off topic, but I just wanted to consider situations in the game that pertain directly to activities that greatly depend on the amount and quality of clothing worn and the resulting effects of the weather with a little realism/immersion mixed in, since realism is a main point in your original post. If you want to talk realism vs game play, there are many other things I would consider before the clothing mechanic which is already relatively realistic. Where's my bow drill? What's up with matches rotting after a month? A man can survive for months without food in real life, why do I starve to death after only fours days in game? What happened to the crafted snow shelters that used to be in the game and are a basic winter wilderness survival skill not to mention a simple lean to made from branches or pine boughs. Where are all the plastic bottles coming from? Why doesn't my water ever freeze? Why can't I cut down a tree? Where's my spear? I'd build a spike pit or a dead fall to supplement my vittles. Air drying fish? Smoking meat? Non perishable food perishing? The list goes on and on. But I don't care that much because I love the damn game. If I wanted extreme realism I'd go on an extended hunting/camping trip in Alaska

[Wasteland Watcher]

I look at lack of clothing as something that should be harshly penalized by frostbite and from frostbite hypothermia or inability to use hands or something. Being outside exposed to outside air very far below freezing with no protection and surviving simply isn't possible real world.

If you are outside without clothing, you will freeze much faster in the game. The colder it is, the faster your "cold" bar will deplete. Once you are freezing, your condition will drop pretty fast and at the same rate (last time I checked) whether you are clothed or not. Perhaps the condition should drop faster if you are naked as opposed to clothed when you start to freeze, but I think the logic is that if you are freezing, your clothes aren't helping because you're already freezing and you might as well be naked. The mechanics for falling through the weak ice is even more complicated because your clothes get wet and you have to take them off to slow extra condition loss from the freezing wet clothing being on your skin, which is somewhat realistic. It's tough to balance realism with game mechanics because so many factors and conditions must be considered but I think it's good and acceptable as is.

Regardless, being naked in game is harshly penalized by the loss of condition at a much higher temperature than if you had clothing on (with the exception of wet clothing). I can't help but feel I'm missing your point since that is a basic mechanic in the game and one of the most apparent and important factors especially when starting a new game. The main priority is usually getting clothing to stay warmer immediately or finding shelter and fire if clothing is not found soon.

When experimenting with the rabbit trap/mag glass immortality, the lack of clothing is the most dangerous thing (besides the possibility of long periods without sunlight) and effects harvesting the bunnies and wood drastically as you must seek shelter much sooner and cannot harvest nearly as much of both if you start losing condition to freezing.

A realistic mechanic that I believe could be implemented for the pure sake of immersion is that the bunnies (or any animal) should be able to be taken indoors before butchering, or at least into one of the sheds. It's common practice to field dress a kill on site (take out its intestines and other innards) but butchering a kill on site or outside is extremely rare especially if the hunter or trapper risk freezing to death while doing so and especially when shelter is nearby. Sometimes deer are butchered outside (near buildings and away from the kill site) if the weather is nice enough and also in circumstances where hunters are camping outside on long remote hunting trips (far away from buildings), but that's generally when the weather isn't an immediate threat.

A bear would be tough to move without a sledge or some other means, but dragging a deer across the snow with a simple rope is common practice. As a deer hunter I've done this myself and I've never known of anyone butchering a deer on site except in rare circumstances where the hunters are in the middle of nowhere and planned to camp. The first episode of the reality show "The Hunt" comes to mind where a father and daughter were in the mountains hunting bear. They couldn't find the bear, so they shot a deer, butchered it and grilled some of it's meat on a camp fire right there at the kill site.

That all might seem off topic, but I just wanted to consider situations in the game that pertain directly to activities that greatly depend on the amount and quality of clothing worn and the resulting effects of the weather with a little realism/immersion mixed in, since realism is a main point in your original post. If you want to talk realism vs game play, there are many other things I would consider before the clothing mechanic which is already relatively realistic.

Where's my bow drill?

What's up with matches rotting after a month?

A man can survive for months without food in real life, why do I starve to death after only fours days in game?

What happened to the crafted snow shelters that used to be in the game and are a basic winter wilderness survival skill not to mention a simple lean to made from branches or pine boughs.

Where are all the plastic bottles coming from?

Why doesn't my water ever freeze?

Why can't I cut down a tree?

Where's my spear?

I'd build a spike pit or a dead fall to supplement my vittles.

Air drying fish?

Smoking meat?

Non perishable food perishing?

The list goes on and on. But I don't care that much because I love the damn game. If I wanted extreme realism I'd go on an extended hunting/camping trip in Alaska

If all suggestions from this post and KD7BCH's post were added into game I'd be very happy.

It's impossible for me to get even a single day off alone to go camping and since I cannot go camping in real life due to work & family responsibilities, The Long Dark is the closest to camping I'll be able to get for the foreseeable future (next 10 years).

That's why the more realistic it is the more I like it, and the less realistic the less I like it.

[ThresholdSeven]

I believe this thread has gone off track and would be better suited for the suggestions section, especially since the title of the section this thread is in says that suggestions don't belong here. I apologize for not realizing that before I started to spout off my game suggestions.

[vancopower]

I just want to add that hibernation is the worst strategy now, because you are missing a lot of re-spawned trees and coal which could be essential to keep a fire going once you are down on matches and have only mag. glass which you could not use always since the weather gets bad lot of times and no fire is no water ect ect that part is very familiar to you all so I'll stop typing now

[ThresholdSeven]

I just want to add that hibernation is the worst strategy now, because you are missing a lot of re-spawned trees and coal which could be essential to keep a fire going once you are down on matches and have only mag. glass which you could not use always since the weather gets bad lot of times and no fire is no water ect ect that part is very familiar to you all so I'll stop typing now

Staying indoors for long periods of time and not gathering wood/coal isn't really penalized, at least pertaining to fuel, as there are tons of wood/coal and a large amount can be gathered in a short time.

Sleeping and eating/drinking many times back to back is still a viable strategy to pass time by fast in the game to do things like cure hides and saplings or simple push days by fast. It's pretty easy to do as long as you have a bunch of meat and water and you don't even have to starve or dehydrate to do it, but it gets boring fast so I generally only do it for short amount of time when trying to cure things fast or when I happen to have an abundance of meat that I don't want to spoil and I can't take it all with me.

The lack of a mechanic to deal with weight loss when one is on a starvation diet is the real problem with hibernation (if one chooses the exploit the "sleeping while starving" mechanic), which I'm sure is being considered by the devs, or at least I really hope it is. IY makes complete sense to go on rations in a survival situation, but over a long period of time there should be consequences.

Trying to keep to the original topic, rationing food this way and realizing there is no long lasting punishment for starving while sleeping is a way for long lived survivors to limit one of the most important resources. It's possible to live on only a few hundred calories per day, but it shouldn't be unless I eventually become emaciated.

[FrozenLiquidity]

I never feel like I'm limited on resources to the point where my survival is in question once I get established. In my opinion the leaderboards are a joke as the long-term playstyle simply relies on many of the strategies suggested in this thread, which produce exceedingly boring gameplay.

If people want to give leaderboards and long game runs any real meaning then the mechanics of the game should be reworked to provide the survival experience as intended rather than enabling the "sleeping simulator 2015" hibernation strategy that is the hallmark of these long runs.

When I play, the only time I feel that my resources are limited are at the very start of the game. Even when choosing not to use the full extent of limited resources available to me there is no immediate pressure so long as one has a magnifying glass and access to a source of food, tinder and shelter. At this point, the game falls in to the predictable ruts with additional annoyances thrown in to the mix.

If they really want to make this an interesting long-term experience then devs and players alike ought to examine what enables the kind of gameplay that turns this game into the "The Long Bore" and look at ways to ensure that the experience is one that reflects a constant struggle for survival rather than pretending you're a bear.

[KD7BCH]

I just want to add that hibernation is the worst strategy now, because you are missing a lot of re-spawned trees and coal which could be essential to keep a fire going once you are down on matches and have only mag. glass which you could not use always since the weather gets bad lot of times and no fire is no water ect ect that part is very familiar to you all so I'll stop typing now

What are you even talking about? All you need to do is get one fire going with the mag glass in a week and you are fine. This would be assuming you dont already have hundreds of gallons of water stored along with dozens of lbs of meat. If you can get a fire going outside, with 3 sticks you can get a torch and carry it indoors, which means you have fire indoors in as long as a supply as you have firewood. Even on a sticks supply this means you have hours of fire from a day or twos forage on a zero clothing situation.

[vancopower]

I just want to add that hibernation is the worst strategy now, because you are missing a lot of re-spawned trees and coal which could be essential to keep a fire going once you are down on matches and have only mag. glass which you could not use always since the weather gets bad lot of times and no fire is no water ect ect that part is very familiar to you all so I'll stop typing now

Staying indoors for long periods of time and not gathering wood/coal isn't really penalized, at least pertaining to fuel, as there are tons of wood/coal and a large amount can be gathered in a short time.

Sleeping and eating/drinking many times back to back is still a viable strategy to pass time by fast in the game to do things like cure hides and saplings or simple push days by fast. It's pretty easy to do as long as you have a bunch of meat and water and you don't even have to starve or dehydrate to do it, but it gets boring fast so I generally only do it for short amount of time when trying to cure things fast or when I happen to have an abundance of meat that I don't want to spoil and I can't take it all with me.

The lack of a mechanic to deal with weight loss when one is on a starvation diet is the real problem with hibernation (if one chooses the exploit the "sleeping while starving" mechanic), which I'm sure is being considered by the devs, or at least I really hope it is. IY makes complete sense to go on rations in a survival situation, but over a long period of time there should be consequences.

Trying to keep to the original topic, rationing food this way and realizing there is no long lasting punishment for starving while sleeping is a way for long lived survivors to limit one of the most important resources. It's possible to live on only a few hundred calories per day, but it shouldn't be unless I eventually become emaciated.

What can I say I love hoarding coal and wood, for me it is never enough Also why sleep when you are on full rest hunger and warmth is it so hard to go outside for a while collect wood at least, I don't know for you guys but is seems just a waste of time for me. Also I have made some posts about the sleeping while starving mech. long time ago, I believe that this game is missing body weight attribute that could be factor for wolf fights and other stuff like running ect, ect. Also Malnutrition should be introduced like sickness to prevent people to use the starving mech. all the time. For example if your body weight is lower for prolonged period of time like 5-6 days you get malnutrition which affects your fatigue similar to hypothermia.

[vancopower]

I just want to add that hibernation is the worst strategy now, because you are missing a lot of re-spawned trees and coal which could be essential to keep a fire going once you are down on matches and have only mag. glass which you could not use always since the weather gets bad lot of times and no fire is no water ect ect that part is very familiar to you all so I'll stop typing now

What are you even talking about? All you need to do is get one fire going with the mag glass in a week and you are fine. This would be assuming you dont already have hundreds of gallons of water stored along with dozens of lbs of meat. If you can get a fire going outside, with 3 sticks you can get a torch and carry it indoors, which means you have fire indoors in as long as a supply as you have firewood. Even on a sticks supply this means you have hours of fire from a day or twos forage on a zero clothing situation.

Start your Char in TM (stalker mode ) and try to live more that a week you'll see what am I talking about, when every stick you collect is precious. And you always need fire to survive especially at 3 before dawn till 2 hours after dawn.

[Wasteland Watcher]

Thanks for the info/replies everyone. Wishing you all a Happy 2016

Now, about using critical supplies for a long run and immortality techniques (with no hibernation gameplay whatsoever)...

Hey guys. I'm currently at 2500+ days. I just want to respond to some of the above comments and add my two cents.

...

Two questions that were brought up on this thread concern critical supplies for a long run and immortality techniques. Although it seems that certain materials are in short supply, I assure you that there are more than enough materials in the game world to easily last thousands of days, even with casual supply management. The items are just so spread out and it is so time-consuming and dangerous to amass the supplies that they seem limited. They are not, with the exception of the new whetstone and gun cleaning kits and the mechanic which I have not had time enough to test extensively. Although it seems like a potential problem, the use of the forge to create crafted knives and hatchets and the relatively generous supply of rifles make it a small matter. Cloth and scrap metal is virtually limitless now and consequently so are sewing kits. Bullets are the real issue, but arrows are nearly limitless. There are only about 60-80 bullets on the map from my experience, but I've shot my bows hundreds of times and still have hundreds of shots left. A less than trivial amount of new materials spawn with each update which needs to be considered, but it does not drastically affect the outcome of an extremely long.

Immortality was possible and it may still be but I have not tested it since the Timberwolf update, though I suspect it is the same. It is also easier than one may expect. All that is needed is a handful of rabbit traps, 8 or 10 or so, if that, and a magnifying glass. Nothing else, not even clothing. I tested this a while back while living in the pleasant valley farmhouse. I pretended that I has nothing else. I was completely naked and had nothing in my inventory except said supplies and some emergency medical supplies just in case which I didn't use. I was able to live for two weeks fairly easily and had more water and food than I started the experiment with. I was satisfied that this experiment could have gone on indefinitely as long as the sun continued to come out periodically enough for me to start a fire outside and move the fire indoors with a torch taken from the fire. Gathering wood was the biggest issue, but doable.

Thanks for the advice ThresholdSeven.

I like the idea of living off of rabbit meat and using a magnifying glass after my matches have all been used (or rotted away).

Can I do that on Mystery Lake "forever" or will I at some point be forced to go out looking for supplies again (specifically a hunting knife and hatchet)?

I like Mystery Lake and someday plan to explore the other places but at this point I'm on 50 days and have only explored 10% of the map according to the stats chart.

I use the knife most, closely followed by the hatchet. Not sure but I think I use the knife enough to wear it by 1% per day.

[vancopower]

Can I just add a little advise too, Don't underestimate the power of coal. every 5-6 days the mine respawns so please collect the coal as much as you can it will not degrade your tools since you just pick it up, and there is a lot of coal if you explore the whole mine maybe 30 pieces of it that is equivalent of chopping 10 limbs and that will cost you 20% of tool not to mention the cold, and time.

[ThresholdSeven]

Vancopower - Coal is awesome and adds to the validity of using a cave/mine as base camp. Mines even have workbenches. The only real issue is that there is no light. There are no beds either, but that's not that big of deal if you use a regular sleeping bag and just remember to repair it. I wish cloth and sewing kits weren't basically limitless, but it makes sleeping in places like the caves, mines and dam pretty care free. Even if mines and caves are not used as a base, it is definitely more tool efficient to use coal over strictly wood. But it isn't crucial with the current deterioration mechanics and loot quantity. As long as you are adventurous and scavenge all the supplies on all maps, you can use you hatchet like crazy on wood and never have to worry about coal or the forge for thousands of days. I hope this changes in the future.

Wasteland - It should be possible to do the rabbit trap/magnifying glass technique almost anywhere there is a shelter with a fireplace and rabbits relatively nearby. What I did at the pleasant valley farmhouse should be just as easy at the Trapper's Homestead. There was a good spot to catch rabbits not far from the homestead, but that sweet spot for rabbits may have changed like the one at the Farmhouse did. I can no longer catch rabbits where I used to (outside the enclosed porch door at the first row of trees) and have to go to the far end of the orchard on the other side of the house. There might be a closer spot but I haven't found it and the new one is close enough anyway.

You do not need a knife or hatchet to do this technique. You can harvest the rabbits with your bare hands as long as they are not frozen, but you can thaw them out with a campfire in close proximity if you are desperate (really wish I could take them bunnies indoors to thaw). It is a lot more difficult to gather fresh fuel for the fire since the hatchet is now required to gather logs. Sticks and coal are your main source of fuel when you are down to just snares and a magnifying glass. That makes the farmhouse the best place to do this in my opinion because it is relatively close to the cave that goes to Mystery Lake and the route is easy to follow and wolf free. Making a torch to see inside the cave can be a real issue. Wait for a sunny day and start a fire outside of the cave before venturing in side.

An indoor fireplace might not even be necessary but it sure makes it a lot easier as cooking outdoors naked is asking for trouble.

[Wasteland Watcher]

Just want to thank you all for the advice -- it really helps.

I really hate how metal knives rot away after a bit of use so it looks like I will need to resort to these methods.

I may just start using these methods now and just save the knife for fighting wolves when I get ambushed.