Drifter Man

It's good to be back! An 800-day run offers much less to write about, but exploring a new and dangerous region is fun - so I wanted to share some of it. I think they do, I got my "Will to Live" on this run (is there an "Astrid to Live" achievement for the female survivor character?) What my custom run does not seem to count towards are badges. No progress on my Trapper and Blizz Walker badges, although I've done plenty of both.

Days 804-806 For two more days I had weather I could work with. On Day 804, a sunny afternoon with the usual strong winds, but I managed to find a sheltered position near the concrete bridge ("Raven Crossing") and warm up by the fire for an hour before the wind turned around and killed the fire again. For some condition loss, I charted the surroundings of the bridge and the Landslide, and found a nice new hatchet lying in the snow. On Day 805 I got fog in the morning - normally I stay in in the morning until the air gets warmer, but this fog was a rare opportunity to go somewhere and have a fire going. I went to the collapse at the Coast Mountain Road and again build a fire in a sheltered spot in the rubble, where it was protected from all directions... all but one. The fog lasted for an hour or two before the skies cleared up. The wind came almost immediately from that one direction and soon I was forced to go back. I found no shelter or food in the area. Day 806 was ruined by a blizzard. The T-wolves did not reappear near Lower Raven Falls. I am running low on food - the two deer are running out - and will have to move tomorrow. The nearest known shelter is probably the fishing cabin on the shore, but I would prefer going straight to the trailer near the Cannery. There I could drop off all the extra gear and go to FM to restock on coal.

He's a food source on all levels - it's just that the roles can become reversed

Days 797-802 I spend a few days charting this area around Echo One. I confirm that there is no way out other than the rope (except to the Ravine). I visit the control hut during an Aurora and find that the computers are dead - no information there. The weather is getting worse over time, regular blizzards, strong winds. I struggle to maintain my firewood supply. Any fires started outdoors are soon extinguished by winds, which change direction frequently. Eventually, when I am running low on food, I take the rope down and go to the cabin I saw from above - at the Lower Raven Falls. The problems with weather and fire continue - blizzards ruin multiple days. I manage to kill a deer and see another deer nearby, so at least food is here. But on Day 802 a new enemy appears - cabin fever risk. It is hard to spend much time outdoors when there are blizzards all the time. Day 803 In slightly better weather - the winds take occasional breaks - I take a walk across the wooden bridge to the next, concrete bridge near the edge of the map. I collect a good amount of sticks, although it costs some condition. I have set condition recovery to Low when asleep and to None when awake - to make my run a little more challenging - and in times like this, juggling condition is difficult. I can recover 16% in 10 hours of sleep, as long as I am tired enough. In the afternoon I go after the second deer and run into a pack of T-wolves instead. Are there more packs - or are they the same wolves as before, respawned 10-11 days later in another area? They are close enough for a shot, but I don't want to spend the ammo. I return to the cabin and kill the deer. Right after the kill I see a T-wolf nearby, howling. Calling the pack to go after me? I make a run for the cabin, but it seems I avoided detection again. When I return to the deer carcass, no wolves are in sight. I start a fire and harvest the carcass until the night. I keep the cabin fever risk subdued for now.

Day 796 Today I go straight to the Radio Tower. It is sunny, but still cold in the morning. I reach the tower - "Echo One" - and find the radio control hut that can serve as a shelter. I warm up inside and search it. Some ruined clothes - including combat boots, which I didn't find anywhere else on the island. They are useless now, and I will harvest them later for leather. I find the note on the desk with the access code to the cannery. I thought it would be in a computer buffer memory, but I was wrong. I assume I need to have this note to open the door to the cannery. Other than that, the place does not look like an useful base. It offers a nice view of the region, but it is a dead end. So far the only way out of here seems to be the rope next to Pensive Lookout. If that's true, it is good that I chose to enter from the Ravine. I would not be able to reach the radio tower from below without the rope deployed. I start a fire outside the control hut - I want to use the sun to make water - but as soon as I invest sticks, maximum wind comes and finds the one direction from which to kill my sheltered fire. I move over and start the fire elsewhere, but it takes a lot of sticks to get to positive temperatures. I do a bit of exploration at the cost of some condition. The parked cars yield no loot. I go to the waterfall and start another fire, then wait for the winds to stop. Instead the wind gets even stronger. It is constantly three arrows down. In the end I just collect some sticks and return to base. I need better weather.

Day 795 The heavy snowing outside turns into a full blown blizzard by the morning. This is convenient - the mornings are too cold for me to do anything outdoors, anyway. This must be a tough region on Interloper, I am at least helped by the top-line underwear and sweaters thanks to the Stalker base loot level. I pass the time repairing my expedition parka. The blizzard ends around mid-day and gives way to light fog. I wait for a little while and set out towards the radio tower in felt -10C. Soon I can hear the hooves of a deer, although it could also be a moose - so watch out. It's a deer, and I kill it on the spot with an arrow. I am not freezing yet, so I don't want to start a fire right away. Instead I quickly search the area and collect some sticks. I find a dead T-wolf on a cliff - I must have hit it three days ago and it bled out here. I get the meat out - already rancid at 25% condition - and return to the stag to start a fire. I process the deer carcass while cooking the wolf meat, taking also the pelt and guts from the deer. Then I leave the fire to search the area more thoroughly. I see the access to the radio tower - I can't tell from this distance if there is a shelter as well, or if I need to walk down here during an Aurora. I find the fourth T-wolf later in the day. I killed all four - four hits out of five shots fired. By all measures I defeated my first timberwolf pack, but I did not get the achievement. Probably because they did not detect me at all. I choose not to harvest this decaying carcass and leave over 5 kg of its meat to rot. The weather is getting worse again. Snow starts falling, then wind picks up. I walk up a slope to find a lake with a waterfall. I think it comes from the frozen stream I tried to follow when I arrived on the first day. At dusk I leave two venison steaks on the remaining fire to cook, then I return to the tower. I leave most of the meat in place - I will be passing through in the coming days.

Day 794 Dawn. Clear skies, strong winds. I step out and chart the area, then look around. I can see a cabin next to a wooden bridge down below, near the edge of the map. Then another bridge, made of concrete. I search for anything I could eat down there, but nothing is moving. The T-wolf area is also empty. I like how you can see outside of the lookout. What the weather is, if there is wildlife around. I wish I could see outside from other buildings, too. I leave the lookout before noon, when the winds die down. It is still very cold. I walk, then run back up to collect the supplies I left behind - tools, scrap metal, meat, water. I change direction to check out one area because I have a feeling that there could be a cave. And yes, there is a cave, which lets me warm up and saves me from losing condition. Inside I find a bottle of water and a piece of cedar wood. I take both. Firewood is important here and I still don't have enough. I dismantle two of my campfires, pickup the supplies, then start a fire at the third campfire to cook the rest of the meat. Fog descends on the region by the time I am done. I return to the lookout and drop the extra supplies in the bin. I want to use the fog to go out and explore, but the visibility drops further, and I return. I use the rest of the day to deploy the rope at a rope attachment point I found nearby, and make some water. Another Aurora comes at night. It may be a coincidence, or perhaps Aurorae get triggered more frequently in BI. The Aurora ends before dawn, the weather looks much less friendly now.

Day 793 A cold morning in the Ravine Basin. The stars are still up when I get up, eat my last piece of venison, and head back to BI. I approach the T-wolf area carefully, but I only see the two dead wolves. The other two are gone. I start a fire next to the first carcass - I need the meat. I am also curious what a T-wolf looks like on the inside. Well, it's meatier than the standard wolf, over 6 kg. I drop a coal into the fire and start harvesting the carcass. Then I notice that I am still losing condition to freezing - the coal was not enough. I put in a few more sticks. Soon the wind picks up and I need to put in more sticks to compensate for the windchill. Then the wind reduces my fire and I have to feed it stick by stick. I am low on firewood and it is still very, very cold out here. A cup of birch bark tea warms me up and helps me recover some of the lost condition. When the wind dies down, I drop in another coal. I wonder about the pelt - is it different from the normal wolf pelt? I have no use for it, but I skin the wolf. No, it's just a normal, boring wolf pelt. As the day slowly warms up, I make a few rounds and collect some sticks. I also get the meat of the other wolf - also over 6 kg. This will be enough for 3 days. Soon the weather makes a U-turn. The visibility drops and heavy snow starts falling. The wind picks up again. I am still cooking, but I can't stay here - a blizzard is coming. I collect all the meat I can carry and run to the lookout tower. Pensive Lookout it is called. It looks nice on the inside. The blizzard start as soon as I close the door. There is a rope hung on the outside, next to the door. Inside I find a cooking pot and some ruined food. The lamp on the table and the toaster on the shelf cannot be broken up for scrap. The blizzard lasts until nightfall. The Aurora lights up the skies at night. I find I can't interact with the computer - no information to be gathered here. I look out and see the lights of the radio tower, I'll be heading there soon. Also, the bridge to the Cannery, in the distance.

Day 792 In the morning I collect sticks in the Ravine Basin - I find fewer sticks than I would like, but I still have the coal. Then I am welcomed by Bleak Inlet. I cross two fallen trees and end up on a small frozen lake. First, I follow a stream that looks like it could lead somewhere, but it is a dead end. Then I go in another direction and find an exit. The terrain is sloping downward and at the bottom I can see a pack of T-wolves. I said, there will be blood, I just didn't expect it so soon. First thing: I start a fire - I need to warm up. I also make water. My plan - I have no idea if it is going to work, but it's a plan - is to come closer, start a fire, and then try to snipe as many as I can with the rifle. This is the only reason why I have it with me, I normally prefer the bow, but I can't land accurate long-range shots with the bow. Once I am warmed up, I put down the moose satchel - I don't want the wolves to tear it apart if things don't go well - and drop off some gear to stay light. I sneak closer. Not too close - I've read that they have much greater detection distance than normal wolves. The T-wolves seem to be disappearing in the fog, and I realize that the fog is getting thicker. That ruins my plans for now. I return to the fire and wait. I pass the time exploring the frozen lake above, collecting some sticks and cattails. There also is a birch sapling and a maple sapling. I leave them in place, they help my orientation in the fog. The fog partially lifts in late afternoon. Still some time left until nightfall. I move the fire closer to the T-wolves - I can see four of them - and I take my first sniper shot. It's a kill! I am proud of myself - I have always been a poor shot. But the other T-wolves don't want to come closer and I don't want to leave the relative protection of my fire. Eventually one does approach a little closer, and I take another shot - a miss. The wolf runs away. A while later, this repeats with a third wolf. They still haven't detected me, but I need to improve my shooting. Finally, I fire two more rounds at the fourth wolf, already at dusk - a lot of waiting is involved in a good shot. The last one is a kill. I don't see the other two wolves and don't want to get caught by them at night. I noticed a lookout tower up ahead in the fog - my next base - but for now it is time to return to the Ravine.

Day 791 Today is the day! It begins with a blizzard, which gives me time to get everything organized. I start by putting on my brand new moose cloak. Then I pack everything I will need. 4 bandages, 4 OMB bandages, emergency stim, a few prepared birch bark, reishi and rosehips. A loaded rifle and revolver, both cleaned to 90%+ condition, with spare ammunition. A new bow and 6 arrows - I usually carry twice as many, but I have other weapons this time and need to save weight. A loaded flare pistol plus 3 spare flare shells - the only ones that haven't expired yet. Two marine flares and one common red flare. Four knives - 3 for repair, 1 for use. One hatchet, also for repair. Hacksaw, prybar, 5 pieces of scrap metal. 8 cloth and one leather. Only 15 sticks but 7 coal, which is lighter to carry. 15 cattail stalks and a box of crackers as last ditch food. The weather is not ideal even after the blizzard stops, but I set out in late afternoon, still in heavy snow, with 5 kg of meat. I am slightly over limit at 46-47 kg. I pass Southern Access without trouble and continue down the river. At the dam I drop the meat and can see from the distance that the wolf is on patrol at the trailers. I sneak closer and kill it. I leave the carcass in place and pass through to the Ravine. It is still snowing and my clothes are getting wet. I go to the first cave and pick up a spare deer hide and a rabbit pelt with guts, for repairs later in BI. I collect some birch bark but drop most of it in the cave, along with all sticks. I go down the rope weighing just under 45 kg. I reach the basin cave at nightfall. The deer carcass is still there, intact, along with all the cattails - an emergency food reserve for a time when I need it. I knock out a rabbit and process it before going to sleep.

Lonely Homestead gets my vote, too. You just have to watch out for the bear while collecting bark.

Day 790 Three days of preparations. I spent the first one indoors, making the moose cloak. There goes another 16% of my knife. Then some repairs. The second day I went to check Southern Access. My plan is to go via the Ravine - I think that the Ravine entry is closer to the radio tower I need to get to first, although I may be wrong about that. I will go to the dam via the River and I'd prefer not having to deal with wolves on the way. I killed the Southern Access wolf a few days ago, but ML is different from DP - the wolves keep respawning at an annoying rate. Southern Access is empty, but two wolves pull off what I call "deferred spawn" - they appear behind my back on the lake where I've just passed through. Two accurate arrows put an end to this nonsense, life is easy with Archery 5. A blizzard forces me back into Camp Office. An Aurora appears in the night. I keep checking the computer for buffer memories, but I only have 4 out of 5 here. The fifth one stubbornly refuses to come up. I would like to learn more about bear behavior around Mystery Lake. Speaking of bears, the lake bear is scheduled to respawn on Day 791. I should watch out. The morning of Day 790 is clear and very warm: Felt -12C, which means air temperature -40C. I start a fire and process the two carcasses from the day before. As usual, I start by taking the meat with the knife. Then, while the meat is cooking, I take the pelt and guts by hand. This saves knife condition without me wasting time. Although I already have a pile of guts and currently no use for the wolf pelts (I am wearing expedition parka + bear coat). In the afternoon I go to Trapper's because I forgot something there on the previous visit: I have found 5 marine flares around the island and I'll carry two for this expedition. Finally, I check Southern Access again and then line up all the extra gear I will be taking with me tomorrow. It adds up to over 9 kg.

Day 787 Yes, there will be blood. But before we get to that, let me briefly give you my story so far. Some time ago, I wrapped up my snowball/deadman adventures and decided to start a "real" run - one that will last for a while. I made a custom difficulty setup based on Interloper, but with some important tweaks. First, I set base loot to medium and enabled firearms - I wanted to enjoy all the gameplay and also catch up on achievements. Second, I reduced wolf condition damage to Stalker level. This was necessary - all my Interlopers have ended at the paws of a random wolf that appeared at the wrong time. After a 60-day run from one end of the Great Bear Island to another to collect critical supplies that could expire, I settled into a slower, deliberate exploration with long "vacation" breaks in between, usually spent in ML. I made the effort to search every corner of a few regions and to make complete charcoal maps. I counted supplies and took notes where to find what, but rarely resorted to "hauling stuff" from A to B: I can always come back. I had a brush with death in FM on Day 360 when I fought two wolves in one afternoon - my mistake that I let it happen. I ended up in 8% condition and was only saved by an emergency stim, which allowed me to outrun the second wolf to safety. Other than that, I enjoyed myself, never was in a rush (except when I was in a rush), and took pictures. Day 103 - Battle of Milton Day 85 (?) - Muskeg Overlook Around Day 105 - Milton Basin Day 120 - Aurora over Trapper's Homestead Around Day 140, Pleasant Valley on a pleasant day: Around Day 165, "He knows nothing" - somewhere in PV Along the way, I turned from Extravagant Outfitter to a warmer, less cloth-consuming, but heavier, Reasonable Outfitter: Much later on I also replaced my beloved Mukluks with Deerskins, but I keep the Mukluks repaired for when I go to a region with lots of rope climbing. When Hesitant Prospect was released, around Day 380, I went to Ash Canyon and spent a good 100 days there, charting it and claiming the riches of the Gold Mine for myself. Then I climbed the Timbwerwolf Mountain to celebrate my Will to Live on Day 500: After that I went back down via PV to warm up in CH and DP, charting these regions. Day 521, "Roadkill" at Heartbreak Bridge Day 522, Sunrise over PV Farmstead Day 554, Starry sky over Mystery Lake Day 580, Another sunrise - Coastal Highway - photobombed by a wolf having breakfast. See if you can find it. The price of faithfully cartographing CH proved severe at times, but I did a thorough job. I lived "bear to bear" at Hibernia Processing - 50 days until the bear respawned - and got very familiar with this small region. I was surprised how slowly the wolves respawned there, one in about 20 days. The life was very quiet there. Finally, I had to return to ML where I keep a stash of spare bedrolls: they were in a need for repair. I stayed in the Camp Office for some time and thought about going to the regions I have left out to visit (or re-visit) later. But I noticed that I had accumulated a few dull knives and hatchets and was running out of good ones. And because I didn't want to use whetstones (they run out quite fast and I want to leave them for later), I decided today it was time for adventure again. We are going to Bleak Inlet. I have not been to BI in this run and I am not familiar with it. I have never been to the Cannery. I have not dealt with timberwolves - yet, ever. So it is going to be interesting. I recently got my Revolver Level 5, which should be helpful. But the first step was to drop into Trapper's and pick up what I needed: a rifle, a moose hide I kept there since the start of the run (from the only moose I killed), some ammo, and the old knives I want to fix at the milling machine. No ammo crafting supplies - they are not a priority and the lead is heavy. "Skilled Survivor" can wait. I returned to the Camp Office and put the first hour into the moose cloak before nightfall, using one of my remaining good knives. My usual bear coat would probably do, but I want something tough for the timberwolves to sink their teeth in.

Did I lose my bet?

Great story - thanks for sharing. And thanks @Stone for bumping it up so I could read it

Very annoying: "Find the dot" minigame when trying to interact with a carcass, especially on a slope. The dot is often way off the carcass and you just have to find it. This is a relatively recent "improvement", it used to work fine. Moderately annoying: Picking up items is sometimes difficult, the dot will not appear unless you approach the item from certain angle. Many rabbits escaped this way... Getting stuck on minor obstacles that don't look like obstacles Every time I get a sprain, my RL heart stops for a second. That's 88 seconds with no heartbeat in my current run, 660 days in. I mostly get sprains when surveying map extremities, in "normal operation" they are rare. Mildly irritating: Looking for a place to roll out the bedroll in caves Picking up 50 sticks one by one Harvesting 30 torches one by one When mis-clicking on the ground while using the lantern (typically trying to pick up a piece of coal in a mine), the game thinks I want to extinguish the lantern and changes my direction of view to look up - this confuses me It's a great game though. Playing since 2015.

Oh that was Hotzn's dinner, and I'm sure he'll get it back. Wolves fear Hotzn.

Actually they do - some of them, sort of. Some wolves spawn in various dark corners formed by rocks, hard to access or see, where it is unlikely that the player will see them spawn or run into them suddenly. They also return there to de-spawn. But many others just show up right in the middle of the open field, and I think the Farmstead gang are in this second category.

They found a quartered bear and now are busy lugging the quarters to their den

A proper scientific method requires you to find two bears and shoot them at the same time - one with the revolver and one with an arrow. Then measure the bleedout time with a stopwatch The books help to raise mending skill but not enough. Even if you read them all, you will still be mending everything to oblivion. But by day 500 I think you have a chance. A rare sight indeed - normally all you see from there is a wall of snow driven by a blizzard... PV can look good on a sunny day.

Old Hotzn will find a way. And fresh stories will be told around campfires. I am especially curious to hear the one in which he kills a bear with a revolver. I haven't tried that. Mending tends to be the most tedious one. There are no shortcuts - you need to make hundreds of repairs to get there.

I bet my second pair of underwear that this night isn't over yet.

I'm not sure as I also have gaps in playing, but I noticed this too. Picking up items especially from sloped surfaces has always been a problem, but now they introduced this "find your carcass" minigame. I am terrible with the revolver but my skill is 4-and-half after 60+ shots and just 20 hits. I have read a lot of books. I mean, one book, but many times over. I should add, it has been 4-and-half for a long while, because I've run out of books.

I doubt they were shocked that much. As we all know, naked fishing is described in "Beginner to intermediate level techniques" in The Frozen Angler Choosing a revolver for a struggle can give you an opportunity to shoot if you advance with the "struggle bar" far enough. This ends the fight - whether the wolf is hit or not, it will run away.

Sure thing! I am still subscribed to Interloper Monthly.