Comet777

I use Forlong Muskeg forge 100% of the time in Interloper. FM is by far the best of the three maps for one, I love spending time there and you don't have to go through the small wolf infected access ways of the beginning of Broken Railway or Crumbling Highway. I don't mind BR, but you have to go through FM to get to BR so I forge there, then either spend some time in Milton Basin or make tracks to the northern areas of TMW and AC. I also find Coastal Highway (and Mystery Lake for that matter) very boring. I do spend some time in Mystery Lake early on in loper runs, so that by day 10 I can leave with my bow and arrows created, but in my 400 hours of TLD game time I have probably spent less than 5 hours in Coastal Highway. ML and CH aren't challenging to survive in, so I avoid them and hence never make it to DP (which is a little boring too as it is soo small). FM is maybe my favourite region overall, that or TMW or AC, depends on the mood. I would personally love a forge in one of the northern regions, and Blackrock would have made sense. I don't want to have to travel south just to forge, and would love to do a full run staying up in TWM and AC (maybe a bit of PV and Blackrock). Hopefully Perseverance Mills connects to those regions and has a forge!

Hey thanks for sharing! Just wondering, is this your longest interloper run ever, and if so, what was your previous longest interloper run. Also, have you been playing where you have maintained the well fed buff throughout? Like you, boredom is a big problem for me. I am currently at just over 70 days on my loper one (which is already the longest I have stuck at it), and things are just too easy. Super warm in caves, excess resources, one shot killing animals with bow, and like you, I am just fine with taking chances because if the run ends, then I will just start another one - and I love the start of runs when the going is tough.

I have been hunting a moose with a bow in interloper and received 4 broken ribs in the last 40 days in game. Give me the flare gun any day! It is hard to kill a moose with a flare gun, yes, but it is also very safe. Here is what you do, you get the moose attention, wait for it to charge directly at you, and when it is right there you fire at its head. If you miss, the moose bolts because of the noise anyway, if you hit then boom, you got yourself a moose. Here is a clip of me doing it a few months back. Also in interloper, I recorded it just as a laugh with someone, and to be honest I was very surprised it actually worked. Moose Flare Hunting.mp4

Ah I feel your pain! In my current interloper run, I go stomped twice by a moose after my 2nd and 4th shots at Pensive Pond (second one he ran past the fishing hut, I came out, and instantly turned and smacked me again). Then after arriving to TMW, I went to the nice hunting area and lured the deer into the wolf, then killed the wolf. The second wolf had taken the second deer so I went to shot that wolf too, taking a wide berth around the moose, but nope, he charged at me from range and go me, and I stood up and before I could walk away and nailed me a second time. I didn't even have a chance to think about taking a shot. Day 60 in interloper and twice have I got double moose stompings and broken ribs. Luckily, I have kept up the well feed buff from the start of the run, so at 105% I could survive double stompings both times. In terms of my favourite regions, TMW and Ash Canyon for sure, but like others I am disappointed about no forge in the area of the map. I want to just play an interloper spawn out of those two regions, but without arrows and knives it can only go so long. I also love Forlong Muskeg, it perhaps is my favourite region - and the Milton Basin that connects too it. For me, the tough wild areas are my favourite (apart from HRV). I did recently spend 20 odd days in PV though and it is so beautiful, but also bitterly cold (even with full crafted clothes and +25c bonus).

Great point! I have pondered similar issues in the game, however the dam reservoir hadn't been one of them. You are correct though, here in New Zealand there are lots of dams and hydro electric is pretty big, and they all have significant make made lakes on the side feeding the dam (from damming the river of course). I have always been impressed by the attention to detail in the creation of the maps in TLD, but this is definitely a oversight, especially given the Carter Hydro Dam is really huge.

This answer doesn't so much include spoilers, but does talk about the logistics of high level loot spawning in Interloper, so if you want to stay in the dark and play your own way, then I would suggest you don't keep reading haha. There are only four set of spawns in interloper for the high level gear, namely - hacksaw, hammer, mag lens, firestriker, bedroll, and storm lantern. If you play interloper enough, then you begin to learn the patterns. For example, if you find a hacksaw in one place, then you know there will be a hammer in this certain place. It takes a decent amount of repetition to learn how the loot spawns, however as mentioned there are only 4 combinations so you figure it out fairly quickly. So unlike the lower levels, there are only a select few set places where the hammer can spawn in interloper. As already mentioned, forestry lookout in Mystery Lake is a fantastic place to look, otherwise try the dam or trappers in ML. In PV, try the barn or signal hill. In Minton, Paradise farm is a great place to look. Otherwise, TWM the mountaineers hut or fishing hut are also good places. All the best.

I am a bit of an outlier in the community, I absolutely love Forlong Muskeg, definitely my favourite map. Spend most of my time on interloper on this map (or on Marsh Ridge and Milton Basin) and I know the map very well. Couldn't tell you the last time I fell through the ice or got stopped by a predator crossing the frozen bog. However, than all changed today. I started off a new interloper run, FM spawn, yuss! I was feeling like getting some early forging done this time, so I ran to trappers (not my normal play), and it had the heavy hammer. Rushed to the pond at dusk to grab the firestriker, and in the dark got back to trappers to spend the night, ready to hit the forge the following day. Woke up and the fog was so thick, something FM would be proud of haha! Knowing that wolves like to patrol the route back to the tunnel and FM, I decided to hold off and let the fog pass. It did, and mid afternoon I made my way back to FM, arrived to clean and pleasantly warm conditions. However, within a minute it all changed. A blizzard start but whatever, I run through blizzards all the time now in TLD, so I made my way to the poachers camp and then set off to Spence's Homestead. But this was no normal Muskeg blizzard, not at all. The howling winds and zero visibility was expected, but the -40 in the keg, are you kidding me. I have never found the Keg to be quite this cold, despite my many, many hours trekking across this frozen wasteland. I quickly became disoriented, the landscape become unfamiliar, and what is normally a simple path even in a blizzard, became an absolute nightmare. I was only a day in, so I hadn't come across any matches and the flare from the poaches camp I picked up on the way through the trappers to boil up a few liters of water for the night. Otherwise I would have taken shelter against a rock, lit a fire, and ride the blizzard out, like any desperate but experienced loper player would. No matches meant that wasn't an option. I had confidence though, I would correct my path, surely, I mean come on, I know it so well. But this blizzard, it was unforgiving and the line of site was next to nothing. I didn't have a choice, I simply had to make it to the homestead for the matches and coal (or die trying). I stumbled around for a while before finally finding the edge of the frozen bog. As the homestead was still my best option, I hugged the edge and made my way around. Naturally, the hypothermia risk had been present for a while, but I wasn't concerned. Frost bite on my hands had just kicked in though. After what seemed like an age I stumbled across the bunkhouse, I was alive and relatively healthy. Stay calm and don't panic, that is was loper is about right. I stumbled up past the fence with the homestead almost in sight (but not because of the visibility haha). When it happened, FROST BITE AFFLICTION.... the keg had got me... it had been a great run for so long. I heard all the time of people getting frostbite on the keg and often wondered why this place was notorious for it - how can people have 4-5 frostbites from the keg and why do people hate this place so much, it is fantastic. However, that insane blizzard so early in the game. well that made the keg a completely different prospect. And for all you confused people wondering about the firestriker? It was only hours after I hopped off the game and was thinking about what happened, that it dawned on me that I had the firestriker the whole time. I am not used to having one so early, so used to relying on matches in the early game of loper that it didn't even cross my mind. Experienced loper player maybe, but an absolute fool this time around!!! I am left with a knife, some arrowheads, and 90% max health. The adventure continues, but this one is going to be that little more tougher. Oh and I thought my luck had changed with the Mackinaw Jacket in the safe, however it was 30% and my first repair failed, so I tore up clothing and the second repair failed - 4 cloth down the drain and a very average jacket.

The motherload of loot is found on the summit of Timberwolf Mountain, you simply must go there at least once. Stuff for days and stunning views! Otherwise you can spend a good hour looting the dam in Mystery Lake. A couple of other good spots are in Pleasant Valley, the Farmstead and Signal Hill (which on lower levels spawns top level clothing always).

I reckon you hit the nail on the head. The way we play interloper is flawed and relies on exploiting the starvation mechanic by only eating at night before sleeping and then starving the character throughout the day. In reality, how many of us would be comfortable walking through thick snow for hours a day on an empty stomach, it would be near impossible! As you referenced that it took 10 days longer to make it to the summit maintaining the well feed buff, this probably is more realistic. If you were in this situation then you would look to keep yourself feed, and if the world was this cold and food this hard to come by, then you would be forced to upskill your harvesting and cooking skills, and in all likelihood contract intestinal parasites as you got yourself established. Only then could you dream about traveling to the far reaching areas such as TWM, as it wouldn't realistically be possible straight away. Therefore in my opinion striving to keep the well feed buff going represents playing the game in a more realistic way instead on exploiting the game mechanics, which in my opinion is definitely a positive. In all honesty, I avoided playing interloper as I disliked the idea of exploiting starvation by only needing to eat 750 calories before bed in the early game, but eventually got over that and just starting playing loper anyone. However, I still often have a little snack once or twice a day, yet am often completely out of calories. You are right that starvation needs to be more punishing. Even 2% condition drop per hour with an instant -5kg carry bonus (which thus tires you quicker and slows down your movement speed) whenever you starve yourself would see more people at least eat a little before going on adventuring. These are just my opinions but like I say, I believe striving to maintain the well feed buff is a good thing and it represents a more realistic way of playing loper, as long as starving yourself continues to go relatively unpunished.

Hey well done, very impressive! Was wondering how much you have played interloper before this crazy run? I am new to interloper and getting towards 10 days for the first time (like my 3rd run), but don't see myself getting near that amount! Do you have to fail a lot to get this good, or can you pick it up pretty easy?

I have played plenty of stalker on TM and I love the region, my favourite longterm base. I live out of the Mountaineers Hut and with +24C clothing you will have no issues surviving in the hut at night without a fire. To be safe though, I make a habit of sleeping in 4-5 hour stints just in case there is a crazy cold blizzard outside, but on stalker I have never experienced any weather than +24C clothing plus bed warmth in the hut hasn't overcome. Like peteloud said, leave the guns - well definitely leave the hunting rifle cos that is damn heavy, and if you aren't confident with the bow then bring the revolver with you just in case. I have started playing loper now but like you I am hopeless with the bow, more of a lazy hunter, push the deer into wolves and then take the kill. But yes practicing on bunnies has been really helpful for me, and if you hit them then they definitely aren't going anywhere, they die instantly haha! I find TM the best place in the game to live. Outside the mountaineers hut you have fishing (so make sure you bring some metal for hooks, as there isn't heaps in the region), plus plenty of cattails; two very safe food options. On the lake there will likely be 1-2 wolves patrolling (which you can easily see), but there is normally a deer to the right of the fishing hut (looking out from the mountaineers hut), so you can hook around and push that into one of the wolves to kill, then shoot the wolf and harvest both the deer and wolf together. There are also 2 bunnies near where the deer is which are relatively safe, you can kill them and then run to mountaineer hut in a single sprint if need. There are also two bunnies between mountaineer hut and path the PV which are totally safe. So all that hunt with fish makes the mountaineers hut a very livable place, food at your doorstep with the close wolves all visible from distance. In terms of climbing the summit. I did it for the first time a couple of weeks ago (in a TM stalker run where I stayed at the mountaineers hut for 45 days from start no issue - the save is still open). In a new run I got to the summit second day (this was custom, stalker with interloper resources), so all I needed was a bedroll, a little wood, and some water and food. Decent clothing isn't even necessary as there are two indoor caves that you can sleep and warm up in if you have the bedroll. None of the climbs are hard, including the final one to the summit, as long as you stop on the ledges. You don't even need coffee. If you have done the ravine climb then you will be sweet as, because the ravine rope climb is way harder then the summit climb on TW. Of course you need to have a hacksaw or it is a whole lot of effort for nothing! Keep trying at surviving in TM, it is definitely worth it!

Oh the flare gun still spawns on interloper right, so that is another option at a push.

Oh yea of course I know that, the struggles was referring to wolves, I should have been more clear about that. As I expected, it really does limit the option of staying in one area then. Although you can definitely live off fish and deer in say TWM still, just by pushing the deer into the wolves and then throwing stones at them.

It is only possible to kill a wolf, bear or moose in TLD by shooting it with a gun or bow, or with a hatchet or knife in a struggle right? So in interloper you simply must get to a forge and get arrowheads and improvised tools in order to kill these animals. There isn't something really obvious that I am forgetting? There is no way to kill wolves with heavy hammer or prybar, it simply scares them off?

In pilgrim and voyager you will be woken before its too late but still cold. However luckily any fire of any temperature will start to warm you up, so you should be fine. On stalker and interloper you don't get woken, so if you go to sleep in a freezing area or the temperature takes a turn for the worse during the night... well lets just say you are never waking up from that sleep.