DrZ

On 11/12/2020 at 2:35 PM, gotmilkanot said:

I think this loadout will weigh around 25kg? With about 10kg to spare with the moose satchel, 15kg if you have Well Fed.

Clothing: Bearskin + Mackinaw for coats and Deerskin + Combat for pants, the rest is pretty much standard for Interloper.

Tools: Improvised knife + hatchet, hacksaw (ditched prybar cause already looted all cars and lockers in my run)

Weapons: Bow w/ ~6 arrows, loaded flare gun w/ 1 spare round

Food & water: ~10 cattails (2 days' worth of food), 1-2 coffee, 1.5-2L water

Equipment: Normal bedroll, storm lantern, 1 flare, 1 torch, 2 fishing tackles, whetstone, 1 cooking pot + 1 recycled can

Firestarting: Mag lens, firestriker, 1 box of matches, 2-4 coal

First Aid: 4 bandages, 1 stim, 1 OMB dressing (w/ 3 uncrafted OMB), 1 reishi tea, 2 birch bark teas

Misc: 5 cloth (for emergency snow shelter)

Could go abit more lighter but I like to have my tools with me. I use the hacksaw for harvesting meat since I always build a fire nearby to thaw it out first anyway. And the hatchet for all-round use (self-defense, breaking down furniture, clearing scrub bushes, etc.).

Lantern because I hate navigating in the dark and I can't always have a lit torch with me.

I also carry 1 cooking pot because I have at least 1 pot at each of my multiple bases so I'll always have 2 at all times no matter which base I'm at. It's also nice to be able to boil some water while I sleep in hourly-intervals say if I'm stuck in a cave during a blizzard and I have a fire on.

 

Thanks for sharing! Pretty similar to my load out when I slim down and go between established regions.

22 minutes ago, peteloud said:

Wolfskin coast are less warm but because of the abundance of wolves and their pelts it is easy to keep a wolfskin coat in good condition giving you its near maximum warmth benefit. The weight saved wearing a wolfskin coat is often important.

Interesting. Also as Interloper in PV or BI?

23 minutes ago, peteloud said:

Bearskin coast are great when they are new.  But as they lose condition their warmth benefit is also lost.  So they become a heavy coat that doesn't give you full warmth.  Maintaining bearskin coats is a problem.  Bear skins are not easily and quickly come by, therefore repairs usually have to be delayed prolonging the time spent with a heavy bearskin coat that is not giving you its full warmth potential.

That is a valid point and here this connects again with preferences and play style (which I love about this game btw - everybody likes to do things a little bit different which might change other habits as well...). For me this is not a problem as I center my play style around bears. They give the hide and plenty of meat and guts which I use to establish a base in every region. If you have enough meat and water you can save a lot of matches as you simply wait till the weather allows for the magnifying lens to be used for additional cooking.

On the other hand I do not get that many wolf hides. In my current run I had to hunt 3 of them to get the 4 for my coat and I was wondering if I should have gone for the bear coat directly... Again, play style as I avoid wolves to the extreme (using stones do distract or torches to repel).

So in non-Interloper modes I found myself balancing weight and warmth by aiming for the best coefficient (see the wiki for clothing). I ignored protection as I try to stay out of fights anyway.

Having recently switched to interloper however my thinking changed. I now go for max warmth. Two bear-skin coats sounded ridiculous to me (you know... "only" +2° C compared to a wolf skin coat and you "pay" with even more weight while not using the windproof bonus of the inner coat) but now I hope to get them soon in my current run.

Yes, +2 °C sounds weak but assume you are -6 °C in mystery lake outside: If you add 2°C bonus you gain 50% more time outside. Not to mention the cold regions like Bleak Inlet or Pleasant Valley where I feel my Interloper needs every warmth bonus possible.

Timberwolf Mountain Summit I would guess

On 4/29/2020 at 2:03 AM, Jedirats said:

I really want to know how to kill a bear. 

Preferably not have it bleed out, but drop on first shot. 

Thanks. 

I recommend Even Darks Youtube channel for that. He has a technique with 2 fires in the bear cave and rarely takes more than 2 shots. Usually drops the bear where he wants.

Thanks to everyone so far for sharing. It is nice to read what people value the most and why. Some things are also a good reminder to push/harvest some strategy a bit more.

On 11/11/2020 at 5:32 AM, Ahatch said:

All the above mentioned but the big one for me is cat tail collecting. No matter what starting point on a new Interloper run survival usually hinges on how many cat tail stalks I can collect in the first days of survival. Since one can't hunt or snare rabbits and you need to keep moving to collect as much good cloths before they go bad . So to get you through those early lean times you need to plan your route to make sure you get stalks. 

Interesting. Personally, I had a cat tail cycle

First I ate them like crazy since they are "free". Then I treasured them like crazy because they do not re-spawn (and are non-smelly calories for traveling). Now I am in between: I use them (and other non-smelly food) to establish a base in a region (i.e. kill a bear) and then save them for the next region.

On 11/11/2020 at 6:48 AM, Saws n Sins said:

I don't know if you already know about the interloper loot spawn tables, but that is the absolute biggest boost you can get to a fresh loper run

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11n0wfRQadaWay4feLbunF9dxIbS2hZ3O_I57x5JfF6s/edit#gid=1146953510

Basically you can be guaranteed one of each of those items per run will spawn there. Once you figure out which one of your worlds loot table you're on, you know where to go to get an important item. Most probably already know about the interloper loot tables, if not that link will help out a newer loper greatly. Not as important late game on a loper run but helps out a lot on a fresh start.

This is not technically a "behavior" like your title says, just figured I'd post it to help out anybody that didn't know about it

I know this and that's why I wrote "behavior" 😉 We already have a "did you know" thread. And I agree that using the loot table is for sure a giant boost. Just knowing where the good stuff might spawn takes a lot of the uncertainty away. But I also can see how some people dislike that.

7 hours ago, odium said:

efficiency in every facet.  knowing where to get every resource and plotting your routes around them.  definitely coal and teas go from luxury to essential on loper.  forward thinking and the ability to be patient with your plan.  you intend on moving regions, all your things are packed, you're moving in the morning.  wake up to a blizzard, you have to form a backup plan to pass the weather without burning valuable resources.  collecting sticks ALL THE TIME.  you can rarely spend enough time chopping wood before you freeze, and its really not worth the effort/wear and tear,  sticks and coal are all I really burn, save precious fir for repairs.  i collect sticks religiously and drop them in stash spots if the weight gets too much.  mag glass/sticks/coal, 100% free fire.  Ive made it 220 days on my current loper run without burning a single match.  

Agreed. I watched Even Dark on Youtube and his stick/coal/meat/water game is very impressive. I tune it down a notch but copied his approach. If you have enough meat/water/sticks/coal in every region you can weather any storm (pun intended). Wait for a sunny day and use the mag for cooking if need be. So you don't need to go through matches.

220 days without match is very impressive!

25 minutes ago, gotmilkanot said:

I must say I rely heavily on the starvation technique - 108 days on my Interloper run and I'm still surviving on just 750 calories a day.

Not because Well Fed is hard to maintain, I just don't find the buff necessary as I always travel light and do not need the extra 5kg. To me, 35kg with the moose satchel is more than enough space on Interloper.

I also don't really like how easily you get hungry on Interloper and a whole deer can only feed you for like 3 days max? With 750 calories a day, I can stretch the deer to a week's worth of food and I can focus on my other goals instead of having to babysit my survivor 24/7.

Interesting. Care to share your typical clothing and tool layout?

Yes. For me, deer went from a big win to a snack 🙂 Bear and moose is where it's at.

I sometimes employ a flexible approach: I use starving and when it gets close to moving with a lot of hauling I stuff my character, use the 5kg bonus to make the transition and then starve in the new region again while I set up a base.

10 hours ago, ManicManiac said:

@DrZ I know your follow up post came to some similar strategies, but I'd like to add a little on my methods for this area as well.

I find that the easiest solution doesn't even necessarily involve killing the wolf at all.

I usually just scout the area first.  Either by heading across the river and looking to spot the wolf wandering around from the other side.  This also means that if we crouch we can approach from that side fairly close without much risk of detection.

Another approach I sometimes use involves utilizing the hilltops nearby to gain a better vantage point.  If there is a wolf prowling around I can usually spot it as it wanders a little further from the trailers.

If those spots don't result in getting eyes on the wolf...  Then I simply crouch about halfway across the Train Bridge, and cautiously approach slowly (keeping towards the fence line).  This way, if I do hear the wolf's footsteps... or it starts to stalk: I can either seek safely beyond the fence, simply back off, or even use the truck as an in between haven.  However a vast majority of the time, I can use this method to slip through the area undetected.

Generally speaking my methods do require a bit of patience... but I find them effective and don't involve using up any resources (except a little time).  If there is a wolf to spot... I'll simply watch it for a bit, see how far it wanders relative to the place I want to go.  I'll kind of mentally keep track of how long it takes for it make a patrol loop.  Then I can use that to plot a safe passage, even while taking into account for the much slower travel speed of remaining crouched to sort of "stealth" my way past the danger.

[Addendum]
Granted, I'm by no means an expert on Interloper play... but I'd bet that the evade and avoid tactics would still be effective. 

Yeah, I usually avoid the wolf if possible but I asked for the case that you need to get rid of it (e.g. for hauling that moose meat in from the river or some deer from the Ravine). If I want to avoid it I like to use stones. I use a similar approach than you and crouch towards the trailers where I can overlook as much as possible but since I am very impatient I just throw a stone between the trailers. If no wolf shows up shortly after I make a dash for the gate.

5 hours ago, Ahatch said:

I almost always use the rock ledge on the left to snipe the wolf so the snow shelter idea is excellent I must say. Just wondering how effective the snow shelter would be to lure MORE wolfs to the party after ridding the first one. If you loaded the meat and got 3 bars of scent. I know there are some wolves near the tracks by the yellow coach car. 

I also tried sniping but I am too bad with the bow and with the long distance you risk missing or hitting non-lethal and then you have to hunt your arrow...

Not sure if the shelter trick works with a wolf that does not use the gated area for a patrol (if the gate is open).

Update, with acceptable results after a few tries: You need a few stones and a bow.

Crouch up the rock on the left and use the stones to lure the wolf towards the Ravine. Position yourself close to the step down to the left. When the wolf comes back you can take a good shot to the head from a 90° angle. If you do not have lvl 5 archery you can even stand up to shoot as you are still in the wolf's blind spot.

1 hour ago, manolitode said:

Using coal improved my life by alot. It keeps you very warm for very long and helps you explore Great bear and survive a blustering snowstorm by lighting up a neat coalbased fire behind a rock. [...] I only refrain from picking up a piece of coal if I'm in a coal mine and already carry more than my grunting survivor can bear. Coal is necessary to use the forge where you can create your improvised tools, you'll need at least 6 by the way.

Good one. I also use coal more regularly as it respawns in the mines and you can pick it up without wearing down your tools. Also you almost need a piece in your camp fire in PV or TWM to stay outside without freezing while harvesting a bear (e.g.).

If you can not carry any more in a mine just replace it on the ground. That way you ensure a respawn of that piece during your next pass through.

Technically, you need 4 pieces for the forge as you can push the temperature to 80° C with wood. But you need an insane amount of wood for that. I usually estimate around 12 pieces for a forging run so I can also run the forge for a long time to be match-efficient.

19 minutes ago, Valuable Hunting Knife said:

Using a match to guaranteed light a torch, then using to torch to light a fire.  never waste a match again.  Also, mini harvesting meat to boost cooking and harvesting skill increase.

Also a good one. I too often forget that torch trick. And the micro-harvesting gives an insane boost. 2-3 deers and you can jump to lvl 5 cooking quickly and boost your harvesting skills as well.

As you all probably know there is a wolf that sometimes spawns between the trailers outside Carter Dam. Cutting you off from hauling meat from the Ravine to the Dam or just go exploring or to the lake.

So I was wondering if somebody has an elegant (i.e. few resources spent and high chance of working) solution (i.e. kill) to said wolf. So no flares or melee.

I know the "trick" with the rock on the left where you can crouch up and overlook if the wolf is there. And if you stand up he usually spots you and runs towards you but then he is under you / the rock and you can't shoot. And then runs away which is also very hard to hit...

MyUsualMe had a nice idea with the snow shelter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpi9dFGLYzE which is ok on resources (a few cloth and sticks) but seems like a time consuming effort.

I will try a few things since I have that situation right now where I want to bring meat for crafting to the dam. But maybe somebody solved the situation already

Question for Interlopers:

What behavior or play style gives you the biggest boost, in your opinion?

I'll start: Tea.

I did not realize the value in other difficulties as you find plenty of medicine and calories but in Interloper tea has several advantages:

1. easy to get
2. non-smelly, so you can safely transport calories to another location
3. also gives hydration
4. few calories but decent if you are in starvation mode
5. boosts your cooking skill
6. warmth boost increases your travel distance
7. You can even separate medication and consumption: Drink 90% when you need the calories/warmth/hydration and the rest when you need the medication (which does not decay - so it is storable).

I'm eager to hear what other players judge to be their best technique to make an Interloper run more enjoyable.

Did you know you can use the work bench in TMW while beeing technically "outside" (to avoid cabin fever). Its a question of a few pixels but it works.

On 10/23/2020 at 6:46 PM, oplli said:

[...] What I dont agree though is that fire without tinder is useless. [...]

Just to clarify: That's not what I meant when I said "Fire is interesting as level 3 looks on paper like a big jump getting rid of tinder but in the game it does not make a hugh impact. So I think it is fine."

I wanted to contrast it to the big jumps in archery and cooking. It is a jump and a nice one, but not a "game changer". Carrying more other stuff is nice but crouched shooting and eating ruined food open complete new possibilities and play styles.

On 10/23/2020 at 6:46 PM, oplli said:

Another thing I dont like that much is that there is only 5 Level of skills. it is easy to be at day 100 and having completed the most important skills. If you survive 300 this means that you do not improve nothing during the 200 next days.

Interesting observation. What I could envision here would be higher levels with exponential requirements to reach them (like it is now but just continued) that give a small bonus. Like, for archery, 2% sway reduction at each level. Then you can still progress but the game does not need big re-balancing of any kind and you can introduce 20 new levels that long time players probably will never reach. Which is my kind of thing since I think even a master can still improve.

I like the skill level system and would not want to miss it. However, after playing a lot on interloper I noticed that not all skills progress that smoothly (which means logically for me, as you gradually become a master - not all of a sudden).

Rifle, mending, harvesting, e.g., seem fine to me. Fire is interesting as level 3 looks on paper like a big jump getting rid of tinder but in the game it does not make a hugh impact. So I think it is fine. If I could change something here I would award long-duration fires as well (like every started 5h-intervall for a continously running fire). The reasoning is that you use your matches sparingly and so your progress gets hindered by you beeing resource-concious. On the other hand a higher skill lets you burn fires for longer so "training" with long-lasting fires seems like a fair addition to me.

My main focus for this discussion is on archery and cooking. If you are playing interloper you are either on 5 or not (for crouched shooting and spoiled food+no parasites, respectively). So why not smoothen those skills out a little bit? A suggestion would be to be able to shot the bow while crouched with level 4 but the bow handles like level 2. So you have to judge if it fits the situation. For cooking I would suggest to make carnivore meat parasite-free starting with level 4. So you can widen your diet before you can eat "everything".

Right now it feels like I have to race those two skills no matter what while I can let the others just progress with my game.