Blizzard Walker

I first played on Pilgrim for perhaps 200 game days to learn the basic mechanics of the game. On occasion I will revert to my Pilgrim character to facilitate exploring unknown regions or test dangerous locations - my first trip across the Ravine's single rail bridge for example. My Voyageur run is approaching 1,400 days. My goal is 3,000 days or more on Voyageur. A secondary goal is to thoroughly learn the maps for all regions. Survival is rarely a concern after assembling high end clothes along with abundant tools, ammunition, arrows and food. Voyageur at times affords an experienced player an almost absurd margin for error - I have over 1,100 matches stashed at various bases. Presently I am working on building well stocked bases including spare sets of clothes in each region. In that endeavor I find that Cooking Skill 5 is Hinterland's greatest gift to the casual survivor. My meat stockpile at Trapper's is over 1000 days old. At some point I will provide my Voyageur character a comfortable retirement location, most likely at TWM's Crystal Lake, and the repeat the whole process on Stalker. Its unlikely I will ever play on Interloper as I like the rifle and revolver too much.

I have made it a point in game to search out all birch saplings in the regions I have explored on Voyager (Day 1370). Scouring ML, MT, CH, PV, FM, TWM and BR has given me with an inventory of 111 arrow shafts in addition to 45 intact arrows. I have a few spots yet to check in FM, CH, DP and HRV. With luck I can assemble 140 arrow shafts or enough to get my Voyager character to Day 3000. The on-line maps are reasonably accurate about birch sapling locations; not all possible indicated locations will have saplings. The number at actual sapling locations seems fairly random with 2 being the average per location.

I just returned to the Pleasant Valley Farmhouse after foraging up 52 new arrow shafts. Most likely I am just a short walk away to the Blackrock transition zone. Now this is fortunate timing.

I like that change. Saves matches and torches.

At 1300 days on Voyager I had a choice of three unexplored regions to explore - Hushed River Valley, Ash Canyon and Bleak Inlet. As the Trailer outside Milton is a well stocked main base, I shipped in excess food and water to the Cloudtop Falls area as a secure starting point. My goals are limited to harvesting birch saplings and revolver/rifle ammunition as I have more than adequate weapons, tools and clothes. Until I learn the locations of the caves I will explore cautiously with cloth and sticks at the ready for snow shelters. Admittedly my first impression from the available maps is that I am entering a maze.

Abandoning the Pensive Pond fishing hut for either the Mystery Lake Transition Cave or Pleasant Valley Farmhouse's barn would have been difficult. Six hours of firewood should have been enough but bad luck intervened. The circumstances you encountered remind me just how isolated Pensive Pond actually is. Today as I traveled from the Farmhouse to the Mystery Lake Transition Cave I first stopped at Pensive Pond and put in a good stock of firewood at the hut - 7 pieces of fir wood and 80 sticks - before moving on to the Mystery Lake Transition. 20+ hours of wood should cover just about any storm.

I have spent hundreds of nights at the Farmhouse and have never hear anything unusual. I will need to look for the smoke coming out of the chimney at times when I know I don't have a fire in the six burner stove. I tend to forget there is a fireplace that I have never yet used.

Thanks for the response. A new strategy for myself if to set aside low condition arrows likely to break the next time they are shot. Instead I will put them back in inventory to use for prey more likely to run off with my arrows - wolves mostly and sometimes bear.

In the last 20 game days I have hunted only twice, in each instances hunting bear. Both bears were downed with two arrows. Before hunting my two lowest condition arrows were at at 73% and 70% condition. After killing the first bear the two arrows used were down to 46% and 43% condition. After the second bear was killed the same arrows were down to 19% and 16% condition. Condition dropped by 27% each time. Assuming I hunt the bear again when it respawns both arrows will break. The bow I was using was at 95% to 100% condition. Is four shots per arrow before breaking typical in your experience? I am wondering if arrow wear somehow relates to what you are hunting (deer vs wolf vs bear vs moose)

Perhaps 1 out 3 times wolves will be scared off when I wear a wolf coat. I play of Voyager.

DiscoJonny, I agree it would make more sense to explore Ash Canyon now but I retreated in game back with TWM loot to the PV Farmhouse. However, the route back to TWM via Draft Dodgers Cabin, Skeeters Ridge basement and Abandoned Prepper Cache were left well stock with food, firewood, tools, metal, hides, cloth and leather. Mountaineer's Hut in TWM has all of the above plus an extra wolf coast and deerskin boots. It means I can come back to TWM with a bear coat, moose cloak and insulated boots and immediately have choices in terms of what I wear. Before I push on to Ash Canyon I will assemble resources a the Deer Clearing cave like hides, food, water and firewood. I like the idea of a safe point to retreat to. As I noted above I will revisit in regions I have mostly explored to (1) concentrate resources at key points like PV Farmhouse, CH Fishing Camp and ML Camp Office/Trappers Cabin, (2) strip resources from locations I don't intend to visit again like PV Three Strikes Farm, PV Signal Hill or CH Quonset Hut/surrounds and (3) craft extra clothing like wolf coats, bear coats and deer boots that I can leave in place at key bases. I may spend hundreds of days following the goals above and by visiting nooks and crannies of regions I have only incompletely explored like Forlorn Muskeg and Desolation Point. In particular I want to assemble every possible arrow shaft and piece of cloth/leather/metal I can before moving to unexplored regions.

piddy3825, I doubt if anyone else plays as slowly as I do. That has some value as I can report what I have encountered when looting areas hundreds of days later than most other players. I can report that there is a certain randomness in decay. The cargo containers at TWM illustrated this to me. One container might have clothing that is all ruined while another will have clothing is ragged-worn-decent condition. The former I convert to cloth while the latter I will either fix or convert to cloth. At the Summit I found a Balaclava, Snow Pants, multiple Toques, Wool Underwear and various other items in fixable condition. Another container had multiple Fisherman's Sweaters and Expedition Parkas in ruined condition. Apart from the Summit, other TWM cargo containers yielded two wool ear wraps in salvageable condition. I ended up finding what I wanted at TWM - snow pants and wool ear wraps. I have had the high end sweaters and an Expedition Parka since day 500 - I have an extra Fisherman's Sweater. Food found after Day 1200 is similarly random in quality. Some but not all is ruined. have found MRE's at 6% condition while others were 50%+ condition. Entire cargo containers contained cans of food in ruined conditions while other containers held cans where none were ruined. It hardly matters since I cannot remember a time I was not at Cooking Skill 5. I just stack them at the Mountaineer's Hut as a reserve. Medical supplies after Day 1200 have included ruined, low condition and middle of the road condition supplies. Bandages, Antiseptic and Stims seem indestructible regardless of age. Coffee and Tea can be found ruined but also in middle of the road condition. The bottom line is that decay is not uniform. If it was everything I found after 1200 that does decay would be ruined.

hozz1235, the only loot that gave me any concern as a consequence of my slow play style was the wool ear wrap. I have found three, all after Day 1100. The one I found at Broken Railroad was ruined while the two I found in TWM were in worn but still repairable condition. Similarly, snow pants found at the TWM Summit around day 1240 were repairable. The Cowichan and Fisherman's sweaters found after day 600 were likewise repairable.

piddy3825, I have spent perhaps 300 total days combined in Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point. I am returning to the regions to mop up portions I have not explored. A present goal is to gather remaining resources and loot, especially birch saplings and ammunition, in all the regions I have visited but not exhaustively explored. As I near Day 1300 I have not yet visited Ash Canyon, Hushed River Valley and Bleak Inlet. Slow and methodical is my game style. I settle into an area, accumulate resources at bases, keep selected areas clear of predators and set modest goals. In Coastal Highway I sometimes fish for a week to stockpile food/lantern fuel or systematically gather cloth, leather and sticks at main depots. My Voyager character is the only one I have ever started.

Excellent advice DiscoJonny. Presently I am already shifting TWM loot down to the PV Abandoned Prepper Cache in anticipation of transferring valuable items to my main bases at the PV Farmstead and the Coastal Highway Fishing Camp. Once the shifting is complete I will only return to TWM when I decide to explore Ash Canyon. In the meantime I have not yet visited portions of Forlorn Muskeg, Coastal Highway and Desolation Point to explore. By the time I get back I imagine the Crystal Lake bear will return.

I am at Day 1241 on my Voyager run, spending the last 100 days exploring TWM. During this time I have killed the bear that visitx Crystal Lake 5 times. The bear would reliably respawn after 16-18 days. The last bear died outside its cave on Day 1208 and it disappeared within 4 days after I partially harvested the meat. 33 days after killing the last bear that visited Crystal Lake the respawned bear is long overdue. Simultaneously I have notice in the last 10-14 days that sticks/branches are not respawning in the vicinity of the Mountaineers Hut. Has anyone seen similar circumstances? Speculation on the cause would be welcome.

Thanks for all the answers everyone. piddy3825, I am thinking of starting a new run on Stalker once I round out my map knowledge as I am still exploring TWM with AC, HRV and BI remaining to visit. BI will remain for last. I am hoarding ammunition (200 revolver and 100 rifle rounds), which means I will visit BI when I am ready. At Day 1200+ I am careful to use arrows only when necessary. Chasing deer towards wolves means a 2 for 1 harvest via an easy crouching shot at the wolf. Similarly, ambushing bears from safe locations means I can kill bears with one shot - either instantly or by later finding the bled out bear. When I do hunt deer it is at point blank crouching range after the deer turns to approach me head on. Those hunts are almost always instant kills. Cooking 5 allows stockpiling prodigious amounts of meat without concern for spoilage. I hunt less often and its more often intended to clear wolves and bears out of my path. Much of the wear and tear on my arrows was prior to Day 500: taking 4 shots at a deer before getting a hit, taking numerous shots at a wounded bear rather than just letting it bleed out and even hastening Archery 5 by shooting at rabbits with arrows instead of rocks. Those shafts are gone forever for little gain.

As I play on Voyager (Day 1180) I make it a point to keep an inventory of consumables stashed at each location. I keep track of cloth, leather, metal, matches, sewing kits, whetstones, maple saplings and birch saplings. Cloth is finite but I have an inventory of over 500 pieces with regions left to explore. I only need to use leather to repair my Moose hide satchel as I avoid clothing items requiring leather for repair. Metal seems fairly inexhaustible if one is careful to break down all of it available. Fishing tackle is an alternative to sewing kits. The mag lens means it is rare for me to use a match. Maple saplings are nearly as abundant as birch but I have at least eight 100% bows stashed in various locations. With archery skill 5 bows degrade slowly. Birch saplings are my concern. I break 1-2 arrows a week while hunting. My inventory of birch saplings and unused shafts might take me another 500 days. That time might stretch to 800 days if I make sure I harvest overlooked saplings or thoroughly harvest regions not yet explored. Of all the game's finite consumables I judge birch saplings to be the most likely to be exhausted. Has anyone experienced this problem on long runs?

Until I first visited TWM (around day 1100 on voyager) my favorite locations were the Fishing Camp at Coastal Highway and the Farmhouse at Pleasant Valley. Each are easy places to hunt bear. However at either location the unwary can be surprised by the Bear wandering by. Neither location is too wolf happy. Now I appreciate the ease of hunkering down at the Mountaineer's Cabin at Crystal Lake. Predators don't normally approach the cabin. Deer, Rabbits, Wolf and Bear are all available along with a fishing hut. Fuel is readily available right around the cabin without predator interference. Hunting the bear from the fishing hut is proving easy. I assembled a 20 day surplus of meat within 10 days of arriving. Cargo containers provide unwanted clothes I can break down into cloth. Occasional trips back to Pleasant Valley allow me to shuttle back loot and food; I return with scrap metal from the abandoned prepper cache to repair my tools.

Great video. I play on Voyager but still watched this video from start to finish. Any number of times I made mental notes to keep in mind during my game play.

Not yet although I have crossed only 6-10 times. I will take pains to enter Coastal Highway via Pleasant Valley rather than via the trestle.

Just Brilliant.

My Voyager run is currently at Day 1,050. I tend to be a plodder adverse to unnecessary risks. I have yet to explore/loot TWM, HRV, Ash Canyon and Bleak Inlet. Instead I methodically learn regions, loot regions, break down items, store and inventory resources. A spreadsheet tells me precisely what I have in terms of resources: 872 matches, 549 pieces of cloth, 21 cured birch saplings, 110 rifle rounds, 170 revolver rounds, etc. I look at the game as if I was trying to survive indefinitely. Surviving need not be exciting. The challenge for me is to build resources to make a 5000 day plus run possible. The resources that I view as most crucial to husband carefully are arrow shafts, bows and leather. Cloth is less of a concern as I may use one piece every 10 days, unless I stumble into a wolf/bear struggle or get caught out in a blizzard. I have gone the last 50 days without shooting a rifle or revolver round. I would like to see some sort of end game where long term survival leads to some tangible goal.......like rescue. 3,650 days (10 years) would be a realistic goal.

My current run is on Voyager. I have made perhaps 7 wolf coats that I have distributed between my bases in Mystery Lake, Milton, Forlorn Muskeg, Pleasant Valley, Coastal Highway and the Ravine. My usual stepping out wardrobe is a wolf coat over the expedition parka. This sort of outfit along with the cloth bedroll means I have carrying capacity to spare for day trips. Two moose cloaks I crafted are sitting unused as I prize warmth over protection. I also like the possibility that wolves may run in fear when seeing the wolf or bear coat. The two bear coats I made are stowed at bases where I find it easiest to ambush additional bear pelts for repair - PV Farmstead and CH Fishing Camp. I prefer the bear coat over the wolf cost when exploring new regions or whenever I venture into any area where shelters are scarce. For more dangerous treks I prefer the bear bedroll and insulated boots for extra warmth.

Little did I realize the relative abundance of matches in Interloper versus Voyager. I am at day 998 in my Voyager run and maintain a spreadsheet of everything I have stashed in different locations. Presently I have over 800 matches in various locations while carrying about 100 matches. Some of that 100 will be distributed to various Mystery Lake locations I will be revisiting. I am a slow methodical player and have not yet explored TWM, AC, BI or HRV. Most likely I will end up with a stockpile in excess of 1000.