VZR

Great guide, it help me a lot. Like Beamo, I also exited Bleak Inlet back to Forlorn Muskeg, then retraced my steps through Mystery Lake and the Ravine to avoid climbing ropes. Ravine came a little close on the fog timer (3 min remaining) but since it was just following railroad tracks with no wildlife it was not an issue. Overall run time of 3hrs, 58 min. I did not carry ropes - I thought they were too heavy to carry for most of the route. The only 2 ropes I needed to find were in Bleak Inlet (outside in the Fire Lookout around the corner from the door) and Ravine (3 spawn points - Railroad car or either of the two caves on either side of the tree bridge). I had to check all three spots in Ravine and backtrack since it was in the far cave (worst spot for it to be). That was why my Ravine timer was a little close. I'll add a few other tips, some of which may be obvious: 1. GREEN FIRES DO NOT SCARE OFF WOLVES! If a wolf is following you it will not stop like at a normal fire. Not sure if this is a bug or not, just be sure to frighten them off before sitting down to rest/cook/organize. 2. WEIGHT IS EVERYTHING! Try to keep below the limit for encumbrance, which is 15/20/25 KG (Base/Moose Satchel/Well Fed bonuses). That being said, being a little over isn't a deal breaker, especially at the beginning when the DW is slow. I hovered between 15-20 KG for my runs, and carried the Bearskin roll (heavy but the warmth was worth it in my opinion), a lantern, and a revolver. No other tools besides a couple cans for cooking. 3. PRETTY MUCH IGNORE CONDITION AND TEMPERATURE. Wildlife is infrequent and easy to scare off with the revolver since ammo spawns like crazy. Loss of some condition to temperature can be ignored as resting for 1-2 hours at a fire will restore the temperature meter to full and mostly heal you. 4. RAID HOUSES/CARS YOU COME ACROSS QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY. I guess I'll disagree with OP here, I raided a lot of cars and houses on my route for clothes/food/coffee/tea. I recommend a quick in/out approach, and I never used a ward. Only look for what you need - Don't need meds/water? Skip the bathroom. Have enough clothes you aren't freezing between fires? Skip the bedroom. And don't go off your path unless you desperately need something, you will run across more than you can use during the run. 5. COFFEE AND TEA ARE YOUR FRIENDS! Raid most kitchens you come across for tins of coffee and tea to cook at fires and keep the caffeine flowing! Drinking tea before resting at fires is also very useful. Water can be obtained through boiling or from toilets as needed. I never needed stims or Energy Drinks in any of my runs, and the DW never came close to catching me. 6. ALSO RELATED TO RAIDING HOUSES, GRAB WHAT CLOTHING YOU CAN BUT DONT MEND IT. Mending clothing takes away precious rest time at the fire or letting the DW catch up. And it adds to weight limit by carrying a sewing kit and cloth. Put on any good (>50%) condition clothing you can that you find in houses, but beware articles that have a major movement penalty. 7. DROP A LURE AS SOON AS YOU ENTER A MAP, ALWAYS. As OP alluded to, it's good to know where the DW is and how far ahead you are. It can also build a lead if he has to go to the Lure at an angle from your path. This is pretty much the only thing I did with glyphs (and dropping Lures when I had to make a corner in the map, so the DW couldn't gain on me from cutting the corner). I think I had 3 spare cans of paint at the end. 8. BUG ENTERING TRAILERS IN BLEAK INLET. I entered the Washed Out Trailer in one run and had the Darkwalker 15 minute timer restart, as well as the Fog reset to 0% on all maps. I abandoned the run because I felt it was cheating to continue. Great challenge!