Snowballs: Hushed River Valley

[Riotintheair]

On 6/26/2018 at 5:48 AM, Drifter Man said:

I found a ... piece of cedar firewood.

Either it's because I'm playing Interloper, or I'm blind. Everyone is telling me about the amazing loot in the Hushed River Valley 

Me either. I've visited it in 2 Loper runs and found only fire wood at landslide particularly.

HRV as a whole, on the run I've mostly fully explored it was very rich on Interloper, but that run is late game and has a hatchet. Overall that game's take was: 4 whetstones!, 2 sewing kits, 2 hacksaws, 1 hammer, 6 books of matches!, a bedroll (ruined), combat pants (ruined), a Mackinaw (ruined), 2 wool toques (1 ruined, 1 shockingly not), 4 pots, a decent set of canned food, a can opener, lots of OMB, Rosehip, and cat tails.

The things that seem limited are cloth, metal, Birch sapplings (especially for how large the area is), medical supplies, reshi mushrooms, and obviously crafting, fishing, beds, etc. Also it's really cold. 

 

[Drifter Man]

15 minutes ago, Riotintheair said:

HRV as a whole, on the run I've mostly fully explored it was very rich on Interloper, but that run is late game and has a hatchet. Overall that game's take was: 4 whetstones!, 2 sewing kits, 2 hacksaws, 1 hammer, 6 books of matches!, a bedroll (ruined), combat pants (ruined), a Mackinaw (ruined), 2 wool toques (1 ruined, 1 shockingly not), 4 pots, a decent set of canned food, a can opener, lots of OMB, Rosehip, and cat tails.

The things that seem limited are cloth, metal, Birch sapplings (especially for how large the area is), medical supplies, reshi mushrooms, and obviously crafting, fishing, beds, etc. Also it's really cold.

Interesting, it seems I already got most of it during my snowball runs. For me there also was an ear wool wrap with the combat pants, always. I hope to make it back around day 60-70 with better gear to see for myself.

I wonder if I have to pass through Milton on the way from FM to HRV... if the path avoids "civilized" areas, it would be possible to live a combined HRV+FM snowball challenge. With a forge and crafting table in FM and hammer and hacksaw from HRV.

[Riotintheair]

FM to Milton Basin, up the 2 ropes, follow the river to the waterfall left of grey mom's, around the rocks on the left or up the rope to the right, across the pond and road to the cave, and finally to HRV?

Alternatively maybe walk behind the farm and over the hill to behind the church, then hug the north wall to the cave?

[FunkyFuggerson]

Ive been running around hushed river valley and I have no idea how this is supposed to be considered an advanced region. As someone who doesn't have nearly as much experience under my belt as some players Ive still managed to prosper here. I wish there weren't so much caches or overall corpses and goodies. Would make it much harder! Also, do those supply caches spawn on interloper?

EDIT: Im playing on a custom run with stalker loot, less wolfs but harsher weather so maybe loot just plummets at lower levels. Unsure though as some people have been saying they've found quite the yield. Luck or not?

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, Riotintheair said:

FM to Milton Basin, up the 2 ropes, follow the river to the waterfall left of grey mom's, around the rocks on the left or up the rope to the right, across the pond and road to the cave, and finally to HRV?

Alternatively maybe walk behind the farm and over the hill to behind the church, then hug the north wall to the cave?

Excellent. I don't know MT well but I think I understand - avoiding Milton and the Paradise Meadows Farm (if it is the right name) by restricting oneself to he river between the basin and the waterfall. I'll explore the path with Snowball 54 and then see if one could live between HRV and FM. The area could even be extended to include parts of Mountain Town between the cave to HRV and the plane crash site, and of BR up to the point where the railroad is blocked by fallen rocks.

The great thing about Interloper in TWM was that it had the right balance of items. You only had one hacksaw, one sewing kit, a limited supply of cloth and scrap metal etc. and you had to decide how best to use it. I think that's what made TLD great in the old days when the world was small - now the world is big but you can search it in a few weeks and then retire as a rich man. I was looking for a similar balance by limiting myself to HRV but I didn't find it there - some key elements for survival cannot be found in HRV alone.

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

Ive been running around hushed river valley and I have no idea how this is supposed to be considered an advanced region. As someone who doesn't have nearly as much experience under my belt as some players Ive still managed to prosper here. I wish there weren't so much caches or overall corpses and goodies. Would make it much harder! Also, do those supply caches spawn on interloper?

EDIT: Im playing on a custom run with stalker loot, less wolfs but harsher weather so maybe loot just plummets at lower levels. Unsure though as some people have been saying they've found quite the yield. Luck or not?

I think if you want less stuff, go there on Interloper.. I found one supply cache on Interloper, there may be more.

[Dan_]

10 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I think if you want less stuff, go there on Interloper.. I found one supply cache on Interloper, there may be more.

Some youtubers are commenting that there are random cache spawns in little nooks and crannies of the map, never seen one in interloper. So far I've only managed to find 'the' cache by reclusive falls in interloper. The guaranteed Mackinaw by the signal fire and the combat pants make for pretty decent gear to an interloper start, but the lack of fishing might be a deal breaker for an extended stay. 

[Jolan]

16 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

less wolfs

I'm getting the impression that the wolves are part of what makes the area "advanced"  that and the whole shelter thing

[FunkyFuggerson]

17 minutes ago, Jolan said:

I'm getting the impression that the wolves are part of what makes the area "advanced"  that and the whole shelter thing

Tons of wolfs? Thats not the haaaardest thing I can imagine but it definitely sounds tough. Anybody chilling there on interloper or stalker can you confirm if there are bountiful wolves? 

[Jolan]

@FunkyFuggerson Well, I'm not certain if it qualifies as tons of wolves  but an awful lot of @Drifter Man's describes have the phrase "wolf patrolling", "wolf charging", wolf this, wolf that.  

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, Jolan said:

@FunkyFuggerson Well, I'm not certain if it qualifies as tons of wolves  but an awful lot of @Drifter Man's describes have the phrase "wolf patrolling", "wolf charging", wolf this, wolf that.  

That's because I'm paranoid about wolves

[Drifter Man]

6 hours ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

Tons of wolfs? Thats not the haaaardest thing I can imagine but it definitely sounds tough. Anybody chilling there on interloper or stalker can you confirm if there are bountiful wolves? 

There aren't tons of wolves. The worst area is around the Hushed River, which has 2 wolves on either side (I reckon) plus a bear. They are a bit difficult to avoid because the passages are narrow and the terrain can easily hide them.

I've only seen one wolf around Monolith Lake, usually blocking the exit from the ice cave towards the lake - so it is the price you pay for the safe passage up there. Another wolf in the other ice cave, another one patrolling at this other ice cave's top exit. And another one down in the valley. So it's 8 wolves + 1 bear in the areas I've seen, and they usually don't team up.

However, when starting out there on Interloper, a single wolf struggle means most likely your end.

[Drifter Man]

10 hours ago, Dan_ said:

Some youtubers are commenting that there are random cache spawns in little nooks and crannies of the map, never seen one in interloper. So far I've only managed to find 'the' cache by reclusive falls in interloper. The guaranteed Mackinaw by the signal fire and the combat pants make for pretty decent gear to an interloper start, but the lack of fishing might be a deal breaker for an extended stay. 

Same here... similar assessment. Good place to visit to gear up. Once you are well enough equipped to stay in an outdoor cave, both Monolith and Stairsteps lakes offer deer populations to feed on - one may be able to move between those. I've also seen a moose at Monolith.

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Day 53

Snowball 54 is back from the TWM Summit, getting ready for Forlorn Muskeg in the trailer at the Dam. Highlights:

• Pleasant Valley nearly killed me, I got lost again
• Silent Hunter achievement achieved
• I am resolutely outfitted, after an exorbitantly wasteful exercise
• Deer carcasses now respawn?! I am sure that I harvested the deer carcass inside the Dam fence sometime on Day 15 or so... now it's back!

I've been consuming huge amounts of non-renewable resources, especially cattail stalks, but I want to be back in HRV as soon as possible. Given the rate at which clothes degrade, I will probably only find ruined pieces anyway.

[FunkyFuggerson]

So, are you going to be forging some tools and arrowheads? There are no crafting station in HRV so you should probably get as much done as possible. (That sounded really obvious) Anyway, one day you will run out of supplies, are you going to travel back to craft more stuff or? Also congrats, this snowballs life doesn't completely suck! But knowing that your probably going to get dysentery in the middle of a blizzard, get frostbitten in both your hands and feet, get stomped on by a moose, mauled by a bear, chomped by a wolf, then a flock of bunnies is going to come out and nibble you to death. 

[Drifter Man]

11 minutes ago, FunkyFuggerson said:

So, are you going to be forging some tools and arrowheads? There are no crafting station in HRV so you should probably get as much done as possible. (That sounded really obvious) Anyway, one day you will run out of supplies, are you going to travel back to craft more stuff or? Also congrats, this snowballs life doesn't completely suck! But knowing that your probably going to get dysentery in the middle of a blizzard, get frostbitten in both your hands and feet, get stomped on by a moose, mauled by a bear, chomped by a wolf, then a flock of bunnies is going to come out and nibble you to death. 

The plan is to forge one knife, one hatchet and a bunch of arrowheads, then craft a bow and arrows still in FM. Knife will stay in FM, hatchet will go with me. I want to test the practicality of the idea of living in HRV and FM, especially I want to walk the connecting path through the Mountain Town region, and finish the exploration of HRV. Then I intend to park this sandbox and start a new one, a true snowball restricted to HRV+FM only.

Violent death is a common outcome for snowballs, although it usually comes a less complex form (either hypothermia or wolf). Snowball knows no fear.

[Ruruwawa]

How was TWM summit?  Was it worth the trip?

I tried a few interloper starts in HRV, learning the loot spots.  Then did a serious start and got out on day three with quite good gear (14C clothing, bedroll, hammer, hacksaw, maple and birch for a bow and 15 arrows, all the hides needed for gloves and boots.  But no coffee or tea.  I'm tempted to make the run to TWM just for that, and the bonus matches.

And socks.  I started with crappy cotton socks and they wore out.  Looted all of MT too, and didn't find another pair. XD

[Drifter Man]

19 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

How was TWM summit?  Was it worth the trip?

I think the TWM summit is always worth the trip, for the matches if not for anything else. And yes, the coffee and tea.  But the main thing I was after was the ear wrap. Can't let Old Hotzn have all the achievements for himself.

I also found a magnifying lens on the way, which is another bonus.

20 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I tried a few interloper starts in HRV, learning the loot spots.  Then did a serious start and got out on day three with quite good gear (14C clothing, bedroll, hammer, hacksaw, maple and birch for a bow and 15 arrows, all the hides needed for gloves and boots. 

The clothing sounds great - 14 C is very high even if you were lucky and found everything in good condition.

 

[Ruruwawa]

35 minutes ago, Drifter Man said:

The clothing sounds great - 14 C is very high even if you were lucky and found everything in good condition.

I was lucky.  The mackinaw jacket, cargo pants and work boots were all in excellent condition and I found a ski jacket in very good condition too.  Two wool toques, both in poor condition, but I found two pieces of cloth in the ice caves and fixed em up.  Socks tho...

[Drifter Man]

2 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I was lucky.  The mackinaw jacket, cargo pants and work boots were all in excellent condition and I found a ski jacket in very good condition too.  Two wool toques, both in poor condition, but I found two pieces of cloth in the ice caves and fixed em up.  Socks tho...

Better sockless than pantless

[Drifter Man]

Snowball 54 / Day 58

I pushed hard in the past few days and overextended myself. First, I travelled from the Dam encumbered - hacksaw, hammer, cured saplings and guts and scrap metal and cloth and flare pistol and lantern and so on, and wolves seem to be very aggressive when you are overweight, even just by a bit. I had to take a detour via Logging Camp and Frozen Creek to Camp Office because the area between Train Loading and Derailment was heavily wolved. Next morning I was barked up right after leaving Camp Office - in the end I avoided the wolf by taking the insanely long route to the fishing cabins and then up the rope - I dropped a few sticks to be able to climb - and then down to the Rail Tunnel. Next night, Poacher's Camp. I have to say that my resolute outfit helps, it takes much longer now for my temperature bar to run out. Firestarting level 4, achieved also by reading five copies of "Survive the Outdoors!", is also great - fires seem to last an eternity. I found a sixth copy at the High Blind: more reading to do, level 5 beckons.

Later at Spences', forging and crafting for two days and one night into the morning, I ended up with an improvised knife, hatchet, a bow and four arrows, although I had material for six. While earning the Desolation Point achievement in the Forlorn Muskeg, I exhausted myself and fell asleep during the day next to my workbench. When I woke up, the sun was already setting and I had no more fuel to survive the night at Spence's. I had only one option - make it to the cave above Hat Creek before nightfall. The visibility was bad - you know what effect strong winds make at dusk - but I had no choice, so I downed a cup of coffee, drew a torch from the fire and set out. I couldn't avoid a wolf at Hat Creek but managed to break contact. Eventually I made it to the cave unharmed and in good condition, but with little pride. This is how you die: you run yourself out of options.

Anyway, I'm alive and well, resolutely outfitted and well equipped while having some spare capacity - among other things, I left hacksaw, hammer and knife back at Spences'. Standing on Marsh Ridge, ready to explore the connecting path between Forlorn Muskeg and Hushed River Valley.

Or at least I think the connection to MT is from Marsh Ridge. I don't know. Let's take a look.

[FunkyFuggerson]

Marsh ridge connects FM to MT via root climbing. Once you climb up the rosehip roots you'll enter the Milton basin. I suggest skirting the lake edge to the hermits cabin and camping there if you have low condition. Now you have to travel north and head into the nice little area with birch tree's, cattails... Oh yeah, and a moose and wolves. So now you have two long rope climbs, there is a cave for you to rest in so keep that in mind. Its also not the warmest but you have good clothing so it should be good. Good luck! 

[Doc Gonzo]

@Drifter Man these are great reads.  Thanks for taking the time to write them.  Really fun stuff. 

[Hotzn]

3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

While earning the Desolation Point achievement in the Forlorn Muskeg, I exhausted myself and fell asleep during the day next to my workbench.

Hrgn? Can you please elaborate a little on this point - do we actually fall asleep on the spot if we let fatigue slip too much? If so, how long does our fatigue-o-meter have to be "in the red" (I mean damage-inflicting) until this occurs? To my memory, I have yet to experience this kind of power nap. How long does the nap last?

Congratulations btw to the Desolation Point achievement - I am still missing that one. It might be the next one on my list when I have completed Deep Forest (in the Ravine). Unfortunately, playing time is limited these days. May I ask: Does the Desolation Point achievement require crafting arrow heads as well? From the text "craft a full set of improvised tools" I am presuming no, as in my book an arrowhead is not really a tool. But my Hinterlandish is not perfect.

[Stone]

Good luck with those climbs! Make sure you check the cave on Marsh Ridge before climbing out ;O)