The Devs need to fix the wolf spawning in Archivist challenge.

[InvaderNoodle]

So let’s play a fun game, alright? Think of a number in your head, of the number of wolves you think I encountered on my trip from Milton, through Mystery Lake, and through half of Pleasant Valley. Go on, think of a number. Got it? Remember it, because it’s  story time.

 

First time I start up Archivist, there’s five bloody wolves outside the starting house. Oh yeah, that seems fun. Let’s quit, make a new file and try again. Oh that’s nice, only three wandering the street this time. Start another new file. Oh, we’re back up to five. Start again. Four this time. One last time, and this time only two. I figure “whatever, that’s the best I’m going to get.”

 

So I dodge around them while looting the town, etc. In between the town and the rope to Mystery Lake I avoid four more wolves. Isn’t that magical? Make it to Mystery Lake. Figure that must have been really bad luck and things will improve in ML. Pfffft nope.

 

There’s two wolves outside the Trapper’s Cabin. Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be? I make the mad dash to the cabin, make it, and of course there’s no rifle there. Shocking. Spend the night there, and leave, heading off towards the Camp Office. On the way, I dodge two wolves. Par for the course, eh? At least I have shelter…

 

Or at least, I would, if I didn’t get ambushed by two more wolves outside the Camp Office. One is scared off by my torch, the other straight up ignores it and bites the heck out of me. Because why would I expect to be able to fend them off consistently, right? Bandage up, stock up in the cabin, spend the night. 

 

On the way to the derailment I dodge two more wolves. As expected, no rifle here either. Again, shocking. From the derailment to the trailers beside Carter Dam I only pass one wolf. Yay! But there’s two waiting for me outside the trailers. One is scared off by my new torch, one bites the heck out of me and I stab it. Deja vu is awful isn’t it?

 

I bandage up after getting inside, make a dash for the Dam. Inside the Dam I finally get a rifle (15% condition lol) to go with my 40 bullets. Figure I’m set now. I have gauntlets, ski boots, a military jacket, an axe, a hunting knife, and a rifle (which I cleaned profusely) with two score bullets. ISSA JOKE.

 

At the Winding River there’s two more wolves just in that first wide section. Blow the face off one, the other takes off. That’s more like it! I set up a fire and start harvesting the wolf. While I’m doing so, I get attacked by the second wolf. It completely ignores the fire, bites the heck out of me and I stab it. I finish harvesting after bandaging and bathing in antiseptic.

 

I make it through the caves and to Pleasant Valley. Time for a fresh start, right? Things are a bit more normal on the way to Signal Hill. Only two wolves, shoot one, the other takes off, business as usual.

 

I found my first Prepper Cache (the clothing one) northeast of here. I repair all my clothing to 100%, stock up on food, wood, and water. I get to Pensive Pond and there is a wolf there. Because why not. I run into the fishing hut and close the door. At least there’s a door right? The wolf attacks me through the bloody door. Just glitches through it, bites the heck out of me, I stab it, it starts to run. 

 

“Screw this cheating wolf,” I think, and I open the door of the fishing hut, aim my rifle, and shoot it in the butt to make sure it’s dead. I bandage up and move on.

 

Heading north, I only pass one wolf, but then there’s another outside the General Store. I blow its head off, go in, stock up, and prepare to head towards Timberwolf Mountain.

 

Heading west along the river, I only pass one wolf. Things are finally looking up. I’ve got a gun with tons of ammo, durable gear, the weather is relatively liveable, and I’m loaded with supplies. The plan is to head west until the bridge southeast of the Derelict Cabins, then strike off north towards the possible bear spawn. I’ve hunted many bears in the game by this point, and figure this will be pretty routine. 

 

As I get to the clearing south of the cave, there’s three bloody wolves within about 10 meters of each other. I put down a lure and ready my rifle as they all start moving towards me. The middle one is closest to me, so I put a bullet between its eyes. The other two run. One north towards the bear cave, the other into the rock wall to my left, just running into the wall.

 

So of course, the wolf to my left turns right around and attacks me before I can react. I stab it, and as it’s running away, I shoot it in the back as it headed up the hill. Two down, one to go. Probably time to bandage up, apply antiseptic, and get ready for the third to my north right? WRONG ANSWER. As I’m bandaging, a fourth bloody wolf attacks me from behind. I know it was a separate wolf because the one that took off ran towards the bear cave. 

 

Challenge failed. u ded. git gud.

 

Were you keeping count? How close were you? Did you guess twenty-eight bloody wolves in the space of a direct path through three areas? Do you still want to try and argue that this challenge isn’t broken because of the wolf spawn rate?

 

I have scoured the Hinterland forums, the Steam forums, and the Gamefaqs forums, and have found many posts mentioning how absurd the number of wolves in the Archivist challenge is. A few players actually said the spawn rate was significantly higher than even Interloper Survival. So it sure isn’t just me who noticed that an already difficult challenge is made miserable because of the broken spawn rate of wolves.

 

Now, I know it’s only a matter of time before someone posts here saying “u suck git gud its not the game its u uninstall” but I don’t see how 100+ hours of experience in the game, 40 rounds in a rifle, damage resistant clothing, and torches is even enough to deal with this idiotic spawn rate. It’s not me, it’s the challenge. And the Devs need to understand that and fix the spawn rate for wolves in the Archivist challenge. It's hard enough without a busted wolf spawn rate. Right now it is pointlessly difficult, buggy, broken, and above all else unfun.