How does wolves work?


exeexe

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How does wolves work? So i ended an interlopper game from a wolf attack. So here is what happened. I left a house and was immediately attacked by a wolf i was shocked. But i reacted instantly and fought it off, didnt really take much dmg. So i went back inside and slept for 2 hours. Then i went outside again and as i was trying to reach quonset station i got surrounded by wolves. So i took refuge in a car. I sat there for a while and got out trying to sneak to the quonset when i thought the coast was clear. I knew there was a good risk that a wolf would see me but if it did i could tank the dmg and fight it off. But i couldnt and i died.

So how does wolves work? Are some wolves stronger than others? And if so i think the stronger wolves should appear bigger or have something to tell the player that this is a strong wolf.

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Wolves in Interloper have a much wider damage range than other difficulty modes. For instance, with starting clothing and no weapons a wolf attack can easily result in 70-80% condition loss. The amount of damage done depends on luck, how quickly you fill the "struggle" meter, your condition (including freezing, fatigue, etc), and clothing. @mystifeid has a play style that emphasizes wolf attacks and would be the best anecdotal source. 

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1 hour ago, exeexe said:

How does wolves work? So i ended an interlopper game from a wolf attack. So here is what happened. I left a house and was immediately attacked by a wolf i was shocked. But i reacted instantly and fought it off, didnt really take much dmg. So i went back inside and slept for 2 hours. Then i went outside again and as i was trying to reach quonset station i got surrounded by wolves. So i took refuge in a car. I sat there for a while and got out trying to sneak to the quonset when i thought the coast was clear. I knew there was a good risk that a wolf would see me but if it did i could tank the dmg and fight it off. But i couldnt and i died.

So how does wolves work? Are some wolves stronger than others? And if so i think the stronger wolves should appear bigger or have something to tell the player that this is a strong wolf.

Apparently there are stronger wolves. They also provide much more meat. Another factor is your fatigue bar, for example if you are drained during a wolf attack  you will always fail to fight off the wolf and thus receive the max amount of dmg. The opposite is also true if you are rested you will fight off wolves much more efficiently. The final factor of wolf fighting is your melee weapon which is something like this:

  1. Knife (Best weapon)
  2. Hatched (Good Weapon)
  3. Pry-bar (Least effective weapon)
  4. Fists (No weapon, big penalty)

I can't go into detail how much each weapon helps since I haven't tested them all. However I can give you this advice: If you haven't got at least a hatched or your fatigue is low be prepared to scare wolves with fire. Always carry something which will help you light a fire faster like, accelerant or book and don't wait the wolf to get close. as soon as you see wolf run like hell in the opposite direction, do not try to be brave and cross it's path. If the wolf is blocking your way just run back light a fire lure the wolf to the fire and as soon as you scare it away run to your destination. I'll say it again do not try to be hero and fight off wolves, heroes are killed in this game :):silly: . You can fight wolves safely when you are all stocked up on food, medicine cloth but even then it is much easier to kill them with ranged weapons, Because then you do not need to wait for them to bleed out. 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, cekivi said:

Wolves in Interloper have a much wider damage range than other difficulty modes. For instance, with starting clothing and no weapons a wolf attack can easily result in 70-80% condition loss. The amount of damage done depends on luck, how quickly you fill the "struggle" meter, your condition (including freezing, fatigue, etc), and clothing. @mystifeid has a play style that emphasizes wolf attacks and would be the best anecdotal source. 

So could it be that the first wolf gave my clothings heavy dmg and then the next wolf came in and finished me off now that my clothings was in bad condition?

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2 hours ago, exeexe said:

So i ended an interlopper game from a wolf attack

Better get used to it. Wolf struggles in Interloper should be a last resort and should be avoided at all cost until you have a knife (and a bow).

Sounds like you were fortunate the first time. What weapon were you using in the struggles? (You must really try and spam that left mouse button as fast as you can.)

It is impossible to tell if some wolves are stronger than others. I think it is as @cekivi says - sometimes it comes down to luck.

Lighting fires and/or sprinting are often better tactics than sneaking.

It also seems to help in a wolf struggle if you have a very low fatigue level. Don't even think about it without 100% health.

Coastal Townsite has the highest density of wolves in the game so try not to go there until you have a bow and a knife unless it is necessary to find something you cannot find anywhere else. Taking a wide detour around the back and sprinting to the back door of the Quonset gas station often gives a clear field of vision and the best chance of success.

Practice killing wolves with the bow on a lower difficulty level. Like about 500 of them. You need to have a very high success rate before you take on Interloper wolves en masse. Even then they will still kill you sometimes.

Otherwise you will slowly gain knowledge of their territories and should try to learn the best evasion tactics. There are so few wolves in Interloper that it is almost always possible to go around them.

54 minutes ago, exeexe said:

So could it be that the first wolf gave my clothings heavy dmg and then the next wolf came in and finished me off now that my clothings was in bad condition?

Probably didn't help. In Stalker I used to take all my clothes off first and would survive. The first two times I tried this in Interloper I died very quickly and have not done it since. At the moment there is only empirical evidence for how much clothing affects the outcome but this appears to have changed in the latest test builds.

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I only once out of about ten times managed to defend myself with fist only. Heavy hammer is also almost impossible. It all comes down to avoid the wolfes. And if i need to go somewhere with high risk of contact with wolf, i might wait for a blizard before i go.

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2 hours ago, Eilif said:

I only once out of about ten times managed to defend myself with fist only. Heavy hammer is also almost impossible. It all comes down to avoid the wolfes. And if i need to go somewhere with high risk of contact with wolf, i might wait for a blizard before i go.

A good plan especially if you know the maps. I was able to traverse almost all of Pleasant Valley in a blizzard. You'll be frozen but at least you won't be eaten!

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5 hours ago, ThatDearGuy said:

Are they perhaps sometimes not interested in me because they aren't hungry?

No, they just can't sense you while you're sneaking. TLD wolves don't really have a sense of smell or hearing as far as I can tell, at least I've never noticed wind directions or my character's audio comments to have any effect on their detection range. The only thing that matters to them is line of sight. And while you're crouching you're pretty much invisible to them until they're just a few steps away from you. 

As a sidenote, wolves also don't sense things behind their backs. If you approach it from behind, you can walk towards an eating wolf very closely before it's going to notice you. Quite useful to light a fire or shoot an arrow to its knee. :winky:

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