Start Interloper in Desolation point (this is feedback, but I need advice also)


ThatDearGuy

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Every experience of starting Interloper in Desolation Point seems particularly doomed to failure. I've narrowed my problems with it down to one issue. Calories. Even if I succumb to cold or thirst, the issue is always calories in the end. I need them because I can't really afford to create a lot of fires to heat me, if I even manage to find matches at all. Beds are the immediate way to heat myself. To get the obvious out of the way, I grab every mushroom, roseberry and make sure to only consume them before I sleep.

The problem of calories is a chain of events that involve moving through the same maps too many times. The only way to create a stable source of calories is to hunt and I can't hunt without forging iron tools, knives to make snares and arrowheads to hunt game. For that to work I need the hammer and the hammer is never found on that map.

  • The first step is light. I can't run straight out of Desolation Point and preserve any loose calories on it because all exits are caves that are impossible to navigate without light. So before I leave the place, I need to find at the very least one light source (there usually is another one in the mine, but I need light to find it). In searching for that light I have to stay inside Desolation Point and use a good deal if not most of its free calories. By the time I have found one, I will have stayed on the map far longer than I intended to and I will have gone through most available free calories in attempts to warm up in beds.
  • The second step is condition. At this point, having used up most free calories in my vicinity, I tend to leave the map at 25% condition or less which, dwindles down to 15% or less as I cross the connecting map to coastal highway. At the start of Coastal Highway it's a long walk to the coastal townsite. The first house on one of the islands is closer, but provides fewer opportunities to find more free calories. The last five percent condition run out before I manage to reach either destination.
  • The third step is backtracking. If I am lucky and manage to find the hammer in the gas station at Coastal Townsite, I can head straight back to Desolation Point. There are some more free calories around here, so I also have the option of moving onward to Mystery Lake or Pleasant Valley to look further if I can't find the hammer right away. Either way, eventually I have to backtrack through the now free-calorie depleted maps, still without being able to generate calories myself. I die. A lot.
  • The fourth step is extra time. On one occasion I found the hacksaw early on, which helped me through step three a bit easier by scrounging just a few kilograms of deer meat from corpses. I managed to make it back to the Riken and forged all I needed. At the end of it I was still stuck in Desolation Point with no free calories left and no bow. I couldn't make traps because the intestines needed time to cure and I would have still needed time to actually catch anything. I still died the next day all while being extremely lucky to have found the hacksaw at all.
  • The fifth step would have been getting out of these calorie depleted maps a THIRD time, but I never managed to get that far. I already do not see how I could have made it beyond the third step without the hacksaw, there just aren't enough free calories to cross in and out of the same areas.

If I could somehow make more calories (without resorting to potatoes and rocket fuel), I'd have a better chance at getting through these five steps and maybe reach Trapper's Cabin. I have at this point played maybe 40 Interloper 'matches' and paid close attention to guides people have written and recorded for it. It hasn't proven enough yet and I am starting to wonder if it ever will.

 

This is is feedback, but I would appreciate advice on how to get through these steps better.

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Have you ever died of starvation?

Because I never have. It's always a result of freezing or of getting mauled by wolves because I'm putting myself in danger while out looking for food. Take a step back and think: do I really need to kill myself running around like this? Freezing will steal your condition much, much faster than starving will, so don't sacrifice it to the cold for the sake of a few calories - you won't get it back.

Stay as warm as possible at all times at all costs, and make sure you always have water - do not leak condition to those aspects. Food will present itself: don't waste it, but don't kill yourself chasing after it, either.

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Don't worry, one day it will become a lot easier. In fact I find DP is usually the easiest map to start Interloper. However you have other concerns that are just as important as food. And your most important concern is time. You need to get out of there very quickly and should usually focus on looting only Hibernia and the two mines. Maybe get the meat from a deer carcass or two and break up a crate or two in at least one of these places. I will try to be as thorough as possible but you may need to still do both some interpolation and extrapolation. Sometimes I am also wrong. Especially when my head is hurting from trying to remember this stuff. And bear in mind that this is not the only possible scenario. Variations in the weather will always play a part and as you grow more experienced, you will have the time to do more.

1. The Beginning

Get to Hibernia as quickly as possible. On the Riken side of Hibernia there are some boats which will often have at least a packet of beef jerky. As soon as you enter the large building (Whale Processing), sleep in a bed for an hour to recover enough warmth to be able to loot the building with no further condition loss.

2. Matches

 

There are always matches in this building. They will be in one of three locations:

a) On some shelves next to a set of three lockers in an upstairs room.
b) On a desk in an adjoining office next to a book. These might be hard to see.
c) In the other adjoining bunkroom, on the left corner of a benchtop that is against the wall separating this room from the office. These will likely be very hard to see.

In addition there is a catwalk that leads from the office to an awning that you can walk on and at the end of which there may be a corpse and backpack. Here you may find a torch and occasionally a second box of matches.

Also after you go downstairs you may be lucky enough to find a hacksaw hanging on the peg board wall very close to the safe but which again will often be very hard to see. If you do find a hacksaw here, later on you will most probably find a firestriker in a crate in the middle of No.5 mine.

And by visiting the Arch cave after exiting No.3 mine in Crumbling Highway, you may find another box of matches.

3. Sleeping

 

It is not unlikely that you will find a bedroll in Desolation Point. There seems to be two possibilities:

a) Downstairs in Whale Processing there is a large pipe that angles upward toward some boats on the wall. The pipe is big enough to walk upright in but at the top you will need to crouch and on this ledge you will sometimes find a bedroll as well as some other supplies. If you look up inside one upside down boat you should find a tin or two of food and a usually empty plastic container.
b) Sometimes you may find a lantern on a table in the upstairs bunkroom. If so, it is likely that you will find a bedroll in the cave inhabited by Scruffy the wolf. If this is the case, after you have finished looting the building, go out wide on the ice toward Broken Bridge. You may find a deer carcass on the way but leave it for now. Go under the bridge toward the waterfall and on the left is Scruffy's cave. Light the lantern and proceed until you reach a fork. There may be another deer here. If so, light a fire next to the deer and when the deer is 49% frozen harvest just the venison and cook it. With the fire still lit sprint up the right fork to the end and grab the bedroll and anything else you find then exit the cave. Do not explore the left fork or the wolf will most likely kill you. If you do not find a deer at the junction you can still light a fire to stop the wolf coming out but you can also just be careful toward the end of the right fork by crouch walking as the wolf can see you if you stand up. On your way back to Hibernia, if you found a deer carcass on the way and if the weather is favourable you can again light a fire next to the carcass, wait for it to become 49% frozen, harvest just the venison and cook it. Then go back to Hibernia to warm up in a bed.

Note that if you did not find the lantern you should not go to Scruffy's cave. Also, waiting for deer carcasses to thaw is a good opportunity to melt snow (1.5 litres) and boil it.

Anyway, finding a bedroll may make escaping from Desolation Point easier in one way but it will inevitably mean that you will not find other things that will also make it easier.

4. Light Sources and Exit

 

In Whale Processing you will always find a flare either:

a) At the base of the crafting table or
b) Next to the big red toolbox downstairs or
c) On a drum near the safe or
d) possibly other easy to spot places downstairs

Save this flare for moving through No.3 Mine to Crumbling Highway.

If you have finished looting Whale Processing and have not found a bedroll, recover your energy by sleeping just long enough to do so or by drinking coffee if you have found some. Then leave. If you have a bedroll, leave straight away. Without a bedroll, energy is critical until you reach Coastal Highway. Try not to run or run in very short bursts. Be prepared to sacrifice some health to the cold in order to preserve energy.

You are going through No.5 Mine which is reached by exiting Hibernia and crossing the road. Pick up a few sticks on the way. Without a lantern or a torch start a fire just inside with a couple of sticks. When the fire duration exceeds 10 minutes you will be able to take a brand from the fire and this will be enough to illuminate your passage through the mine. If you found the hacksaw near the safe, check the crates in the middle for a firestriker. If you didn't, there is a good chance you will find a hacksaw in this area instead. Unless of course, you have a lantern and bedroll. Take just one or two pieces of coal from this mine in case you find a deer carcass on the way to No.3 Mine.

After exiting No.5 Mine take a sharp left uphill almost immediately which will take you to the path between the Stone Church and the truck trailer. Turn left toward the trailer. You may find a deer carcass to harvest on this path. Stopping here for the meat is a gamble. Whatever you do, afterward, keep going until you enter No.3 Mine. (Just outside are some rosehips - grab some when you have a little warmth) If you have a bedroll recover energy by sleeping right here. Then using the flare proceed as quickly as possible through the mine. Do not pick up more than about five pieces of coal. It is important to conserve as much of the flare as possible.

On exit in Crumbling Highway, to the right of the exit is some Reishi. Grab some. Keep going past the pickup truck, cross the road and skirt the left end of the guard rail. Go down the steep snow embankment onto the ice. Go out a bit and turn right. You may see a wolf or two in which case brandish the still lit flare as necessary. In front of you will be the Arch. Underneath the Arch is a cave. There will be coal - take all of it. You may also find matches. There may be a deer carcass outside the cave. Taking the time to harvest the meat is a gamble. Either way, light a fire using the hopefully still lit flare (in the cave with no deer), warm up then cook the Reishi and drink it. The warmth bonus will help a lot. Keep going.

Go out toward the ocean before keeping on heading toward the Coastal Highway exit. You may have to finagle your way past a wolf or two. At the last possible point (only experience will tell you where this is) step back onto land and regain the road and head for the exit.

Once in Crumbling Highway there are more rosehips just before the Highway. Grab them. Keep going down the road until you reach the road into waterfront Cottages. Take it. Follow the rocks on the right until you find the deer carcass which is always there. Taking the meat is a gamble but you will probably need a fire by now to warm up. After you have done that, cook the rosehips and drink the tea. The warmth bonus will help a lot.

Now it is up to you whether you continue on to Misanthropes Homestead or Coastal Townsite.

I can think of at least another four possible deer carcasses in Desolation Point from which you can obtain between 400 and 1600 Calories each using the simple expedient of a fire to half thaw the carcass so you can harvest it by hand (if you find a hacksaw you can harvest 100% frozen carcasses). These are all off the optimum path but sometimes things don't always go to plan - anyway I'll leave them for you to find. You may have noticed that I have said that each one is a gamble. You will probably need to take some of these gambles but if you take too many, you will lose. There are also a few carcasses in Coastal Highway and by this stage you should be starting to think about also taking hides and guts. But leave them in Coastal Highway - you will be best off if you immediately continue to Mystery Lake and loot the map.

5. Food for forging

Collect cat tails. Lots of cat tails. It is easy to find 100+ in Mystery Lake, the Ravine and even Bear Creek in CH if you have to. With these and any meat from deer carcasses found, try and get back to Desolation Point by Day 10. Don't forget to keep an eye out for birch and maple saplings. You should then have plenty of food to enable forging a knife and arrowheads so that you can then craft a bow and arrows and begin to hunt the three deer near Little Island. You should also be able to find another two deer to hunt although it may be necessary to also kill a few wolves first. There is no need to wait for guts to cure for rabbit snares. There are three rabbits on Little Island you can hit with arrows and more around the Stone Church. With a little practice you will find it easy to kill four rabbits - enough for mittens - in a day with your bow and arrows.

Good luck!

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Adding alternate fast travel points between regions would be nice. Climbing up the mountain at Broken Bridge in Desolate Point to ski down to Mystery Lake. Or using a small floating ice sheet with a half frozen fishing hut as shelter to "sail" from south-east part of Little Island to the river between Rockfall and Jackrabbit Island in Coastal Highway before the ice sheet submerges into the water, both being trips out of Desolate Point that require no light rather than going through the cave + Crumbling Highway where you can find supplies but its not as fast? Maybe it could require a bit of crafting before-hand, such as making a barge pole from reclaimed wood or improvised ski poles.

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I agree with mysifeid's suggestion to try and harvest the deer carcasses in DP. I usually go for matches and then harvest the deer in Katie's Quiet Corner right away. Sometimes I'll also try for the carcass down by the bear bridge, but you have to crawl around the bear to get it. I don't think many other carcasses spawn in DP in interloper usually, except the one in the cave.

If you really want some serious food right away, try chasing a deer out onto the little bay area running from the direction of the blocked highway, through the gap in the rocks where the deer hang out. Usually a wolf will pick one up on the lake. Lure the wolf off and run into the car by the lighthouse. If you get lucky with no blizzard you can get some quick meat. This might take a few tries.

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  • 2 weeks later...
14 hours ago, ThatDearGuy said:

Good luck cutting frozen intestines without one.

I often harvest frozen carcasses in the few days of Interloper games, long before I have a knife.  The trick is to build a fire next to the rabbit (or deer) and thaw it first.  Then you can harvest it with your bare hands, including intestines.

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2 hours ago, Ruruwawa said:

I often harvest frozen carcasses in the few days of Interloper games, long before I have a knife.  The trick is to build a fire next to the rabbit (or deer) and thaw it first.  Then you can harvest it with your bare hands, including intestines.

Really? Wow. It makes sense, but I wish that was a little more evident in gameplay.

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I ended up using a tactic that worked better for me, with a tip from Ralph on Twitter. You guys all had valuable suggestions, but this one made even my lacking tactics work. If you spawn on Desolation Point, just don't use that forge. Just plowing onward toward the forge in Forlorn Muskeg means you always pass areas with fresh calories. It also means you're 'in the game' longer to find a hacksaw or forging hammer. I found two hammers so far, so I think I'll be alright.

My previous "starting in Desolation Point" Interloper record was about 3-4 days. I'm 15-20 days into my current playthrough now and I am besides myself with glee. I had some tense moments where I almost ran out of free calories in Mystery Lake while waiting for the first intestines to tan, after which I made the additional mistake not to make the bow immediately but, out of habit, several traps instead. I managed to get two additional intestines tanned and I think my condition was about 12 percent. But I bagged a deer, so all ended well.

Currently trying to figure out what my next move should be. I have a few skins, but not enough intestines yet. I may bag Fluffy.

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On 2/4/2017 at 5:53 AM, ThatDearGuy said:

The only way to create a stable source of calories is to hunt and I can't hunt without forging iron tools

Are you sure about that????   There's a very easy form of continueous calories that you don't have to hunt for or forage for as long as you can find a few intestines and scrap metal! ;)

Personally, I rarely "hunt" for food until about day 20 or so. Sometimes longer.

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On 2/5/2017 at 4:06 AM, Pillock said:

Have you ever died of starvation?

Because I never have. It's always a result of freezing or of getting mauled by wolves because I'm putting myself in danger while out looking for food. Take a step back and think: do I really need to kill myself running around like this? Freezing will steal your condition much, much faster than starving will, so don't sacrifice it to the cold for the sake of a few calories - you won't get it back.

Stay as warm as possible at all times at all costs, and make sure you always have water - do not leak condition to those aspects. Food will present itself: don't waste it, but don't kill yourself chasing after it, either.

I have managed to successfully die of starvation.  It was an odd feeling of accomplishment.  

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