Loot Clarification


Tenasi Vol

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My wife and I have started 5 Interloper games now.  We have died before surviving 2 days.   1 day, 6 hours is our longest.

My question is this...how much loot has been removed from the game on the interloper difficulty?

We starting noticing no loot in containers so decided to start counting and making notes.

Our definition of a container where loot could be obtained would be metal box, backpack, drawer, corpse, etc.

Two runs ago, we opened 36 containers without a single piece of loot.  This last run, we opened 42 and got two items; a long sleeve shirt from a dryer, and a can of peaches from a metal box.

It is extremely frustrating.  So, if this is common we will no longer attempt interloper until we have unlocked a couple of feats to help us along a bit.

Is this common?  Has this happened to others?  Are we just really unlucky with the loot?

 

Thanks,

Ten

 

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One of the main challenges (and appeal, to some) of Interloper is the ridiculous loot scarcity, so yes, not finding loot in containers is normal. In Interloper, you will have to use natural resources a lot more than in another difficulties - you can't rely on scavenging buildings anymore. If you need food, make sure to collect lots of cat-tails, reishi mushrooms and rose-hips. Tip: you only need 750 calories per day to survive, since starvation drains condition so slowly you can recover all your health in one night of rest. This means you can live on gathered cat-tails for a week or so. If you want clothing or tools, there are a few locations with decent loot even in Interloper, such as the Mountaineer's Hut in TWM, Signal Hill and the Farmstead at PV, the Hydro Dam in ML, the Spence Homestead at FM & the Processing Plant in PV. Head to one of those locations and you're almost guaranteed to get something worthwhile.

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It seems as though this has changed.  I have played interloper before the latest updates.  It was hard and challenging and I loved it but something has changed drastically.  Im pretty sure its the changes to frostbite.  It has borderline ruined interloper.

I live off of cat tails so Im not having a problem with starving.  Almost every game lately has been me dying from freezing.  The clothes start out so bad that I dont even have time to find a sewing kit to fix them up before freezing.  Trying to move to someplace to even find something to help creates frostbite and hypothermia, causing me to have to stay indoors to prevent myself from dying from exhaustion.  Attempting to repair clothes (or even fix them in the first place after finding a sewing kit) causes almost instant exhaustion.  Compounded with the fact that I have nothing in which to start a fire to melt snow for water creates for a frustrating game.

While it has been several updates since I played interloper, I will have to drastically play differently.  Before when I spawned in it was a good challenge to try and get to shelter and find food and water.  Now, (and according to lots of posts across the internet), if you dont get a good spawn just kill yourself and start again.  Which is absolutely asinine.  But that is how it seems to be now.  Bad clothes, weather starting out at NEGATIVE 30+, no water, no food, no matches, no tools...its painful. lol

I think the sodas and canned food looting should have stayed the same.  At this point, you are forced to move between shelters trying to find food and fire components.  That movement causes frostbite and hypothermia, which in turn drops your permanent condition and forces exhaustion, which in turn makes it so that you cant move between shelters to find food and water, which in turn....well, you get my meaning.  To me...it has all become forced.  Thats not playing a game.  Thats rolling dice and hoping you get a 20.

Or at least getting lucky with where you start.

Gonna have to change my strategies I guess.

Ten

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Your last post was a few weeks ago, but I'd like to offer you a strategy you can try that works for me on Interloper. I've survived up to day 80.

Initial Spawn

Interloper spawns are random, but choose from several possible locations: Pleasant Valley (PV), Desolation Point (DP), Timberwolf Mountain (TM), and Forlorn Muskeg (FM). Both Coastal Highway (CH) and Mystery Lake (ML) appear to not be possible spawn locations. Additionally, PV is unique in that it has two spawn locations in Interloper, one on Skeeter's Ridge and the other just a short distance from the frozen river that spans most of PV. In contrast, all other possible spawn regions only have a single spawn point. This makes PV the most likely place to start an Interloper game. Moreover, a TM spawn is very similar to a PV spawn, because you start near a rope that leads down to the edge of Crystal Lake, the Mountaineer's Hut, and the entrance to PV just beyond. This means that of the 5 possible spawn locations, 3 of them are PV-focused (although there is a strategy with the TM spawn to rush to the summit on day one, I have no experience with this strategy). With that in mind, here's a strategy to try for a PV-focused spawn.

Homestead

The first thing is to get to the Farmer's Homestead. It always has matches and quality tools in the basement. There is also a decent possibility of finding a hacksaw in the basement. Other guarantees are 3-4 liters of clean water that you can get from the Homestead's toilets, 3-4 non-research books, a can opener hidden somewhere in the Homestead's kitchen and a sewing kit somewhere in one of the upstair bedrooms. Although there is some RNG involved, there should also be some food and clothing scattered around the Homestead. You generally won't find much in drawers (although it's still worth looking); instead the vast majority of loot is hidden under beds, dressers, tables, and other furniture. Finally, the Homestead offers a lot of reclaimed wood, scrap metal, and cloth. If you don't find the hacksaw at the homestead, then the scrap metal won't be obtainable immediately, and some furniture requires a hatchet or hammer to break down, but the most important thing by far in the homestead are the numerous curtains that can be broken down for cloth. With that sewing kit you found and the large amount of available cloth, you should be able to get your clothing all repaired. This will give you a respectable warmth bonus. With this, you can next explore beyond the Homestead.

After the Homestead - Signal Hill and Outbuildings

The options after the Homestead are Signal Hill and the PV Outbuildings. If you are unlucky and don't find a hacksaw at the Homestead, then go to the Outbuildings next. The barn should have a hacksaw in that case. If you already found a hacksaw at the Homestead, then the barn may have a hammer or prybar which are nice but not as important for the very beginning. If you get the hacksaw at the Homestead, then Signal Hill should be the next stop. The loot there is guaranteed to be one flare (hidden so look carefully), plus rarer types of food (canned goods) and rarer types of clothing (e.g., combat pants, combat boots, wool ear wrap). Additionally, Signal Hill has a couple deer carcasses as possible spawns, one possibly at the base of the rope leading up to Signal Hill and the other just outside the fenced-in area on top of Signal Hill. You'll want to harvest these deer completely for all meat, guts and hide. This might seem daunting with the low temperatures and bad clothing, but don't forget that you should have matches, books (80% chance of starting fire on level 1 firestarting skill), and reclaimed wood from the Homestead. Of course, you'll also want to be picking up as many sticks as you can along the way. With all these items, you can start a fire by a deer, get it warm enough to keep from freezing and start thawing the deer. After that, before the deer is even thawed, use your hacksaw to harvest the meat and cook the meat with the fire. By that point, the deer should be thawed to under 50%. If not, then use the hacksaw to harvest the guts as well. The hacksaw is efficient for harvesting meat and guts, but not the hide. If you start by harvesting those things, then the deer should be thawed enough to finally harvest the hide with your hands which is more efficient than using the hacksaw.

After Signal Hill and the Outbuildings - Move on to CH

After you've cleared the Homestead, Signal Hill and the PV Outbuildings, I recommend leaving PV immediately. The weather and temperatures there are not easy and with the best locations looted, there isn't really any reason to stay. I recommend next going to CH by following the road that leads you to the mine entrance. Along the way, you can loot the Rural Crossroads buildings. Some will be burned down, but the store and at least one residence seem to always be intact. You won't find much there, but if you're lucky you may find a research book. In addition, while traveling on the road look and listen for crows that circle deer carcasses. I know of at least two possible deer carcass spawns along the PV road. Although RNG varies game to game, between the road out of PV and the trip to Signal Hill, you should leave PV with at least 2 deer hide and 4 guts. For getting through the mine, just start a fire right at the beginning of the mine, take a brand, and work your way quickly through the mine. I have tested it several times and the brands last long enough that you can make it all the way to the end before the brand runs out if you don't stop to pick things up along the way. You won't have a bedroll, but right after the mine there is a trailer in CH if you follow the path to the right. Rest up there if needed and then make your way down the hill towards the Log Sort. Wolves do patrol this area, so be careful. Use the flare you got from Signal Hill if necessary.

Your goal is to make it to Jackrabbit Island. Based here, you can use the Fishing Camp's outdoor workbench to craft snares and fishing tackle when your guts finish curing. If you got 4 guts, I recommend using 3 guts to make 3 snares, and using the remaining 1 gut to make fishing line. You should either have scrap metal from PV or you can use the hacksaw to harvest some from some of the houses in CH. Use scrap metal for some fishing hooks. The fishing tackle is useful for not only fishing but also repairing your clothes, which you'll want to do semi-regularly to keep from freezing. The fish in CH are the best in the game. With a combination of rabbits and fish, you should be able to keep yourself well fed and recover your condition back to 100% every night. This will compensate for condition loss due to the cold. Additionally, you'll eventually be able to use the rabbit skins to make rabbitskin mittens and, when you get more guts from harvesting rabbits, you can use them with the deer hides you collected earlier to craft deerskin pants or boots, depending on your preference.

Some final thoughts regarding frostbite and hypothermia

A few final thoughts. Regarding frostbite, be sure to check your clothing screen and ensure that all parts of your body are covered. Even a cheap scarf and some driving gloves will do wonders to prevent frostbite to your head and hands. Hypothermia can be avoided by knowing the map and taking short breaks at buildings in between. Alternatively, start a fire, warm up to full, and then make and drink some hot coffee and grab a brand from the fire before moving on. The coffee gives a buff to your temperature so it reduces much more slowly for a while. It also will give you a similar boost to your fatigue allowing you to sprint a lot more without becoming exhausted. The brand isn't much, but it provides a +3 C temperature bonus for the short time that the brand lasts for. It's not much, but it helps.

This is a longer post than I originally intended, but I hope that it offers some helpful information for you (or others). This strategy has worked for me repeatedly so I think it's worth a try.

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On 17-3-2017 at 8:13 PM, Tenasi Vol said:

Now, (and according to lots of posts across the internet), if you dont get a good spawn just kill yourself and start again.  Which is absolutely asinine.  But that is how it seems to be now.  B

I beg to differ. I'm not a superskilled player like Geltaz or Skraalman or even on the level of Skyzara, but even I can manage to survive Interloper for weeks. It simply requires that you know all the locations in advance and that you've got a very tight schedule planned from the outset of where you need to go.

So if I find myself starting on Timberwolf Mountain, I haul ass to the cabin to warm up and get all the supplies I can find (except the rope maybe), then I travel onto Pleasant Valley at the first opportunity, because if a snowstorm hits me while I'm in the cabin, I know I can't sit it out. Once in PV: Bunker => Skeeter's Ridge => Draft Dodger's Cabin => Farmstead.

Now I'm starting to have options. I could go to the Barn - but supplies are usually limited there, so this merely serves as a midway point to the houses further down the road, and once there, I might just as well move on to the mine and travel on to Coastal Highway - so I make sure I visit the Radio Tower (which has a lot of loot) first. Once in the Radio Tower, I again have two options, because I could gamble on finding a bedroll along the way and travel through to Mystery Lake. Hopefully, there will be no Fluffy...

So what Interloper does is limit your range of options, especially in the very early stages of the game. The variety of paths that offer a decent chance of survival is limited, but if you've played the game often enough to be familiar with the landscape and it's locations, the path forward is both intuitive and logical. You'll instinctively sense that going to certain locations is a safe bet, given the weather conditions and the cold, and that other locations are simply a no-go at this stage of the game - because they're to risky.

Also, drinking plenty of hot reishi tea - like, every time you venture outside - and moving in the second half of the day - is a smart bet. First half of the day: try to do something useful, or sleep or whatever. No point in going outside unless you absolutely have to.

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@Tenasi Vol I find the game kills you quick enough, there's no particular need to help it along because of where you spawn. :)   Unless you're also doing an additional challenge like only staying on Timberwolf Mountain.  There was a thread about that. It was called Snowballs something something.  

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