Where do you make your base on the Coastal Highway map?

[snegec]

I've made my base in one of the blue Coastal Houses just over the little hill and road from the Garage. It has two entrances (good), fireplace for cooking and is entirely on the ground floor.

The only problem currently is that in the last update, one of the houses was removed and you can now enter both at the same location, but meh. It's sort of a mid-point between everything on the map.

Image - This is the road between the gas station and my base. Those two caught the smell of some 20kgs of bear meat I was lugging down from the hills below the Abandoned Lookout.

Line of wolves..

[UserUnknown]

Following a steam help article i read,i went and made my base on Jackrabbit Island.It's far from the town,where the wolves roam and there is a fishing cabin nearby for food and cooking,plus the bonus of being able to view basically the whole map.So far,it's also been my longest run at 40 days or so.

[exeexe]

I go with the house at log sort. The only downside is no fireplace inside and sometimes the log sort house is burned to the ground. It is central to everything you need. Yeah there is a wolf outside sometimes but thats nothing big if you are a veteran.

Before i used to go to the rabbit island but its so far away from everything

[TWM]

I have my main base camp at Quonset station, lots of space to throw stuff on the floor, like animal hides and guts for curing. That way, I can see where what is lying. I don't even have to put everything in drawers afterwards.

Plus it has plenty of room for storing meat, clothes, other materials. Keeps things organised. Firebarrel, two work benches indoors - everything I need.

If I want to get comfy, there's the blue house a stones throw from there. Two exits and a fireplace, pretty convenient. So I alternate.

I play voyageur, so there's only two wolves prowling about, but since I'm a lousy shot with the bow, this is actually convenient: this way I can make the meat come me, and I have a steady supply of it.

I went back on a trip to Mystery Lake a while back and plundered all the saplings there, as well as in the Ravine Area, so I'm pretty well stocked on bows and arrows at this point.

My only worry is that when I'm out of matches and/or cloth, I'll have to move and I can't take all my stuff with me, but I think I'll just take a trip of a few weeks to Pleasant Valley to stock up on matches and cloth (which weigh little) and come back.

[DrMembrane]

My current base there on the highway in what is currently by far my longest run (currently breaking 25 or so days, compared to 9 as my previous best), and I've made my base at a house next to the quonset station. it has a dog house on the left when you enter and two doors to help identify it. it's great because it has a lot of storage in the kitchen, only one floor, and therefore no need to go up and down stairs to get to bed, it has a fireplace, and unlike the quonset station who's air temp is around negative 2, has an air temperature of about 2C so you can store your clothes inside for less wear and tear. It's also very close to the town (where much of the looting on the map is) and also right across the street from the quonset station that you can use for when you need to do crafting.

[Anelyn]

I still prefer ML with Camping Office as main base, even if I looted the whole map. I just go on 3-4 day trips into PV or CH to get stuff I'm missing in homeland and then head back.

It's just one of the best situated locations, central, easy access to deers / rabbits / fish, no bear nearby, plenty of wolves, crow feathers just outside etc.

[SteveP]

Most of my crafting on CH is in the Quonset Hut. It is difficult in any but Pilgrim mode due to aggressive wolf behaviour here yet I think it is possible to avoid the wolves here by crouching and careful use of cover and the front or back door.

I would also recommend the Fishing Camp which has an outdoor workbench and some lockers for storage and good warm beds.

[SteveP]

I have found the Fishing Camp on CH to be a decent base with access to everything except a weapon. Lots of pallets nearby for wood and lots of curtains and a decent amount of furniture in the shacks. Two wolves prowl nearby and respawn time right now seems to be only a few days. There is a string of islands and rocks running out to Rabbit Island where you can snare bunnies. IIRC I found birch and maple saplings on those islands but I don't remember where and the logs are gone now after I died and restarted in frustration. These critical resources are now more spread out, not in a bunch as in the past. How are you finding it with the new V.256 release? Big changes make things much trickier.

[LucidFugue]

I go between Quonset Station and Jackrabbit Island. It's a but of a hike between them but Quonset is a great place when you want to hunker down and get your crafting done. Jackrabbit is also great, only missing the workbench, really.

I've found with the new foraging mechanics, you can really benefit from gathering wood at both locations and just spending 2 or 3 days a time at each.

[zadok000]

my base is the gas station, there's all we need.

the bed, the fire gallon and the work bench.

[Le_Survivant]

... And plenty of wolves. I used to settle down in Gas station when I was playing in Voyageur in my first run. But now that I play in Stalker, this is just too dangerous and inefficient to settle down in Gas station, because there are too many wolves. Really not a good place to settle.

I don't know how you do to settle to a place where there is no way to make a fire inside neither. Jackrabbit Island is good for hunting and rabbits, but the most of time when I start a fire outdoor, It last shorter than inside thanks to the changing direction of the wind.

[Aduron]

Because of this "no home base" situation, I play totally differently on CH. On the other maps I establish a base (in the obvious choices) and come back to it most nights. On CH my "base" of sorts is on Jackrabbit Island, but I only go there to drop off long-term storage, primarily matches, canned food, and things for drying. I'll spend the night but then I leave for 4-5 days at a time, so I play a considerably more nomadic style there. I find it suits the map much better, because there are plenty of places to rest for the night. I like that CH has no good base: if you want to play on a map with an excellent base, play ML or PV, if you want to feed your wanderlust, head over to CH for a change of scenery, then head back out to your base.

[DrMembrane]

How do you play a nomadic existence, with the cold and suddent storms it seems very dangerous? For me I gathered up everything in the house next to the quounset station (the one with 2 doors and a doghouse in front) and occasionally go out to fish and hunt.

[AmericanSteel]

How do you play a nomadic existence, with the cold and suddent storms it seems very dangerous? For me I gathered up everything in the house next to the quounset station (the one with 2 doors and a doghouse in front) and occasionally go out to fish and hunt.

Every home usually has a day or so of food and most, with a toilet, have about a days worth of water. You can simply act as a squatter, moving from place to place consuming resources as you go. This is pretty easy to do on CH, since there are a string of settlement on the water and another string of settlements up on the mountain roads. Whenever you get enough loot simply make a trip back to base camp. Chances are you wont be snowed in for days. Even a two hour break in the weather is enough to get from any place on the water to one of the islands (wolves not withstanding).

[snegec]

I don't see why you can't make your base in the Quonset Gas station. The only problem might be the bear. Wolves you can whittle down one by one. Or you could make a "base" out of one of the cottages with the fireplace for all your cooking needs.

For PV, the farmers homestead is an obvious choice or the barn.

For ML, Camp Office is in a great central location, Trappers cabin is a bit out of the way, Dam might also be okay if you've rid Fluffy of it.

For DP, my favourite place was the Whaling factory.

[Thelek]

I stick with the gas station, myself. The 5 lockers,3 file cabinets, 2 desks , 1.5 tool chests, and many shelves make for unrivaled storage space. The 2 work benches are great to have (i split crafting between them, small items and old man bandages on one and the big stuff on the other). The burn barrel right next to the bed makes for quick warm up. And central location makes for convient exploration and foraging. As for the wolves and bear, if you exit the station in a crouch, they are less likely to notice you and you have some time to see if the area is clear. If you see them while returning to base, simply duck into a nearby house and either wait for them to move on or lighten your load and hunt them down.