Overview
Bringing you the first published strategy guide for The Long Dark. I am the #1 record holder for longest run in Pre-Alpha and have as of right now 1500+ hours in The Long Dark. Have over 12 successful 24+hour marathons and several 37 hour marathons of The Long Dark on Twitch and do cover The Long Dark on Twitch on Tuesdays. Have also just ran a 37 hour straight marathon for charity and didn’t die once. Guide updated to .364 “Vigilant Trespass” and also remember this guide is good for Xbox One as well as it is the exact same game.(You have no idea how many times I get asked that daily). Will be covering mostly the new “Interloper mechanics in the guide going forward but can be applied to lesser modes. Guide will always be WIP and will also cover story mode once it comes out. Special thanks to the Hinterland dev team for always being there when you need them.I’d like to personally thank Rod Doar,Bill Tarling and Heather (sorry can’t put your last name in the guide because of steam word filter) for advice and all the help.If you check out LMG’s YouTube channel you’ll find plenty of Long Dark coverage. Very proud to boast a lot of my subs have ranked fairly high on the leaderboards. Couldn’t be prouder.You can also check me out on twitch at www.twitch.tv/lmgtwitch as I stream 6 days a week if you have any Long Dark questions.
Game Controls
In this section we’ll go over a brief explanation of the controls and hotkeys.With keybindings this section doesn’t apply so much, but these are the default controls.
LMB to interact with containers, door etc.
Shift key to run (now with toggle run you can set that in Options)
LMB in wolf struggle to end the struggle
RMB to use aim mode with the rifle then LMB to fire
I key brings up your inventory.
R key with rifle equipped reloads your rifle.
H to Holster your weapon
ESC brings up the main menu
Ctrl-crouch
M key lights a match (only use in a severe emergency needing to be able to see) Blows
out in the wind.
Hotkeys
1-flare Hold down LMB to light the flare and to wave it around like a crazy person.
2-Storm Lantern (if In inventory) Hold down LMB to light the lantern and the same to turn it off.
3-Hunting Rifle RMB to use aim mode and LMB to fire. Does not fire when not in aim mode.
3.Also equips bow if you have one. Works same as rifle but can’t crouch and shoot and you have to angle the shots and account for gravity.
4. Decoy-will toss out a your worst condition meat if you have any on you and will make the wolf retreat for a bit so you can catch your breath.
Managing your stats
Your stats are the most important part of the guide, they are the lifeblood to your condition and if not watched carefully can end you quickly.
1.Fatigue-Fatigue has been revamped with v.152 and is also directly affected by your long term hunger, meaning the longer you go without eating the quicker you will get fatigue. Your carrying weight at most will be 30kg, and will slowly go down now little by little the more you are fatigued. Optimal caloric intake for exploring purposes is 1200-1700 calories, to keep the fatigue from skyrocketing as you are exploring. With the Silent hunter update, Fatigue now affects aiming your bow so for hunting best to start out after you’ve woken up and healed in the morning.
With your limited sprinting option now and hypothermia threat you’ll really have to keep an eye on that fatigue bar. I’d advise only limited sprinting against wolves and blizzards if your close to a safe place to get out of the cold.
2.Cold-Cold can be a fast killer in The Long Dark, esp. with .256 introducing hypothermia after 2 hours freezing outside in the cold. It will be at least several weeks to get your crafting clothes with curing taking a week or so. With .256 there is an insane abundance of cloth in game currently. So I’d say repair away those clothes.
Blizzards can now tear through clothing if you’re outside–so never be out in a blizzard.
I advise just working on misc stuff in the morning and not really traveling until @ noon if you need, or need to do an outside forage run.
When you are inside (and I hope you are inside somewhere at night) be sure to take off some of the clothes (let’s keep it PG-13 people) and contain them to slow the degrade while you’re sleeping. Base temp 0-2 experiment–that will cause less wear and tear on the clothes. Note: since recent updates the base decay of your clothes will decay at a very slow rate on or off. I still store my clothes. Even though they say decay is the same, I still notice a difference.
This will make all the people against nudism very happy.
If you’re stuck in a blizzard or for some silly reason out at night and lost, light a lantern. A few degrees can mean life or death.
3.Hunger-(updated to V.256)Hunger is by far the easiest stat to deal with. Rule #1-YOU DON’T HAVE TO EAT EVERY TIME YOUR STARVING! No really you’d be surprised how many people tell me to eat or why are you not dead starving yourself. I’d advise if your going to do some serious hibernating you can bring your condition down to about 20 percent, any lower and it does not seem to heal up quite as fast or well.
Generally about 700 ish calories and 11 hours of rest will bring that condition back up to 100 percent rather easily as long as your not in a bunk bed like in logging camp trailers.
4.Thirst-with the addition of potable water in the toilets (I don’t think that is sanitary either) water is pretty abundant, at least in the Coastal highway map. I usually carry about 2L out while exploring, as you never know what trouble you can get into.
You can safely rest about 11 hours when hydrated before red-lining the the thirst out.
Surviving a wolf attack
In the unhappy chance you come into contact with our furry brothers (and you will) I’m going to do my best to help you out.
Wolf attacks can be instant death if your condition is already low, but if your condition is 100 percent you can survive if you think quick.
Wolf packs
In an earlier update, if two wolves are close together you can suffer a -35 percent condition right off the bat which can lead to an insta-kill if your not lucky.
A lot of the mega wolf activity, at least in the Coastal Highway map, is around the major looting areas to emphasize a risk-reward scenario. They also seem to have a pretty good memory, so don’t ever enter a one door house etc with a wolf on your tail, they will hang out there for at least an hour or so.
If you have a wolf on your tail it’s best to duck into a two door house, then later leave by the other door, so you can get away.
Update for .256
Wolf struggle mechanic has been totally revamped. Gone is the struggle mechanic and simplified in a way so you’ll just be using one button cut down on the time of the encounter. You’ll also be able to suffer multiple afflictions with lacerations,blood loss,bites,sprains.
Pretty much spamming the button will get you out of the struggle rather quickly though I’d try to avoid the encounter in the first place with sprint.
Until the stealth mechanic gets a nerf, you can get insanely close to a wolf for easy bow, rifle kills.
With .325 “Tirless menace update the struggle mechanics haven’t really changed, though wolf spawn points are more random. There is now a more first-person presence with with real hands and the weapon you have on hand during the struggle. It’s a proof of concept design, will be upgraded as the build progresses.
With .364 “Vigilant Trepass Update” applying to the wolves in Interloper mode they do appear to be slightly faster or just the imagination but will usually take 40 percent off your health and are very hard to fight off as they are back to their pre-alpha levels though more rare in Interloper.
Items and basic repair
Here I’ll just go through a few basic items and detail the repair process.
Storm Lantern-useful for lighting the way and does add a few degrees to your warmth in an emergency or if you’re just feeling chilly. The storm lantern is refueled by the Jerry Can and lantern fuel can be harvested for one piece of scrap metal. The Jerry can is required in your inventory to get fuel back if you harvest it. Also when you cook fish you get a little bit of lantern oil from it.
Flare-good for some emergency light and it can, for a little bit, scare off a wolf.
Matches (wood,cardboard) -they are your lifeblood for starting fires. As of .325 matches do not decay.
Firestriker-used for indoor and outdoor fire making. Has condition, very useful right off the bat but I’d save mine for when the matches are all gone from the maps.
Magnifying Lens-sometimes found in Trapper’s Homestead,camping office, other places, can use to light fires outdoors on a clear day.
Hatchet-basic tool for harvesting wood and useful for harvesting frozen deer. A hatchet is a useful item to have so be sure to keep it in good condition and use sparingly.
Hunting knife-one of my favorite tools. It is very useful in harvesting deer and wolves. Use the hunting knife before using the hatchet as the hunting knife time to use is much quicker.
Hunting Rifle-Your lifeblood for hunting. Degrades 1 percent per shot. Uses ammunition found in the game. The hunting rifle is the only safe way to kill a wolf and is the #1 thing to maintain. Current build note: Tools now have a chance to break the more degraded they become so maintaining your rifle is now a must. You’ll now need rifle cleaning kits that will improve your cleaning skill with the rifle. Shot does go down one condition point and the rifle kit more than makes up for it a pretty easy thing to maintain if you have a good rifle.
Can opener-useful tool for opening canned goods. You can also smash can goods, but you lose food. 2-4 will usually spawn in game. I advise keeping one in good condition, using the other ones and harvesting for scrap metal when condition goes bad.
Pry bar-random item drop, Has a chance to break if in a low condition. The pry bar is the only item that can open up locked lockers.
Sewing kit-Useful for repairing clothes. Repair clothes when you can to get that skill up. Harvest almost gone clothes when you really have to.
Basic/Quality Tool Kit-need for some crafting.
There are a lot of other smaller items in game but I don’t want to ruin all the mystery. Hinterland Games is very big on not hand-holding players so consider this guide a blessing lol.
Early Access note: I will be adding a lot of the items in game and will start to expand into clothing with stats, a big job but will get done soon as I can. I mean come on people this is free here. And there is no glimmer or gold to be found in the cold wasteland of The Long Dark. Unless you count jerky as a currency, then perhaps we’ll have to barter with the wolves.
General tips
Just a few pieces of advice before you step out to your cold, horrible death.
Tips updated to the .364 version.
In the new Interloper map you generally spawn in one of three locations. You’ll need to know your maps, and have some experience under your belt. Recommend Whiteberry’s maps if your not familiar with the maps.
With Hypothermia now a things, and slower walking speed etc, you need to plan your day, and make a backup plan if things might go wrong.
With wolves infesting any major looting area, I’d heavily advise keeping a base far off the beaten path of civilization. In The Coastal Highway map I’d say the house atop Jackrabbit Island though lacking a stove, is in a central part of the map and if you need a stove one isn’t too far off in an ice fishing hut. Though with stealth being seriously op right now you can base yourself in Quonset very easily as long as you crouch in town.
For the Mystery Lake I still love the Trapper’s Homestead.
The Pleasant Valley map has one really nice base at the farmstead. Plenty of storage space, crafting table and a place to set easy snares. Only other viable option is the big red barn not too far from there but not the greatest choice.
Desolation Point has a few decent spots for bases, I’d advise the lighthouse for the view(though has some wolves) The Riken is nice being out of the way, plus the forge but it does suffer from poor lighting.
Timberwolf Mountain has a decent hut and also a cave system if you know your survival business though I’d advise newcomers to stay away or loot and run.
Tools and clothes last a lot longer now, so you can be a bit picky clothes shopping on the Coastal Highway as everything comes in your size!
Cabin fever mechanic has be reblanced a bit and you can’t get it for 25 days in Stalker mode. 50 in voyageur. It’s a fairly easy thing to avoid just go OUTSIDE once in awhile ya hermits! A daily walk, collect some firewood, go somewhere for a nice view.
Easy trick as of right now to mess with the system if you do get it is you will have to sleep outdoors at least for a little bit but staying inside still doesn’t make the timer reset, though you can’t rest you can boil water, break furniture down to pass the 42 hours you need to get rid of Cabin fever. You do have to spend the majority of 6 days inside but a walk around every now and again should prevent that.
The intestinal parasites got nerfed with .326 so I’d still advise a mixed diet of predator meat,deer,fish and rabbit to mix it up. with another hotfix they changed it up so everyday it does a rng roll to determine if you could get parasites(provided you ate bear/wolf) and if you pass the roll it goes away or you get parasites. 10 doses of antibiotics or rishi tea in stalker, 5 in voyageur will cure it. Once a day treament.
ALWAYS HYDRATE!
But most of all have fun, explore and enjoy your time in The Long Dark.
Thank you,
LordMasterGaming
If you did enjoy the guide, check out my YouTube channel, you’ll find plenty of The Long Dark videos to help you on your way. (End self plug)
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwhSgXEwJRFzNilgsgkvQzA
The Long Dark Poetry section
As I’m sitting here in the Camping Office eyeing Carl lying across the way
I’m wondering how many KG he might weigh.
Enough of that though. Every great guide needs a unique section so I’ve decided to include The Long Dark Poetry section.
Legal stuff: If you’re thinking about submitting something lewd (you all know you are), let’s not try to do that. We’re better than that…well I’m not, but I’m sure you are.
Long Dark Poetry
Death creeps in the shadow of the dam. The howeling of the winds are the cries of pain. In the shadows a familiar voice is heard, that of impending doom. Leave the dam, stay away from it, never get close- MaDmandan
As day 5 dawned, I prepared to slay my Nemesis, Fluffy. Thrice I had fallen to him. Not again. Hunting rifle and flares in hand, I prepared to assault the dam. Breaching the perimeter, I threw a flare into Fluffy’s hole, ran to the control room, lit my lamp, and prepared to face my foe.
I waited.
..and waited
….no Fluffy
So I ran into the hallway, threw another flare into the dark, hoping to flush the canny canine.
No Fluffy.
He never spawned.
And I looted his lair with glee. -Oressus
ArcticRazor
A haiku:
It is cold outside
I am being stalked by wolves
hunger, thirst, fatigue
Mystery Lake Locations
In this section I will cover specific locations and give you any info you need to know about them.
Full Map Credit to Whiteberry! Go check out her map guide and like it up!
1. Forestry Outlook
Located high up, around the Northwest top of the map, the Forestry Outlook can be a death trap at times.
30 percent of the time there is a wolf nearby who will sometimes stalk you all the way up to the outlook and proceed to hang around the path up, hoping to ambush you. I would only recommend hitting this up in the daytime and making your way straight back down.
The Forestry Outlook typically contains a medical supply box, a hatchet, can opener, newspaper roll and some canned goods. Be aware, all the loot in game is random half the time so you never know what you might get. As of update .327 there is now a mountaineering rope and a spot to drop it right by the outlook. A nice way to get up and down if you’d like to avoid the wolves in the front entrance.
As an exit strategy in case the wolf is stalking you at the base of the outlook (full credit to Bill Tarling for this) you can crouch and shimmy your way down the cliff side toward the back of the outlook and make your way down, avoiding said wolf. Just be careful to not sprain an ankle or wrist.
If you need to make it down the hill and the weather is foggy etc, and you haven’t been up there too long, you can always follow your footprints back down if they haven’t yet vanished.
2. Logging Camp (3 logging trailers and a broken down shed). Now includes Porta-potties!
The Logging Camp is a nice spot for looting, as you’ll find quite a haul here. It is a very easy spot to spend the night on the way back from the Forestry Outlook, or on the way or back from the Carter Hydro dam. The Logging Camp contains a fair amount of random goods and there is usually some wood out in the broken shed. There is a working stove out in the broken shed.
3.Carter Hydro dam
“Death creeps in the shadow of the dam. The howling of the winds are the cries of pain. In the shadows a familiar voice is heard, that of impending doom. Leave the dam, stay away from it, never get close”- MaDmandan
In one word: deathrtrap.
I fear for the thousands upon thousands of new players spawning for the first time near the dam and heading, inside thinking it’s safe.
It’s not.
Ever since an earlier build update, the dam now hosts our loveable wolf named Fluffy, who inhabits the building. You won’t be able to see him coming inside. He is usually down in the hallway that leads to the main part of the dam.
I highly (HIGHLY) recommend saving this for one of the later looting spots as you really do need the rifle from Trapper’s Homestead to kill Fluffy. You could in theory lure him out and then sprint down the hallway to get a rifle down there (if it spawns) but the odds are not in your favor.
A good strategy to kill Fluffy is to quickly enter the dam and position yourself(be armed as well) in the long hallway leading in the lower level of the dam and you’ll be able to get a fairly good shot at him though your ears will be ringing for a bit.
The Hydro Dam contains a vast amount of random loot to be had. There’s a 50/50 chance of having a rifle down near the lower part of the dam against the wall. There is a corpse in the upper walkway that houses some good loot and a hatchet sometimes.
Down in the lower level there is a fire barrel with some wood nearby in case you need it. There is a mystery door in the back of the dam that leads to more loot and to the transition area leading towards Pleasant Valley.
The dam is not a suitable location for a base IMO because of being too far way from the rest of the map and hunting.
4.Trapper’s Homestead
Trapper’s Homestead is a very nice out of the way location that has a nearby ramshackle barn which houses a frozen deer corpse, and sometimes, wood.
Inside Trapper’s Homestead you’ll usually find quite an abundance of supplies for starting. Has plenty of storage space, a nice place for laying rabbit snares not to far from the barn in that little valley.
Trapper’s Homestead also has the best bed for healing up your condition currently in the game. Only a +2 warmth bonus though so near the end of the run as your clothes go out I’d suggest going to Pleasant Valley Farmstead a much warmer bed bonus there.
There is usually one wolf lurking around the homestead now but with the new wolf mechanics in .215 build is easily avoided.
{How to open safe} random right, left, right combo every time. Just go slow, you’ll hear a clicking when the tumbler unlocks. Loot is random but usually bullets.
5.Camping Office
The Camping Office is strategically located on the map as a good way point area. . There’s plenty of hunting to be had and if you play it right you won’t depopulate anything enough, so you can keep a good supply of venison and wolf meat.
There’s a decent amount of storage space with the added desk and file cabinet. This place is quite cozy and boasts 2 stoves for cooking and water boiling. I use this as a way point for bunker looking.
The bunk beds for healing in Camping office are complete junk so I’d avoid staying here, supply wise it will take double what you normally need to heal up.
Just beware, a wolf tends to lurk about the office outside until you depopulate the wolves. Use the front door as the side door has a blind spot around the edges and a wolf can catch you right quick, and for fun always run out the front door and go “weee”!
6. Mystery Lake
The Mystery lake area is a nice spot for looting, but beware, there are usually several wolves patrolling the area in the middle of the lake. I’d say loot in a pattern hitting the six lake cabins, then the Lone Lake cabin, then hit the ice fishing places on the way back to the office. If you leave early in the morning you could hit the hunter’s blind (probably not the proper name for it, I’m a city boy), just be mindful of changing weather. Once you get this down it takes about an afternoon to loot. If a blizzard or fog hits, just follow the edges of the lake north to find your way back to the Camping Office.
7,The Secret Bunker
Full Credit to Nermal, the bravest adventurer who has ever lived, for mapping out the possible bunker locations. Nermal has just saved countless lives.
Here are all the coordinates from another forum thread about the location of the bunker: (NOTE: they are confirmed 100% -kudos to Trandor.)
757/462 Camp Office
-41/606 Unnamed Pond
-46/1615 Clearcut
-79/1655 Clearcut
1312/1562 Cut area near Train Loading Area
1635/637 Southern River Access
1309/1039 Train Loading Area
1172/-72 behind Mystery Lake
Multiple different layouts and loot drops have been confirmed for the secret bunker, and with better clothing now, and now that adventurers like Nermal have paved the way I’d advise giving it a go.
Coastal Highway Map
FULL CREDIT GOES TO Whiteberry for the best maps in TLD!
Locations
Log Sort-located down the path from where you come in from the Mystery Lake map. Decent house and a logging camp trailer and a boarded up building. The house has plenty of loot but no fireplace, and only one way in or out so, that can end up being a negative as far as a base is concerned but a nice way point for taking supplies from Coastal map to the Mystery Lake.
Fishing Camp-Taking the road facing left as you’re going out of the Log Sort you will run into a
nice set of cabins on the left side with a semi-decent amount of loot and also a workbench behind one of the cabins. No fireplaces or stoves.
Jackrabbit Island- Located in the middle of the Coastal area on the ice. You’ll notice it is teaming with rabbits, hence the name. Good spot to set up snares. Snares are a reusable (1 gut, 1 reclaimed wood) and a rabbit will give you 1.5kg of meat usually. There’s a chance of a rifle spawn on the left side of the bedroom in the cabin when you walk in. No fireplace but has a nice location, and you could go down to the nearby ice fishing hut when you need a fire.
Misanthrope’s homestead-Located within eyesight of Jackrabbit Island, you’ll find this next little island homestead. It’s also not to bad a place to hang out, but also sadly no fireplace. There are nearby ice fishing huts though, so not a bad base candidate. Chance of a hunting knife spawn located on top of the cabin dresser in the bedroom.
Coastal townsite-Down the right path of the highway from the Log Sort, you’ll eventually run into the town of wolves and I mean that literally. It has an abundance of loot and the gas station (details follow). Great location except for the wolves. If you had enough ammo you could in theory clear it out for a while, but it’s best let the wolves have it. Just take your loot and go.
The gas station is a pretty sight to see. Located in the townsite it has a fire barrel, a bed, a workbench and two doors, but until the wolves get cleared out you take the risk of constant attack.
Coastal Cottages-Located a little further down the road from the townsite on the right side of the road is the Coastal Cottages area, another set of buildings with some decent loot and a wolf most of the time.
Abandoned Outlook-If you go out by Jackrabbit Island but just right before you get there turn and cast your eyes back to the upper countryside, on a good day you’ll be able to spot a faint red looking building far up in the mountains. The quickest way to get there as I currently understand it is to take a path up to the left just above the Coastal townsite by the cabin house just sitting above the town below. Follow that path long enough until you see a half fallen tree between two ridges. Up that way is the Abandoned Outlook.
Much resembling the Forestry Outlook in a way, it contains a stove bed and a chance of a rifle spawn. I have yet to check out how the temperatures fare at night, but even then kind of an isolated area for a base.
Desolation Point
With the .264 Update comes a new transition area, the Crumbling Highway which you can access off of Commuter’s Lament and the end of the road of Coastal Highway right after the Coastal Cottages.
Whiteberry has taken up the reigns as queen of the TLD maps so I’d like you to go to her map guide and favorite it, comment and full credit to her on this one.
Lonely Lighthouse
Just a short walk from the mine entrance from the crumbled highway, two wooden bridges on the rocks lead you towards the Lonely Lighthouse.
A little shorter than I’d like, but it does have a rather lovely sunrise view if you get up early enough.
Has a stove and a bed with your basic needs and isn’t far from The Riken for your forging needs.
At first glance you’d think “This is the base for the map!”, but I’d stay away from this one for now as there are usually 4 or so wolves patrolling around there and you’ll find yourself constantly clearing them out just to get some piece and quiet.
The Riken
If you follow along the shoreline after the lighthouse, you’ll find The shipwrecked Riken.
Has a bed, decent storage space and most importantly the Furnace!
You’ll be needing the furnace also with the heavy hammer for arrowhead making, and making makeshift knife and hatchet.
You’ll need to heat the furnace up to 150 degrees before you can start to forge the scrap metal but with coal that is easily attained.
I’ll surprise you by saying this is actually my base of choice while for hanging out in Desolation Point.
The reason why is there is not a close wolf spawns anywhere close, it’s a little bit dark in the interiors but it is tolerable. Close access to the other areas and it’s got a bloody harpoon gun!(non-working for now 🙁 )
Hibernia Processing
Little farther along the coastline from The Riken, Hibernia Processing has quite a bit of hidden loot you will need to parkour on the lower levels but it is worth it. Also has the heavy hammer and the hacksaw which you will need for forging. Has everything you need in a base but there are several wolves patrolling around on the outside of the building making it a little bit of a hassle but it is easier than the lighthouse.
Sadie’s Home
Right next to the broken bridge, next to the waterfall you’ll find a cave on your left. I won’t spoil the surprise inside but you should really pay it a visit. Has a static rifle drop on the second floor of the cave and some supplies inside. I’ll let you figure out who Sadie is.
Stone Church
On the upper left side going down the road in Desolation point, if you look up a bit you’ll see the Stone Church so you might want to stop by and give it a look and in the apocalypse a prayer couldn’t hurt at this point could it?
Katie’s secluded corner
Located on top of a hill right before the Lonely Lighthouse, you’ll find Katie’s secluded Corner. No building or anything and Katie is nowhere to be found but you will find various supplies and a working survival bow!
Brief look at the area of Desolation Point till I suffered a bug that got fixed right away, be sure to check out my youtube channel for more Long Dark.
Expanded Transition Areas.
In the .212 build we did see an increase to the size of the Ravine transition area and a new transition area for CH to PV, the Mine.
The Ravine-
The Ravine which is accessed just past the Hydro Dam, has been greatly expanded. After your usual trip past the rickety railway you’ll find it does go on for quite a bit.
There is quite a bit of loot inside the overturned boxcars. There are several caves in the area, no bears though. Interesting thing about this area is there are rabbits in it. So in theory you could camp out in the cave, set up snares and not do too shabby for a bit. The healing in a bedroll wouldn’t be that great but I’d think it would do for a nice change of pace if your a Long Dark veteran.
The Mine-
The Mine transition area from Coastal Highway to Pleasant Valley is a pretty remarkable sight. Definitely should bring a light source going in, but there are vast amounts of light sources in the mine including a torch so you should be ok in that respect.
The Mine does add quite a bit of loot of loot to the game. Has a crafting table inside as well.
You can check out a spoiler look in the video below.
Pleasant Valley Locations
Full Credit to Whiteberry for her amazing maps!
The entrance to the Pleasant Valley map is located in the far back of the map a little distance behind the trail near the abandoned lookout in coastal highway or the Timberwolf Mountain map if your spawning from there.
Rural Crossing-Located not to far down from the entrance to the map you’ll come across a few buildings, depending on if some are burned down or not. The little general store is always up though, very much like the Quonset Gas Station, just a tad smaller.
Outlying Valley buildings-located not too far after the rural crossing bridge on the right side. You’ll find a big red barn, and a smaller open barn akin to the one in trapper’s homestead.
The barn is a secondary base, waypoint at best. Has a workbench, adequate storage, fire barrel and a car to sleep in.
Pleasant Valley Farmstead-Definitely the op end game base in your into the long survival game. You can see the top of the silo from the the barn to make navigation a bit easier on you. Boasting two stories and a cellar. The enclosed porch counts as an indoor room.
You’ll likely spend about half an hour looting and organizing once you get there. A fireplace and a stove in the kitchen. Double sized bed upstairs has a nice warmth bonus and provides the best healing you’re going to get out in the Pleasant Valley map. Possible rifle spawn in the office.
The Cellar has a workbench and more storage space. Most wildlife seems to stear clear of the farm area after awhile. You’ll need to venture north of the Farmstead now to set up snares as in .298 they moved rabbit spawns a tad to the north making it a little more of a chore.
I do stress coming out here for the endgame as you’ll need more leather,gut to repair clothes but you’re going to need to venture further and further out to get what you need. Best to gather anything you need for long term survival in mystery lake and come out to the farmstead for the end.
Signal Hill-If you look up from the farmstead you can see the signal tower in the distance. Go towards a little to the left then make your way up the hill, keeping the tower in eyesight and you’ll be fine.
In .212 this has been greatly expanded, making it like a real signal tower. Has a fire barrel outside, bed inside and in stalker mode(cargo pants!). The bed is pretty crappy for healing up but other than that not a bad place to visit.
You can check out a tour of the Signal hill interior near the end of this video here.
Pensive Pond- If you take a right at the arch on the farm. You’ll see a barn. Head towards the barn an just keep going from there going in the same direction. You eventually hit Pensive Pond. Only place to fish out in Pleasant Valley.
Draft Dodger’s cabin,Three strikes farmstead, Derelict cabins, picnic spot and a few other spots on the map but go and explore you’ll find them easy enough.
Caves-Abundant in the outlying mountain regions, they are a handy spot to duck in and camp out if your unlucky enough to be caught in a blizzard.
Skeeter’s Ridge-This area is worth mentioning now as it is where you start in “The Hunted Challenge” and now has a basement area you can access for some nice supplies.
Secret bunker- A random secret bunker location has been added to the Pleasant Valley map. Same assets for the Mystery Lake bunkers.
Carver Hydro Dam to Pleasant Valley transition area
If you manage to survive the Fluffy gauntlet, you’ll find yourself in the dam. Head down to the lower level and you’ll find that famous mystery I filmed in pre-alpha. Through the door you’ll find quite an expanse building layout.
Quite a bit of loot to be had. Be sure to pick up the broken arrows on the other side of the mystery door. Don’t go out the carver river door right away or you’ll have to double back. The door is one way. Once you’ve seen the whole building, head out the door.
Now look to your left, you’ll see a small ledge and outbuildings on the other side. If you shimmy along the ledge you’ll be able to get to the other side and find a window which will drop you back inside the dam.
Head down the path from the one way door and watch out also, this area has a wolf down by the river.
As you move forward you’ll find yourself in a cave.
Heading through the cave, remember to bring a light source. You’ll find an exit that leads you to Pleasant Valley. Just a short walk from the road then the farmstead.
Full walkthrough of the transition area below.
Timberwolf Mountain
Timberwolf Mountain is classified as an advanced player map but unless your on a fresh stalker spawn on this map I think you’ll be ok. If your not on a fresh run I’d advise making sure you have your crafted clothes.
Full credit to Whiteberry for another amazing Map!
First let’s talk about the
Mountaineering Hut
Though cozy and inviting don’t let that front door fool you, it’s freezing in there. With some decent clothes you’ll be ok during the day but even with optimal gear I’d still keep an eye on it at night and sleep in small increments because a blizzard can come and you can’t escape out of sleep making you have a bad time.
I would advise caution till a hotfix comes out, myself did have more than a few crashes involving the containers inside the hut. If your clothes aren’t so good I’d recommend living out in the nearby interior caves because of the constant base temp though for crafting you’d still have to come out to the hut.
For map size, it’s not the biggest and the plane wreckage is pretty much the main reason I’d come out here. Be sure to have a hacksaw handy as those cargo containers are worth there wait in gold. Especially if your starting a fresh stalker run on this map it can be life or death.
The Big prize is nestled at the top of the summit. If you do check the guide I have a video on how to get up and down from there in video form. With quite an insane amount of cargo containers you’ll need more than two trips to get it all down if that is your goal. Be sure to check out the view from the top of the plane as well and snag that sweet distress pistol.
Overall I do think this map is a breath of fresh air. I’d definitely tell you it’s worth a trip to the top of the summit for the view alone. Outdoor only players will love it and experienced players will like it as well. Newer and the casual players will not like it do to lack of interior places to explore.
Crafting
Crafting section will be expanding as more is put into the game.
You can craft at any work bench.
You can also now via the radial menu make bandages,torches,old man wound beard dressings and a fishing tackle provided you have the materials.
There is one in Trapper’s Homestead, the Camping Office, and the Hydro Dam in the Mystery Lake.
There’s also one in the Fishing Camp area, and the gas station in the Coastal Townsite for the Coastal Highway map.
Two crafting tables exist in Pleasant Valley. One in the big red barn not too far from the other in the cellar of the Farmstead.
Two crafting tables exist in Desolation Point and one in Timberwolf Mountain.
Currently you can craft snares for rabbit hunting and fishing lines for ice hut fishing.
Snares are 1 reclaimed wood and 1 gut, and are re-useable now. Fishing lines are made from hooks and lines which are made from Scrap metal and gut.
Torch-1 Reclaimed wood, 2 cloth and .20L of kerosene crafts a light source that might even keep the wolves at bay. I’d still keep running just to be safe.
Bearskin bedroll- 2 black bear hides, 5 cloth, 6 gut. Makes a bedroll, that may scare away the wildlife at night. There are four bears located on the Pleasant Valley map. If you place yourself up on a high rock near the bear’s path and use one shot to bleed him. He won’t be able to get to you and you can come back the next day and he will usually have bled out. About a 12C warmth bonus at 100 percent. 20ish F.
Craftable remedies-
Old man lichen’s wound dressing-Bandage, and 3 old man beard’s lichen will get you a dressing that will work like antiseptic.
Rose hip can be cooked on the fire to make Rose hip tea which will function as a painkiller.
Renshi mushrooms can be cooked to make Renshi tea which will function as a antibiotic.
Crafting Clothes
In this section we will be touching on craftable clothes which came with .181, and any other craftable clothing items that come up later in the game.
Deerskin Boots- you’ll need 2 cured hides . 4 guts to make from a crafting table. Provides +2.5 C warmth bonus +3C windproof bonus Needs 1 leather, 2 guts to repair. Harvest for leather.
You’ll need about 2 deer to get enough leather for this. Takes about 12.5 hours to craft half with a sewing kit.
Rabbitskin Mitts- Need 4 Rabbit pelts, 2 Guts to make from a crafting table. +2 warmth bonus +2 windproof bonus. Takes 5 hours to craft/half with a sewing kit.
Deerskin Pants Made with 3 cure hides and 4 guts to make. 2C warmth bonus and 3C wind chill bonus.
My favorite craftable clothing item The Wolfskin Jacket, Takes 4 wolf pelts, 2 Guts to make from a crafting table. 50 hours to craft/half with a sewing kit. Provides a +3C warmth bonus and a +5 windproof bonus.
Since the introduction of new modes, I only play Interloper mode now and I can tell you crafting these makes your life way bearable though you’ll never be truly warm again.
Bears
Bears are the new wildlife in the new Pleasant Valley map and with v.221 Bears are also in the other two maps.
There are probably 4 bears in the Pleasant Valley area at various spots throughout the map.
There are 2 in Coastal Highway and 2 in Mystery Lake.
Bears will not aggro towards you unless provoked or you get too close.
Surviving a bear attack
If you are unlucky enough to wander to close to a bear, if you have enough time take off your clothes.
….no seriously…there is no UI struggle against the bear, animation starts and he takes your condition down to 9 percent and totally trash your clothes. Will also leave you bleeding and won’t ever return your phone calls afterwards.
Taking down a bear
If you place yourself up on a high rock and use one shot to bleed the bear out. You can come back the next day and reap the rewards. Usually about 38kg/75 lbs worth of meat and 10 gut and the bear hide you need to make a bearskin bedroll.
With the addition of bows, hunting a bear is easier. Though stay up on a rock or in the Pleasant valley patio. They seem to not respect the patios anymore so they will charge you there as well.
With .325 update bear meat is a gamble if you harvest a kill and eat it everyday. A full harvested bear is still useful but you’ll probably want to mix that in with some non predator meat or even a canned good every now and again to keep that risk down.
With flares and fire changed up in .325 getting a bear is a little trickier but still doable very easily. If your hunting him out in the open. Use the high ground, rocks to your advantage. Finding a good sniper spot the bear can’t path to will make it an easy kill. You need only bleed him and then track him afterwards when he bleeds out. Makes for a much safer kill and saves on ammunition.
LMG’s first bear encounter
Bow and Arrow
With the .233 “Silent Hunter” update, Hinterland has added a bow and arrow to the game. It is still a WIP so will be updating the guide as it changes as always.
For the bow you’ll need a maple sapling and a gut, both cured. To cure an item you’ll need to place it inside on the ground not contained. You’ll need about a week on the ground inside to get all that cured and ready for assembly at the work bench.
The spawn points of saplings does seem a little random at times but most of the time you can find maple saplings just outside the dam by the bridge. You’ll need a hatchet to harvest the maple.
The bow takes about 5 hours to craft and requires a hunting knife to craft also.
Be careful of your stats when using the bow, fatigue and freezing both can affect your aim.
Don’t aim with your dot, you need to account for angle and gravity also. Make sure also to try and lead your target, try to predict where the prey will walk.
Crafting Arrows
You’ll need three things to make an arrow.
Arrowheads
Crow feathers
Arrow shaft
Arrowheads-are made with scrap metal. One piece of scrap metal equals two arrowheads. You need simple or quality tools to craft Arrowheads.
Crow feathers- easy one just look for dead bodies as crows will be circling them. They actually do re-spawn after about a week or so. Need 3 feathers for every arrow.
Arrow shaft- One Birch sapling will make 3 arrow shafts. The Birch Sapling needs to be cured on the ground inside before use.
You can craft a simple arrow with all three components you can make a simple arrow. Takes 1.5 hours to craft. Crafts with a range roll to quality it seems.
You can get quite a few shots per arrow depending on what it hits at the end etc. I’ve used one arrow to kill a bear three times so the bow and arrow make survival time take a crazy step up.
You can get insta-kill shots with the bow quite nicely. Hitting the bear straight in the heart will net you quite a payday.
Enclosed a few videos for bow and arrow till I get a proper tutorial video for bow and arrow done.
Curing and You!
Curing currently is a fairly easy process but can make your beginning of the run a little tougher as some stuff can take a few weeks to assemble with the slower cure times.
Fresh Deer,Bear,rabbit and wolf hide need to be set down on the ground inside a building. But for sanitary sake you can set it outside on the patio area of the Pleasant Valley Farmstead so you’re not a complete savage.
Curing times vary but the longest is the bear hide which takes 12 days. I’d advise only killing a bear once a month. You can eat once a day with bear meat so one bear lasts a month. So even if you kill 2 bears right away, will still take two weeks before you can assemble a bearskin bedroll.
I’d advise throwing the hide,guts or saplings down the minute you get them inside to start the process as soon as possible.
.256 “Deep Forest Update”
Thought I would address all of the changes for .256 all in one spot for handy reading as it was a big game changer in your runs.
Hypothermia-After two hours of freezing outside you will contract hypothermia. Your fatigue will skyrocket and if you’re far away from your base you will not last long. Takes 24 hours inside with warm conditions to heal. If you step outside in even slightest cold condition, timer resets.
Sprained wrists-suffering a sprained wrist in an encounter or climbing down or traversing terrain. Sprained wrist will prevent you from aiming or shooting a rifle or bow. Takes painkillers or two hours of rest to cure.
Limited sprint function-With a usual walking speed(still faster than earlier versions trust me) you should save your sprint only for emergencies like wolf or blizzard. Severely drives up your fatigue bar and does not recharge quickly.
More immersive foraging-gone are the days of just sitting outside and a fade to black foraging skill. For outside you’ll need to find sticks, branches, cedar limbs and fir limbs. There is also birch bark for use as a tinder in fires. You can also harvest sticks to make tinder plugs.
Inside if you do remember pre-alpha days you’ll recall the insane amount of reclaimed wood you could harvest inside. Now you can break down most furniture, chair etc to get reclaimed wood. Curtains, pillows, towels etc can be broken down for cloth.
Cardboard boxes can be broken down into tinder plugs as well. Pleasant Valley Farmstead, not to mention the Hydro dam contain a huge amount of reclaimed wood to harvest. Though not as long term fuel as say fir firewood it makes up for in abundance.
You can also pull out torches from your fires at a cost of 20 minutes of burn time but you can put out immediately to use later. So really there is no need at all to even craft torches right now.(taken out of game)
The Forge
Located in The Riken on Desolation Point map, you’ll find the only place that you can forge arrowheads and produce makeshift knife and hatchets.
Prepared a brief tutorial video that shows and describes far better than my mediocre writing skills could ever do.
How To Get To Timberwolf Mountain
Brief Video guide on how to get to Timberwolf Mountain via Pleasant Valley.
How to reach the Summit of Timberwolf Mountain
A walkthrough of how to reach the summit in the Timberwolf mountain map and also find the distress pistol.
.298 Update “Timberwolf Mountain”
With .298 update there has been quite a bit added to the game so I’d thought I’d cover some of the big things here.
New save menu layout
Which is a godsend as now you can actually manually delete your saves and name your save so you can keep better track of what is what.
New stats screen
Checking the stats screen you can keep track of an insane amount of stats through all three modes and will track your current saves not since the beginning though.
Journal
With a new journal system it keeps track of where you went that day, your condition anything that happened and allows you to write notes so you can keep track of where you left what where. Quite handy if you have OCD.
Distress Pistol
Though you can find a few shells around other maps the only distress pistol you’ll find is on top the summit. Currently there is a glitch where you can reuse discarded shells on the ground if you go back into an interior location and come back to the shell. It will list as 0 percent but can be reused again then repeat. Expect a hotfix soon.
Rifle cleaning kit-with rifle jamming a thing now you’ll need to keep that rifle in good condition. Though with rifle’s going down at 1 percent a shot it’s pretty simple thing really. Finite resource but will take you an insane time to use.
Whetstone-Also a finite resource. You can’t repair and you can’t replace these babies. There are an insane amount of knifes and hatchets throughout the map but eventually that too will break down. The only solution currently will be to head out to desolation point and the forge where you can craft makeshift tools then migrate as needed when you need new ones.
Mountaineering rope-Used only in Timberwolf mountain, you’ll find one in the hut and you can apply these ropes and take them only from certain rocks. Useful for making the trip down slightly faster but not really worth the whole 5 kg it
Bear Island
The Long Dark takes place on the majestic Bear Island and take note that the top 2 areas on the map are for story mode with episode 1 taking place in the green and episode 2 taking place in the pinkish area.
Challenges
With .325 Update “Tireless Menace” Hinterland added challenges to the game. Currently there are two challenges with the update. Will update this section as more challenges come out.
Hopeless Rescue Challenge
Formerly this was a challenge put up by the community called “Sea to Summit or Sea to Peak Challenge”. Hinterland slightly changed this up a bit by putting you in Mystery Lake. From Trapper’s Homestead you have to make it from Mystery Lake, Pleasant Valley,The Summit on Timberwolf Mountain, Coastal Highway then finally to the lighthouse on Desolation Point.
This is a time limit challenge of 7 Days. The key to this challenge is….??? You guessed it COFFEE! Stop at some key search points along the way, camping office,Pleasant Valley Farmstead, signal hill hut if you have time for tins of coffee and also look in Coastal Highway.
This challenge isn’t particularly difficult, just keep a steady pace and this in 7 days is a breeze. For a good speed run you just need plenty of coffee
Will include a video guide for this challenge very soon.
The Hunted, Part One
Video Gameplay Guide here:
So far my favorite challenge thus far. What is planned for at least a two part challenge, possibly three. You spawn on Skeeter’s Ridge in Pleasant Valley attacked by Old Bear, the community has decided to name him “Watson” though I was partial to the name “The Dude”.
You’ll spawn at 10 percent,bleeding and risk of infection along with some torn clothes. Pop up the radial wheel and go to first aid and use your old man beard’s wound dressing. There is also a wolf spawn usually pretty close so you’ll want to get into the basement to the right real quick, have been attacked right after the bear attack before.
Once in the basement. grab everything you can get your hands on and replace any clothes if you get anything better in the washer/dryer. Normally don’t rest though you could heal up hear if you were worried about traveling in 10 percent condition.
Once you’ve regrouped make your way to the edge of Skeeter’s ridge and make your way down the cliff side till your at the bottom. Towards your left you’ll find Draft Dodgers cabin where I would warm up again and perhaps a short nap to get a few percent more condition before heading out.
After Draft Dodgers cabin you can either head towards the red barn or Pleasant Valley Farmstead. You’ll more likely to find coffee over at the farmhouse than the barn. Though the farmstead will set you back a few hours but the coffee would more than make up for it.
After Barn or Homestead make your way towards Pensive Pond for a quick warm up. Then make your way northeast I believe for a little bit towards the transition area. Once you hit the cave your pretty much home free. The bear will come at you a few times but remember you do have the flare gun from the basement.
The AI for Old Bear is pretty gps based like every animal in The Long Dark so fooling him is actually pretty easy. Get yourself up on a rock, somewhere he can’t reach and Watson runs off buying you more time. I’ve ran a challenge where I went to all the maps, spent time in Desolation Point and he couldn’t catch me.
Once you reach the transition area you’re pretty free though do remember Fluffy is in the dam so safe a flare gun shell, flare or just run around him if your feeling lucky. You’ll see I never mentioned the emergency stim. Safe the emergency stim for well an Emergency! Or when you get within closing distance of Trapper’s Homestead pop that baby and run! Beware once that stim runs out your exhausted and easy prey.
Will update with a speerun video also when I get that up on Youtube.
Whiteout Challenge
You have 30 days to accumulate enough supplies to survive the C.A.T. 5 blizzard. You must stock them inside Quonset Gas Station. Water and Wood can go on the floor.
You can actually get this challenge done in about a day or so if you abuse the coffee you find. You can acquire most everything in the Coastal highway map. For the food, as of right now in the beta build raw meat counts towards the food goal so you actually could kill and harvest a bear and throw all the raw meat in Quonset and will pretty much take care of that. Fairly easy challenge but it is a bit of fun.
Also includes the first pass of the Weather Almanac which is only in this challenge so far.
Nomad Challenge
The Nomad Challenge has changed a bit from the beta and for the better a little bit I think. Instead of 10 days inside 5 different locations you now have to spend 3 days in 15 different locations to spice it up a little. Will go into greater detail when I finish the new nomad challenge.
The Hunted Challenge Part 2
This challenge is more cinematic and storytelling I think than the challenge level of the first one. Fairly simple challenge now that you have the rifle. You just have to track the bear, occasionally putting a shot in him now and then to keep him moving. There are a few rifle rounds in the camping office.
You’ll need to warm up about twice, the challenge will take you about 20-30 minutes at most. The Old Bear really just takes you on a 360 degree run on the map winding up in a cave on the edges of Mystery Lake.
.325 “Tireless Menace”
With the .325 “Tireless Menace” Update the game did get quite an overhaul mechanics, graphics and the addition of challenges. Here I’ll go over some of the major changes and if reading isn’t your thing I also covered it in an update video.
They added a new radial menu to streamline the whole UI process that I’ve found worked rather well.
They re-added a mechanic they originally put in .152 but took out due to negative forum feedback. You can now not sleep if your not tired though you can pass time if you don’t have anything else to do though your healing is reduced and your calories tick off faster than sleeping. Good trick is to keep yourself busy during the day to the point of exhaustion so you can sleep the night away.
You can also take a few brands from a fire and swing yourself to exhaustion. Usually takes only about 3 or so.
They did do more random spawn patterns for the wildlife so you’ll find the wildlife is more random and less predictable which is a very good thing.
They also adjusted interior temps a bit(least in stalkers) to be a bit more harsher so a little bit more rough time starting out.
Items no longer decay when you open something as it’s a global decay system now. When you spawn on the map it starts the decay timer on everything. Though the math for decay has been increased from 100+days to 1000+ days so it overall it will be less insane survival times ex.6000 days but you can still rack up quite a bit.
No more match decay!
Intestinal Parasites: Nerfed after .325 in the hotfixes. It is now a rng roll every day if you eat a piece of bear meat or wolf meat. Rng roll at the end every night so you’ll either get a parasite or it will reset to 0. If you do get a parasite you’ll need 10 doses, 5 in voyageur. Very easily avoidable if you stick to deer,fish, rabbit.
Cabin Fever-Cabin fever got nerfed after .325 as well. If you spend the majority of time inside for 6 days you’ll get cabin fever and not be able to sleep indoors for 42 hours. This is easily avoided and even easier if you get it. Right now you can still stay inside when you have cabin fever you just need to rest outside when needed but you can boil water, break down furniture etc and the timer will go down.
You now get a 50 day pass in Voyageur,25 in stalker which is more than enough to get yourself a full crafted outfit so you can spend more time outside.
Emergency Stim-Newly added to the game. Hence the name only use in an EMERGENCY. Will give you a slight condition boost and unlimited sprint for a short while but once it wears off your exhausted and easy prey if not close to your base. For added fun gather up all the stims on the map and see how far you can run 😀
Torch and Flare nerf-you can no longer throw or drop flares to set up for an easy kill in game anymore. You can brandish it so you’ll be able to scare them off for a bit but has a limited amount of uses and does use up a fair amount of fatigue.
June Update .346 “Penitent Scholar”
6/22/2016
June Update .346 “Penitent Scholar” Update
Have a Patch notes video but for some squirrely reason won’t let me put it in the guide. Here’s some notes from the beta though not all are correct now. Will get this guide straightened up and finish this section in next several days.
The June Update adds some things quite nicely into the game.
First let’s first talk about Feats
Feats are obtained over many sandbox games so you don’t have to do it all in one playthrough.
Book Smarts
You’ve completed 250 hours of book research. Now all books grant 10 more exp when researched
Cold Fusion
You’ve spent a 100 days outside. Now you will get a permanent +2C feels like temp bonus for all your sandbox characters.
Efficient Machine
You’ve survived 500 days in the game. You now consume 10% fewer calories.
Fire Master
You have now started 1000 fires. All new sandbox characters start at level 3 Fire starting skill.
Free Runner
You’ve sprinted 50 km. From now on sprinting consumes 25% less calories
Snow Walker
You’ve walked 1000 km. Now your stamina bar recharges 25 percent faster.
Badges
You get a badge for each challenge you complete. Doesn’t give you any buffs or anything but is nice to show off.
Skills
There are now 5 overall skills you can check out your status on those by bringing up the radial menu and checking your journal.
Carcass harvesting
Pretty simple just from harvesting meat,guts and hid from animals. Gives bonuses as you level up. Will detail fully when I make a skill section of the guide.
Cooking
From cooking, not boiling water etc.
Fire Starting
From well you guessed it, starting fires.
Ice Fishing
From well you guessed it again Ice fishing
Firearm Skill
From cleaning your rifle and cleaning it.
Whiteout Challenge
You have 30 days to accumulate enough supplies to survive the C.A.T. 5 blizzard. You must stock them inside Quonset Gas Station. Water and Wood can go on the floor.
You can actually get this challenge done in about a day or so if you abuse the coffee you find. You can acquire most everything in the Coastal highway map. For the food, as of right now in the beta build raw meat counts towards the food goal so you actually could kill and harvest a bear and throw all the raw meat in Quonset and will pretty much take care of that. Fairly easy challenge but it is a bit of fun.
Also includes the first pass of the Weather Almanac which is only in this challenge so far.
Nomad Challenge
The Nomad Challenge has changed a bit from the beta and for the better a little bit I think. Instead of 10 days inside 5 different locations you now have to spend 3 days in 15 different locations to spice it up a little. Will go into greater detail when I finish the new nomad challenge.
September .364 “Vigilant Trespass Update”
Vigilant Trespass Update
V.364 in my opinion probably the best update in the last 2+ years I’ve been playing The Long Dark.
Biggest part of the update is the new “Interloper” mode which takes survival to the new level.
“Interloper Mode”
Wildlife becomes more scarce over time,temperature keeps getting colder over time as well as limbs and resources becoming more scare as well.
You start only with the barest of gear. Crappy low grade clothes and nothing else.
No rifle spawns in Interloper mode.
Wolves are more rare but more deadly. Will usually take 40 percent off your condition right off the bat.
No hatchet or hunting knife spawns. Though now you can use a hacksaw to do Saplings and limbs.
No top tier clothing spawns, winter coats or cargo pants etc but you can find semi decent clothing till you can get crafted clothes.
Hammers have been changed to 4 per game so you’ll have much better chance of getting one.
They have also added an Archery skill and a mending skill as well.
First person(HANDS!) animations for light sources.
December 2016 v.386 “Resolute Outfitter”
V.386 “Resolute Outfitter Update”
With the latest December 2016 Update “Resolute Outfitter”, comes in the introduction of the enhanced clothing system featuring layers.
Frostbite has also been introduced to the game. Any uncovered body part can start to get a danger of frostbite risk though it does seems to be a bit of a range roll when it starts to take affect. Getting any body part frostbitten takes 10 percent off your total condition(example total condition only 90% tops)
You can also frostbite an area multiple times so take care to cover up!
Update also introduced a total of 65 clothing assets. They now offer wetness and protection from attack. No high end gear will spawn in Interloper. Crafted clothes also took a bit of a warmth bonus loss but did introduce the Bear Skin Coat!
Also as a surprise in the update introduced what I believe is the transition map for Story Mode “Forlorn Muskeg”. A Map for more advanced players, not a ton of wildlife out there. Have spotted a deer or two, no rabbit sightings as of yet but more than a few wolves of course and Musky the Bear!
Forlorn Muskeg is a map intended for advanced players of course so not alot out there but one thing to note in the old Spence farm there is a 2nd forge!
Will cover all of Forlorn Muskeg in the new Forlorn Muskeg section.
The Long Dark “Resolute Outfitter” Update
Forlon Muskeg Map
With the December 2016 Sandbox update introduced the Forlorn Muskeg map. With only a few locations it is intended for advanced players of The Long Dark much like Timberwolf Mountain as it has only one interior cave but the map does contain the 2nd forge!
Video tour of the entire Forlorn Muskeg Map below
Have spent most of the dayon TLD and I’ve traversed the entire map more than once so have every location, will update with a map when Whiteberry gets one made.
The transition entrance is located at the tunnel collapse in Mystery lake just a hop,skip and a jump from the camping office.
Low Blind/High Blind
There are several hunting blinds located around the center region of the map though do be careful of the thin ice! Min. loot in Interloper but worth paying a visit just to see.
Shortwave tower. Visible on the outer area of the map on a clear day, does have a few crates and sparse loot depending on your difficulty level.
Poachers Camp
Located about dead center in the map, just follow the train tracks line straight to it though avoid any thin ice. Has a fire barrel in the train car and some more sparse loot.
Old Farmstead
Located on the far end of the map across the lake right next to the burnt out bunkhouses, not an interior building but do get out of the wind from the cold, has workbench,forge and the only bed you will find in Forlorn Muskeg. Also has a safe hidden behind the crates on the lower level.
Faithful Cartographer Update (.411T) WIP
With the upcoming build “Faithful Cartographer” introduces many changes in The Long Dark and I’ll be bringing you all the changes and coverages as it develops.
Here’s all the new info and new stuff and my thoughts on it in one handy video.
New UI
All the ui, inventory, radial menu and the font has been redone for this update. One big change you’ll see is the “status” screen will no pause your character in game and not the world around you so do be careful.
You’ll also note your condition is not displayed on the main screen anymore so interloper players beware you’ll be checking your status a bit more as it’s not on the go anymore.
Currently the time isn’t on your status screen but that is a bug and is supposed to be in the main stats screen.
Crafting
Crafting UI is now a little different better looking in my opinion. You’ll also note hand-crafting is now taken off the radial and you’ll have to do all that at a workbench.
No new crafting changes in this update.
Mapmaking
Currently only works in Mystery Lake but with full release should have all regions mappable. Above is a mostly done map and also be aware the higher elevation you are at the more area you’ll be able to map out.
To get charcoal you’ll need to burn a fire for an hour(1 hour=1 charcoal) and wait for the fire to go out and you’ll be able to survey an area outside but be aware that it will take an hour to survey the local area so make sure your warm.
Carcass Quatering
With the update you’ll be able to take carcass with you to be able to harvest inside. Bunnies will be able to go in your backpack right away so feel free to take that inside but beware you will have a greater smell while your carrying carcasses.
Takes about an hour and a half for deer,wolf and 2 hours for a bear not sure yet about how Carcass harvesting skill affects that time.
Ravaged Carcasses are not worth the time but a full carcass can be taken inside to be taken care of while not freezing.
New Rifle, Bow Aiming Mechanics
The rifle skin has been redone as well as the aiming for both the rifle and the bow. I do believe the aiming has been redone for the upcoming PS4 and console players as it has been made more new player friendly.
New Forestry Lookout
As your coming up to the Derailment and the open boxcar take a left and you’ll eventually run straight into the new Forestry Lookout which is amazing and in a great location. The inside is pretty much a mirror to the old Forestry Lookout.
Abandoned Lookout
In the old Forest Lookout location you’ll find the remains of the lookout post with a static deer, some loot and a supply bin with a static rope and some other supplies in it. No location to rest in so plan to loot and get back to the logging camp trailers if you do go up there.
Guide will be further updated upon release of the new update so stay tuned to here and my youtube channel for ongoing coverage.
Wintermute Story Mode (Spoilers) WIP
Been 4 years in the making and I will be giving you a complete guide to Wintermute. Will be a work in progress as I’m still combing the land for any hidden secrets.
Have the marathon Stream up and past streams of Story Mode if you want to find info quicker check the Youtube Channel. Maps and screenshots of all caches, etc incoming soon.
Also be aware Wintermute has launched with a fair amount of bugs so quests can be broken and bad things could possible happen but they’ve already put out multiple patches so hopefully everything will get smoothed over.
Episode 1 – Do Not Go Gentle
After the opening cinematic we find ourselves crash landing on Bear Island. The first five days are a tutorial pretty much on stuff you more than likely already know how to do.
The one thing new that might be confusing to you is preparing rose hip tea which now needs to be crafted first in the crafting menu. Takes about 15 minutes to prepare and then you can boil the rose hip tea.
Once the game allows you’ll be able to climb out of your current area and make your way onto the Mountain Town map or “Milton” as it were. You’ll also be able to check out your plane or what’s left of it as well. You’ll also have a metal shard you’ve fashioned into a knife be sure to keep that sharpened in episode one. Whetstone can be given by Grey Mother when you’ve acquired enough trust.
You’ll soon make it out of the crash and find yourself in a new area with quite a few bunnies. There are usually at least 6 bunnies in the area. Do yourself a favor(if you can stomach it) and stone and kill all the bunnies in the area. This will secure some future rabbitskin mitts but more importantly start working on Grey Mother’s trust level as each rabbit hide= 50 trust.
If you did get all the rabbits you will probably have a 3 smell meter but I wouldn’t worry about it in story mode, mostly only you can kill you so you’ll be fine.
You’ll then eventually make it into a cave which will have a few torches and a bedroll. Bedroll=saving on the go and outside and sleeping and healing up if you have to but be sure to watch the temp!
Once your out of the cave you’ll be close to the road to Milton. Stay on the road, be sure to loot the cars and take occasional cover in them as wolves will be about. Before the church near the left side of the road I believe(you’ll unlock a map from Grey Mother later) is a trailer you can spend the night at.
When you walk into the town of Milton you’ll notice the big house on the left with smoke rising from the chimney. Now you can do some side adjectives before heading to meet Grey Mother or go unlock the bank vault or check on some side caches but to take less time I’d advise going to see Grey Mother and giving her all those bunny pelts you’ve acquired to max out her trust at 375 which will unlock a side cache quest, flare gun quest and some very nice Mountain Boots.
Now most be would agree staying at Grey Mother’s is your best bet as she does have magical infinite fire and two beds. Her first quest will have you going out to fetch fire wood. There are two wood lots on either side of town. You’ll need to acquire 30kg of wood in the outside container in front of the house.
You should have a side cache quest now and the flare quest as well if you got her trust up early.
Take a right on the road by the bank and first house on your left is the Coast Guard residents house. On the rug right next to the dresser you’ll find a hidden cache containing the flare gun.
The first hidden cache you’ll find is semi marked on a map as Grey mother said it’s behind their house in the garden. Search around the rocks by the back of said house and you’ll find it.
With those two out of the way I’d recommend heading over to the bank where you’ll find the key to the bankers house and you can’t quite get in the vault yet. Just past the post office on the left side you’ll see two houses, the banker’s is the slightly better looking house with the flag. You’ll find a box that contains the vault code. Now you can head back and unlock the vault. This will save you time later on in the main questline.
So you’ll find in the vault 4 deposit boxes that need to be opened. 3 are out on the map. Two are on corpse. One out in the general area past the Paradise Farmhouse and the other is out by the church just look for crows circling. The 3rd key is in a truck just past the Orca gas station on your way up to the exit point of the Mountain Town map you’ll be visiting later.
Once you have the 3 vault boxes out of the way of the way you’ll have two more hidden caches which you’ll need to find the notes for before you can find them. One cache is located in the back of a cave just before the radio tower and the other one is behind the church just next to a fallen tree. The loot from the caches really isn’t needed if your just in it for the story but if you want the cache mastery achievement you’ll need to get all three caches on the first episode and the next episodes caches as well.
With all the side quests out of the way you can now focus solely on the story. A quick trip to the wood lot outside town should net you easily the wood to finish the quest. Next up you’ll need to acquire 10000 calories for Grey Mother’s fridge. You’ll have a morale choice of going to the gas station to get the supplies there but really you probably already have 10K on you or you’ll easily find it in nearby houses.
With that out of the way you’ll need to give Grey Mother a bit then you’ll get a quest to go towards the end of the road past the gas station you’ll find the bus then return to Grey Mother.
As a time-saver you’ll want to have 5-7 deer hides as you start to finish episode one as this will get your trust maxed out with Jeremiah at the start.
You’ll next have to head to Paradise farm to get the final vault key from a vase in the Barker farmhouse. Then go to the bank and retrieve Grey Mother’s box. You’ll then have to take the pearls to Lilly’s grave just across the church.
With that done you’ll finally get the rope you need to get out of Milton. Just reminder you’ll only be able to take 30kg with you so plan accordingly.
Once you go down the rope and head through a cave you’ll be at the end of episode one. Congrats!
End of Episode 1
The Rugged Sentinel Update
Version 1.16 update brought a big update to the sandbox survival mode and some changes to Wintermute Story Mode as well.
There are now 3 different difficulties in Wintermute story mode.
Mostly will talk about hardened survivor mode.
Wolves have been tweeked to be mostly insta-kill unless your lucky and a bit more aggressive. Have not really seen a decrease in loot thus making a real survival challenge still really easy. The cold/hunger survival settings are more in tune with a stalker survival run.
If you have previously completed the first two episodes before the update I wouldn’t go through the hardened difficulty as there isn’t much point.
Mountain Town Map(Milton) brought into survival mode!
Milton from Wintermute story mode has been brought into the survival mode maps. Accessible from a mere stone’s throw away at a cave near trapper’s cabin. There is also a transition area from Forlorn Muskeg that goes to an all new little area the Milton Basin.
One of the big additions to The Long Dark is of course the long awaited Moose! Moose are very rare and at the moment of this writing exceptionally rare as you can go quite sometime without spotting one even with custom run settings with moose set to “Very High”.
Tracking a moose is never easy but can be done. Moose can be tracked as they leave “rubbings” by taking bark off trees. You’ll usually see three tree’s and then look for a little pond or open area.
There is a moose possible spawn past the church in Milton in an area that’s open clearing on the right. There is also a sighting of moose on the Basin right before the transition area to Forlorn Muskeg from Milton.
Moose have been sighted by Trapper’s Homestead and the dam as well.
Moose have been sighted in the upper areas of the map on Coastal Highway.
Have seen moose rubbings in Forlorn Muskeg but no confirmed sightings as of yet.
Moose have been sighted in Broken Railroad around the Mystery Lodge.
Haven’t seen any Moose in the area of Desolation Point.
Still tracking Moose in Pleasant Valley will update.
Crafting in Rugged Sentinel
Two new items to craft in The Long Dark update
First item is one of my new favorites The Moose-Hide cloak
Vigilant Flame Update
Manual Cooking Tutorial
How To Get To Hushed River Valley And A Small Tour
Hushed River Valley Map(WIP) From a great viewer Elite Rambo!
Errant Pilgrim Update(WIP)
How To Get To The Cannery
Bleak Inlet Map Tour
How to Get Inside The Cannery And Tour
Fearless Navigator Update
The Fearless Update Navigator Update Video
With the Fearless Navigator update you can now add visual map markers to spots in the game.
Spray paint cans do appear in the world now and are not finite but each can contains .49kg of spray paint usually good for 10+ markings.
Marked survival signs will show up on your map and you can delete multiple markers in the same area. It does as long as your outside highlight the small area around the marking. Future update will have the paint fade over time.
Stone Caches- Need 50 stone to make and can have 5 per map(including also the transition maps).
They have added more stones to the map to compensate.
Each stone cache can hold 30KG and can be detailed with notes so you can mark down what’s inside if you like.
Polaroids – 11 Polaroids located in the game randomized location pictures of a vista that you can visit and charcoal map to get a big chunk of the map done, very helpful for cartography achievement.
Locations are now a tab in the map section that you can double check to see what locations you have mapped out and what you still need for the faithful cartography achievement.
Map filters that you can toggle on and off are also on the cartography section.
Autowalk has been implemented as well(default on PC is the Z key)
Now go out there and explore The Long Dark!