I'm getting a little sick of "What is the ultimate base?" posts. There seems to be one every few days lately and it's getting annoying as hell. However, telling someone to "google it" is also counter productive. One must assume these people have already searched and not found what they wanted. So here in will be contained everything I know about ULTIMATE BASES. I will then just link back to this post later. If you wish to make any suggestions of your own, feel free to comment. Please keep comments to useful tips and tricks to avoid clutter as this is to be a guide for new players of The Long Dark

THERE IS NO ULTIMATE BASE. ONLY ULTIMATE BASES.

Which is to say, what the ideal base for me is not the same for thee. It doesn't even stay the same through out a single game. If you are playing the game properly, your base will change as your needs change. So I will forgo specific examples. I'm going to talk about the qualities of a base.

WHAT EVERY BASE NEEDS:

Every base needs to be safe to sleep in (sleep without being attacked or freezing to death) and able to cure hides and guts.

And that's it.

Nope. Really. Everything else is icing on the cake. What does that mean for you? It means there are many locations that can be used as a base.

So what DOESN'T make the cut?

Vehicles: While you can sleep in a vehicle, qualifying as a place free from attacks, and it is theoretically possible to layer enough warmth to sleep in one 24/7 without pause, you cannot cure hides or guts, thus making it more of a temporary waystation than a base.

Fishing huts: While some come with doors and a place to make a windproof fire, a fishing hut has no place to cure hides and guts, and thus fails our long term criteria. Certainly, tricking out a fishing hut is a good idea, but it is more of a resource gathering location and fails to be a true "base".

See my guide on fishing huts

What DOES make the cut?

Indoor locations. Transition caves and mines. Normal caves and any location that operates on the Cave warmth system.

Let us address Normal caves.

Caves have two zones. A windproof zone at the mouth, and a warmer zone in the back. This zone starts out at +8 degrees and depending on your difficulty, slowly gets warmer, up to a maximum of +28 degrees on day 50 on interloper difficulty. There are two locations that have temperature like the back of a cave. That is the park office on the mountain town map, and the mountaineer's hut. Treat both of these locations like you would the back of a cave. Usually warm enough, but during a blizzard, you had better watch the temp.

With enough clothing, you can sleep in most caves without the need of a fire, after day 50. Between day 1 and 50, it can be a crap shoot. Cave temp doesn't rise fast enough to match dropping temps... at first. It does catch up by day 50. So for long term living, any place with cave temps, you usually don't want to set up a long term base until after day 50. Sometimes you don't have a choice, in which case, a good rule of thumb is, sleep no more than 1 hour for every 5 degrees above "feels like" 0 degrees, or fraction thereof. So at a feels like of 12 (after factoring in bed warmth) I'd only nap 3 hours. At 1 degree, I'll sleep only 1.

There is one particular perk to a Cave base one should consider. No Cabin Fever. Yup, if you have enough warm clothing to survive the harshest blizzard at 5:59am in a bedroll at an apparent warmth of +0.01 degrees above freezing, then you can base in a cave forever and never worry about cabin fever again. Well, except for all the other stuff you'll need to live, but hey, what's a few fetch quests between friends?

Otherwise, any indoor location or transition mine/cave can be used as a base. However, not all bases are created equal. Let us look at some of the qualities that a base could have. Learn to spot these qualities and weigh the value of each quality for yourself, depending on your current need and goals.

Lighting is a real issue. If you can't see, it becomes a ♥♥♥♥♥ to handle yourself without a light source. This is a perk of a normal cave. Being outside, you often can see quite well at night. Note there is being able to "see" and being able to perform actions that need light. For example, at night, you normally can't read a book. However, go outside, and if the night sky is clear enough, you often can read by moonlight.

In one of the transition mines, there is a crafting table in the middle. It actually is easier to move through the cave at night than in the day. For some reason the lighting just works out that way. In the day, the cave is pitch black, but at night, everything has a soft blue glow. However, if you are standing by the crafting table, you can use it during the day. EVEN THOUGH you cannot see ANYTHING on the screen. That's right, in the middle of a coal mine without a flicker of light, if the sun is above the horizon outside, you can craft as if it was broad daylight.

Welcome to Great Bear Island.

You need to weigh both the ACTUAL lighting of a location, as well as the "lighting" as a game mechanic when considering a base. For example, The Quonset garage. It is "lit" enough at night for me to see enough landmarks to be able to navigate the building at night, however, I cannot perform any "light requiring" tasks indoors. It does have a truck out back that I can hop inside. I can thus perform actions that require light, such as mending clothing, in safety with minimal freezing.

Another consideration is Aurora lighting. The quonset lights up inside during an aurora so you can craft during one. The Trappers has NO electrical lighting, so you can't craft at that location during a flare. Not the most important aspect of a base, but something to keep in mind.

The fishing village has an outdoor crafting table, meaning that it is theoretically possible to craft the entire night, assuming you don't freeze or get eaten by a bear. However, two of the cabins at the fishing village are pitch black at night, while the largest one has a slight glow to it making it somewhat easy to navigate without a light source.

As you can see (PUN INTENDED), whatever location you pick as a base, lighting must be evaluated.

Another issue is crafting access. There are items everyone can craft with the right tools, then items that need a crafting table, and finally things that require a forge. Now while free access to these might seem like a "must", the truth is, with some planning, you can make whatever you need at a table/forge, then transport the crafted items to your base.

This isn't as big a deal with the crafting table, but the fact there are only 3 forges in the game limits where you can make items, and those three forges are in out of the way locations.

Still, having a base with easy forge access has its' perks, but is not the end all be all. With a little planning, you can easily do without forge access. It is another matter as far as the crafting table is concerned. I find myself using one on and off and not making dedicated "runs" on crafting at a table. I make things as I need them, so for me, a crafting table makes surviving easier for me.

But having lived a hundred days in a cave, a crafting table is far from manditory. It just takes more planning to have a base without a crafting station or forge.

There are many bases that quickly get "used up" The items to be looted and the plants to be harvested takes little time to clear out in most areas, so I don't concern myself with that. What I'm talking about is access to locations where you can go back again and again. Moose, Bear, Wolf, Deer, and Rabbit spawns are important, because the animals respawn, giving you supplies for repairing crafting clothing as well as food.

Rabbit runs (where you can place snares) are invisible, so learning said locations can take some trial and error experimentation to pin point. You can stack, say... 12 snares and if you time it right, then get 3 to trigger every 3 hours. If you figure a minimum of 4 rabbits a day, with starvation living, you can live forever with snares alone.

Another renewable resource often overlooked is Birch Bark. With the introduction of birch bark tea, it is possible to harvest an average of 1.4 cups of tea a day in a few select locations. Birch Bark tea is very useful, and not to be underestimated. The ravine and the transition cave in FM are both excellent sources of Birch Bark. In fact, there is a rabbit run directly visible from the upper entrance of the transition cave. In my opinion, this location is an often under valued base location because it is "non-traditional". I've spent weeks at that spot waiting for the moose and my pile of gathered resources was quite massive by the time I bagged my prey. With a little planning, one might live months in such a base.

The other obvious renewable resource is fishing. Access to a fishing hut, while not the end all be all, gives you more options than you'd have otherwise. I know someone who found the prep cache spawned next to the fishing hut in PV and the hut spawned with a door. He made that his base until he finally caught his first moose by that little pond.

Bear and moose spawns are the single largest supplies of meat in one shot, so while it is a pain living next to a bear, it also makes it damn easy to stock up the lauder.

You also need to think about stuff to burn. Chopping up pallets and furniture is fine, for the short term, but eventually you need renewable fuel. Never underestimate places heavy with sticks as they are fast to gather. Fir and Cedar spawns are also a consideration, but not a strong one. A coal spawn is very useful as well, but not a make or break quality of a base. I suppose what's important is that the base has some sort of fuel spawn, not what sort it is.

For this reason, I abhor the Farmhouse in PV. Yes, so much crap to chop up, but sooner or later the wood goes dry and it is a hell of a hike to gather up even a single stick, through wolf infested fields.

Finally, we have beach combing. Unique to DP, CrH and CoH, items that are otherwise not renewable can show up on a semi-regular basis. On one run, I found a location that kept spawning worn leather shoes. That's 2 leather when harvested. Another run I found a birch sapling spawn point. While beach combing is risky, I have gotten quite addicted to claiming treasures from the sea. It isn't required for long term survival, it's just something else to do as you strive for your "Will To Survive" badge.

Some bases are temporary. I set them up, loot the area, gather everything in one spot, then move on. Later, I sweep back, pick up what I have gathered and move them along the Loot Railroad to my final destination. You don't need to do this. I do it to keep the game interesting. I like piling stuff up and organizing loot. I completely looted every harvestable item as well as every container on TWM, then dragged every last bit of everything that wasn't meat or wood down to the abandoned prepper cache. Why? I dunno. Wanted to.

So some place might be a base until it's no longer worth it to stay in the area. What ever it has to offer is gone and you can get wolves to kill anywhere. This is why the Camp Office will never be a long term base for me. I like the look, but very quickly it runs out of non-renewables and the renewables aren't worth it. The fishing hut with the door often spawns way too far from the office for my taste. I got to kill a bunch of wolves to get to the bear, and fuel is a bit of a hike.

Keep it in mind. When a place is used up, move on. Hell, move on BEFORE it's used up. Skim the surface taking only the best low hanging fruit of loot and move on. Do not get in the trap of keeping too much stuff. Best to leave a trail of old bases with food and water behind you, and to be forced to turn back due to a lack of supplies, then drag everything with you and due to the low movement from being overweight, getting stuck out in a blizzard.

A short section here on beds. While you can get by with a bed roll, it is often better to have a bed. You heal a few more points in an actual bed, than using a bedroll when you sleep. Also a few locations have an even HIGHER "Healing while sleeping" bonus than ordinary beds. The one I know of is Trappers, although I yet to test this throughly. I suspect the big bed at Grey Mother's and PV Farmhouse may have the bonus as well, but haven't felt the need to confirm it.

That said, even a moss bed in the back of a cave is better than your bedroll. Not only because of the healing bonus, but for saving on the wear and tear on your bedroll. That said, there is a trick I should mention.

If you place a bedroll on the ground and never pick it up again, even if it decays to 0%, you can still sleep in it.

Don't just harvest or ignore those extra bedrolls. Pick them up and place them in warm locations without beds. By the entrances of transition mines and caves are good choices. It isn't a good idea to do this at a fishing hut or in a normal cave. You sort of WANT a bedroll to have a warmth bonus, and at 0% the warmth bonus is +0%.

Still, I got bored and made a bunch of bear bedrolls and took my collection of normal bed rolls and placed them ALL over Costal Highway. Technically, I don't need to carry a bedroll anymore on that map. There is always a bed nearby. ALWAYS.

I doubt you will reach this level of base preparation, but I felt I should mention it.

ADDENDUM: I forgot to mention the bearskin bedroll counts as a normal bed for healing purposes. So if you are going to do the "never pick up a bedroll again" trick, try to use a bearskin bedroll, because it is basically the same as putting down a normal bed. Expensive? YES. Worth every bear hide? Ohhhhh... yeah.

Figuring out how to blow off cabin fever is also a consideration. Mountaineer's Hut shouldn't cause cabin fever, but it does. The office off of the Maintenance Shed in BR should cause it, but doesn't. There are odd rules to Cabin fever, so if you are playing with it turned on, you need to consider how you will get rid of it. Is there a cave nearby? How about a Bear bedroll and a warm truck out back? Are you going to stay in your base until Cabin fever overwhelms you, then go spend a week in a fishing hut? There aren't many locations that work for getting rid of cabin fever without a fire, so keep that in mind.

There are two types of TLD players: Those with a Cabin Fever Plan, and wolf chow.

I typically set up a series of temporary "way station bases" where I harvest the area, leave a bunch of hides and guts, then move on. Any viable shelter, if I have time, gets a pile of water at the very least, and some food, just in case. Everything else in a gather point gets piled by the door to be taken elsewhere. At places with valuable renewable resources, I set up more permanent "Harvest Bases" Where I stop by on a slow circuit across the various maps to loot the renewables, then move on to give the land time to lie fallow.

You can stop at that.

Me? I have a "Vanity Base". Only one Vanity base per game. It could be The Lighthouse. It's usually The Quonset, but I have done The Hunting Lodge (scroll down to "Day 220?"). I don't break down much at a vanity base, because I want places to put my stuff. As I move from location to location, Items slowly move, base by base, ever closer to the vanity base where I arrange my stuff in ways that are aesthetically pleasing to my eye.

But that's actually a waste of time and down right dangerous.

Really. You can get by with so little. Piling 50 kg of meat and 25 Liters of water in EVERY HOUSE in Coastal Highway, JUST BECAUSE. While it makes it easier to move around, setting things up got me jumped by so many wolves it wasn't funny.

You see, you don't need much to "survive". Which is why, in the end, all you need is a safe, warm place to sleep, and some place to cure hides and guts.

Everything else just requires a little planning.

Map: Mystery Lake/Winding River/Ravine

Initial review: Carter's Hydro Dam, or just The Dam, is a must visit location in any play through. It is a prime base location and I know many people who like it because of its' many perks. I also know many people who dislike it because of its' decentralized nature. Making a base at the dam isn't like other bases as it is more of a base "Zone" than a typical base. It's defiantly a base to have for a while, but I don't know of many people who make it their "vanity base, which is very strange, because it really is a superior location.

Location Review: The Dam is centrally located at the intersection of Mystery Lake, Winding River and Ravine. It has two trailers just outside the fence and buku loot. It also has some layout issues that require you to keep everything in a "zone" then all in one loading area. There is no bed in the dam, but one outside in the trailers. During an aurora, sections of your base get cut off by sparking wires. Wolves lurk outside the fence and on the ice of winding river and there are a number of blind spots that will trap inexperienced players. However, players with 50+ hours under their belt will easily avoid the pitfalls.

Environment: Hard to explain as it covers such an expansive area. I consider a true dam base to extend out back to the winding river, out to the trailers and into ravine to the first cave. Mucho resources, both renewable and not. Weather wise, it's middle of the road.

Lighting: The Dam gets dark at night, and while Auroras do provide crafting light, it also brings sparking wires which will burn you if you walk over them. This pushes the player into keeping his stuff in the foyer that leads to ML. The Trailers are dark at night as well, but there is a cave right around the corner in Ravine. Just climb up on the fence, look for the wolf, throw a rock to distract him away from ravine, then jump down and run for it. After day 50, the cave stays quite warm, even in interloper, and even with crappy clothes, as long as there is no blizzard, you can usually stay the night without a fire.

Crafting: The Dam has crafting tables that litter the joint. All over the place. No Forge, however.

Renewable resources: Wolves (duh). Three rabbit runs in Ravine and two in Winding river. Two deer spawn in Ravine. One Moose Spawns by the stream outside the fence in ML. I feel like I'm forgetting something.... Oh yeah.

BIRCH BARK So. Much. Birch. Bark. 18 Birch Park on a sweep of Ravine. That's 9 cups of Birch Bark Tea. I've spoke of BBT elsewhere, so I won't spam the topic here. But this alone should bring you back to the dam on a regular basis.

Non-Renewable Resources: What DOESN'T the dam have? Cloth, Scrap Metal. Reclaimable wood. Deer Carcasses: 1 in the yard, 2-3 in Ravine, 4-5 in Winding River (including the double deer bug) On a good run, you can make boots and 2 pants from The Dam ALONE. There are a bazzilion containers to search, good clothing drops, two toilets for immediate water use, oh, and if you find the rope, or snag it from somewhere else (I'll often take overlook's rope), you can climb down into the bottom of ravine for the FLARE GUN. Yes, a weapon that requires a great deal of player experience to use effectively. I hated it for the long time, but now? Now it's my preferred Bear Slaying weapon. Oh. And there is ALWAYS a Cooking pot at the far end of the dam, in the room you enter when coming back inside. Look under the far metal table. Also, on stalker or easier, there are many bullets and sometimes a gun/rifle.

Winding river has saplings, loot, mushrooms and rose hips. Same in ravine and shrooms outside the fence. Oh yeah... CATTAILS.

The place is so swimming in NRR that you might consider some resources effectively renewable. I have never run out of wood to harvest. If you harvest every piece of scrap in the place, I believe it's over 300. Cloth isn't that common, but common enough that you won't have to go looking for more for a few months.

In fact, there is so much, you have to be careful not to become a horder. Learn what to harvest and what to leave alone. It's easy to get distracted with making piles of stuff in the foyer and you'll wind up wasting time with useless dreck. A brand new player might get overwhelmed with the choices, but a week or two of play and you'll figure it out.

Sleeping: Many indoor locations, but the bedroll will see frequent use. There are beds out in the trailers, but you have to run past wolves. I'll wear down my bedroll a little faster to avoid the risk. However, the cave in Ravine is a great place to blow off cabin fever, as well as boil water, since the outer cave area is windproof and has the "Outdoor Fire Duration" bonus. Your wood will go further if you boil up your water out there. With luck you'll have at least two cooking pots and can boil water and sleep an hour without the water boiling away, thus heading off cabin fever and making water at the same time.

Downside: Very spread out requiring you to do certain things in certain locations. Wolves are a ♥♥♥♥♥ as you must expose yourself to danger to run between certain resources. On the other hand, wolves will walk up to the gate and you can shoot the wolf through it without any chance of him attacking you, so that's a perk. The Aurora creating death traps with sparking wires can be a ♥♥♥♥♥ and you have to make sure you don't get caught with your pants down.

Summary: By the numbers, it is a great base. Centrally located. Swimming in renewables, a metric ton of NRR... it SHOULD be the base of choice... but it's not. Why? I think it's just because... well... It's ugly.

Yeah, I know, but I just find the place ugly as hell. I find myself staying in Ravine just to avoid looking at the place. Appearance means nothing to the RAW of a game... except it does. I think this is the reason why few people make it a long term base. It just doesn't "feel" right. It's also very spread out. It isn't well laid out for organization and you'll find yourself leaving piles everywhere.

It just doesn't feel like "home". By the numbers, it should be awesome. But reality is a different story. I don't know why, but it rarely becomes the "vanity base" that people want for the end game.

That all said, it is a MUST VISIT and you'd be a fool not to make it into a harvest base, if nothing else. It is so centrally located you MUST make it a way station at the very least. You would be well served to spend a week or two at this location, harvesting, gathering water and meat, and making a cache of supplies so that if you come back this way, you have a place to rest and recharge before moving onto any other location.

In short: A base for those of novice level or better, and a must way station base. I strongly urge you to upgrade it to Harvest base as well.

Map: Broken Railroad

Initial review: The building in question is Unique to the game as it has an Indoor location and an "Outdoor" location attached. Unique locations offer many unknown variables that may or may not make it a good base. For example, you can climb up on the fence and make fires on top of it. Don't ask me to explain why you would do it. I just find it hysterical to have a fire balanced on a pole.

Location Review: The downside of the base is the location. It is at a "far end" of the island and thus does not have easy access to other lootable areas. Access to other maps are through a gauntlet of wolves that you can sneak by, but requires intimate knowledge of the AI as well as the wolf spawn locations. An inexperienced player will likely panic in the enclosed narrow space and may inadvertently get himself flanked.

Environment: The location has poor visibility in some spots, and in others have wide open fields of fire. However, an experienced player will be able to use the quirks of the immediate terrain surrounding the MY to their advantage.

Lighting: The base has two locations. An indoor one, and an "outdoor" office. I use the term outdoor because it is coded as the entry zone of a cave. Meaning no temp boost, but it will always remain windproof. This outer office is well lit and is "Game lit" by the moon, making it an okay spot to handle repairs and crafting.

The indoor area is lit in the aurora, but at night is pitch black and difficult to navigate without a light source. When you clear it out, using the bedroll flashlight can overcome this issue, but you are going to want a storm lantern and a good supply of oil for any long term stay.

Crafting: The bomb of crafting. The only indoor location with both crafting tables and a forge. Note the outdoor forge of FM had the advantage that it burns twice as long, being in an outdoor location, but that just means you need more wood for the BR forge

Renewable resources: There is a moose spawn nearby, but only one bear on the map. There is a second moose spawn by the hunting lodge, but that's a bit of a hike. There are wolves. Many wolves. Fortunately the wolves cannot see you in the "outdoor office", and you can shoot out the windows and doorway at passing wolves. Step outside the door stinky. Wait a few seconds, hop back in, and a wolf will walk right up to you to be shot.

Think Grub Hut, but with sharp nasty teeth.

Rabbits are up in the gated off area by a cave you can blow off cabin fever in. That cave is almost a worthy base in and of itself and it is recommended you make it a "Harvest Base" after day 50. Note wolves cannot path to you in that cave, or the immediate surrounding.

The map lacks a fishing hut, which means no easy replenishment of oil. I'm an oil man. I burn that lamp all the time. I hate wasting time, so if I need to craft, I fill up a lantern and get in a good 3 and 1/2 hours of work. The map is also woefully lacking when it comes to my beloved birch bark, but there are a few locations here and there.

Non-Renewable Resources: The Map has many non-renewables. For example, one of the few wolf carcasses in the game spawns in the deep ravine. There's a loot crate down there that will likely disappoint you, but it's fun to go open it, none the less. There is so much reclaimed wood to be harvested it isn't funny. The Hunting lodge has a few rare clothing spawn points, as well as a 99% chance of a stim injection.

Worth a hike out here to the end of the world for that last item alone.

Also many many many many mushrooms, rose hips, and saplings. If you are making a bow, you have to come to broken railroad and make a sweep for sapplings, at least once.

Sleeping: There is an inside bed, and more importantly a bed outside in the "outdoor office". That will save on bedroll wear and tear.

Downside: Inexperienced players will find the claustrophobic map limiting. Until you know the Wolf AI pathing, you might get yourself killed. Unless you are experienced with diving for shelter in cars, you might get caught out in the open easily. It also is... well... little boring. You can lure wolves to your base to kill without any fear of getting attacked, this is true, but many wolves spawn in areas that won't path to your base, so when you go exploring, don't ever assume you got them all. Also, the many hills reduces visibility.

Assessment: A top tier base, but it is clearly for the expert in late game, if this is your future vanity base. If you have the goal of smelting the entire island into arrowheads, It might take longer to get there, but it's be safer once you do. Otherwise, use it for a forge run, skim off the low hanging fruit, rest up, forge some crap, then flee.

I like wide open spaces and fishing, so while MY is definitely on the list of must visit bases, I do not quite see it as the ULTIMATE base. As I have said in the beginning. It is the Ultimate base, for a while, and then chances are you outgrow it and feel the need to move on.

Map: Mystery Lake

Overview: The Camp Office is a base that has been in the game since the original version. The camp office is a must visit for any run. While in previous version, it was the Cadillac of bases (premium quality and very expensive), it has been in decline with every additional iteration of the game.

This is a common outcome with progressive game development. As the developers get better and better at understanding the true nature of the game, future installments are better and better balanced. Furthermore, GCC always creeps into every game, and as such with every additional game feature, the complexity of the game expresses itself in new and interesting fashions. This results in old features either becoming absolutely broken, or becoming increasingly irrelevant.

This is what has happened to Mystery lake.

That all said, for many of the old timers, the location will always hold a special place in their heart. It is also hardly a pointless location, but it isn't the "best" any longer, either.

Location: Mystery lake is not "base so much as a "zone" just like the Dam. It is inexorably tied to Overlook for many reasons. One might also extend the "base zone" out to the closest fishing hut, but I don't. It almost never spawns a door. A door rarely spawns at the second hut, but usually spawns at the hunt closest to the bear spawn. Before you make the mistake of thinking, "A hut with a door will let you snipe at a bear" I will point out that once he starts charging, that door means NOTHING and he will maul you, no matter what. In fact, there is a good chance he'll get stuck inside the hut WITH YOU.

No. I have tried to exploit the crap out of that particular bug. There is no way to use it. Even shooting him through the door crack will only earn you a second mauling. If you figure it out, let me know.

The CO Does has a few location perks. ML is basically the center of the island and everything must go through ML if you are moving goods from FM, MT, HRV, BR to or from PV, CoH, CrH, Ravine, WR, TWM, and DP. The center of the center map is Camp Office.

The railroad goes right up the middle of the map making it the most direct path and when you are hauling metric tons of loot, the CO will become a major stop on your pipe line.

This the problem with CO. It is a great place to stop for a rest, but there are must more interesting places, so the place winds up as a way station. Many wolf free routes intersect with CO, adding to its' usefulness.

You can head up to Overlook Cave, then past for an overhead route avoiding wolves on the way to The Dam.

You can take the southern access trail to Alan's cave, and take the secret back way up to the medical Prepper cache spawn which is a cool area, even without the cache. (you might get a sprain or two, but avoiding the wolves/the rope climb is worth it.) and that route allows you to drop down, wolf free, by the FM exit.

You can use that same back path to chase deer into wolves and skim some cabins at the back of the lake. A dangerous operation, so don't do this without some experience. The loot isn't the end all be all (except for the rifle spawn behind the far cabin), so I usually leave this area under harvested.

If you go out the back door and go straight up and over the tracks then head up and up. you will find the location of the fabled Hunter prepper Cache Spawn. I've seen it ONCE in a game without using mods to make it spawn. Ooooohhhhh... Yes, it is soooooo gooooooood. So many bullets. So many guns. So many arrows. It is the single best Prepper cache to spawn. If you are on stalker or better, cross your fingers and check for it. Past that location is a way down to thread between wolf spawns, head up and over, and walk the spine to Trappers. Not nearly as safe as heading to Med Prepper plateau, dropping down to FM exit, then hugging the world wall, but it is certainly the shortest path.

Exiting the back door and turning to about 2 o'clock, you can cross the railroad and there is a gap in the rocks that leads to a rabbit run, deer spawn, and OMB. Go to the OMB, turn to your right and look uphill. That way lays the way to the lookout tower. You can go past the tower to drop down on the three trailers by wood cut from behind. I rarely find anything of worth at that location, so I usually skip it, but I have had a Cowachan sweater spawn there once. ONCE.

Past that, it's nothing but wolves. There are a few Prepper Spawns that way, but I don't bother.

As you can see, Camp Office is at a very central location with a wide selection of wolf free trails. I almost never actually take the railroad, unless I am hauling MASSIVE amounts of loot, in which case, I pile everything up at FM exit, kill all the wolves as quickly as possible and leave the carcasses unharvested, then haul everything to Camp Office. Then, kill everything between CO and the derailed train car, and haul everything to that. Then Kill everything between that and the dam, which is MANY WOLVES. Unfortunately, so many wolves from tangental areas can smell you, that the mere two wolves along that section of the railroad can be joined by the one from the frozen stream, the quiet cave, and wood cut. Plus the moose spawns in that area and while you might be happy to see a moose normally, it can be a ♥♥♥♥♥ when you don't know he spawned under the bridge and you triggered him.

AND YES, the moose CAN reach you from beneath the bridge.

Ask me how I know.

go on... ASK ME.

But I digress.

The other aspect of Camp Office is that, while it is a sprain inducing climb, you can hike up to overlook cave and very rarely do the wolves smell you and jump you from behind as you struggle to climb while they ignore incline penalties because the wolves of TLD are part spider.

As a destination in and of itself, it is located on the overland route to The Dam, plus it is next to a double rope drop down to the frozen stream that leads to the Dam. However, I don't recommend it, because a wolf spawns right down there and while he often attacks the rabbits that spawn there, thus giving you time to sneak past, the many many trees have poor visibility, so I simply cannot recommend you take this route.

Renewable Resources: This is where CO comes up short.

It has a rabbit run, way up the hill at Overlook Cave. You have to be very careful coming back to CO so your scent doesn't lure in a wolf who cuts you off. Backing away from a wolf with many heavy bunnies in your inventory isn't easy, when your back is against a steep incline. On the other hand, the rabbit run is right outside the cave, so snares are easy to check. Still, I prefer rabbit runs next to indoor locations. That way they spawn snared rabbits when I re-enter the map, not whenever the game feels like checking the snares. That's a personal preference. I like having more control.

The rabbit run across the railroad tracks is at 2 o'clock from the backdoor. The downside is it's a bit of a hike to check, and you have to thread the wolf spawns at Derailment and half way to the FM exit. The Medical Prepper Cache plateau has a cave you can camp in, but the rabbit run isn't directly visible from the mouth of the cave itself. The hill you need to hike to check the spawns is sprain inducing, so curb your curiosity.

The Deer spawn all over: 2 by the entrance to the frozen stream that leads to the dam, 3 by far end of the southern access, 2 right in front of Camp office, 3 across the tracks at the rabbit run that leads to look out, and 3 more deer spawn on top of MPCP.

There are at several wolf spawns in the area, and the wide open area in front of CO as well as the frozen lake gives you what you need most when killing wolves. Visibility.

And finally, there is a bear spawn behind the wolves at the far end of the lake. Unfortunately, I know of no easy sniper location for this bear, and I've had enough bears "heal" after leaving the map, so once I wound a bear, I wait for him to bleed out on the map, one way or another.

There is only one birch bark spawn. It's like one spot on MPCP, so it's hardly worth the trip. And... did I forget anything? Oh yeah...

FISH.

You have four fishing huts and at least one of them spawns with a door. The problem is, it is usually the furthest one. You might get lucky and get a door at the second hut, but I have yet to see the door spawn at the hut closest to ML. Without the door, you NEED to have a fire burning constantly, or the wolves will wander by and attack you. The closest hut is "mostly" outside the wolves "hunting area", but you are gambling with your life if you fish on that lake without a fire or door.

On the upside, I've never had the bear come by the hut closest to CO. Bears don't care about your fire and will commit Ursine Surprise Butt Sex upon you without that door, but (knock on wood), I've never had to deal with the bear when fishing in the first hut, only wolves.

Fishing is the main selling point of the CO as far as renewable resources go. A rather simple trail of Tinder Plugs is usually all you need to get back to shore, unlike the Criss-crossing web of trails you need on Coastal Highway. So if you like fishing, and you don't like CoH, This is the base for you.

Non-Renewable:

This is the main selling point of CO to me. So Much Non-renewable Loot. The CO itself is jam packed with goodies. The deer carcass up at Overlook Cave. The easy access to two cache spawns. The easy access to Lookout Tower. The easy access to the cabins across the lake. Not top tier loot, but not bottom barrel either.

Not many Shrooms in the area, and only a few Rose Hip Bushes, but there are SO MANY CATTAILS. If you take the time to harvest everything on the lake, there are 50+ cattails around the lake alone. Most of them can be snagged without getting close to the wolves. The fishing huts always have at least one skill book somewhere. I have found two, but that was on lower settings. There is always a skill book of some sort in the CO itself. Often one up at Overlook. Overlook also spawns all sorts of goodies on Interloper, like bedrolls, fire striker, lantern, and I think a tool of some sort.

If you are playing with guns, there are usually bullets all over the camp office, and the bodies nearby can spawn boxes as well.

And CO itself spawns bedrolls, lanterns, hacksaws, mag glasses. The easier the difficulty, the better the non-renewable loot. Most importantly, it usually has a bunch of cans and at least two cooking pots. The cooking pots are important for making water outdoors. Also, the place is swimming in cloth, important for when you are just getting started. When just starting out, don't forget to:

CRAFT. YOUR. CLOTH. HATS.

Finding a sewing kit is common here, so you have no reason to not craft two cloth hats and a if need be, two cloth gloves. Trust me. People forget to do this all the time, so it bears special mention

Sleeping arrangements:

CO has a bed, and there are two viable caves nearby. If you are playing on stalker or easier, you might find the Hunter or Med Caches, and right behind the CO in that little alcove, right in the corner, there is a spot that is 330 Degree windproof. And next to it, you can have a second fire at 270 degrees of windproof fire. It isn't PERFECTLY windproof, but it's good enough that you can sleep in 1-2 hour increments without fear. Which makes this location ideal for making water. (1.5 liters at cooking 5 takes 1 hour 4 minutes.) and the many cans lets you set up hot tea to drink when you wake up. I usually have at least 4 waiting for me.

(Reminder: Brewables cooked on a fire, but not boiled away when the fire goes out, remains warm until you drink it)

Overlook never gets a visit from wolves (knock on wood), so blowing off cabin fever is easy there. But otherwise, the sleeping arrangements aren't that outstanding.

Crafting: The building has a crafting table, which makes fishing and bow use much easier. However, it is as far from any forge as you can get. Technically the closest Forge is FM, but that one is outdoors. Only use that one if you know what you are doing.

Lighting: The place is dark at night, but does light up during an aurora. It has a potbelly stove on the first floor so you can have a fire to craft by at night. The place is laid out fairly simply and has enough windows that experienced players can navigate the building in the dark using the windows as landmarks.

Other Considerations

CO has a special place in many player's hearts, and for people starting out, you might make this place your base to start out from. When you get more experienced, you will find CO to be... quaint. However, it is one of the few locations that have multiple floors. Ascetically, it can be quite pleasing. I've seen people set up "Stores" in CO. And the building does lend itself well to laying out your stuff. It isn't a bad base, as far as a vanity base goes. If I was going to loot the entire island and drag it to one spot, this is the base that is closest to "anywhere". It is the middle of the island, after all.

The place very quickly runs out of special loot, and the renewable resources aren't that special. You can get most of these renewables anywhere, fishing being the only thing that stands out. That said, if you are good at chasing deer into wolves and then shooting the wolves, you won't starve. It's a good place to stock up on hides.

For me, it's a good place to hole up for a few days, get a good supply of water set up, pile up the loot by the door, then maybe make a few quick sweeps of the area before I move onto my next objective. If I'm training, Trappers is a better location. If I'm learning to fish, I find CoH to be safer. If I'm crafting, I don't usually find myself with the raw materials I need when I'm passing CO. I get that done at the dam or Trappers.

Just the loot pattern I conduct.

But Hey, it's not a BAD base, it's just not an AMAZING base. I find it to be a bit more work than I like for long term use, but I always wind up there for a week or so, none the less. And there's a certain amount of nostalgia involved. After all, for some players Camp office will always be home.

This place holds a special place, near and dear to my heart, so it gets a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfXQVhHly_w

Base Review: Mountaineer's Hut

Map: Timberwolf mountain

Initial Review: I actually had a run where I went on "vacation" to the hut and wound up staying there almost 200 days. This was on interloper after I had decked myself out in multiple bearskin coats, etc. After 50 days, the feel like temp stabilizes and it is possible to stay in the hut during the worse blizzard without a fire. So while livable, it has its issues.

Location Review: It is the only structure on the entire map and I would consider the "zone" of your base to be tiny, compared to other locations. There is just very little "safe" areas, including inside. With the new AI pathing there is no longer the "stand in the doorway and sniper wolves" deal. In fact, the AI can grab you through the door if you are too close to it when the wolf charges. Yes, even if the door is closed. You have to back off to avoid getting torn up by the wolves.

There is a 270 Degree windproof spot right outside the front door, and a 360 degree windproof spot directly out back in that gully, but I'd be hard pressed to explain exactly where you would find the one pixel to put your fire. It's there, you just have to keep trying.

The problem is the location is next to SEVERAL wolf spawns. Three on the lake, Two behind you in the hills. One across the lake up in the hills, one up the rive. There is a Bear that for some reason can smell you from a mile away and will bee line for you when he wakes up, although I think that is only when you reach scent Three, which will be the first time you harvest anything.

Environment: Harsh. The worst weather is on TWM. While you might be okay in the hut, once you step outside on 'loper, you will feel that -20 to -50 degree weather. It's not so harsh on other settings, but we're talking "degree" of harsh, here. The weather just sucks.

Lighting: Best in the game. Not only do you get outdoor lighting conditions, extending your crafting time by moonlight, but you also get lightning during an aurora. You can't get any more natural light than at the Hut.

Crafting: No Forge, of course, but it has a crafting table and is in one of the best lit areas in the game, so at least you can craft things into the wee hours of the night.

Renewables: There is a rabbit run (if you are facing the lake from the hut) to the 8 O'clock direction, just over the hill that leads back to the map exit. There is another to 2 o'clock along the lake's edge, next to a deer spawn. Wolves abound so try to get your cooking 5 before you decide to use the hut for an extended period of time, as you WILL need to eat predator meat sooner or later. However, other than that, you have to start ranging far and wide to get other resources. You do luck out in the wood department, as stuff spawns all over the area and fairly close by. There is also a fishing hut that has only once, in all my runs, spawned a door. Given how the bear loves to visit, I consider using this fishing hut to be suicide until I have killed the bear. Even then, you only have a short window, maybe 10-50 days before he respawns. Without a door, you had better keep a fire going because every wolf on the map will come visit, sooner or later.

NRR: Immediately? Not much. Cattails, some items in the hut, always a pack of matches, so on a loper run if you spawn in TWM, you MUST swing by here just to pick those up. Otherwise, you have to start ranging far and wide to get those NRRs. However, TWM has some of the Best NRRs in the game. There are Cargo Containers all over the place, requiring a hacksaw to open, which often spawns at the hut. Here's the problem, I don't consider any of that as part of the "base" because none of it is within easy reach. The Mountaineer's hut is a great base to go forth and GATHER TWM's NRRs, but none of those NRRs are part of your base.

Sleeping: Unfortunately, while it appears to be a cave location, as far as heat is concerned, it isn't. You have a bed here to sleep in, but eventually you get cabin fever. Yes. Look at that hole in the roof and the window you can never close. You aren't outdoors enough.

Downside: The place is surrounded by violence, which if you are good at killing wolves can be a good thing, as they just walk right up to your front door, and then charge through it to maul you. The New wolf AI is very unforgiving. Also, you will need to make use of that windproof fire spot out front to avoid cabin fever and this means, STAYING OUTSIDE. Remember that fire duration is based on your current location. So you get the extra time bonus if you are just outside the doorway, making using the indoor's fire a trap. NEVER USE THIS FIRE UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO STAY WARM AND SLEEP. All your cooking should be in the doorway, or in the gully outback. The Doorway is not 360 degree windproof, but safer. Safe-ER being the key word here.

The location also demands the best clothing because without it, you might freeze or at least need to start using fires more and more often as your clothing decays, and trust me, your local firewood supply dries up MUCHO QUICK.

Summary: by the numbers, this is a harvest base. You set it up so you can loot the mountain, which, by the way, is chock full of Lootable crap. If you have any desire to play a 200+ day run, learning how to at least harvest the low hanging fruit of TWM is a MUST.

I usually wait until day 50 to get my clothing situation sorted out as well as get cooking 5, swing by the hut, spend a few days getting my well fed bonus going on, then looking out the door, head out at about 1 o'clock, past the deer spawn, usually chasing a deer up the hill to flush out the wolf, then head past both of them and right over the edge. You can climb down the cliff with only a couple of sprains. There is a great sniper spot and usually you only have to kill one wolf down there, or with rocks and time, you can sneak past.

Then up to the tunnel to rest, up to the big cave for the matches, over to the rope, up, and if I am lucky, I can avoid the one wolf at this part. There is a sprain inducing shortcut to the rope that goes up to the ledge. Once you are on the ledge, it's home free to the top of TWM. In my opinion, the most direct and wolf free-ish path I can find.

And if I am feeling lucky, there are three different cargo container locations that are within easy distance off the path. If I'm rushed, I go straight for the top, if I got time, I go murder some wolves and harvest me some cargo.

As for long term, this is a vanity base you need to WORK AT. Once the NRRs are looted, you r only reason for staying at the hut is that it takes FOREVER to get all that loot down the rope to the Abandoned Prepper cache. How do I know?

On Stalker I looted the entire mountain once. And I mean... ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. Everything NRR, I took it. Even the ropes. Yes. In my quonset manager run, there is no way to get back up to the top of TWM, because I stole every rope and dragged it down to the Quonset garage, because when you have a 1000 day run, you get mighty bored. It. Will. Take. FOREVER.

If you aren't insane, loot the mountain of the low hanging fruit, take the best stuff, and then leave. Honestly, on Interloper, you can skip the mountain but on Stalker or easier, a run up the mountain is a must. On interloper, they remove a bunch of the cargo containers, making the run less about the loot, and more about just saying, "I climbed a mountain."

Which brings me to one point about the Mountaineer's Hut. While this isn't a Game mechanic thing, I must admit, the time I spent at the hut was... nice. It's a beautiful view. Plain and simple. I like going out on the dock on a clear day, starting a fire, and drinking a cup of tea while the wolves slowly circle and growl.

Then when I finish the tea, I murder them all as hard as I can.

It's a simple things in life that make it worth living.